Living on a tight budget can be a daunting task, but when faced with the challenge of surviving on a mere ₦10,000 a month in Nigeria, I decided to embrace my inner “Idan” (a resourceful and thrifty individual) and turn it into a hilarious adventure. Join me as I recount the creative strategies, bizarre situations, and downright comical experiences that unfolded during my quest to stretch every Naira and live like an “Idan.”
First thing once that money land, take out 1k from tithe because that’s an assurance from God that the 10k would increase next month. So now I am left with 9k for the month.
The next thing was to hit the market, its easier to buy foodstuffs from scratch and make your own food than buying bukka food every day, my budget was 5k to buy foodstuff
As I got to the market and saw the prices of goods I first let out two ‘hei God’ before I started buying. I walked around the market to find the cheapest of foodstuffs that my money can buy, idan no dey look for quality but quantity.
‘Hei god’ – I yelled for the 4th time when I heard a paint of garri had doubled its price from when last I bought it, and even though my eyesight was already crumbling, garri was still an essential food cause it was my favorite ( yes I’m serious)
I didn’t spend up to an hour in that market and the money left in my hand was 100 naira, what I bought I don’t even know. in order to stay fit I decided to trek to my house and not because I didn’t have enough money for transport – idan dey always dey fit
So I had 4k left and I had to remove money for Nepa bill, and water, but then again idan no dey use light so instead of buying power of 1500, I bought candles on 500 -10 in a pack, if I want to charge phone ill go to church and charge( sense wan kill me)
Then I had to flex a little bit cause in this life, you’ll only live once, so I took 500 and bought a bottle of star radler and 2 pieces of Ponmo, but you’ll drink the beer very slowly so you can relax in the beer parlor
With the remaining 3k I used 1500 for transport, some days I walked to work so as to manage the money properly, but I was still thinking of how to invest the remaining cash, idan na investor, that is how I decided to fund my sporty bet account, and play some sure odds, and after waiting for Chelsea match to finish, my ticket cut leaving me with nothing but sorrows.
Luckily for me, I had the trusted saver that has been pulling up for me since day one, my bucket of garri was still plenty so I knew I had food for the rest of the month, and even tho milk no dey, idan no dey drink oyinbo garri.
Living like an “Idan” on ₦10,000 a month taught me valuable lessons about resourcefulness, creativity, and the power of laughter. It showed me that with good planning and management
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