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    Worked very hard and now need some advice

    I’m 23, and have worked very hard since high school. Didn’t go to college but took some trade classes and am now a machinist.

    I got an offer from a company that wants to pay $40/hr, and obv I had to take it. To me this is real adult territory and I’m a little overwhelmed with the change in income. For context, I was making $26/hr at the company I’m leaving.

    With all that in mind, how should I go about properly saving, budgeting, and investing? I’m pretty frugal and don’t care about private property or items. I care about my family and friends and that’s pretty much it. I also live in a room paying $500 a month in rent. My monthly expenses are around $700. I live and work close to work, including the new job, so I choose to walk everywhere (I don’t do much but play guitar and play pool, all within walking distance). I do have a decent savings but that’s it.

    Also would it better to just donate? Idk, I just don’t want to mess up the start of my financial journey

    Thanks for the advice.

    Worked very hard and now need some advice
    byu/lofi_guy02 inpersonalfinance



    Posted by lofi_guy02

    7 Comments

    1. DarkElfBard on

      Donate what to who????

      Stay frugal, pretend you didn’t even get a raise, and start saving money. If you can save 30%-50% of your income you are going to go far in life. Time in market > All else.

      Put 3-6 months of living expenses in a fairly liquid account, and then find places to invest the rest into roth ira / ira / 401k / markets.

      [https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/young_adult/](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/young_adult/)

    2. bearfootin_9 on

      Put 15% of EVERY paycheck into a retirement account. Every paycheck. For as long as you get a paycheck. Does your company offer a 401k? If they do, find out what they offer in the way of matching funds. If they don’t offer a 401k, open a Roth IRA

    3. Ian_Patrick_Freely on

      If you were happy at $26/hr, then you can use the difference to turbocharge your savings. If you want to retire early, you can max out annual 401k contributions on the difference alone. If you want to use the money before retirement, open a brokerage account and put the difference there.

    4. Chunk3yM0nkey on

      You’re making 40 an hour, not 400. The only person you should be donating to is future you.

      You give an hourly income but you don’t say how many hours you work.

    5. emt139 on

      Don’t get ahead of yourself with donating your money. Future you will need it. 

      Save as much as you can, follow the prime directive in the wiki to understand the order of operations. 

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