Question: Among my friends who graduated last year, a surprising number are already in financial trouble. They’re all smart kids and most of them got good jobs, but none of them seemed to know how to manage their money once they got it. It scares me a bit, because when I talk to them about their issues, their expenses sound so normal: rent, food, the basics. They needed new apartments and new mattresses and things like that, and suddenly they were out of money and running up credit card debt. I graduate this year and don’t want to end up in the same boat. How can I make sure that I’m managing my money intelligently after graduation?
Answer: College graduates work hard for their degrees, and the financial rewards they reap begin almost immediately. The average college graduate made $50,556 per year right out of college in 2016, which is higher than the median salary of non-graduates in all stages of their careers! But salaries are not the whole story, of course. These graduates may be carrying a portion of the $1.2 trillion of student debt that 40 million Americans collectively owe, and there may be other factors, like cost of living in the big cities that attract so many college grads. Budgeting is a skill that you’ll need no matter how much money you make! With 65% of Americans literally losing sleep over their finances, now is a good time to make sure you have your own in order.
One common mistake that new graduates make is looking at their parents and other longtime professionals as peers. Sure, you’re in the “real world” now, just like Mom and Dad–but you’re not going to live like them from the start, and you shouldn’t try. You shouldn’t even try to match your 30-something coworkers! These are people who have been in the working world for some time now, and they’ve acquired what they have over a long period of time. So, sure, get the bed and mattress that you need–but consider bringing your old Ikea bookshelf or cheap disc chair to your new digs, too. The months after graduation is not a good time to replace all of your old dorm room furniture with pricey wooden stuff. Focus on saving money and paying for the essentials first, and then acquire quality, long-lasting stuff bit by bit. If you try to outfit a new apartment with furniture, wall hangings, electronics, and more all at once, then you’ll be broke before you know it!
The same goes for your purchasing and entertainment habits. The post-graduate years are a great time to learn to be a bit more discerning about your tastes, both health-wise and flavor-wise, but that doesn’t mean you need to be dining out daily. Learn to cook, and limit your growth just a bit so your budget doesn’t strain. It’s great to move past boxed wine, but maybe a $300 bottle of aged Bordeaux doesn’t need to be the first step in your journey. Keep shopping in the way you did in college: the experts at Direct Liquidation recommend buying in bulk (and they would know, as they’ve build a company on selling liquidation pallets from Walmart). When quality doesn’t matter, go cheap. Split things with your roommates (yes, you should have roommates).
One good way to tell if you’re spending too much is to look at credit card debt. Credit experts say that you can rebuild your credit score–but that building credit over time takes a lot longer than destroying it. And there’s no faster way to destroy your credit rating than to bury yourself in credit card debt. Don’t add to the more than $1 trillion in credit card debt that Americans owe today–pay your bill in full every month.
In short, remember that adulthood is a journey, and that you’re only taking your first steps. Look at the lifestyle you want and aim to create it over the next 20 years–not the next 20 weeks. If you live cheaply, you’ll find that you can prioritize vital expenses like loans and–hopefully–save some money for the future.
“By definition, saving–for anything–requires us not to get things now so that we can get bigger ones later.”– Jean Chatzky