For the past year or so, I’ve been listening to a lot of personal finance podcasts and reading personal finance blogs. Most of the information in those podcasts and blogs is great but I’ve noticed one trend/theme that I personally don’t like. There seems to be this notion that you cannot like or buy nice things and still be financially stable/secure. First of all, that’s not true at all. You can buy a nice handbag or a luxury car and still have a good credit score with your emergency fund untouched. I know it’s possible because I do it (minus the luxury car, I’m not there yet). But I am definitely the spender in my relationship and neither my bank account nor my credit score have suffered as a result. I do realize that these podcasters/bloggers have to be somewhat general in what they say and that there are exceptions to rules. I know that there are a lot of people who can’t control their shopping habits and I agree that if you can’t control it, then you don’t need to do it. So I take the “no shopping” advice with a grain of salt, because it doesn’t apply to me. HOWEVER… Continue reading
Category: Advice
Dating A Gamer
If you’re dating a guy who’s under thirty-five, there’s a good chance that he likes to play videogames. There’s also a good chance that if he does enjoy playing videogames, then he might play them more than you would like for him to. My fiancé is somewhat of a gamer. I don’t think he goes overboard with it (ex. he doesn’t dress up like the characters, he usually comes to bed at a decent hour, and he’s not going broke because he won’t stop buying games/consoles), but I do realize that some people may not know how to deal with a guy who has this hobby. Personally, I don’t mind videogames but that is probably due to the fact that my dad and I would play videogames when I was a child. I grew up seeing grown men enjoy videogames but also be functioning adults (ex. They went to work, they took care of their children, etc.). Now I’m about to marry someone who’s just like that.
However, I know that a lot of ladies my age find themselves feeling like they have to compete with videogames for attention from their man. I know because I’ve been there. I’ve fought this battle plenty of times throughout my four-year relationship and I can honestly say this: videogames are not the worst distraction for your man to have. Here’s why: Continue reading
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Emergency Funds
Saving money can be really difficult for some people, but it’s something you must do so that you can stay in good standing financially. Bad things can happen to good people and sometimes those things can cost you a lot of money. That’s why everyone should have an emergency fund. An emergency fund is a stash of money set aside to cover the financial surprises life throws your way.
Here are some of the top emergencies people face:
- Job loss.
- Medical or dental emergency.
- Unexpected home repairs.
- Car troubles.
- Unplanned travel expenses.
- Legal issues.
2 major benefits of having emergency money.
- It helps keep your stress level down.
It’s no surprise that when life presents an emergency, it threatens your financial well-being and causes stress. If you’re living without a safety net, you’re living on the “financial” edge—hoping to get by without running into a crisis. Being prepared with an emergency fund gives you confidence that you can tackle any of life’s unexpected events without adding money worries to your list. Continue reading
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Living With Your “Bae”
I know that “shacking up” has a somewhat negative connotation in certain cultures, particularly amongst African American women, but more young people are ignoring the stigma and moving in with their significant others nowadays. After four years of dating my then-boyfriend/now-fiancé, I “officially” became one of those people last summer.
MY “SHACKING UP” STORY
My fiancé and I started dating when we were twenty and twenty-one year olds in college. At that time, we both had our own apartments (with roommates) and we lived an hour apart from one another because we were attending universities in different cities. For most of the time that we were in college, I drove to his apartment every weekend and spent the weekends with him. So I lived at my apartment for five days out of the week and at his for two days. Different circumstances and deciding that we didn’t want roommates anymore led to him staying at my apartment for a few months and then me staying at his apartment for a few months, but we were never on a lease together and we never paid bills together until now. Continue reading
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Working Temp Jobs
I will always vouch for working temp jobs because my own temp experience helped me out tremendously. In fact, I wouldn’t have the job that I have right now if I hadn’t tried something different and started working temp jobs.
I felt like I could jump start a career by working temp jobs
A couple of months before I graduated from college, I started working temp jobs. I chose this route as opposed to working in the mall or in a restaurant because I felt like I could jump start a career by working temp in various offices quicker than I could while working in retail or the food industry.
Find a staffing agency
The best way to go about getting temp jobs is to be hired by a temp/staffing agency. That agency makes money off of you getting jobs so they will try to keep you working consistently. I was getting job assignments back to back, sometimes before the current assignment I was on even ended. It’s much easier to get your foot in the door and keep the money coming in when you have a good agency backing you and finding the jobs for you. The catch is that you need a build-able and marketable resume for the industry that you’re trying to get into. Continue reading
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Student Loans
Student loans have been the source of stress for many college graduates. Today the average amount of student loan debt that college graduates have is around $30,000. I can vouch for that because that’s about how much debt I graduated with. Fortunately, I’m not struggling to pay back my student loans at this point but I do sympathize with those who are struggling and I agree with many people that some type of reform needs to take place.
WHY STUDENT LOANS SUCK
The main reason why student loans suck so bad is because they will never go away. There’s literally no way to get out of paying them back. Now I don’t believe that people shouldn’t pay back their debts because I’m clearly paying mine, but I’m also not so naive that I think things will be as easy for others as they have been for me. And it’s more so the idea that you have no way out that’s so daunting. It also sucks to be in your early twenties and thousands of dollars in debt. Especially when you took on said debt to make a better life for yourself. It’s the irony of it all that makes the situation so screwed up for a lot of people. Continue reading
So Lush Lifestyle 