How To Cool It On The Spending Now That You’re Making Money At Work

Five tips to help you hold onto that cash.

Let us guess. For the first fourteen years of your life, you felt like this:

You survived off grandma’s freshly ironed birthday card cash and squirreled away every spare bit of change to buy yourself the latest instalment of Fallout or a new outfit that hadn’t been reworked and refashioned eight dozen times.

No longer. You’ve finally secured your first job, and the money has started to pour. on. in.

Congrats! You deserve to splurge a little now that you have some spending dosh. However – and we hate to make you face reality, because reality is the worst – you might want to think about what you’ll do with that salary from Week 2 onwards.

It’s pretty tempting to blow your payday as soon as it lands in your bank account. The thing is, that’s when you should be putting money away for the really big expenses coming down the line, like a car, or a HELP debt, or, perhaps, one of these:

If you treat every incoming paycheck as an invitation to make it rain, you’ll have a much harder time adjusting to a lifetime of sensible saving in your twenties and thirties. So, here are some tips on how to keep chill, even though you have all that money burning a hole in your pocket.

Make a budget (and stick to it).

Once you receive your first pay, you’ll be able to see just how much goes to the Government. (Welcome to the joy of tax!) You’ll then get an idea of how much money goes direct to you every week, fortnight or month. You should decide on how much you want to set aside for long-term saving (ideally in a savings account) and how much you’ll need for essentials like rent, board and food (depending on which of those you actually need to pay for). That’ll leave you with an (admittedly small) figure that you can use for the fun stuff, like shopping, going out or, hey, a charitable donation. The trick is to stick to your budget; don’t dip into your savings or essentials for something frivolous. You’ll regret it.

Set realistic goals.

That being said, don’t put all of your money into savings and simply hope your family and friends will just shout you everything else. That’s just not realistic. Eventually, you’ll find yourself stealing back some money from your long-term savings anyway. Better to set a realistic budget at the top of the month, rather than unpredictably move money back and forth.

Stay at home a little longer.

Not many 15-year-olds pack up their bags and head out the door after receiving the first ever pay slip, yet there certainly can be a temptation for high school graduates to move out of home on a miniscule salary. The independence you can gain from living alone – or with friends – has its benefits. Still, you should first follow those last two steps to ensure you’re financially ready to do it. Otherwise, hang out with your folks a little longer and keep on saving, until you’ve started making enough money that rent won’t hurt your savings so badly.

Don’t try to show off.

Sure, if you’re planning on taking someone out to a movie, there’s no harm in offering to pay for their popcorn. Let’s be reasonable though: the movies are expensive. So is dating and going out in general. It may sound a little selfish, but you may want to exercise some restraint when trying to impress a guy or girl on the town. Even if you’re now busy earnin’ on a regular basis, finding free fun for yourself and your friends is still advisable. (Otherwise, maybe you can show off by cooking at home instead of paying a restaurant to cook for you. All you need to do is figure out how to make Mee Goreng seem fancy…)

Shop smart.

Update your wardrobe at the op-shop or make an arrangement to swap clothes with friends. Most importantly: be patient! Keep an eye out for sales; only then should you make your move. (Oh, and yeah, maybe take advantage of Student Edge Deals too. No pressure though.)