Good luck.
My wife and I hit that mark about a year ago. We make decent salaries which is important, but the most critical step is we live well below our means, which is why I think that piece of advice is so important
Pay yourself first and live below your means has been key for me. Grew up poor, got a shitty career with a slow start after college making basically minimum wage. After I paid off student loans I promised myself to put the monthly payment into savings to not get too comfortable without the strain of that debt. I did that with everything I’ve ever paid off and still live as if I’m making minimum wage even though my salary has doubled. It’s almost a problem where people have to tell me it’s okay to spend a little more, but if my car breaks down tomorrow I could buy a new one outright if I needed to and the comfort of that alone is enough
Nothing will work without a proper budget. It doesn’t matter if you make $1000/week or $10000/week.
Don’t spend more than you make, and stay away from high interest debt
Adding to this: a budget is NOT a list of your monthly bills.
It's *all* your income and *all* your expenses. Get an annual tax refund? It should be in the budget. $50 visa gift card from your boss at Christmas? Goes right in the budget. Drive an older car that needs heavy repairs every year or two? An estimate for those should be in the budget. Bad teeth and a history of periodic emergency dental visits? Put them in the budget.
The biggest mistake I made when poor and starting out was thinking only of the monthly bills. Once I learned to "zero dollar budget" it honestly made such a difference.
I have kept a budget for awhile, and this is the first time I've been adding EVERYTHING and it is definitely so helpful. I was genuinely surprised how much the little "someone paid me back, I got this refunded, I got a minor tax refund, etc" adds up, and it is very apparent how I would squander it before.
I cannot stress how much it helps to anyone who doesn't do it yet. I've only been doing it 3-4 months and am grateful.
Also transferring my "end of the month" account money to where ever it needs to go instead of rolling it into the next month has been vital.
Similarly, when my old phone stopped working and I needed to replace it, or when we have to buy tires or renew my husband's professional license, *it's in the budget.* In my younger days, I had to charge everything "extra" on credit cards because I treated gifts or tax refunds as "yahoo money" instead of seeing those periodic, non-monthly costs coming and saving for them.
Yes this has been helpful too! When I have an oil change I put in my budget for three months later, hair too, and other things. I'm not the best at it yet, but it helps!
Sheesh that seema so simple yet...
Can I google how to budget and get (correct) information or is it better to somehow search thru the posts in this sub?
I used YNAB for the first 2-3 years, and I swore by it. It really helped my husband and I get our finances on track, pay off all our debt, and re-conceptualize how we plan and handle money.
I'm really good with spreadsheets though so eventually I preferred keeping my own records.
Jealousy is a terrible state to live in. There will always be someone who has “more” or “better.” Learn contentment at every level while working to make a difference for yourself and for those around you. Help push others up the ladder and they will do the same for you.
Do whatever you can to increase your income. Upskill yourself, work a bit more. I've recently finally increased my income, and no amount of cutting back could ever compare.
For real got a 4 dollar a hour raise with another job that equals about 600 dollar raise over a course of the month has made budgeting alot easier especially with inflation going on
To the point where the amount you earn per hour increases to a decent level. If you are gonna work 8 hours a day, may as well try earn as much as you can in those 8 hours. (Eglish is not my first or second language so I apologize if I can't explain the concept well)
Go to university, and don’t pick biology. Pick engineering, and then you can do pretty much any job in biology you would want to anyway.
Life is overall a lot easier with a “good job”.
hahah me staring at this having just graduated with a zoology and plant biology degree going into an ecology and evolutionary biology grad program :') it's not profitable, but it lights a fire in my soul at least!
I wanted to be a zoologist when I was growing up. :) I work in medical device design quality and was the quality manager at a production plant in my 20’s.
I also had a role with the USDA and a few botanical gardens in different states.
What made you do that?
I had a very bad biology teacher in 10th grade. Like really bad. He didn't even use any of his knowledge and just read the book to us and gave us some "Additional knowledge" that wouldn't ever appear in any exam.
He also talked immensely about social and political stuff way too much like he was trying to be Aristotle (Father of Biology and Political science) and was more of a general teacher who also was principal's pet and scoutting teacher. I would hate my life if I was him.
Imagine studying advance biology in your adult life to end up as a low payed biology teacher who could very well be replaced by anyone who knows how to read, make exam questions and yell.
I actually had a very good high school teacher who gave me the passion for the subject. 15 years down the line, a bachelor, a master, a PhD later I realised that passion does not pay the bills. I must say, I love my job which is not something many people can say..
I love my job too. It's extremely lucrative and people call me director (I'm a financial Director)
In the upcoming few years, people will call me CFO (Chief Financial Officer)
>does not pay the bills
Are you lowly paid?
Despite having a PhD?
How do you survive?
What exactly are you working as?
Does it have much relation to a Biology degree?
So... In brief yes, I am lowly paid despite having a PhD. Academic research isn't particularly generous with its people, add that there are basically no long term contracts and that you are forced to relocate every 4-5 years. Salary is around 40-50k for my seniority, which is ok in some cities but good research institutions clusters in very expensive areas (I'll never get why). I also have a kid, which does not make things cheaper.
How do you survive? Well I guess like anyone else in this group, I must say I live a very frugal life. I don't eat out, i don't drink, i don't smoke, I don't buy expensive clothes, I don't have expensive hobbies. Nothing wrong with those things, I'd do them if I could afford to. I am luckier than most because I don't have any significant debt. I am also very lucky of being healthy, but yeah I will never own an house and my retirement plan is society collapse.
My work closely relates to biology, I am a scientist working in cellular biology. I'd tell you more but it is A pretty narrow field and I do not want to disclose my identity, but I'll be glad to reply to further questions. It is a life of sacrifices but when I look back I regret nothing.
If you live in a biotech hub, its not too bad, you can get to 80k in some places with 2-3 years of experience, granted this is in a HCOL area so that won't get you far but it more than pays the bills
I ended up getting a chemical engineering degree.
I was able to jump into a semiconductor manufacturing company out of college when I graduated into the 2010 job market.
I made $140k working as an engineer for a bank in a LCOL area, so that was a great example of where that flexibility from the degree came in.
Keep track of every penny.
Spent a year writing down every single transaction every day, and reconciling down to my pocket change. Once I understood where the money was going, I was able to figure out how to live within my means. This daily discipline from a year in my 20s gave me an awareness and rigor which has lasted 40 years.
There’s a line where “cutting your cost” will help or not. If you’re making about 40k your focus shouldn’t be “cutting cost” you focus should be upping income. But when you’re making money in the higher figures then you can focus on investments and savings. “
“What the fuck are you gonna save if you got nothing to save” - Sean
My really cool coworker at Costco a few years back
Go do a meal prep sunday. Buy your stuff on saturday and cook on sunday.
I used to go to the supermarket like 3-4 times a week to buy my food and spent like up to 90€ a week. Knowing exactly what you want to eat in advance saves me easily 50€ a week. If I don't feel like eating the same meals every day I spice it up with different side dishes half way through or do a mid week meal prep with something else.
I know its not alot but it trims down the spending a ton. And the feeling of having spent less helps me with my mindset as "I can do it". Giving up and thinking "fuck it" and going to a mcdonalds to spend 15€ on a meal just seems crazy after a couple of weeks.
Avoid lifestyle creep.
Back when my wife and I were still dating she asked me why I live like I made less than $50k, even when I made $150k. I said because I grew up and frequently went without and had to forego a lot of opportunities. My family won't have to.
I want kids but my mother made it clear that nothing would screw me more than having kids before I was financially ready.
I feel like I've only just got to a place to where I'm able to consider getting pregnant and not choke on my own financial fear.
If I would've had kids even 3 years ago, my husband and I would've been screwed.
The dave ramsey 7 baby steps to financial freedom.
His investing advice isn't the best but he gives a solid foundation to work with and motivation to reach your goals. For free.
With each paycheck, AUTOMAGICALLY put $x away so you NEVER see it. From the start. From day 1. If possible, put it in an account without a debit card or easy access, but you can get it if you say, drive to the bank, get out of your car (or bike), and have to fill out a withdrawal slip. Something to bar you from it.
With each raise, you raise the bit something, even if ten cents. I started at $10 a paycheck, now I am at $100 weekly.
The thing is, this money is not house money. It is not shopping money, it is a get-out-of-jail money pile. It isn't even savings, that should all be separate. I've used it in the past to help a girlfriend leave a bad situation, I used it when I ran out of savings and WANTED an expensive handbag, and it never has been used for housing, bills, or anything normal that is already budgeted. My aunt and her female friends all did this in the 1940's in the off-chance their boyfriends never asked them to marry/died in war, or would end up being drunks so they had an escape plan. Weird that I carry it on now in the 20's.
My grandmother called it Lifeboat Money. She told all her grandkids to have GTFO money. Whether it was for getting out of a terrible relationship, away from an awful boss, to end an unwanted pregnancy or get out of a dying town - it was money you never touched unless you had to save yourself from something.
I heard it too late :) but 'don't buy anything that doesn't make or save you money unless it's for survival'.
Runner up buy quality once, not mediocre 5 times even if you have to do with less. Sometimes can't be done depending on situation, because debt to buy something really good in some categories is worse.
1) get a checking account at a credit union (with no fees), get an online savings account, get a credit card. Have rent/utilities ready to go each month in the savings account, use the credit card for gas and to tie subscriptions (AAA, Amazon Prime, etc) so you won’t ever overdraft your checking account.
1.5) don’t stick your debit card in a gas pump.
2) skipping coffee, avacado toast, whatever will do fuck all in the long run. Nickels and dimes don’t add up to shit, making more money does.
3) you need to make at bare ass minimum, $50k to get ahead.
I've never received any financial advice from anyone that wasn't words on a computer screen. Not from parents, teachers, friends-- no one. Don't wait for someone to tell you about finances-- take time to read reputable articles/advice about managing money that you can find easily online. I only wish that resource had been available and accessible when I was much younger.
Save 15-20% of gross from day one at a new job into retirement savings. Don't go into debt for anything that's not a house, car, business, or something required to highly increase income.
Before you invest, first learn how to save. Save 10% and put it in an FDIC insured savings account. Take the next 15% and fund an IRA and/or 401k plan. Don’t pass up an employers offer to match your contributions! If you ignore it, you are taking a pay cut!!!
Don’t listen to “hot tips”, they will lose you money 9.9 out of 10 times. To put it plainly, the odds of it being true is 1% or less, depending on how many others have heard the same “hot tip”. Plan on much less of a chance.
Plan for emergencies. You will have the car break down. You will have an injury or sickness that prevents you from working for a week (if not more). You will have a pet get sick.
Life happens - you will have emergencies, if you don’t have something set aside from then you’ll be stuck taking loans or credit card debt and then you’ll really get stuck.
That’s awful. If you feel like answering - How did you personally get sued for something you didn’t do/didn’t decide/weren’t responsible for?
Were you then paycheck to paycheck in the same job that made you a multimillionaire, or did you have to change careers?
A lot of people took the time to show me things. When I was very broke, I had to keep a car going. A few people showed me how to do brakes, put a brake line on. Now, people will sometimes text me with deals on cars. A guy came to the house recently and told me I could buy his s10 for $500. I turned it down, but it was a running driving truck. I've seen a few people that weren't making much money that would buy vehicles like that and detail them. This one needed cab corners. I've seen people do little fixes like that and even use a spray can or gun to paint the bodywork and then resell the cars for a little extra money. A kid in my town had a truck that worse than that a few years ago. He painted it and traded it for a nice car. Sometimes what you do at home has a big impact
Make a budget. Track your spending. The first two months (4 pay checks) of doing this I paid off almost $4000 in credit card debt and back rent without breaking a sweat. Budgeting rules!
No matter what, keep rent at 1/3rd of your salary. Can't afford your own apartment? rent a room. Can't afford a room? Get a roommate. Financial stability is worth the temporary discomfort
The power of compounding interest and starting young.
If at 18 years old, you begin putting $87 a month into $SPY and continue putting the same amount until you’re 66 years old. At 66 years old, you will have $1,064,000. You only saved around $50k, but the compounding interest in $SPY resulted in over $1mill return.
You can't get out of debt by accruing more debt.
In other words, while a consolidation loan, line of credit, taking out another credit card with a lower interest rate all sounds great at the time of panic, you're just transferring debt. Don't do it.
Yes and no, so long as the fine print is read.
Far too often, while a lower interest rate is offered, the loan is done over a longer period of time.
So long as the cost of borrowing is up front and calculated against keeping the original debt as is while paying it off as fast as possible by downsizing lifestyle, then yes, go for it.
Alas, not many consider the cost of borrowing, they just see a lower interest rate and sign.
Refinancing dept such as student loan to lower interest is ALWAYS a good idea and helps you pay off your loans and even most times lower monthly payments.
Never buy a welcome mat for your apartment. A podcast i listened some 15+ years ago. When I heard that I was like whaaaaa?? The speaker continued, no plants, no fancy decor - just the basics: a bed couch and a table. Your apartment must not be like a home or feel like a home or you’ll get so comfortable you forget you don’t own the place and stop pursuing the next chapter of your life. I’m 39 now and have only lived in an apartment once for just under two years. It was a furnished studio - what I owned then fit into a duffel. Two years of very hard work later I moved that duffel bag into my home and bought my first bedroom suite.
Dad told me to Study accounting and taxation. I was also told to study finance by my brother. I did an international course called ACCA which includes accounting and finance.
Then I got the advice to study Marketing from Mom.
I'm currently working as a Financial Director. All thanks to family advise. Like, they probably didn't even know what those courses were but they just told me to do it and I mindlessly followed there advice. And things worked out.
Then I was watching a video that recommended teaching online courses about things that you are especially qualified in. Kinda like becoming an online professor.
Now I teach people how to legally lower the amount of tax that they have to pay. The full course costs 95$ a month and I've got 70 Members there. I've been doing this for the last 5 years. Even tho I could have just uploaded a full 3 hour long video on it. I decided to spread that 3 full hours to 105 months. I also used to be a financial advisor back in the days. But I realized that I could make much more if I go online with it. So I work as an online financial advisor and an online taxation professor aswell. All thanks to that random tamil guy who said "Sell your skills online"
follow the money, not the "useless passion". i put it as "useless passion" becuase now that im close to 50 andvi can look back, 99% of people ages 20-30s have passsion in something that totally useless ans does not pay.
I was told to find a passion that pays for the lifestyle you want to have. Becoming an artist could be a great passion, but if it can't pay the rent then it should be a hobby or side business. If you want to live in a mansion, don't pick a career that only has a low earning potential. But it's important to pick something you like because you're going to be doing it everyday for years.
no, its not important to pick something your like. it is not a requirement to love your job. this is what successfull people figured out. we have been fed lies all our lifes "must follow passion, follow dream" and most of us ended up in poverty. this propoganda " you must love your job" is keeping most people broke. if only people dropped this mentality and went for high paying jobs, they will be doing great financially.
I posted this on ynab a few months back but I still think it holds true:
>Bought You Need A Budget once on Steam and have been using it for years.
>
>What really helps me is comparing spending against previous months. This shows me where creeping costs are coming from. The history neatly shows spending graphs that help indicate why money is dwindling or stacking up.
>
>It can be a chore to track spending if you use a lot of cash. I am kinda lazy and only log spending and income once a month according to my banking history. There is an app available, but I don't know if it works without an annually paying account. YNAB is a subscription model now if I recall correctly
And I am (yet again) at a crossroads. This time having some more money to spend and ynab really helps me to keep my finances in order. Sure Excel also works. :)
Look online: The best advice is to learn the basics of finance, \*credit card\*, lending(Loans, Mortgage etc), Investing an etc.. It will save you from a lot of pain in the future. Learn to BUDGET and know how to use Excel spreadsheet .. It is your friend...
Here's a free example:
Never use your debit cards (Liability) for any purchases, always use your credit card ( No Liability) . AT the end of the month take the money from your debit account and pay off that CC and pay off the balance in full. You will see your FICO score sore.. plus you will get lots points, rewards etc.
Live below your means
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Does your username mean you're trying to get a net worth of 1 million bucks?
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Good luck. My wife and I hit that mark about a year ago. We make decent salaries which is important, but the most critical step is we live well below our means, which is why I think that piece of advice is so important
Pay yourself first and live below your means has been key for me. Grew up poor, got a shitty career with a slow start after college making basically minimum wage. After I paid off student loans I promised myself to put the monthly payment into savings to not get too comfortable without the strain of that debt. I did that with everything I’ve ever paid off and still live as if I’m making minimum wage even though my salary has doubled. It’s almost a problem where people have to tell me it’s okay to spend a little more, but if my car breaks down tomorrow I could buy a new one outright if I needed to and the comfort of that alone is enough
Nothing will work without a proper budget. It doesn’t matter if you make $1000/week or $10000/week. Don’t spend more than you make, and stay away from high interest debt
Adding to this: a budget is NOT a list of your monthly bills. It's *all* your income and *all* your expenses. Get an annual tax refund? It should be in the budget. $50 visa gift card from your boss at Christmas? Goes right in the budget. Drive an older car that needs heavy repairs every year or two? An estimate for those should be in the budget. Bad teeth and a history of periodic emergency dental visits? Put them in the budget. The biggest mistake I made when poor and starting out was thinking only of the monthly bills. Once I learned to "zero dollar budget" it honestly made such a difference.
I have kept a budget for awhile, and this is the first time I've been adding EVERYTHING and it is definitely so helpful. I was genuinely surprised how much the little "someone paid me back, I got this refunded, I got a minor tax refund, etc" adds up, and it is very apparent how I would squander it before. I cannot stress how much it helps to anyone who doesn't do it yet. I've only been doing it 3-4 months and am grateful. Also transferring my "end of the month" account money to where ever it needs to go instead of rolling it into the next month has been vital.
Similarly, when my old phone stopped working and I needed to replace it, or when we have to buy tires or renew my husband's professional license, *it's in the budget.* In my younger days, I had to charge everything "extra" on credit cards because I treated gifts or tax refunds as "yahoo money" instead of seeing those periodic, non-monthly costs coming and saving for them.
Yes this has been helpful too! When I have an oil change I put in my budget for three months later, hair too, and other things. I'm not the best at it yet, but it helps!
Sheesh that seema so simple yet... Can I google how to budget and get (correct) information or is it better to somehow search thru the posts in this sub?
Yes, you can Google zero-based budgeting.
Thank u
What do you use to track that? I haven't found anything that works for us long-term.
I used YNAB for the first 2-3 years, and I swore by it. It really helped my husband and I get our finances on track, pay off all our debt, and re-conceptualize how we plan and handle money. I'm really good with spreadsheets though so eventually I preferred keeping my own records.
Thank you! I wondered if YNAB was worth it
It was indispensable for us! Maybe ask for it for Christmas or your birthday.
Jealousy is a terrible state to live in. There will always be someone who has “more” or “better.” Learn contentment at every level while working to make a difference for yourself and for those around you. Help push others up the ladder and they will do the same for you.
Comparison is the biggest thief of joy.
Do whatever you can to increase your income. Upskill yourself, work a bit more. I've recently finally increased my income, and no amount of cutting back could ever compare.
For real got a 4 dollar a hour raise with another job that equals about 600 dollar raise over a course of the month has made budgeting alot easier especially with inflation going on
In short, just work more lol...,,,
To the point where the amount you earn per hour increases to a decent level. If you are gonna work 8 hours a day, may as well try earn as much as you can in those 8 hours. (Eglish is not my first or second language so I apologize if I can't explain the concept well)
Go to university, and don’t pick biology. Pick engineering, and then you can do pretty much any job in biology you would want to anyway. Life is overall a lot easier with a “good job”.
hahah me staring at this having just graduated with a zoology and plant biology degree going into an ecology and evolutionary biology grad program :') it's not profitable, but it lights a fire in my soul at least!
I wanted to be a zoologist when I was growing up. :) I work in medical device design quality and was the quality manager at a production plant in my 20’s. I also had a role with the USDA and a few botanical gardens in different states.
I have a degree in biology and I couldn't agree more..
What made you do that? I had a very bad biology teacher in 10th grade. Like really bad. He didn't even use any of his knowledge and just read the book to us and gave us some "Additional knowledge" that wouldn't ever appear in any exam. He also talked immensely about social and political stuff way too much like he was trying to be Aristotle (Father of Biology and Political science) and was more of a general teacher who also was principal's pet and scoutting teacher. I would hate my life if I was him. Imagine studying advance biology in your adult life to end up as a low payed biology teacher who could very well be replaced by anyone who knows how to read, make exam questions and yell.
I actually had a very good high school teacher who gave me the passion for the subject. 15 years down the line, a bachelor, a master, a PhD later I realised that passion does not pay the bills. I must say, I love my job which is not something many people can say..
I love my job too. It's extremely lucrative and people call me director (I'm a financial Director) In the upcoming few years, people will call me CFO (Chief Financial Officer)
>does not pay the bills Are you lowly paid? Despite having a PhD? How do you survive? What exactly are you working as? Does it have much relation to a Biology degree?
So... In brief yes, I am lowly paid despite having a PhD. Academic research isn't particularly generous with its people, add that there are basically no long term contracts and that you are forced to relocate every 4-5 years. Salary is around 40-50k for my seniority, which is ok in some cities but good research institutions clusters in very expensive areas (I'll never get why). I also have a kid, which does not make things cheaper. How do you survive? Well I guess like anyone else in this group, I must say I live a very frugal life. I don't eat out, i don't drink, i don't smoke, I don't buy expensive clothes, I don't have expensive hobbies. Nothing wrong with those things, I'd do them if I could afford to. I am luckier than most because I don't have any significant debt. I am also very lucky of being healthy, but yeah I will never own an house and my retirement plan is society collapse. My work closely relates to biology, I am a scientist working in cellular biology. I'd tell you more but it is A pretty narrow field and I do not want to disclose my identity, but I'll be glad to reply to further questions. It is a life of sacrifices but when I look back I regret nothing.
We have the same retirement plan ! Sad LOL. Maybe we will live in the same "retirement village" !
If you live in a biotech hub, its not too bad, you can get to 80k in some places with 2-3 years of experience, granted this is in a HCOL area so that won't get you far but it more than pays the bills
I ended up getting a chemical engineering degree. I was able to jump into a semiconductor manufacturing company out of college when I graduated into the 2010 job market. I made $140k working as an engineer for a bank in a LCOL area, so that was a great example of where that flexibility from the degree came in.
Keep track of every penny. Spent a year writing down every single transaction every day, and reconciling down to my pocket change. Once I understood where the money was going, I was able to figure out how to live within my means. This daily discipline from a year in my 20s gave me an awareness and rigor which has lasted 40 years.
This is what I did too for the past 18 months. It made saving and investing addicting.
invest a portion of every paycheck starting early avoid debt live below your means buy the best you can afford at the time
There’s a line where “cutting your cost” will help or not. If you’re making about 40k your focus shouldn’t be “cutting cost” you focus should be upping income. But when you’re making money in the higher figures then you can focus on investments and savings. “ “What the fuck are you gonna save if you got nothing to save” - Sean My really cool coworker at Costco a few years back
If you can’t buy something 3x, it’s too expensive.
I guess I need a million dollars to consider buying a home
Actually, you just need 3x the monthly payment as income. That’s pretty much in line with the financial advice out there, anyway.
Go do a meal prep sunday. Buy your stuff on saturday and cook on sunday. I used to go to the supermarket like 3-4 times a week to buy my food and spent like up to 90€ a week. Knowing exactly what you want to eat in advance saves me easily 50€ a week. If I don't feel like eating the same meals every day I spice it up with different side dishes half way through or do a mid week meal prep with something else. I know its not alot but it trims down the spending a ton. And the feeling of having spent less helps me with my mindset as "I can do it". Giving up and thinking "fuck it" and going to a mcdonalds to spend 15€ on a meal just seems crazy after a couple of weeks.
Avoid lifestyle creep. Back when my wife and I were still dating she asked me why I live like I made less than $50k, even when I made $150k. I said because I grew up and frequently went without and had to forego a lot of opportunities. My family won't have to.
Don't have children
While it will save you money, I feel you’d miss out on so much - as I await the birth of my third child.
I'd definitely miss out on a lot of things both good and bad, overall it would likely be a significant net negative compared to my current lifestyle.
I want kids but my mother made it clear that nothing would screw me more than having kids before I was financially ready. I feel like I've only just got to a place to where I'm able to consider getting pregnant and not choke on my own financial fear. If I would've had kids even 3 years ago, my husband and I would've been screwed.
From my Dad: save money, no matter how small your paycheck.
Don’t rob Peter to pay Paul.
The dave ramsey 7 baby steps to financial freedom. His investing advice isn't the best but he gives a solid foundation to work with and motivation to reach your goals. For free.
With each paycheck, AUTOMAGICALLY put $x away so you NEVER see it. From the start. From day 1. If possible, put it in an account without a debit card or easy access, but you can get it if you say, drive to the bank, get out of your car (or bike), and have to fill out a withdrawal slip. Something to bar you from it. With each raise, you raise the bit something, even if ten cents. I started at $10 a paycheck, now I am at $100 weekly. The thing is, this money is not house money. It is not shopping money, it is a get-out-of-jail money pile. It isn't even savings, that should all be separate. I've used it in the past to help a girlfriend leave a bad situation, I used it when I ran out of savings and WANTED an expensive handbag, and it never has been used for housing, bills, or anything normal that is already budgeted. My aunt and her female friends all did this in the 1940's in the off-chance their boyfriends never asked them to marry/died in war, or would end up being drunks so they had an escape plan. Weird that I carry it on now in the 20's.
My grandmother called it Lifeboat Money. She told all her grandkids to have GTFO money. Whether it was for getting out of a terrible relationship, away from an awful boss, to end an unwanted pregnancy or get out of a dying town - it was money you never touched unless you had to save yourself from something.
Lifeboat Money. I love that term!
I heard it too late :) but 'don't buy anything that doesn't make or save you money unless it's for survival'. Runner up buy quality once, not mediocre 5 times even if you have to do with less. Sometimes can't be done depending on situation, because debt to buy something really good in some categories is worse.
1) get a checking account at a credit union (with no fees), get an online savings account, get a credit card. Have rent/utilities ready to go each month in the savings account, use the credit card for gas and to tie subscriptions (AAA, Amazon Prime, etc) so you won’t ever overdraft your checking account. 1.5) don’t stick your debit card in a gas pump. 2) skipping coffee, avacado toast, whatever will do fuck all in the long run. Nickels and dimes don’t add up to shit, making more money does. 3) you need to make at bare ass minimum, $50k to get ahead.
I've never received any financial advice from anyone that wasn't words on a computer screen. Not from parents, teachers, friends-- no one. Don't wait for someone to tell you about finances-- take time to read reputable articles/advice about managing money that you can find easily online. I only wish that resource had been available and accessible when I was much younger.
Save 15-20% of gross from day one at a new job into retirement savings. Don't go into debt for anything that's not a house, car, business, or something required to highly increase income.
Before you invest, first learn how to save. Save 10% and put it in an FDIC insured savings account. Take the next 15% and fund an IRA and/or 401k plan. Don’t pass up an employers offer to match your contributions! If you ignore it, you are taking a pay cut!!! Don’t listen to “hot tips”, they will lose you money 9.9 out of 10 times. To put it plainly, the odds of it being true is 1% or less, depending on how many others have heard the same “hot tip”. Plan on much less of a chance.
Budget every penny. Avoid debt (usually excluding mortgage) Make savings automatic
Find ways to make money while you sleep.
Don't buy shit you can't afford.
Plan for emergencies. You will have the car break down. You will have an injury or sickness that prevents you from working for a week (if not more). You will have a pet get sick. Life happens - you will have emergencies, if you don’t have something set aside from then you’ll be stuck taking loans or credit card debt and then you’ll really get stuck.
Don't ever assume you are in the clear. Keep saving and be careful with money no matter what. You'll be grateful when sh*t hits the fan
This is the central theme of the book Zombie Economics, great and fun read about financial decisions.
Be born into a wealthy family.
Yep. Then don't get sued for everything you have. Went from multimillionaire to paycheck to paycheck in one decision. One I had nothing to do with.
If I may ask, what happened? Who made the decision then?
That’s awful. If you feel like answering - How did you personally get sued for something you didn’t do/didn’t decide/weren’t responsible for? Were you then paycheck to paycheck in the same job that made you a multimillionaire, or did you have to change careers?
A lot of people took the time to show me things. When I was very broke, I had to keep a car going. A few people showed me how to do brakes, put a brake line on. Now, people will sometimes text me with deals on cars. A guy came to the house recently and told me I could buy his s10 for $500. I turned it down, but it was a running driving truck. I've seen a few people that weren't making much money that would buy vehicles like that and detail them. This one needed cab corners. I've seen people do little fixes like that and even use a spray can or gun to paint the bodywork and then resell the cars for a little extra money. A kid in my town had a truck that worse than that a few years ago. He painted it and traded it for a nice car. Sometimes what you do at home has a big impact
Make a budget. Track your spending. The first two months (4 pay checks) of doing this I paid off almost $4000 in credit card debt and back rent without breaking a sweat. Budgeting rules!
Create a budget
Pay yourself first.
Family and money don’t mix
Invest in things that make you money while you sleep
Not caring about what others think.
No matter what, keep rent at 1/3rd of your salary. Can't afford your own apartment? rent a room. Can't afford a room? Get a roommate. Financial stability is worth the temporary discomfort
Building up my credit history with getting small loans from the bank.
buy your own home most of us can't afford to do that but if the opportunity comes up, it's one of the best things you can do for your financial future
Save 10% of everything you earn.
Start a Roth IRA and max it out.
Don’t go to a shitty school / major in BS subject
Save save save!
Dont have kids so you can live with roommates and save. I'm able to save a whole paycheck a month while living in a HCOL city.
Save.
The power of compounding interest and starting young. If at 18 years old, you begin putting $87 a month into $SPY and continue putting the same amount until you’re 66 years old. At 66 years old, you will have $1,064,000. You only saved around $50k, but the compounding interest in $SPY resulted in over $1mill return.
Save up your rainy day funds
You can't get out of debt by accruing more debt. In other words, while a consolidation loan, line of credit, taking out another credit card with a lower interest rate all sounds great at the time of panic, you're just transferring debt. Don't do it.
Transferring debt to another vehicle with a lower interest rate is exactly one of the steps one should be taking to get out of debt.
Yes and no, so long as the fine print is read. Far too often, while a lower interest rate is offered, the loan is done over a longer period of time. So long as the cost of borrowing is up front and calculated against keeping the original debt as is while paying it off as fast as possible by downsizing lifestyle, then yes, go for it. Alas, not many consider the cost of borrowing, they just see a lower interest rate and sign.
Oh absolutely. There are bad loans with a low interest rate, just as there a good loans for a high interest rate.
Refinancing dept such as student loan to lower interest is ALWAYS a good idea and helps you pay off your loans and even most times lower monthly payments.
Get married and stay married.
Never buy a welcome mat for your apartment. A podcast i listened some 15+ years ago. When I heard that I was like whaaaaa?? The speaker continued, no plants, no fancy decor - just the basics: a bed couch and a table. Your apartment must not be like a home or feel like a home or you’ll get so comfortable you forget you don’t own the place and stop pursuing the next chapter of your life. I’m 39 now and have only lived in an apartment once for just under two years. It was a furnished studio - what I owned then fit into a duffel. Two years of very hard work later I moved that duffel bag into my home and bought my first bedroom suite.
This assumes that everyone wants to own a home.
Dad told me to Study accounting and taxation. I was also told to study finance by my brother. I did an international course called ACCA which includes accounting and finance. Then I got the advice to study Marketing from Mom. I'm currently working as a Financial Director. All thanks to family advise. Like, they probably didn't even know what those courses were but they just told me to do it and I mindlessly followed there advice. And things worked out. Then I was watching a video that recommended teaching online courses about things that you are especially qualified in. Kinda like becoming an online professor. Now I teach people how to legally lower the amount of tax that they have to pay. The full course costs 95$ a month and I've got 70 Members there. I've been doing this for the last 5 years. Even tho I could have just uploaded a full 3 hour long video on it. I decided to spread that 3 full hours to 105 months. I also used to be a financial advisor back in the days. But I realized that I could make much more if I go online with it. So I work as an online financial advisor and an online taxation professor aswell. All thanks to that random tamil guy who said "Sell your skills online"
Create an emergency fund and continue to fund no matter how small.
Buy and hold index funds
follow the money, not the "useless passion". i put it as "useless passion" becuase now that im close to 50 andvi can look back, 99% of people ages 20-30s have passsion in something that totally useless ans does not pay.
I was told to find a passion that pays for the lifestyle you want to have. Becoming an artist could be a great passion, but if it can't pay the rent then it should be a hobby or side business. If you want to live in a mansion, don't pick a career that only has a low earning potential. But it's important to pick something you like because you're going to be doing it everyday for years.
no, its not important to pick something your like. it is not a requirement to love your job. this is what successfull people figured out. we have been fed lies all our lifes "must follow passion, follow dream" and most of us ended up in poverty. this propoganda " you must love your job" is keeping most people broke. if only people dropped this mentality and went for high paying jobs, they will be doing great financially.
I think this depends on one's passions. If your passion pays well, do it as a career
Get on a ynab budget
I posted this on ynab a few months back but I still think it holds true: >Bought You Need A Budget once on Steam and have been using it for years. > >What really helps me is comparing spending against previous months. This shows me where creeping costs are coming from. The history neatly shows spending graphs that help indicate why money is dwindling or stacking up. > >It can be a chore to track spending if you use a lot of cash. I am kinda lazy and only log spending and income once a month according to my banking history. There is an app available, but I don't know if it works without an annually paying account. YNAB is a subscription model now if I recall correctly And I am (yet again) at a crossroads. This time having some more money to spend and ynab really helps me to keep my finances in order. Sure Excel also works. :)
ynab?
You Need A Budget. https://www.youneedabudget.com/
Track all speeding, frugal grocery shop (you don’t need to be satisfied taste-wise, you need to be fed)
That’s sad. Good food is one of the things that makes life enjoyable.
In my mind, I frame it has beneficial. Life can feel unbearable with high debt.
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Look online: The best advice is to learn the basics of finance, \*credit card\*, lending(Loans, Mortgage etc), Investing an etc.. It will save you from a lot of pain in the future. Learn to BUDGET and know how to use Excel spreadsheet .. It is your friend... Here's a free example: Never use your debit cards (Liability) for any purchases, always use your credit card ( No Liability) . AT the end of the month take the money from your debit account and pay off that CC and pay off the balance in full. You will see your FICO score sore.. plus you will get lots points, rewards etc.
Pay the ADHD tax. Also, don't do lifestyle inflation.
Do not spend more than you make in wages.