Why This Blog Exists

Why I Started Mindful Naira

I am a 30 year old, woman living in Lagos, Nigeria and for now, I’m writing anonymously. Not because I’m hiding, but because I want the focus on the message, not the messenger.

Several significant things happened in my life this year. One: I became financially independent (FI). And no, not in the way that people mean it when they say “I don’t need a man or my parents for money”. FI, in finance terms means your assets generate enough income to support your living expenses. This newly found freedom means I’m effectively semi-retired.

So that happened. Yay? Maybe. I’m still figuring it out. It didn’t happen overnight; I laid the bricks for it in the past 6 years of my life. But weirdly, it still felt accidental. Another big event: I got laid off in February, 2025. By April, I considered myself FI and semi-retired.

Now you might ask, “Wait, how did Anon become FI in March if she lost her job in February?” Rich parents? Nada. Inheritance? Nehi. Windfall? Nah. Baba Ijebu? Mbanu. Business? Shakes head. Side hustles? Rara.

It wasn’t luck, it was intention, slowly built over the years. I’ll share the full story in another post. But this one is not about me, it’s about why this blog exists.

Everyone knows blogging is low-key dead. These days people prefer fast-paced content: TikToks, reels, stories, shorts, tweets, and yet I chose a blog to convey my message. Why? I wanted a medium for long-form thinking, where I could dissect and add nuance to financial topics that affect the everyday Nigerian.

The average Nigerian is navigating a hard economy: high unemployment, inflation, and instability. People are fed up and wanting a way out especially with the emergence of Japa. Many are stuck in a painful loop of living salary to salary, or even salary -> debt -> salary, or worse, salary->debt->gambling->salary. The variations are endless. People stuck in this loop, don’t know how to break free. Some of these people have dreams, they want to start their own business, travel, pursue art, or even retire. A lot of people are also clueless as to how to handle money, how to get it, and how to keep it. They are battling with societal pressures to gamble, show off, spend, be in debt, even dump their money in black tax (respectfully). Take a deep breath. There is hope.

Why Mindful Naira?

My mission here at Mindful Naira is to help close the financial illiteracy gap we have in our country, Nigeria. I want to share lessons on saving, DIY, frugality (as a tool), inflation resistant strategies, investing, building passive income, creating wealth, and planning for retirement.

I feel deeply called to do this. It’s 3:40 AM as I write this draft because something has been nudging me for weeks to start sharing what I know specifically for Nigerians.

Some might ask, “Anon, so because you are FI now, you suddenly fancy yourself some kind of financial guru?”. Not quite. But I do believe I have gathered some important financial wisdom: lessons I’ve learned, insights from others, things I’ve stumbled upon that could be useful to people. I’m not claiming to own all of these ideas. I stand on the shoulders of giants.

These principles are not secrets, but they are not common knowledge enough in my humble opinion. To the best of my ability, I want to help translate rock-solid, timeless, financial principles to the Nigerian context: high inflation, poor healthcare, black tax, unstable laws, and widespread unemployment.

If what I share, changes just one person’s life, especially someone between the ages of 18 and 30, that’s mission accomplished.

Stay with me. Let’s talk money, the mindful way.

Yours Mindfully,

Mindful Naira Architect