Learning To Grow Up Series: Money
Everyone has to learn how to manage their money at some point. I remember growing up and my mother instilled in me that hard work ensured money (at least in her house). For my chores, I would get various amounts of money depending on what I did for that week. For my grades, every report card, I would get a set amount for however many As, Bs or Cs I got. It took me until I got to my third year in college to really understand how money worked. I took money for granted for a long time and assumed money ‘grows on trees’ and that my mother would always take care of me when I wanted her to.
Well, I was rudely awakened. I had to start taking care of a hand-me-down car, groceries, and extracurricular activities I wanted to do on the weekends. That was now about 3 years ago. Now, I pay for my own groceries, rent, clothing, my phone bill, health and dental insurance, extracurriculars, travel, and books. Talk about money slipping as fast you get it.
But, my mother always taught me to be aware of my money and how to save so I thought I’d share what she taught me along the way and how I’m able to manage it all while still enjoying my twenties in graduate school.
- Create a savings account and make it invisible to see how much you’re making. By not being able to see how much is actually in the account, you won’t be tempted to spend it. (To make this even better, set it to automatically take out at least $25 every month)
- Every two weeks or monthly, look at how much you’re making and at LEAST put 15%-20% of what you’re earning in your savings account.
- Remember the 50/20/30 rule. If you’re a stickler for certain numbers and like synchronicity in your life, this is for you.You always save 50% of your checks for things such as utilities and such prior to bills being paid, so you know for sure it’ll always be paid a month in advance or so. Save 20% of your checks for your savings account (similar to the first point I made). And you save 30% of your checks for your personal life. This could be set aside for that trip you are getting ready for or just that night out you know you want at the end of the week.
- Lastly, prioritize. One day you’re not going to have things or people to rely on to pay for certain things. You’ll start to know what really matters when your payments start adding up. You’ll start to fall back on always going out when you see that you spend almost half of your check on drinks and can barely for things such as rent on time and such. Growing up is not always fun, but it happens.
Being an adult is not always easy. There are some things I wish I knew earlier and had to learn on my own. There are still things I’m learning, even now, with being 23 in graduate school. But I’m always going to learn something from someone. If I can help someone as if they’ve probably helped me, then I’m doing something right.
