#3: The Lies We Tell About Bills

When bills finally show up, most of us don’t meet them with honesty. Instead, we tell ourselves little lies. Not because we’re careless but because lying to ourselves feels lighter than admitting the truth.

Here are some of those lies, and the people who live them.

“I don’t want to ask for help”

Dimeji never liked asking for help.

So, when his electricity got cut off, he told his younger brother abroad, “Light has been bad here lately. NEPA wahala.” It was easier to blame the system than admit he couldn’t afford the token.

When the school called about his daughter’s fees, he told his wife, “They probably misplaced the payment record. I’ll go sort it out.” But the truth was, the money he’d saved had gone to an emergency at work.

“I’ll deal with it tomorrow.”

Bola, a young mother in Abuja, has a drawer where all her bills go. Not in a folder, not in order, just a drawer.

“Tomorrow,” she says. “I’ll pay them tomorrow.”

But tomorrow becomes next week, and next week becomes “ah, I forgot.” Then one evening, during a Super Eagles game, the light cuts off. The generator won’t start because the fuel is finished.

Her children groan in disappointment. Her husband sighs. And Bola feels the quiet shame of realizing that putting things off has a price that’s sometimes measured in dark rooms and disappointed faces.

“I can borrow to cover this one.”

Sade is a nurse in Houston. She works long shifts, sometimes double shifts, and still, the requests come.

Her younger brother needs medicine money. Her uncle’s electricity is about to be disconnected. She pulls out her credit card. “I’ll borrow for now and pay it back later.”

But later doesn’t come quickly. The bills she borrows for multiply. The interest grows fangs. And now, Sade isn’t just paying her family’s bills, she’s paying her bills of her debt too.

“Nobody will notice if I skip it.”

In Benin, Ifeanyi convinces himself that the internet isn’t essential. “We’ll manage without it this month,” he says.

Except his daughter can’t submit her school assignment on time. His wife misses an online training she’d been looking forward to.

The house feels strangely cut off, not just from the world, but from opportunities. Skipping the bill didn’t just cut the internet. It cut possibilities short.

“One big payment will settle everything.”

Kunle looks forward to his holiday bonus all year. He calls it his “miracle money.”

“I’ll clear all my bills once that comes,” he says confidently.

But by the time December arrives, new bills have joined the old ones. School fees. Rent increase. Repairs. His miracle feels more like a drop in an ocean that never ends. The lie gave him hope, but reality gave him another list.

“My family won’t understand.”

And then there’s Amaka in Canada.

Her salary isn’t stretching the way it used to. Between rising rent, groceries, and bills back home, she feels squeezed. But she never says no.

“Of course, I’ll send it,” she tells her mother. “Don’t worry, I’ve got it,” she tells her siblings.

The truth is she’s tired. But she hides it, because the hardest lie of all is the one we tell ourselves: “I can carry it alone.”

When you can’t keep up…

Bills have a way of creeping in quietly. They don’t knock politely; they barge in. Rent. Power. Internet. Water. Fees. Medical.

And when you can’t keep up, pride writes the script. We make excuses:

“The landlord is just harassing me.”
“The internet has been slow anyway.”
“I’ll pay next week; they can wait.”

What we don’t say is:
“I am drowning.”
“I am tired.”
“I need help.”

Some of these lies are for protection from shame, from pity, from feeling small. But they also hide the truth from the people who could actually help.

For some, a single bill is just a number on a screen. For others, it’s the difference between peace of mind and sleepless nights.

And sometimes, all it takes to break the cycle is a friend, a sister, or a cousin abroad who decides to pay it directly. No questions asked, no lectures, no shame.

Do you know you can request for bill payment on Billanted?

Because the truth is, behind many lies about bills, there’s just someone trying to survive.

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