Shaping your better future: One step at a time.
In a world where everything is accessible at the tips of our fingers, it isn’t all that hard to imagine why so many people have become less than responsible when it comes to finance. At a glance, the little things don’t seem to matter all that much: a five-dollar coffee is so much cheaper than an eighty-dollar coffee maker, and the fast food dollar menu feels much more appealing than groceries with inflated prices. And yet, I’ve found that it is the little things that add up exponentially. A caffeine quick-fix and speedy dinners quickly become hundreds of dollars, a paycheck spent on convenience rather than effort. Credit cards have turned into cushions, viewed as free money that will never have a consequence. However, the reality is that so much financial stress could be alleviated with simple changes and discipline with what people decide to spend their money on.
It is difficult for young adults to be responsible with money. For some of us, we were never taught how to properly handle money when it comes into our possession. For others, it could simply be the sense of freedom that comes with having your own bank account. Regardless of the reason, many young adults can be extremely lax when it comes to financial discipline. Unfortunately, this is perhaps the most vital time period in which one needs to be careful with their finances. Many college students work a job alongside attending classes, which is a fantastic idea if schedules permit. However, what typically happens in this situation is the student receives their paycheck, and then it is gone. Despite this being an important time to save for what comes after college, young adults are instead choosing to spend their money on other things, like coffee for an 8am or a late night run to a nearby fast food restaurant because the dining hall is already closed. Choices such as these take away the funds that are vital to the savings that allow graduates to work towards their dream homes, families, and futures.
In most cases, these mistakes are realized much too late. The newly graduated young adult looks out into the housing market to realize that they have little to nothing in savings and a tanked credit because of their lack of financial discipline. This isn’t to say that someone cannot work hard and still be massively successful from this point, but it is exactly that: extremely hard work. It is some hard work that could have been alleviated by discipline in the years prior. Financial planning and discipline is so important for young adults because we are in the transition period that will ultimately shape our future. Depending on our financial choices, we either start five steps ahead or ten steps behind. The buffer period from high school graduation to college graduation–even for those who do not attend college–is so important to setting ourselves up for success. Even though these choices are tough in the moment, the payoff by the end is well worth the mornings without caffeine and the evenings cooking dinner instead of ordering DoorDash.
Ultimately, financial planning is important for young adults because post-college truly isn’t like it used to be. The unfortunate truth is that essentially everything is more expensive now, whether that be groceries, housing, or car payments. We have to work hard to be financially successful, and that means disciplining our budget habits while we are still young and have the opportunity to start with a fresh page. Like our moms always told us, “If you do it now, it’ll be easier later.” It isn’t fun to be responsible a lot of the time, especially when you first get money of your own and want to buy anything and everything that catches your eye. But being responsible is worth it. Financial discipline pays off in the end, and by disciplining yourself while we’re still young, the future is open to whatever hopes we may hold.
