For the last 5 years of my life I've been budgeting hardcore and counting every penny I ever came across...

For the last 5 years of my life I've been budgeting hardcore and counting every penny I ever came across. I never bought anything unless I absolutely needed it and purchased only the basic items to allow me to live frugally and spend as little as possible.

But now the student life is over and I've finally entered the real world making real money. I've just started my first 'real job' and the income per month is more money than I required for an entire year of living as a student.

So here I am asking for your guys' help. I have all this surplus income but I live my life normally as I have been for the last five years. Purchasing anything flashy and unnecessary just feels wasteful to me and I already have everything that I need in life.

What do I do with my money now? My expenditure shown is rent, insurances, food, and a few gifts that I had bought myself this month.

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generosity.com/education-fundraising/help-monica-with-school/x/14873984
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what's this screenshot from, which program?

>Learn about stocks and investing
>Save up money start a business
>Move into a nicer place
>Or look into buying a house
>Upgrade anything you have now, like get a bigger TV or nicer furniture
Honestly do whatever the fuck you want you've got the money.

Do you play video games? Buy a PS2. Old games are cheap.
Then invest in index funds.

To confirm:
- Do you have any sort of debts whatsoever?
- Based on where you live, do you foresee any future necessary expenditures? (e.g.: a car, etc.)
- Where are you, and what's the market like for housing? Could you reasonably have a mortgage for the same amount as rent?

There's virtue in living frugally, but don't tighten your belt to the point where you forego life in your youth. I'd rather enter my 30s in debt with a ton of experience and accomplishments than tighten the belt and enter my 30s having little to show for it.

stack that cash

stack it so high

ETFs.

85% MSCI World or S&P500 mixed with an international ETF.
15% emerging markets
Some Bitcoin and gold to round it off

What do you do? 8.4 grand after taxes fresh out of college seems a bit insane.

Max out your 401(k) every year. Open a Roth IRA and max it out every year. Dump all of your excess earnings into a Vanguard Index Fund. Retire at 40.

My bank's online banking webpage.

Not really interested in starting my own business. Besides, I just started with my company and can only advance and increase my salary over time and I actually enjoy it. Also, private businesses in Europe isn't the same as in the US. The one thing I was interested in is investing it so I wanted to come and ask here first.

Not really into video games anymore. I already have a ps2 and ps3 from when I was younger and all my games.

Can you tell me more about index funds?

No debts whatsoever. My school didn't cost me anything and my parents sent me money to pay for rent and food. Early 20s, no payments, nothing due. I already have a car, a place, furniture, electronics, etc. I probably could look into getting a house but my job constantly has me on the move so I won't be home enough to enjoy it. I do live frugally but not to the point where life is miserable. I lift, eat decently, live alone, have everything I want, etc.

>Max out your 401(k) every year. Open a Roth IRA and max it out every year.
Shit tier advise.
Why would an non-Us citizen not living in the US do this? ;^)

Which job in Euroland pays 8400€ net income as a first 'real job'?
That's like 15.000€ before taxes or 180k€/year

>Actually looking at the OP's picture and figuring out he's not American.

Sorry, bud.

>Can you tell me more about index funds?

they're non-managed mutual funds that closely track market indexes, so you can expect steady growth (6-8% p.a.). Longterm, they always beat managed funds and have very low or no fees.

I'll tell you what you can do, you can get a great ms paint picture for 20$, and a clean conscience :)

generosity.com/education-fundraising/help-monica-with-school/x/14873984

Does that Monica happen to browse Veeky Forums? :))

My advice is spend a bit on yourself every month. You only live once. For example, I budget about $500 for luxuries. Typical month:
1. 2 bottles of nice wine - $80
2. 5 sessions with a webcam girl. 10 minutes each of watching her spread asshole on camera and talk about her life: $200
3. The rest maybe goes to either whiskey or vidya.

Just did some looking into ETFs. I do have some history with mutual funds. My father set up a few ~25 years ago for me and taught me a little about them. At this point I'm thinking about just dumping a large portion of my income and tracking it at S&P500.

I work pretty high up for a Qatari based petroleum company's European offices. I often meet with clients and other officials within Europe as well as in Qatar. Only goes up from here.

As stated before, I do have history with mutual funds. I'm assuming that I can pay monthly into these and someone will handle the rest, right? My only experience with investing is what I had with my father. A large portion of my income isn't used so what do you think would be acceptable to pay in? I do eventually want to upgrade my place, buy a new car, etc so I don't really want to invest 7.8k a month when I'm only bringing in 8.3k.

I do plan to do this, but not exactly how you described it. At some point a woman will realize what my income is and I'll find myself a girlfriend but that hasn't happened yet. I do like to treat myself such as traveling or whatever but there's only so much I can do before it feels wasteful to me. I am extremely prudent with money, which is probably why I have the job that I do.

I thought it was obvious :p

yes, you can setup a monthly plan, which can always be adjusted / cancelled. Judging from your screenshot you're German? I'd suggest Comdirect, they offer ETFs by Comstage for saving plans which currently have no fees.

Personally, I put almost all my disposable monthly income into my saving plan and only leave a small buffer on my checking account. If I anticipate a large purchase I can adjust my saving plan accordingly.

you can literally retire in five or ten years if you save like this and invest

this is good advice. since you live in europe you have a great opportunity in that the US trading session starts in the afternoon for you. you can easily work your job fulltime and trade US equities when you get home.

>inb4 buy bitcoins
What did you study in collage OP?
Read some books on economy and have a great time investing.. other than that, maybe start with an expensive hobby

>index funds

Read Tim Hale's Smarter Investing. It's a UK-centric book but the info is all good and well referenced. It's a short and easy read too. The most recommended book on monevator.

An deiner Stelle würde ich:

1. Schulden abbezahlen
2. Wenn du keine schulden hast dir gedanken machen wie du das geld investieren möchters
3. Auf keinen fall auf anderen hören, die dir sagen was du mit dem geld machen musst.
4. Mache dir schlau, und lese über unterschiedliche investitionsmöglichkeiten. Ich selber bevorzüge aktien, weil sie ein höheren ertrag bringen. Geh lieber auf nummer sicher.
5. Horte geld bist du komfortabel davon leben kannst, und spare auf dieser art für ein haus/zukunft für ebentuelle kinder usw. Vergisse nicht zu spenden an sachen den du wichtig findest.
6. Sage auf keinem fall andere Leute wieviel einkommen du hast/was bei dir auf dem konto steht. Leute sind eifersüchtig und haben oft nichts gutes vor.

Viel erfolg, brudi

Buy a house. Apartments have 0 payoff. I mean 0. How much have you already spent on it? When you leave can you sell it? Buy a cheap house so at least you have your money invested. Don't buy a nice car ever. There you go. Perfect advice for you.

This is a meme. If you rent somewhere for a monthly price that is whatever , lets say 60% of what a mortgage monthly would be , and you invest that other 40%. You probably make MORE long term then owning the home and selling it

this is pretty good.. here i thought i was a miser king by saving 50% of my earnings and profits

Don't worry, you will spend it.
Now that you are an adult you will more often eat outside and not fast food but also try new and not so cheap restaurants. May it be with friends or with colleagues. [spoiler]If you don't have both, you're a failure anyway[/spoiler]

Donate some of it to Doctors Without Borders. I earn less than half of what you do, but I've been giving $1000 annually for several years.

It's a tax write-off too! If you choose to itemize anyway.

get married and have as many children as you can afford. thats the point of life, and is what you should do with an excess of money and no desire for any more material goods.

I would also recommend "The Millionaire Next Door" by Dr. Thomas Stanley. It's a case study of the behaviors of affluent Americans who are self-made, relatively frugal, and the like. While you being in Europe will change the formula a bit, overall the lessons are the same (assuming you want to become a millionaire at some point.)

"No"

Any tips on how to live frugal?

do you life at your parents place or on the street?

so much this man
what did you study?
how did you land that job?
also rent and such seems real low... under 600 eur? are you sharing still?