Naira Life Vol 134

Happy Salary Week 🤑

I come bearing some exciting news. You stick with us every week, so we wanted you to be among the first to know about something huge we've been cooking up.

For six years, Naira Life has been your window into how Nigerians earn, spend, and manage their money. We've sparked crucial conversations and helped countless people understand their finances. Now, we're taking things up a notch.

Introducing The Naira Life Con: Zikoko's First Personal Finance and Wealth Building Event!

We're bringing together the most interesting voices — from wealth builders and financial experts to entrepreneurs — for rich stories and insights about personal finance, building lasting wealth, and supercharging your career growth.

Expect bold conversations, immersive workshops, and content tracks that hand you a playbook for building real wealth. You'll leave with clarity on your finances, a strong sense of belonging to a tribe that "gets it," and a renewed sense of confidence about your financial future.

The Naira Life Con will be held in Lagos on August 8, 2025. And because you're here: early bird tickets are available right now, exclusively for salary week at a 30% discount!

*This offer is only for a limited time.

Spread the word and share this link with your network: The Naira Life Con.

In this letter:

• #NairaLife: This Social Media Hustler Went From ₦100k/Month to $3k in 5 Years. How?
• Love Currency: This Tech Sis Earns ₦750k/Month, but Her Partner Will Never Know
• “I Hit $80k, Crashed Below Zero, Then Built My Way Back” — An Artist’s Wild Ride Through Digital Art, NFTs and Sculpture
• Ask Aunty M: How Do I Build My Emergency Savings Separate From My Regular Savings?
• Where The Money At?!

The 31-year-old in this #NairaLife lasted two years in the corporate life before he decided it wasn’t for him. His decision worked out.

Freelancing has helped him increase his income by over 400% in five years. Now, he wants to increase his risk appetite.

Obiex is built for people who move fast. Buy, sell, or swap BTC, USDT, and NGNX instantly. No waiting for confirmation. No fees. Just tap, swap, done.

*Laura (31) and *Darryl’s (33) whirlwind romance started unexpectedly, but Laura has always kept a clear head regarding money in the relationship.

For #LoveCurrency, she shares why she’ll never tell Darryl how much she earns and why she isn’t bothered about their future. Read the full story here

Who says premium phones are for big spenders only?

Subscribe to a plan and spread payment across 24 months with Altmobile today.

In 2022, Anthony Azekwoh had made over $80k selling digital art at the peak of the NFT boom. Then one day, he crashed below zero.

Here's how he rebuilt from scratch, creating a thriving, sustainable art business in a fast-changing creative economy. Read the full story

You’ve figured out survival—now it’s time to unlock growth. Join 1,000+ Nigerians at The Naira Life Con by Zikoko for a day of real, compelling conversations. Are you scaling your hustle, building a business, or chasing financial freedom? This is where stories meet strategy.

Expect powerful panels, top-tier speakers, and the community support you need to stack, scale and sustain wealth.

I'm a lawyer and work as a legal and compliance officer for a finance company. My monthly income is ₦640,000. I have side incomes from CAC, legal consulting and the like that bring about ₦100-₦150k monthly, but this is not steady. While I have a good savings culture, I'm afraid I don't have emergency funds, and I also don't know if my savings are commensurate with what I earn. Mind you, I have spent the past two years preparing for grad school in the US, and I honestly believe that is the next step forward for my career. In 2022, I saved about ₦4 million, which is down about ₦2.5 million. The rest went into paying for transcripts, LSAC, my parents' hospital bills, etc. However, I'm sure that that amount should triple between now and next year's fall. I save ₦300k monthly from my earnings, and I don't know if that amount should double. I also have some investments here and there in the money market, commercial paper, real estate, shares, and dollar fixed deposits -- this should be about half a million. I also want to improve oan this. I used to have self-sponsored health insurance but stopped when they failed to pay for my new glasses. It felt like I was dashing money to people who didn't care about me. How do I have emergency savings separate from my regular savings? Also, do I need to do better with my savings? I'm the first child; although the black tax is there, it is not a must. I give what I can when I can. - Sugar, 28

Hi Sugar, thanks for writing in. Congrats on your job and your great salary + side hustles. You are very thoughtful about your finances and your life, so kudos.

The first step would be to house your emergency savings separately from all your other money. You already know how to save; you just need to have all your savings goals in separate accounts to track how much you have to reach your goal accurately. I gather that your priorities are an emergency fund, a black tax fund, and a grad school/japa fund. I suggest opening a high-interest account for each of these and contributing to them monthly. This way, if hospital bills pop up, you won't be taking from your grad school funds to help out. You may want to consider saving in dollars for things like your grad school fund because of the devaluation of the Naira.

You also asked if ₦300k is enough to save. Only you can answer that because it depends on your goals and the timeframe they need to be achieved. ₦300k is an amazing amount if you want to save ₦3.6m in a year, but if you need to save ₦5m in a year, it's not.

So, I want you to work backwards…what are your financial goals? How long do you have to save up for them? Once you know that, you can calculate how much you need to save toward each goal to reach your goals. Also, remember to account for your expenses.

I hope this helps.

Xoxo, Reni

• If you're here, you probably have a money or work dilemma. Ask your question and we'll figure out an actionable solution for you.

We can't say we're about the money and not actually help you find the money.

So we've compiled a list of job opportunities for you. Make sure you share this with anyone who might need it because in this community, we look out for each other.

Again, don’t mention. We gatchu.

• Digital Growth Manager - Queens MCPS
• SME Underwriter - RenMoney
• Head, Social Investment & Strategic Partnerships - FIRST Exploration & Petroleum Development Company
• Economist - Oando
• Web Experience Engineer - Paystack
• Executive Assistant/HR Officer - Dangote

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All good things must come to an end. But not this good thing. We’ll be back next week.

In the meantime, keep reading Zikoko’s articles and be sure to share the love.

See you next week...

Yours cashly,

Toheeb,

Zikoko's "OG" Mr. Money

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