Quarter Life Personal Finance: 5 Tips To Manage Your Money In The Midst Of Chaos
If you recently graduated from college then you’ve been hit with the task of managing your own finances. You may now have a job with a decent paycheck and along with that comes bills, unplanned expenses and learning to balance your checking account. During this time you may also be experiencing some confusion, doubt and you can’t shake the feeling that nothing is wrong, but something just doesn’t feel quite right.
Welcome to your Quarter Life Crisis.
It is often around this time that Quarter Lifers can let their finances lapse leaving a trail of bad credit and unpaid bills due to overwhelming feelings around student loans and disillusionment around maintaining a desired lifestyle.
So how does a Quarter Lifer get through this extremely confusing period of life without letting their finances lapse?
1. Get Organized
This is indeed a difficult time but it is no reason to let you finances lapse in the midst of it all. Take inventory of your financial obligations and set them on auto pay through your bank or other online bill pay systems. This way you can let the bills take care of themselves so long as you keep the funds in your bank account. This includes saving at least 10% of your take home pay as well. Remember, above all, pay yourself first!
2. Create a Budget
You may be asking how do I do that? It’s pretty simple, For the next month, track your expenses down to the penny. You can do this by using all cash, only your debit card or just tallying up all purchases, bill payments and receipts at the end of the month. After reviewing your information, decide which areas need improvement and go on a trial run for the next 30-60 days. This way you gain a better understanding around which areas need closer oversight.
In my case, when I first moved to DC after college, I really needed to watch how much I ate out each week. Of course I wasn’t the Martha Stewart wannabe I am today and ate out for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which got really expensive after a while. So take stock of what areas need closer watch then tally up the totals. Once you have an idea, you set the limits and voila, you now have a monthly budget!
Here’s a copy of a budget spreadsheet you may find useful:
3. Communicate With Your Student Loan Lender
If you haven’t already done so, call your student loan lender and find out when you first payment is due. Get information around due dates, grace periods, payment terms, forbearance and in school status. Depending on your personal/financial sitution you may be eligible to ask your lender for a forbearance just in case you aren’t able to manage payments at this point in time. Some of you (like yours truly) may owe over 100k in student loans which is like a mortgage payment for most. Still, Sallie, Citi, AES, KeyBank etc etc want their money. It is in your best interest to make sure you are on track with this debt. Like death and taxes, student loan repayment is another certainty in life.
4. Curb The Shopping!
This includes lattes, the cute empire dress you could get for the after work party on Friday, the heels you don’t need and anything else not deemed a necessity right now. If you must, give yourself a monthly shopping allowance and make it your duty not to go above it. This way you’re able to shop and not feel guitly about it.
5. Talk to Mom and Dad About Your Finances
Quarter Lifers are often caught up in wanting to seem responsible that they forget that it is still OK to ask for help even if they are on their own. I can admit to calling my mom 8 months after moving here and telling her that my CC debt was unmanageable and I needed help. She promptly called the credit card company and paid the balance for me and made me promise not to run it back up again. Sometimes we need help and mom and/or dad are more than willing to help us out. Of course, not without a stern talking to but it may be the help you need to get you back on the right path and giving you a fresh start.
Of course I do not advocate parents enabling their adult children, however, I am of the mindset that if they can still help out while you’re still getting your feet wet in adulthood, why not?
This is just one aspect of learning how to manage a quarter life crisis, keep in mind that issues around career, identity and relationships are best handled by a life coach or therapist depending on the severity of the issues. Your first step is realizing there’s a problem but that it’s totally OK to feel the way you do. Just try to maintain control in the area of your personal finance so that you’re not paying for it years down the line when you’ve moved past this period in your life.
About the Author: Girls Just Wanna Have Funds is for the woman that wants to take charge of her personal finances. We value budgeting, investing, frugality and remain mindful of our spending habits. Move over and make way for women who are in control of their financial destinies and not afraid to say it. We're armed with a positive net worth and not afraid to flaunt it while breaking financial ceilings one stiletto at a time!
Millie | Jul 14, 2008 | Reply
Geez, where were you like six months ago?!
Nice article. Thanks!
Margaret (1 comments.) | Jul 15, 2008 | Reply
Hi there, long time reader/first time commenter here.
Great article! It’s so rare that one of the bigger finance blogs chews off a little on the topic of twentysomethings and their money. I’m definitely going to post a response to this in the coming week, if that’s allright.
Margaret’s last blog post..My Three Savings Accounts, or How I Keep My Grubby Paws Off of My Money
Michell (7 comments.) | Jul 15, 2008 | Reply
I think the curbing-the-spending thing is the most important out of all of those tips… well, at least it was for me. The first time you get a paycheck, like a real paycheck and not one from Baskin Robbins, you freak out and you think “gee I have so much money!! I’m going to by those shoes I’ve wanted forever, and then have lattes every morning, and maybe think about buying a new car!”
Ginger | Jul 15, 2008 | Reply
@ MArgaret, go right ahead, let me know when you post it!
Michell, we are right >here<
I got my first paycheck with FUll plans to go uy those shoes I saw on my lunch break. But once I did my budget breakdown it was a no go. My issue was moreso eating out than it has been shopping. I mean, I shop but I shop in spurts so its not a habit.
Ginger | Jul 15, 2008 | Reply
One more thing @ Margaret, Im glad you said that its rare that we discuss 20 something money as this is the demographic of this blog but Ive never said that directly to all of you if that makes sense. I write here pretty much from my experience and articles that resonate with me. This may be the reason that you dont find much of it from other bloggers perhaps they arent the same age as I am or are in a different stage of life. So I am sure theyve went through it but its just something I choose to focus on here.
Harei | Jul 23, 2008 | Reply
A friend told me recently about a free online personal budgeting utility, I have used it for over two month now and it is too good to be free. “Out Of The Dark” (OOTD) is easy to use, simple yet powerful, an online personal budgeter that is totally anonymous so your personal identity is never compromised, and it’s packed full of good guidance and information from the developer and the community of users.
OOTD can be found at:
http://www.myexp.org/OOTD_gate.php
Happy budgeting
Steven-Sanders (1 comments.) | Sep 8, 2008 | Reply
I’m not gonna lie… I was sent here by ProBlogger. But you do have some great content on your blog. I know it’s probably geared towards woman, but I’m definitely coming back to read more.
I here you are wanting some tips to help market your blog.
Have you ever heard of Plurk or Cafe Mom? My wife uses cafe mom to help promote her blog to moms, and other women, and it has helped to gain her 2,000 unique visitors a month.
Plurk is also very good. It has helped to bring her and I a steady following of traffic to our blogs.
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Steven-Sanders’s last blog post..You’ll Never Make Money Blogging
gracious (1 comments.) | Sep 9, 2008 | Reply
I came over here from Problogger, but it’s a good thing I did. I am a quarter lifer. I will advocate for what you posted, as I quickly developed terrible credit, and felt thrown out into a pack of wolves once I tried to get on my own two feet. I’m married now, both of us being failed quarter lifers, we’re still trying to get ourselves back on track.
I look forward to hearing more on this subject.
and I love the title of your blog…hee hee. good stuff, good stuff.
gracious’s last blog post..If you give a girl a camera…
Jocelyn (1 comments.) | Sep 13, 2008 | Reply
At 24, I’m definitely feeling the quarter life crisis! Managing my CC debt on top of student loans and living expenses has been tough, but I’ve learned so much. It’s nice to see other people blogging about this. I really don’t think there is enough guidance out there for us quarter-lifers!
Jocelyn @ http://www.moneyaftercollege.com