How to Save Money For Your First car in Nigeria

Who does not want a car? Imagine cutting the stress of standing at the park waiting for a bus, and there are also fifty persons waiting for the same job? Or you are rushing to work in the morning and the sun is beating you down and your clothes are soaked from sweat? Let me not delve into the part where you get to work late because public buses make the rudest stop-over. All these things can happen when you don’t have a car to call your own.

If you don’t want to use public buses, and you have enough money to spare by patronizing ride-hailing services, it is great. But imagine all the money that will be spent in a year? If all that money could be accumulated, and saved towards getting you first car in Nigeria, wouldn’t that be great? Saving up money to buy your first car in Nigeria can take some years or months of planning, depending on where your money is at.

Getting your first car is an ecstatic feeling, especially if you stay in Nigeria, because Nigeria is one peculiar country. If you have experienced one or two of the scenarios introduced in this article, then it is time for you to start planning towards getting your first car.

In this article, you will learn the best methods to save money for your first car in Nigeria. No matter the brand of the car, or how expensive the car maybe, everything great starts with a plan. So, get to the end of this article, and you will understand why you need a method to save money for your first car.

Make a decision on the type of car are you looking at.

Before thinking about how much money you will need, knowing the type of car you want is of importance. What is the purpose of the car you want to buy? How will it be used? What will it be used for? The answer to this question is pertinent because, it will help to streamline every other question after it. Having a plan of the car you want to buy, because you may have an existing budget and the car you are looking at to buy in Nigeria is a brand new car, but your budget is only fit for a used version of the car.

Also, check the features of the car like the fuel consumption rate, its type of engine, spare parts availability, maintenance costs, comfortability, infotainment section, etc. You would not want to spend your money on a first car and regret buying it.

Consider additional expenses.

Additional expenses includes getting car papers, fuelling the car, getting car insurance (if you want) , buying extra tyres, pimping the car to suite your desired taste. All these cost varying ranges of money, and it becomes more costly if it is a used car and you have to fix some features in the car.

Draw up a budget and stick to it.

This method happens to be one of the hardest methods of all. When buying a car, it is hard to stick to a budget because there are many car options to pick from in Nigeria. But drawing up a budget and sticking to it are extremely important because, if you do not, you may find yourself spending thousands or millions of naira on buying your first car. There are many amazing car options to choose from and they all have varying prices, so it’s best to stick to your budget.

Regulate your daily spending.

Saving money to buy your first car in Nigeria is like saving up to buy your first Louboutin or your first play station 4 consoles, it is expensive. If you really want it, then you have to work for it. In doing so, you have to purposely reduce the way you spend money on things or the amount you spend on buying things.

A scale of preference has to be drawn up, highlighting your needs and wants. Whatever the wants are, they are the things you can do away with, while the needs have to be categorized into primary and secondary needs. Primary needs like food, shelter, clothing, transportation costs cannot be ignored so they have to come first. During the period of saving up to get your first car, you need to cut out spending on frivolities and focus only on the goal, which is to buy a car.

Create a savings account.

You need to have a savings account where you put every penny you are saving. Whether you are saving in dollars or in naira, you have to create somewhere where the money goes into and yields some interest. In Nigeria today, there are many digital banks springing up and some of them offer savings schemes that help people navigate their financial lives better. If you are not fully convinced about using a digital bank, then you can use a traditional bank in Nigeria, but do not request for an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card, so you can control your spending.

Keep saving till you hit your budget price.

During the process of saving, you can always do some research on automobile car dealers in Nigeria and check out the services they offer. You can also check for cars that are being put up for promos, as it suits you. The best method, is to keep saving judiciously till the target is met and you are on your way to buying your first car in Nigeria.