A magical thing happens every other Friday or twice a month for most of us: payday. Once that check arrives or the money is direct deposited it’s always a great feeling and we’re often tempted to spend and enjoy it! However, this isn’t something that should become a habit, and you will soon find out that money disappears much quicker than you expect. This is why young people should be sensible with their cash, but if you’re new to getting paychecks or perhaps have never learned how to manage your money, there are a few key things you should be doing!

You Need Saving Goals

If you don’t have a plan or a destination in mind, you’ll certainly won’t ever get there! Same applies to savings and without a goal or plan it’ll be difficult to build up any savings. It’s always worth outlining a plan for how much you need to save by the end of each month. To do this, consider what you’re saving up for. Is it for college or additional schooling? Is it world travel (one day we’ll be back to that)? A new car? Or do you want to start saving for retirement as soon as possible? 

Setting these goals now, and being disciplined with them will give you the financial comfort you need early. It will also help to foster excellent financial habits that will follow you throughout life, and this can save plenty of bumpy roads ahead as you can buy a car or get on the property ladder more quickly. 

Your Credit Card Is Not Infinite

Credit cards are useful, yes. They help you make significant purchases when you want to treat yourself, or if you need to pay for repairs on appliances, or your card. However, it’s very easy to fall into credit card debt, but while this is easy, it’s tough to crawl out of it. They’re certainly not magic plastic that makes your problems disappear – there are consequences!

Setting a credit card limit will help keep the costs down, and you can also use it solely for essential purchases, such as paying for your phone or your weekly shop. It’s when you start using it on nights out where things get a little sketchy, so leave it at home before hitting the town!

You Can’t Forget Your Taxes

Taxes are boring, and for young people with no prior education on them, they can be intimidating and confusing, but unless you want to get hit with a significant tax bill, you must pay them when the time comes. Ideally, your employer is pulling out money each paycheck based on the information you provide them with (i.e. single/married and number of dependents). If you’re more self-employed or often owe taxes, be sure to throughout the year set an appropriate amount of money aside for tax time.

If you are struggling, tax relief services can assist and make it a little easier to manage, especially considering how unique everyone’s tax situation is. Such services are especially useful for those who did not have the necessary education about paying taxes, and they can relieve a financial headache easily.

Setting Yourself Up Right

Even if all of your friends are spending money left, right, and center, you should still stick to your owns plans for financial stability. Their goals and plans to achieve them will look different from yours, and learn to live your life not theirs! It may not be the most fun thing right now, but in several years once you’ve amassed a decent amount of savings, you’ll be able to have fun without any worries about whether you can pay rent or bills at the end of the month. 

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