Four things you should do with your money when starting a new job

A personal finance expert has shared four important things you should do if you’re just starting out in your career – or have started a new job. Kia Commodore, who runs the Pennies To Pounds podcast and website, has offered advice that could be useful to anyone wondering where to start with organising their money.

In a TikTok video on the @Penniestopounds page, Kia shared a video titled: “Starting your career: 4 things to do with your finances.” Text over the video read: “Four things to do with your finances when you start your career or a new job.”

Introducing the video, Kia said: “If you’re just about to start your career or still in the early stages of your career, here are four things that you should do with your finances, and trust me they’re not what you think I’m gonna say so make sure you stick around – especially to hear the last one.

“Now in this video I’m not gonna sit here and tell you the importance of budgeting, or saving or investing because I’m sure you know that. So this is gonna be four completely different tips that, as well as doing that, you should look to do with your money.”

Here’s Kia’s top tips for organising your finances when you start your career.

Create a Future Experiences Fund

She said: “Number one, create a Future Experiences Fund. Now whenever we talk about money it’s always talking about the serious stuff, thinking about long term, making sure you’ve got money saved but it is still important to have money to enjoy yourself as well.

“This Future Experiences Fund can allow you to pretty much fund whatever you want – that could be your dream holiday, starting a passion project, or even going back and getting more qualifications because it’s not always just about planning for the end, it’s about enjoying the journey. “

Create a Skills Upgrade Budget

Kia added: “Now we know if you’re just starting your career you’re probably at an entry level job – you want to make sure that you can rise through the ranks and to do that a lot of it comes down to upskilling and levelling up your knowledge.

“Having a fund that’s dedicated to funding your upskilling is so crucial; that could be taking a coding class, learning a new language, or just getting a new certification in whatever industry that you’re in. Investing in your skills can be a great way to increase your earning potential in the future and just boost your career.”

Make a Career Exploration Jar

She said: “Stay with me here. So what you wanna do is you wanna get a jar and have slips of paper in there – and on each slip of paper write down a different career or personal development goal that you want to achieve at some point.

“Each month you go to that jar and you randomly select a slip of paper – for that month you’re gonna spend your time exploring that area. I find this is a really fun and creative way to keep your career options open and just keep the passion alive for yourself.”

Create a Growth and Gratitude Journal

She added: “The journey can be quite long and tiresome, and quite often, if you do have wins it is very easy to not celebrate them and carry on, roll with the motions, so this is a journal where you record all your moments of gratitude and your moments of personal achievements, whether it’s in your career or in your own personal development.

“You can use this to reflect on your achievements, the lessons learned and the connections that you made along the way. This habit not only boosts your mindset but also allows you to track your progress throughout the years.”