Organizing your finances

[imperfection]

Hey there everyone...

Sooo, God has blessed me with a very good job after my graduation in June. I work at a prestigious bank in the first district of Vienna. It's still like living in a dream. I never thought God would provide such a great job for me.
I had a part time job while still in school but now my salary is a lot higher and I'd like to be wise about.
I still live with my parents, but I pay for everything myself except rent, water and electricity.

Now is the time to save a lot of money for my future and so I wanted to know if you guys have a specific system how you organize your finances.

I would like to move out soon and I'd like to know how much you (if you are single) spent for food a week or a month or something...cause I have no idea if what I spend is acceptable or too much

So if you have any advice for me.....hit me with it Not really hitting....just saying


Mimi

 

[djness]

Well, my parents raised me that if you don't have the cash for it, you can't have it.
I unfortunately didn't live that way when I moved out, I went with the ''champagne tastes and beer budget'', which ended up me with a load of debt years later. also for some reason in my 34 years I have really never at one point had a major bill of any kind, car or anything , as that would have been rather devastating.

Sooooo.. If I were to follow the advice given to me back then, I would say to you, if you don't have the cash for it , you cannot have it.

At 21 if you really have this great job, I would shove as much extra money into invesments/savings as you can afford to
Leave yourself a little money to have fun with but don't leave your paychecks open to whatever you want to buy.

Find out what kind of place you want to live in , are you going to go for that more upscale apartment that is a hidden away from the crime and poverty, are you going to get a roommate, do you need to live on the top floor cause it makes you more awesome? That will add to the cost.

Do you cook for yourself or do you tend to eat out alot? I saved a lot of money at first because I would shop like firday night for food for the whole week and then cook it all saturday and store it. This leaves you free time when you come home from work. I would usually cook a weeks worth of various foods.
I want to say like maybe 200$ a month somone may look at that and say way to high or low, but I think that was about what I allowed. I say was because I live with family again now [job situation isn't great here] and I spend much less.

You said you pay for ''everything else'' I imagine that is a car payment/insurance/gas...cellphone..any form of internet?

If will assume you are pretty good at budgeting so far...so start working one out and see what projected costs are.

 

[Hellooo]

Congrats on the new position and on graduating!!! way to go!

There are a lot of approaches to handling your finances, but the most important thing is that you proactively budget and that you keep track of your finances and goals. Highly highly highly reccomend you do this in writing or spreadsheets, as long as its not just in your head.

From the budgeting/bigger picture aspect, I would start by listing all regular expenses, debts, major upcoming expenses and goals and then list all sources of income to get an honest picture of where you're at. then start looking at where you want to be and opening accounts to suit those needs and allocating your income appropriately.

Checking: I would keep enough to cover maybe 2 months of living expenses here, anything above should be swept into some type savings so that you can earn interest and add an extra layer of security in case you lose your checks (lol check writing) or debit card

Set up an emergency savings account: build up 3 to 6 months of living expenses in this account..if for some reason you lose your job, fall ill, etc you can use this as a cushion.

Retirement/Investing: I'm guessing Austria has a pension/social security type system in place, but I would still consider contributing to a long term brokerage account on your own. You're so young, time is definitely an advantage for you in this arena...to give you a comparison, US contribution limits to individual retirement accounts if you're under age 59.5 is currently 5k a year, which works out to be approx 320 euros a month. If that's too much I would say just contribute as much as possible after you've covered your emergency savings and regular expenses. You work for a bank, so I'm sure there are a lot of resources on learning about investing, asset allocation, risk, etc.

Major purchase savings: planning to buy a house or car in a few years? Going on a big trip? Start saving now while you're in a position to do so. I would segregate this savings from the rest of your accounts.

 

[Jullianna]

The key for me has always been to focus on how much I can save, not how much I can spend. I have been blessed with good jobs and, fortunately, my husband was a financial advisor who built his own company after he left the Air Force, so I had a great teacher. So, my biggest tip would be to find a financial guru, which should be pretty easy in your field. Have a talk with the person who handles investments for your bank.


Now is the time to set up your savings structure, as Hellooo said. Invest in whatever type of retirement programs might be available to you. As your savings allow, buy a CD now and again as you can.


Hellooo's suggestion about budgeting is crucial. $200 per week for food is a bit high for a woman, but it's not unreasonable. Women tend to buy less meat and snacks than guys and more fruits/veggies, but we probably buy more cleaning/beauty care products, so it all evens out.


We ladies like to buy things for the home, clothes and other accessories and will splurge from time to time, but I like to try to beat the system and find the highest quality items I can at the lowest possible price. "Clearance" is my favorite word. So what if it is last year's design? If it's made well, if I can wear it with at least two things and will last me awhile, I'm in. Make a sport out of bargain shopping. It's fun!


Watch out for credit cards. They are a trap. One or two for emergencies, trips, etc. are great, but be careful not to have too many. Paying them off every month or as soon as you can is key. The interest can eat you alive and the debt will only pile up otherwise.


When you are young, having a roommate can be a good thing, even if you can afford your own place. For women, there is safety in numbers. Even if you don't really need to save on expenses, what could it hurt to be able to save more for a home of your own?

MOST importantly, don't forget to be a cheerful giver. God has blessed you and it pleases Him when we bless others in turn. We can't outgive Him.


You are a very wise lady to be thinking on these things now.

 

[Indubitably]

Hellooo and Jullianna covered about everything and did it well. So imperfection, I'm sure if you follow the advice of these two women of wisdom, you'll do just fine. And congrats on finding such a terrific job. Glory to God.

 

[Jilly81]

Mimi, save all the money you can, pretty much; I mostly agree with the others.

A couple other tips: if you can develop a hobby (or two or three!) that will save you money (such as sewing, cooking, etc.), that would help a lot. Books and friends are a great way to learn these things, as well as youtube)You also might realize that you like it enough to have a weekend job; maybe even change careers one day, or at least have another option to fall back on if needed.

I'd recommend living with your parents for as long as you can, and simply save the money for a down payment on a house one day (or even be able to pay cash for the whole thing !). If you decide to move out, I'd get a female roommate you trust, for the reasons Jullianna mentioned, as well as staying grounded.

Last thing: if you don't need it, you probably shouldn't be buying it; financial stability is SO much more important than bling. Pray about these decisions, though. Not only does the Bible say to, but I sure don't want you to miss some fun that God wants you to have just because you're trying TOO hard to save money . Most good times seem to be free, though; when you have Jesus, you have everything you need, as He provides the rest .

 

[adekruif]

I was in the same boat when I graduated and it really helps if you DO lay out a budget and see how you do each month. I keep track of everything in Excel to see how I do each month.

Another thing that might not have crossed your mind is building credit. I have a credit card that I use for building credit. I charge to it and pay it off every month, or as Jullianna said, the interest will kill you!

 

[Jordache]

Ok, I love talking about money. As a child my mom told everyone I was so ought I squeaked. I believe I was born (by the grace of God) with a natural sense for handling something's namely kids and money. Do I always follow my intuition? No, but its gotten me far nonetheless. I started working right out of college. I live in LA so the cost
of living is high. I made a ~$45,000 salary. By the time I was married two years later, I had paid out of pocket for my entire moderate wedding, 2 week honeymoon to South America, and had enough money to furnish our apartment and survive for the ext 6 months as we'd both lost our job the day before the wedding. With my salary I fully supported myself: food, rent,clothes, medical, transportation, entertainment, etc and like the food enabler I was, I fully supported my bf and fiancé at the time with: food, transportation, clothes, and entertainment.
So first thing is to set a goal. Saving while you have the money is much easier than saving when you're pinching pennies. Second, know that you can live much under what you think you can live under. There are plenty of inexpensive and free fun things to do. You do not need Vegas every weekend. Third, save more
when you can. Most months I saved $1,000 from my check. However, some months I decided to cut back more and save $1,500. Going to Brazil was well worth the cutbacks. Fourth, but fresh food and eat it. You'll save a lot. Produce is cheap and much healthier if you shop at the right place. If you're in a big city, ethnic markets are great for cheap produce. Rice and pasta is also cheap. Fifth, maybe this isjust for me, but its important to splurge sometime... But make it calculated and responsible. I had to learn to spend more money on myself. I had to learn to treàt myself occassionally.

 

[Jilly81]

Good point, Adekruif; I'd forgotten about that. It's important to build credit IF you are willing to control yourself and not spend extra because you have the card.

I agree with basically everything that Jordache said, though I'd like to say that spending money on yourself doesn't have to cost a lot; you can buy chocolate that isn't the cheapest kind, and go to local museums and other low-cost places. I know I probably sound a bit severe, but while you're just starting out, I'd really recommend keeping spending really low, at least until you build up a cash reserve. You basically never hear anyone say that they wished they'd spent more money when they were young, but REALLY often you hear "wow, if only I'd been more careful and spent less while the money was coming in...".

One more thing. If you live in an area where you can have a garden, that's a good way to save money. Also, if there is something that you're good at that you can trade with friends for food that they grow or clothes that they make, that's a really fun way to save money, and you often get GREAT quality. If you are a good cook, you can trade a cake for clothing repair, or similar things like that.

 

[Oncefallen]

You basically never hear anyone say that they wished they'd spent more money when they were young, but REALLY often you hear "wow, if only I'd been more careful and spent less while the money was coming in...".

Aaaaaamen. During my 20's as my income increased unfortunately so did my spending.......exponentially. One of my customers in my late teens was a financial planner and he had talked to me about setting aside for the future at a time when I had nothing to spare, but his advice had faded by the time I did have money to spare. By all means making the habit of saving when you're young can save a lot of grief later in life.