Figures released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics showed that salaries of most workers, especially the ones within the lower and middle social classes, do not last them beyond the middle of the month. The development makes them borrow with the promise to pay from the next wages, which often lead to bankruptcy.
To tackle the menace, several economists and financial analysts have urged workers to create strings of income and live within their income as that will help them avoid being cash-strapped, especially before the end of every month.
Create strings of income and live within your income as that will help avoid being cash-strapped, especially before the end of every month
They explained that for several Nigerians that work between 9 am and 5 pm, it is the time they embrace some strategies to avoid them resorting to unscrupulous activities just to augment their regular take-home.
Some of the tips are:
Rent your space: Do you have a property or space within your residence that has been fallow for months or years? If yes, you can rent it out even before you use it for what you actually reserve it for. Instead of wasting that space for years, you can rent it out to people that can pay as much as N10, 000 per month. Don’t forget that can pay your electricity bill at the end of the month.
Do you have a fenced plot of land somewhere that you are not ready to build now or you have not made up your mind on what you want to do with it? If yes, building a block of shops on such land is like killing two birds with a stone. While you make it impossible for land grabbers to encroach as the occupants will notify you whenever they observe that, the proceeds of the rent can pay ward’s schools fees and take care of other running costs in the house.
Invest in Stocks: Investing in stocks is a very good way of making an extra income by the side. In fact, it is like you send your money an errand to make more while you concentrate on other jobs. Though that comes with some risk and that is the reason it requires financial skills of stockbrokers. For instance, the stock market’s value rose from N9.7 trillion as at the end of 2016 to N13.6 trillion in 2017, making over N3 trillion profit.
Therefore, to make money from the market, it is wiser to invest in what experts call ‘penny stocks’. Those are stocks whose value are between N1.00 and N5.00 or lesser.
Lottery: If you play the lottery regularly and believe you have the luck and skill to win, then maybe you can earn N50,000 every month.
Blogging: Owning a blog is a big business these days in Nigeria. Blogging is an art of writing short articles about various sources of interest and publishing them online. They can be about your personal life, the society, politics, entertainment, gossip or a combination of all of them. All you need is a computer, phone, laptop or tablet. You can start blogging within minutes and there are numerous articles on the web about how to start a blog. You earn money from blogs when you have a lot of visitors. Advertisers see your visitors’ number and pay you top Naira just to have their ads on your blog. People can earn between N50, 000 and N2million per month by simply being a popular blogger.
Provide services with your skills or talent: Businesses and individuals always have a need for some form of service every now and then. It could be laundry, taxi, cleaning, teaching, coaching etc. Making money from a service depends on the type of skill you have and how much people value it. For example, if you are good at maths you can start a math lesson in your neighborhood for kids writing JAMB lessons. If you are good at sport like football, you can start a coaching session for kids in your estate. Parents are willing to pay for these services when they see them.
Work on off-days: If you have the strength to work an extra day or two, then why not trying working weekends for a few extra hours. You can take an extra job in places where weekend jobs are needed. Jobs that come to mind are event planning jobs, club’s, restaurant’s, teaching, singing, dancing, etc.
