How We Saved £10,000 Without Earning More

So I, I had a chat with my husband and I said, we need to start saving, we need to start being serious now.

Generally Nigerians just, we just, we love.

The good life generally, we like to enjoy life.

But I've gotten to that stage where.

I really don't have anything to prove to anyone or I'm just living my best life being content with what I have.

So many people want to live well.

Above their means just to prove a point to those who are looking funny enough. Sometimes people are not even looking your way in the first place.

Nobod.

If you see me Riding a 1999 car, yeah.

I'll be cruising with it and be very happy with it. Now, contrary to what I used to think before, you know, it's, it's quite priceless to know that I can do what I want to do, be confident with whatever I am wearing, whatever I am using, you know, without having to.

Show off in any way.

Yeah.

Or prove any point to anybody at all.

So basically you're comfortable in yourself and you can enjoy without having to, you know, try to impress anyone. That's quite powerful. Lovely. So welcome to the Money Wise Doctor podcast and I'm delighted to be bringing this episode this new year. And yeah, as usual, most times just me talking about finance and how you can make smarter financial decisions. But every now and then I bring in somebody who has an interesting angle to share their experience. And today I've got a very interesting lady. Dr. Uche Lazu. JP NHS GP has been a locum GP as well and several other things in addition to being a doctor. And Dr. Uche has been through my Monoise Dr. Mastermind and has a lot of insight. Welcome Dr. Oche.

Thank you. I'm happy to be here.

Delighted to have you. Right, okay, before we get into the meat of the matter because we have a lot to discuss, we've had a few one to one conversations in the Mastermind, but those were all private charts. How would you describe yourself if someone were to say, hi Richard, nice to meet you in one minute. How would you describe yourself?

I'll describe myself as a warm person, a kind person.

Okay.

A good friend to my friends.

That's, that's actually what is waiting gold, A good friend. And what I mean in terms of your job. I know you're a jp, what's your current job, role or your, your background and all that because I know I'm a doctor. I've been a doctor for 15 years, but I haven't earned a dime from medicine in the last Five to six months. Yeah. And my last job as a doctor salary job was three years ago. So what's your job, your background and your. Basically.

All right, so I've been a doctor for 12 years now and yeah, I'm a GP. Initially I tried salaried role and it just wasn't for me and I decided to just do locum.

I know what I mean.

Yeah, yeah. It just didn't fit. I'm doing locum GP rules now as well as some, you know, out of hours rules as well. But yeah, done a bit of teaching.

Wow.

At the university as well for final year medical students where I live. But right now it's mainly kind of out of hours and look what I'm doing at the moment.

Fantastic. Love it, love it. Yeah. I know as I've done a bit of that as well in the past. It's not, it's not for everyone and it's not for every stage of life. And I mean, at some point you need more flexibility and all that.

Okay.

Right. And basically, I know before we met, before we, even before you even joined the money wise Dr. Mastermind, you already started your financial education journey. You started looking into a few things. I know this because we had a few chats and I wonder, at what point did you decide, you know what, I need to take charge of my finances? What triggered that journey? What triggered that destination in the first place?

You can't invest confidently if you are one emergency away from financial disaster. You need to build your financial foundations first. I've read over 250 books on personal finance and business. Not one of them explains specific issues that affect medics like NHS pensions, financial anxiety, investing, student loans and much more. Hi, I'm Dr. Andy Egwim. I'm the founder of moneywisedoctor.com for over 21 years, I've been investing and studying personal finance.

In fact, three years ago, I left.

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Okay, I would say that, you know, I've always had a budget for the month. I and my husband, we planned that together right from when we got married. However, it's just been like, I'll say.

A financial roller coaster because sometimes you find that you're spending much more than what you're earning and, you know, you.

Know, it just wasn't working the way it was supposed to work. And about two years ago, I would say, well, roughly that was July 2023. So not up to two years.

It's almost three years now. We're in a new year.

Oh, well, yes, we're in a new year now.

So that's actually.

Oh, yeah, that's true.

So, yeah, I'm correct. Almost three years. So two years plus. Yeah, actually, that's not too, not too bad.

Yeah.

I went on a road trip with.

My husband and we went to visit one of my friends in Nottingham and I got to, you know, have a chat with her and she said, you know, from the beginning of this year, up till now, I and my husband, we've been able to save about 10,000 pounds.

Okay.

And this lady in question, she doesn't work often.

She's not a gp, she's working as a locum doctor at the moment.

And she doesn't work much.

She just works like once in a very long time. So her husband is mainly the person really working. She's taking care of the kids and all of that. And I, I just, I had to.

You know, sit back and reflect.

And I was like, you are working.

Your husband is working. You have no excuse whatsoever not to have savings. And, you know, I've always been like, you know, anywhere there's a problem, I just give out.

If there's a problem here, I solve it. As far as this money, I don't really.

I just solve it.

I help people around me without thinking about the future.

Yeah.

And this was just my turning point where I realized I had to do something positive for my finances.

It's powerful how. I mean, it started as a road trip, but you weren't thinking that you were going to come across that thing. I know, for whoever is listening, I don't know if you're multi millionaire. 10,000 might be not. I mean, 10,000, even if you're multi millionaire, 10,000 is still serious just from January to July. But it's funny how talking about finances could trigger you to sort of review and revise what you're doing. Because there's this among doctors and it also is common with some other profession, but very common with doctors. And maybe it's also a British thing. It sounds like it's impolite to talk about money. Doctors also basically are training. We're like, no, why are you talking about money? If you went for a job interview for residency and you, you were talking about money, or even as a consultant or gp, there's a little bit of coy approach to money. But just by having that chat with your friend, it made you to sort of think, you know what, maybe I can do better with my finances.

Yeah.

Another angle I search is like, you're saying it's not about the ending, it was about what was happening at the other end. Okay, so now after that, what happened next? What did you decide to do next?

So I, I, I had a chat with my husband and I need to start saving. We need to start being serious now.

This, this is like an eye opener for me.

I can't just be solving everyone's problem without kind of saving for the future and having that foundation. So I got in contact with a lady on Instagram. This was just a recommendation by my sister in Nigeria who said, oh, I follow this lady on Instagram, I think you should follow her too. So I saw her videos and I really liked it. And I decided, okay, I'm going to book in a one to one session with this lady. See how I'm going to work on my budget for starters. And then I had that one to one session and that's when kind of the, you know, I set the ball rolling because we, we looked at my monthly budget, we saw all the, you.

Know, loopholes and places that we could.

Cut out, massively unnecessary subscriptions, even some of the lessons I was doing for my kids, that we could get at a better, more affordable rate and also better quality as well. So we cut down on a lot of things. My car, I mean, my car, my husband's car, were leased cars, you know.

Yeah.

And you know, generally Nigerians just, we just, we love the good life generally.

We just want to be good.

I like to enjoy life.

Oh, we love enjoyment so much. But I've gotten to that stage where.

I really don't have anything to prove to anyone anymore. I'm just living my best life, being content with what I have. And you know, if you see me riding a 1999 car.

Yeah, I'll be cruising with it and be very happy with it now, contrary to what I used to think before. So, yeah, we, we had to return the two cars actually and yeah, yeah.

Returned the two of them. Got some older, just like 20, 21, 2020 models respectively, rather than 20, 23 or 4, you know, and then we did the bits where we had to kind of pay.

Yes.

And still have the car at the end of the day. Oh, like the car lease into, into two. In terms of like expenses. Yeah.

You caught the cost of your car lease, like by 50.

Yeah, by 50 for both of us. So that was. Yeah.

Let me get this straight. So basically this whole period now you didn't. Your income hadn't changed?

No.

But your expense went by 50. So suddenly we're able to save a bit more money and then.

Not my expense, not my expense is cutting by 50%. Okay.

Expensive.

Yeah, it was, it was a very.

Good drop, I would say, from what we were spending. And I also had to call some of the utility companies to say, okay, I want to withdraw now. What options do you have? What is the best thing that you can give me? If not, I'm finding another company.

And they all just kind of cut down. I was so surprised. You know, sit down and they send you emails every December to say, oh, we are, we are increasing the, the cost of this bill and most times.

We just let it be. But if you actually speak up, you find that you can even get less than what you're actually paying at that point. And that's what happened.

That's fantastic. I mean, I think, I don't know if you remember in August, the money wise doctor community, we did a challenge like that where it's like find it a great. Where everyone had to find the leaks in their budget. Like look into your bank account, find out what apps you are paying from. People are saving hundreds and thousands of pounds and one of them that was. Most people were shocked about was calling their utility company, I think my own. It was my web hosting company. I got like, like 400 or 500 pounds in terms of account and all that. And it's something most people don't even think about. They think, well, it's easier for me to just go out and do an extra shift, do an extra side hustle, rather than sitting down and looking at your finances. That saves a lot of money. Right. Before we go any further, I want to unpick some of the things you highlighted. One, you were solving everyone's problem. I think that's what chapter 10 of my book is called, Strategic Generosity. You're solving everyone's problem. And then see, you said something about enjoying life. So when you talk about solving everyone's problem, what does that mean? I kind of like, I know a little bit about black tax, given our back, got similar backgrounds in that. Could you explain a little bit on how that impacted your finances and how you eventually handle it?

Now actually, black tax I see as something very common amongst blacks generally. You know, we always want to take care of those at home.

Yeah.

I am still taking care of those at home. I'm still helping out when I have. And I can help. And it's not just those at home. Anyway, when I say I was kind of helping out friends, anybody that I hear me, who, who is in need and something comes up urgently, sometimes I give and I don't even ask you to give me back, you know, and it's just, and it just gave me that joy anyway.

Yeah.

You know, but then what I've realized is I can do both. I can plan myself in such a way that what I am giving does not impact me in a negative way.

Yeah.

And I can still be able to automate my payments for the things that I have to do for my future.

Yes.

And still be okay and happy at the same time. Yeah.

That's fantastic. That's fantastic. I, I think this is kind of like core or part of what we're doing. The mastermind is looking at that. Yes, you're going to give, but it's got to be strategic, it's got to be planned, it's got to be factored into your, your entire finance. So the same way you give to others, you should be giving to your future. So that's really brilliant.

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And the second thing you said is about Nigeria as we like to enjoy ourselves. Yeah. But you said, you also said you don't really. You could drive a 1999 car, not care what someone says. So do you feel a lot of people is not so much about enjoying themselves, it might be about sort of like, are we impressing other people? Because now I'm looking at this, I enjoy it. It's not like 20, 25, but I've been driving. What do you think about that? The difference between. I think I look at it like there's a few things that give you maximum joy and. Yeah, I know. Even cost as much. Yeah. What do you think about that?

So I think that Nigerians, we have this I have arrived syndrome where you want to just show off and, you know, show that, oh, I'm, I'm, you know, so many people want to live well above their means just to prove a point to those who are looking funny enough. Sometimes people are not even looking your way in the first place. Sometimes people don't even care.

Nobody cares.

Right.

So you just live your best life and don't live your life to impress anyone.

And I mean, it took me a bit of time to get used to that. But I think that, you know, it's, it's something that I think is priceless for me to leave. You know, it's, it's quite priceless to know that I can do what I want to do, feel that, know what I'm. My worth is be confident with whatever.

I am wearing, whatever I am using.

You know, without having to show off in any way.

Yeah.

Or prove any point to anybody at all.

So basically you're comfortable in yourself and you can enjoy without having to, you know, try to impress anyone. That's quite powerful. Okay, that's really good. Now tell me a little bit about. So you started with this, your journey. You met this lady on Instagram. You, you had a one to one session and then, you know, you had a chat with them. I started being a bit more intentional about your finances, which is all well and Good. But in terms of generally looking at it in the more specific things like investing and taxes, all that. So before you kind of like joined the Mastermind, how did you feel about your finances generally?

Another aspect that I didn't mention was credit cards as well. And I wasn't, I'd say that I wasn't kind of using them the right way.

Okay.

So one of the major things we did was pay off everything on the credit cards. And we did that and decided we are not actually going to use this. If we're going to use it, we're.

Just going to take just a very.

Little bit for a particular bill and return it back instantly.

Okay.

That's what we did. It took a while to do that, but we, we were happy to have cleared it off and we're not owing any credit card.

Wow.

Debts or anything like that right now. And then I thought about. Yes. So part of the things that we, you know, talked about in the morning, Money Wise doctor program, the Mastermind program, we, we talk about the savings, your emergency savings and all of that.

So I'll say that that's something that.

I have done since, you know, I.

Got to be in contact with your program during that. But then these things still come up and take it, some of these emergencies come up, you take it, you start all over again to build.

So it's just been a process doing that. Yeah. I'm happy that at least when I do that I have something to fall back on when an emergency comes up. I love it could be Visa costs, it could be house repairs, something that I and my husband see as this is urgent, we have to sort it out now. The other thing I thought about was how to increase the income as well.

Good. I'm going to come to that in a second. So I love that you have structure. You decided to pay off your credit cards. Some people have decided they're never ever going to be able to pay off their debt. And it's not even a matter of income. I've seen people earning 200k and they are in depth. So you guys paying that off? Kudos to you. I mean, some people follow a different approach where they use their credit card like their debit card and at the end months it all gets deducted in full. But everyone uses what they're comfortable with. But you also started saving, so you started saving automatically build up your emergency fund and you use it for emergencies. Yeah, that's what it's for. It said that if that emergency fund wasn't there, people eventually fall into Things like debt, you may need to fall back to using a credit card and not paying it off for borrowing money. And worst case scenario, people might even sell their investments and all that stuff. Okay, so, but you've got that basics, put it in place, the first building blocks and then you moved up to the next level, which is sort of about them increasing your income and growing your, your wealth. Sort of like your financial future. I'll come back to that in a minute. I mean, you already mentioned the money wise Dr. Mastermind, which you were part of this last six months. What made you decide to join the Mastermind? Because at that point you've already, you're already aware I need to do something about my financ. And you'd already taken a step doing, you started doing something about it already. So at what point, what made it to, how do you even find us to start with? What made it to join the Seeing you.

I've been getting your newsletters in my mail. I read it. Sometimes I pass.

I read it. Sometimes it's like I'll just read through it and close up the mail.

Okay.

But I joined the community, the WhatsApp.

Community, money wise doctor community, WhatsApp group. And you know, I think that's where I heard about the premium the Mastermind program and you know what it entails. And I think that was when I reached out to you.

Yeah.

So initially I, I still felt like, yes, I have started taking some positive steps.

Yes.

In this financial journey. But then I call it a journey because even till now I'm still learning, I'm still growing. I can't say that I am where I need to be. But the good thing is I've learned those basics, those foundational steps from this Mastermind program that I did. So initially I, I just said, well, investments, that's something I've never done. That's something that I've not really been, you know, good at. I don't really know how to, to tell if, okay, this stock is good for me, ETFs versus individual stocks, how to assess all of those things. It was just like Latin to me and I wanted to learn more about it. So I think that the program gave me that, it gave me the practical and hands on approach, approach to be able to invest well. And yeah, it's been a wonderful process.

That's, that's, that's beautiful. I mean, one thing I like about is basically you, you could tell where you were, I could tell where you, where you are now and where you want to go. Yeah. I've had this chat now, one to one sessions. I know you're also building a business, which is fantastic. Right. I'll ask you this question now and it's not a trick question. Which bit of the mastermind helped the most? And, and then I, I'll give you a bit of an idea. I know you went through the investing Academy, the four weekends deep dive and you had one to one sessions. And obviously we are part of the group. I don't know if you use the mon doctor brain as well the AI and access a little bit and obviously the group and accountability and all that kind of stuff. So if you had to pick maybe just two things, which would you say were the two most helpful things for you? In particular?

For me, I would say the webinars where we had to go to the different sites to see the stocks and to learn some things around them. So those practical sessions, I remember one of the webinars where you were asking us to if you had a certain amount of money and you want to invest it in different things, what percentages would you invest it in? Tech companies. Yeah, coming to companies, stocks and all of that. And we kind of doing that made me see what other people's thinking, thought processes were like. And then when you kind of responded to those answers, it made more sense as well. So I think that's number one. Number two would be the community. The WhatsApp groups are really good because when people ask questions, it's like you're relearning it all over again. You're learning more and more and growing. Just the other day someone was Talking about the AMAs, automating, you know, the monthly payments.

And it was just a reminder again, am I doing it right?

Is there something that I need to.

Do better about this?

So yes, that community is really great.

I love it. Fantastic. So the workshops, because these are more like handsome, practical workshops, what you are describing, that asset allocation is week two of the investing. It seems to be one of the most, you know, people love that session because it's a bit more practical and it's not like talking about things now. You're doing it, you're seeing it live.

Yeah.

So the workshops, just like the tax hack workshops, again, you're walking through checklists, you're trying to find where you're licking tax. And number two, you said you really enjoy the community. And, and I, I think one of the most valuable things people don't realize, not about the one to one, the one to ones are obviously they are like really people Find it super, super helpful. But the community is a way for you to learn from the other 29 people in the cohort at the same time. Because we need to be reminded more than we need to be taught. Yeah, yeah. We're not saying. I mean, you've learned. By the time you've gone through the investing academy, you've learned enough to know how to invest for the rest of your life. You don't really need to learn so many complex things and all that kind of stuff. You've learned your risk management, asset allocation, but then you then need to be reminded the same thing with taxes and all that. Like, the end of the taxi is around the corner and. No, not the end of taxi self assessment. And the end of tax service is about 90 days away, actually. 90. Yeah, 90 days or less. Yeah. So sometimes people forget they haven't utilized all the allowances. So having that kind of, like, setting where people could be, you know, you see other people talking about it, and there's no judgment. It doesn't feel like, hi. Talking about money here, because that's all. People are not there talking about relationships. They're talking about their finances. And that group has been running for two years now. We're looking for probably going to rehome the community somewhere else. Good. Why? So. But now you're done with the mastermind. You're kind of, like, rounding up now.

Yeah.

How do you feel about your finances now compared to before you joined? I'd say you joined like, six, seven months ago. How do you feel now about your finances?

I would say that I'm still not where I want to be. Right. But I have made a lot of progress in my mindset. I've made a lot of progress in, you know, the foundation that I need to be able to handle bigger or, you know, a larger income.

Okay.

You know, so once you know the basics and you work according to those rules, it helps you just align things to fall into place.

Okay.

I still kind of know that. Yes, there should be money for, you know, yolo, having fun and all of that.

Very important.

Especially if you have a family.

Yeah.

You know, but it still doesn't take away from those basic things that you need to do in terms of investment as well. So. Yeah, I would say it's been a great journey.

Yeah.

I'm still learning, still growing.

Still growing.

Yeah. Yeah.

It's a continuous process. I'm. I'm growing myself. Yes. I'm gonna ask you now, when people say where you want to be, have you had a thought about it, because obviously in week three we did this whole thing about fire, financial independence, retiree. And a lot of people in the money wise doctor community does their ultimate goal. They want to get to the point where work is optional. Like they could work or they could, they might decide not it. I mean it becomes a choice, the work. Because I said 38, I mean 37. When I left my last job, I wasn't going to sit on the beach. I still did stuff, but basically what I really wanted to do. Yeah. So in terms of that where you want to be, I know you've moved further ahead in the journey beyond where you were and you've understood, okay, you've got the tools to go, but where is that place you want to be? Have you given it something? It doesn't even have to be like a definite amount or. It could be a definite amount. It could be in terms of lifestyle, it could be in terms of your flexibility and, you know, options.

I think that I'm taking steps every day.

Okay.

That makes a lot of sense to me than staying in one place, even if it is baby steps, steps. I think that I wouldn't want to really work beyond the age of 60.

Fair enough.

Yeah. I want to retire by 60 and I'm trying to make some efforts to ensure that I earn higher and I'm able to achieve that. I know I did the, the calculation, what you just talked about in terms of like higher and all of that. I'm trying to calculate how much more you need to be able to do that. I can't remember the exact figure right now.

Fair enough.

But yes, I'm taking those steps and trying my best in terms of my health as well. I've made a lot of changes, a lot of changes in the last, I would say one year.

Wow.

I mean, I used to weigh 20 kilogram more than what I'm weighing right now. So my eating habits, I had to cut down.

You've lost 20 kilos in the last one year?

In the last one year, yes. I had to do exercises 30 minutes to one hour every day. It took a lot of willpower, consistency. It was not fun.

But at some point I got used.

To it and you know, I love watching movies at night and then when.

You'Re watching movies, you're trying to eat something.

Yeah.

You know, I've cut down on a.

Lot, a whole lot.

And I feel like, yes, I'm, I'm happy with the progress I have made so far and I'll keep pushing, keep.

Moving and, you know, see how Things.

Go means health is wealth. I mean, people do realize this, that you start taking charge of your finances and they, they start. And I noticed this in the mastermind, people think it's about money and then along the line they start taking charge of their health, they start taking charge of other things. You just realize that, oh, if I'm competent in one area, I can do it in another area. And for some other people, it's the other way around. They start taking care of their health and decide, you know what, I want to improve my finances as well. So kudos to you. That's really powerful because at the end of the health as well, I'm good at one question. I mean, is there anything you're doing differently now that you ending like let's say at the beginning of 2024 as a result of the mastermind? I mean, it could be how you think, how you plan, how you invest or make decisions. Yeah, one or two things. You're doing totally differently now.

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The other thing is the business that I've started, the hair business, I actually started that just before. It was just the thiefing period before I joined the Mastermind program.

Yeah.

And then, you know, I, from the one to one sessions as well, I got some insights from you and I just ran with it.

Yeah.

With business, sometimes it can be up and down, sometimes it's so smooth and sometimes you have those kind of challenges. I am already aware of that.

Yeah.

And I feel that it's just being consistent and showing up, you know, daily that matters. And that has helped as well in terms of improving the income. No matter how small it is, it's. It's worth it. I would say it's helped as well in your communication with people. It takes a lot of emotional intelligence to be able to speak with people and you know, sell what you have to mean. Market your products appropriately. So yeah, it's been great.

You're growing in more than one way. You're going in multiple ways. Let me tell you something. When you said the hair business, I have expected you to do something like this.

Because I won't go any.

I was very good at absolutely in the hair. Like, yeah, that looks nice. Okay, that's fantastic. I'm really proud of you. Ch. As you know, we, we haven't really touched on everything, but I, I saw the growth that you've had in the period in the Mastermind and you're very calm, level headed. You're all about show me the plan, I'll follow it. Show me the plan, I'll follow it. Which is really, really good. But I want to touch on something. I don't think it's still a sore point for you, but this was a major stuff and I, I remember you somehow managed to bounce back from it. You, you lost a bit of money, you did some work and you, you didn't get paid several thousands of pounds, isn't it? And then could you tell me a little bit about that because basically that is also a big, it had an impact on your finances, didn't it?

Yes, it did. And this was just also when I had just started the Mastermind program because I did some out of hours work in May 2025. I have gone to Nigeria to surprise my mom and you know, my, my sister also surprised her at the same time. She came from California and it was fun.

And of course, you know, once you.

Go home, you've got to spend money, money, money.

I know, as if you're paying for the air you breathe in Nigeria right now. So, so we spent a lot of money, came back home and you know, I decided, okay, I'm going to work more for the out of hours.

And I did probably the, the highest number of hours I had done with that company and only for us to hear that they are filing for bankruptcy. And it hits, it hit me, it hits me really. I, I couldn't imagine that happening in the UK in the first place because I mean if it's Nigeria, sometimes we, we hear of such stories where people are being old salaries and eventually they will still be paid anyway. But this was just, it hits different, you know, and I was waiting for that money because I needed to use it to do some things.

Yeah.

But then I still had to kind of, you know, keep pushing in terms of like the things that I had just started, the hair business, the. The Mastermind program and all of that. And yeah, it's still something that is. Is somewhat being discussed but it doesn't really. So far it's not looking very promising. But I mean for those who believe.

In God, who are Christians like I.

Am, I believe that that money will be paid at some point. When I released even I won't even be thinking about it, you know, least expect it. So yeah, but it's. It's just a reminder that sometimes things won't work out as we plan but you know, we just have to move on.

I. I do hope that you eventually get. Because the amount involved. I don't know if you. If you want to share the amount but it's like not salary for a couple of doctors in it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's was quite a large amount I would say say. But yeah, it's prefer not to mention it.

But yeah, it is what it is.

Fair enough. Well I hope that according to your faith you. You get paid and it doesn't get lost. Cuz that's what we call Canka warm and palma warm, isn't it like because you worked for it and you eat the fruits of your labor. Right, Lovely. Right. So it's been fantastic having you on the podcast and there a lot of things, I mean usually my podcast, I've had podcasts gone for like an hour and a half but this period some tried more concise but lots of insights, lots of stuff from what you say and going forward now this is a new year. If you had to advise, if you had to go back and look at each a From let's say 10 years ago, what advice in terms of financial advice would you give to Uche? What would you say to them? Or even if you are in financial, what would you say to them about the way they. They look at their finances or look at their future or look at their life in general?

I would say be wise, be prudent, plan Planning makes a whole lot of difference. Planning makes a whole lot of difference. And try to stick to your plan the best that you can.

Because some people plan and then they don't stick to it.

It's hard, isn't it? Yeah, I mean it's very hard. Well, I'm just going to push back a little bit on that. When you say be wise, I mean for someone who's. It's called money wise. Dr. What do you mean by that? How do I, how do I become.

Wise for you to be wise you have to, you have to plan your finances adequately. You have to have a good workable budget where you cut down on things that are unnecessary and you have to have your emergency savings as well. At least three to six months of that if you can. Like myself, I wouldn't say I've ever gotten to six months and the points where I got to three months things still came up and took it but I still kept building. Okay, kept trying and that's what I think matters that you're making that effort every day. Think about investing and think about kind of you know, ETFs and those baskets of stocks that are quite good and.

Stable, broad, well diversified.

Good ones to kind of invest invest in and think about automating your payments monthly so you don't something else doesn't take that money off no matter how much it is. Even if it's 100 pounds, 200 pounds, 50,000 naira, 100000 naira, 10,000 naira, whatever it is, no matter how little it is something and keep pushing and you, you'll get there. It's always a journey but yeah, we.

Keep learning and growing.

That's very, sounds like very sound advice for Uche Junior which is from 10 years ago. Right, okay. And then basically if you were looking at the next 10 years from now, so you've talked to your, you give some advice the last 10 years and I usually say to people if there was something you wish you did 10 years ago then you should do it straight away because in the next 10 years it's going, you're going to feel worse that you didn't do it. The same with investing or saving or basically learning a skill. So if you were to sort of like look out in the next 10 years, I know your goal is to retire by 60 and I know you're nowhere near 60, but if you're just 10 years from now.

Yeah.

What sort of like where do you see yourself in terms of your finances or in terms of your goals and.

All that ten years from now? I see myself as living my best life ever. Like living my best life being comfortable, not particularly having been fully independent because I know I still have like years to achieve that but at least having gone far into that journey would be so, you know, it would be so relaxing and peaceful to know and I see myself, you know, having grown in my career as well potentially business wise as well. It's. Yeah, I, I just, I am taking steps towards that and I'm hoping that I will be able to get to that Point where I can leave the picture that I see for 10 years from now.

But, yeah, I love it. I mean, I don't want to be mistaken for a motivational speaker or motibe. Like you just say you cannot, you cannot feature in a feature that you cannot picture. So in it.

Okay.

You're going to feature it. Hopefully. Yeah. Well, it's lovely to have you, but I'm just going to ask you one thing, final question that I tend to ask people. What's the biggest or the most surprising thing, financial lesson you've learned or thing you found out in the last six to 12 months? Basically, whether it's in the mastermind or generally or from a book, something you just like, wow, I didn't know this and now I know it might be something big that might have been losing money or something more that you could have made money from. If you think about it, what's the biggest or most surprising, you know, financial lesson that I picked up?

For me, there's a saying in the Bible about those who are faithful in the little things or small things.

Yeah.

Would be faithful in the bigger things.

Yes.

And I think that that ideology of saying that, oh, what I earn is not enough. Yes. It's always good to think about how to increase your income. Very wise idea. Do it. But then what you earn can be enough if you plan better, if you cut down on the excesses, cut down on the unnecessary things and manage yourself well. And if you're able to manage that, you find that when you earn higher, able to manage that even. Even much better.

That is fantastic. I mean, we know people like Mike Tyson, who earned hundreds of millions and still went bankrupt, and he's just one example. Yeah. So I totally agree. I resonate with that. Well, it's lovely to have you, Che. Thank you for taking our time to join us on the podcast and look forward to having you around in the community. And I wish you all the best in the next phase. And I see, I see that this year, obviously, you're going to be building your business to get to higher heights as well as growing your finances. Right. I've asked all the questions. So have you got a question for me?

Actually, no, I don't.

I think we, we've. We've asked so many questions from questions of others as well. And at this point, I'm just focusing on trying to watch back all of.

Those videos and, you know, just learning more. Because you, you could attend the webinar and you don't learn everything at the same time or at the same pace as everyone else.

Yeah.

So I find that each time I watch a video, I learn something. Something new.

Yeah.

Different from the previous time that I have watched it. So.

So, Del, Mastermind, Vault, and getting all those videos and Digest is really great.

Yeah.

Wow. Okay. Well, it's lovely to have you and have a lovely evening. All right, then.

Thank you. Take care.

Bye.

Bye.

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