Popular digital creator and chef Nasra Yusuff has stirred powerful conversations online after opening up with raw honesty about something many silently endure the heavy burden of always saying “yes,” especially when it comes to money.
In a deeply personal and vulnerable series of Instagram Stories, Nasra peeled back the layers of her emotional and financial journey revealing the inner turmoil of learning to say “no,” even when every instinct screams to give.
“Once you start becoming financially disciplined, you automatically become stingy,” she confessed. A statement that hit home for thousands. Nasra admitted that the words “no, I don’t have” had never existed in her vocabulary until now.
She recounted the quiet panic and pressure she felt every time a friend hit her up with a casual but urgent “2K tu please.” It wasn’t just about the money, it was about the fear. The fear of seeming broke. Of being judged. Of failing to live up to an image.
“Sasa nikisema sina, ataniona aje? Msanii mzima nakosa 2K aje??” she wrote, exposing the impossible standard creatives often feel compelled to uphold.
But everything began to change when a multimillionaire mentor challenged her worldview — starting with one simple boundary: Don’t pay for others unless it’s in your budget.
“My mentor told me, ‘I operate on a budget, and your meal was not on my budget.’ That shook me,” Nasra revealed.
It was the beginning of a shift. A painful but necessary unlearning. She began to confront her identity as a “toxic giver” — someone who gives until they have nothing left for themselves.
Even something as simple as asking for a separate bill — a normal act for many — felt alien to her. But her mentor gave her a practical challenge: go out, eat, and ask for a separate bill. Not to be rude. Not to be selfish. But to reclaim control.
“I haven’t tried it yet, 1st June he wants a report of how it went,” she said with both nervousness and hope.
“So nauliza tu kwa mara ya pili, nani nifanye rehearsal na yeye tukule alafu niitishe separate bill? Then when I do it 3, 4 times with someone who understands, sasa I do it in real life?” she posed, inviting her followers to join her on this deeply personal exercise.
Her mentor didn’t just leave her with homework, he gave her a long-term view of careless generosity.
“If you give out 2K every month for 30 years, that’s Ksh 720,000. No one will say you’re broke because you gave, they’ll say you were financially indisciplined,” she wrote, a sobering truth many never consider.
As her story drew to a close, Nasra left her audience with a poignant message — a humble, heartfelt nod to those she once misunderstood:
“Poleni majamaa, kumbe mko tu sawa.”
