You graduated from college. You earn a decent income. You are fairly happy with your career. However, for some reason you are still not saving as much money as you would like to. You feel that your financial situation has room for improvement. What are you to do?
With the current college semester in session I think it’s time to shift some focus to the college graduates that read Studenomics. When I first started writing for Studenomics I wrote about how you shouldn’t graduate from college cheap and provided some tips on paying down your student debt. Today I want to discuss some more money management advice for college graduates gathered from college graduates:
Take an honest look at your lifestyle.
Do you really need to wear $150 Affliction jeans? Besides the fact that the company failed at promoting fights (hope some of you catch that), why would you feel the need to wear such expensive jeans? Do you pay $50 to get into high scale night clubs? Do you try to associate with people that come from money? I’m 100% positive that if you take an honest look at your lifestyle you will find many areas where you can improve your finances and save more money.
Consider moving into a smaller unit.
So you moved out of your parents place and are now officially on your own. Don’t worry I won’t try to convince you to live at home until you’re married or 40 years old (whichever comes first) like some other personal finance writers do. What I will suggest is the possibility of down sizing into a smaller unit to cut down on rent/mortgage and the other expenses that come along with owning a larger unit. If you’re earning $50,000 a year do you really a 2 bed room condo downtown?
Cut back on small expenses.
I don’t mean to write about saving money on coffee or to cut your own hair but I do want to stress that small expenses can add up over time. As foolish and basic as it may seem it could be the small expenses that are messing up your financial system. Some common examples of small expenses that can add up include; eating out for every meal, having a beer with dinner, and luxury services that you don’t really need.
Educate yourself.
Now that you have been out of school for so long, the idea of going back may not seem so absurd. Aside from networking and being great at what you do, it is essential that you upgrade your skills by keeping yourself educated. Most companies are willing to pay for you to take certain courses that will help you become better at your job.
It’s a bit more difficult to receive funding from your company when you want to learn new or unrelated skills. This is where you pay out of your own pocket. I know that paying out of your own pocket to sit in a class room may not seem like the most exhilarating idea. In order to change your mindset on this it’s important that you look at the return on your investment.
For example, if you take a $500 course that will result in you receiving your personal trainer license think of all of the income that could result from this. On top of acquriing the knowledge that goes along with being a personal trainer, you now have the ability to earn some extra money on the side. This is just one example of how you can benefit from learning something new.
As a college graduate, what money management advice would you like to share with the readers of Studenomics?