#HustleStory: From Earning over ₦700,000+/year In Nigeria To Living On Her Savings In The UK.
In this episode of #HustleStory, Oyin talks to us about leaving Nigeria spontaneously and out of love while she was making over ₦700,000/month and living a very comfortable life back home. She also talks about the events that led up to where she is now, the career change and how she's been able to bounce back financially because of a good support system. She shares her story on how she's working to give her children the options that she didn't have while growing up.
The Hustle Story series is a dedicated effort to capture and share the financial journeys of immigrants in the UK and Europe. By highlighting the diverse paths immigrants take to achieve financial stability, OhentPay aims to empower and support prospective immigrants.
How did you financially prepare before moving to the UK?
Oyin: For me, there was no preparation at all. One minute I was working at a job that I loved so much and the next I was on a plane to the UK because my husband had been cheating so much and our circle of friends were tired of it. I was earning good money in Nigeria at the time if you consider ₦700,000+ good money. One day I was in the office and my friend called me and after that call, I tendered my resignation letter. On the Friday of that week, I booked a flight to the UK and I've been there ever since. This was in 2017.
Can I ask what changed your mind after that call with your friend?
Oyin: Yes you can. My husband and I got married in 2014 after dating for 5 years, so immediately after I gave birth to twins. My husband had lost his job while I was pregnant and he was seriously looking for a job. I was due for a maternity leave but I knew the situation of things would become tighter financially, so I had to stick it out and work through it. Immediately after giving birth, my husband became obsessed with moving abroad and it was something we had to talk about every day. For me, I couldn't move because I needed my mum and closest family around me to help take care of my kids. Unfortunately, he didn't see the sense in what I was saying.
One day I presented the idea of him going with my sister and my mum and he didn't mind. In 2016, they all moved to the UK where he started his postgraduate education. Let me note that I funded everything and everyone who went to the UK because I wanted to make my husband happy. From what I heard, three months after my husband got into the UK he started sleeping out late and sometimes not coming home for weeks. I wasn't in the UK, so there was no way I could track these things except through my sister and my mum. The day my friend called me apparently my husband had been beaten to a pulp by the boyfriend of a certain woman he was dating at the time. It was embarrassing for our entire circle and for my family. So on that day, I moved to the UK like everyone thought a good wife should. I keep calling him my husband but we're divorced now and he's back in Nigeria.
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Sorry about that. Can you share your experiences with your first job in the UK and the salary they offered you?
Oyin: Thank you so much. To be honest, I didn't have a job in the UK for almost a year and a half. This was intentional because I decided to fully commit to spending time at home and being there for my ex-husband, my children, my sister and my mum. It looked like the right thing to do because I'd been away from them for a year and more. When I moved it seemed like all the things my people had been telling me were lies because my ex became an angel, only for 4 months. By the fourth month, his real self came out. He continued cheating until he finally moved out because he supposedly found love with another woman in the UK. Permit me to say that they're no longer together and he had to leave the UK as he didn't have a job to keep him here, and I wasn't going to house him.
My sister moved out and got married and after a year and some months when I knew that I was ready to work again I got into Tech Recruiting. Before this, I worked as a Data Analyst in Nigeria, but I switched because I needed something that wasn't too demanding. I wanted to spend more time with my twins and be there for them. My first job in the UK paid me up to £3,000/month. Luckily for me, I got recommended by my friend and I had taken courses and I had some experience, so I got a soft landing when I started working here.
What are you currently doing to earn a living and support yourself?
Oyin: Currently I work in the same role but with a different organization. The company I work for poached me on LinkedIn and they offered me double of what I was earning in a month at my former place. In a year I earn over £90,000 working here and I love it. I thought that my finances were going to nose dive when I rushed here, but it's been so much more than I hoped for and I have my loved ones to thank for that.
What do you allocate to bills (rent)? How has this changed over the years?
Oyin: I live in a 3-bedroom apartment with my mom and twins here. I pay £2,800/month now but when I moved here, I was paying £1,700/month for the 2-bedroom apartment that my ex and my family were living in. Over the years I've had to move between cities in the UK and that's why my rent has moved up a bit.
Like I mentioned, I live with my mom and she's pretty strong and agile. She works for a department store and she insists on contributing to most of the food items. She's been doing this since I got here and I was depending on my savings. She buys most of the groceries and food items at home because of where she works, so she controls how much I bring in. Every month, she only collects £300 from me and sometimes she doesn't till I ask her about it. Then, I spend money on other utilities and other needs around the house.
For my children, I don't pay for school fees over here because they attend state schools. However from next year, I want them to attend private schools and I've been saving so hard for this, so I can give them the access they need. It will be hard, but I've been saving and I have investments to guide me through. Also, I pay compulsory taxes and that also eats into my bills.
You mentioned investments and that takes us to my next question. How do you go about savings and investment, how much are you able to save, etc.?
Oyin: While I was in Nigeria I mentioned that I was a Data Analyst right? It was for a FinTech and I am a part founder or an investor, something like that. FinTechs were not so popular back in 2014/2015, so it was a risk for me but it's paying off so well now. I worked as a staff while being an investor because I wanted to contribute to the growth of the company outside of my investment. That's my major investment and it brings me passive money. I don't do anything for them now, but I earn from what I have invested. I also did some agricultural investments, stocks, and bills but these are long-term investments for the house that I'm saving to buy for my children, my mom and me.
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For savings here I am very intentional. I am a homebody, so I am always at home if I am not working. I save over 40% of my salary every month, which is not ideal for most Nigerians here but my life isn't the norm. I splurge on my kids, my mom, my sister, my friends and on ordering food but that's all that takes my money.
If you could go back, what would you do differently in terms of money?
Oyin: (Laughs). The only thing I'd do differently is to not invest in my ex-husband's education, but rather pay for my sister to advance herself even though she wasn't interested in it. I think that's the only thing I'd do differently.
Just to provide more context, my ex did not graduate from his master's program. He said and I quote, "Baby this masters thing is harder than I thought o. Maybe you should have come for it instead of me." He dropped out.
Wow! Now that you’re in a different country from Nigeria, how do you feel about black tax?
Oyin: I won't deny that black tax doesn't affect me now because it still does. When I was in Nigeria I was sponsoring my family over here and now that I'm in the UK, I send money home to my mum's family. I feel black tax will never go away because of the notion that people have about being abroad. I like to approach it by dedicating a particular amount to it every month and when I have exhausted that, any new requests will have to wait for another month. The people who are the most important to me in this world are my babies, my sister and my mum and they're here with me already doing their own things.
Do you have any advice or insights for prospective immigrants regarding financial preparation and job-seeking?
Oyin: I don't have per see, but I'll say this. Leaving a country you've been in for a long time and moving to another country isn't easy and you need to be prepared to do the work. Putting in the work means getting new certificates, skills, and working to prove that you deserve the job twice as hard.
*The name has been changed for the sake of anonymity.*
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