One of the hardest things when moving to a new place and starting from scratch is making money and learning how to save money. Especially in NYC where you have so many temptations. After screwing up a couple of times, I learned in the hardest way that there is no excuse to not know how to manage your money and, mainly, how to save money. When you put yourself out of your comfort zone and push yourself to do better, you will also learn to be more organized and use your money wisely.
Temptations are everywhere but NYC, in particular, OMG! I am constantly fighting between the temptations of “you only live once” and “treat yourself”. My favorite stores (aka AllSaints, Marc Jacobs, Saint Lauren, and Urban Outfitters) are so close to me. Not to mention that NYC is made of bars and restaurants which, with my bohemian lifestyle, does not help - no wonder I decided to turn my hobby into a business and a blog series. Thanks to that I can test a lot of different places and share my favorites with you all.
Regardless of when you arrived in NYC and when you got a job, you need to be accountable for your expenses and save money. Like my mother always said, “You never know when you will have an emergency." It will be hard to manage in the beginning, especially when you are trying to figure out rent and fix costs every month, but it is not impossible and you are the one who knows how much money you make, so it cannot be rocket science.
Here are a couple of tips and things I went through that helped me learn and be more aware of my money.
1. Create an excel spreadsheet
This might seem silly, but, believe me, it works!
Make an easy and clean spreadsheet with your monthly expenses, their total cost, and how much money you are making. Excel spreadsheets are easy, you can add formulas to everything, so you will not even need to calculate.
Some of these expenses will have to be an estimation, like food and fun, but based on how much money you make, you already know that you will have only a certain amount of money for that.
After creating the table of your fixed costs and income, create an expenses table for each month. If you get paid once a month, every week, or twice a week make sure you will split the monthly expenses table according to your paycheck. So every time you get paid (or whenever needed) check this spreadsheet, update the numbers, see where you are spending most of your money and how you could save more money.
2. Create a savings account and add money to it every paycheck you get
Even if you are making money only to survive and your budget for the week is $10 (been there!) add $5 to your savings account and do not touch it!
As my mom says “You never know when you will have an emergency” and you will see that, adding $5 whenever you can is better than adding nothing. This can make a difference at the end of every month.
3. Get a part-time job if needed
I already mentioned this in previous posts, New York is New York and there are jobs for you in every corner. It depends on how willing you are to make it happen. If you are merely making money to cover your expenses, why not get a part-time job?
No, I am not suggesting that you give up on sleep or your social life just to overwork yourself. Having a part-time job means you can have one or two extra shifts somewhere just to make a couple of more bucks every month. It does not mean you have to kill yourself working. If you are killing yourself working and not making any money, then that is the problem…
4. Avoid using credit cards at the beginning
For all my immigrants planning on moving to the US, you will not be able to get a credit card if you do not have a social security number and are not allowed to work in the US. Yes, you can still open a bank account and get a debit card. Even when I was able to have a credit card I held until I could and used only a debit card.
I know that using credit cards is important to build your credit, helps with travel points, cashback, and whatever, but honestly, credit cards are great for you to drown yourself in debts and spend a great time of your life paying for them when you could be enjoying the money.
My suggestion is if you cannot control yourself with credit cards, have a debit card. In this way, you either have the money or you do not.
5. See the bigger picture and make sure your habits are not something that can be more “lucrative” for you
Like I mentioned before, I turned one of my hobbies into part of my business. I not only love the fashion industry, but I also love NYC's bohemian lifestyle and the energy of his city. That is why I decided to share that with you along with my passion for the fashion business.
No, I am not saying that all your habits can become a business and can become lucrative, but if you can see the bigger picture and how you can explore your passions, maybe you can find a way to stop only spending money, but also take more advantage of what you like to do - that is the whole point of building a career that you love, right?!
Just a note here, not everybody has an entrepreneurial spirit, so I suggest taking classes, reading as much as you can about owning and building your own business, and making sure there is a market for what you are doing before quitting your job and jumping in an adventure you do not know if it will work.
6. Emergencies always happen
I have been through a bunch of emergencies since I moved to NYC. Medical emergencies, rent emergencies, paying bills emergencies… Believe me, when this happens to you, you will wish that you had that savings account! Even if you do not have much on your savings, it is better than nothing.
Also, immigrants, a couple of things I want to suggest you take a look at when moving to the US:
Health insurance - where and what kind of health insurance can you get with your type of visa
Home/rent insurance - sounds silly, but you can get this type of insurance for a cheap cost and avoid your stuff being stolen or your house becoming a swimming pool because of a leak - two things that can absolutely happen, especially if you live with roommates
7. Push yourself harder and give yourself debts
Ok, this might seem conflicting with tip number four, but I am not telling you to go screw up all your credit cards, owe money to five different banks and ten different friends. You do not have to fill yourself with debts, BUT you can give yourself goals!
If you get a credit card, make sure you will not spend more than $500 a month and make sure you will make that money to pay for it. This kind of small debt so you can push yourself harder.
These are my main tips to make shit work for you in the US (NYC in particular). The next step, finding yourself the good deals and things you do not know you need, but you do need, like health insurance.
Comments