How I Wasted ₦175,000 on Tech Courses I Never Finished

It started with one tweet

Tech is the new oil. People are earning $5k from their beds.

That tweet changed my life. Not in a motivational way, no. It led me down a black hole of course buying, shallow learning, and empty bank alerts.

 I spent ₦175,000 on tech courses. I have nothing to show for it except guilt, and a Canva certificate I hung on the wall like an expensive piece of art.

This is a story about confusion, comparison, and money mismanagement in the name of career growth.

How It All Began: Fear and Peer Pressure

Let’s be honest, most of us didn’t enter “tech” because we were passionate about it. We entered because social media said we were broke.  You would see a post on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram like:

I quit my 9–5 and now I freelance on Upwork.

Learn Product Design in 8 weeks. Start earning in USD.”

I looked at my bank app. It didn’t reflect change, so I panicked.
I didn’t know which tech to enter, so I entered everything. UI/UX, Data Analysis, Product Management, even a “Learn Canva and earn” course. Because why not?

Course 1: UI/UX for Beginners (₦50,000)
The ad said:

No experience needed! Build beautiful designs with zero coding.

I thought, that’s me! No experience. No coding, count me in. 

Day 1: The guy said, “We’ll be using Figma.”
I paused the video. Googled “What is Figma?”
First result:
“A web-based collaborative interface design tool.
My brain shut down at “collaborative.”

Still, I pushed on. I watched five videos without understanding anything. I kept telling myself I just needed to “push through.” But by week 2, I started skipping lessons.

 I was more excited to download fonts than actually design anything.
I never touched the course again.

Course 2: Data Analysis with Excel and Python (₦50,000)

This one came with a WhatsApp group and monthly challenges.
The tutor said, “First, open your Jupyter Notebook.”
I opened Google instead.

Python felt like secondary school further maths came back to punish me. I copied code like it was expo. Still, I didn’t understand it. At one point, I messaged a guy in the group chat:
"Please, when they say dataframe, what does it mean?"

He replied with a Medium article and a thumbs up. I left the group.

I got the certificate, yes. But only because I skipped to the quiz and used Google. No skills, just vibes.

Course 3: Product Management Bootcamp (₦60,000)
This one came highly recommended. I paid before even reading the outline.
Day 1 in class. The tutor said, “Let’s talk about stakeholder alignment.”

I looked around. I was the only one confused.
People in the class were introducing themselves as "Agile delivery leads" and "Scrum-adjacent PMs." One guy said, “I managed a $300k MVP for a fintech.” 

Me? I once led a WhatsApp group for a birthday surprise.
I knew I was in the wrong place.
I never came back to class two.



Course 4: Canva for Creatives (₦10,000)
At this point, I just wanted to win. Something, anything, so I took a Canva course. I already used Canva to make flyers, but this one promised to “turn your designs into dollars.”

I completed it. I was proud. I showed my friend my certificate. She smiled and asked, “So when will you start earning the dollars?”
Till today, it’s only Canva that saw that money. Not me.

The Hidden Cost of Confused Hustle
Now, let’s do the maths.
• UI/UX Course: ₦50,000
• Data Analysis Course: ₦50,000
• Product Mgt Bootcamp: ₦60,000
• Canva Masterclass: ₦10,000
• “Make it in Tech” eBook: ₦5,000
            Total: ₦175,000

That’s three months of feeding, or transportation in some towns. All gone not because I was learning, but because I was lost; and it’s not just the money alone, I wasted time, I lost confidence, and I started to feel like I couldn’t finish anything.



Where I Went Wrong: The Financial Red Flags

Let’s break it down properly.

1. Buying Out of Panic, Not Purpose

I didn’t ask myself:
What do I enjoy?
What am I good at?
What problems do I want to solve?

No. I just saw people earning in dollars and jumped in headfirst.

What I Learnt: Don’t spend money to chase someone else’s calling. You’ll end up tired, broke, and confused. Buy courses to grow skills you care about, not to escape social media shame.


2. No Learning Plan, No Budget

I didn’t set a monthly cap. No schedule. I was just buying and opening new tabs. One week it was Figma, the next, it was data. I treated learning like impulse shopping.

What I Learnt : Learning should have a budget. A plan and most importantly, a pause button. You don’t need to learn everything now. Pick one, grow deep roots.


3. Ignoring Free Resources
YouTube is free, so is Medium, so is Google.
But no, I kept thinking, “If I pay, I’ll be serious.” Lie.

Paid courses don’t create discipline. You do. I had no learning habits. No consistency. Just certificates I don’t understand.

Lesson: Start free, test the waters. If it holds your interest for more than a month, then pay, and only pay when you’re ready to commit. Not because the ad said “50% off.”


4. I Measured My Worth by Other People’s Progress

I saw someone post, “Just landed my first remote UX job.”
Another person said, “From ₦50k to $3,000/month.”

I didn’t see their learning curves, their failures, or the fact that maybe they actually liked tech. I just saw numbers and panicked.

Lesson: Comparison makes you impatient. Impatience makes you broke.
Your path is not a race. It’s not late, it’s just your lane.


How I Recovered: The Money Comeback Plan

After I mourned the ₦175k, I made a new plan. 

Here’s what helped me recover.

1. I Chose One Path
I asked myself:
What can I talk about for hours without getting bored?
What do people ask me for help with?
What would I still do even if it didn’t go viral?

The answer: Writing.
So I picked content writing. I started free courses, read blogs, watched YouTube. I wrote daily. Slowly, I improved. No pressure, no panic. Just one step at a time.

2. I Created a “Growth Budget”
₦20,000 a month. That’s my limit for personal development.

If I want a course, it must fit into that budget. If it doesn’t, I wait, or I find a free version, or I save. This discipline alone saved me over ₦40k last quarter.

Money Mantra:
“Don’t buy the course if you haven’t used the free one.”
If you can’t sit through a 10-minute YouTube video, how will you survive an 8-week boot camp?


Ask Yourself Before Buying Any Course:
Do I want this skill, or do I want the lifestyle I think it brings?

Have I tried the free version and stayed consistent?

Can I explain what I hope to do with this course in one sentence?

Will I still be interested if I don’t get paid in 3 months?

If you can’t answer those clearly, close the tab. Go drink water.




Now, it is your Turn
How much have you spent on courses you never finished?

Have you ever bought a course because of Instagram or Twitter hype?

What’s your biggest “I thought this was my calling” moment?

Drop your story in the comments. Let’s laugh, heal, and get wiser together.