You guys know why I stopped investing in the stock market. I didn’t just pull out of the stock market to hold my money in a basic savings account. I wasn’t just afraid of the risk that came with owning stocks. I actually had bigger goals for my savings. Today I wanted to share what I feel are better options for your money that don’t involve investing in the stock market.

What are four better options for your savings than investing in the stock market?

Unique experiences.

There’s so much to see in this world that it’s a shame to not even try to see some of it. After looking for more options for what to do after college I decided that I really wanted to take some time to travel the world for a bit. While I didn’t get to see the whole world (is it even possible?), I got to travel about a dozen times over the past few years.

You can save all the money that you want and prepare for the future. The problem is that from reading blog posts, talking with older friends, and everyone I speak with, I find that everyone regrets not travelling enough. While I wasn’t sure about what to do after college, I did know that I didn’t want to turn 30 and regret not seeing what this world had to offer.

Real estate.

The reason that I support real estate is that you actually own something. The decision to buy or rent a home in your 20s is a big one. This is why I decided to put a lot of time and research into my decision. I ended up deciding to buy a condo that I could live in for a year or so. I lived in the place for a year and then I rented the unit out so that I can travel more.

I must note that when I mention real estate I’m not referring to your primary residence. I’m referring to becoming a landlord through purchasing a rental property.

Education.

We all know that knowledge is power. The more you know the more that options that you have open to you. I’m also not referring to the traditional form of education. While I did get my college degree, I also took advantage of other educational opportunities. I took an online course, got my license in Personal Training, read many books, attended a conference, and took advantage of any chance I had to meet anyone in my field.

I fully believe that the best option for your money is to invest in yourself. Albert Einstein said it best when he said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.

P2P Lending.

I must admit that this is a new form of investing that I’m slowly starting to look into. I haven’t really covered this much around here yet. This form of investing is rapidly expanding and I plan on covering it in greater detail in the near future. For now you can check out the home page of Prosper for more details.

These were all options that I found to be much more beneficial to me than than investing in the stock market. The great news once again is that you don’t have to stick with just one option for your money. You can spread your money out between all of these options to see what works for you.

Should you find a part-time job? Does it make sense to fill up your spare time by working more hours? Is that extra money worth chasing after?

I was looking through my archive and I realized that I covered the topic of finding a part time job in the past. I wrote about the idea of a double income and looking at a second job. What caught my eye was a comment on that post from reader Steve:

“A second job doesn’t force you to work 16 hour days. I work an extra 8 hours a week. I have no problem with someone working a couple extra hours a week in order to spend a little more money. You mention missing out on time spent having fun, but I can argue that with a little extra money to spend, you can have even more fun. There are pluses and minuses.

A few key points that are missing. What you make in your second job is extremely important. If you are compensated well enough, a second job is very worthwhile even if you don’t need the money for a specific immediate purpose. Also, the power of compound interest is greatly enhanced by investing early in your working career. Working a second job to be able to invest can lead to financial security at a much earlier age and even greater free time later in life.”

That’s an interesting take on working a side job. Now I wanted to write this piece from a different perspective.

As a young professional or an entrepreneur, is it worth finding a part-time job?

There are two scenarios here:

Scenario #1: You graduated from college, found a job in your field, and are working your way up the ranks. You save a little bit of money, but have to fork over far too much of your income towards paying back your student loans and basic living expenses. To be able to save some more money you start to contemplate finding a part-time job.

Scenario #2: You’re working on getting your own business off the ground. You’re making progress, but you’re not going to be surpassing Mark Zuckerberg’s income any time soon. You have expenses and want to invest more money into your business. You start to think about the idea of finding a part-time job to help you fund your business.

In both scenarios, is it worth finding a part-time job after you’ve already gone through the process of finding a job after college? Yes.

I’m not just going to answer the question and leave you hanging. Allow me to elaborate. Why’s it worth finding a part-time job in your 20s?

You can make more money and beef up your savings account. As a 20-something you likely have bold financial goals for the next few years. You might want to save up for a mortgage down-payment or for that new car that you’ve had your eye on. On the other hand, you might be looking to crush your student debt and be debt-free for once and for all. Regardless of your financial goals, you can benefit from the additional income that a part-time gig would provide you with.

On top of saving up more money, you open up opportunities by working another job. By working at a new job you meet new people, expand your network, and increase your chances of running into people that can be helpful with your journey and vice versa.

For example, my friend found his current position with a credit union by serving coffee to the branch manager on a daily basis. He had a few minutes between the order of the coffee and making it to discuss financial topics with the manager. They eventually got into discussing his education and background. After a few months he was offered a job at the credit union. From there he moved up the ranks and he now works closely with that manager that he met while serving coffee at Starbucks.

As an ambitious 20-something, it never hurts to open up more doors for yourself. Why limit yourself? Sometimes you’re going to have to get off the couch and find another job to make more money.

A final benefit of a part-time job is that you create additional security for yourself. In a world where job security is rare it helps to plan for unforeseen circumstances.

Before we part ways today I really wanted to look at the flip side of working a side gig. Are there negatives to finding a side gig?

You risk fatigue with working long hours.You could easily find a part-time job with benefits, but you always risk being tired and hurting your performance with your business or at your full-time career. My only advice here is to work within your limits because nobody knows yourself like you do. If you’re part-time job is ruining your sleep and hurting your performance, then it’s not worth it.

At the end of the day, I’ll always praise the idea of finding a part-time job. You have nothing to lose because you can always just quit if you feel overwhelmed. You also should have plenty of energy because you’re still youthful enough to run off a few hours of sleep.

Have you found yourself a part-time gig yet?

You’re done with college and you’re finally working. Now you’re looking to save for the future. Do you finally want to start saving some money? You obviously found Studenomics because you want to do something about your financial situation. You want to start saving money. Good for you. I’m here to help you with this quick and effective article.

What’s the best way to start saving money right now?

There are many techniques for saving money that could arguably work. My personal favorite tip is to start paying yourself first. Take your money off your pay check before you even get to see it. You can do this by going to your employer or your bank to fill out the forms for automatic deductions.

You need to pay yourself first if you want to actually start saving money right now. By filling out these simple forms for automatic deductions you’re going to save a specific amount of money every single payday. You don’t have to do anything else. You just fill out these forms one time and then you’re set.

Why’s this the best way to start saving money right now?

I thought of a few reasons why you should pay yourself first and came up with the four most important factors of this tip for saving money:

1. You’ll never see the money. You don’t have to worry about spending the money because you’re never going to see it. The money comes off your pay and goes directly into your savings account.
2. You don’t have to do anything. You don’t have to do anything at all because the money will be taken from your pay by either your employer or the bank. I do this through my employer because they offer a basic savings vehicle that allows me to save a few extra dollars without any further effort.
3. It’s passive. Not all of us want to be active investors. Some of us want to follow a passive strategy when it comes to our finances so that we can focus on starting a business or whatever else interests us.
4. It’s easy. We all love easy and there’s nothing more easier than having money come directly off your pay into your savings.

Do I need to list any more reasons? I hope not. Paying yourself is a simple and effective strategy for increasing the amount of money that you’re saving.

I urge you to go to your employer or your bank and start paying yourself first. I hope that you take this effective tip for saving more money seriously and give it a try.

Me: How much is it to get into Coco Bongo tonight?

Mexican tour guide: $60.

Me: Is that pesos or U.S dollars?

Yes, that’s right. $60 to get into a club and there’s 3,000 people in the place with others dying to get in on the outside. I thought there was supposed to be a recession going on? Wasn’t everyone stressing about the economy?

Usually when it comes to tropical trips, I try to go during peak season to ensure that it’s going to be a great time. This time I ended up going during the first week of January. I usually just hate the month of January. I can’t stand it. The holidays are over. It’s insanely cold here in Canada. I also think I get seasonal depression. Enough whining. This year I wanted to start the year off with a trip away. You may not have noticed since I lined up a week’s worth of content for when I was going to be away.

It was a unique experience. I’m no longer the college student looking to get drunk. I have a girlfriend and I went with a group of people that I didn’t really know. I met the guy a few times. I met the couple for the first time at the airport. It was me continuing with trying to step outside of my comfort zone. In the process I ended up learning a lot.

There are always lessons to be learned from everything that we do. Today I wanted to share a few lessons from my trip to Cancun. What I learned about money and the economy from partying in Cancun in January…

 The economy can’t be that bad.

If thousands of 20-somethings could afford to stay on a resort in Cancun and ram up clubs that cost $60 to get in, then I don’t think the economy can be all that bad. None of us can find jobs, yet we can afford to enter a club that charges a week’s worth of groceries just to get in. Wow.

I only went to Coco Bongo because I heard it’s a “must-do” in Cancun and I missed it the first time that I was there six years ago. The place was absolutely rammed. We were supposed to be on some “VIP” list because of our resort and it still took a good bit to get in. Once we finally got in we realized that the place had a solid 3,000 people and you could barely move. The show was pretty entertaining. Moving around was a pain.

The economy can’t be in that rough of shape if all of those people could afford to pay $60 to get in. No matter how much we complain about the recession, it really can’t be that bad.

Young people will always find money for the fun stuff.

I find it funny how often money-related topics came up with a dude that writes about personal finance. I was pretty amused by how some young people managed to afford the trip.

 A few notable trip purchases that stuck out to me:

• One girl asked for a deferral of her rent payment so that she could take off for a week.
• Another young person used their student loan money to go on the trip.

Those are some interesting ways to pay for a trip if you asked me. I was pretty boring with mine. I cashed in a few checks and used a bit of my vacation savings.

I just find it funny how we all complain about bills and money, yet we find a way to go on vacation. I truly believe that young people will always find money when it comes to going out. Saving for the future? Not so much.

Time will pass you by. 

Going out in Cancun was a trip down memory lane because I remember partying there when I was just 18 years old (not legal in my own hometown yet). All that time had passed me by. I started to think about what I had accomplished during this time. I also thought about the things that I didn’t get to do.

I mainly thought about how hard I had worked during the last six years and I realized that time will pass you by regardless. You have two options

1. Will you let time pass you by without accomplishing anything?
2. Will you work your butt off without even realizing how much time is passing?

This then reminded me of my favorite quote on time and money:

Money comes and goes. Time goes and never comes back. Use your time wisely.

What are you going to do as time passes you by? You can save your money, increase your income, and live life on your own terms. You can also merely stay afloat. The choice is yours.

You have the option to walk away.

 ”You need to hit the gym, your girlfriend is hot and you’re not built.” – Some random and very drunk dude by the pool in Cancun talking smack to my friend.

When faced with an impromptu conflict, you often have two choices: fight or flight. There are those occasions where you need to fight and stick it out. Then there are plenty of instances where you should take flight and walk away from the situation.

One night some French dude who only knew how to say, “do you know who I am,” confronted my buddy. It was three in the morning in the main lobby. Not the best location to have a fight. I could tell that he was completely wasted. He could barely keep his eyes open. Two opportunities to engage in fight in 7 days? What happened? Nothing. You need to learn to walk away.

This ties into personal finance because the same philosophy applies to spending money. When an offer to spend money seems irresistible, you need to resist. It’s too easy to indulge. It’s far to easy to spend money. It takes real effort to actually save your money and avoid the thousands of options for blowing your savings.

There’s nothing wrong with walking away. Often the best investment is the one that you don’t make. If your business is seeing no results, you can close up shop and move on. There’s no sense in staying on the Titanic.

Don’t judge too quickly.

You never know what someone is going to be all about until you actually get to know them. You can’t judge a frugality tactic, business idea, human being, investment, or anything too quickly.

This ties into my next lesson.

 We all have different views on money and life.

I quickly learned that my roommate had much different views on traveling and on life in general. Prior to going out, he would oil himself up with tanning oil because he wanted to be the shiniest guy at the night club. I find it funny to wear a $7 shirt with a stupid joke on it.

When it comes to personal finance we all have different views as well. You might value spending money on that expensive gym membership, while your friend thinks that working out from home is the best option. You might embrace frugality, while your brother believes in spending money because life is short.

What I’m getting to is that we need to try to keep an open mind to different views. We all see the world in a different light.  We also have different priorities.

If you want to conquer your finances, you first need to understand what your priorities are.

That’s what I learned from my most recent trip to Cancun. I wanted to share more personal stories on here in 2012. This is the first of many personal stories and experiences that I’m going to be sharing with you more and more.

I have the solution for all of your financial problems in your 20s. Before I give it to you, I’m going to make you wait. There’s nothing wrong with being a tease, right?

I have a news flash for everyone in their 20s when it comes to money and life…

We all do dumb shit. Sometimes we realize it. Other times we have no clue how dumb our actions really are.

According to a study I found on the website of Duke University, it was revealed that men are horny. Yes, it’s true. Do You believe that?

Alright all kidding aside, men being horny is not breaking news. What is news, is that apparently we are much different when we are horny (in other words, we do dumb stuff). Check this out…

“Specifically, the increase in motivation to have sex produced by sexual arousal seems to decrease the relative importance of other considerations such as behaving ethically toward a potential sexual partner or protecting oneself against unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.”

Kind of scary, huh? I won’t comment any further on those findings. I will compare this study to using credit cards, wasting money, and some of the other dumb things that we do with our money and life in our 20s.

What are some of the other stupid things that we all do?

• Spend money that we don’t have.
• Work a job that we hate.
• Buy things we think we need.
• Put up drunk pictures on Facebook.
• Get into massive amounts of debt.
• Let our time slip away while we forget about our dreams.

What’s the point of all of this?

Education and motivation are not the answers to all of our problems. We all do dumb shit without even realizing it. This happens to me all of the time. I do something really dumb (I recently blurted out something totally inappropriate in public) and then I don’t realize it until much later. I would like to think that I’m educated and motivated. Yet I still do idiotic stuff.

There’s more than enough information out there. Do you want to know how to lose weight? Push some iron and eat good food. It’s that simple. Do you want to know how to save more money? Save more than you spend.

We all know what we need to do. There’s more than enough educational resources out there. I’d also like to assume that plenty of us are motivated enough to work on our goals.

How can you prevent yourself from doing something completely stupid stuff?

We need to setup barriers that prevent us from sub-conciously doing stupid shit.

It’s not about will power. It’s about barriers and using basic psychology on ourselves.

I shared how I saved over $4,000 VERY passively. Without even thinking abut it or doing any work, I setup a simple system to save up over four grand. What was the barrier for accessing this money? I had to find the number of the company, call them, and answer a bunch of questions if I wanted to access any of this money.

Do you set ridiculous goals and then never follow up?

At the end of the day we need to work with our weaknesses. We can’t change our behavior overnight.

On the bright side, we can create systems and use tools that will prevent us from being able to make foolish decisions.

So what’s the solution to all of your financial problems in your 20s?

Accept that you’ll make mistakes and learn how to use basic psychology on yourself. Create barriers for your weak spots, prepare for your mistakes, and accept that we’re all bound to mess up at some point.

Now you know what you need to do. A few of you will actually do something. The majority of the people that read this will just continue complaining about the economy. Which one will you be?

Are you new to college? Are you new to the world of personal finance? Do you want to learn more?

I have good news because this piece is for you. I wanted to compile my most informative (and entertaining) pieces from over the years from all aspects of personal finance for college students.

Let’s get started with personal finance 101 for all college freshmen…

Working in college.

Why College Is The Best Time To Start A Business. A post where I shared my reasoning for why college is the best time to start working on your own business.

Are You Going to be Working This Semester? The title is pretty self-explanatory. We explore the idea of working in college with the pros/cons.

5 Steps to Get You Hired as an English Teacher Abroad. A post that you can define as “outside the box” since it shows you exactly how you can move across the planet to work. Working abroad is something that I really regret not trying.

Dealing with student debt.

10 Ways to Speed Up the Repayment of Your Student Loan. Quick and effective tips for paying down your student debt.

How-to Pay Off Debt With The Income You Have? A great read for those of you that have maxed out the amount of money that you can earn and want to find ways to pay off debt.

Debt Consolidation Services– What You Need To Ask. For those of you that are looking into the option of consolidating all of your debt.

Your financial infrastructure.

Best Credit Card For College Students Checklist. If you’re under 21, can’t prove you have an income, or can’t find a co-signer, you’re going to have a struggle trying to get a credit card. I really like that and feel that it’s the right move. When you are reading for a credit card, you can check out this post to see what you should expect with your first piece of plastic.

How-to Choose a Online Banking Account That’s Right For You. We explore the many different savings accounts that are available to us.

Awesomely Free Checking Accounts. A collection of checking accounts that won’t nickel-and-dime you to death.

Even more help.

Overcoming The Fear of Failure. We all go through moments of self-doubt and we question if we’re doing the right thing. This is why it’s critical that you learn how to deal with the fear of failure in college.

Live Within My Means? How? You need to learn to live within your means as early as possible. Just because you make little money right now it doesn’t mean that you don’t have to save anything.

Dorm Room Essentials. A look at what you need to bring with you to college this semester.

What To Bring To College- Money Management Basics. A look at the basic financial skills that you should pack with you as you go away for school.

If you feel overwhelmed by the amount of resources that were just thrown out at you, I recommend that you check out this 2,000 plus word financial survival guide for college students as a great starting point.

I wrote a post way back about how people get rich. The post looked at common wealth accumulation strategies from an article that I found. The post received some great comments. Every topic was discussed from starting a business to getting a very reputable education (oh and winning the lottery of course). The other day the article received a really insightful comment from Nick on how you can get rich in your lifetime:

1. Get a basic college degree, preferably business, as quickly and cheap as possible. Don’t waste too much time in school ( I have a PhD and have not forgiven myself in the last 15 years for doing it – you will live and die poor).

2. Find a friend, neighbor, relative who is running a business (even if it is a small operation). You will learn the essence of business in the trenches.

3. Start your own business building on 1 and 2. Do not waste $$s and especially time, in grad school, and you won’t have super-high school loans. Half the professors anyway can’t run a lemonade stand profitably but will lecture on business. Do you think Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs all needed college? But they all did entrepreneurial stints in high school/early college.

I really love to read insightful comments like this. There’s only so much that you guys can pick up from a 23 year old dude that loves personal finance. This is why I encourage discussion on my blog posts.

I just wanted to throw in some additional thoughts on this theory for getting rich in your lifetime:

The survivorship bias is lethal.

Too often do we hear about the successful small business owners. What about the 40-year old that lost his home on a bad business deal? We always hear about those that turned a tiny operation into a colossal business that employs half of the town. Nobody wants to hear about the small business owner that went poor and had to find a new job. The survivorship bias can be dangerous when one is looking into entrepreneurship.

Grad school isn’t always so bad.

Going to grad school can be a great way to invest money into your future and your earning potential during your lifetime. Grad school also doesn’t have to cripple your finances. My cousin is currently in grad school for engineering. He does a lot of research and he actually gets paid to be in school. Not all graduate programs require you to go poor. Some of us are naturally academics. Others are business people that want to make money and solve problems.

Not everyone is meant to run their own business.

Running your own business is a great way to control your financial future. The only problem is that many people don’t want to deal with the inherent stress that comes with entrepreneurship. There’s also no guarantee that you’ll get rich over time by running your own business. You might be able to make a decent living for yourself. If you’re one of the rare few that finds the right combination of hard work and luck, you might get rich in the process.

I would love to hear what you guys have to say on this topic. How can one stand out from the pack and build a strong financial future?

I often discuss various financial tools on this site. Anything from locating the best free checking account to finding the best book to read for what you want to get into. These are tools that can help you greatly right now and for the future if used properly.

Instead of blindly throwing out the idea of financial tools, I wanted to look at my favorites. What are the most important financial tools?

Free checking account.

I remember getting nickel-and-dimed by my local bank a few years ago. The monthly charges along with the per use fees with my debit card/checking account were getting annoying. $15 a month really adds up. Especially as a college student. I eventually went it and requested a no-fee checking account. Losing change every month is simply not worth it. I got myself a free checking account and now I no longer have to worry about getting ripped off by by random banking fees. Now I just need to watch out for those ATM machines that try to charge like $3 per transaction.

I suggest that all of you find a free checking account if you already don’t have one. This is an important financial tool because this is the account where most of us get our payroll pay deposited and have our debit cards connected.

Online savings account.

Your online savings account is where you keep your hard earned money. I know that interest rates really suck right now. This doesn’t mean that you should ditch your savings account. Rates will get better eventually (I hope!). An online savings account is a great place to store your money and to plan for your financial goals. I keep all of my money with my ING Direct account. I use the sub-accounts to save for my various financial goals (trips and investments). I’m currently using ING Direct for both my checking and savings.

Your credit card.

Instead of listening to all of the credit card horror stories, you can use credit cards to your advantage. I personally use a basic cashback rewards credit card. I get some money back every year because I always book trips and put other major expenses on my credit card and then pay the balance off immediately.

At the moment I’m using the same credit card that I picked up when I turned 18 from my local bank. I find that it meets my requirements and I haven’t had any issues with it at all. There are many credit cards for college students that are a great starting point.

I know that those are three standard items that we don’t even think about in our daily lives. We rarely think about our credit card or the savings account that’s holding our money. I wanted to show you guys why financial tools are so important?

Save more money.

These three financial tools will allow you to save lots of money in the long run. How will you save money?

• A free checking account allows you to use checks, accept money, and make debit transactions. When you get a no-fee checking account you can do all of this for free.
• A savings account allows you to store your money in a safe place while interest accumulates. You essentially “set it and forget it” with your savings.
• If you get a cashback credit card and use your credit card WISELY, you can make some money at the end of the year.

Simplify your life.

Don’t you want to simplify your life? I may write about personal finance but I don’t want to think about MY money all day long. I know that my money is safe in my savigns account. I know that all of my bills are automated to go straight to my credit card. This has really allowed me to simplify my life. I no longer have to worry about paying bills on time.

Build for the future.

Your 20s are an ideal time to build for your future. My checking account allows me to get paid from my employer. My savings account allows me to save money for my many different financial goals. My credit card has helped me build my credit score over the years. These three financial tools are helping me build for my future.

What financial tools do you use? What tools have helped you out the most with your financial picture?

(photo credit: markusram)

I remember reading once that there are people that are more open to talking about their sex lives as opposed to their financial situation. I thought that this was a dumb quote. Then a few months later I realized that this was true. I found that random strangers at the gym would more easily brag about their sex lives than they were to talk about their stock portfolio or their savings account. Even with my friends I know that rarely will we ever talk about our savings. I now really do think that people are more likely to talk about their sex lives than their financial situation.

I find that personal finance blogs rarely dwell into the area of sex. Maybe they don’t think it’s inappropriate, are married, or just don’t know how to connect it. I personally think that sex is very important when it comes to personal finance. I also find that the topics are highly connected.

How is getting laid connected to personal finance?

You can be the most frugal person until you meet the partner of your dreams and want to spend every dollar on them.

You can be in a position where you’re single and constantly going out in hopes of meeting someone. In the process of going out you can be spending lots of money.

You can love the chase like I do. If you enjoy the chase you’ll find yourself going out fairly often.

You might be in a relationship with a person that has different views on money than you do. The sex is what keeps you together. The money pulls you apart.

There are many more reasons for how you can relate getting laid to personal finance. This is all that I could think of on the top of my head.

How important is getting laid when it comes to personal finance? Very important.

Why is your love life so important when it comes to money management?

Your spending changes based on your relationship status.

One of my friends recently spent $5,000 on an engagement ring. I immediately saw this as throwing away 5 future trips. Five thousand bucks is a lot of money to spend on a ring. At this very moment I would love to spend that money on a world trip. As we can see through our friends and in our own lives, your spending will change based on your relationship situation.

Now don’t get me wrong I’m not a hypocrite. I understand that one day I’ll be spending a couple grand on a ring one day in a thousand years. At this point in time it just baffles me.

Your financial picture affects your future love life.

Right now you could be single and spending money on trips and enjoying life. Four years down the road you can find yourself engaged and ready to get married. Will any of your financial mistakes in the past affect your love life? Yes. Imagine going in to apply for a home mortgage only to find out that your credit score or your partner’s credit score is in the toilet? That would really suck. Your future financial situation will directly impact the decisions that you will make with your future partner. This is why it helps it be prepared.

Your perspective changes.

When you’re in a serious relationship you’re not as inclined to go out as often as you would be if you were single. When you’re single it’s tempting to go out more often. You simply have a different perspective depending on your relationship status. As a single dude you can be spending more money by going out. Then when you get a girlfriend you might still spend just as much money, it would just be on her. When you’re single you’re likely to spend more money on taking care of yourself. When you’re in a relationship (or just getting laid) you might not care as much about getting your hair cut as often.

Money affects your relationship.

I’ve heard from people much wiser than me that money is one of the most common reasons for marriages ending. This makes sense though. What if you want to save your money for retirement while your partner wants to spend it all on technology? What if you want to travel but your boyfriend is to cheap to even leave home? I really do believe that money has a great impact on all relationships.

At the end of the day I find that getting laid is very important when it comes to personal finance. Do you agree/disagree with my thoughts? How important is getting laid/your love life when it comes to your unique financial situation?

Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game.

- Donald Trump.

I personally love to go out and have fun. I also enjoy saving money. This might sound like a difficult balancing act. In reality it’s totally possible. The idea of saving money is often time associated with no fun. I don’t know why this is the case. As a result of this, many 20-somethings will think that the only way to have fun is by spending lots of money.

Do you have to save money in your 20s? My answer is YES. You don’t have to spend every dollar you earn.

Why should I save money in my 20s? Why do 20-somethings need to save money?

Build for the future.

What are you going to do when you turn 30? Will your 30-year old self regret that you didn’t plan ahead? I see saving money as a way to plan and build for your future. If you don’t even start saving a little bit of money right now, then what will you do in a few years from now when you want to buy a home or make some major moves in life?

Save up for a rainy day.

We all know about the idea of the emergency fund. For all of the unexpected curve balls that life likes to throw us, it helps to have some money saved. I often praised the whole emergency fund trend in the personal finance world. I didn’t realize how important this money was until I had some car problems a few months ago. I was able to bail myself out with going into any debt or being flat broke. If you don’t even save a little bit of money for a rainy day you’ll panic and screw your finances when shit happens.

Save up for major expenses.

Will you ever want to buy a new car or a home? If you plan on making any of these major purchases in life, how will you pay for them? As mentioned above you need to plan for your future. This doesn’t mean that you can’t let loose. I’m a huge supporter of letting loose and having a good time. It just makes sense to slowly start planning for major expenses that will creep up as you get older. Do you want to be broke when your best friend’s wedding rolls around? Do you want to miss the boat on a dream home that goes up for sale?

Get into the habit of saving money.

If you wait until you have to save money out of necessity you won’t be as prepared as those that started much earlier. Do you want to wait until you’re forced to save money or do you want to start much earlier? You don’t have to save every penny. You can start off by saving $20 a week.

I think that saving money and having fun can be a pretty cool balancing act. The goal should be to strike the perfect balance between the two. If you manage to do this I think that you’ll be proud of yourself in the future. You don’t want to miss out on all of the exciting stuff that you can do in your 20s. You also don’t want to be flat broke at 30.

Do you think that 20-somethings need to save money?