Frankly, I don’t remember the feeling when I got my first paycheck because I could care less at the time.
I was 13 or 14 years old and I was teaching tennis to young(er) kids.
I’d been teaching tennis for 3, 4 years since then purely for enjoyment.
I loved to see kids get better and it was more than excitement, it was a thrill and almost felt like an impulse to work harder.
Now that is the best feeling.
If you can do something you love and always get that feeling, you are in luck.
But most of the time, our jobs feel tedious and although you cannot love everything about them, it is up to you to decide how you can turn that around.
The earlier you can learn that, the better.
Dealing with nuisance picking up balls and children can be tough, but being outdoors, meeting new kids and their parents really made me happy.
I was weird like that.
When I made my first $70 per lesson there was no incredible feeling of money because, at that time in middle school, all I cared about was recess and playing Webkinz.
Money wasn’t on my mind because well, it didn’t need to be!
We are free when we are kids.
Have fewer responsibilities, yadda yadda.
You know it and I won’t remind you again how it felt.
But before we move on, why do we have that frame of mind that everything is worse now?
Nothing needs to disappear, including fun and enjoyment when we get older.
In fact, it should become a more pertinent part of your life because you have more worries so there needs to be an equal balance.
Back to the question, I get it.
So what did I do with my first paycheck?
Well, all I can say is that I remember my parents depositing it into my savings account and that’s really it folks.
That’s a wrap!
Jk (Just joking for my older audience. Hi Grandma:))
That is absolutely a great start, don’t get me wrong.
Compound Baby
Letting its compound, which means grow on top of the interest already accumulated in your savings account is the best way to go.
Contribute it to a ROTH IRA or even High Yield Savings account if you can.
It’s best to start early because then the more you will have when you are older and you really need it then with no steady paycheck besides Medicare, Social Security, and Pension!
You can invest in as little as $100 per month at a 6% rate which will accumulate to roughly $1 million by age 60.
And of course, the longer you wait, the less you will have.
By waiting 10 more years, you will have only $400k in the bank account by retirement.
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The first thing we want to do is spend it all of course!
We are so proud of our hard work!
Thankfully, I learned the hard way from my strict financial rules my family has abided by and set for themselves since they moved to the US.
It has certainly paid off!
Budgeting and saving can sound scary but it is really just knowing what you need.
I knew that I would be better off investing my money and letting it grow instead of wasting it on tangibles that depreciate or disappear like food.
Again?
We all hate initiating habits but once they do fall into place and become rudimentary, they feel the best.
Why?
Because we feel accomplished and worthwhile.
Courageous and confident that we stuck to our gut and did something we wanted to.
Just like with money, if you set up a habit of:
1) Limiting your purchases using cash or credit, never a debit card
2) Take 48 hours before a large purchase to think about it
3) Think about how grateful you are with what you already have and don’t need… you will feel much more in control of how you are utilizing your money effectively.
Don’t assume you have so much.
Money can be gone in a second.
It is always easier to spend it than earn it so don’t take it for granted and let it sit + grow instead of waste + slump.