The Newcomer's Guide To Financial Stability

With more and more people leaving university and seeking employment the job market has never been so competitive. With such an uncertain job market the importance of saving has reached all new heights and as such I felt I would share a few pointers that I utilized when I was just starting out in my first job fresh out of University. The job market is ever changing and ever shifting due to the unstable global economy on a whole so it is important that we all take steps to secure our financial futures as best as possible. This advice is primarily for new job acquisitions but some aspects can be applied to those in school or still being supported by their parents or such. Some of this is from personal experience or discussions and the rest is primarily just common sense. So lets kick off today's random Monday blog.

So personally I rather like having money to do with as I please; the responsibilities not so much. So first and foremost; the most important tip to remember is:

1. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES MOVE OUT OF YOUR PARENTS HOUSE IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO:

The money you can save by living at home with your parents  instead of rushing to have your residential independence knows no bounds. By just staying at home and living by the same guidelines you grew up under you can save for a much better future; you also have the added benefit of a fail safe backup plan if your job goes south or something bad happens to your chosen career path. Chances are depending on your relationship with your folks that you wont have to pay rent; out of just common decency you pay maybe the utilities to show you contribute to the household and the rest of your money can be put towards saving and personal care. In this day and age its hard to find affordable places to live especially if you have to live in a city for your job or school, add to that the potential cost of furniture and tediousness of having utilities installed and put in your name. Granted you may have to concede slight inconveniences here and there but its all about the priorities which for the moment is mainly to save your money.


2. SPEND WHAT YOU NEED AND NOT WHAT YOU WANT:
When it comes to shopping, knowing the difference between a want and a need will help keep you out of
debt. Before you make a purchase, ask yourself if you really need it. If you don’t, wait before you buy it. I use the 48-hour rule. If I see something I want to buy but don’t think I absolutely need, I’ll wait 48 hours before I buy it. More often than not, I change my mind. I take this a step further buy only buying specific amounts of what I need, so i plan accordingly for the month the meals I plan to have for breakfast and potentially lunch or dinner depending on the day of the week. During the week i'm at work so don't need to eat dinner; just eat a late lunch and call that both lunch and dinner but if its the weekend then you gotta have a proper meal for dinner.


3. MAKE USE OF YOUR WORK/SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT:

This might seem extreme but its actually quite simple and basic. Take bathroom breaks at work to eliminate or minimize the need for these at home when avoidable. I currently buy a 4 pack of toilet tissue and because of this it typically lasts me about three to four months. If I could bathe at work I would but only people that work out at the gym can use their bathrooms and that costs money which defeats the purpose of us saving. Another smart thing to do is charge all possible electrical equipment at work/school so you minimize having to charge it at home and sending up your own light bill. You would be amazed to see just how much this can save you every month over time. Take overnight/leftover food to work/school for lunch and use the microwave their to minimize using your own and watch the money start piling up.


4. TRACK YOUR EXPENSES:
A spending plan, otherwise known as a budget, is the single best way to ensure you live within your means. A spending plan is exactly what the name implies: It lays out what you plan to spend. To keep tabs on your progress, or lack thereof, you’ll need to track your money as you spend it. This used to involve the laborious process of writing down everything you spent, dividing the expenditures into categories, adding them up, and comparing those totals with your plan. These days online budgeting services make the process easy. If you want to live within your means and reach your goals, you have to track where your money’s going. It’s the only way to nip problems in the bud. One personal example of this is the fact that for the first year that I had my job I walked to and from work to save on transportation costs and save my money. Happy to say that I now drive a car; every little decision helps in the long run.

5. KEEP AN EMERGENCY FUND ALONGSIDE YOUR PRIMARY SAVINGS ACCOUNT:

Life is unpredictable. In the last year my car has had a flat, has gotten brakes replaced, I had to take unexpected time off work for personal issues, and my PC died on me. Thankfully I haven’t taken on any real debt because I have an emergency fund to tap. If you don’t have at least your rent or utilities saved up, start saving now. When something goes wrong, and it will as per Murphy's Law, you won’t have to reach for your credit card or take out a loan to pay for it.

Well I think that is a fair start to help you on your way to financial well being. Hope my words and experiences can help some one out there that might need it cause god knows I didn't have anyone to tell me this shit. If all else fails you can maybe pick up a trick or two from this lady since she seems to have her finances well under control...

more.

Where Has The Chivalry Gone...

Booyah bitches!!! I'm not sick anymore; and just in the nick of time because our new game arrives this week for us to review so many a hours will be pumped into it for Friday's video game review. Enough about that however because today is Monday and you are here for a random Monday blog-post ; and boy oh boy is it a eye opener. Finally got a brave female fan to step up and submit a guest blog post sharing her thoughts with the internet so i'll just let her entertain you for tonight. As always feel free to comment your thoughts and opinion in the comment section below. Well i'm outta here so see ya later...

Ladies, I am sure you all can remember a time when you were about to enter a building through a door and a man goes ahead of you and leaves the door swinging in your face, instead of holding it. Have you ever been waiting in a line and a man comes from nowhere and goes ahead of you in the line? I’m sure you all have been out with a man who doesn’t open the car door for you, or with one who drops you off at home and honks and drives away, not making sure you get in the house safely. We are living in an era where men do not see anything wrong with a woman being the head of the house. It is an apparent time of role reversals where women pay the bills, take out the man and take care of all necessary tabs. The simplest of things such as opening a car door for a lady or let her go first just because she is a lady is not practiced. Isn’t something fundamentally wrong with this?

From the beginning of time, God created the man to be in charge; to be the head of the household.  Women are supposed to see their men as powerful beings, having utmost respect for him and only God himself is loved and respected above him. How can a woman respect a man who is always dependent on her, who she has to tell the simplest of things, such as, honey please take out the garbage or if she never asks him for anything, she never receives. Doesn't a man feel less of a man when he has to depend on a woman? I feel less of a woman having to depend on anyone. There was a time when I thought, maybe something is wrong with me why I always find men who want to take from me instead of giving me things; I thought I was delusional in thinking men are supposed to take care of a woman.  As time goes by and I have discussion with other women I realize it is becoming a societal norm.  Imagine the lady in the market who has to work so hard to get her produce to sell, stays in the sun and compete with other market vendors for customers, saying she is tired of these men who want someone to take care of them. Have you ever tried picking sorrel or shelling gungo peas? Let me tell you, it is a hard task so her frustration is warranted.  Isn’t it sad when the lady who is in charge of the kitchen, whose salary is minimum wage, says she is tired of these men, all she does is give, give and give and she doesn't have any more to give? What is in the minds of men these days? Is it fine to be on the receiving end all the time?

 Maybe we women need to strap on dildos and start do the sexing too as what purpose do they really stand. Let me be fair and say there are a few gentlemen out there.  Man who treat their woman like a lady, and not only their woman but all women, as a man who is only sweet on the one he adores, is not worth having.  Statistics have shown that there are more women in college and as such women are getting better paying jobs than their male counterparts, however, some women do not have a problem dating a man who earns less than she does once he showers her with love and respect.  I am a testament to that.  My problem is feeling I am the man in the relationship as I decide when we go out as well as foot the bill; I buy you gifts on your birthday and I get nothing in return on mine. Think about it, it doesn't matter if  a woman is Bill Gates daughter whose inheritance is more than the average man will ever work in his life, every woman wants something she can brag to her friend “my honey got me this.”  Something she can look on and smile about. Something she got from someone she can be comfortable with, be herself around and don’t feel stressed every time he comes around.  A man who is always taking from you will definitely make you feel stressed when he is around you. I can remember going to the bank once and said it to a guy, who I must mention wanted to be in a relationship with me; his response was ‘bring me back five grand.’ This same individual was always asking me to top up his phone, which stupid me would do but after a while I got so annoyed. The fact is when we as females like a man, we will do anything for him, at least I would. I would max my credit card for that individual. I have offered a man an all-expense paid trip to Vegas; I have thrown a very elaborate surprise party for my male love. I can’t say what I have gotten in return from any of these guys but a hard dick. There are women who are selfish and who might have hurt men in the most cruel of ways. However, it is never fair to let the good suffer for the mistakes of the bad. Yes there are women who only talk to men for money or for what they can get but I am sure you can differentiate the opportunistic from the genuine. A woman would be very beastly to be with a man who is the perfect gentleman to her, lavishing her with gifts, giving her allowances and then he falls on hard times and she is in a position in which she can help him and she walks away. Nothing is wrong with a woman helping her man, but to be the one who is always giving, that is a curse.

At the end of the day everyone needs love. We are to love the person for who the person is and not what we can achieve by being with them or get from the person. Psychologist will tell you that financial reason is one of the main reasons why relationships fail. I’m sure if Mother Teresa got married, she wouldn't want a man that she was taking care of all the time. He spends weekends with you, you take up the tab, you spend weekends with him, and you take up the tab. If you are both professionals where is the rationale in that? If you have to hide your finances from a man, move on.  Why do you have to put the gas in YOUR CAR for him to drive? Why is it that if you go to Negril for a weekend he travels with an empty pocket and you have to do the spending? Who really is the man or the one wearing the pants here? If a man wants to be in a relationship with lady and she asks him to take her somewhere and the first thing he can say is, you have to buy the gas. Now tell me, why does he think she would still consider him a partner? Is it worth having a man who wants to see you look fabulous but you can’t get money to go the hairdresser from him?  It takes cash to care. After dating a number of guys I have come to the realization that the home in which an individual is brought up will influence the way he/she cares for their partner. If a man is brought up with both parents, the way daddy treats mommy with care and respect will be what he emulates. If he was brought up in a single parent home with mommy taking care of him, rest assured he will always be a mama’s boy expecting you to take care of his every need. I dated a guy who was verbally abusive; he spoke to me like I was a bad behaving pet. His brother heard him talking to me like that and said he can’t believe that he expects me to stay with him when he behaves like that, daddy treated mommy like that and she didn't stay so why does he expect you to stay. I was taken aback because we dated for over five years and I could never understand his behavior and then suddenly his brother brought everything into perspective. I used to say to him, my parents are still together and I didn't grow up in an abusive home so how dare you talk to me like that, not knowing he was brought up in an abusive home. Sadly, people live what they learn. 

Parents are supposed to play a more integral role in culturing their male child into being a good man and fathers should set an example. The best example a father can give to his child is living the life. A few months ago, a male associate of mine said the only thing he spends on is gas for his car and buying that is by choice. A few days later, he said his rent needed paying and he asked his lady for the money but she refused to give him so he is going to ask his mother to call her,  and ask for it because she will listen to mommy.  He did say she is not someone he could be with long term because her personality wasn't to his liking. After the demise of that relationship what will be his expectation of another woman? Women do spoil these men and make it bad for other women who want a gentleman and not a scrub. It is time we go back to founding principles of the man being head of the home. Men need to play their role and allow women to play theirs.  Women will never respect a man who she feels depends on her for his survival. I wear skirts and undies and want to continue feeling that feminine way. I am sure most women echo my sentiments.

more.