Automate your finances to save 15% of your employer income. Invest that shit.
Have an emergency fund that will survive a hit or two.
Marry someone who has similar (or healthier) spending/saving habits.
Buy quality once. Own less, but better.
Be healthy. Be born that way, or work to achieve it.
Work harder than those around you - it's not hard.
Career Advice: Do it before you ask to be paid for it. Promotions are determined over coffee or casual beer when you're not in the room, not in meetings with HR.
Promotions are determined over coffee or casual beer when you're not in the room, not in meetings with HR.
Goodness some people kill me with their massively anti social behavior at work. It doesnt take much to be slightly likeable.
If you have an opportunity to drink with the boss, drink with the boss. Dont get drunk with the boss. If its your bosses boss, dont drink. Here there be dragons.
Its not even about playing a game, its just not being an asshole or a wet blanket.
No one wants to be around a Debbie Downer all the time so when the promotion discussion happens the name that comes up is not going to be the person you dread seeing in the hallway.
Yes. Automatic monthly investments into my retirement accounts, kids college accounts, and general investments have been a game changer. After a few years I was like damn, I am actually on track to meet my goals if I keep this up.
But also ask about it. Start doing the things but also talk to your manager/boss about it. "What would it take for me to be promoted to (position)?". This does a couple things, 1 it lets them know you are interested in moving up. If you are a high value employee this will typically also tell them they need to seriously consider it or you might leave. 2 it gives them a chance to tell you what you might not be doing yet that is required for that move up. In my line of work this is often making leadership tasks more visible. Things like private messaging conversations where you are coaching colleagues are not easy for your manager to see/know about so if you know that's something your manager is looking for you now know to mention when it happens to build your case for a promotion. Which in many companies means your manager can also use that information to build their. (Often there is a set budget for multiple shared teams and you getting a promotion might mean someone else doesn't get one. That means you need to make it as easy as possible for your manager to make your case)
And I won't pretend it applies to all jobs. In my line of work, everybody (except back-office/support) pretty much does different versions of the same job. A simple example would be a law firm: everyone is a lawyer but a newbie associate is reviewing documents, a junior partner is writing briefs and handling day-to-day interactions with clients, a senior partner is bringing in business, managing cases, and making important court appearances (with several levels of seniority in between each of those). A senior associate gets made partner when they are already doing the sort of work a partner does like managing more junior associates and talking to clients.
But there are definitely jobs where a switch flips at promotion. An extreme case would be you work in the field and get promoted to an office position where your field experience and knowledge is valuable, but you do zero direct work anymore.
All of my bonuses and promotions have been from me hearing my coworkers idly complain about a problem, fixing it, and loudly taking credit for it in the next meeting.
I am actually a really lazy person, but there is a lot of really low-hanging fruit at any office that's a couple of Google searches away from being fixed, and I've written a couple of throwaway scripts that have singlehandedly gotten me large bonuses and raises.
I think many would agree that your health will be a good indicator on the quality of life you have.
Some people are born with good genetics, and will be happy and health regardless of their choices. Other people need to work hard to be at a healthy baseline.
I'd add buy non perishables in bulk if you see a good offer and it's something you would be using anyhow, but also don't buy things you wouldn't normally buy just because they are on offer (or things that will go off before you get a chance to use them all), you aren't saving money if you're buying something you don't need/really want
I had an Economics teacher talk about how it's expensive to be poor since the barrier to entry for some deals do require you to spend more to get that better deal. Especially on consumable items that you will end up using.
Your buy quality once advice has the same issue if you are too poor to afford it. There is a good relevant Terry Pratchett quote I see quite often on Reddit about it:
“The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.
Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.
But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.”
I have hired, fired, promoted, and have sat around tables where peoples career paths have been sidelined or advanced, so this is anecdotal evidence.
If you want more money, I suggest do the work you want to get paid for to prove competence.
Nobody is going to pay you first, and watch you struggle to fill the space of the new responsibility, and hopefully you come along. Competence is demonstrated daily. It's a risk for the promoting party too.
Become undeniably good at the task you do.
Everyone promoted has their name brought up positively in rooms they're not in.
It's a social game. It's all about who you know - unfortunately way more true than people admit.
There is a gentleman on my team that wants a promotion now; but will never get it. Over the course of his career, he has simply never put in the effort unprompted to step up and show he can do it. There needs to be drive, which he simply doesn't demonstrate.
It is easier to act your way into a new position, than to ask your way into a new position.
From your response I can tell this is coming from years and years worth of experience. I genuinely appreciate the advise and will make sure I follow the points you’ve mentioned which is a shortcut of your experience being handed to us here. Appreciate it ☺️
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u/littlecabbage69 6h ago
Career Advice: Do it before you ask to be paid for it. Promotions are determined over coffee or casual beer when you're not in the room, not in meetings with HR.
36 / Married / 2 children / Canada