Four essential things to do with your money as soon as you get a job

Personal finance guru Kia Commodore shared four tips for those just starting out in their careers or entering a new role. The mastermind behind the Pennies To Pounds podcast and website, Kia’s knowledge is a treasure trove for anyone at a crossroads with their money.

On her TikTok channel @Penniestopounds, Kia released a video titled: ‘Starting your career: 4 things to do with your finances’. The clip was captioned: “Four things to do with your finances when starting your career or new job.”

At the beginning of the video, the expert noted, “If you’re about to start your career or still in the early stages of your career, here are four things you should be doing with your finances, and trust me, they’re not what you think I’m going to say, so make sure you stick around – especially to hear the last one.

“Now, in this video, I’m not going to sit here and tell you the importance of budgeting, saving, or investing, because I’m sure you know that. So that’s going to be four completely different tips that, in addition to doing this, you should be dealing with your money.”

Kia then revealed its top tips for getting your finances in shape as you embark on your career journey.

Build a fund for future experiences

Explaining the concept, she said: “Number one, create a Fund for future experiences. Now, whenever we talk about money, we always talk about serious things, we think long term, making sure you have money saved, but it’s still important to have money to have fun too.

“This Future Experience Fund can enable you to fund almost anything you want – that could be your dream holiday, start a passion project or even go back and get more qualifications because it’s not always just about planning the end, but about enjoying yourself. the journey.”

Create a skills upgrade budget

Kia suggested: “Now we know that if you’re just starting out in your career, you’re probably in an entry-level job – you want to make sure you can move up the ranks, and to do that, a lot of it comes down to improving and raising your knowledge.”

“Having a fund that is dedicated to funding your improvement is so essential; that could be taking a coding course, learning a new language, or simply getting a new certification in whatever industry you’re in. Investing in your skills can be a great way to increase your future earning potential and boost your career.”

Make a career exploration jar

She proposed, “Stay with me here. So what you want to do is take a jar and have pieces of paper in there – and on each piece of paper write a different career or personal development goal that you want to achieve at some point. point.

“Each month, you go to that jar and randomly select a piece of paper – for that month you’ll spend your time exploring that area. I find this a really fun and creative way to keep your career options open and keep your passion alive.”

Create a growth and gratitude journal

She went on to explain: “The journey can be quite long and tiring and quite often if you have wins it’s very easy to not celebrate them and just keep going, go with the motions, so this is a journal where you record all your moments of gratitude and moments of personal achievement, whether it’s in your career or your own personal development.

“You can use this to reflect on your accomplishments, lessons learned, and connections you’ve made along the way. This habit not only boosts your mindset, but also allows you to track your progress over the years.”