Hi all. Apologies if this is not allowed here. I know people out there are struggling, but I just want to share my good news with someone.
It’s a big milestone of accomplishment in my life, but I feel weird just telling family members or my online friends about it. The only other people who know are my coworkers because we all got the same raise. Money doesn’t go as far nowadays due to crazy inflation post COVID and my area has higher cost of living than where I grew up, but I’m still very happy about this. I remember back when I used to only make minimum wage. All those years of schooling eventually made their way back to me. I’ll never make as much money as someone like a doctor, but it’s definitely enough for me to live comfortably as a single person.
Anyway, I’ll delete this in a bit (or sooner if it gets removed by a mod), but I hope you guys out there have a good weekend.
Edit: Thank you guys very much :)
Edit 2: Jeez there are so many more comments than I expected. You guys are so nice!!
Congrats! The trick is to not increase your spending, and take the excess and either save it or invest it. Remember: just because you can afford it, does not mean you need it. :)
Congrats and well done! Take some time to celebrate! (And then max out your 401k if you’re in the US and you haven’t already)
Yeah I’m bad at figuring out how stuff like that works tbh lol. I think the last time I looked at my 401k stuff it said that I should be contributing more than I am for some reason. Gotta figure out how to adjust that.
I’m going to have some new financial goals now, but I’m not sure what they’ll be. If it should be something like working towards paying down loans first, which loans to pay down first (I have a very large amount of student loans after all this and I also have a mortgage), or if I should work toward improving my living space and making it nicer. We’ll see I suppose!
Might be worth working with a financial advisor, we just got one and I feel much more comfortable with my money stuff
I’m sure there’s a personal finance thing around here somewhere!
Personally, I’d work on making sure I have a cash safety net. Something like 6 months expenses in my favorite high yield savings account.
After that I would pay off any loans with a high rate. If the rate is <5 percent, it may be worth putting that money into a 401k or investment account. If it’s above 5 percent, I’d consider paying it off early. The idea being that if it’s a low rate then you can invest that money and earn a higher return than it would cost you.
Aside from that, I’d do my best to max my 401k contribution to take advantage of those sweet tax benefits. If nothing else, make sure you’re taking advantage of any employer matches.
Again, awesome work on the job!
Hi, congratulations! I’m so happy for you. Please consider a reputable financial advisor. Not some slick, well-advertised person, but someone who comes with a decent reputation. When meeting with them, use some intuition, don’t fall for flattery or wild promises. You can always say you want to consider their advice. Some lawyers also offer this type of service. I woods encourage you to be kind to others and our environment, with your investments.
Congrats again, well done!
Check out The Money Guys on youtube, they give good financial advice
Thanks for the recommendation!
I’m what you might call a well wisher in that I don’t wish you any specific harm
Instead of investment advice, I’ll just say never forget how hard you had it, what it was like to get minimum wage, and remember there are always hard workers being paid less then you that also deserve a shot. You did the work, be proud of what you’ve achieved. But probably don’t get into specifics with family, people get weird about money.
I’m gonna double down on your advice and say don’t tell anyone how much you make, except your SO. If someone asks just say “I’m doing well for myself.” And if they press you say “I prefer to keep the specifics private”. When I started bringing in money I made the mistake of calling my friends to celebrate and within months they were all hitting me up for cash and pulling on my heartstrings.
My uncle has money. Every problem from his siblings to his 5th cousins gets him a phone call haha.
I don’t have any advice. I just wanted to contribute a humble HELL YEAH BROTHER.
As one of those people who is struggling a bit: Never let the state of the rest of the world stop you from celebrating your own wins!
Congrats on the raise, that is really awesome. Remember to put a decent chunk into savings :D
Cheers bro, to each one of these six figures 🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃
Yo! Congrats! Make sure to stay on top of your budget and don’t let the extra income turn into extra expenses.
Congratulations! Since I already have a drink in hand I’ll toast to your achievement!
Congrats! Seeing your grind start to pay off is awesome
Now is a great time to re-visit your money management to adjust that retirement grind.
Congrats.
Was just in a thread about lifestyle inflation. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lifestyle-inflation.asp is an explainer. Keep it in mind so you don’t end up living 100k paycheck to 100k paycheck
Get that cheddar.
Meowlianaire
Congratulations!
I went from earning $12 under the table to 6 figures in 5 years. It’s a really major change. Once you have a year or two of that, and enough saved to survive basically any adversity, you realize how stressful your life was before.
Some unsolicited advice:
Budget. I’ve never been good at it, so this is my strategy:
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I Keep two months’ basic expenses in checking account. Food, gas, rent, phone, internet, insurance, loans.
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At the end of the month I transfer the remaining money to 3 accounts: 1/4 to long-term savings (this was initially my 3-month emergency fund, but turned into something more blended with a 3-month reserve). 1/4 to short-term savings (travel, gifts, clothes, fun). 1/2 to investments (stocks, ETFs, etc).To start out, all the money went into the long-term account. Having 3-month’s savings is the true key to both feeling safe and avoiding credit card debt.
That’s it. Literally. If I transfer less money at the end of the month, I either overspent or had some annual “surprise,” like auto registration, Prime bill, etc. If I transfer more, it was a successful month.
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You can share it with me! I have to pay $1100 before the end of the month or end up in court over fines I gotta pay for a crime I didn’t do. I could eat more than rice and tuna with some of that good news.
As a fellow poor who happens to be floating comfortably right now, I’ll cross my fingers for you haha.
I have 15 bucks in the bank, but all of my bills are paid and I have a fridge stocked full of food (deep freezer took a shit recently and ruined a lot of it, but I’m still good) so I don’t need anything, but I know what it’s like to have my heart beating out of my chest with worry about how I’m gonna pull it all off. I haven’t experienced any crazy emergencies in a long time (knock on wood) and I’ve put some stuff up to sell in case that happens. I hope you get where I am. I hope you do better than I’m doing.
I have $690 in my bank account to add to next week’s paycheck and pay what I gotta. I was about to pay online, but found out this bullshit scaling fee business.
I just can’t spend any of it. I also can’t pay in person during business hours because I work during business hours. All I can do is wait for the probation appointment and pray that no random unexpected charge happens until then.
Those convenience fees are insane. What’s with that?
They do what they want because they’re the Hamilton county government. They don’t even need evidence to convict someone. They just keep moving your court date up indefinitely and have your appointed lawyer sign off on it and tell you that COVID means no fair and speedy trial.
I’m gonna be bitter about this forever, and the worst part is that there is no seeking help from others. Everyone is too wrapped up in their own problems or rich enough to think that things are so easy that people deserve their problems. People only know what they see, and what they see is controlled.
I wish I could help you bud. If I had money I wouldn’t be able to keep it for helping folks out, but I don’t, and I have no drive to get it.
I hope you have some good luck soon.
Yeah, I’ll make it. I’ll be ok.
Good job dude! I’m happy to hear a success story from anyone these days. I wish you the best in reaching your next milestone as well.
