N80k per month   , its going to be a tough call to constantly survive on that if you don't take the advise of other posters to diversify your income stream. I recommend the entrepreneurship option. For one, if something happens, you will have a back-up source of income. For those who are creativity inclined, you check out FACA. Below is a little info:  


Fashion Art and Creatives Academy (FACA) is the vocational skills transfer arm of House of Henri which has trained over 1500 people. House of Henri is an integrated multi-division company focused on the creative industry. The fashion division of House of Henri won the Nigeria Best Fashion Designer for 2005/2006 of the Nigeria Fashion Show.
 
We currently offer training courses in Fashion Design, Bridals, Soft Furnishings and Interior Décor, Millinery, Jewelry Craft, Makeover Artistry, Photography, Events Decor and Modeling.

Our goal is to add value to people who want to start or grow a career in the Fashion, Art and Creative industries by imparting to them invaluable technical skills. The programmes prepare our students for careers in the local and global Creative Industries including Fashion, Art, and Design. With these skills they can start or grow a business as a means of livelihood or as an additional stream of income. In the event that they decide to further their education within or outside the country the skills learned can be used as entry level requirements to higher institutions and they would have been given a strategic leverage and head start that will make them excel. We also believe that beyond the typical white collar jobs, every man or woman should have a skill or learn a trade that they can fall back on at any point in time.
 
Our courses take a highly practical approach, focusing on extensive hands on exercises by our students. Our method breaks down sometimes difficult concepts into easy to learn steps bringing the student up to speed. We have been able to prove again and again through the success of our students that the knowledge and skill that takes up to four years to learn through the mentor-apprentice method that typically obtains in the industry, takes less than a year to acquire at Fashion and Art Academy . We also have best selling books on some of our courses published under the "Easy Learn" series that take our students step-by-step through the learning process.

The fees for part-time courses are the same as for full time courses. Most working class people who can't make the weekday programme opt for this.  Part-time programmes however take more time (e.g 3months for Fashion Design). Lectures hold Saturdays only. We run a rolling admission system, which means when you are ready to start, we are also ready for you. We can also help with accommodation arrangements at guest houses or student hostels depending on your preference separately. For us to know your exact training needs and how you can be part of the Fashion Art and Creatives Academy kindly call us on 08023290830 or 01-8783390. Or better still come to the school at 6, Sabiu Ajose Str., Off Adeniran Ogunsanya, Behind Skye Bank, Surulere, Lagos.

Deep Soul:

80k na money oh! I recently used 80k to buy women sandals and re-sold. And I have made almost a 100% profit in less than a month, with little or no stress.
It's all about identifying the right product and right market. Buy low, sell high and vooala!
There are sooo many opportunities ALL around us but unfortunately, most people always wait to start big. Big mistake!

@Poster:
You and your wife should sit down and analyse your situation. Find out where her strengths lie and what sort of business would be appropriate for your environment. A few ideas below:

1) Hair Braiding ( I pay about 4k to braid my hair monthly - huge market!)
2) Tailoring (she can always go for tailoring classes, they dnt cost much)
3) Dry Cleaning (huge market - which Im personally considering)
4) Catering ( she could open a small restaurant). I once saw a woman who set up a canopy with wooden benches and put her food in coolers and she was making a fortune! She can decide to do general cooking or something more specific e.g moin-moin. And if she's really good at it, it just might become her trade mark!

The above listed are small businesses which can be easily initiated with minimal capital and most importantly, can be done from home!

Good luck.

Another wise counsel. Thanks for sharing Deep soul

Am just me:

Ok o! beware of fraudulents peeps sha o! Some few hours someone who says he is jobless n fatherless made a breakthru on NL, and all of a sudden dis poster opens a fresh account to complain, its my opinion sha o! I cant stop u guys from helping but nobody wants 2 be duped so be careful.

Leave them, they will learn

MUGU no dey finish for market!

Big man and chaircover you have both spoken well.
personally ive learnt alot ive had  a business in mind and reading so much here have further strenghthned me
let me share a story too i lived with an uncle of mine during NYSC
he carried the family responsibilities on his own for quite a while in the maintime there was 2children and more to spend
his wife was a graduate but there was no job forthcoming
after a while she started learning how to sew and just before i left she had finished from the tailoring school
opened up a shop with the help of her husband
today she is doing very well
and even has a girl already working with her

For starters; 80k from a "one man business" is not a small cash considering the harsh business environment in Nigeria.

To the chap that referred to cleaners and messengers like the type in my institution here; a lot of them steal - that is the truth. If you come to my office; you will think me the senior staff is doing IT and they the junior staff and the ogas from the way they dress.

To deepsoul, lets have a tete - a - tete; change that "dry cleaning" to laundry.

@ALL
it pays to have multiple sources of income but still cut your coat according to the material.

ho boy! thank your God, am a graduate like you but my take home is notting to write home about (less than 30,000k) monthly.is not the salary that make us rich but the Grace of Almighty God. Dupe Ti e. thousand of grduate are still roaming about the street.

readin this topic reminds me of my years back in the north(kaduna). before i go on, i'll like to tell the poster that he shld listen to d adivce not a few on in here have shared.truth be told, that many 80k you say is small is relative.relative becos that is a whole lot to some other person.a whole lot can be achieved if that money is put to gud use.lik many hv suggested here, you need to team up wit your wife to succeed.while you work,why not set a percentage of that salary aside for a time and sit down with your wife and discuss wot small biz she can do?if she is the enterprising type, i bet in a few yrs time,you'll be singing a nu sonp up in here.

wen i started my bizness i n the north(i wrk with a bank now) ,i started with just 2500 naira. becos my start-up capital was low, i started by taking the wares i was selling(tarlorin materials to the shop of tailors ) that way, my customer market share rose to a point where i raised many to rent a small shop.from the small shop ,in less than a yr , i got another +two sales girls and than a third shop.from the procceeds i was making i did part-time course with OAU in marketin and today that certificate is wot am using to work in a bank.

the morale of my narration/story is that if you want to succeed in life, you must first be determined to succeed.stop complaining and stop procrastinating.i hope this helps in a way.my two cent.

@Poster, let me substantiate what all the well meaning people in this forum told you:


All you need is LIGHT!

You don't need anything else.

Psalms 119:130, Proverbs 2:6, Daniel 1:17, John1:1-5

There is a puzzle in these verses combined together, mediate on them and receive LIGHT! When the light brightens, ur solution will appear out of darkness.

Remember, its to the Glory of God to conceal a matter, but it is to the Glory of Kings to search it out.

You are a King in Christ Jesus.



Pls tell this forum your LIGHT when you see it.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm 80k

I wish i earn up to that or even more

but i still thank God.

No Nigerian worker with a family lives only on salary in Nigeria.
You must have multiple streams of income.
Even a family man earning N1, 000, 000 monthly opened a mini supermarket for the wife to run.

Only Nigerian members of the state houses and National Assembly are really smiling home with fat salaries and adding nothing to our GDP.

First of all be thankful you earn 80k. Its good to be financially ambitious but not desperate. First things first you need to plan how you spend your money properly. Else even if you earn 600k you will still complain if you dont plan well. This made me realize nobody is really rich. We are insatiable. Can you remember when it was your dream job to earn 80k? And all of sudden you wanting more? I started with 30k salary back 2002 . And now nice digits and still wanting more. Let me give you an analysis of a similar family which is mine spends our money monthly. Family of 5 (3 kids inc).

1. Soup/Sew/ = 15k (Cos we have 30 days and I discovered we only cook every two days. (Prepaid in escrow with spouse so i dont touch it; its annoying to have a woman ask you money almost everyday so its calculated and paid in cash ahead. Dont come to me till next month )

2. Bag of rice, garri, beans = 20k divided by 3 = 6.5k monthly to get price of it in a month. We buy bag so it would last us around 3months all together or even 4months this reduces our cost big. Instead of buying little. So what we need and most important is the first one the 15k above to complement item two. Please not kerosene is very expensive in Nigeria so i think you should be using gas/electric stoves that's what we use. We have kerosene for emergency only

3. Kids tuition 100k = 3month divided into 3 = 35k a month

4. General / miscellaneous -- juice, soaps, provisions, in bulk etc 10k

5. Spouse pocket money + my own beer allowance etc =

I don't know how much you spend as transport. But actually what I would like to bring to your attention is that regardless of how my financial status have changed. We still don't go far from this budget for now. I don't send my kids to over-rated big-name-crazy-bill schools, though i make time 10 of the total above monthly(fact) and I live in my own house don't pay rent. I believe you can still always SAVE atleast 10k monthly towards new business for your wife. So this way I can have maximum saving towards the future of the family. I have strong faith in property so building more house this time for rental . I can choose to spend 500k to 600k monthly and still complain. I have friends living that way. Ending up broke every-time. I still get broke though but I think I'm happy whenever I look at things I do with my funds No room for mistake. All by the book.

And most things are arrange according to scale of preference. Arrange every item in other of importance.

Guy, facing reality is da ultimate, someone made a comment and told u to be grateful for ur condition cos so many people are out there with families and cant boast of half of wat u call a meager salary. For instance take Government workers as a case study, then u will understand wat i mean. No matter d difficulties, try and cultivate d habit of savings, thereafter think of a business which ur wife can do to augment the salary. No matter how dirty a job is, the pay is never dirty but never put ur hands in evil things. Someone started wit okrika cloths and today she owns a boutique where people work for her. I once read in one of d daily newspaper about a man who left d company he was working with, bought a grinding machine which he uses in grinding peppers, tomatoes & dry food stuff, today he stays in his own three bedroom apartment. May God guide u in d right direction.

Ya all are wonderful, am sure many people gained alot rom diffrent types of advice being giving to the poster, thanks for a caught somfin

IF U CANT MAKE IT WITH SMALL, YOU MIT NEVA MAKE IT WITH BIG

80k is not ideal really but it can be used 2 acheive something bigger. Bigman has said it all. Engage ur wife in a petty trade that would yield income n with time she can support d family as well .

80k is not bad at all. Why? Because I know families surviving on less. What is bad is that you cannot save from it, in fact worse is that ends do not meet. But worrying over it will only make your problem worse. Also if there is no hope for increased salary in the current place of work, it is bad. Hope, work and be on the look out for another job. But do not annoy your current employer, else, gbosaaa! Na im wey u go hear.

Work, pray, hope, work. Don't worry, don't stress yourself.

@Big-Man, wonderful advice.

@Big-man - Inspiring write-up God bless.

@Poster; pls try to start small. Most of us tend to think "too" big. I would like to refer you to the life story of the Transport company known today as IFESINACHI TRANSPORT Coy. ltd. the owner started from pushing trucks until he bought other trucks and rented to others for rents. He later "graduated" to luxury buses.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/enterprise/2006/feb/25/enterprise25-02-2006-003.htm

May God guide us all

@ Poster
Even surviving with N100k salary is like a camel passing thru d eye of a needle, talk less of N80k. But it all depends on the size of ur family and ur standard of living. U shd learn to cut ur coat according to ur cloth. Only buy things u really need, not things u want and don't give in to peer pressure,

U culd also ask 4 a transfer out of Lagos if ur company has other branches outside Lagos. Cost of living in Lag is very high compared with some other cities, so that culd work 4 u. Good luck

@Poster, thank you for initiating this thread. I just came back from my mate's place and we've spent the whole day talking about establishing several sources of income. We are not doing badly and our living conditions are cool [ considering that we live in Western Europe ] but we feel we can make more money than we are making presently. Nairalanders, I want you to know that Nigerians in Europe and North America are also facing their own money issues and responsibilities. A lot of people on this thread have made my day with their comments and advice to the poster. There is nothing like having your own business and running things yourself. It is also possible to hold on to your job and run a small business as a supplementary means of earning income. Even in Europe, a lot of people are surviving on benefits and other government support schemes.

There are a lot of opportunities in Nigeria that need to be exploited. Nigeria is still a virgin land for business start-ups and I believe that someone who is earning 80,000 Naira monthly should be able to run a small business successfully in Nigeria. Another place where good money is being made is on the internet. One just needs to be careful of Scammers by conducting a thorough research on the companies and individuals that operate on the web. There are a lot of opportunities on the web. Cheers.

www.amebor.com
www.vibes-extra..com

Deep Soul:

80k na money oh! I recently used 80k to buy women sandals and re-sold. And I have made almost a 100% profit in less than a month, with little or no stress.
It's all about identifying the right product and right market. Buy low, sell high and vooala!
There are sooo many opportunities ALL around us but unfortunately, most people always wait to start big. Big mistake!

@Poster:
You and your wife should sit down and analyse your situation. Find out where her strengths lie and what sort of business would be appropriate for your environment. A few ideas below:

1) Hair Braiding ( I pay about 4k to braid my hair monthly - huge market!)
2) Tailoring (she can always go for tailoring classes, they dnt cost much)
3) Dry Cleaning (huge market - which Im personally considering)
4) Catering ( she could open a small restaurant). I once saw a woman who set up a canopy with wooden benches and put her food in coolers and she was making a fortune! She can decide to do general cooking or something more specific e.g moin-moin. And if she's really good at it, it just might become her trade mark!

The above listed are small businesses which can be easily initiated with minimal capital and most importantly, can be done from home!

Good luck.

That is so true.

Even frying plantain chips, I saw so many people doing that when we visited V.I, Lagos late last year.

@ Poster:
Like everyone has said, you seriously need to cut back. Write down where all your money goes to, look at that list, and you'll definitely see areas you could spend less money on. When you do that, start saving. You need to do some serious saving in the coming months esp if your wife is going to start her own business (start up capital).

Always remember, nothing is too difficult for GOD.

mr poster, u are not serious, in 2008 my salary was just N19,000 (nineteen thousand naira only per month) i stayed in 2 bedroom with N90,000 per anum a wife who was not working & 2 children when suffer gum my head i resingned with one month salary to start life with, today 2010, with GOD'S help only i have a registered bussines , 8 computers all flat screen 3 photocopiers 2 offices one for my wife one for me and money is now rolling in but we are still crawling i know GOD we make us fly soon mr poster use ur brain and read motivational books with GOD all things are possible , 80k is huge amount if i had that by 2008 by now i wil be riding lexus jeep,

80k aint small at all o, families live on less than 20k monthly with 5kids sef, oga plan well n continue yo increase o, No man who works for someone else or government is rich o! cos you are limited to a particular sum for a long time, which means if u depend on salary u'd appear static financially

@Big Man
very good advice i think i'll give all my relatives who keeping begging me to send them money back home the same advice

thats a lot of money today by nigerians standard. more than 80% of families in the country survives less than 20k per month. it is you who is leaving above you income or standard of living. tell me, which type of house do you live?,how much do you pay for your childrens school fees e.t.c i have seen people who are earning a million every month and still are complainning, so its better you cut your cloth according to your size.

You do not have money and yet you refuse to control your manhood, woman dey hungry you, you forget say woman na money,YOU BETTER GET RICH QUICK BEFORE RESPONSIBLE MEN TAKE YOUR WIFE FROM YOU,responsible men means RICH MEN LOL

Anywhere,get in touch with me lets me see how to get you connected to my Fraternity,You have to be strong spiritually for the physical to be smooth and steady

@Bigman you are too much Now i see what made you a big man! because of your sense! in fact you are wiser than the tortoise lol

You guys are just kidding me.Someone just mentioned here that he get paid 28k in the bank. Man how do you transport yourself to work or you are just positing this to make noise. Nice post gave my wife 2m for business in Lagos and she still complains. Then I have  made up my mind to talk to her after reading this post, is really very aspiring in deed.

just keep praying and try to make move
on something else to add to your income

In fact, it's possible to make one million per month and still live paycheck to paycheck. The system is designed like that, unless one design another system to fit one need.

Guy, i think you should think of a business and just start. Experience has taught me that the best business is the one you start small and the business grows itself. The only advice i have for you is that whatever you decide to do, be the best in it. 9ja is still filled with incompetent people that run incompetent businesses. If yours can stand out, then sky is the beginning.