- Your pay does not determine your wealth, you can get a high pay yet be broke
- Making a budget is the first step to financial freedom
I came across a brain teaser while strolling through social media; “Can you marry someone that earns N50,000 salary?”
Mixed reactions welcomed this question and I couldn’t but ask myself too, if it’s really possible to survive on N50,000 monthly in today’s Nigeria not too talk of raising a family.
Worthy of note is the inflation rate that keeps skyrocketing (rising to 13.7% in the last three months).
Let’s digress a little, do you know there are people who earn below N50,000 today, married with kids? That could be your definition of poverty. However, poverty is the financial state of your mind.
In his book titled “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” Robert Kiyosaki distinguished the difference between being broke and being poor, being broke is temporary while being poor (poverty) is eternal.
With that distinction, you should begin to ask yourself, if you are broke or poor. Gladly, a N50,000 earner can be broke but may not be poor if he/she does his/her assignment accurately.
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I will do more of Kiyosaki’s book review in the course of this discussion, kindly open your mind as I take you on a trip to financial education on how to manage your hard-earned salary.
Is Fifty Thousand Naira a Small Pay?
Sincerely, NO is the answer.
Basically, at a devastating moment where artificial intelligence (AI) is gradually taking over many jobs and rendering employees useless. In a nation where government is still debating on N30,000 minimum wage.
Therefore, N50,000 is not a little pay for those who differentiate needs from wants and satisfy their needs before wants.
You can read my previous post where I briefly distinguished between wants and needs.
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How to Survive with N50,000 in a Month
The only way to make N50,000 enough for you in a month is by “BUDGETING.”
Budgeting simply means financial planning. It shows the income (revenue) and projected expenditures.
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The best and rewarding way to make your N50,000 enough for you, is by making a budget before the income arrives. I have explained some cogent steps you need to make a budget in the subsequent section.
How to make a personal budget
Identify your source of income: You need to know your source of income and the amount you are earning before you start spending the income.
Classify your Expenses: You need to classify your expenses to these four (4) categories: Savings, bare bones, financial goals, and fun expenses.
The first thing you do as soon as you receive your pay is deduct the savings. Bare bones are your needs (most important items you must have). Financial goals are your visions that could be achieved with fund. Fun expenses on the other hand are your wants (you may or may not satisfy them).
Kiyosaki wrote that “rich people acquire assets. The poor and middle class acquire liabilities that they think are assets.” This implies that you become a poor man the moment you begin to garner liabilities instead of assets.
Liability is anything that takes from your pocket without replacement, while assets takes from your pocket and replaces in multitude.
This suffices to say that, with that little you get, deducting 10% as investment/savings monthly is a step to financial freedom.
Your bare bones are those things that are essential to you. I call them my need. I need food, I need shelter/rent, I need to transport myself, I need to pay the utility bills etc.
As a N50,000 salary-earner you should know that living in a 5-8k rent per month apartment is wise compared to 15-20k/month apartment, eating out in expensive restaurant is not also a wise idea, buying a car is also out of it.
Spending according to what you earn is ideal for you.
Note as your income increases, let your savings feel it first before any other expenses.
Financial goals is what you project to achieve with your fund. It could be to stay out of debt for the month, to increase your emergency fund vault.
Fun expenses are your wants, if you do not satisfy them; it won’t affect you. Some examples are eating in expensive restaurants, clubbing and other activities that you do.
Now that you are aware of the important things to note about making budget; let’s design a budget for a N50k guy working in Lagos.
Sample Budget for the month of January:
Income: N50,000
Expenses
Savings: N5,000
Bare Bones:
Rent: N7,000
Food: N10,000
Utility bills (power, sanitation, security, others): N2,000
Transport: 15,000
Financial Goal:
Emergency Fund: N2,000 monthly
Fun Expenses
Clothing(A top, pair of trousers and slipper): N6,000
Airtime & Data Subscription: N3,000
Pocket Money: N3,000
This is just a sample Budget for a N50,000 salary-earner. Though, the guy might be interested in increasing his expenses, he has to cut the expense, extend it to the next month or multiply his source of income to achieve that.
With this discussion, do you think marriage is ideal for this guy earning N50,000 monthly, the answer is: if he is ready to seek other financial opportunities that would cover his rising expenses.
Marriage should give you a sense of responsibility that would motivate you to search for viable and legalize financial opportunity.
However, Marriage is an adventure for the brave.
Don’t ask me if I would be getting married soon though ??, I still want to enjoy my bachelor stage to the brim??.
Did you find this impactful, share! Do you have a thought you want to share about this, use the comment box below to share with us.
