I was having breakfast with a friend last week and I was giving him some financial advice. He’s about to get married in a couple of weeks and wanted to get a few things straightened out. I talked him though choosing a bank, getting a rewards credit card and some basic investing tips. I think the best advice I gave him though came at the end of the breakfast, when I looked at him and said, “You’re going to be ok”. It occurred to me that this is a message that young professionals need to hear.

Life out of college is more stressful than ever; we’ve got more debt via student loans and it’s quite tough to find a job, much less a good paying one. Growing up is confusing, we have lots of pressures coming our way: get a job, buy a house, save for retirement, and pay off debt. There’s also the nagging thought in our head that we should actually use our money to enjoy life. The typical cycle for us young professionals goes as follows: get paid twice a month, pay our bills and pay off our credit card and then repeat this cycle every month. It’s hard to get a good vantage point, are we really doing ok?

According to the WSJ, the average American student graduating in 2014 has $33k to repay in debt and will make around $45K in their first year out of school, which, roughly calculating and assuming 6% state taxes (close to what it is in Georgia), your take home would be around $1,160. Assuming a 6% interest rate paid back in 10 years, that’s $380 each month. That means you’ll have about $780 per month to work with. Yikes, seems tough to manage, right! There’s rent, retirement, food, gas and cell phone bills, before we get to the fun stuff! These very common numbers don’t paint the best picture for us as young professionals.

Phew, let’s take a deep breath here before we throw our hands up in the air giving up. The federal poverty level in the US right now is a little under $12K per year. I’m assuming if you’re a young professional that you’re doing better than that. Even if you’re between jobs right now, or haven’t found one yet, you could easily get a low paying job that would put you above the poverty level. So, get any notions of ‘I’m poor’ out of your head.

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Short of winning the lottery, you’re not going to strike it rich tomorrow. Becoming financially secure will take time. Bills are a part of life and having student debt is common for people our age. Even if it feels like you are only treading water, feel blessed that you’re not drowning. No matter how bad the circumstances are all you really need to have is a game plan. Your bills won’t go away tomorrow and neither will your debt. It’s going to take you a few months or even years to get in a place where you will consider yourself financially sound. Take heart though that you do have a plan and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. If you make smart decisions with your money you’ll still have plenty of it left over for you to go out to eat or get a drink on a random Tuesday night.

Being smart with your money involves several things. First it involves getting into the mindset of spending less than you earn. If you can’t manage a little bit of money now how can you expect yourself to manage a lot of money when it comes down the road? Learn to live within your means. Fun should always be something in your budget even if it’s a small amount; it’s still going to be there. You have to crawl before you walk in walk before you run. When you’re first out of college your budget is certainly going to be limited in what you were able to afford. But by making smart decisions with your money, little by little you’ll find yourself with more budget to go around, which will mean more fun, entertainment, and other things.

So, next time you’re stressed, realize that you’re not alone. Young professionals everywhere are going through the same things that you are. We’ve all got debt, bills to pay and seemingly not a big enough paycheck. Just know that you’re ok. Know that although things may seem tough now, know that you’ll make it out alive and if you make smart decisions, you’ll thrive. Learn to be happy with wherever you are I right now in life, and you’ll always be happy!

Thanks for reading the article! Here’s another you might enjoy: When life gets in the way or 3 ways a budget will change your life.

Also, still paying for cable? Cable can be over $100 per month, wow! Consider switching to an online site like Hulu, Netflix or Amazon Prime! Check out the link below for a FREE (YMF approved) 30 day Amazon Prime trial: