Young, Dumb and Broke: A millennial financial struggle story of survival

10/21/2017 Randomly Candid 0 Comments

You're not a millennial if you don't have a YOLO (You Only Live Once) attitude. This is one of the many things common to the Generation Y who are also mostly known as tech savvies, social media literates and digital natives.

Millennials also have that FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) attitude as they always follow the trend and want to join the bandwagon. They want to have what others have, go to places where others go and do things that others are doing.

YOLO and FOMO attitudes can make or break a millennial dream. Having those attitudes let you enjoy the present and make the most of your youth. But it can also lead you to an uncertain future if you will not think, plan and prepare for it.

I am also a millennial. I have a work-hard-play-harder kind of thinking. I also have that work-earn-spend-repeat cycle. I do admit that one of the hardest struggles I face in my everyday life as a millennial is managing my finances.

I could summarize my financial status at this life stage in three words - young, dumb and broke.

YOUNG

I just turned 25 and I must admit that I do not have enough savings. Yes, I do have a regular day job, I also do some part time online jobs, but still, my earnings are not enough for my expenses.

It's always a struggle for me to limit my spending, especially that I get easily tempted by online shopping and mall sales. Not until I learned how to prioritize.

Prioritization, for me, is one of the simplest, yet effective ways to resist temptation. If you will learn how to prioritize what is more important, then you will also know how to make a sound decision.

Make a list, categorize the items on that list as either needs or wants, and put the needs on top. Remember, it should always be needs over wants.

You also have to act your age, but think maturely. We maybe young and confused, yet we can still make a sound financial decision if we will know how to identify our priorities.


DUMB

As young individuals, we, millennials can't help it but become dumb in some situations. Admit it or not, we sometimes forget about the future and just focus on what we have at the present.

Classic examples are our #ATM (at the moment) posts. We are showing our virtual friends what we enjoy at the moment like the lavish food we eat or the places we are visiting. Yes, we enjoy everything we want in the present. But the real question is, do we reserve something for the future?

That certain situation reminded me of a friend who always have nice travel posts on Instagram, but always complain about having no savings.

It's okay to give ourselves a treat sometimes - we all deserve that. Yet, we also need to keep the balance between savings and expenditures.

Skip the mentality of saving up for you to spend it for your short-term goals. Think of the future in the long run, learn to wait for the perfect timing and stay focused on achieving those long-term goals.

Saving up for the future is like love - it takes time but it's always worth the wait.


BROKE

Are you doing the countdown to your next payday? Me? I always do. If I am to describe my salary using a song title, it would be "Kisapmata" as it disappears in a blink of an eye.

A huge portion of it goes to my room rental, credit card bills, mobile phone plan payment, and daily allowance. I also give a portion of my salary to my parents for their expenses while the remaining amount - if there will be - goes to my savings account.

Everytime the payday comes, I would usually withdraw everything on my payroll ATM card, divide it based on my foreseen expenses and put the remaining amount in my personal savings account.

I use the traditional way of labeling every amount for my expenses to avoid confusion. Yes, label is not only important in relationships. Even at budgeting, we need to have labels to keep away from being broke.

Though we are living in this Selfie Generation, we should not only think about ourselves. We also need to think of our loved ones. That's why it is just right that we also prepare them for the future, especially in terms of financial matters.

It doesn't matter if you are young, single, married or retiring. Whatever life stage you are in at the present, there is a need for you to think of the future. Start acting right now before it's too late.

Take risks and explore options when it comes to investments. Do not focus on the conventional ones. There are a lot of financial tools that you can learn aside piggy banks. All you have to do is to choose the one that best fits your risk appetite.

Set your long-term goals, focus on achieving those goals and just live the moment. What's important is you enjoy the present while also thinking about your future.