We all have data needs, a need for internet access that is very cheap and very fast. And also extremely accessible, a true plug and play type.

I think I have found the perfect solution, at least for me.

 

I can buy an overpriced shoe and not feel too bad about it. This year I have bought over 5 shoes (I think 8). And I still plan to get one more. It's the price you pay in corporate Lagos. You must wear good shoes, and somehow, they still don't last.

But I will feel extremely bad if I buy an overpriced IT device. I believe that I know too much (IT-wise) to be cheated. I have bought only one internet modem in my life, MTN Fastlink. I still use it. I configured it to work for all the networks - Airtel (and even while it was Zain), Etisalat and Glo. 

Hi. 
Welcome to my series on Stocks Investing, with a special focus on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

I will take you through all you need to be financially literate enough to do your own investment analyses. I will teach you finance principles that will help you even in your day-to-day life. I will breakdown the finance terms you often hear about but have no time to read up on.
I will use lots of illustrations from real events and our daily encounters. I will guide you through the beautiful world of corporate finance, and by the time you'll be reading my 100th post in this series, you'd have become a finance guy.

Finance is such an important part of our lives, and the knowledge of finance has huge benefits. Finance is all about value. Making the most of the limited financial resources you have. Whether you run a Fortune 100 company, or you run a family business, or you run only your life; your success depends largely on how you manage the money involved. 

Knowledge of finance will help solve all your money problems. And I'm not exaggerating. 

I would have loved to start with what most finance books start with: The Law of One Price. But this is not a finance book written for students hoping to get an MBA or a Finance degree. This is a guide, written to make Engineers, Doctors, Business men, busy professionals and artisans, become so good in finance that they would be able to handle their money issues professionally.

So I will be starting with the next bedrock principle, Time Value of Money. And I strongly believe that this is the most important finance principle. An understanding of this principle will radically change your life.

image: swlearning.com

In this post, I'll be sharing the addresses of Shoprite and Park n Shop mega-stores in Nigeria.

SHOPRITE

Lagos State:
Adeniran Ogunsanya Shopping Centre
Telephone: +234 17300476
Address: Adeniran
City: Lagos
State: Lagos 

  Lagos State:
Ikeja City Shopping Centre
Contact Number: +234 18999128
Address: Obafemi Awolowo Way
Suburb: Ikeja
City: Lagos
State: Lagos

image: stevelummer.com

I have one life goal - To become a Renaissance man

A Renaissance man is one who has broad intellectual interests and is accomplished in areas of both the arts and the sciences. (TheFreeDictionary.com)

I have my own definition, one I can easily attach a goal to.

I consider a Renaissance man as -

1. A polyglot,

2. A poet, artist or musician,

3. A sportsman,

4. A programmer,

5. A financial analyst,

6. An entrepreneur, and

7. Having a good working knowledge of history and current affairs.

For 10 years now, I have been working hard at ticking each quality in that definition. And I'll be sharing my progress so far.

BECOMING A POLYGLOT

Being a Nigerian, English is my second language. My native language is Yoruba. So I grew up as bilingual and have gone through the pain of learning a foreign language before, a valuable head start.

I plan learning French, Spanish and German. And since 2009, I have been learning French actively. I listen to French music almost daily. I have French pen pals. I have gone for a French immersion programme in a French speaking country. I have taken paid classes at Alliance Francaise and Centre Culturel Francais, Nigeria. I subscribed to popular French news sites and I read French novels.

My French is still far from fluent, but I'm not in a hurry. I'll keep giving it time and consistent efforts. And as soon as I can swap out BBC news with TV5 and RFI, I'll move on to Spanish. And reusing the same strategy, I'll finally move on to German.

BECOMING A POET, ARTIST OR MUSICIAN

I plan giving all the three a try.

Since 2004 when I penned my first poem, I have written over 30. I have had one published in a National Newspaper and another one in an International Family Magazine. I now write daily and I'm in the middle of my first novel.

Between years 2003 and 2006, I tried learning to play the Piano, Flute, Trumpet, Guitar and Drum sets. Then I discovered that I am tone deaf. But in 2010, I began working on awakening the music conscious part of my brain. I started using my left limbs more. I began writing with my left hand. And for over 2 years now, I have been brushing my teeth daily with my left hand. I now do it as well as with my right hand. I'm already noticing pleasant changes and soon, I will try learning a musical instrument again.

Someday, I'll try painting too.

BECOMING A SPORTSMAN

Growing up in Nigeria, I had access to only Football and Table tennis, and I wasn't good at any of the two.

Now I'm recreating myself. I hired a private swimming instructor and for some months I swam weekly. I intend to resume the weekly regimen soon.

I do push-ups 3 to 7 times weekly, and since 2011. I walk for 45 mins every day. And being originally lean and tall, I now have a swimmer's build.

BECOMING A PROGRAMMER

I have programmed extensively in C and VB.Net before. I once built a home automation device using PIC C to program a Microcontroller. And I have built several interactive programs using VB.Net.

Now that I work part-time as an MS Excel Consultant, I write lots of VBA codes.

This is the only quality, I can tick as achieved.

BECOMING A FINANCIAL ANALYST

This is included in my definition because being financially literate and having a practical knowledge of data analysis have become life skills.

I have more finance books than any other book category. I have taken a couple of finance courses on Coursera. I manage my investments and do my stock analysis.

BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR

[classified gist, will share later]

BECOMING KNOWLEDGEABLE IN HISTORY AND CURRENT AFFAIRS

I read lots of classics. I read for more hours than I sleep.

I read almost anything, from product manuals to French classics.

I have a very good memory and an intellect that earns me frequent commendations.

So that's my progress report.

It's a life goal and I’m taking my time to enjoy the journey.

Wanna share yours? 

image: sporadicpieces.wordpress.com

I hope you like the picture above. Well, I love it! It depicts the exact state I'm in: surfing the Nigerian Stock Market wave.

Since 2008, the Nigerian Stock Market has been a tumultuous wave, wiping out investors and crashing portfolios. I lost all my savings too in 2008, but mine was a sadder case. I bought into the First Inland Bank public offer at N9.50 and they didn't send me a share certificate, I went to the Registrars and they couldn't locate my name in the records. My investment was gone forever, even if the market goes bullish again and the share prices double the pre-crash period, I stand to gain nothing. I was better off falling for those ponzi scams, the very ones I diligently avoided by buying shares myself.

But I took it as a challenge and armed myself with finance and investment knowledge, reading over 10 books by finance professors and investment gurus. I came back, I saw and I won back all my loses. And now I'm just surfing the waves.

So how do I pick winning stocks?
In Nigeria, with the desert like state of the NSE; picking the right stock is extremely easy. And I will show you how. 

1. Get a Punch Newspaper.
Yeah, you heard me right. Get a Punch Newspaper. Turn to the NSE price list page, and write out all the stocks that traded over a 100,000 units that day. Then get 4 other Punch Newspapers, each for an entirely different month.  Do the same thing for each. Now write out all the stocks that appeared in all your lists.
The reason for this is you wouldn't want to be the big guy, the one moving the stock prices by your quotes. You would want to buy into companies that are very active on the NSE, companies with very liquid stocks, companies you can buy into or sell out of within a day and without causing a tsunami.

image: mommysurvival.info

I hope you've been reading my Personal Finance series.

Today, I will be sharing with you Investment strategies I use and have hugely benefited from. I have used them across my Stock Investment account, Money Market Fund, Mutual Fund and High Yield Savings Account.

1. Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA)

Dollar Cost Averaging is simply buying a fixed Naira amount of an investment type every month. I use this on my Mutual Fund account with ARM (Discovery Fund), and since April 2011. And I also use it on my Stock Investment Account, I transfer a fixed amount of money into my brokerage account monthly. 

The major advantage of this strategy is that it makes investing a habit. I don't struggle to keep aside money for investment monthly.

It's other advantage is that it alleviates your worries of buying at a market high. Since your buy is spread across many months, you'll end up buying at both market lows and highs. And in the end, you'll have bought at an aggregate price that is near the average of the market's vicissitudes. This benefited me greatly as ARM Discovery Fund went down in 2012 and came back up this year. I ended up buying more units while the price was down and experienced more gain when it went back up.

2. Dividend Re-Investment Plans (DRIPs)

image: jaguda.com

Today I'm going to share three great tips you can incorporate into your life to enjoy each day more despite the stress and pressure of living in Nigeria (esp. Lagos).

1. Stop assuming everyone is sane. It will help you to cope with the crazy and creatively stupid things people do. You'll be more at ease driving in Lagos as you are now aware that the guy driving next to you should probably be visiting a shrink everyday of the week. You'll stop cursing people on the road, on the phone and in the newspapers; because you now know that you're simply wasting energy you could save for something better. And best of all, you won't be surprised or too worried when you do something stupid. We are all insane, at least, most of the time.
2. Stop reading newspapers daily. Our journalists still write like we all leave in a village  and that we can't read by ourselves and will require them to read what they've written to us. They begin a news article with, It has happened again, another building collapsed yesterday at Balogun market... Reading our newspapers is one of the surest way to reducing your IQ. You don't learn anything that's based on critical analysis and thinking. If you practice the advice in the special sections (on Investment, health, etc.), you are better off crossing the highway walking backwards. The only things I read in our newspapers are the NSE price movement and adverts.
3. Stop blaming the Government for anything. When you trip over a stone and fall, do you blame the stone? For Christ's sake, the government has been like this since Nigeria became a nation, it has become a stone. It's up to you to make up your mind about where and how you want to live. Your bum is not screwed to this country. If you hate things so much that you can't stop blaming the government, then relocate, move to another country. If you don't want to relocate, then zip your howling screamer! Take responsibility for your life. If it's the environment that makes the man, then all those who lived before the 17th century lived a very miserable life. They had no electricity, no pipe borne water, no tarmacked road, no train, no airports, no GSM network and most other things that make us curse the government.

And those are the three great ways to improve your daily life in Nigeria.

Thanks for reading. I can wait to see your comments.

The company is Armis and they are looking for a Nigerian to make a review of their family game, record the review and post it on YouTube. And you'll get paid instantly.

And here is the full detail (from oDesk):

Armis is a high strategy board game created in the USA for worldwide enjoyment.  Armis provides a daily brain workout and is currently played online in over 130 countries.

Here are some of the short and long term benefits that come with playing Armis on a daily basis: 

* Armis develops critical thinking skills, and provokes logical thinking
* Armis builds self-esteem, skills sets are certain and measurable
* Armis inspires you to be inventive
* Armis emboldens you to learn complex matters easier and faster
* Armis sharpens your analytic and cognitive mind
* Armis spurs you to plan for and attain success

This job is for someone presently residing in Nigeria who likes to play Armis to do a video review of the game. 

Last week Friday, I was chatting with a friend who works as a Brand Executive for an industry leading firm in Nigeria. She told me how she stays on top of happenings in the industry and news about her company.

She uses Google Alerts. 

Google Alerts let you track every new information posted online about what you are interested in. You could use it to track the latest happenings regarding your premier league club or track all that's happening in your professional industry, or track job openings for a particular job role you are interested in or track when your favorite shoe/cloths brand are on sales. What you can do with it is limited by your creativity alone. 

And the best part is it sends you all these via an email. You simply set up the alert and every day or week (depending on your settings) you'll get the updates in your email. Making it super convenient to read at your convenient time.

I have already set alerts for the topics I want to blog more on, so I'll never run out of ideas and you'll always find something new and relevant on my blog.

I know this will come very handy for a lot of you that use Blackberry smartphones, as you don't need to get another internet access to stay on top of happenings in your fields of interest.

It's now time for you to share. 
What creative use do you intend to put Google Alerts to?

Lots of people have asked me, "Michael how did you become this good in Excel? What books did you read?"

In this post I'll share the details of the books and the online resources that helped turn me to an Excel Guru.

1. Slaying Excel Dragons: A Beginners Guide to Conquering Excel's Frustrations and Making Excel Fun by Mike Girvin & Bill Jelen

This book is the most helpful of all the books I bought. Here's the book's profile -