Don't Fall For The Traps
They will get you caught up.
There are so many things this can apply to in life, especially today.
#1 - Lifestyle creep is one of them. Eating out excessively. Shopping for things you don’t need. Going on trips you know you can’t afford but think you can because you got a raise. It all counts. This is probably #1 for a lot of people because as you get older, naturally you make a little bit more money because of experience. With making more money AND being older comes, that comes with more expensive taste and the grown up pockets to make things happen. You get it. It’s probably happened to you before on one or two occasions. It’s happened to me. But you have to get it under control BEFORE you mess life up for you in 20 years. Every dollar counts.
#2 - Not taking your education seriously is another one of them. You set yourself up for failure in the long term by doing life like this. You will work harder and you will work longer. And you will look at your peers who did take it seriously and realize they have life on easy mode. Consistent income. Better loan terms because they have a better credit score because of consistent income. The advantage that an education gives you in life is so valuable you can’t put a number on it. Your engineer friend has a better chance of surviving a recession than your friend who only had restaurant jobs their whole adulthood. (I was the restaurant job girl before I gained a skill + education, it was rough).
#3 - Keeping up with everyone else. This circles back to #1 but it deserves its own section. You do not need what everyone else has to feel like you “fit in”. You will drown in debt before you are ever accepted by people that are judging you based on what you have and what you can afford to keep up with them. You don’t need a new car because your friends have one. If you can’t afford certain trips, they will understand if they are truly your friend. Everyone has rough seasons and you can’t get out of yours by trying to keep up with everyone online and around you. Life is about moving at your own pace. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean you need to jump in the pool too. It may not be for you. Enjoy your life at your pace and elevate at your own pace and you will get there when it’s your time. BE YOU.
#4 - Not paying yourself 1st. This is a financial sin. And I don’t mean loading up your Amazon cart as soon as your direct deposit hits. That is NOT paying yourself 1st. What I mean is investing in your 401k or Roth IRA or whatever investment account you have set up. THIS IS A TRAP. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS PAY YOURSELF (future you) 1ST. This means setting up that employee 401k your job offers. Setting up that Roth IRA and making automatic contributions until it hits the max EVERY TIME YOU GET PAID. If you don’t have that, set up a basic Robinhood account and research the S&P 500 and get to investing. If not investing because you’re not there yet, set up a High Yield Savings Account and have automatic drafts set up for payday. Don’t make a lot of money? Start with $20 here and there. Even $10. Then get used to $50 per payday. Then $75. Then $100. Eventually you’ll have an emergency fund. Then a small bag. Then a bigger bag. When it gets bigger than 3 months of emergency funds for living expenses, start that brokerage account. Max that ROTH IRA. Whatever you do, think of future you, and PAY YOURSELF FIRST.
There are many more traps in life, but every trap has an escape.. Stack on.