Money. This one word evokes more emotion out of me than a Stephanie Meyer or Nicholas Sparks novel. People can say that their twenties were fabulous. But, I bet they are forgetting how very poor they were. Everyone wants money, and mostly in large quantities. Of course you already know what you would do with your lottery winnings even if you don’t play. Money is up there with oxygen.—you have to have it. Problem is you realize this in your twenties when you’re already expected to have everything figured out. How are we supposed to make enough money to pay for college, and pay for rent and the rest of life’s bare minimums? Quite frankly when it comes to money in your twenties, life sucks…
All the College years of contemplating selling your eggs for a tuition payment or eating your fair share of ramen noodles and 89 cent burritos from Del Taco have to eventually pay off right? The assumed poverty for a better life one day mantra ends with a high paying job. I’m tired of being poor in my twenties. I want money now. I don’t want to be young, fabulous and broke as Suze Orman would say our generation is. I want to be able to live normally and actually be able to afford the fee for a doctor’s visit without having to give up eating lunch for a week.
I hope that the curse is magically lifted from us once we reach our thirties. Statistically, we make the most money in our forties. Isn’t that depressing? So here’s to all my fellow twenty- something’s that want to make it…Hopefully Nirvana was right and we will be able to sit and grin and watch the money roll right in..Do you think we will ever get there?
The best advice is old advice, start saving. I know the question is, "Save what?". Let's take a hard look at a typical scenario; it's morning and you are in line at Starbucks waiting your turn to order. If you took a small step back at that moment, here's what that Vente, Caramel Frap double shot no whip would look like. One coffee at $5.00, 5 days a week, multiplied by 52 weeks in the year adds up to saving a cool $1300. Before you shake your head at the thought that this might be too painful, think about all of the other $5 you spend in a day, or a month or a year. One less unnecessary trip in your car saves approximately $6, one new lipstick (to add to your other 50 tubes) saves another $12. Math is math I'm sorry to say, and the solution to the math equation you wrote about is sacrifice. Trust me or anyone like me that has undergone a complete reversal of fortune during the recent economy, saving your money will ultimately save your ass from poverty!
ReplyDeleteI can totally understand. In fact this kind of what my last blog entry was about, lol.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I never went to college (it's just not for me, not with what I want to do with my life.) But that's fine, because I work from home and I totally love my job. Or at least part of my job. Now, I would make MORE THAN ENOUGH money to cover everything my wife and I need.
Except... We're overstaffed and work is cutting people's hours. So I work my ass off, and Jen and I could live comfortably. But what do you do when your work screws you over? Jen is looking for a work at home job right now, even though I really don't want her to work.
I still want to be a professional artist. I think I'll be living comfortably in my 20s, but only once shit calms the fuck down!
Yeah I can say that it is possible to live a cushy life in the twenties. I made decent money when I had my own business..but it wasn't consistent...(part of the problem with my industry)..so decided to go after my real dreams...and the irony is that the reality of life to get to my dreams is sucking big time....especially to the economy!!!!
ReplyDelete* due to the economy
ReplyDeleteWell I tell you one thing, I'm going to be 29 this year and I've already done the bankruptcy thing. And even after that and college and all of the shit I've had to deal with... I have NEVER eat Ramen. You just have to have some standards. I'll starve before I eat Ramen. Which coincidentally, allowed me to stop paying for a gym membership.
ReplyDeleteI love the Del Taco reference...
ReplyDeleteYeah, it sux right now. I used to think it would be glamorous living the "poor hippie life". Like the characters in Rent or something. But it's nothing like that. But I think that in the end all of the hard work will be worth it. I feel as though that's the problem with our generation. We see all of the stuff our parents had: 1000+ channels on TV, a nice house, always food in the fridge, eating out on occasion, all of the furniture in the living room matching, etc. (Even if our parents weren't ridiculously wealthy.) So we feel as though that once we get out of college we should have the same things. We feel as though it is our "right" to have these things. But it's not our "right." It's our right to pursue all of that.
The Bill of Rights says that we have the right to the "pursuit of happiness." Not the right "Of happiness." We have to earn it. It's not just going to fall into our laps.
So does it suck now? YES! But hopefully in the end it'll be worth it. And maybe we'll learn that happiness isn't about having money.
Emmy I love your comment!..that's a great angle of thought.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Emmy! Money does make some things in our lives easier and less stressful, but it doesn't make people happy. We have to earn what we want to get out of life. The more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. Your education is worth all the debt in the world. No one can take your education from you.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that saving your money now, is one of the best things you can do for yourself. One, day you will look back on this time in your life and appreciate and be thankful for this experince. You are a smart 20 something girl...I know you will figure all this money stuff out one way or another. :o) Just don't give up on your dreams! Life goes by too fast, don't let school tution get in the way...