Money Under 30

“I’m 25 and only make $30k a year. I’ve got student loans. I’m broke! Why should I care about investing?”

I hear this all the time. When it comes to money, many of my peers (at least the ones not completely afraid of their finances) are concerned with upgrading their cars and homes, developing their career, and finding a partner or getting married. These are all good things to do, but something’s missing. We often hear about the same few financial steps for twentysomethings: [...]

Do you talk to your partner about finances? If not, have “the talk”. It may very well save you frustration, save you money, and save your relationship.

I recently read an article on The New York Times, four money talks to have before marriage, and a response at Get Rich Slowly. I agree that this is critical, but not just for couples considering marriage. A lot of us youngins shack up long before we marry, if we marry at all. So I think these articles need to be re-framed as money talks to have before living together. [...]

I received an e-mail from a 28-year old budget-conscious reader with a common conundrum. She’s watching her wallet. Her friends? Not so much. How do you deal with friends that perennially spend, splurge, and squander?

Unfortunately, “keeping up with the Jones’” plays a big role in the psychology of spending. We spend to keep up because we envy things other people have. We spend more with friends to win and maintain their acceptance. And when we do it, we usually spend more than we have.

When we assert our frugality before our desire to fit in, however, a new problem emerges: We risk offending our friends, standing out as a cheapskate, or—worse—becoming alienated from them. [...]

This is the second year in a row Money Under 30 is participating in Blog Action Day. This year’s theme is climate change.

When it comes down to it, a big component of building wealth is learning to stop being wasteful. We need to stop wasting money (so we can save and invest it), but when we stop wasting money, we also stop wasting the things we use money to buy. And when we buy less of things that leave carbon footprints when they are produced and transported across the globe, we in fact help slow climate change. [...]

This morning I was in bed listening to chilly October rain pound my roof. Naturally, I wanted to stay in bed for another few minutes. And that’s when I realized it. Snoozing for five or ten minutes is usually a bad idea. Like, a terrible idea. It seems so innocuous at the time—five more minutes under your warm covers, cat purring by your feet. And yet even five extra minutes in bed can cause your morning routines to be rushed, make you late for work, and generally fuck up your entire day.

Somehow, I then thought of this old picture of me in college wearing a paper bag over my head and holding a can of Coors Light (or is it spelled “Lite”?) That picture is like “bad decision” illustrated. There’s the fact that I’ve obviously had a few too many, that I left somebody photograph me with a bag on my head, and the fact I’m drinking Coors Light. Ick. [...]

Did you hear this one? Kate Gosselin of Jon and Kate Plus Eight fame is claiming to be broke. The reality TV mom told Meredith Vieira on the Today show this morning that her estranged husband Jon Gosselin basically emptied their joint bank account. [...]

In this post, I’m going to ask you to slow down, look inward, and do some reflection.

Most often, I write about straightforward topics like debt repayment, credit scoring, and budgeting. Don’t get me wrong—it’s important stuff. But on a deeper level, something I struggle with as a personal finance blogger is that I don’t want my life to become about money.

And yet, sometimes I feel that’s exactly what happened. [...]

I’ve been on a simplicity kick for a while. To give you an example: My wallet now consists of my ID and three other cards wrapped up in a rubber band. My key chain holds my house key and my car key—that’s it. I’m just tired of wasting time with extraneous “stuff”. The way I see it, the 80/20 rule can applies to everything. We use 20 percent of our things 80 percent of the time; 80 percent of our stuff 20 percent of the time. Why not whittle down to the 20 percent and learn to live without the rest? The same holds true with how much time I spend on my finances. Here are a few easy ways I simplify my finances. Give them a try and let me know how they work!

1. Use a Checkbook Register. Remember those little booklets that come with boxes of checks? I still use one! I use a checkbook register to track every debit card purchase, every deposit, every check. Since I started doing this, I’ve never had to worry about overdrafts—I’ve always known exactly how much was in my checking account. I don’t actually carry around the check register everywhere I go, but I leave it at home or in my suitcase if I’m traveling and I update it with my receipts once a day.

2. Make Your Budget with a Spreadsheet. I used to budget on pen and paper too, but I found it was a lot easier to let a spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel do the math for me. That’s why I created my original budget spreadsheet. Recently, I created a really simple budget worksheet that simplifies the monthly budget even further by grouping categories of expenses. Don’t get me wrong, I love—and use—fancy budgeting tools like Quicken and Mint.com from time to time, but I find they can’t replace the simplicity of a good spreadsheet. [...]

A Northwestern journalism student recently interviewed me for the story How Do You Make Young People Care About Personal Finance? As a personal finance blogger writing for a generation that is (supposedly) either apathetic or ignorant about personal finance—this question keeps me up at night. Look at the number of personal finance blogs with younger writers (and the comments on them), and you don’t get a picture of a generation that doesn’t care about money. But we bloggers (and even blog readers) are a tiny minority. Assuming there is a critical mass of young people that aren’t involved in learning about their own personal finances, the question becomes, should we care? And, assuming we should care, can we make them care about their own money? [...]

The following is a guest post by Susie Bafico, Assistant Editor of FiLife, a network of experts and community members, where people get help, advice and share opinions on family finance.

Plenty of parents help out their adult kids with cash, and it’s not just cars and trust funds. For many, the safety net is pulled on the way to college, while for others it never really ends. [...]