Finances have always felt like a hot topic from the time I got my acceptance to dental school. From student loans to the cost of living; job offers to buying a home, it feels like someone is always giving advice about finances.
Ironically for as much advice and information that was coming at me from lunch and learns and Facebook groups, money still always felt like a taboo topic.
While each person’s finances are incredibly personal, we can learn a lot from each other’s experiences and I’ve always felt if we could talk more about our finances in an honest and open way, it would prevent a lot of students from making uninformed decisions related to their student loans, first jobs, and larger purchases after school.
Find a Balance with Your Finances
Coming out of dental school it can feel like you’ve had to delay starting your life for, at least, four years compared to your friends who started their careers after undergrad.
There can be a lot of pressure to start making large purchases that you’ve had to delay while in school.
While everyone has a mentor who tells them to continue living like students to save and pay off their loans, not many of us want to continue living with roommates, driving our hand-me-down car, or strictly budgeting our groceries.
As with much of life’s advice, I think it is most important to strike a balance with your finances and avoid following either extreme of superfluous spending or restricting yours spending.
Great Resource for Finding Your Financial Balance
When I discovered Ramit Sethi and his book “I Will Teach You to Be Rich”, it felt like the most balanced advice around personal finance.
Sethi’s philosophy around money is to identify the areas you enjoy spending money on and allow yourself to spend in these areas but balance it by cutting spending in other areas that are not as important, meaningful, or enjoyable to you.
For example, as an associate dentist, you’re likely making much more than you did as a dental student, so you should be able to increase your lifestyle when you start your first job.
If travel is something you really enjoy, but you don’t mind continuing to meal prep your groceries you can strike a balance with your new income by spending more to add luxury to your travel experiences and continue to be leaner in your grocery spending.
The most important part of creating your “Rich Life” as Sethi calls it, is to be intentional about your spending. This brings the “personal” aspect of personal finance to light and allows you to splurge in some areas while saving in others to remain balanced in your spending.
Key Takeaway
Finding ways to be intentional in your financial decisions is a great example of how to create financial control in your life and allow the systems you’ve created to work for you.
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