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  • Every week, Zikoko seeks to understand how people move the Naira in and out of their lives. Some stories will be struggle-ish, others will be bougie. All the time, it’ll be revealing.

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    Nairalife #348 bio

    What’s your earliest memory of money?

    Sometime between primary and junior secondary school, I had a small wallet in my room where I kept money. I also had foreign currency, as my uncle, who lived abroad, visited and gave me a few $1 bills. 

    Anyway, we had some maintenance staff in the house one day for deep cleaning, and by the time they finished and we returned home, the money was gone. I told my mum, but we couldn’t pinpoint who did it. So, we had to let it go.

    That’s wild. What was money like growing up?

    We were comfortable. My dad worked with the government, and my mum owned a business. This isn’t a yardstick for our financial situation, but I remember thinking my parents were really important because church associations often held meetings at our house. 

    Now I know it wasn’t a big deal, but I thought at the time that it was an indicator of how comfortable we were. I had everything I needed, though. That counts for something.

    It does. When was the first time you made money?

    2020. I was in my second year in uni and had built a decent Instagram following — less than 5000 at the time — and my pictures often did well. I also have clear skin, so a skincare brand reached out to me to offer a brand partnership. 

    They paid me ₦50k to create content for their skincare products three times a month for three months. It was my first paycheck, right in the middle of COVID, and I was pretty excited. I didn’t know it was possible to make money that way. I thought, “This is interesting. I can keep doing this.” 

    Did you?

    Oh, yes. I started curating my social media pages, created a media kit and reached out to brands. I honestly can’t remember what my next brand deal was, but as my page grew, I gradually got more deals. 

    In addition to my content creation income, I also received an allowance from home. There was no set amount, but I have a lot of siblings, whom I called when I needed money. My mum also gave me money when I visited home on weekends. 

    By 300 level, I had an established social media presence and a recurring brand partnership model. It involved negotiating with different brands and getting a ₦250k – ₦300k three-month contract. Some of these brands renewed the contracts after the original arrangement had elapsed, and I earned around ₦250k every three months up until my final year.

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    Was that good money for you?

    It was good enough money. My expenses were mostly skincare, food, and other random things. I was alright.

    But I began to lose interest in content creation in my final year. There was pressure to post and compare myself with others. I didn’t have a healthy relationship with social media, and I grew tired of dedicating all my time to growing the page and creating content. I wanted to do other things.

    So, I deactivated my account. People told me not to delete because I had 100k followers and might need the account in the future. However, after several months of deactivation and considerable thought, I took the plunge and permanently deleted it. This was in 2024, a year after I graduated from uni. 

    That was a huge step. How did it feel?

    Like a lot of weight off my shoulders. When I still held on to the account, it always felt like there was a bucket of ice water over my head, and I didn’t know when it’d pour on me. I was so relieved. 

    I wasn’t prepared to have that kind of account and that kind of following. I mean, I had put in a lot of effort to grow the page, but it stopped serving me, and I had to let go. 

    What about the income it brought you?

    I never really made crazy money from influencing. I think the most I made was ₦250k for three posts. I also had my regular ₦250k every three months skincare contracts and occasional PR packages. It was fun while it lasted. 

    Did you have another income source besides influencing at this point?

    Oh yes. After I graduated in 2023, NYSC came next, and my Place of Primary Assignment (PPA) was a media company that paid me ₦250k/month to handle their social media. I also had the ₦33k monthly stipend from NYSC, so my income was pretty stable when I deleted my account.   

    I worked at the media company for about a year. By the time I left in late 2024, my salary had grown to ₦262k. My next job — which is my current job — was in social media too, but more like digital marketing. I started that in February 2025, and my salary is ₦300k. For most of the year, I supplemented my income with contract social media management gigs. I had several one to three-month stints that paid me between ₦150k and ₦350k extra almost every month.

    However, I’ve scaled back on the contract gigs because I picked up an extra full-time job with a US-based company in October. The role pays me $1,200 monthly for content and community management. Depending on the exchange rate, that comes down to approximately ₦1.7m, bringing my total monthly income to about ₦2m.

    Nice. How would you describe your relationship with money now?

    I’m in my financial girl era. I’ve been learning more about money and financial education throughout the year, and I think it’s showing.

    For context, I spend a lot of money. I don’t like the idea of wasting anything, including my time. So, if I use my time to earn money, I’m going to spend it. When I was influencing, I could earn ₦250k, set aside ₦100k and use the remaining ₦150k as free game to do whatever I wanted. 

    I still have that same mindset. I’m just 22. I don’t want to be stingy or hold money to the extent that I can’t enjoy it. What if I die tomorrow? What would happen to the money? Let me enjoy it now. Plus, I don’t have any bills at the moment. I live with my family, so I don’t pay rent or other bills. My siblings are trying to get me to chip in for fuel, though. I’m avoiding that for as long as I can.

    Haha. I can’t even fault that

    That said, while I’m focused on enjoying my money, I’m also trying to strike a balance. Yes, enjoy the money, but also save, invest and plan for the future. 

    Before I got the US job, I didn’t have a fixed amount of money that I set aside for savings. I just did slightly above 50%. In the months when my earnings from the contract gigs increased my income to about ₦850k, I saved between ₦500k and ₦600k, spread across a savings app and a real estate investment plan. I’m a moderate risk-taker; I don’t take on too much.

    However, I’ve now created a strategy based on my new income stream. I’ll split the $1200 into two. Half goes into my real estate investments; I also want to test stocks. The other half goes to my savings spread across a dollar savings account and an account I have with an asset management company. Then, I’ll use my ₦300k Nigerian salary to ball.

    Sounds like a plan. What does your savings and investment portfolio look like right now?

    I’m starting from scratch again because I recently spent my savings on a ₦2.1m MacBook and some cute designer bags. Funny story about the bags: I bought them online, but they lost the shipment and refunded me the money. When they eventually found it, I had to pay again, but this time the exchange rate had gone up. I had to pay ₦500k for what initially cost me ₦300k.

    Yikes

    Anyway, I only started saving again in the last three months, and I’ve been doing at least ₦500k monthly. I’ll start my new investment strategy soon, though.

    My big goal is to have $100k in savings and investments by 2030. It’s one of the two big financial goals I want to achieve within the next 10 years. The second goal is to own a house (or put a down payment on one) in the UK. 

    This is the first time I’m actually saying this out loud, but I think it’s doable. I usually get what I want because I plan towards it and work hard for it. My income growth is proof of that. This shouldn’t be any different. 

    Speaking of your income, what has this growth meant for you in this little time?

    The first obvious change is that I can afford more things. It’s nice to be able to get nice things for my friends and siblings without thinking too much about it. I live within my means, and spending my money comes easily to me.

    Also, ₦300k to ₦2m is a lot of growth, but I think it’s something I deserve. I know other people in this situation may feel out of depth and think, “Maybe I don’t deserve this.” But me? I deserve it. I’m fine with earning this, and I claim more for myself. I want to make even more money.

    Inject it. What’s an ideal amount of money you think you should be earning right now?

    Given my current career stage, I should be earning between $3k – $5k monthly.

    Do you ever feel like you’re missing a possible income source from influencing?

    I don’t think so. I still don’t regret deleting my account. I’ve toyed with the idea of creating a new one, but I haven’t gotten around to actually doing it.

    Besides, I still create content, just in a more professional manner. I write on my LinkedIn, Substack, and I have a YouTube channel. I don’t create content regularly for the latter; it happens like once a year. I approach content creation as a means to build a digital archive for myself, rather than for other people. 

    If I ever return to “influencing,” I’d have to focus and keep my mind grounded so that my content serves both myself and others. 

    Let’s talk about where your money goes every month 

    Each month is different since my income was all over the place all year. Plus, I’ve not actually started making the ₦2m. So, I’ll break down my expenses from last month, when I earned ₦1m (salary + contract gigs).

    Nairalife #348 expenses

    Is there anything you want right now but can’t afford?

    I would like to travel. I can afford that, but money can’t solve every problem you have. I can’t travel alone right now because of my upbringing and the fact that I’m a “young Nigerian woman who just finished uni.” So, I can’t really do that right now. 

    I’m in my great lock-in era, though. By the time I achieve all I want by 2035, we’ll see what happens then. While I wait for that, I intend to start small: travelling around Nigeria and other African countries next year.

    How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1-10?

    7. My perfect life would have been getting born into generational wealth, so all of this wouldn’t matter to me. But I’m not, so I think I’m doing well with the resources and opportunities I’ve had. 

    That said, I still don’t know what it’s like to pay hard-hitting bills, such as rent and all those other expenses. I feel like by the time I experience that and learn about the toll it can take on my finances and planning, I’ll have a better idea of how finances really work.

    If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.

    Yes, I want to do a Naira Life!

    Find all the past Naira Life stories here.

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  • Every week, Zikoko seeks to understand how people move the Naira in and out of their lives. Some stories will be struggle-ish, others will be bougie. All the time, it’ll be revealing.

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    Nairalife #346 bio

    When did you first realise the importance of money?

    In uni. I had a relatively easy childhood, and although we experienced financial difficulties from time to time, my parents provided me with everything I needed. At the very least, I ate three meals daily. 

    However, things changed when I started university in 2020. My dad said, “You’re on your own now. Don’t ask me for money.” 

    Omo, I suffered. Scarcity taught me the importance of money.

    No allowance?

    There was, but ₦10k/month was never enough. There was one day I drank garri throughout the day. After I drank garri again in the night, I just started crying and asking God why I was in that situation. It was terrible.

    Phew. Was there a reason your dad wasn’t open to billing?

    My parents are pastors, and the pandemic grounded a lot of things financially. We couldn’t hold regular church meetings, and even after lockdown, we found it difficult to restart service due to several factors. 

    My parents tried a few businesses to supplement our income, but things weren’t going great. We had to manage, and that affected what they could afford to give me for school. After the garri incident, I resolved to find alternative ways to make money.

    What did you do?

    The first thing I tried to do was sell clothes when I was in 200 level. I didn’t exactly have a passion for it; I didn’t even believe I was a businessperson. However, the popular stereotype about my tribe is that we should all know how to buy and sell. So, I thought it was a good idea. Also, I was desperate.

    So, I borrowed ₦20k from my elder brother and bought clothes from someone who imported them from China. The business didn’t last up to a month, and I barely sold anything due to my lack of interest in the whole thing. I didn’t know how to sell, nor did I have the energy to convince people to buy. I ended up giving most of the clothes away.

    Did you try another business venture after that?

    I didn’t. Instead, I turned to social media. It was initially an escape for me. I was bored and getting depressed because of my financial situation, so I became active on social media to take my mind off things. 

    Then, I started to read about opportunities such as writing, freelancing, and social media management. As I learned more about them, I felt they were things I could actually do. I’ve always known how to write, and I could easily learn the others. 

    In fact, I already had some community management experience from managing Christian Facebook communities. I had created those communities to make friends, and grew membership to hundreds of thousands. Facebook was hot in that 2020/2021 period, and the communities were very active. 

    My work with the communities and my writing skills pushed me to explore these new opportunities. Plus, if I couldn’t make money in the traditional way of buying and selling, I could acquire skills and earn money from the comfort of my house.

    How did you go about acquiring these skills?

    I took free courses in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and digital marketing on SEMrush and HubSpot. Then, I started building in public. I actively posted on Facebook, sharing my skills and my work experience. I also joined freelance platforms like Upwork and Fiverr and sent proposals back-to-back. My social media audience grew steadily, and clients began to come in. 

    I landed my first gig — $15 to write an SEO blog article — in 2022, about six months after I started taking those courses. That gig made me feel complete, and the whole freelancing experiment felt real. Like, finally, I’m earning my own money, and I could earn more with even more effort.

    Energy

    Subsequent gigs mostly came from Facebook and my school network. I had an audience on Facebook, and since I was steadily posting write-ups, clients came with their writing needs. I earned the odd ₦5k or ₦10k here and there. 

    The school clients were classmates who were too busy trying to make money to take school seriously. I told them I could write, and they paid me to handle their assignments and seminar papers. I charged anything between ₦5k and ₦15k, depending on the level of work to be done. Fortunately for me, the pandemic and multiple strikes had affected our school calendar, so we were constantly rushing. 

    The school authorities would condense a six-month semester into two months, and we always had a lot of assignments. So, I constantly made money from that. I even started a referral program, offering a 20% to 30% discount to people who brought friends and clients from other departments.

    What was your average monthly income from these gigs like?

    Initially, my income was quite irregular. However, as I became more consistent around 300 level, I built a solid reputation in school, and more people came to me. Between Upwork, Facebook and school gigs, I made an average of ₦100k monthly.

    My income peaked during my final year. I started writing final year projects for clients and charging up to ₦90k per project. I also got the opportunity to write for UK clients —people who had used my services in school referred me to their siblings studying in the UK. 

    These international students rarely had time for assignments and theses because they juggled school and work, so I did them on their behalf and charged well for it. In my final year, I comfortably made up to ₦400k monthly. 

    Not bad money for a student

    It was more than enough to cover my needs. I’m an introvert who hardly went out, so my money usually went to books and food. 

    When I graduated in 2024, I basically continued where I left off. However, I decided to pay more attention to SEO and social media marketing because the international student gigs were seasonal. They could go on holiday for like three months, and I wouldn’t make any income from that source. 

    Currently, I primarily freelance as an SEO writer and social media marketer. I still receive academic writing gigs from international students, but it’s not my sole source of income.

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    How do you get clients as a freelancer?

    I recently started cold outreaches using LinkedIn. I’d find the contact details of decision-makers in companies I believe need my services and pitch them. That works half of the time. The rest of the time, my clients come from word-of-mouth referrals and freelance platforms. The academic writing gigs are solely referrals; I don’t need to pitch for those. 

    I average ₦500k/month when my academic writing clients aren’t in session. When they are, my income can get up to ₦800k or ₦900k. Now, that’s just from freelancing. I also have a 9-to-5 job that pays me ₦200k/month, and I receive ₦77k allawee as a corps member.

    I feel like we’ve jumped a few chapters. When did the 9-5 happen?

    March 2025. I moved to a different state for NYSC, and my cost of living skyrocketed. It honestly came as a culture shock. As a student, I paid only ₦150k for a decent self-contained apartment. But moving here, the same apartment costs ₦600k. Transportation and feeding are also more expensive. 

    To make it worse, my income wasn’t stable when I first moved here. My international students were on holiday, and money wasn’t coming in frequently. That was when I even decided to focus on my other skills to fill the gap from academic writing. I also decided to take a 9-to-5 job to keep me grounded during periods when freelancing didn’t bring in as much money.

    I got a social media marketing job with a manufacturing company. They pay me ₦180k as salary and an extra ₦20k for data. The job is primarily for stability, and thankfully, it’s remote. At least I know, whether it rains or the sun shines, I’m getting ₦200k from somewhere every month. 

    So, it’s like your NYSC Place of Primary Assignment (PPA)?

    Actually, no. My PPA is at an NGO where I work in communications, but they don’t pay me. So, I told them they shouldn’t expect me to come to work every day. Instead, I work like a consultant for them. I help them with newspaper and magazine contacts when they need to publish press releases and offer communication advice, but that’s it. 

    Interesting. What kind of life does your income afford you?

    I live a comfortable life. I eat well, and I can afford data, good clothes, and live in a decent place. That said, I don’t think I live luxuriously. I have plans for my future, so I don’t overspend. In fact, 60% -70% of my income goes into my savings. 10% goes to tithe, and I live on whatever’s left to cover my cost of living.

    Tell me more about how you break down your savings

    This is how it works: I allocate 60% – 70% of my monthly income to two savings accounts. One is an emergency savings account that I can easily access if I’m stranded, and the second is under a lock feature in my savings app that doesn’t allow me to touch the money for at least a year. I put most of my savings into this feature. Sometimes, I also direct some of my savings to crypto and stocks, but that’s not regular.

    Right now, I have around ₦700k in my emergency savings and ₦2m in the locked account. I started this approach in 2024. 

    Is there a reason why you lock your savings for a year?

    Two reasons: The interest rate and financial discipline. I’m very liberal with giving, and it’s a way for me to caution myself. I intentionally make myself poor because if I earn ₦700k this month and keep the whole thing in my account, I’ll spend it when someone asks. So, I’d rather hold ₦100k so when they come, I can say, “I only have ₦100k. Take part of it.” 

    So, you live on about 20% of your income. Let’s break that down into monthly expenses

    Nairalife #346 expenses

    My feeding budget is that low because I’m a minister in my church, and we fast a lot. My church giving is exclusive of my tithe and offering, also because I’m a minister. I teach an age group in church, and I like to give them monetary gifts.

    I should also mention that I recently started channelling some of my savings into a real estate investment program. The program allows people to pay a deposit for land and complete payment in instalments. The land I bought costs ₦3m, and I initially deposited ₦700k. I’m supposed to complete the payment by the end of December. I’ve already paid around 70% of the money; what’s left is ₦1m, and I know I can complete it by then. 

    The person who introduced me to the program is a trusted church member. He’s already given me the papers and necessary documentation for the land. So, I’m already technically the owner.

    How would you describe your relationship with money?

    “Interesting” is the only word I can think of. My mum says I behave like someone who hates money because I’m almost always broke, even though I earn a lot of money. 

    It’s a paradox: earning so much and still being broke, only that mine is induced poverty. Once I get paid, I channel my money into savings and make myself broke because I don’t want to be extravagant. I’ve also learned that money is a spirit. The more you make, the more you want to spend. 

    So, I’m conditioning myself not to succumb to that by having little cash to work with. I was recently stranded and had to ask my sister to loan me ₦4k because some bank issues prevented me from sending money from my savings account to my regular account. And that’s normal for me. It may not be ideal, but that’s how I condition my life.

    I’m curious. Do you have a particular savings or investment goal?

    My investment goal is real estate. I want to buy multiple lands in developing areas and wait for them to become prime locations. I’m also looking to japa through the student route, and I imagine I’ll need to have sufficient proof of income. I don’t know how much I’ll need yet, but I’m saving with that in mind. 

    Is there an ideal amount you think you should be making?

    At least ₦1.5m/month. I want to get a bigger apartment closer to town, but I can’t do that on my current income. I also have a relationship and marriage in mind within the next two to three years, so I need to increase my earnings.

    What do future plans look like? Do you intend to continue freelancing?

    Definitely. It’s working for me, so I’ll keep at it. I also want to go into thought leadership and content creation. I recently started posting videos on my TikTok, and I’ve been getting decent views. I know I’m a skilled communicator who knows how to deliver speeches and offer advice, so I’m confident my content will resonate well. I just need to get content creation equipment because I mostly do selfie videos for now. 

    Besides thought leadership, I also plan to produce content focused on career tips and organise classes for people who want to transition into the digital space. I’ll probably start all these by the end of the year.

    Interesting. Is there anything you want right now but can’t afford?

    A car. I spend too much on transportation, and it’s a major hassle in my city. I might need about ₦20m for the car I want.

    How about the last thing you bought that made you happy?

    I bought a tie for ₦1500 a few weeks ago, and it’s gotten me so many compliments. In fact, I was so happy the day I bought it that I placed it on my bed, snapped it, and posted it. That tie makes me so happy.

    Love it for you. How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1-10?

    6.5. I’m happy with where I am presently, but looking at my goals, I feel like I should be earning more. I can’t japa or start a family with my current financial status.

    If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.

    Yes, I want to do a Naira Life!

    Find all the past Naira Life stories here.

    Subscribe to the newsletter here.

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  • Every week, Zikoko seeks to understand how people move the Naira in and out of their lives. Some stories will be struggle-ish, others will be bougie. All the time, it’ll be revealing.

    NairaLife #317 bio

    When did you first realise the importance of money?

    A memory that stands out is from my uni matriculation in 2019. My aunt gave me ₦4k, and I was so excited because it was the closest thing to pocket money I’d ever received. 

    Getting into uni made my financial standing clear. I met people who got pocket money and realised it was normal to get allowances. One guy told me he received ₦20k monthly and often called his parents for more money. I couldn’t relate to the money or the parents, so I felt different from others. 

    That’s why that ₦4k made me so excited. Suddenly, I had money and didn’t feel so left out —  at least not at that moment.

    You said you couldn’t relate to the parents bit. Why’s that?

    My parents had passed away. My mum passed when I was 11, and my dad passed in my first year at uni. I didn’t even live with my dad when he was alive. He worked full-time in the ministry and wasn’t financially buoyant, so I mostly lived with relatives. At the time I entered uni, I was living with my uncle.

    I’m sorry about your parents

    Thank you.

    Money-wise, things were much better for me and my siblings when my mum was alive. She was also in the ministry but had a better financial situation than my dad.

    Also, my parents were separated, so we lived with her. We lacked nothing. When returning to boarding school, she would buy family-size packets of whatever provisions I needed. 

    Her death caused a change in our quality of life. We went from living in a four-bedroom apartment to staying with my aunt in a self-contained apartment. Then my dad moved us to my uncle’s in a village, and we had to change schools. It felt like a decline, but I had to adjust. 

    Living with relatives meant I couldn’t ask for money anyhow, so when I got into uni, I decided to explore options for making money.

    What options did you explore?

    I learnt several skills before and during COVID in 2020: web design with WordPress, coding and social media management. I even took a “fundamentals of digital marketing” course on Google. The idea was just to learn as much as I could. I didn’t have a clear sense of what I wanted to do, so I just kept trying different things.

    I didn’t have a laptop, so I borrowed someone’s laptop to practice what I’d learned. Omo, I collected plenty of insults in the process. The person was younger than me, but always tried to boss me around because I needed their laptop. I endured it because of what I wanted to learn. 

    Eyes on the prize

    In 2020, I landed a remote social media management internship with a media company. It was an unpaid gig —  my employer gave me ₦1k for airtime monthly, which wasn’t enough for anything. I stayed because of the experience and worked there for six months. 

    During my time there, I applied all the new knowledge I gained to building my personal brand. I opened an Instagram account and started posting tips and talking about my work to attract clients. 

    How did that go?

    I got a client pretty quickly. She paid ₦25k to manage her page for a month, and I remember being so surprised someone could cough up that amount to pay for my services. The money was big for me, and I couldn’t handle it. 

    Do you know what I did?

    What did you do?

    I took the money and gave it to my boss, with whom I was interning. I transferred the gig to him because I didn’t think I could do it. I still ended up being the one managing the page, and he didn’t pay me for it, but I didn’t mind it. 

    After the first month, the client ended the contract because we didn’t meet expectations. I wasn’t bothered because I knew I could get someone else. And I did. 

    I started getting a few gigs from small business owners on Instagram. My boss also worked with multiple clients, and I handled some of their pages. That didn’t bring extra income; I just did it for the love of the game and to gain experience. 

    One day, I made a post on my Instagram page and a big design brand reposted it. Then the post got 5k likes on that page, and people started following me. That’s how one woman abroad DM’ed me and said she wanted me to help with her page. When she asked how much I charged, I was about to type $30 when she said her budget was $250/month. I thought I was dreaming. 

    Love it for you. Was it also a social media management gig?

    Yeah. I also had to do the designs and create all the content. The client lived in the US and could only pay through PayPal, so she had to pay me through my cousin who lived in the US. At first, my cousin thought I was into Yahoo. Who did I know that was sending me money from the US?

    I’m screaming

    I worked with her for six months — she even reduced the pay to $180/month after the first few months, but I didn’t mind. I used the money I made from her to buy my first laptop, an old giant Toshiba that cost ₦70k and didn’t fit inside any laptop bag. 

    After I stopped working with her, I took a course on social media management as a business. The course taught me to approach my skills like a business, not just as a creative, if I hoped to make money. I also learnt how to write proposals and grew more confident charging for my services.

    I increased my fees to ₦50k – ₦70k and got a few clients who agreed to pay that amount. Around 2021, I landed a ₦90k gig, which only lasted two weeks because the client wasn’t happy with the work. She only paid ₦45k. 

    Thinking about it now, between 2020 and 2022, I had quite a number of clients with whom I stopped working because of one disagreement or another. I can trace some of the reasons to my laptop, which was always messing up. When I got the ₦90k gig, I took a ₦150k loan to replace the laptop, thinking I’d be able to repay it with my salary, but that gig went the way it did.

    Fortunately, I got a social media management job with a fintech startup shortly after, so I wasn’t stranded for long. This was in 2022.

    What was the pay like?

    My salary was ₦120k/month, and I worked there until the startup pivoted in 2023 and laid off staff. I was also affected and was unemployed for about three months.

    All this time, I was still in uni and living with my elder brother, so I had food to eat. I kept applying to jobs, and towards the end of 2023, I landed one with a startup that paid ₦130k/month. 

    I supplemented my income with a ₦40k/month video editing side gig and sold social media content calendar templates online at $5 each. I didn’t put much effort into marketing the templates and sold between 2 and 10 every month. I also occasionally made vox pop videos to create content for my page.

    Then, in 2024, I got my big break. Someone DM’ed me on WhatsApp and offered me a $1k/month role.

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    Wait. How did that happen?

    A friend recommended me for the job. The company is an international crypto/blockchain brand that wanted someone to help with its social media and community management efforts in the region.

    The offer came just as I was rounding up uni, and it was like the perfect time because there was no way I’d have managed the job while in school. It’s remote, but I have to work a minimum of six hours daily, and there’s software that monitors my work and takes screenshots every 10 minutes to ensure I’m actively on my laptop.

    I still work there, and my salary is now $1200/month. I’m not even sure how much my salary is in naira because I haven’t converted the full amount yet. My employer pays in crypto, and I leave it in the exchange and withdraw only what I need using their P2P service. 

    I’ll do the conversion for you. That’s over ₦1.8m

    It was a big jump from my last salary—about a 10x increase. My lifestyle has changed, too. I moved to Lagos after school and went from paying ₦80k/year for rent to ₦1.5m/year for a one-bedroom apartment. I spent about ₦4m on the total rent package and some furnishing. 

    Living in Lagos also means my monthly bills have vastly increased. I probably wouldn’t need to spend as much as I do if I’d stayed back around school, but it was a necessary change of environment for personal and professional growth. 

    What do these bills and expenses look like in a typical month?

    Nairalife #317 monthly expenses

    My staff budget is for the contract assistants I work with when I shoot videos for content. The videos are gradually progressing from a passion project to an income source. 

    I have a manager who interfaces with potential clients, and we’ve had a couple of people pay us to shoot content for their events. One client paid ₦350k last year, and another paid just last month. 

    I’m not interested in profit sharing right now because I’m more focused on building a business presence and getting standard equipment. Once that’s done, I can consider trying to earn from it.

    What does your savings portfolio look like right now?

    $1500. I had to dip into my savings when I moved to Lagos and set up my apartment. I keep my rent savings in a savings app. The rest are in crypto.

    I’m curious. How has your rapid income growth shaped how you see money?

    My attitude to money has changed to, “This thing is for convenience.” I no longer worry about certain things because I can now afford them. 

    For instance, money has given me the ability to give, and I give a lot. I can afford to pay attention to people’s needs and keep in touch with them because I know if they need something, I can step in. I can just call my friends, ask how far and go, “Send your account, let’s do this thing.”

    I couldn’t do all this before, even when I wanted to. Before, I often had to ignore people’s needs or even limit interactions because of financial concerns. That’s not my problem anymore. 

    Energy. Do you live above or below your means, though?

    I live within my means. I don’t spend so much, except it’s absolutely necessary. Last month, I dropped ₦700k on a laptop because I needed it. This month, I’ll probably need to spend on a few more house furniture needs and set up a Starlink connection. These are basic things that I need. They’re expensive, but they aren’t exactly luxuries.

    I get you. Out of curiosity again, do you ever worry about money?

    I definitely worry about losing my job and not having money for the things I want. But I also feel like I’ll have money when I need it. If anything happens to my job, I’ll just find another one or focus on video production. My mum used to have a thing where her account balance could be zero today and money would enter the next day. 

    I’ve experienced that before, too. Several times, I was almost stranded, and money just came. I’m consciously trying to fix my money habits, so I don’t just rely on money coming in. I plan to read financial books, intentionally manage my money and achieve financial stability.

    Is there anything you want right now you can’t afford?

    Not right now, but a wedding. I know I’m just 22, but I believe I’ve met the person I want to spend my life with, and I hope to get married in the next two to three years. I want a small intimate wedding, but I’ll still need to get my money up, considering how expensive things get every day. 

    How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1-10?

    6. I don’t think I have a handle on my finances yet, so I still feel broke. I want to be able to manage my money strictly, figure out extra sources of income, and make better financial decisions.

    If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.

    Yes, I want to do a Naira Life!

    Find all the past Naira Life stories here.

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  • Every week, Zikoko seeks to understand how people move the Naira in and out of their lives. Some stories will be struggle-ish, others will be bougie. All the time, it’ll be revealing.

    Nairalife #250 bio

    What’s your earliest memory of money?

    I didn’t pay much attention to money until I graduated from secondary school and got my first job as a teacher. Prior to that, my parents provided everything I needed. It’s not like we were rich. My dad was a civil servant, and my mum was a petty trader, so things were average at best. But they did their best to make sure my siblings and I were comfortable in school. If we didn’t take homemade lunch with us, they’d give us lunch money. So thinking about where money came from wasn’t top of mind until I got that job.

    Let’s talk about your first teaching job

    I finished secondary school in 2009 and decided to do something while waiting for university admission. So, I got a job teaching primary four students all subjects for ₦4,500/month. My salary was increased to ₦5,500 three months later.

    The first thing I did when I started earning a salary was to save up for a Nokia torchlight phone, which cost about ₦10k – ₦11k. Then, my dad took me to the bank to open an account so I could save my money there. 

    I didn’t save sha. When salary landed, I’d buy clothes and recharge cards for my phone and even my secondary school teachers. Sometimes, I’d give my mum money. I was quite generous because I had no expenses or responsibilities, so I gave it out freely.

    I left the job after a year to teach at my former primary school because they were going to pay more.

    How much?

    ₦7,500/month. But I only worked there for one month during summer lessons. The principal didn’t want to hire me when school resumed because he knew I was going to go to uni soon. So, I returned home until uni resumed in November 2010.

    Did you do anything for money while in uni?

    If you count scholarships, yes. I’d been hearing about them since my first year, but I didn’t pay any attention until my second year. I topped my class and was automatically shortlisted with one other person from my department. I did the assessment and got a full scholarship till my final year. 

    How much did the scholarship come with?

    They paid ₦150k into my account every year. My tuition was only ₦50k, so I had ₦100k to do whatever I wanted. I had to maintain a particular CGPA yearly to remain on the scholarship, though. Another rule was that I couldn’t take another scholarship, but I did anyway.

    The second scholarship was from an oil company and was worth ₦100k every year till graduation.

    Baller

    I only enjoyed the second scholarship twice before I was caught. Actually, I confessed. The people from the first scholarship had come for the usual review, and the person in charge was like, “I heard one of you is on another scholarship”. I think they just said that to scare us, but when they started asking us one by one, I said, “I am”, when it got to my turn. 

    They made sure I discontinued the other one. I had to write to the oil company asking them to stop the payments. 

    So, I was left with just ₦150k. After paying my tuition, I’d usually spend the rest carelessly on my girlfriend, food, friends and my parents. I got a laptop too.

    At the end of my third year, I got another ₦50k scholarship.

    What happened to not taking on more scholarships?

    Technically, I didn’t process the scholarship myself. I wrote the exam on behalf of a friend. We agreed to use my name and some of his own details — his year and department — and if I got in, I’d give him some percentage of the money. 

    I gave him half of the first payment, but I didn’t give him a cut in the subsequent two payments. 

    Was he okay with that?

    He complained, but the money was entering my account directly, and I basically did all the work, so he dropped it. I was now in my fourth year and needed money for my project and other off-campus accommodation expenses, so the extra income came in handy.

    Final year came, and the scholarships ended. I failed one of my final exams and had an extra year. 

    Yikes. So sorry about that

    Thanks. I didn’t want to take any risks, so I started going for night classes regularly. That was how I stumbled into a business opportunity. I noticed there were no snack or drink vendors at night in the building we studied in, so I started setting water and snacks on my table whenever I came to read. People would come to buy, and the demand became so high that I stopped reading for my class and focused on the business. 

    I moved my “stand” to the entrance of the hall. I’d regularly sell ten bags of pure water and several cartons of biscuits in one night. I even had to employ two part-time students to stand at my spot while I moved around to market my goods. I paid my staff in free biscuits and, sometimes, ₦1k per day. I made close to ₦30k daily, but I usually put most of it back into the business.

    How long were you at it?

    About two years. I started in 2015 and continued even after I sorted the extra year because I was still in school processing my NYSC and project.  

    By this time, some other people had noticed I was making money and decided to start their own night snacks and water business too. Then the school management became aware. Normally, businesses in school had to register through the authorities, but since I sold at night, they didn’t quickly catch on. I eventually stopped in 2017 because of the school’s wahala.

    I really made money within those two years. At one point, I was sponsoring my younger sister at the polytechnic and regularly sending money home to my parents.

    What did you do after?

    I went for service in 2018 and taught maths and other science subjects at a government school. They didn’t pay an extra allowance, and I had just the NYSC ₦19,800 monthly stipend. So, I started looking for other income opportunities. I first tried after-school tutorial lessons for ₦100 daily, but it didn’t quite take off. I was serving in the north, where students hardly came to school during the normal hours. So, I just made the lessons free as a form of community service. 

    Six months later, I got a secondary place of assignment from NYSC. It was at a private school in town that paid ₦15k/month, bringing my total income to ₦34,800.  

    I also decided to try the tutorial business in town — that one worked better. Though, the parents always negotiated payment to the extreme. It was ₦5k per child, but they’d bring two other siblings and say the ₦5k should cover them too. I sha accepted it. I just wanted to make money.

    What were your expenses like during this period?

    It was mostly feeding and transportation. The school I worked at gave me a two-bedroom apartment, so I wasn’t spending on accommodation. 

    Remember the students I was giving free lessons? I also paid some of their school fees and bought books and math sets for some of them to encourage them to come to school and keep participating in my class.

    Apart from these, I also sent money home and occasionally financially supported my pastor. I didn’t have any savings.

    Interesting. What happened after NYSC?

    Job applications. There was one that had five interview stages. I passed three and failed the fourth one. I was still in the north and was travelling down to Lagos for each of these interview stages. When it didn’t pull through, I decided to move to Lagos to focus on job hunting. This was late 2019.

    But when nothing came after two months, I returned to teaching for ₦15k – ₦20k per month. When COVID lockdown happened in 2020, I used the opportunity to learn copywriting and social media marketing. All the money I made from teaching paid for my digital marketing classes. It was like a new world. I started offering services as a freelancer, even though I did a lot of free work in the beginning. Once in a while, I got social media management and digital marketing gigs and made the odd ₦10k – ₦20k.

    In October 2021, I landed my first full-time job as a content writer and social media manager at a real estate company. My salary was ₦40k/month, and I got free accommodation in Ikeja.

    I was also freelancing on the side: CV writing, LinkedIn optimisation, personal statements, social media management, and everything else that came. My goal was to save ₦100k per month, and I planned to do that with the side gigs.

    How did you manage the side gigs with a full-time job?

    My job required me to be online, and I had access to the office Wi-Fi and electricity, so I used the resources to work on my freelance gigs.

    I didn’t keep a record of how much I made, but I met the ₦100k/month savings goal a couple of times. Then around the end of 2021, the office headquarters moved to Banana Island. The long commute from Ikeja was so expensive, and I couldn’t keep up, so I resigned in January 2022.

    Did you have another job lined up?

    I freelanced for a bit, taking up social media management gigs to stay afloat. But in March 2022, I got a digital marketing role at an agribusiness company in Abuja, so I had to move. My salary was ₦100k/month. 

    This one didn’t come with accommodation, and I initially squatted with a friend. But his place was far from the office, so I started living in the office to save transportation costs. There was always light and data, so I didn’t have to pay for those. It also meant I could save more. With my freelance gigs, I saved ₦150k in some months; other times, I saved ₦100k.

    Was there a particular savings goal?

    I wanted a new apartment in January 2023, so I was just locking the money — like fixed deposits — in a savings app until the new year.

    But my savings plan derailed a bit when I left the job after four months. They could no longer afford to pay me, so they discontinued my contract, and I returned to Lagos.

    Back to social media freelancing?

    I decided to focus more on CV writing and LinkedIn optimisation training. I realised the demand for social media managers was far lower than the supply. Anyone can wake up and start managing pages for ₦50k. I’d rather train someone in social media management than manage their page. 

    Going freelance meant my monthly savings had to stop. I was living in a single room that my elder brother left after getting married, and my younger brother came to stay with me, increasing my monthly expenses. The fixed savings I had couldn’t mature faster.

    When it matured in January 2023, I got paid ₦500k+, which went into renting and furnishing my one-bedroom apartment. I still freelance full-time, but my income has gotten better. Since January, I’ve been getting more gigs. I resumed my ₦100k monthly savings, and I’m now locking it till next year. My new goal is ₦1m by 2024.

    How much do you make from freelancing in an average month?

    I’m terrible at keeping track of my income. But I notice an inflow of at least ₦300k/month on my bank app, and I religiously save ₦100k.

    You seem to take saving very seriously

    If I don’t save, I have no option when I’m in need. It’s my safety net; I don’t have anyone else to run to. I even feel I should be saving more than I currently do. I’m not as prudent with my expenses as I want to be. I plan to take financial courses soon and explore long-term investment options like stocks and real estate.

    Can you break down your monthly expenses?

    Nairalife #250 monthly expenses

    Sometimes, I look at my income inflow on my bank app and wonder where all the money goes. The thing is, when I’m broke, I go on social media and aggressively market my services. When I get clients, and they pay, the money goes to solve any urgent need at that moment. I think that’s why it’s so difficult to track. 

    Do you ever worry about the unpredictability of freelancing?

    All the time. If I see a community management role in a decent company willing to pay ₦350k – ₦400k/month now, I’ll take it.

    I’m still actively job-hunting, but recruiters have just been ghosting me. I’ve gone through several interview stages with major companies. After creating three-month content strategy plans or visibility case studies as the final test, they go, “Unfortunately, you’re not qualified”. I’m not even interested in doing any case study again. It’s like free work.

    Is there a backup plan in case both freelancing and the job search don’t work?

    I’m currently taking a six-month software engineering program I started three weeks ago. A politician sponsored it, so I didn’t have to pay anything. There’s also the possibility of job placement at the end, so that’s my long-term career goal for now. At least, they say tech is where the money is.

    Is there anything you wish you could be better at financially?

    Definitely financial record-keeping. Maybe I’ll go and withdraw all my money so I can watch it physically leave my hand because, right now, I don’t know exactly how it moves.

    How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1-10?

    5. I’m earning reasonably well, but it’s not stable. A full-time job would help me plan my finances better, and I’d then use my freelance income to augment it.

    If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.

    Yes, I want to do a Naira Life

    Find all the past Naira Life stories here.

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