BLOOM AND GROW

Developing good financial habits is the key to wealth and abundance. It's not about how much money you have currently. It's about having the right mindset about personal finance.  It's time to break these bad habits and begin the work of developing better ones.    1. Living Paycheck to Paycheck.  Whether it is because you love to spend all the money you earn or because jobs offering better pay are scare, this situation is dangerous.  The first step to financial freedom is getting out of this cycle. So, first, find a job that allows you to put some money aside for personal development and financial investments. Also, spending everything you earn is going to make you broke and in debt in the long run.  2. Not taking Control of Your Career:  Even if you have a good job and all is going steady for you, don't settle for good, there is always a next level to step into. keep improving your body of knowledge and continue networking.  3. Hoarding Money and Never Having Fun.  Thi

I know for sure that the best way to set yourself up for success is to change your mindset about life and money. So I thought very well about how I would spend 25,000 Naira if I was to spend it on personal development. Here are a few of my recommendations.  1. Wide Awake: The Future is Waiting Within You By Erwin McManus  Erwin covers everything from activating your potential to understanding your value system and creating a future bigger than you. I read this book a few years ago but it is still one of the best books I own. I bought it at a thrift shop; can you imagine? Anyway, here are a few quotes from Wide Awake.   "If your dreams become the future of humanity, would this be a better world?" "Sometimes the limitations you are willing to accept establish the boundaries of your existence" "Dreams are your palette but life is your canvas" "The world we create in our heads is the world we will create through our actions" 2. A Gym Subscription:  T

She is one of the most successful figures in new media in this part of the world and to put it simply, Linda Ikeji is rich! To celebrate her 40th birthday, Linda decided to buy herself 85 shoes, 35 handbags, and a new automobile. I know a lot of people are probably saying she should have put the money to better use by helping the less privileged,  but honestly, I  think that she deserves to spend her hard-earned money, the way she sees fit.  I also think it's important for us to learn how to  use our good stuff.   We should have a balance between saving for later and spending in the present. Constantly delaying gratification is like saving great sex for old age. See! That does not make sense. It's also important to remember that with social media, fame is very important. Not discounting that her blog rakes in millions of Naira daily but doing stuff like this will make her more money one way or another.  Lastly, she said it herself, we should not be reckless except we can truly

This article was inspired by a discussion I had with a friend recently. He had bought a motorcycle for someone on a hire purchase agreement. Well, needless to say, the transaction ended in premium tears. So briefly, I will discuss why the transportation or logistics business is a No for most working-class Nigerians looking to invest their income and other money mistakes I see a lot of new earners making.  1. Transportation business:  It is difficult to find drivers or riders with integrity to hire. My dad did this business full-time for 20 years so I saw close-up the difficulties in receiving the agreed remittances from the drivers.  Be prepared for the usual excuses: police exhortation, traffic jams, and so on. So, this is not the sort of investment for anyone who is fully engaged at a tasking 9-5. You need time to monitor the riders closely and you need to be very street smart to engage these guys. However, I  agree that the logistics business is huge at the moment and there are man

We work really hard in order to live well and take care of our loved ones. Some people say that money burns the pocket. That is, money is always hot and never enough. But I think that we can lead meaningful lives with the money we have while we work towards having more.  I constantly live on a budget. It's just my nature regardless of how much I earn. Over the years, I have learned a thing or two about maximizing my income. If you earn 100k or less per month in Lagos, the following tips will guide you well.  1. Divide Your Salary into Portions:  In my opinion, fifty percent (50%) of your income should go into living expenses and this should include housing, transport, electricity, groceries, and other expenses related to keeping your work-life in motion. Then twenty 25% should go into meeting your lifestyle needs in terms of health, fitness, fashion, dining, and holidays. Budget another twenty percent (20%)  for savings and  5% (five percent) towards an educational fund.  So: 50%: 

Crowdyvest About a week ago, Farmcrowdy announced that we they had launched a new crowd-funding business called Crowdyvest. Crowdyvest is a morphed version of Farmcrowdy which enables customers to invest in other sectors of the economy (technology, finance and transportation) in addition to agriculture.  Well, the first investment on crowdyvest.com (a beef processing project selling at 60,000 Naira per unit with returns of 14% for a 6 month tenure) went live last Tuesday, the 6th of August. Here are some things to consider before deciding to invest with them.  Founder Onyeka Akumah 1. The founder .  Crowdyvest's founder, Onyeka Akumah, seems passionate about making agriculture work effectively and efficiently in Nigeria. He's also the founder of the online forum (agricsquare) for discussions regarding agriculture. Before Farmcrowdy, he had worked with Deloitte, Jumia, British council, Konga and so on. 2. Age of business:  New businesses are at a hig