When I left school, I was so keen to leave home and move out on my own. If I had known what costs were involved, I would have waited another year or two before I did.
I had a job from as early as I could remember. I had a paper round, then when I was 14 and 9 months I started working for Target. If I had realised just how much that first job choice matters, I might have made a different choice, however this one worked out well for me.
Having a paycheck early was important. My parents weren't wealthy by any means. Even though we seemed middle class, I now realise just how much my parents scrimped and saved in order to make our lives comfortable today. Father Christmas always bought one special gift and my school books and uniform for the next year, and left overs from dinner were always breaksfast or lunch the next day. Dad's specialty was "Dad's Suprise" dinner, whoch generally meant raiding the pantry and throwing a few ingrediants together. There were some specaular successes and failures, however we always knew that we were loved. Mum's specialty was Lasagne which we would end up eating for a number of days. Some of the Home Economic's that I learnt then, saved me money when I went out on my own. That paycheck was the only way that I was able to have extra items, in those important teenage years. I wish now that I had saved a bit more early on but hindsight is always perfect.
The key to success to survivng out there in the real world is budgeting. For the life of this blog I will post tips, tricks and links to other websites that will be useful in helping school leavers and others to budget and find a little extra in the pocket at the end of the day.
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