Dear Graduating Senior,
Colleges make you believe that ten
years from now, somebody might ask you, “What is the quadratic formula?” We all
know there’s a square root sign in there somewhere but we will never need that
in real life.
So what actually do we need to
know? Here are some things they don’t teach you… unless you’re a finance
major:
How to budget post-grad life:
- 40% - Housing & Utilities
- 15% - Food
- 5% - Personal Expenses
- 10% - Transportation
- 10% - Clothing & Entertainment
- 20% - Debt Repayment & Savings
It’s easier than it looks.
You should set some long-term goals:
- Find a Career Path (that you actually enjoy)
- Build an Emergency Fund (the $50 bill in your wallet won’t cut it)
- Repay your Debt (the quadratic formula won’t help you here)
- Start a Retirement Fund (Refer to bullet #2)
You are a millennial. Take advantage
of these saving and investment apps:
- Mint - one stop shop for your accounts and investments
with reminders so the mornings you wake up needing coffee and pork roll
don’t turn into financial failure
- Acorn - turn your spare change into investments.
Smartest piggy bank I know!
- Level Money - metrics and charts of your financial
picture… say cheese!
- Digit - algorithm that pulls small amounts of money
from your checking account daily without breaking the bank. Now you can
finally get that dream car you’ve been dreaming of.
- Credit Karma - free up to date credit score with
helpful hints and tools to help you get the loan for the studio apartment
that gets you away from your parents.
- Goodbudget - (Home of the good budget) a way to
categorize your expenses and keep track of spending so you know when to
get the filet mignon or the chicken.
Congratulations, you no longer have
to take tests and quizzes. Post-grad life seems scary but I believe in you.
Just follow these tips and go get yourself a brand new car… But, only if it
fits your budget.
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