Being Thrifty After College
By: James Roddy
I was at a car dealership recently and was within earshot of a young man buying a car. He had just graduated from college, and had landed himself a decent job. To treat himself after four years of studying, he decided to buy himself a car. This young man didn’t want a used car, or even anything cheap and practical, but a brand new, $35,000 Chevy Camaro. This decision would probably leave him in debt for years to come, and that is no way to start life after college. After landing that first big boy (or big girl) job, and paychecks start to roll in, the want to be extravagant starts to settle in, but that usually isn’t the smart way to go about it. Being thrifty after college is a good way to get financially secured and started on the right foot.
One of the easiest ways to be thrifty after college is to move back in with good old Mom and Dad for a little while. Like most life decisions, this one comes with some pros and some cons. The major pros are little to nothing needs to be paid for rent and utilities, and if you’re lucky this may even come with some good home cooked meals. This greatly reduces the cost of living, and therefore allows for a greater portion of salary to go towards saving, whether that be for a car, a down payment on a home, or something else entirely. The cons are a loss of personal space and privacy. For some the pros may out weigh the cons, and for others it may be quite the opposite. When it come to moving back in with the folks it all depends on the individual, what their goals are, and what they want their lifestyle to be.
For some people, moving back in with their parents is just not for them, they need to branch out and live on their own. For those people, the easiest way to be thrifty is to live with a roommate. Living with a roommate is something most people experience all through college, so it’s a pretty easy transition. Much like moving in with parents, living with a roommate has its pros and cons. The pros are an opportunity to make major life decisions and a great deal of personal freedom. The cons are the expenses that come along with living (rent, utilities, food, ect). Living on your own can be a fun time, but it comes at a cost. A great deal of an individual’s budget is typically dedicated to the cost of living, and that leaves less money to spend on going out, having fun, or saving for the future.
For most people, the end goal is to own a home and start a family, but this takes a lot of preparation financially. The more money one spends on the cost of living, the longer it will take to save up for the down payment on that home, and the more time it will take for that end goal to come to fruition. When it comes to making decisions after college, everything should be based on your individual wants and goals, but it’s always good to keep frugality in mind.
-----------------------------
Image Credit: livestrong.com
