Financial freedom demystified
Bisola Tijani on financial literacy, budgeting hacks, and finding hidden savings
Meet Bisola Tijani (WhizQueen), a content creator passionate about making financial literacy accessible to everyone. With a background in finance and a love for travel, she shares actionable tips to help her audience live their best lives—whether it’s funding a dream vacation, buying a home, or simply staying on budget.
In this interview, Bisola opens up about her personal journey, offers practical advice on managing money, and highlights how tools like Yorba can make financial clarity easier to achieve. Ready to take control of your finances? Don’t miss this insightful conversation.
Yorba: Before we dive into questions, can you please tell us a bit about yourself and what you do?
Bisola Tijani: I create content on financial literacy on social media. I love to travel as well. So, I have been able to combine the best of both worlds, which is me trying to empower my audience with the best financial tips to help them make the most out of their finances and also be able to live their best life, whatever that looks like for them. For me, living my best life means traveling the world. For someone else, it might mean for them to, buy their dream home, buy their dream car, send their kids to school fully funded, things like that.
My goal is to be able to impact my audience with the financial literacy they need to make the most out of their finances.
Yorba: And how did your own journey toward mastering your finances begin? What inspired you to start your YouTube channel?
Bisola Tijani: My journey started from my upbringing: my mom taught me how to manage money. So my siblings and I would always have piggy banks to put money in to buy things we needed for Christmas or during the holiday or gifts for ourselves. So it started mostly from there. Then as I grew up, I went to study and got a bachelor's degree in finance. Eventually, my friends started to reach out for advice related to managing money and investing.
Then, when I moved to Canada, I discovered that the financial system here is quite different from Nigeria, where I came from. And I figured that a lot of other immigrants in Canada would most likely struggle with managing their finances because they don't quite understand how it works here. So that inspired me to teach other people about things I could figure out quite easily thanks to my background and skills.
Yorba: Do you have any go-to budgeting methods or tools that have made a big impact on your savings, and how can people stick to their budgets in the long run?
Bisola Tijani: I would always recommend the 50-30-20 budgeting rule: 50% of your income should go into your needs, 30% of it should go into your wants, and 20% should go into savings, paying off your debts or investing, etc. I find that guideline very helpful, especially for people who are not sure how much they should spend on certain things.
For example, if you now start to spend 40 or 50% of your income on wants, on non-essential things–you're overspending because you won't have enough to take care of your needs. In terms of tools, I'm a spreadsheet girl: I have a spreadsheet and a budgeting template I use.
In terms of sticking to your budget, my recommendation is to pay yourself first. So if you're using the 50-30-20 rule, you want to make sure to sort out the 20% first, then sort out your needs, and your wants should come last because again they are typically non-essential.
Yorba: In your videos, you discussed hidden costs in our daily lives, like using “Buy now pay later” services, financing a car, and overall an overconsumption mindset. We also know that many people underestimate the costs of paid subscriptions they don’t use. Can you expand on how people can find and eliminate these unnecessary expenses?
Bisola Tijani: I track them using my budget spreadsheet, and I also make sure that I put them using my credit card. So at the end of the month, I go through my credit card statement to see what transactions have gone out.
For subscriptions that I don't want to keep long-term, once I subscribe for that month, I cancel them right away. It will be on for the whole month, then I can renew it whenever I want.
And for the free trials, I sometimes use cards I don't have money on, so they don’t get charged after the trial expires. Many companies offer you a 30-day free trial just to lock you in and, they know that you would likely forget to cancel.
So I think Yorba is a very unique tool out there. I see people who keep subscriptions without even realizing how much money is going into that company's pocket. This is something that more people need to be aware of.
Yorba: How do you personally decide which subscriptions to keep and which ones to cancel? Any tips for those struggling with "subscription fatigue"?
Bisola Tijani: I mostly keep the ones that are essential for my content creation career. And there are also subscriptions I just need to order something to be delivered quickly or use for a short time. I cancel those right away.
It's really important to keep track of all the things. And that's why I love that in Yorba you can manage your subscriptions, see which ones you're using, see how much you're paying for them, when you might need to cancel, when the payments are upcoming, and things like that.
Yorba: And how do you balance investing in tools and services to help grow your business without overspending or using unnecessary subscriptions for business?
Bisola Tijani: You just have to evaluate to see what exactly is useful to you. What I always recommend to people is to always check their credit card statements. I know that a lot of times when people get their credit card statement, the only thing they look at is how much they owe, how much they need to pay, the minimum balance, and when it's due. But it's very important to go through it and just see what transactions are going in and out. You don't know your card could have been compromised, anything could have happened. Someone could have charged a transaction on your card without you even realizing it.
Yorba: And how often do you personally go through those statements?
Bisola Tijani: I check them every month. Once my credit card statement is ready, I get an email from my bank. I open it right away to take a look at it.
Yorba: And do you use a specific card for your business needs? Or do you use the same one both for personal and business?
Bisola Tijani: I have separate cards. As a business owner, you need to know how to separate your personal life from your business. Otherwise, you start spending money for the business without realizing it's supposed to go to your personal expenses and it starts to cause problems during the tax period. Also, having a separate bank account and card for your business helps to manage the money efficiently.
Yorba: In your experience, what are some actionable tips for people looking to save more without drastically cutting back on their lifestyle?
Bisola Tijani: I always tell people they don't have to give up on the life that they love or truly enjoy just because they want to save money. I'm not a fan of that. I truly believe in value-based spending. Figure out the things that are of utmost importance to you and they are non-negotiables. Once you're able to identify them, then see how much you can spend on things that bring you joy, fulfillment, and excitement and cut back on stuff that you don't really care about. For example, for someone like me, saving money for trips is very important. I may not care to spend as much on food, clothing, or beauty products.
Another tip would be budgeting. I know a lot of times people see budgeting as restrictive, like a compromise, or as time-consuming. The most important thing is to see your budget as a road map for your finances. Just see it as something that guides you, your financial GPS. It guides you to your destination and your financial future. So if you know where your money is going, it would help you make the most out of it. But if you don't have a budget, you just spend money on the fly, and that's how you get into debt.
Yorba: And do you put your trip expenses in those 50% of necessities or are they rather the wants?
Bisola Tijani: I am able to save over 20% and then I categorize traveling as part of my savings. Traveling is not just about spending money. It's you investing in something that you truly enjoy. But I don't spend up to 50% of my income on needs. The whole idea of 50-30-20 is to just give people a structure, a guideline on what to follow.
It doesn't necessarily mean that you have to spend exactly 30% of your money on wants, especially if you don't need to. If you can cut back on your wants to add some more money into your savings, you totally should.
Yorba: And for those who are looking to take better control of their finances, what's one actual step they can take today to start optimizing spending and savings?
Bisola Tijani: I would say be more intentional. Intentionality is what a lot of people lack when it comes to managing their finances, and I understand the reason. It's because of fear for most people, “I don't want to confront it. I don't want to know.” And if you can't see it, then you continue to live in oblivion. I would say, be intentional with learning how to manage your finances better. Be intentional with seeing how you can make more money. Be intentional with managing your money itself, following up on your expenses, and figuring out where your money exactly is going.
Once you are more intentional, you won't need anyone to tell you if you are overspending. You would realize that right away. But if you're not very intentional, you just take out money from your pocket and go ahead and spend it only to realize later how this got you in debt.
Thank you for joining us in this conversation with Bisola Tijani. Her tips show that financial freedom starts with small, intentional steps. Ready to simplify your finances? Let Yorba help you cut costs, manage subscriptions, and take control of your digital life.
