My friend believes paying more guarantees more quality—a reverse of my lifestyle.

Immediately after I saw this week's post, only one person came to mind, but for the sake of public protection, I will call him a different name, maybe Paul. Only a few parts of Nigeria, like northern Nigeria, believe men should go to the market. Going to the market and bargaining is mostly seen as a woman's role in Africa, and sometimes some traders would make statements to us men that "you are bargaining like a woman", mostly because the woman takes her time to bargain and gives a lot of excuses why she has to be minimal in her spending. I grew up as a mama's boy—handbag maybe? I follow her everywhere, including the market, and many times I get to pity the trader when my mom picks up fresh bargaining after a seemingly ridiculous initial bargain. Today, I'm grateful that I'm a near-perfect minimalist in my spending, preferably comparing prices and quality before arriving at any decision.

Paul happened to be my work colleague here in Nigeria. It is admirable when a young man owns or makes an effort to own a business. I was encouraged when he set up the business for his wife so she could be a boss of her own. Another admirable milestone is that he is constructing his own house, though, at some distance away from the center of the urban area.

He got his shop for a little below ₦500,000, which was fair enough for that price. His shop is a standard shop size in Nigeria, which is about 36 sq m. The major problem I identified with Paul was that he does not compare prices from other vendors and readily spends money. Also, he kept no record of his spending. It was barely two years ago that I painted my two-bedroom apartment, which is relatively bigger than common two-bedroom apartments, for ₦65, 000. The job was well done, and I had no regrets or complaints about it.

A PART OF MY SITTING ROOM WALL PAINTING.... IMAGE CREDIT IS MINE

Paul, on the other hand, was asked to pay ₦130, 000 to have his shop painted, and he bargained it to ₦120, 000. The first shocker was that the paint did a very terrible and unacceptable job; it left the wall with only the first layer, and since it was a white color, the walls looked obviously poorly done. I was sad and disappointed at the painting job and eventually discovered that the artisan who took the painting contract was not the same person who did the job; rather, he sent someone to do it. We saw no used paint bucket to indicate the number of paints used, but we were certain it was not more than one. We spent about two weeks pursuing this painter before he eventually turned up to complete the work, which was only fairly acceptable. This incident happened a year ago. I was furious with Paul and made him understand that it is wise to sample different vendors before arriving at a comfortable price, and he should not make the mistake of paying artisans their complete money when the work is not done. This was what he did.

IMAGES ARE TAKEN BY ME OF PAUL'S SHOP

The payment for shelves in the shop cost about ₦470, 000, and I was shocked to discover that he also paid upfront before the work was done. By this time, it was already late, as he informed me late about his steps. What I could only tell him was to take quotations from different vendors when embarking on any project so as to get a better deal. Also, I succeeded in making him buy a hard-cover register to input his cash flow (in and out) so as to know when he's breaking even and making profits.

Recently, he lamented that the carpenter working on the house he's building asked him to bring about ₦4,700,000 for the roofing. I reminded him of the need to seek quotations from other carpenters before settling to do the carpentry work, which I hope he adheres to. I also told him to keep his wife informed of his expenditures, as women are generally considered to be more prudent with purchasing and selling things.

As an individual, I try to make my findings online, even if it has to be online, so as to be aware of the cost of an item before visiting the market to make my purchases. This saves me a lot of headaches and limits exploitation from sellers.

PAUL'S MAJOR PROBLEM IS THAT HE BELIEVES PAYING MORE WOULD GUARANTEE A BETTER PRODUCT OR OUTCOME IN HIS PURSUIT TO ACQUIRE PROPERTIES.

Thankfully, Paul has begun to take life one step at a time, taking cautious steps before acquiring or paying for any item.

Thank you for reading. I would love to have your comments and contributions.