Financial Responsibility

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Note: This article was published while I was in my early 20s. I was much younger and dumber. Please don't hold it against me. One of the perils of having a 20+ year old website!

Now that I’m (dun dun dun) a college graduate, I feel like it’s time for be more fiscally responsible. My senior year I feel I really wasn’t, and I’m OK with that, but now I think it’s time to buckle down, especially since I will be freelancing my way through grad school (with the help, hopefully, of an assistantship). I think I have pin pointed a few of my problems and will be able to work on them to be financially sound.

Don’t impluse buy
This is a HUGE problem of mine. I’ll go out to a store, maybe with a friend or to buy stuff I actually need, and then pick up something on a whim. If I stopped this, I’d have so much more money. And it could be as little as a couple of $5 movies from Wal-Mart, but each of those purchases Nickel and Dime me.
Don’t be so generous
I kind of blame my dad for this one, but when I go out to the bar with some friends, I usually feel the need to buy them a drink. Or when we go to dinner, I will sometimes treat or eat the bill a little. This probably bothers my friends more than it does me, but I also need to recognize that I can’t be doing that all the time.
Don’t spend more money when I don’t have to
This could come in the form of late fees for bills or (ahem) my first speeding ticket ever. It could also be spending more money for convenience. I’m not saying I should be completely frugal now, but a little frugality is never a bad thing.

This summer will be a pilot program for these 3 little rules. With that in mind, I will also be doing some big things this summer- concerts, Texas (hopefully) and I’d like to buy a new digital camera (yes I know, That would be 3 within a year- am I already breaking one of my rules?). But these are things I am planning and saving for. With any luck, by the end of the summer I’ll have a nice little bundle saved up that I can put in some nice savings account to build interest on. Any suggestions?

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2 Comments

  1. Just wait until there’s rent to pay: Jesus, that takes a chunk & a half of the paycheck. 😉 To counter that old man cynacism, here’s two things that have been a big help to me:

    I’ve found that paying for everything with a credit card (responsibly, that is) and tracking it with Wesabe is a big help in finding out exactly how much you’re spending and where it’s spent.

    Set up online bill-paying through your bank whenever possible. Then set up recurring SMS reminders in Google Calendar (or iCal or whatever) to let you know when you need to send the payment (for variable payments like credit card, etc).

    I thought about sending you an e-card, but I thought you might get depressed. So, congrats on graduating!

  2. I wish I had read this post earlier. Last weekend I went to Best Buy to get some blank CD’s and $400 later I walk out with a Wii and assorted gaming paraphenalia.

    …yeah, I still don’t have those CD’s…

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