read

The Piggy Bank: Budgeting For 20 Somethings

By Kimberly Shane

The Piggy Bank: Budgeting for 20 Somethings

Piggy bank budgeting for 20 blog-01.jpgTwenties, what a weird age group to discuss. There probably aren’t many standards which define life in your twenties. Take for example, my experience in my early 20’s versus my husbands; I lived at home, went to college and worked to cover my car payment and spending money. My husband on the other hand, moved out at 18, got married and worked to support his young wife and their son. I wanted to share my thinking on this because of the generality associated with the title of this blog post. What it should have been called was, “budgeting for young adults who are still living at home!” For this we are going to take a look at Sami’s budget and how she was able to save up money to move out and achieve that, “sweet freedom” before her family drove her “to the brink of insanity”. To create a budget, she needed to consider how much she would spend in the following areas; personal care, shopping, gas, savings, going out/ date nights and emergency funds. 

At the start of each month, Sami would look through all her hygiene and makeup products and check to see what she was running out of. She would then plan which check those purchases would come out of. She would also determine how much extra she would allow herself to spend to try out new products when she was at the store so she didn’t unknowingly spend more money than intended. In the same line of thinking, she budgeted her shopping money. Likely, most people have enough stuff and don’t truly need new things every 4 weeks. So for her, she budgeted $30.00 a month and would usually end up carrying it over into the next month so she could use it when she needed a staple item, like a winter jacket or pair of shoes.

As far as gas goes, she knows how much she spends on gas and pulls that out of her check at the beginning of each month. And to make that money last, she uses an app called, Gas Buddy. This app allows you to find the gas station that will save you the most money. In Sami’s case, she and her boyfriend go back and forth on who pays for their date so she sets aside a certain amount from her check to cover this expense. She also suggests using cash on a date so you are more likely to keep your spending under control—if you don’t have the money to cover dessert, then you won’t order it! The same goes for going out; spending can quickly get out of control so budgeting before you leave can save you in the long run!

Finally, savings, this one is the most important item of the entire budget. Sami put 75% of her earnings into savings.  She advises to take advantage of the fact that you are living rent free with running water, electricity and a fully stocked fridge.

Sources: https://www.brokeyoungandscrapingby.com/create-a-budget-in-your-20s-when-youre-still-living-at-home/ 

 

Tags: Finances, Money, financial