Pay yourself first

 If I have one piece advice to give to myself when I was in my 20s is to pay myself first. When I was in my 20s, I completed both my undergraduate and postgraduate degree 📜. I did that right. I went to local university too with scholarships. This set myself a head start as I don’t own debt 💸.

Unfortunately, I took an unwise advice from well meaning folks. I bought a house and a car when my salary was measly at entry level job. I was struggling and hardly have anything left for savings. Had I known better, I would just bought a secondhand car and house after saving enough for my down payment and emergency. 

I would have been patient and ignored that so called advice and saved enough for emergency and down payment for the home. I would plan what I can afford after I paid myself first. I will saving 10% and only buy when I need one  

How much should I pay first? It would be around 20%. But if that was too much for you to start, just put away 10% at first. If your pay is $2000, then put away $200. Another thing I would have done with my money after saving 6months emergency fund is to not touch it unless it us dire “emergency”. 

Once I got my emergency funds secured, I would start putting money away in brokerage account to invest. This will be another topic we should address another time. 

Remember when you get pay, remember to not to save what left after spending but spend what is left after saving.