Once you become an earner, it's time to put away childish things (combat trousers and snakebite and black) and replace them with the trappings of adulthood (suits and good wines). The problem is doing it on a starting salary.
No one warns you about the expenses of working life. You've got to buy a working wardrobe and finance after-work drinks and meals. Not to mention that in order to actually earn your salary, you've got to get to work, which means forking out for train or bus fares, or petrol money.
Suddenly, your monthly pay cheque looks less like a winning lottery ticket and more like the miserable scrap of printed paper that it is. The good news is you've got a choice. You can either Spend! Spend! Spend! and be in debt till you're 65. Or you can be sensible.
Sensible may not be sexy but it works. The key to surviving on a starting salary is budgeting. It's all too easy to run out of money before the month is up, so you need to know exactly how much you have to live on and how much your bills, rent, student loans and council tax etc will cost.
Once you know, you can put the money aside. Then, if you're really clever, take out the exact amount of cash you've allowed yourself for each week and live on it. Seeing it physically disappear will make you more aware of your spending habits.
Many companies offer season ticket loans as a perk. If yours is one of them, take them up on it. You'll save a substantial amount on travelling costs. Remember though, that they're treated as a benefit in kind, which means you'll pay slightly more tax. Getting the hang of this being sensible lark? Then why not cut back on needless spending by bringing in home-made sandwiches and drinks. Avoid ready-cooked meals for one, they're not economical. If you're really organised, Donna suggests cooking up dishes at the weekend, then separating them into portions and freezing them for consumption later in the week.
Building a working wardrobe can be difficult at the start of your career. Many companies are taking a more relaxed attitude to dressing, but in some professions (law, accountancy) you either get suited up or booted out. Either get a job as an artist's model, work only on dress-down Fridays, or learn to shop carefully.
The temptation is to put everything on the credit card. But if you do that, it's all too easy to make debt a habit. Choose a few good investment pieces and if you have no choice but to get them on credit, look for cards with low interest rates. It's a perverse fact that the more credit you have, the more you can get. If you're someone for whom 'credit' is spelt D A N G E R you might be better off with a loan. Loans are easier to manage than credit cards.
You know exactly how much you'll have to pay each month and will have a set date to pay it off by. If you do have a credit card, you can ask for the limit to be reduced, so you don't find yourself on a slippery slope to more debt. There's no shame in being less well-off than your more senior (and higher salaried) colleagues. Don't be the first person to jump in and offer to buy a round of drinks, offer to buy your own - or even suggest starting up a kitty for social occasions.
Often, team social events happen at set times of the year, such as Christmas. This means you can plan for them and save some money in advance. As for leaving collections, put in what you can afford when the envelope comes round, irrespective of other people's contributions. You're not a charity. Living on a starting salary is hard, but making a few sacrifices at the start of your career is worth it in the long term.
One day, you'll be able to live the life of Riley (nice car, nice house, nice holidays), while your less careful peers are still living like students.
