The 4 Things That School Should Have Taught You

If you are in the Gen-Z demographic, chances are you never learned these 4 things I’m about to write about.

It’s not your fault.

But at some point you should learn these things.

That time is now.

These are the best 4 things (in my opinion) that you can do with your finances when you enter the “real world” (whatever the heck that means).

1. Create an emergency fund

Super easy here. This savings account is simply for when everything in life goes wrong. You get sick and have to go to the doctor (expense), and on your way there your car breaks down (expense), and then you get a text from your sister’s friend’s cousin’s roommate who tells you he’s getting married in Aruba and your in the wedding party (big expense but maybe you can get out of this one). Anyways, when life throws you lemons, make sure you have the sugar to turn it into lemonade (sugar in this example is moola, dough, the green stuff, money, etc.). 

A good rule of thumb is 3-6 months worth of expenses in this savings account.

And don’t touch it until you actually actually actually need it.

2. Start tracking what you spend each month

I’ll keep this short. If you don’t know what's going out each month, chances are you’re spending more money than you realize. And after a few months, you’ll realize that the hard way. 

Check out Rocket Money or a similar app which makes it super easy to track your spending.

3. Stash some money away for future flexibility

There will come a day when you either wish you had stashed some cash under your mattress or you’re thanking yourself for not spending every last dollar you earned. I’m not saying greedily keep every penny you make for a future day, but put at least some of it away. You will thank yourself later. A good rule of thumb is no less than 10%.

4. Enjoy life

How many chances do you get here? One. Go get drinks with friends, go on a vacation with the boys, buy a $10 latte every now and then. Don’t be afraid to spend the money you earned (that’s why you work 40 hours a week if not more). Just don’t forget about #3.

If you have trouble pulling the trigger on big purchases, check out my other resource on that here.