Obtaining your college degree is one of the most important milestones of your life. However, so is managing your money, even if you have landed that dream job. If you have just graduated college, the following tips will be very helpful to you:
Set yourself limits on what you can spend money on. It may be tempting to spend your hard-earned money on every gadget, toy, and trip you want to go on. However, you also need to consider your future-and your future credit report. Therefore, setting monthly limits on entertainment expenses is recommended.
In order to keep your credit clean you need to be careful to live within your means. You may be able to obtain credit easily as a recent college graduate. That does not mean you should respond to every credit card offer you respond to. Think about how much you can realistically pay back in a month's time before you consider tacking on yet another monthly credit payment.
Save money. When you are young, especially if you are still single, this is the best time to save money. If you already have a decent steady job you can put away money in case of a financial hardship and it will help you to get through it easier. Furthermore, if you ever want to get married or have a family you will have funds for all expenses related to those activities.
Humble yourself a little: Thrift stores and discount stores have great merchandise too! There is no need to spend more than you need to on certain durable and semi-durable items. In fact, used items and discount items are available for nearly every purchase you plan to make.
Find an economical cell phone deal. There are actually plans out there that cost only about $50.00 or less. In fact, there is no shame in prepaid phones either, and the rates on those are actually becoming more and more reasonable. Make an overall budget and stick to it. Generally speaking, the amount of money you spend on housing should be about a third of your income. The amount recommended you save monthly is about 10% of your income, and you should try to keep your transportation expenses at about 15% for clothing, entertainment, and other miscellaneous expenses you would set aside between five to ten percent of your total monthly earnings. Remember also that you are only young once. When you are young it may be hard to think in the future. However, if you take the advice provided in this article to heart you will be less likely to say to yourself 10 to 20 years from now "I wish I would have saved more money" or "I wish I would have invested my money instead of squandering it" or similar statement.
On the flip side, there is no need for you to be so rigid with your money that you can never have any fun. Furthermore, once in awhile it would do you good to help others, as long as you know you can help yourself first. Aside from that, just continue to make choices over the years that you know you will reap rewards from and refrain from choices that have bad consequences.
Invest a portion of your money. Over and above your savings, it is advisable that you invest a minimum of two to five percent of your monthly earnings while you can at this time. If you procrastinate, you may not be able to in the future. So do it now while you can. If you have questions on what types of investments would be best contact a professional or conduct your own research online.
