(Wise Words) I Bought My First Car As A Tenant, But My Landlord’s Prayer When He Saw The Car Infuriated Me

There are many reasons that people can easily point to for their financial lows. People can blame everyone else but themselves, for one of the things in life that they have the ability to control and determine.




Mr. Bayo shared what he calls “The Financial Lesson My Landlord Taught Me”, in a bid to help each one of us realize that our future is a direct result of our actions today. This article is a must read for everyone, particularly the younger generation of Nigerians.



Take a read;


My first car was a Volvo 340DL. Gold colour. I lived in one of the flats within a 4-block and 8-flats property. Our landlord, Alhaji Lawal (now I think I have a thing with people named Lawal) of blessed memory, lived in one of the flats. As our culture is, I went to Alhaji Lawal's flat to inform him of the car. I wanted him to come and pray over it.




Alhaji Lawal followed me excitedly. He wore his trademark shorts and hopped down the stairs. When he came close to the car, he made a statement that was shocking and which I misunderstood for a long time. He touched the car, looked at me and said in Yoruba, "When we were your age, it was a vespa we bought first and not a car". I masked my anger with a false smile. How could he say that? Was he unhappy that his young tenant bought a car? I was 26 years then. Alhaji prayed over the car but I can't recall saying Amen heartily.


For a long time, I silently resented Alhaji Lawal for that unsolicited advice. Now, I understand better. I now know he actually meant well. He spoke to me with the benefit of experience. If a child has as many new clothes as an elderly man, he cannot have rags in equal proportion with the elderly one.



When you start a new job, business or get proceeds from a new contract, don't rush to eat your seed. That is not the time to splurge on liabilities. There's a Yoruba proverb which says that the first income earned by a youngster is used to buy beancakes.

It's not the time to change your wardrobe in line with your new status. That's not the time to paint the town red. That's not the time to buy that wig. That's not the time to move from Okokomaiko to Victoria Island. THAT’S THE TIME TO SAVE!!!




Save at least 20% of your income. Put it in a savings account. When you have a considerable sum, invest it in a higher-yield instrument. When you're ready to buy a needed liability, look for functionality rather than aesthetics. Don't exhaust all your savings over a liability. It is only a foolish man that will buy a G-Wagon and be begging friends for money for fuel. Start small. Remember that the moment you drive that car out of the sales garage, the value has gone down. You also now have to bother about car maintenance, change of tyres and God help you if a danfo or Micra runs into you - unbudgeted expenses can show up.




That wig won't thrill you again after a month. You have to struggle to keep up with the living expenses on the Island. You can't live on the Island without a generator or inverter, you need to spend some time lounging with the boys and generally keeping up with the Joneses.



Many years after Alhaji Lawal made that statement, that has been my guiding principle. Save first. Invest the savings. Then you can buy needed liabilities from the proceeds of investments;RoI. Here's a noteworthy advice, when you buy needed liabilities, buy based on need and not greed. You're not competing with anyone.




Mr. Sam Hart chipped in an extra word of advice to that of Bayo, to lay credence to the weight of his words of advice.


He said;




Fela Durotoye was in Umuahia about 10 years ago. I hosted him to breakfast at my house. On his way out. He asked if I had another house on rent, I said no. He said if I had met him before building, he'd have advised me to build for rent first. Sam said that Mr. Bayo's words were solid advice.


Sam went on to say;

My elder brother got a big contract years ago when we first moved to Abuja. The bulk of his profit went to renting equipments to execute the contract. Afterwards, we expected him to buy a car but he travelled & bought most of the equipment he rented. We were cross with him.

But afterwards, even when he didn't have jobs, people came to rent his equipments & from the proceeds, he bought a car & moved to a bigger apartment & still had the equipments. If he had bought a car first... You get the gist.

Now those are very sound words of financial advice that you can take to the bank. Truth be told, “life is not governed by miracles; as so many people so erroneously believe. Rather, life is governed by principles”!

For every area of life that you desire remarkable growth and development and improvement, all you need to do is to look for those who have been there and have done it all, learn the principles that guided them from them, and with their guidance, you can replicate just about the same amount of successes; or even more.

God Himself does miracles; no doubt; but miracles are not His normal ways of operation. Everything about God is principle-based. Pursuit of miracles should not become our addiction at the expense of sensible and intentional principle-based living.

Whilst Bayo proposed that we should at least save 20% of our income, that shouldn’t be your target. Why not 40%? Why not 50%? My point is that we need to be able and willing to stretch ourselves now; particularly if you are under 30 or in your early 30s; if you ever desire a future in which you would be able to enjoy some financial freedom.

Let me wrap up this article by saying that life is a battle! It may not make more sense to keep praying that the battles go away; some may; but in the normal context of “life”, the battles may get hotter. Instead of praying for the battles to go away, why not pray for wisdom and skill to execute the battles with greater clarity, exactitude and accuracy?