Got a Raise? Here’s Why You Still Feel Broke (and How to Fix It)

You're not earning too little, your FOMO is Just Choking you.

Call this a spending guide for all My Small People with BIG Cravings.

As told by Favour Agabi, 23

There’s something about getting your first raise that makes you feel like you have arrived! You see that feeling that comes when you finally receive your salary after waiting for 30 days??

Now, with a raise, it triples!!!

If you are a generous person, you low-key want to say “Put everything on my tab,” and suddenly, everything around you starts looking like it deserves an upgrade.

That was me. After just three months at my first job, I got promoted and even a salary raise. The moment that alert dropped, I changed. I started ordering food and having very LUXURIOUS  CRAVINGS!

And in all honesty, at the moment, I truly believed I had unlocked some secret level of adulthood.

When the Soft Life Started Softening My Account

Mind you, before this salary increment, your girl’s life was carefully structured, a calculated amount for transport, lunch had a budget, and even data usage was measured. But after the raise, I started spending, convincing myself it was just a “treat.”

If you see that meme that says she ate breakfast, packed lunch for noon, ate it by 9:am and still ordered another lunch by noon, that was my description.

The same me that had been surviving on 2 pieces of meat on a very good day, suddenly started craving  “extra protein” like it was nothing, and I stopped paying attention to those small expenses that used to keep me alert.

By the second month, I realised something strange, my account balance still looked like it used to. I wasn’t earning more, I was just spending more. That was the moment I started paying attention.

It’s easy to think you deserve more comfort after a raise, and honestly, you do. But comfort becomes expensive when it becomes impulsive. The real problem wasn’t the food or the spending itself; it was how quickly my sense of normal shifted.

Before, lunch for  ₦3,500 was a treat. Now, it was the default.

That was when I realised that the raise didn’t make me reckless, it just revealed the parts of me that struggled with contentment.”

The Part Where I Received Sense

My entire salary would finish before the third week. I'd have to scrape by till the next cycle, and round and round the merry-go-round we'd go. Then one day my younger brother randomly called me for urgent 10k and I realised if I gave him the money I'd have just 15k left!

What??????

That night, I was so depressed and humbled, I carried myself to my desk, opened my notes app and started writing everything I had spent on since the raise. I cringed as I wrote it because Oh My God!!!!

The list was embarrassing, and it was as if a foolish person wrote it. And that was when I decided, if I was going to keep growing, I needed to manage the part of me that thought every extra dime was for Dorime!

My Small Adjustments

"Write down these 3 ways you can start managing your next raise better." That's exactly what I did to save the sinking ship that was my finances. Here's what that approach translated to IRL:

• One nice meal a week, not every day.

• Draw a budget and stick to it.

• No new gadgets unless my old one actually stops working.

• Resisting the urge to add every fine thing to my cart..

What I Know Now

Earning more won’t automatically fix your money habits. It just exposes them in higher quality. Money will always tempt you to announce your progress, but genuine growth isn’t always loud. If you’re about to get your first raise, I’m happy for you.

Celebrate it, enjoy it, but control yourself. There's no crime in a little treat here and there, of course, eat oooo but don’t eat like a fool. Instead, start small, stay consistent, and remember, it’s not how much you earn that changes your life, it’s how you handle it.

Do you have any bad spending stories? We'd love to hear them! Share with us.