Being in a cash-centric industry doesn’t mean you have to spend your money any differently than someone getting direct deposits from their cubicle job. The service industry works hard, and that hard work deserves to be protected. Is it okay to buy the occasional round of top-shelf tequila shots after an especially tough (and lucrative) shift? Of course. But with some gentle reminders, you’re hard earned cash can go a long way. Welcome to budgeting a life around tips.
Write It All Down (Sorry)
This is your boring, borderline offensive reminder that writing everything down helps. It doesn’t need to literally be written down—a fancy Excel spreadsheet will do the trick—but having your expenses and income recorded in the same place makes it a whole lot easier to forecast your budgeting. What do you spend on rent? Groceries? Insurances? That pesky iced coffee habit you have on the way to your shift? Throw it all on the sheet. Then start to record what you’re earning after each shift, track the patterns, and decide how much you want to save (like that trip to Cancun that’s been slow cooking in your group text). Also, don’t forget to budget for whatever the heck it is you’ll owe at the end of the year.
Hiding is Saving
Despite what all the high roller characters in movies say, the cash you earn isn’t actually burning a hole in your pocket—so stash a portion of it somewhere and watch it grow. When we say “portion,” we mean something like 15% no matter what, or putting all your $1 and $5 bills away. When we say “somewhere,” we mean a place you can drop the earnings and forget about it. It can be in an empty wine bottle, a crawl space if you’re extra paranoid, or even your standard ceramic pig with an open slit on it’s back. As long as you’re committed to saving a percentage of your tips after every shift, you’ll have a nice little nest egg for that moment when money becomes imperative (hello, random car problem that cripples your finances). And by the way, there’s nothing wrong with depositing, say, all of your $100 and $50 bills straight into the bank.
Credit Is a Slippery Slope
Despite what we tell ourselves every time we activate a new one, credit cards are not free money. In fact, you might want to consider cancelling yours. That’s also a pretty harsh solution, because credit cards come with some pretty bad ass perks. If you think you’re ready to sign up for those free airline miles, you need to also be ready to diligently schedule and execute those monthly payments. The last thing you need is debt.
But If You’re into Cards, Try a Savings App
There are tons of options. One of the more popular ones, Acorns, rounds up all of the purchases to the nearest dollar on the card linked to your account and invests it into a portfolio based on your income and goals. Instead of dumping your change into the tip jar, you’ll be dumping it into a magical environment that turns money into more money. Plus, a lot of the apps have partnerships that offer additional perks.
Don’t Be Too Hard On Yourself
Just because you’re being more conservative with your money doesn’t mean you have to clock out of all things fun. You should actually be budgeting the fun into your expenses. Things happen, nights get expensive, poor decisions are made, that round of top-shelf tequila shots is ordered a second time—we all make mistakes, and the budget will get back on track.