How To Save More Money As A Nigerian

In this video, YouTube creator Fisayo Fosudo discuss strategies about saving and growing money.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kOCvgGZ8Dk

It’s not a little known fact that Nigeria’s 30,000 Naira minimum wage sits at less than $100 (50,000 Naira) per month. Acccording to Nairametrics, it was revealed that due to the global pandemic, many many Nigerians have no emergency savings. The savings Deposit rate has dropped from 4% to 1.6% in the span of a few years. 40.1 percent of population in Nigeria lives in poverty. 4 out of every 10 people in Nigeria live in poverty (less than $1 (500 Naira) per day) and that’s roughly around 85 million people. This statistics was even before the global pandemic and things have become worse. Narrowed down by states, we have Sokoto and Taraba as the highest rate of poor people in the country where it’s almost at 90% or 9 out of 10 people in poverty there…but I could go on and on and on. This video seeks to help shine the light on already existing principles and how to use them in day to day life and save while keeping costs down. I think you might find value in this. Here are some tips mentioned in the video:

1 - Cut Back on Unnecessary Spending

Adjusting your relationship to money and stop spending frivolously can really help. It really pays to be frugal and it doesn’t mean that you’ll deprive yourself of something valuable. Think of it like you’re paying your future self. You’re not looking to spend tomorrow’s money today because you can’t work forever. There’s a reason why we retire and that’s because we can’t keep doing the same thing till we’re 50, so it’s better to take advantage of that now and when it comes to the time where you can’t work anymore.

2 - Budgeting and Expense Tracking

Budgeting and expense tracking can reveal serious holes and leakages in people’s earnings. For many people, it’s difficult to account for their monthly income. Expense tracking at the end of the month right after you receive your account statement can be highly effective in helping you discover the things that you’re unnecessarily spending on and that you can cut back on.

3 - Saving in a High-Interest Savings Account

One way to stay happy with your finances is to save a very significant portion of your income. Most high savers save as high as 50% of their salary, for some, 30% is tolerable. However, saving can really help people out of a rut and have people set up for emergency purposes or even better, retirement in the long term.

4 - Investing in the Stock Market / Securities

A more advanced way of saving while growing one's money is investing in the stock market or buying shares of publicly traded companies. It can be highly risky but value investing has proven to yield successful results over the long run. This is a great way to hedge against inflation and also make passive income with consistency.

5 - Hack your Rent and Transportation

One of the advantages and also disadvantages of living in Nigeria is the fact that we have to pay the rent yearly, instead of monthly. It’s good because now you don’t have to worry about a monthly bill coming your way for where you live, you only need to worry about things like electricity and charges for services. You don’t have to worry about someone kicking you out. However, that’s also another very bad thing because it’s become so expensive now. You have to cough up almost 500,000 to millions of Naira all at once because you want to rent somewhere. This kind of makes the barrier to living by yourself high.

Anyway, another way to even save way more is by living with a roommate or housemate. If you’re living on your own you should consider a smaller real estate if you need more space, consider living with someone you can trust.

Transportation too is another thing. If you can, you should carpool with your friends on your way to work or school and split uber fares. Again, if you’re young no one cares with your mode of transportation is. As far as you can get to where you’re going, that’s really what matters.

6 - Investing in yourself

It doesn’t directly correlate to saving money but investing money in things that would build up your knowledge base and your skill is unrivalled in creating true wealth.

What are your tips for saving, growing and investing money as a Nigerian?