7 Ways A Gen Z Woman Can Save Money & Live Life

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More Moni

9 min readMar 31, 2023

Written by: Toyosi Adebusuyi

Have you ever just looked at your finances and wondered, “am I the problem, or am I just terrible with money?” Well, most times, it’s not you. It’s just what it is. You have needs, and you fund them with money. Or, would you rather have money stacked up somewhere and starve? Of course not.

A few days ago I was ranting to my friend about how I need to find ways to increase my income because my salary was beginning to look really small. I calculated all my important recurring expenses and it occurred to me that I was saving a chunk of my income and by the time I subtracted the cost of my needs, I almost had nothing for flenjo (enjoyment). It got me thinking because I remember I used to earn way little, and I was still saving up from that.

I officially started earning money towards the end of 2020 and my first salary was around N40,000. As a student struggling with COVID and ASUU break, that was a lot of money because I was also working from home. I was living the life, or so I thought. I mean, I remember saving 25–30k monthly to get my first iPhone 8 and when I did, I felt so proud of myself. Now, N40k feels like N4k and N100k feels like N10k and I’m not even capping.

When it comes to managing money in your teen years and early twenties, it can be tricky. You may find yourself getting stuck between a lot of things, like:

Should I save this money? Or should I spend it on a passion project?
My salary is small and I spend a lot on transport, how can I save again, abeg?
At the end of the day, I cannot kill myself. YOLO! And then you drink garri for the next few days.

I’m not exactly going to school you about the things to do with your money, but I promise that if you keep the next few things I’m about to tell you in mind, you’ll feel better about some of your financial decisions. Stay with me.

Set goals for yourself

When the year started, I had a goal for the amount of money I wanted to end the year with. I’m not close, but I’m on the journey to reaching my goals. I’ve also faced some financial challenges I’ve had to deal with which has made the process slower, but I’m not going to put any pressure on myself. Life happens and sometimes, you just have to deal with it. Na who dey alive dey chop life.

Your goals don’t also have to be monetary. It can be about you finally bagging that certification you need to get you to your next level. Just make sure to set smaller goals you can track on your way to achieving these things. Not sure what kind of goals to set? You can find some inspiration here.

If you can’t save from little, you can’t save from much.

See, our parents may have lied about many things but they didn’t lie about this one. My earliest memory of saving from little was in SS3. But, before then, I used to save all my free money with my mother. As you would assume, she scammed me. That money entered voicemail.

Moving on, my mummy would give me N200 daily and I saved from that daily allowance to buy a birthday gift for my boyfriend. I didn’t mind depriving myself of the little things that weren’t important in the meantime because buying that gift was very important to me. The relationship ended in shambles but you get the point.

The truth is that we’re very young but we can also form habits that would help us become financially smart. A lot of Gen Z are between the ages of 11–26 which means some of us have started earning money. No matter how little that money is, you can save something. A bulk of the things I’ve had to do for myself have been largely sponsored by me, and it’s not because I earn a lot of money. It’s due to the savings habit I’ve cultivated over the years. It’s the first thing I do when I receive my salary.

Also bear in mind that as much as you think you’re young, you would need to do certain things for and by yourself, especially when you’re just starting life.

Take, for example, you want to be a filmmaker but right now, you’re working as an intern at a Fintech company, earning some money. Asides from trying to use free resources to acquire some skills in that area, you may also want to produce your first short film. It could even be a fun video with friends. Even if you don’t need anything, you’ll at least need a tripod and microphones. If you’re from an average family with little to no support, you may need to buy these tools yourself. And, whose passion would suffer if they’re unable to save some money? You get it.

Do I need to remind you to save on Moni? Get that 21% interest per annum, please.

Of course, I don’t expect you to save if you’re not earning money. That’s a totally different story. What you should be focusing on is learning how to acquire skills you can monetise. You can research and find free and paid courses that connect with you using any of the websites below.

It’s not you, it’s inflation.

Sometimes you really try your best to plan, budget, save, reduce impulse buys, and so on but it just feels like your efforts are in vain and still, you can’t even tell if you’re doing anything wrong and need to make any changes. It’s not you, it’s inflation.

I recently went to buy a carton of noodles and was told the prize was N4,800. I screamed. I went ahead to inquire about the price of refilled milk and the price I heard almost made me cry. This same thing applied to other costs I had to tackle within the month and I just said to myself, you know what? “Toyosi, we need to make some adjustments. We need to reduce our savings.”

Situations will arise where you’ll need to make some financial decisions that may make you question your financial intelligence. You’ll need to put yourself first in such situations because, at the end of the day, you have no control over price increases. Do away with the pressure of running the race to achieve a financial goal that would cost you your sanity, comfort, and important aspects of your lifestyle.

Imagine buying small quantities of that carton of noodles and sachets of milk thinking I’m saving money, I’ll be really doing myself because that would be even more costly. I gotta put myself first, you know?

You must look out for yourself, too.

Spend that money

If you’re looking for the person who used to deprive herself of basic things just to save 60–80% of her salary, that girl is me. I’ll need to do important things but I’ll be crying while that money sits in my savings account, knowing fully well I’d be spending that money on something beneficial to me. But, not anymore.

You’ve forgotten you worked for that money. Abi, wasn’t it you who stayed up typing that proposal, sending those emails, making those product alterations and doing the many things you were paid to do?

Ahan, you can’t tell me you don’t deserve a spa day or a nice piece of clothing to celebrate that hard work. Chelsea, come on now.

When you receive your salary this month, either from your business or employer, do something beautiful for yourself. Take yourself out. Buy a nice piece of sneakers. Order that hair. Buy those content creation tools. You’re not a robot! So as you’re working hard to make that money, work hard to enjoy it, too.

Cheers to a life that doesn’t give suffer head!

Find peace with your past money mistakes

Earlier this week, I received a text from my cousin asking for money. According to him, he had used his school fees to produce some music tracks and needed me to reimburse him because the school portal was closing the next day. When I first read the message, my first thought was “the audacity”. How can you play with your school fees like that, eh? But then again, his situation reminded me of some of my past money mistakes, especially those from the University. There were so many occasions where I poorly managed my finances.

The first time I made a terrible money mistake was in my second year at the University Of Ilorin. My hostel mates had convinced me to invest in a “get 10k from 5k” Ponzi scheme. I didn’t even bother to give it much thought; I immediately left for the bank to deposit my last N5000. Ladies and gentlemen, immediately I learnt my money was gone, I sat on my bed and wept like a lost monkey. I called my mum, cried and begged for mercy, and even though she was extremely disappointed in me, she bailed me out. Did I still invest in other Ponzi schemes? Yes, and at all those points, I learnt different lessons. It wasn’t until I read about Ponzi schemes and realised they were never going to be a success, I finally stopped.

However, after I stopped, I also found out that I mourned all my money lost for months. I kept on thinking about all the things I could have done better, but these thoughts didn’t help to ease my guilt. What helped me to move on was my ability to accept that I didn’t know better and made a mistake, one which was never going to happen again.

We all make money mistakes; yours may not be a ponzi scheme, it may be something else like getting scammed by a business you didn’t do enough research about, or even borrowing somebody you didn’t really know a huge sum of money. Whatever mistakes you must have made? Please, let them go and focus on the present and how to make the future better.

A closed mouth is…

Nobody knows it all, we’re all just packaging. You either discuss your financial situation with people you know deeply care about you or use the services of a financial advisor. I know a friend who got a well-paying job after informing a friend she was job hunting. Not sure where or how to save? How to invest? How to get a job? When to ask for a raise? How to grow your income? Talk to people. Seek guidance from your community.

There is so much information you can’t find on the internet, you’d only be able to find answers to some of those questions you have in between conversations with people. So, don’t be quiet about your money situation. Use your voice to open doors for yourself and your bank account. Speaking of doors, you should also tell your friend to save on Moni. Don’t keep all that interest to yourself.

I know there are also people who intentionally hoard information about money-making possibilities from their friends. Hmm, that’s not good o, it’s witchcraft behaviour, please.

Most impulse buys are not worth it

Early last year, I was Miss buy-it-all. Any timeI spotted something pretty, I would just indulge and buy. They brought me so much joy and happiness in the moment, but those habits were not beneficial to me. It was even worse when I see vendors running a sale. I need am o, I no need am o, I’ll just buy it.

Some impulse buys can be good, some o, some. But, others are just terrible ideas. I discovered I was investing in things I didn’t need and not focusing on the ones that were important to my present. Eg buying a fine two-piece club wear when I haven’t even been to a club in months. Or, buying two pairs of shoes that were only suitable for rare occasions when I mostly participated in casual gatherings and should be looking at buying more sandals and low-heeled shoes.

You may also find out that by the time you indulge most of your impulsive desires, you have to suffer and endure for a while which makes you unhappy again, and then you need something else to spark joy. It’s a never-ending cycle, you know? You can learn how to practise intentional buying here.

In conclusion, money management starts with your mind. If you’ve made up your mind to be intentional about money, nothing will stop you from achieving that goal. Also, make sure to set realistic goals and timelines for yourself when planning. Please, pace yourself.

I hope that these tips are realistic enough for you to kickstart or continue your financial management journey. Write to you soon.