“Live every day like it’s your last”. I think I might have taken this advice way too literally, but in my defence, something gave me this conviction—on Christmas morning 2021, I was going home from work and I witnessed an accident on Third Mainland Bridge that claimed the life of a young woman who was knocked down from a motorcycle. As our car got closer to the scene, I saw her body lying cold on the floor with some ingredients splattered all over the place and I just thought of the delicious meal she envisaged she’d make with those ingredients and her other plans for that day, all, gone up in smoke in a twinkle of an eye. I was so sad and full of regret on her behalf for those plans she put off till Christmas day and then and there I made my first New Year’s resolution to live my life to the fullest.
The first thing I did was activate my “If I perish, I perish” mode by ditching my budget and just going with the flow. Anytime the angel of sense whispered reason into my ears, the angel of downfall shouted in a clear crisp tone, “What if today were your last!” Of course, the loud voice always won. Thinking of it now, I kind of blame the angel of sense for whispering instead of shouting.
When you do not have a budget, you open the floodgates of impulse buying and boy was my cart flooded. It didn’t even help matters that my office was close to Balogun Market on the Island. It was just as if each time I raised my head for some air, there was an item right in my face screaming, “Buy me now!” This temptation, I gave into every single time.
Those outfits from Balogun needed to be seen and the perfect excuse to show them off was eating out. We know how expensive eating out in Lagos is. So, why in heaven’s name was I doing this every single week? This was a clear invitation to a buffet of disaster.
As if eating out too much wasn’t enough, tell me why I went to rent a house in Lekki a few days after Christmas in 2021 when I clearly knew that rent was frigging expensive in that place? Even though I knew this was a bit beyond my pay grade, I managed to convince myself that it was because I wanted a place close to my office in Marina. But what happened to Yaba and Surulere? Are they not also close to the Island? If not that I wanted to keep up with the Joneses—I wanted to also join the “I stay on the island” gang, tell me again what I went to look for in Lekki with their expensive lifestyle.
Now I have joined and my rent of N1.5 million is due in December 2022. Hey God! Wasn’t it just now that we were in January, how come we are in September already? This meant my rent was due in 3 months’ time and with the way I had been splurging, I knew trouble was brewing because I had only N800k and I wasn’t sure of getting the balance before that time. It was as if my landlord was waiting for me every single night in my dreams (more like nightmares) to remind me of the consequences of not paying my rent when due. The dreams were so lucid that they had me waking up in the middle of the night covered in sweat in a fully air-conditioned room. I began to picture myself homeless. What! Me, a whole baby girl? God forbid!
I needed to get out of this mess that I clearly put myself in and I needed to get out fast! But the question was how? I needed a miracle at that point. God, please come through for your baby. During this “trying” period, the angel of sense returned and he was welcomed with open arms and wide open ears, he kept on saying to me “You should have saved”. Yeah, my dear angel was rubbing it in. So, I decided to go on Twitter to read some “bants” to ease my sad heart and boom I saw an ad on UBA Super Savers Promo to run from September to December and all I had to do was save N5k or more for that period to qualify for a draw in December where I could win a whopping N5 million. N5k only? Of course, nobody had to tell me twice.
I downloaded the UBA mobile app, opened a savings account and deposited N5k in it and in subsequent months I deposited more. I did this hoping that luck would shine on me and I would win just about enough amount to complete my rent. So, you can imagine the way I screamed when I got the call from UBA that I had won N2 million. I almost danced and sang “He’s a miracle working God” from the Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge to Alexander Street, Ikoyi. Not only did I pay my rent but I also had enough money to take a trip to Zanzibar. I’m just joking. I saved up the balance in my UBA account and opened my path to financial freedom.
Hmm…that’s how my bad money habits almost made me homeless in Lagos but UBA Super Savers Promo did not allow my enemies to mock me and because I am a good person, I decided to share my story with you so that you will not make the same mistakes I made. It’s that time of the year again and this time around the winnings have been doubled! So, just open a UBA account if you do not have one already, save, and win. Head on over to the UBA Super Savers page to find out all you need to know about this amazing opportunity to become a millionaire. Ciao!
Read Also: 4 Ways to Stay Out of Debt
