One Year's Worth of Lessons Learned

Today is a rather large milestone in my life. It’s the official one-year anniversary of my real-world independence, if you will. This time last year, I moved into my apartment in Jersey City. Sure, I stayed in the dorms at Seton Hall University, but I always went home for the summer. This was different, though. This time I was moving out for good.

In that time, we’ve seen a lot go on in the world around us. Our economy collapsed, the Mets collapsed … again, the Phillies actually won the World Series, the Steelers won another Super Bowl, we had our first black president, and about 3,000 celebrities passed away.

Personally, I’ve seen a lot happen as well. I’ve lost about 20 pounds, seen my job transform in good and bad ways, and learned a whole lot about how strong and resilient I can be when necessary. I’m a big believer that a lot of the events that happen in our lives do influence how we act with regard to our finances. From the relative comfort of my apartment, here are the following are some lessons that I’ve learned in the past year — and lived to tell you all:

1. Family is important and will always be there for you. I could go on forever about how this is true, but just check out my epiphany to get the quick dish.
2. You can stretch a paycheck as far as it needs to go. Seriously. I never thought that I could only spend $30 a week on food and eat well, but I can. I also never thought that I could have a BlackBerry, go to a gym, eat, keep the lights on, have cable and a DVR box, and pay for all my other bills on the shrinking paycheck I have … but I can. If you plan, set boundaries, and have the discipline to stick with it, you’d be surprised how far your dollar can still go.
3. You can make two slices of toast, two cups of coffee, two eggs, and a cup of oatmeal in 15 minutes. A nice, healthy, hearty, and cost-effective breakfast … in about the time it takes to move up in line at my local Dunkin Donuts during rush hour. To put it in perspective, if you break down the cost for the food supplies, my breakfast only cost me about $1.50. How much did your latte at Starbucks cost you? Exactly.
4. You can also go out on a date and drink up about $80 worth of beer. You really can. This was right when I first moved to Jersey City, and was spending money left and right on going out, buying clothes, and doing really whatever I wanted. While this wore off quickly, it taught me the value of budgeting for going out. It also taught me the value of not chugging beer. I’m not in college anymore.
5. You’re tougher than you think — largely out of necessity. Life throws a lot at you. I’ve had to deal with layoffs, pay cuts, furloughs, general discontent, overall stress, overwork, no-motions, and various personal situations in the past year. I’m still here to talk about it, though. So will you. You do what you have to do.
6. You can fix simple things in the apartment — or at least get someone to show you. Anyone who knows me personally knows that I’m no Bob Vila. Hell, I’m no Tim Taylor, either. But, I’ve learned how to fix recalcitrant toilets, swap out batteries for carbon monoxide detectors, and fight fruit flies and other creepy crawlers that you can keep out with steel wool.
7. You can work out without joining a gym. When I first moved to Jersey City, I didn’t join a gym. This was really weird for me, as I had been going to gyms and fitness centers fairly regularly for the last six years. I couldn’t set aside money right away to do it, so I just made sure I stuck to a nutritious (I cheat once a week or so) diet, invested in a Swiss Ball, a mat, and some resistance cords, and made sure I walked at least four times per week. I kept off weight and was in good shape until I saved enough to join a gym. Look back here later on, as I will have some videos and images on how you can also work out without a gym.
8. Making your lunches for the week saves you a ton of money and time. It takes me approximately 25 to 30 minutes to cook up four turkey burgers, one can of tuna fish, a steam-fresh bag of veggies, and a can of beans for five meals. All said and told, those supplies cost me approximately $5.50. That’s a little more than a dollar a day. A typical lunch in Manhattan, unless you count McDonald’s dollar menu, will cost at least $5, if not more.