The Best Stories You'd See Today

How to Survive February When January Drained Your Wallet

Share on linkedin
Share on twitter
Share on facebook
Share on whatsapp
picture explaining Valentine's day in February

If January did you dirty, you’re not alone. We all started the year with high hopes, fresh resolutions, and ambitious budgeting plans. But before you could even say “new year, new me”, school fees, rent, increased fuel prices, and that one cousin who never forgets your number when he’s in need had already wiped your account clean.

Now, you’re looking at February like a stranded traveler eyeing a long, dry road with no hope in sight. Well, here’s how to survive February (including Valentine’s Day expenses) when January left you financially stranded.

Accept Your New Financial Status (At Least for Now)

picture showing a broke person in February

First things first, let’s be honest with ourselves—you are broke. There’s no point pretending or trying to impress people who won’t give you urgent 2k later. Embrace your situation.

Start responding to every plan with:

  • “Lemme check my schedule” (which is code for ‘do I have money for this?’)
  • “Omo, my village people are testing me” (so they know your suffering is spiritual).
  • “Let’s do it next month” (when, hopefully, salary or Sapa relief funds will drop).

Master the Art of Free Entertainment

picture showing a young man dancing at a party as a survival hack in February

Forget expensive brunch dates and owambe outings where you’ll just be collecting souvenirs and no food. 

February is for free entertainment. Here’s how to have fun without spending money:

  • Be an Event Crasher – Lagos has free events every weekend. Just dress well and walk in like you own the place.
  • Visit Your Friends Who Have Netflix – Let them carry the streaming bill while you carry the remote.
  • Join Religious Gatherings Strategically – Not just for spiritual growth, but for the free food and drinks at end-of-service fellowships.
  • TikTok and Instagram Reels – 30 minutes here and you’ll forget you were even supposed to leave the house.

Become a Budgeting Guru

picture showing a lady advising a young child to start budgeting

At this point, your motto should be: If it’s not essential, it’s not happening. Budget your funds like a Nigerian mom planning to buy Christmas clothes—strictly and with a deep sense of purpose.

  • Cancel that gym subscription – Who are you deceiving? You know you haven’t gone since January 3rd.
  • Cook your own food – Eating out is for people who still have “vex money.”
  • Use transport alternatives – Trekking is cardio, plus you get gifts for walking 10k steps consistently if you join Fusion’s FitFeb. Don’t miss out! Also, hitching free rides builds your negotiation skills.

Survive Valentine’s Day Like a Pro

picture explaining Valentine's day in February

February 14th—the day capitalism ensures your account remains on life support. If you’re in a relationship, manage expectations early:

  • Start preaching minimalist love: “Baby, love is not about material things; it’s about connection.”
  • Promote home dates: “Let’s cook together and watch a movie. It’s more intimate.” (Translation: restaurant bills will not see me).
  • If you’re single, congratulations! You have automatically dodged the biggest financial bullet of the month.

RELATED: Cheap Romantic Date Ideas In Lagos

Seek Alternative Income Sources (Because We Must Eat!)

picture showing Fusion's referral campaign details

If January humbled you, February is the time to think fast and make quick money. Some survival ideas:

  • Sell your old items – That shoe you bought in 2019 that you never wore? Someone on Jiji will buy it.
  • Freelance – If you can write, design, or even offer relationship advice, there’s money to be made online.
  • Become a Content Creator on Fusion – Ditch those social platforms that never give you anything in return for your troubles. Create relevant posts consistently across Fusion’s communities and you just might be the next baller. 
  • Become a Vendor for Small Items – Selling recharge cards, thrift items, or chin chin to your colleagues can bring in daily urgent 2k cash.

Have Faith -Joy Is Coming!

picture showing people talking about Joy's arrival

No matter how tough it gets, always remember: Joy is on the way! Whether you’re expecting salary, allowance, or one miracle alert, keep hope alive. 

In the meantime, stay away from unnecessary spending, borrow data instead of buying or ask your neighbour to share their hotspot, and remember: this suffering is only temporary.

By March, when you’ve recovered, you can go back to eating out and living large. But for now? Welcome to survival mode. 😭

If you’ve read this far, just know that you’re not alone. We’re all surviving February together. 

Share this with your friends who need financial healing this month and invite them to join the Finance 101 community on Fusion. 

Stay strong, stay frugal, and may your pockets recover swiftly! 

Yours in management,

Related Posts

2,415 Responses

  1. Hi there! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this site? I’m getting fed up of WordPress because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives for another platform. I would be awesome if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.

  2. Hey very nice website!! Man .. Excellent .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your web site and take the feeds also…I’m happy to find numerous useful info here in the post, we need work out more strategies in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .

  3. Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across. It extremely helps make reading your blog significantly easier.

  4. The next time I learn a weblog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as a lot as this one. I mean, I know it was my option to learn, but I actually thought youd have one thing fascinating to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about one thing that you possibly can fix in the event you werent too busy on the lookout for attention.

  5. Thank you for every other informative blog. The place else could I get that kind of info written in such an ideal way? I have a venture that I am simply now operating on, and I have been on the look out for such info.

  6. Thank you for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do some research on this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more clear from this post. I am very glad to see such wonderful information being shared freely out there.

  7. Today, I went to the beach with my kids. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She placed the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!

  8. I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz respond as I’m looking to construct my own blog and would like to know where u got this from. thanks a lot

  9. Hey there! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good gains. If you know of any please share. Cheers!

  10. We absolutely love your blog and find a lot of your post’s to be precisely what I’m looking for. can you offer guest writers to write content for you? I wouldn’t mind producing a post or elaborating on most of the subjects you write about here. Again, awesome weblog!

  11. F*ckin¦ awesome issues here. I am very satisfied to see your post. Thank you a lot and i am taking a look forward to contact you. Will you please drop me a e-mail?

  12. I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your website. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme? Superb work!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *