Personal Finance

$20 an hour is a decent starting salary for no prior experience or education, but as you’ve said, it’s not a lot. You will need to make concessions somewhere, such as roommates, food, subscriptions, or entertainment.

The first step is to be honest with your expenses, going through your past few months of credit card and bank statements, and put everything into a spreadsheet or app.

Use YNAB or a similar app and catalogue each of your recurring and non-recurring expenses. You say they’re not “that” much, but they do add up. You may be surprised with what you find, but mostly, it will help you think through your priorities, what is essential, and what is a recurring expense. In the end, you will know what your “baseline” spending is relative to your current salary, and how much you have free each month to spend on going out or hobbies.

After you’ve been tracking your current state of expenses for a while, thinking about your immediate future and changes you can make, make a 3 to 5 year career plan. Assess if you need a different/second job, or assuming a 2% increase each year, if you are on a career track that will drastically increase your quality of life (How much do I need to NOT have roommates? Drive a NEW car? Save for retirement? Increase entertainment expenses by $200/mo?).

What do you need to do to get that promotion or next job? When you are applying for that job in a few years, what salary number do you need to ask for? You should eventually have the answers to those questions, but not until you’ve got a real budget.