Читать книгу Financing Your Twenties - James Aungier George - Страница 4

Congratulations! You got a job. You have entered the working class, also known as the middle class, which happens to span quite far in our society contrary to popular belief. It is important that you understand the power that you have as a part of the middle class. Historically, economies with strong middle classes, flourish - an American example would be the economy during the Clinton administration, and also present day Brazil - but I will not digress too much on that topic. In short, you have now been given the opportunity to contribute to, and benefit from, our free-market capitalist society, which can be a beautiful thing if used correctly. You might be a few years out of college making $85,000 a year, or only have a high school diploma making minimum wage - it does not matter! That is the beauty of this system. The amount of money you make does not matter a bit, what matters is the allocation of your resources. That basically means, the way you separate your money and how you use it once you separate it. Let me state that it would be in your best interest to find the highest paying, most satisfying employment possible. Only in circumstances of poverty would I suggest one work “for” money, and money alone. Money can not and will not buy or provide happiness. It may provide temporary relief from stressful situations, but that should never be confused with happiness, or followed with content. You will set yourself up to fail the minute you fall into this trap, and I would advise that you follow your ambition only as far as your ethics will allow you.

The first thing you should do is determine what your monthly expenses are. Yes, before you know how much you make, you should know how much you must spend to live. Be honest with yourself when you make this list, and get rid of any and all ridiculous and unnecessary expenses that may exist in the form of bad habits, addictions, or anything in between. I make that statement while passing no judgment on anyone who might be reading, because if you are in this age bracket like I am, we have more than likely shared similar struggles as we exit adolescence. Take a piece of paper and draw a horizontal line across the middle of the page. On top, place the list of your monthly expenses with a total, and on the bottom, place the amount of your total monthly income. It is important that you understand that your responsibility is to take care of these expenses first. This is your contribution to society, and without it - paying bills, paying debt, etc - you can not live. Therefore, this should be prioritized and respected. Use a calendar to mark all of your monthly bills. Most of us have cell phones or tablets, so use the calendars they provide to remind yourself in advance, when you need to pay a bill.

Use a calculator to determine the exact dollar amount of your monthly income before taxes - otherwise known as Gross Income. You can do this most simply by taking your wage - the rate by which you are paid - and multiplying it by the number of times you are paid in a month. This is normally weekly or bi-weekly - meaning every other week. This dollar amount is what we need to work with. You must come to grips with this figure, and be settled with the reality that even if you feel you should make more, or you have peers that make more, you can not live outside of this dollar amount. This is also known as living beyond your means, which is a recipe for disaster and is essentially a form of greed. In order for you to be a financial success story, you must learn this lesson early and accept it.

So In Short...

•Purpose to responsibly allocate your finances before you claim you need a raise

•Plan to pay your monthly expenses in full, and ahead of time

•Use a calendar to keep track of your monthly expenses

•Accept the fact that you can not live beyond your means