iEphraim

So you are a single guy, working on the Island, earning at least 100k monthly and you are contemplating whether to live in Iyana Ipaja or Maryland, Egbeda or Yaba, Abule-Egba or Surulere, Okokomaiko or Ikeja? Let me help you break it down. A lot of factors need to be considered before making this decision. Most young people I see consider the huge rent they must pay to landlords in the “mainland highbrow”. This is where they get it wrong! You don’t consider that first, you need to sit down and do the calculations. Have you considered the transport fare you will pay daily to and fro work? How about the Danfo and Conductor Wahala? Did you consider the number of hours you will spend (waste) on the road to and fro work? Proximity to everywhere? How about the health implications? It is usually not advisable to spend more than 30% of your salary as rent. So, you have 30k from your 100k monthly salary which is 360k to pay for your rent. I am sure you can get a decent self-contain apartment in...

Finance has been identified as a major factor in any relationship and more so in a marriage relationship. If not properly checked money issue can trigger arguments, fights and ultimately separation/divorce. It is important to discuss this issue as soon as you are getting attached to that special somebody to avoid unnecessary toxic air. From my little experience and observation in life, I have identified three (3) different ways I have seen families manage their finances.   I will only highlight the three ways while you determine which you prefer and what will work for you. Since you are in a relationship, I have assumed that you love (you noticed I did not use trust) each other. First of all, we have the relationship where the man is the all-in-all. This category is where the man’s money is our money and the woman’s money is her money. A lot of women prefer this as it gives them undue advantage even when they earn as much as their man (if not more). To this categories of women, #w...

see part 1 In this part, I will be highlighting some of the activities you can engage in outside work. If I may add,t you can also choose to close early from work and do some of these activities. Travelling/Vacation: Someone once said, traveling is a form of learning and I totally agree. However, that motivation is good for those who don’t like travelling for the fun of it. Just before you mention the financial constraints, note that you don’t need to travel far away. You can travel to the next street, just leave home and be away! Do Sleepovers: Do you really need a breakdown of this? Okay, this means sleep anywhere other than your house. You could go visit a friend, family or hotel. This breaks the routine, helps you to interact with others outside your regular cycle. Eat out – I know you do this sometimes at work. However, do this more regularly even when you are outside work. At least ones in a quarter, have dinner/lunch with that special somebody at a five star hotel (any...

I have seen many people; old and young make the same mistake every now and then in the quest to be make money quickly. I will attempt to show you how.       Firstly, let’s deal with your GREED! There is an element of greed in everyone, no matter how small. However, you must try to tame your greed level by first thinking with your BRAIN before anything else. Otherwise, you will end up frustrated or swindled.  Think about this, someone else already has the money you are aiming at. Guess what? That person is not satisfied! Ask the richest persons in the world if they are satisfied. So, even if you are Bill Gate you will still want more. Capisce ? Why do you need the money? This is probably a silly question. Is it? My grandma will always say, when motive is not defined, idea is distorted. Define your motive truthfully and justify why you think you really deserve to go on with the decision. Don’t try to deceive yourself. This self-examination will gives a clear mi...

Is it absolutely possible to have this in real life? Why is this important? How can one achieve this? I will try to answer these questions the best way I can in this piece.   Is it absolutely possible to have this in real life? The obvious answer is yes. The work system naturally makes allowance for work life balance by providing what they tagged, "Annual Leave". The annual leave period rages from10 to 40 days depending on organization and rank of the individual. This tag is not for decoration, it is for real! You are not expected to work throughout the year, you need to take a break that is the design. Whether you take your annual leave or not is a different ball game. The choice is actually yours to make. Why is this important? Taking your leave is your responsibility if you are serious about finding balance. You need to deliberately and consciously make that decision for a number of reasons. First off, your health! Your body is not a machine, even machines need breaks....

Entrepreneurship, Career and IT Blog: The Secrets to Passing ICAN PE1 Exams (Part 1)

This piece is dedicated to my good friend. I know she won’t want her name mentioned here but she will definitely be among the first people to read this. Thank you for the inspiration to write this. At different times in life, we expect to move to the next stage; like after primary school, secondary school, then JAMB, then University, then get a job, then get married, have children, watch them grow, and live happily ever after with your family…hmmm!!! Life would indeed have been so interesting without waiting for too long at any of the stages, it’d have been all trilling and bliss etc, but many a time, what we expect and how we want things to turn out do not always happen the way we expect. The worst part of the whole thing is that those we think/know we are better than always get past us along the way. And we wonder why our case was different. Some would even ask, “God, but why me?” This is a difficult situation to be believe me, I’ve been there not once and not twice. You’ll feel inad...