This week in How I Spend It: Lekki Princess Starts Dating Again, we hear from a young woman who spends far above her means (and she has means!). She’s also recovering from heartbreak. Does she get a pass?
How I Spend It is a money diary, where we’re particular about how young women (working and unemployed) spend their money. To help you grow financially, we want to use your stories to create awareness about spending. So we’re asking young women to keep a diary of how they spend every kobo. You can learn how to submit your diary anonymously for publishing here!
Position: Analyst
Industry: Oil & Gas (upstream)
Age: 28
Location: Lagos, Nigeria
Salary: N7 million
Paycheck Amount (1x/month): N403,000
Side hustle: 200k/monthly in business plan/strategy projects.
Monthly Expenses
Rent: ₦0 (I live with my parents.)
Studies: $49 (Coursera)
Fuel: ₦40,000.
Utilities: ₦0
Internet: ₦10,000 on MTN for 25G (usually enough)
Gym: ₦50,000
Toll Gate: ₦14,000
Phone: ₦5,000 for voice calls
Health/Dental/Vision Insurance: N0 (Company provides this even though it’s crappy)
Netflix: $11.99
Spotify: $9.99
Newyork times: usually $15 USD
Cloud Storage Apple: ₦900
Beauty: ₦45,000 (hair, mani/pedi, wax)
TOTAL: $85.98 and ₦164,900
OTHER DETAILS:
Yearly Expenditures
Google Cloud: ₦3,900
Trade publication 1: $395
Trade publication 2: $80
Pension: ₦1,098,000
Investment/Savings: ₦300,000 So pathetic, I know. I had ₦3,000,000 but I gave half of it out to a friend two years ago. I haven’t gotten paid back (why are people like this). Then I spent the other half on a vacation to Europe. No regrets
Day One
09:00 am. – I have breakfast at home overlooking the garden. The chef makes scrambled eggs and toast. Freshly squeezed juice : watermelon, pineapple cucumber. So good
Cost: ₦0 (Parents’ house)
10:30 am. – I’m going to buy some cupcakes, a friend, G, with whom I went on a few dates once is coming over for lunch. He’s in love with me, and I know it, but I’m craving the attention. It’s his birthday and I felt like doing something nice, so I invited him. I hate driving and my mom’s driver didn’t come today, so I have to take an Uber. The car ran out of fuel and stopped in the middle of Ozumba Mbadiwe. The driver then had to run and buy fuel. What a hot mess. I buy four cupcakes and two scoops of vanilla ice cream.
Cost: ₦4,800
Uber: ₦1,900, 2 stars
11:00 am. – I enjoy my Ice cream at Hans and René and contemplate how the new job I’ve been hoping for gave me an offer, with only a pathetic 50k increase. What am I doing with my life?
11:40 am. – Uber back home:
Cost: ₦2000, five stars.
4:00 pm. – G has left, and I realise I’m never really going to feel “ready” to start dating. Decide to take the plunge and pay for a speed dating night I’ve been stalking on social media. At the very least I’ll meet some interesting people ( men and women).
Cost: ₦6,500
7:00 pm. – Dinner is leftover rice from lunch
Cost: ₦0
Daily expense: ₦15,200
Day Two
7:00 am. – Off to work. Before I can enjoy my ride, I need to order something for one of my teammates, F. Typically for birthdays, I like to do something for everyone in my team. I also don’t want people to think I have favourites. I really can not afford this expenditure, but i don’t know what to do at this point.
Cost: ₦35,000 for small chops
12:30 pm. – My mom calls me to see if I can help out with my sister’s rent (in NYC) this month. I say I’ll do what I can. My parents are spending a lot of money on a house in the village. I think it’s irrational but no one cares what I think.
Cost: ₦200,000
2:00 pm. – For lunch I enjoy my packet of smallchops with my favourite colleague, O, in his office. I’m really glad I decided to shell out 35K. I wanted her to feel special. Mission accomplished.
8:00 pm. – Dinner is roasted plantain and pepper strew and a glass of the bottle of wine G bought me.
Cost: ₦0
Daily expense: ₦235,000
Day Three
7:30 am. – Off to work, a little late! I do my full morning skin routine. I wasn’t in the mood to hurry up. Face mask, Hyaluronic acid, Caudalie complexion serum, sun screen, etc. I grab my lunch box ,which I usually have for breakfast in the car. Breakfast is Moi Moi and stew.
Cost: ₦0
7:45 am. – I stop to buy fuel. I usually get a full tank without thinking, but this month it’s touch and go .
Cost: ₦3,000
8:30 pm. – I stop by my favourite coffee store on the way to work to buy a cup of coffee. I’m aware of how unnecessary this is but I’m attached to this coffee place because it’s where I met and fell in love with my ex. It’s also where he broke up with me (the first time).
Cost: ₦2000 Coffee and Croissant
1:00 pm. – my team goes for lunch, I typically skip lunch.
5:00 pm. – I meet with one of my girlfriends, M,at the Craft Gourmet for a quick drink, to lament over my love life and talk about her upcoming wedding! My type of balance.
Cost: ₦7,200
7:30 pm – I finally get home, traffic is more horrible than usual. Sometimes it makes me feel like I’m going to die. Thanks goodness for that gin and tonic
Dinner is mashed sweet potatoes and prawns
Cost: ₦0
8:50 pm. – I fall asleep watching Two Weeks notice for the 100th time and dreaming of my happy ending.
Daily expense: ₦12,200
Day Four
8:00 am. – Leave the house. Maybe I’m functionally depressed. My mornings are so scattered, no routine. I never want to wake up. It’s so bad.
8:30 am. – I buy a coffee and a croissant. On my way to work I’m listening to “WSJ Secrets of Wealthy Women” and then Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations.
Cost: ₦2,000
1:00 pm. – skip lunch. My friend O isn’t in the office today so I simply work throughout. I do remember to get up occasionally from my chair and walk around.
7:00 pm. – Still working on the commercials of a contract. Usually I would have left the office by now. I order dominos for my team. I really care about what they think of me.
Cost: ₦5,000
Daily Expense: ₦7,000
Day Five
7:30 am. I need to buy fuel
₦3,000
8:00 am. – I listen to Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations on my way to work. I stop to buy coffee and I walk through the giant foyer like usual to the coffee shop. But today, I feel like twirling with my arms stretched out wide. I get this feeling of overcoming deep down in my bones and I hear a whisper that says “you will get to higher ground.” I don’t even know what it means, but I feel it deep. We have a hearing with a regulator I have to hurry.
Cost: ₦1,200
2:30 pm. – Buy lunch for myself and my colleague, O . Chips, grilled chicken and spring rolls. I’ve been owing him lunch for the longest
Cost: ₦4,000
Daily expense: ₦8,200
Day Six
7:45 am. – Leave the house and since I need to use a different car, I have to buy fuel again! I can’t keep up with this.
Cost: ₦4000
8:15 am. – Breakfast in the car. White beans and red stew, and bbq chicken. Listening to SoundCity 98.5 SoundCity Fm.
Cost: ₦0
8:45 am. – Stop by one of my other favourite bakeries. Get a cup of coffee and a chocolate chip cookie for my afternoon sugar rush. One of the baristas has become something like a friend so I stay and talk for a bit about his living conditions because I recently watched a documentary on slums. I can’t help but believe that employers should be responsible for the welfare of their employees.
Cost: ₦1700 (Coffee + Cookie)
1:00 pm. – For lunch I eat the cookie I bought in the morning
5:00 pm. – I meet up with a new colleague who is based in one of our assets. (out of town). He’s in Lagos for the weekend and we’ve been talking on WhatsApp so we decide to meet for coffee. The meeting definitely has a few awkward silences but it really picks up at the end when other people I know show up. I’m quite happy I didn’t do my usual thing by leaving early. I guess I should learn to give situations a chance more .
Cost: ₦0 – I have no idea how much it cost (he paid because I was deeply engrossed in conversation with someone else)
Daily expense: N5,700
Day Seven
11:00 am. – Go out for breakfast with my parents at a new café
Cost: ₦0 but the bill was N39,500
12:30 pm – My dad decides he wants to buy my mom flowers. His cards aren’t working and I know things are a little tight for them because of all the retirement projects they’re working on. So I pay the bill.
Cost: ₦30,000
4:00 pm. – I really shouldn’t be looking at clothes (online) on account of my general lack of money! But I’m kind of excited about this speed dating thing. So I buy the dress from Asos. My brother’s girlfriend is coming in from London so she’ll bring it.
Cost: ₦75,000
6:00 pm. – My “cousin”, in the village sense of the word because I have no idea how we’re related, is around. She comes to sit with me awkwardly while I’m eating and clearly trying to watch a movie. This can only mean one thing – Money. She wants to learn how to type and use the computer in order to apply for a job that will sustain her while she pursues her studies. I’m quite happy to do this. Besides my theory is that I’m generous until I see you trying to take advantage of me, at which point you will never hear from me again.
Cost: ₦20,000
Daily expense: ₦125,000
Weekly total: ₦408,300
You can learn how to submit your How I Spend It Diaries here or if you’re ready to upload your own “How I Spend It” diary, go for it!
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