Recent Grad Finance 101: Save Smarter, Not Harder
For us recent grads out there, saving for big ticket items like cars, houses, or an emergency fund can feel impossible. Not to mention that most of us have more student loans, lower entry level wages, and a higher cost of living than our parents' generation, but I digress... I finished my undergraduate degree in May of 2017, which means I'm well past my student loan grace period and know too well the woes of watching my paycheck go towards my student debt and other necessary expenses.
There's a lot of financial advice out there on how, when, and how much to save. Some people will tell you that to be financially successful you have to pay off all your debt as soon as possible, even if that means waiting to create an emergency fund. Now to an extent, this makes sense. If you have debt with high interest rates (credit card debt and some auto loans) then it's a good idea to get that paid off as soon as possible. But when you have "necessary" debt (subsidized student loans, some mortgages, etc.) with lower interest rates and you are already managing your monthly payments, it's a important to prioritize putting a little money aside every month for emergencies.
For example, I've got a little over $75,000 in student loans, 0 credit card debt, and no auto or home loans. Yes, my student debt is higher than the National Average, but I usually exceed my monthly payments, pay on-time every month, and my student loans have lower interest rates compared to other kinds of debt. In my situation, it makes more sense to prioritize planning for emergencies instead of waiting to pay off all my debt. No, I don't have the full recommended 3- 6 months worth of expenses sitting around in my savings account. But I've got enough to keep me covered on a rainy day.
About a week ago I had some car trouble where I found myself with some unexpected expenses. Because I've been putting away a little bit every month into my savings instead of putting that extra money towards my student loans, I didn't have to worry about the cash I needed for the uber home, car repairs, a new battery, AAA membership to jump/tow my car, etc. To be honest, I was lucky in the sense that the repairs could have been a lot worse. However, this experience made me realize that I want to be more proactive about my savings.
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If you've checked out my Instagram lately, you've seen that it's covered in these big cursive letters. Over the last month I picked up the art of bullet journaling. I was hesitant in the beginning because I never thought my handwriting was fancy or good enough and that I would constantly make mistakes and ruin pages. Inthe course of a month I've learned that you don't need perfect handwriting to be good at brush lettering. My letters are still streaky and inconsistent but filters work wonders y'all. The truth is bullet journaling isn't about being perfect, and it shouldn't be.
The truth is, bullet journaling isn't about being perfect, and it shouldn't be.
In the past month I've used my bullet journal for everything from to-do lists, to tracking my habits and writing inspirational quotes. One of my favorite things to do is draw out lines for a calendar page and every day that month write down one good thing that happened that day. Even on the days where everything goes wrong if I can come up with one little thing that was good (even if it's literally that my coffee stayed warm longer than I was expecting) I will feel a little bit better. After doing this for a whole month, I can say that this habit has helped my mental health, my mood, and most importantly helped me remember to be thankful
1. You will make mistakes and that's okay. Shit happens. You'll use the wrong color, misspell something, and you'll think your page is royally screwed up. News flash: it's either good enough and if it isn't, move on. Cross it out, make it into something else, and the sun will come up tomorrow.
2. Good pens make a difference. Ive got cheap pens and expensive pens and let me be the first to tell you that the difference between them is night and day. You definitely don't need to only buy expensive tools. There are some great affordable supplies out there (some of my faves below) but having a few versatile quality pens in your stash is awesome. Some of my favorites are sharpie pens (cheap and good quality) for thin clean lines, these pastel brush pens(great if you're looking for an affordable brush tip pen), and my Tombow Dual Brush Tip Pens (pricey but amazing). There are no rules for bullet journaling. It's about doing what you want, how you want.
3. Practice, practice, practice. In just a month, both my layouts and letters have improved so much. Take a look the difference between these two pages. At the beginning of January I was so bad at lettering I was still doing faux calligraphy with my ballpoint pens. A month later, I'm much better with a brush pen and I decorate my pages.
4. Spend money on a good dot journal. My first dot journal was a great first journal. For a beginner like me, a simple $8 dot journal was all I needed. It got the job done and was an good size and shape for what I wanted. However most of my pens bleed or ghost through the pages and it doesn't lie flat. Now that I'm a little more experienced and know that I'm sticking with this hobby I'm going to invest in a higher quality journal.
5. There are a ton of awesome lettering blogs out there. Follow #bulletjournal and #brushlettering for great journal layouts and for lettering styles. This is a great starting point for inspo. Some of my favorites are TombowUSA, the Mapi Method, and BonJournal.
6. When you cant buy everything, having two different color families is enough. I have two sets of brush tip pens. One with standard ROYGBV and a set of pastels. Having both lets me do the bounce lettering in both bold colors but I also love having pastels to color in with, use watercolor techniques, layer colors on top of one another, and and for brush lettering too of course!
7. Storage and a few simple accessories make your life easier. Clipboards are the ***t! With mine I can journal on my bed, the couch, random coffee shop counters without needing a large surface. I also keep all my pens, pencils, and eraser in a little zipper pouch. It keeps me sane and makes packing up anywhere a breeze.
8. It's your journal so do whatever the ***k you want. If you want to make lists, do it. If you just want to write quotes, do it. If you want to doodle, do it. There are no rules for bullet journaling. When I come home from a long day and want to vent, I write profanity in big swoopy letters. Surprisingly, I feel better. The self-validation of writing something down is therapeutic. It's why I love blogging here at Cold Brew and why I love bullet journaling. |
AuthorEmma Neale: (young) adult, cat mom, and aspiring for adventure. Archives
February 2019
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