When this #NairaLife started a conversation online about savings culture, Gabriel* (28) saw himself in the subject. He talks about having millions saved but refusing to spend more than 鈧20k per month, instead choosing to seek bailouts from friends.
This is Gabriel鈥檚 story, as told to Boluwatife
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I don鈥檛 know if I suffer from a chronic case of stinginess, but I have this chronic need to save money. I don鈥檛 have any issues with spending other people鈥檚 money, but I draw the line when it comes to mine.
I鈥檓 what my parents like to call a 鈥渕iracle baby鈥. I have just one sibling, and he鈥檚 13 years older than me. After my parents had my brother, they tried for years for another child, and eventually had me when they鈥檇 given up. By then, they鈥檇 spent so much on fertility treatments which really drained their finances. By the time I came around, they didn鈥檛 have money, but to them, I was an answered prayer.
I didn鈥檛 realise how bad the situation was until I was around eight or nine. If I ate twice a day, it meant my parents could only eat once that day. I watched as my brother worked crazy hard to support us financially. And it looked like he鈥檇 actually be the one to lift us from the depths of poverty. Around that time, he made enough to move us out of our one-room apartment in Bariga. But he decided to invest the rent money and the investment flopped. It was back to square one, and we never recovered.
I think that鈥檚 when my chronic need to save started. In my mind, if I don鈥檛 touch the money, nothing bad would happen to it. Anytime anyone dashed me money or asked me to keep the change after running an errand, I鈥檇 hide it inside a hole in the wall of our apartment. I preferred to beg my mates for sweets when they bought them with money they were given, rather than buy my own sweets.
Even when I managed to get into university, I kept feeling like I鈥檇 be made to drop out at any time over unpaid fees, so even though I helped my fellow students with assignments for a fee, I wouldn鈥檛 touch the money I made. I lived on handouts from my brother and squatted with friends. The few times I had to touch my savings for school expenses when my brother couldn鈥檛 afford it, it felt like I was physically hurting myself.
RELATED: #NairaLife: She鈥檚 Saving for Her Future, and She鈥檚 at $150k
I work now and earn an average of 鈧180k per month, but my mantra is, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have money鈥. My parents and friends think I earn 鈧60k because I鈥檓 trying to avoid black tax. I live on around 鈧20k every month only because I have to eat and take public transportation to get to work.
I鈥檓 a single homebody, so I never have to eat out or spend money on a girlfriend. My friends are amazing guys who make good money, and they鈥檙e always helping me with bailouts. I live with my best friend so rent isn鈥檛 a problem, though I try to handle our food expenses once in a while. The last time I bought myself clothes was three years ago. I still have a shirt I鈥檝e been wearing since 2016.
I sometimes feel bad that I can鈥檛 be honest with my friends about how much I earn, but them knowing would only increase their expectations of me, and when I refuse to spend, they may call me stingy. But I honestly can鈥檛 bring myself to spend unless it鈥檚 absolutely necessary. Even then, I hate spending my own money.
My savings are running into millions now, but I try not to focus on it. In this country, you鈥檙e one sickness away from depleting your entire account. One medical emergency can have you spending 鈧5 million like it鈥檚 鈧5k. So, it only makes sense to save for the rainy day.
I hope to japa one day, so I also save with that in mind, but the truth is, even if I don鈥檛 need money for proof of funds in the future, I鈥檇 still save like my life depends on it, because it does. There鈥檚 this assurance that seeing money in my bank account gives me. It tells me I鈥檇 never go back to that eight-year-old boy whose dream of leaving Bariga was unexpectedly cut short because of money.
*Name has been changed for the sake of anonymity.
