Parents: Your College Grad Needs Financial Advice

twoinanddone
Mon, 20 May 2019 20:45:20 +0000

My daughter is newly affluent but her frugal roots are hard to shake. She and her boyfriend like to cook and are thinking of cooking lessons for fun. She takes her lunch twice a week, goes home for lunch twice a week (to let the dog out; her boyfriend does the other two days) and gets off at noon on Fridays and I think she eats out sometimes and just goes home other times. I think that’s a pretty good balance.

She’s had about 9 months to get used to this budget and it does take some time to get used to budgeting and paying rent and car payments and student loans, but it is time for her to start saving more in the 401k. She won’t listen to me. Someone else will tell her and then she’ll do it. Her employer starts contributing to the fund (no matching, just an 8% contribution) this August and I think she’ll see how quickly it grows and start putting more into her account.

One of their biggest expenses is weddings. They have each been invited to and been in weddings. There is the gift, but also the travel, the clothing, the hotels, the bachelor/bachelorette weekends. Honestly, ridiculous amounts of money.

Her boyfriend likes expensive orange juice but D doesn’t think it is worth it so he has to buy his own. Oh, the compromises of young love.