The Beginning Struggles

When I first started the money group with Tuhan Joe Arriola of the Kamatuuran School of Kali, I did not know a lot about finances. I could see a budget, even make one. But to stick to one was another matter altogether. I suppose some people's predisposition is to be able to be disciplined. I was not naturally born with discipline. I liked to rebel.

But the grain of truth that I knew was that I could not handle money. When my mother passed away, I received insurance money. But, I did not have enough financial control to take care of the money. In a few years, the money was gone. Well not totally.

$8,000 was used to pay off my credit cards. I then cancelled one of the credit cards because I knew that I did not have enough control of my budget. That actually hurt because through grad school and post-doc, I was basically limited to about $500 of credit a month. And I only paid that off because of my salary.

$5000 was used to buy a Nikon F5 and a 80-200 f2.8 lens. That investment has paid off in more ways than one. I was able to develop my photography skills.

$1000 was used to repair and purchase a refrigerator. I was silly when I was younger and I should have asked the landlord to just repair the fridge. But the fear in me did not want me to ask for anyone's help.

$6000 was used during the various states of unemployment which I went through.

So with this experience, I knew that though I had a Ph.D., I was not a financial genius. Of course, during this time, my monthly income that was coming in was something like $1100.

Let us contrast that with the SO. The SO graduated from Berkeley and began work making $35,000. Each paycheck, she put away $600. By her first year of work, she had put away $6000. In addition, she began putting away money in her 401K account. By her third year of work, she had enough money to try and get a condominium under her own name without the name of her parent's on the deed. I still remember that the real estate agent was impressed that a single woman could get a mortgage without anyone else on the title deed.

Granted, the SO's parents helped her out with the downpayment. But this practice is becoming standard nowadays. The point of the above paragraph is that the ability to save in three years allows one to accumulate $18,000 and if you were using the 401K, you can parlay that 401K to your credit such that you can afford a house.

What's the point of the story above. It's simply this. I hoped and prayed and counted on the fact that once I had a graduate degree in molecular & cell biology that I will make money. All that hoping and praying can sometimes not be enough. You still need the financial smarts to figure things out.

So you say to me that you don't have a financial TUHAN in the community to help you. If I remind you of you, then resolve to save $600 and max out your 401K if you don't have anything at all. That is a beginning. Then learn to budget.