Take care of your health. Any unhealthy habit you develop now is going to be kicking your behind later. Also, hang around people that get the best out of you. Not just party people. Cause when stuff gets tuff your party buddies are going to be nowhere to be found.
Pay yourself first. You pay rent, you pay a car payment, add paying yourself first. That payment can be as little as $1, but it goes into a savings fund AND IT IS GONE, just like any other payment EVERY MONTH. When the savings fund gets to an amount that it can be rolled into something that makes more interest, do it. But that money is GONE, for all intents and purposes. When do you use it? You will know, when you can pull it out for something that is not an emergency, but rather something that will last the rest of your life. No, cars don’t count.
Cars, trucks, etc… Here is the thing about cars and trucks. THEY ARE A COMPLETE WASTE OF MONEY AND THE NUMBER ONE WAY YOU STAY ENSLAVED TO MAKING PAYMENTS ON EVERYTHING ELSE. But wait Canopyflyer, you say with a roll of your eyes, I HAVE to have a car, because there’s no public transit where I live. Dude, I live in the United States, no one takes public transit here, I fucking know. So thanks for dropping anchor there admiral obvious. Buy the most reliable and cheap to run car you can possibly find. That doesn’t mean an old shitbox. Buy a car that’s a couple of years old that has a reputation for reliability and has already lost that first year’s depreciation. I currently drive a 10 year old Camry LE, that I bought with 7k on the odo. Using a car to show how big your cock isn’t, is the epitome of stupidity and is disastrous to your future financial health. If you’re driving the latest SmallCockMobile with a $1k payment +… You are a complete fucking moron.
CAVEAT ON VEHICLES: If you can have someone else pay for it, then sure, go buy that ego mobile. That includes the company you work for, or if you’re in a business where you have to have a certain type of vehicle. I have a great deal of respect for a person that works with their hands and needs a truck to carry their tools.
OK, maybe that’s two bits of advice, but both are financial, so I’m sticking with it.
I don’t know if this goes for all guys. Your balls will kinda drop again at some stage. If you have a desk job you could end up sitting on them for a while before realising what’s happened. Adjust the way you sit, what you wear down there.
I’m 39, but this is mine: do you just feel kinda “blah” all the time, don’t enjoy anything including things you used to enjoy, and can’t motivate yourself to do anything? That might be depression, and it might also be undiagnosed ADHD. The sooner you learn about that and get help with it, the better you’ll feel and the more effective you’ll be (and the less you’ll let down the people you love).
Edit: Be genuine and honest with people. Be open. You’ll meet the best people this way and have better relationships. You’ll also discover who you shouldn’t waste time with quicker, and you won’t waste theirs.
Get in shape. Lift weights, do cardio, eat healthy. Cut garbage food out of your life completely; no cheat days ever - it needs to be a complete lifestyle, not a “diet”. Learn what macros are, and follow them. Take up running, and make it a habit so that you run every. Single. Day, sun, shine, hail, or snow. (Yes, you can get snowshoes for running in snow. I like barefoot shoes, since that’s easier on my knees and back, but they take a long time to get used to.)
Get an education. Go to school. DO NOT FOLLOW YOUR PASSION; get an education in something that you can stand doing and will actually be employable. Following your passion and trying to make a living doing it leads to burnout. Let your passion be it’s own thing, instead of something that you try to make money from. EDIT - an “education” can also mean going to trade school, if you can’t stomach the idea of sitting behind a desk all day for 40 years. Yes, take English lit classes and art classes if you’re passionate about it, but do that for fun. Depending on a fun thing for keeping a roof over your head quickly leads to fun not being fun anymore.
Fuck this. I’m a computer guy who didn’t finish high school (credits wouldn’t transfer) and got a GED so I could start college early. I didn’t finish that either. I got a job among CS grads at one of the most prestigious tech companies because I spent a ton of energy learning about computers because that shit was exciting to me.
I’m bored and lazy as fuck about it now. I’m still learning new things (started a new homelab again two months ago) but it’s nothing like when I was younger and had a ton of energy to stay up until dawn learning. I had no future and it still worked out because I pursued my passion to the fullest degree.
If your passion isn’t marketable, perhaps this makes sense. But the all caps “this is a truth” way that this was presented really rubbed me the wrong way.
I love and support education. Go to school. Get an education. Most people will likely not build a career without that. But holy shit, if you’re hardcore about a thing and that thing can make you money, you might be able to do without the education only because your education comes from spending every minute of every day educating yourself outside of the system.
Ok, going back to bed. Apologies if any of this is muddled.
Relatable. I’ve been working in IT for over eight years now. I didn’t study it because I didn’t qualify for university and people constantly told me I am so bad at math that I would never work in the field. Here I am, doing exactly that, just because I was really interested in computer stuff in my youth and learned something new almost every day just by myself.
I was also able to study at a design school for two years. I have already used this knowlege to design brochures, logos and various other things for customers successfully. My art teacher in school always said to me I would never be able to do something like this because she just didn’t like my art style.
I’m glad I never listened to all of these people and did indeed follow my passion. The added bonus is that I actually like my job (most of the time).
I'd say from an introverted perspective: you don't have to go to every party just because you were invited. You can just say no to a drug offer if you don't want it, people are usually just like "no prob dude, more for me"
Research your professional value and have the courage to go after it if you are not being paid what you are worth.
I worked 17 years for the same company. I was promoted 4 times during those years and received a few extra pay increases along the way, but I was underpaid as soon as I took the first promotion and the gap increased with each additional promotion. I probably walked away from more than $100k in lifetime earnings, plus interest, by sticking with the company.
I should have changed companies at least once and probably twice. You don’t have to be on a promotion path to run into this. It could be you were underpaid on day 1, but you needed the job or you didn’t have experience. That’s fine, but once you have the experience and have proven yourself, find out what the market rate is for your role and ask for it, be ready to show your research. If you don’t get it, start applying for other jobs.
Don’t be afraid to talk to your peers about salary. If you are making less, you know there is a gap you can go after (just don’t name your coworker when you ask for more, do market research and make it impersonal/just business). If you are making more, pass this advice on to your coworker.
If you are being paid fairly for the work you are doing, but know you can do more, start looking into what it takes to make a move. For example, you might be the best fast food or retail worker the world has ever had, but the job only pays so much. What else might you be good at? You could look for training in a trade or try to find an entry level role in a company that has a wider set of tasks available that offers a growth path.
I agree with a lot of the comments here about saving and investing and keeping expenses down, but growing your earnings is typically easier than shrinking your rent. It still isn’t easy though, especially if you need to relocate to earn more.
The best raise you can get is by changing jobs. Businesses are not going to be loyal to you, there’s no benefit to being loyal to them - add either a customer or employee. Embrace and welcome change.
When you get a pay raise immediately increase your 401k (or equivalent retirement fund) by at least 1%.
Enjoy your 20s, they don’t last long but the person you are today is who you will feel like you are in 20 years. Don’t rush your life. There’s plenty of time to get married and have kids. You and your kids will benefit from you having an extra decade of experience before raising another human.