Lol. I actually have one! When people have a fear that is soul-crumbling, life-shattering, too-big-to-fathom… To *talk* about it. Instead of trying to push it down 24/7. I’ve said that numerous times by now and NO ONE listens lol. I try to never give that specific advice anymore because it literally always gets avoided like the plague.
Budgeting advice. Or really anything that has to do with numbers. The math is often easy but its an emotional issue, not a “I can’t do math. I can’t make a budget” issue.
Note: i firmly believe you cant budget your way out of not making enough money. A lot of people are overworked and underpaid and this is not to criticize those people at all!
A decade ago when i was a server, my coworkers would ask me for help with money. Because they would be living paycheck to paycheck. Or not even that by foregoing car insurance or being super behind on important bills. Meanwhile I had 8k saved up at the time. Not a ton but enough to get me through an unexpected vet/medical bill or a car blowout. Just some breathing room.
I would sit them down and find out each of them was making the same amount of money as me but after EVERY shift, going out to get an after work drink or after work meal. Some of them were spending on average 80 bucks immediately after their shift at the bar down the street. I would say “do what I do. Go home!” but they always insisted they needed to spend money to unwind. I’d break it down into percentages and they were always shocked when 15 – 30% of their tips were being spent the night they earned them. But not a single one changed the habit.
Or they would be working a shift but want to leave early, so they’d ask me to take over their tables. And I would try to talk them out of it. I would say “if you just stayed 30 minutes and waited for this batch to cash out, you’d make 60 bucks! You already did all the work. They have their food. Just wait and make a lot of money”. 60 bucks may be less than a water bill but cut out early 3 days a week and it’s a lot of money.
Now that I am a tech consultant and all my coworkers make enough money to bump them into upper middle class (at least), I still see people living paycheck to paycheck. The lifestyle creep is insane. And I try my best to not let it take too much of my hard earned cash. I am a squirrel by nature. But I never give budgeting/financial advice. Because people already have all the tools to do it themselves, they do not want to.
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Myself
Lol. I actually have one! When people have a fear that is soul-crumbling, life-shattering, too-big-to-fathom… To *talk* about it. Instead of trying to push it down 24/7. I’ve said that numerous times by now and NO ONE listens lol. I try to never give that specific advice anymore because it literally always gets avoided like the plague.
Budgeting advice. Or really anything that has to do with numbers. The math is often easy but its an emotional issue, not a “I can’t do math. I can’t make a budget” issue.
Note: i firmly believe you cant budget your way out of not making enough money. A lot of people are overworked and underpaid and this is not to criticize those people at all!
A decade ago when i was a server, my coworkers would ask me for help with money. Because they would be living paycheck to paycheck. Or not even that by foregoing car insurance or being super behind on important bills. Meanwhile I had 8k saved up at the time. Not a ton but enough to get me through an unexpected vet/medical bill or a car blowout. Just some breathing room.
I would sit them down and find out each of them was making the same amount of money as me but after EVERY shift, going out to get an after work drink or after work meal. Some of them were spending on average 80 bucks immediately after their shift at the bar down the street. I would say “do what I do. Go home!” but they always insisted they needed to spend money to unwind. I’d break it down into percentages and they were always shocked when 15 – 30% of their tips were being spent the night they earned them. But not a single one changed the habit.
Or they would be working a shift but want to leave early, so they’d ask me to take over their tables. And I would try to talk them out of it. I would say “if you just stayed 30 minutes and waited for this batch to cash out, you’d make 60 bucks! You already did all the work. They have their food. Just wait and make a lot of money”. 60 bucks may be less than a water bill but cut out early 3 days a week and it’s a lot of money.
Now that I am a tech consultant and all my coworkers make enough money to bump them into upper middle class (at least), I still see people living paycheck to paycheck. The lifestyle creep is insane. And I try my best to not let it take too much of my hard earned cash. I am a squirrel by nature. But I never give budgeting/financial advice. Because people already have all the tools to do it themselves, they do not want to.