I’m in my twenties now. People who’ve been reading this blog since its beginning know about a big part slice of my life so far. There are a few habits that I added or subtracted from my overall personality. However, my tendencies have always been the same.
And many people in my circle say that my parents have been fortunate enough to get to invest the least amount of money on me. This they say when they compare me with my siblings.
Until now, I was super reserved about talking on this matter. I thought that it might be counted on as a self-boasting act.
Yet, into 20s, all of us get onto the track of doing more meaningful things. We make our finances make sense. I finally thought to share these secrets which would be of extreme utility to teenagers and young adults.
1. Always picked on the most durable options in footwear and clothing.
When their parents are there to pay, many children pick up the most expensive items or just look for brands. They don’t care whether they look good or not, they just care about a fake status. This makes them stubborn. I feel glad to have never fallen into this error.
2. Cut down on tuitions
Throughout my school life, I did not have any tuitions. I just had one exception. It was Maths tuition in ninth and tenth grade because the school teacher for that subject was very irresponsible. Other than that, I always studied myself and took help of school teachers only whenever I had any problem.
Unlike other students, who had tuitions of three to four subjects on an average, I saved my parents thousands, if not lakhs, of rupees on my education.
This brings us to another problem and how I dealt with it on my own end.
3. Hardly dined out or partied.
Most of the school and college students visit a lot of fast-food eateries en route their tuitions. They then develop a taste and addict themselves to it. Next, they waste their money in clubs and parties.
You can find the many such eateries around locations where there is any popular coaching centre.
Not going to tuitions also saved me from this habit.
4. Learnt top skills online for free.
Between 2015-20, there was a boom of learning digital marketing. Everyone was learning digital marketing black and blue. Many coaching institutes were charging in even six figures just to teach basics.
But I stayed on track. I knew that such skills can be acquired for free online. Therefore, I made a generous use of free online resources.
I don’t say that you don’t invest in your learning at all. You do, but only when you can count on the benefits.
I also learnt web and interior designing offline. And yes, it costed money.
5. Never gave my parents any false hopes
I had a very near and dear friend in my school days. Our friendship continued even when we had different streams after matriculation.
But there’s a reason I lost my respect for him.
After the school was over, man wasted three years and his parents’ money on the same coaching center. He aspired for medical stream. He also lived in Meerut, meanwhile. That he had acquired a taken for granted attitude about life, I parted my ways.
Here’s an article if you are also thinking to drop a year.
It’s been almost two years that my B.Com is over. Only a tenth of all graduates are doing something in the real world. With real world, I mean making money or doing something in the direction of making money.
Some have joined masters as a coping mechanism. We know how wrong this decision is in 2023.
Some are preparing for some random exams in the guise of not being perceived as sitting idle.
Above all, it is obvious that both type of students are fooling their parents for their own comfort. If you are doing MBA to learn business, you are just seeking validation. Also, wasting several years of your life for a government job is the stupidest thing you can do.
Thus, I am very proud of never fooling my parents or giving them false hopes.
Here I got wronged on.
It is a saying that even god cannot completely know of a man’s destiny, let alone that man. 2019 was the year of this realization. I got merit good enough to get to the prestigious Delhi University. I stayed only for one month over there. However, the professors over there hardly took any classes. Also, the living conditions were poor. (Must Read: 5 Tips That Will Help Your Life At Delhi University.)
I left that college. At that time my parents were very much emotionally invested in a college of Dehradun. My sisters had graduated from there. They somehow unduly influenced me to join that college. And it was the wrongest decision of my life. The fees of college and the hostel was multiple times of what we had to pay in Delhi and it was all worthless. I regretted every moment I spent in that college.
As an eighteen-year-old, I had some enthusiasm about the college life. And it got all dead in that college. My excitement about college life was not about having fun. I always found those activities stupid. It was about upskilling and enhancing my money-making competence. I wanted to cover up the shortcomings of my school life in the college life. I wanted to be more prepared about the real world.
But this college failed at it.
I learnt all the lessons after this wrong decision. And I covered it in multiple articles so that other students are able to think from this perspective.
Must Read:
10 Key Takeaways of My College Life.
3 Benefits of Pursuing College in Hometown.
19 Best Things A Student Should Definitely Do.
4 Steps To Avoid An Education Loan.
14 Tips To Find The Right Accommodation.
I was destined to be in that college, no matter what. Throughout the first year, I had made my mind to change in the second year. But, after the lockdown, when I was at home, I found no point of changing when I was going to graduate while sitting at home. If you ever wish to change your college, you should. Read the article here.
I took a better decision next.
Next, on my own part, I did a robust planning when I had to join a law college next. After a trash experience in that expensive college, I lost my interest in moving out.
I looked for a college with minimum fees and no norms for attendance. Found one in my city and enrolled.
6. Put my own money in my own business.
I’ve been blogging since my school days. However, it was just in the first year of my college that I began freelancing.
But whatever the journey has been, I have always put my own money in this business. By implementing a few strategies, I am able to have lesser operational costs which I easily cover from my earnings.
Having my own business apart from the family business has always kept my spirits high.
7. Joined my family business
I never sat in my college placements. However, I had a good presence on Linkedin. Owing to that, I had 2 job offers in the final year of my college. I eventually had to decline both because that was the year when I had made my mind to be in the family business.
Being in the family business means that I’m staying in the family. Staying in the family means sharing the resources.
And until I’m settled, my parents have taken the responsibility.
This is better than where young men get into less paying jobs of expensive cities and ask their parents to pay for their lifestyle and society expenses.
8. Aimed at 2 Purusharthas out of 4.
Our shastras prescribe for four purusharthas or ambitions which a man should aim to pursue. We’re supposed to categorize our ambitions in either of four.
These purusharthas are Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha.
Dharma and Artha are the only two that are in my reach at the moment.
I always put a question in front of myself,
How does this activity help me earn money or grow it?
How does this activity help with dharma or my dharmic duties?
I always get the answer if any particular task is useful to me or a wastage of time and money.
Kama is for married couples.
Moksha is the final ambition. It is the sum of the other three. It can only be achieved after life. Unlike the other three, one can not work on it directly.
I feel that our shastras have the answer for everything. I try to fulfill my duties as prescribed in the shastras.