It is a tough task to save part of monthly income as an average salary earner in Nigeria. I see and hear friends complain about how their salary cannot sustain them for a month and they get broke before the month end.
It is believed by most people that a job with a good pay gives people an opportunity to save more. This means with this kind of job, you can afford so many things without worrying about your income and can also save a substantial amount of the income for other projects.

Well, the truth is you have not gotten that job with a huge pay yet, so you need to prepare yourself for that big-paying job coming soon by learning how to take some really drastic frugal saving steps to save more with a monthly job.

Here are seven ways to save more as a monthly salary earner.

1. Hitch a ride with a colleague

Instead of taking your car or a public transport to work in the morning or when leaving the office at the close of business in the evening, you can hitch a ride with a colleague who owns a vehicle.
Find someone, not necessarily a colleague, it could be someone who works around your office. All the money spent on transportation and fuel could be saved for other purposes.

2. Go for a cheaper data plan with lots of bonus

Data subscriptions are quite expensive in Nigeria. Try quitting your expensive data plan and look for a telecommunication service with cheaper data plans and that give a whole lot of awoof (freebies) and bonuses.
You end up saving extra that could have been spent on an expensive data plan.

3. Make more of online calls

As small as it looks, buying airtime is expensive when you calculate how much you spend on calls and texts. With a new cheap data plan, try to make more of online calls and chats instead of calling and texting

WhatsApp and Facebook are good examples of social applications that provide online chat, video and voice calls.

4. Take a bit out of your colleague meals

Most workers don't have the time to wake up as early as 3 a.m to cook for work, so they buy lunch at the office. If you fall into the category of people who can't cook from home, you don't have to buy lunch every day at work.

You can skip breakfast and just have a cup of tea or coffee which could sustain you till midday and you can just eat a bit out of some of your colleague's food until you are satisfied.

eating with colleagues
eating with colleagues (123rf)
Ridiculous as it sounds, people do it. You just have to find the colleagues that won't frown at it. It would save you extra cost of not having to spend on lunch at work.

5. Learn how to bargain

Some people are natural bargainers. They know how to bargain on anything. Try to up your negotiation skills.

learn the power of bargaining

With the power of bargaining, goods and services that are said to be expensive, you can get them for good and reasonable price. Bargaining helps to save the extra that could have been spent buying goods and services.

6. Ask for discounts

People don't really ask for discounts when shopping for goods and also services. Be confident and ask for a discount. It is your money you are about to spend. The worst they can tell you is that there is no discount.

Speaking of discounts, there are some supermarkets that put large discounted sales on some products that are about to expire, probably six months to expiration.

Asking for a discount won't hurt.
If I am not sure of any I know about one of the largest supermarkets in Nigeria that gives such discounts on products. Take advantage of such discounts because you tend to save more from them.

7. Reduction of daily consumption

We all have household essentials that we need for daily use like toothpaste, bathing soaps, hair cream, shampoo, detergent. You can save daily consumption by reducing the amount you use.

If you are fond of dispensing toothpaste that covers the whole brush, you can just cut it by half. You can reduce and still get the output you need.

You can reduce daily essentials and still get the output you need.

By doing this, essentials last twice as long which means less visit to the supermarket for a new toothpaste or other essentials.

Ok

Reduce consumption of alcohol

Reduce the number of girlfrnds

Thank me later

I like point number 4 the most

Downside is if you're the colleague they are taking a bit from, you're done for!

However, it's fun and a good survival tactic

All your point are good except the one of taking a byte!

Doing all this make one a very stingy man. Especially that number 4: take a bit of your colleague's meal. Like seriously, dem no dey pay you salary

What if all my colleagues read this and decide not to come to office with food, all in the name of taking lunch bit, shey we'll be sitting and watching each other?

No one should depend on his/her colleagues' meal for the sake of bit. They too are saving to live.