Matt,
try to find an aprartment that costs 1 week's salary. two weeks' salary and you might be pushing it. that leaves you with 1 week's salary for utilities and 1 week's salary for food, entertainment and savings.
try to save at least 1 week's salary per month.
i was stupid when i was young. i made the big bucks and blew it all on "entertinment".
when you hit 40 to 50, (usually around 46 or 47) you'll likely have a lifestyle change. then you are likely not to be making as much money. hope you have all your toys by then. like a house.
if you can, try to save 25% of your weekly paycheck. put it in bonds if you must. are patriot bonds still available at 4%?
go to a used bookstore and buy some nice books on investing and saving. no, you don't have to put the money into the market. 7% to 10% bonds are a nice investment (3% more than inflation minimum). the average return on the market is 6.66%. start up KEOG plans. find ways to safeguard your money. start an IRA along with your 401K or pension. learn to shelter your money.
if you bought a $50 savings bond a week (actual cost is $25 a week), and every 7 years when it came due you bought a bond for twice the amount (actual amount is what you converted it for) (and added the "usual" $25 a week), and if you start at age 19, what would it be worth at age 65? do the math. year 1 - 7, buy a $50 bond (actual cost $25 a week). Years 8-15, buy a $75 bond per week ($50 plus $25 per week), years 22-29, buy 1 $175, years 30-37 buy a $375 bond per week, years 38-45 buy a $775 a week bond. at age 67 you'll be getting $775 a week for the next 7 years. now add your KEOG, IRA, Pension, 401K, and social security. anything you don't need you put into another 7 year bond. by then hopefully you will have sold your $1 million dollar house and either moved to a poorer country (lower standard of living) or bought a house in the country/mountainside. oh, you bought the $50,000 cabin when you were 45 years old. and it's paid for.
hmmm. easy living.
payoff 20% of the gross of your credit cards every month. change credit cards every 3 to 6 months to lock in low rates. it'll probably cost you $25 to transfer balances. do the math. never owe more than $2000 on a credit card. never have more than 2 credit cards. ($1000 each max balance).
any used car you buy will probably need $2000 to $2500 in repairs to make it last another 2 years. but you'll save $500 a year in insurance over a new car (at least, probably more). you'll probably need to replace the battery, muffler, brakes, tires, sparkplugs, distributor cap, rotor, alternator, hoses, wiper blades, ... don't buy a car that has been in storage for over a year and has not had a teaspoon of oil put into every cylinder every year, nor moved 25' per month. forget fast cars. go for fuel economy. look at the service records. were the axel fluids changed every 25,000 miles? if it has over 100,000 miles on the engine, do a motor clean. have a mechanic go over the car before you buy. it'll cost you $50 to $100. the mechanic will give you an estimate of what it will cost you to legally drive it for 2 years.
save as if you want to put down a $25,000 down payment on a house in 5 years. ($5,000 a year).
do not owe anything on your credit cards by december 31 of any year. pay them all off. pay everything by cash. save.
save as much as 6 months of salary (half your salary). that way if you get laid off you can make the mortage payments.
sell anything you don't need. don't throw anything away. sell it on ebay, instead.
save.
save.
save.
i've gone from a $35 an hour job to a $8 an hour job. could you do the same at age 50? forget nightclubing every weekend. forget the $40,000 car. save for a house. if you can put down 50% on a house, you'll have it half licked. i prefer a 30 year mortage. a 15% puts too much strain. you'll need the wife working, then.
remember, cars are like women. the more beautiful it is, the more everyone wants to steal it. try to find a good one.
find a good doctor, a good mechanic and a good lawyer.
buy only the things you need, not the things you want. buy things that will last 20 years.
never rent an apartment with electric heat
$200 a month in the cold season. go for gas. replace your furnace every 10 years.
get 8 hours sleep a night.
