Because it’s not how much you earn it’s how consciously you live.
The Day Tunde Finally Said, “I’m Tired”
Tunde moved to Toronto in 2018, chasing a dream. He landed a solid IT job, earning in dollars, the kind of life everyone back home in Nigeria called “making it.”
But what they didn’t see were the nights he’d sit on his couch, laptop open, staring at his online banking app and whispering,
“How can I be broke again?”
He wasn’t reckless, just normal.
Uber Eats when he was too tired to cook.
Netflix and Amazon Prime subscriptions.
$8 Starbucks lattes on the way to work.
Impulse buys on Amazon.
And random money sent home on M-Pesa and Remitly because “family dey call.”
Month after month, the same pattern, good salary, no savings.
The Wake-Up Moment
One cold winter night, his friend Amina came over. She glanced at his kitchen counter stacked with unopened Amazon boxes and asked,
“You sure you’re not buying your loneliness?”
That line hit like thunder.
Because she was right.
He was tired, stressed, and lonely, and money became his comfort food.
That night, Amina showed him something simple:
The 10-Minute Money Habit.
“Just 10 minutes every night,” she said.
“Write what you spent and how you felt when you spent it.”
Tunde laughed. “You think journaling will save me?”
But he tried it.
The Habit That Shifted Everything
Night after night, he wrote:
- Uber Eats: $26 — tired.
- Netflix: $15 — bored.
- Gift to cousin: $100 — guilt.
- Starbucks: $8 — stressed.
And by day seven, something cracked open inside him.
He realized he wasn’t spending money.
He was spending emotion.
Money wasn’t disappearing — it was expressing feelings he refused to face.
The Science Behind It
Psychologists call it “emotional spending loops.”
You feel stressed → you spend → you feel relief → the stress returns.
But when you track spending consciously, you break the loop.
You see the why behind the what.
A study by the University of British Columbia found that people who reflect on their purchases for just 10 minutes daily are 40% more likely to build savings within 60 days, not by earning more, but by spending mindfully.
Tunde didn’t just track his money.
He started to see himself.
When Things Started Changing
By week three, he replaced Uber Eats with home-cooked jollof and smoothies.
He canceled subscriptions he barely used.
He started setting boundaries when family asked for money he couldn’t afford to send.
And for the first time, he began transferring $100 every Friday to a “Peace Fund.”
Not an emergency fund, a peace fund.
By month three, it had grown to $1,200.
When he told me, his voice shook.
“I finally feel safe, not because I have a lot, but because I know where it’s going.”
The Bigger Truth Nobody Talks About
Many Africans in the diaspora are living paycheck to paycheck, not because we’re lazy or bad with money, but because we’re emotionally drained.
We carry pressure, to send home, to prove success, to keep up with Western bills, to smile when we’re tired.
But financial peace isn’t about earning more.
It’s about not leaking energy through unconscious spending.
That’s what the 10-minute habit teaches.
The 10-Minute Blueprint
- Choose 10 minutes before bed. Just you, your phone, and your truth.
- List every spend. Big or small. Even that $3 coffee.
- Tag the emotion. Why did you buy it?
- Spot your patterns. Where do your emotions hijack your money?
- Redirect energy. Replace impulse buys with something grounding, a walk, prayer, journaling, silence.
Six Months Later…
Tunde wasn’t rich, not yet.
But he had something more powerful: clarity.
He invested in a short data analytics course, got a promotion, and moved to a better apartment.
Not because luck found him, but because discipline unlocked him.
He told me,
“Nobody teaches you that money is energy. When you track it, you reclaim yourself.”
If you’ve ever looked at your bank balance and wondered, “Where did it all go?” this is your wake-up call.
Don’t start with a side hustle.
Start with 10 minutes of honesty every night.
It’s not a spreadsheet. It’s self-respect.
Start tonight, and when you do, tag a friend who needs this reminder.
Then read more stories that will transform how you think about money and life on EuniceIrewole.com/blog
