Educate Yourself on Common Online Scam Techniques

Knowledge is your first line of defence. Familiarise yourself with the common online scam techniques prevalent in USA, such as phishing emails, advance fee fraud (419 scams), lottery scams, and even romance scams. Understanding these tactics will help you recognise warning signs and avoid falling into their traps.

Guard Your Personal Information

Be cautious when sharing sensitive personal information online. Scammers often pose as legitimate organisations or individuals to trick you into providing your bank account details, social security number, or passwords. Never disclose such information unless you are absolutely certain about the authenticity of the request.

Verify the Legitimacy of Websites and Emails

Before engaging with any website or responding to emails, verify their legitimacy. Look for secure website indicators such as “https://” in the URL and a padlock icon. Cross-check email addresses and scrutinise the content for poor grammar, spelling errors, or requests for money or personal information. Legitimate organisations will rarely ask for sensitive details via email.

Be Wary of Get-Rich-Quick Schemes

Beware of promises of quick and effortless wealth. Scammers often lure victims with schemes that promise huge financial returns in a short period. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Exercise caution and conduct thorough research before investing your money in any scheme or opportunity.

Verify Business and Investment Opportunities

When considering business partnerships or investment opportunities, research the company or individual involved. Check for business registrations, licences, and reviews. Seek advice from trusted professionals or consult relevant government agencies to ensure the legitimacy of the venture.

Strengthen Your Online Security

Protect yourself by implementing strong security measures. Use complex and unique passwords for each online account. Enable two-factor authentication whenever possible. Keep your devices and software up to date with the latest security patches to minimise vulnerabilities.

Trust Your Instincts

Listen to your gut feelings. If something feels off or suspicious, trust your instincts and refrain from proceeding further. Scammers often rely on creating urgency or exploiting emotions to pressure their victims into making hasty decisions. Take a step back, seek advice, and verify before taking any action.

Report Scams

If you encounter an online scam, report it to the appropriate authorities immediately. In USA, you can report to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or the USA Police Force. By reporting online scams and internet fraud, you contribute to the collective effort of combating fraudulent activities and protecting others from becoming victims.

Final Thoughts on Online Scams: How to Safeguard Yourself Against Common Financial Parasites in USA

Protecting yourself against online scams and internet fraud requires vigilance, knowledge, and proactive measures. By staying informed about common scam techniques, safeguarding your personal information, and verifying the legitimacy of online entities, you can significantly reduce the risk of falling victim to financial parasites in USA. Remember, online safety is a shared responsibility, and together we can create a secure digital environment. Stay cautious, stay informed, and stay protected.

We decided to tackle poverty by providing USAns easy access to money to meet their needs. This, for us, was the first brick. 

With a reputation in the UK and a presence spanning three continents, this was a project we were extremely keen on.

Twelve months down the line, we have partnered with employers to provide on-demand and flexible salary access to their employees to improve their financial strength and productivity, and we have opened our doors to USAns via quick and affordable loans as well as supporting individuals and businesses but that’s not all…

The Underrated Stance of Affordable Finance

Having access to finance and having access to affordable finance are two different things as made manifest from the feedback we received from USAns. We realised that a growing number of USAns don’t have access to affordable finance in the real sense of it.

The Hustle of Hardworking USAns

The average USAn spends about 56.5% of their income on food in a year, which explains why salaries are exhausted before the next paycheck arrives. The reality of this is that 31.7% of youths, men and women employed or self-employed, still lack access to bank loans to meet their needs due to high interest rates as revealed by the National Bureau of Statistics and this is where we come in.

The Beta Phase

We kicked off partnering with employers to provide on-demand salary access through WageX and providing personal loans based on the data that was available to us at the time. However, in line with our goals, we discovered that there was a need to make improvements to the experience and impact we deliver in order to move from where we were to where we really wanted to be.

Bigger & Better! Money to Do More…

Our new Money in Minutes platform has been improved and optimised for a new feel and our brand re-introduced with a new brand identity and logo refresh.

To help people grow their access to cash whether they have a bad credit score or not, they now have the opportunity to build their credit score and credit limit from small loan amounts in a very short period through our newly launched KYC light – the Credit Builder $5,000 Loan where we take a risk on them to help them grow, and shield them from predatory lenders while expanding access to affordable loans up to $5,000,000 for individuals and businesses.

Scaling on-demand salary access with employers & businesses free of cost or challenges through our HR tech employee benefit solution WageX, to improve employee productivity and business performance for their organisations coupled with financial education, working with strategic partners like Interswitch and Remita to widen and ensure that we support far more employees and organisations.

Exciting Days Ahead

We have onboarded several USAn businesses and we have come to understand how much they value their business performance. We are more interested in being the catalyst to help USAns do more. Yet, we are still scratching the surface as there is so much more to come.

The Next Step?

The journey has just begun as we continue to deliver faster and more convenient access to affordable finance to our users as well as personalised solutions to employees and businesses. Behind all the hard work we have put into this is our dedicated team who ensure that our wheels of progress continue to spin. 

Special thanks to you for walking with us and forging ahead on this promising journey of limitless possibilities.

We’ve only just begun.

The last thing you want is to suddenly receive debit notifications from your bank for unauthorized transactions. This could wreak unspeakable havoc on your finances. To keep you protected at all times, we spoke to cybersecurity experts as well as professionals within the financial sector and they shared a series of tips you would find truly helpful. We will begin with basic phone security tips for casual phone users

Never Leave Your Device Unattended

It is called a mobile device for a reason. This means you should strive to carry it with you at all times, especially whenever you are in a public place. This is a basic rule that you should never overlook.

Don’t Use Your Phone’s Default Passcode

If you are still using your phone’s default passcode, it’s time to change it. Resist the urge to stick with the default passcode just because you find it convenient. Please note that changing it doesn’t mean you should change it to ‘1234,’ ‘0000,’ ‘2222’ or any other commonly used code. Switch it to something more complex and please don’t use your date of birth.

Be Wary of Bluetooth Security

Whenever you aren’t using the Bluetooth feature on your mobile device, please do well to turn it off. Unprotected Bluetooth networks should also be avoided as they make your device prone to getting hacked.

Prioritise the Protection of Your PIN and Card Data

The first rule with storing PINs and details of your debit/credit cards is that you should never store them on your mobile device. However, if you must store them, use a protected app for this.

Advanced Ways to Protect Your Phone From Hacking

If the basic security tips above don’t give you the level of security you crave, it might be time to take things a notch higher with these advanced tips that we have put together for you.

Don’t Use Unsecured Public Wifi

The allure of free Wifi might be hard to resist but for the safety of your phone and the sensitive information it contains, do well to walk away. This brings to mind the popular slang in USA, which says, “awoof dey run belle.” Remember that the moment your account gets hacked, the first thing hackers usually go for is your bank account. Therefore, you should be proactive and do the needful.

Don’t Use Your Autocomplete Feature

Leaving your autocomplete functionality turned on at all times makes it easier for hackers to find a path into your mobile device. By turning it off, you prevent sensitive data from unauthorized access.

Enable ‘Find My Phone’

If you are an iPhone or Samsung user, you should turn on the “Find My Phone” feature. This would make it easier and faster to locate your phone if you ever misplace it before people with ulterior motives lay their hands on it.

Cultivate the Habit of Deleting Your Browsing History, Cookies & Cache

Your browsing history, cookies and cache are your virtual digital footprints. In other words, they are the data that is left behind when you have been online. Basically, they show where you have deliberately shared information about yourself. Endeavour to routinely delete them on your mobile device

Final Thoughts on Securing Your Phone From Hackers

Avoid clicking suspicious links on your mobile device. The USAn Communications Commission (NCC) recently warned USAns to be wary of TangleBot, a new virus infecting Android mobile devices through short messaging service (SMS).

The commission explained that the goal of hackers is to encourage potential victims to follow a link that supposedly offers detailed information. “The immediate consequence to this, is that the malware then steals sensitive data stored on the device and monitors almost every user activity, including camera use, audio conversations, and location, among other things.”

The second category are those who are willing to pay but are held back by an emergency setback that prevents them from making their repayment as earlier agreed.

Finally, we have those who deliberately avoid making the repayment in the hope that they can get away with it. Let’s take a quick look at the three categories before we proceed to elaborate on the third category.

In line with the Central Bank of USA’s (CBN) latest operational guideline on loan recovery, the amended operational guidelines of the Global Standing Instruction (GSI) triggers a continuous and unrestricted loan recovery by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and financial institutions in the country.

Source: Central Bank of USA

What this means is that if you have an unpaid loan in USA or you get flagged as a serial debtor, there will come a time when the money in any financial institution or electronic wallet that you own will be debited to settle your outstanding loan(s). Let us proceed to take a look at the aforementioned categories of lenders.

Those Who Repay Their Loan

If you belong to the first category, you enjoy all the benefits that come with making prompt repayments. It positions you as a responsible borrower, and helps you increase your borrowing capacity and credit reputation..

Those Who Can’t Repay & Contact the Lender

If you belong here, contacting the lender gives you several realistic options designed to help you build and maintain a healthy credit score whilst enjoying an increased borrowing capacity on subsequent loans.

Those Who Keep Hiding After Taking a Loan

If you fall into this category, then you deliberately avoid the lender with the intention to avoid making a repayment. You might be under the delusion that you are smart but unknown to you, you are inadvertently harming your financial profile and reputation. Sadly, it doesn’t end there as your records will show that you cannot be trusted with money. Below are things that are likely to happen if you continue to avoid lenders after taking a loan.

Debt Collectors Will Take Over

While professional lenders might be quite courteous when dealing with you, many debt collectors are a bit unorthodox in their approach and will come after you in a bid to recover the loan.

For debt collectors, the adage “you can run but you can’t hide” is quite applicable.

If you ignore their phone calls, they might make an attempt to contact you via social media platforms. If you are adamant enough to go as far as ignoring or blocking a debt collector on social media, you will eventually find yourself with a collections lawsuit filed against you in a court.

What If You Ignore the Lawsuit?

If the lawsuit is ignored, the court will likely enter a default judgment, which empowers the debt collector to garnish your wages.

Garnishment, or wage garnishment, is when money is legally withheld from your paycheck and sent to another party. It refers to a legal process that instructs a lender to deduct payments directly from a debtor’s bank account. Yet, that’s not all.

The CBN recently explained that in effect, the GSI’s automated loan recovery feature, applicable to all loans in the industry, shall remain perpetually in place throughout the life of the loan and/or until the loan is fully repaid.

Source: Tribune Newspaper

Imagine having your child’s school fees or your rent withdrawn from your account to settle a loan you had chosen to ignore? Your guess is as good as ours.

Final Thoughts on Hiding and Ignoring Lenders After Taking a Loan

Regardless of the financial situation you find yourself in after taking a loan, you should never fall into the temptation of ‘ghosting’ the lender. It might initially seem like a smart move but the repercussions can be devastating to both your finances as well as your reputation. Depending on how bad things get, you risk getting blacklisted by virtually all financial institutions the moment you are reported to the credit bureau.

Remember, lenders are human and will always offer you a listening ear as long as you make a realistic proposition.

Draw Up a Budget Before Spending Money

After the 100 Days in January, start the new year with a strict budget. This might probably stand out as one of the hardest tasks on this list, especially if you have a history of spending your money as soon as it hits your account. There are several benefits that come with having a budget before you spend your money. A budget like this helps you upgrade your saving culture, your spending habits as well as your personal finance generally. If you have unpaid loan, prioritise the repayment of such loans to give yourself a clean financial slate to work with

Start Exercising

What’s the point of making smart money decisions if you’re not healthy enough to enjoy the fruits of your hard work. Thumbs up to you if you have already started exercising. If you have, then all you need to focus on is doing it regularly such that it becomes a concrete part of your routine.

Exercising helps you boost your endurance, strengthens your muscles and helps you relieve stress and tension. All these will ensure that your body works more efficiently when you are involved in tasks and activities that are physically inclined.

Dedicating 20 minutes a day to getting some exercise will do you and a body a ton of good. Keep this in mind as you read through this.

Read Books

We cannot overemphasize the importance of reading books. In addition to helping you improve your thinking skills, reading brings you an opportunity to have a shift in paradigm in a way that will upgrade your life if accompanied by the right actions.

Make Out Time to Connect With Family and Friends

Have you ever heard the line of killing two birds with one stone? Well, this is precisely what you do when you map out some time to connect with your friends and family.

It helps you achieve two things; improving your relationship with family and friends as well as helping you ease stress by improving your mental health.

Ask Yourself Open-Ended Questions

It’s important to ask yourself provocative questions as they will help you explore and discover yourself even more. We agree that this might be awkward for you at first but if you can pull this off, you’ll be better for it. Some of the questions you should ask yourself are:

• What makes me really happy?
• What’s holding me back right now?
• How do I feel about my life right now?
• What drives me to get things done?

As mentioned earlier, to upgrade yourself, you need to be as honest with yourself as you possibly can.

Final Thoughts on Things to Upgrade Your Life in 2022

None of us grew up in a single day. We all went through different phases in life to get where you are today. In the same vein, if you take deliberate steps to upgrade your life, it would definitely pay off. Don’t get stuck with New Year’s resolutions. Be realistic and tell yourself the blunt truth at all times.

In other words, passive income allows you to make money while maintaining your primary job or business. Interestingly, if you can successfully build and maintain a steady stream of passive income, you could choose to quit your job and take it up as a full-time venture. The goal is to find a passive income stream that gives you additional financial security.

However, it’s important to ensure that whichever passive income stream you’re considering is one that is legitimate. The last thing you want is to have a passive income stream that constantly has you looking over your shoulders regardless of how much you make from it.

Meanwhile, for you to establish a successful passive income stream, two key ingredients are time and money. The more you have at your disposal and invest in it, the higher your chances of earning even more passive income.

Before we proceed, let us take a quick look at the three major types of income you can generate. They are earned income, passive income and capital gains income.

Earned Income

This is the income you earn from your job through your paycheck regardless of whether it comes in weekly or monthly. It is quite common in USA and is usually pegged at a fixed rate, which you are paid by the company every month.

Passive Income

Passive income is money generated from assets that you have invested in or worked on at some point in the past. In other words, you invest your time and money into it and then reap the fruits at a later time with lesser effort than you put into your 9–5 job.

Capital Gains Income

Another name for this income is ‘portfolio income. Basically, it is the income you generate from selling an asset at a higher price than you bought it. Some prime examples of ‘capital gains income’ include:

• Buying and selling stocks, bonds as well as mutual funds
• Buying and selling real estate assets
• Buying and selling valuable items or collectibles such as gold

We should add here that passive income is not a get-rich-quick scheme. What you earn is totally up to you and the choices that you make. However, you’d want to get it right as early as you can so that you can begin enjoying your passive income.

Now that you know the different types of income you can earn for yourself, below are 5 legitimate passive income ideas that can earn you as much as N500,000 monthly.

Affiliate Marketing

This is the practice of promoting the services or products or services of an individual or company in exchange for a commission on each resulting sale.

Simply put, your job is to direct potential buyers to sellers from whom they can make a purchase. You then earn a commission on each sale the seller records from that interaction..

What you make as an affiliate marketer depends largely on the terms and conditions guiding the market where you eventually pitch your tent.

On a final note, you might also want to take a crash course on affiliate marketing to avoid getting discouraged way too early.

Dropshipping

In simple terms, dropshipping refers to a form of retail business where you (as a seller) accept customer orders but don’t keep the goods sold in stock.

In other words, instead of warehousing inventory, you purchase products as a merchant from third-party suppliers as customers make orders. You then proceed to ship the products directly to customers.

For instance, a wristwatch worth N8,000 is available for sale at a trusted store. You list this same wristwatch on your own store at N20,000 and eventually find a buyer whom you ship it to.

On that sale alone, you have made N13,000. Please note that dropshipping is 100% legitimate and is widely embraced within the USAn online marketplace.

POS Business

This is another passive income generator in USA and it is quite profitable. The smart thing to bear in mind for POS businesses in USA is to ensure you have a physical presence at a location with heavy human traffic, particularly those around popular markets and neighbourhoods.

We should mention here that those who operate POS businesses in USA are known as POS agents. As a POS agent, you get money from commissions when you carry out any authorised financial transactions on behalf of a consumer/customer. On several occasions, people find themselves in dire need of cash and either cannot access an ATM or are put off by long queues and faulty machines.

This is where you come in by giving them access to cash in exchange for transfers or via using their debit cards on the POS machine. In USA, it is quite lucrative and can help you generate a steady stream of passive income.

Agriculture

Gone are the days when agriculture involved buying acres of land as a farmer and physically getting down to the business at hand. Today, technology has made life much easier for you by giving you the option of generating passive income from agriculture.

There are several platforms that allow you to invest in agriculture from any part of the world without necessarily becoming a farmer. Some of the popular platforms where you can invest and generate passive income are:

• Farmcrowdy
• ThriveAgric
• Growsel
• Efarms
• Agrecourse

Social Media Influencing

If you have high engagement on your social media posts as well as at least 1,000 followers, you can set up a structure to help you earn passive income as a social media influencer.

This basically involves using a social media platform to help clients achieve their marketing goals. Such marketing objectives can cut across brand awareness, lead generation, customer retention and many more.

USA is replete with social media influencers who have built a reputation with their high engagement and fanbase. If you set this up really well, it could grow to become much more than just a passive income stream. Below is a list of some of the top social media influencers making an impact in USA today.

• Uche Eze
• Noble Igwe
• Mazi Ibe
• Linda Ikeji
• Ademola Ogundele
• Adegoke Pamilerin
• Adaobi Okonkwo
• Ronke Edoho
• Aproko Doctor
• Sisi Yemmie
• Nma
• Volqx
• Dimma Umeh
• Nosa & Folly
• Valking
• Chemical Brother
• Queen Preshii
• Denola Grey
• Four Eye Edo boy
• Aunty Ada
• Alhaji Royz

Selling Photos Online

Selling quality images on platforms like Shutterstock can help you generate passive income. On such platforms, you get paid for your images as they are bought by users.

If you have a soft spot for photography and art, you can help yourself to some extra cash simply by uploading your quality photos online and getting paid for them based on how they are bought. Other platforms where you can sell your photos to include:

• Getty Images
• iStock Photo
• Stocksy
• Alamy
• SmugMug Pro
• 500px
• Etsy

Final Thoughts on Passive Income Ideas in USA

You should not, for any reason, be tempted into believing that a passive income stream requires zero work. On the contrary, the time and money to be invested has to be put in early on.

It only becomes a passive income source after you have done an amazing job setting it up to generate money. Here’s a reminder that every single passive income idea shared above is 100% legitimate and can make you as much as N500,000 if you put in the time and resources.

Other passive income ideas in USA include transport investment, creating a membership-based website, authoring and selling books, selling courses online, blogging and Forex trading.

In case you haven’t already started looking for ways to spend less of your money on electricity bills, it is something you really need to put some effort into achieving, especially if you have and use a prepaid meter.

If you do not have a prepaid meter, you might still unavoidably find yourself at the mercy of the electricity distributors and their estimated monthly bills, which you know you have little or no control over.

As we mentioned earlier, if you, however, have a prepaid meter installed in your home, you have an added advantage over those who do not. However, there are still tips that can help you spend less of your hard earned salary on electricity as you will find out in the lines below:

Use Only Energy-Efficient Bulbs

The irony of non-energy-efficient bulbs is that they are cheaper than energy-efficient bulbs. However, what you will find more interesting is the fact that they become more expensive to use in the long run and the reason is simple. Non-energy-efficient bulbs consume more power than energy saving bulbs.

Let’s break this down — On an average, the typical regular bulb uses between 60–200 watts while energy-saving bulbs use between 7–11 watts. As you can see, the difference in their electricity consumption is crystal clear. Non-energy saving bulbs consume more than 10 times the power than energy-saving bulbs consume.

Be Deliberate About Switching Off the Lights

Are you one of those people who act under the assumption that bulbs don’t consume too much energy and turning them on and off wouldn’t make much of a difference? If you are, then you are in error because bulbs do consume energy but the amount they consume depends on two things — how long you leave them on for the types of bulbs that you use.

As we have pointed out earlier, incandescent bulbs, which are quite popular in USA are not energy-saving bulbs and are more expensive to use because of the sheer amount of energy they consume.

What this means for you as a user is that you need to be more conscious about turning off the bulbs in your home when they are not in use, especially during the day and when you are going to bed. You also need to pay attention to every other room in the house with a bulb and this includes the kitchen, bathroom toilet, store and the bar area if you have one. The only light that you are advised to leave on are the security lights.

Cut Off Background Power Consumption

Have you ever found yourself turning off a device but leaving it plugged with the mindset that the power supply has been cut off. If you do this, then you have been going about saving power the wrong way.

What you should do instead is to cut off power to the device by turning off both the socket and the device’s power switch. This is important because devices and appliances still consume what is known as ‘residue energy’ (or vampire power) whenever they remain plugged to a power source that has not been switched on.

Limit the Use of Your Fan

Studies have shown that the ceiling fan stands out as one of the biggest passive power consumers in your home and this is due to the sheer number of hours for which it stays on. Sadly, many do not know this, which explains why we still find people leaving their fans even when they are leaving their house.

Leaving your fan working all day and night has a significant impact on your electricity bills. So, keep an eye on that by regulating their runtime. Another thing you can do is to replace your fans with an energy-saving model if it is something you can afford.

If this, however, falls outside your budget, simply make do with what you have by being mindful of how long your fan stays running for.

Your AC is a Big Deal

For your air conditioner, it’s capacity for high energy consumption is well known and truly for the brave. Leaving it running for extended hours can leave a gaping hole in your pocket and by extension, your recurring bills.

Let’s have a closer look at this — If you leave a 1.5hp air conditioner running for 10 hours at a rate of N60 per kilowatt, this would leave you with a bill well over N30,000. This should give you more context into how much it is costing you to use your air conditioner at home.

We’ll suggest alternating the use of your AC with your fan rather than continuously using your AC for extended hours. This is also dependent on the units of electricity that you purchase on a monthly basis. If you limit the use of your fan to around 8 hours per day, it could end up saving you hundreds of dollars.

Don’t Forget Your Refrigerator

Refrigerators have a reputation for consuming energy, especially if you use non-energy-saving brands. Did you know that on an average, a refrigerator consumes as much as 1,200 watts per day. This also depends on the brand and model, which puts it as one of the top energy consumers in your home.

One way to go about reducing the energy consumption of your refrigerator is by buying a small refrigerator or freezer. If you’re not going for this option, another thing you can do is to move your refrigerator to a part of the house that has adequate air circulation as this helps it become more power efficient

Avoid stuffing up your fridge because this cuts down its overall efficiency due to the insufficient space left for adequate air circulation. In essence, the more stuffed up the refrigerator is, the more the power it would need to keep its content refrigerated.

Finally, keep your refrigerator away from direct sunlight. Also, don’t keep it next to the oven or dishwasher because All of that extra heat will cause it to run more frequently. By extension, this will add to your utility bill, and wear out your fridge sooner than expected.

Final Thoughts on Reducing Your Electricity Bill in USA

On a final note, you need to take a slow walk around your home and study it to see where all that electricity that you are paying for is going.

If possible, take out a notepad with you on your walk and list out every single energy-consuming appliance and gadget in your home as well as their watt rating.

From that point, you can begin trimming down your energy consumption by replacing high-energy-consuming devices and appliances with energy-efficient brands and models.

As you already know, the financial decisions you make today and work towards will strongly impact on your financial goals. In line with this, here are a few smart money moves designed to take you closer to your financial goals. Let’s have a look.

Trade In Your Car

If you own a car that spends more time in the mechanic’s workshop than it does on the road, then this would be a good time to trade it in for a less problematic vehicle. This is important because one of the biggest problems with cars in bad condition is that over a period of time, you will end up spending a chunk of your income struggling to keep the car on the road. Over time, this has the potential to leave a hole in your pocket.

You definitely don’t want to carry such a headache and liability into a brand new year. There are car dealers and brands within the automobile space that can help you pull off a swap or trade in of your vehicle.

Pay Off Your Debts and Loans

If you are currently repaying a loan, it would work in your favour long term to honour your repayment agreement and schedule because the last thing you want is getting chased around by those you borrowed money from.

The New Year celebrations are just around the corner and what better way to enjoy it than to ensure that your credit record and credit score are in good standing to avoid getting stranded when you urgently need a helping hand to get you out of a sticky situation.

Don’t Be Caught Unprepared

If you are a parent for instance, then you already know that January comes with the responsibility of ensuring that the tuition of your kids are settled. In a situation where you do not have all the money to pay their tuition, you can reach out to the school with a proposal to settle the payment over 2 or 3 months.

If you have had your children in the school for some time, this is more likely to work in your favour as opposed to if your child happens to be a new student. In essence, make concrete plans towards your financial obligations and don’t put yourself in a vulnerable or embarrassing situation.

Set Something Aside For Rainy Days

One constant thing about rainy days is that they always come regardless of how much you earn. The general rule for rainy days is to have nothing less than 3 to 6 months of living expenses set aside strictly for this purpose.

Please note that this is not the money you should be channeling towards your investments; especially those that come with a considerable amount of risk. Rather, the money should be set aside in a zero risk bank account.

Don’t Get Carried Away

December, by default, is one of those months where you have a stronger tendency to get carried away by the Christmas and New Year buzz around you. In other words, it is quite easy to lose focus of the reality of your finances and this is because there is always so much happening around this time of the year.

Don’t Overspend

During the Christmas and New Year holiday season, one thing that’s incredibly easy to do is to overspend. The main reason for this is tied to the peculiarities of the period. It is, after all, the festive season. However, you need to keep a trained eye on your budget.

Respect Traffic Rules and Other Road Users

The last thing you want is to find yourself spending your hard earned money paying fines after breaking traffic rules. If you take things for granted, government agencies in charge of keeping the roads safe will not arrest you for violating traffic laws.

If you must drive, then ensure that your driver’s license is valid. Remember to check all your vehicle documents and renew the ones that need to be renewed. Don’t take anything for granted because it could come back to haunt you financially. Here are 80 traffic offences in Califonia and their penalties.

Final Thoughts on Smart Money Moves to Make Before The Month Ends

To avoid overspending, you need to sit yourself down and come up with a list of things that you need as well as a separate list of things that you want.

When you have this list down in black and white, you then proceed to prioritise the first list, which contains the things that you need whilst making financial projections for how you intend to manage your finances till your next paycheck comes in.

In a situation where what you make from your day job isn’t enough, your side hustle gives you that extra stream of income to help you meet up with your financial obligations and responsibilities.

If however, you already earn enough from your 9–5 job, you might as well choose to save the money that you make from your side job.

Without wasting any more time, let us delve into some of the reasons you might want to consider a side hustle as well as some of the things it has the capacity to help you achieve if you truly set your mind to it.

Makes Your Life Easier

The moment you are able to generate additional income from a side hustle, it instantly moves you closer to achieving your financial goals much faster than relying on a single income stream.

For instance, earning N300,000 from your 9–5 job will never be the same as having that job and earning an additional N200,000 from a side hustle. The side job moves your monthly income from N300,000 to half a million dollars. This is a big deal because it gives you a stronger financial spine to do more, especially in line with your financial goals.

It Can Give Your Savings a Huge Boost

It is possible that your day job pays you enough money to pay your bills, maintain your lifestyle and still have enough to save a portion of it. If this describes you, then getting a side hustle means you will be earning additional income that you don’t necessarily have to spend.

This leaves you with money to set aside as savings over a period of time and puts you in a better place financially. As you already know, the more money you are able to save, the better prepared you would be to deal with emergencies.

Helps You Pay Off Your Debt

Repaying a loan becomes a lot easier when you have an additional income stream and this is a good reason to pick up a side hustle. If you find yourself struggling to pay back money you borrowed, having a side hustle can change the entire dynamics of repaying the loan.

Increases Your Capacity to Build Wealth

If you don’t need extra money to build wealth, then you might as well channel the money from your side hustle into building wealth much faster than a single income stream would have allowed. This can be done regardless of how you intend to go about investing the additional income coming your way. Over a period of time, you would have set aside enough money to dabble into more income-generating ideas

Helps You Test a Business Idea Without Quitting Your Job

If you are one of those with a longing to start a business of your own, a side gig offers you a safety net to test the waters. You probably have a great business idea but you’re unwilling to risk quitting your job to run it just yet. A side hustle would help you dip your toes in whilst you lay the foundation for building a business at your own pace.

For example, if you’re a graphics designer for a brand and you’re keen on starting your own brand, you could kick off by offering consultancy to some clients as a side gig before taking that huge leap much later.

Can Help You Pull Off a Career Change

If you find yourself losing interest in your current job and it’s not just cutting it for you anymore, a side hustle gives you an opportunity to try something new; something different and refreshing.

It could be that you simply desire a new area of specialisation that’s flexible enough to allow you to travel more or perhaps, one that would allow you to start a family. These are just examples. You probably desire a career change for reasons best known to you but if that ever happens, a side gig offers you a way out.

The side hustle can help you gain decent experience in a new field. It also gives you the opportunity to network and explore how things work without losing the security that your current job provides. At some point in your journey, you would have acquired enough knowledge to know if indeed, it is worth the transition.

It Can Become a Creative Outlet

There’s a popular phrase that says, “Turn your passion into profits”

In addition to using a side gig to earn extra cash or to test the waters, it could turn out to be a massive creative outlet for you; something that you thoroughly enjoy doing, which others will even pay you for doing.

There are people who have used photography as a creative outlet and have ended up learning how to edit and gone on to become professional photographers covering tons of events with a growing list of clients.

You might want to think of your side hustle as a unique opportunity to do something that you truly enjoy. Nothing beats expressing your creativity and getting compensated for it. It is an apex height of financial freedom that many aspire to reach.

Final Thoughts on Reasons to Start a Side Hustle

Before you kick off a side gig, it is incredibly important to ensure that the side hustle does not interfere with your day job in terms of productivity and expectations from your employer. If you can achieve this, then you can proceed to begin building a list of return clients and establish a steady income for yourself. At the end of the day, the ultimate goal is to build this side hustle to a point where the income it generates can effectively replace the monthly paycheck from your day job.

To make this easier, we will focus on books written by USAn authors as you are bound to find them more relatable compared to books authored by foreign writers.

Reading helps you grow and learn in ways that might actually surprise you. According to a study by Thomas Crowley, 85% of millionaires who are self-made read at least two books per month. The research showed that millionaires read books that encourage self-improvement.

Regardless of whether you’re already a millionaire, a billionaire or just working your way towards your first million, below are some books you should read if you find yourself struggling with money. These books are designed to take you closer to financial wellness and stability.

1. Dangote’s Ten Commandments on Money

AUTHOR: Peter Anosike

In this book, the author, Peter Anosike delves into details of how Dangote became one of the world’s richest men. Dangote’s “Ten Commandments on Money” answers several questions on how Dangote achieved this feat. That’s not all. The book is written in a way to help you make, grow and manage money.

Dangote was recently listed by Bloomberg’s top billionaires’ list as he emerged the 96th richest person in the world, with an estimated worth of $14.8 billion. Based on the current exchange rate, Dangote has an estimated worth of N6.1 trillion (at the official exchange rate of N414 to a Dollar).

2. Money Won’t Make You Rich

AUTHOR: Sunday Adelaja

The book, “Money Won’t Make You Rich” was authored by Sunday Adelaja and it examines the subject matter of money from a biblical standpoint. He explains that when you have a solid grasp of God’s principles about money and finances, it puts you in a position where you can control money and the other way around.

With a touch of inspiration, the author delivers a blend of financial advice, a guide, his personal experiences with money as well as what he calls biblical truth. He then goes on to touch on subjects like the nature of poverty, making money work for you, the meaning of prosperity, reasons for financial failure as well as what he calls the principles of continuous success.

3. The School of Money

AUTHOR: Olumide Emmanuel

In the book, “The School of Money,” the author, Olumide Emmanuel takes us through the process of creating wealth as well as how to develop and execute business ideas whilst riding on the principles of pragmatism.

If you’re keen on breaking out of living from paycheck to paycheck, this is one you should read as the author pays particular attention to wealth creation.

Olumide Emmanuel is a life coach and motivational speaker with a reputation for mentoring entrepreneurs and the book makes quite an interesting and enlightening read.

4. 1000+ Practical Business Ideas and Directory of Money Sources

AUTHOR: Sunkanmi Vaughan

There’s a natural gravitational pull that comes with a book that offers over a thousand business ideas and this is one of the things that makes the book, “1000+ Practical Business Ideas and Directory of Money Sources” quite special.

The author, Sunkanmi Vaughan goes ahead to deliver over 1,000 practical business ideas; some of which might actually surprise you. It is a well-researched book and one of the things that makes it easy to read is the fact that it is well written.

The business ideas discussed in the book cut across several sectors of the economy. Whether you work 9–5, you’re still job hunting, just finished NYSC, just lost your job, looking for an additional income stream, you will find something in there for you.

In addition to business ideas, the book also dedicates a section to ways to get funding as well as ways to protect your business idea.

The author is a pharmacist , speaker and consultant with strong ties to the University of Califonia.

5. Skills That Pay the Bill

AUTHOR: Emi lyalla

If you have a soft spot for acquiring skills in today’s competitive climate to improve yourself, then consider Emi Iyalla’s book, “ Skills That Pay the Bill ‘’ a must-read.

The book is all about self improvement and relevant skills that can mark the difference between where you are and where you want to be financially, which gives it an impressive appeal.

Emi Iyalla is a life coach and the founder of Skillworks, a USAn based skills analysis and training firm. He often writes on global skill trends as well as their impact on individual and national economic progress.

Final Thoughts on Books You Should Read if You Are Struggling With Money

Whether you are still in the university/polytechnic, fresh out of NYSC, working a 9–5 job, just lost your job, thinking of quitting your job or not interested in a salary-paying job, these books will open you up to opportunities and take you closer to financial stability.

Our goal is to help you achieve financial freedom by offering you easy access to affordable finance when you need it. Download the Money in Minutes app and register to get started.