Making Your Salary Work For You In 2023

Straight forward, witty and timeless. #TellItLikeItIs, is a blog for our generation

It’s finally here – the first quarter of 2023; March. A lot’s happened since we last clinked our glasses at New Year’s Eve and wished for a better year filled with hope and more reasons to celebrate life. 

New Year 2023 in hindsight so far has brought us a few surprises worth mentioning:

• Famous rapper Kanye West remarried – The celebrity rapper reportedly tied the knot back in January 2023 with Bianca Censori, an architectural designer at his company ‘Yeezy.’

• ChatGPT breaks records on the internet – A.l. (artificial intelligence) has become more than science fiction and is rapidly gaining acceptance as a potential key player in the near future, thanks to ChatGpt. For those who haven’t caught on yet, Chat GPT is an artificial intelligence bot developed by OpenAI. It is capable of understanding human speech and producing in-depth writing that is easily understood by humans. Uses of the online bot so far include answering questions, generating codes, writing stories, poems, assisting with research and research papers etc. According to statistics, ChatGPT had generated more than 57 million users in the first month after its first launch in November 2022 and had more than 100 million users as of January 2023, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in a short period of time.

• Local artist Trilla G , 23 years old and first timer to the Calypso stage, surprised all of Dominica by capturing the 2023 calypso crown.

• Nine time Grammy winner & Barbadian born international song star Rihanna gave a memorable performance at the 2023 Superbowl. 

• More countries and states are taking renewable energy seriously. The state of Texas for example, is leading the way in renewable energy – Wind and solar, in such a significant way that it puts the state on the grid as a true pioneer. 

So far, there have definitely been some very entertaining highlights and a lot to think about for 2023. Everyone still has their eyes on the day-to-day matters of importance as well. Gas prices for instance, certainly continues to be heavily monitored. 

But, apart from considering the purchase of an electric car, to avoid any future anxieties over the cost of fuel, many are brainstorming solutions to one ‘other’ little hurdle that has been a challenge over the past few years – making their salary work for them.

It’s no secret that the 15th and the 31st (pay day) conjure up mixed emotions. It’s sort of like the feeling you get when using a dating app to meet potential matches for the first time. You always start off excited, but at the same time anticipate disappointment at the end.

The reality is that even if pay day means a full wallet. The bill statements quickly follow, and the bills do not go away (as a matter of fact, some have increased since 2023). Your beloved salary hasn’t grown an inch either; no matter how hard you wished it would on New Year’s Eve.

Luckily Generation Y Dominica has got you covered.

 Here’s how you can make your salary work for you in 2023.

1. Prioritize saving. It’s high time to toss out that worn out complaint – “I can’t save a dollar in this economy,” because it gets no one, nowhere. We do not add any ‘fluff’ when we say that times are challenging, and inflation is real. But do not repeat that mantra thinking that this excuse is valid enough to not ‘try’ to save – even a little. Be serious about it too and prioritize it at the end of every month, no matter what the amount. You recall that five loaves and two fish have fed five thousand; so too can a commitment to saving a small amount of money every month multiply your bank account over time. Saving even a dollar a day is putting your salary to good use before it disappears.

2. Intentionally set money aside for leisure activities. We may not be fully paying attention to this, but apart from mandatory expenses like rent, bills, etc. a lot of our overspending is emotional. Emotional spending is when you buy something you may not need, to ease your emotions. These emotions could range from stress and sadness to happiness and celebration. Emotional spending can also be categorized as impulse spending (from http://www.mint.intuit.com). These types of emotions are common, ‘every day’ emotions and it’s easy to find yourself in a cycle of spending past your limit without realizing it in efforts to ‘feel better’. 

Spending on leisure after working is a great way to enjoy a hard-earned income, but doing so on a whim is the quickest way to lose it. The trick is to intentionally set money aside for leisure activities at a fixed budget per month. You work hard and you do deserve to spend on leisure; but be responsible. Have cash set aside to be used for the purpose of leisure only – but cap it at a desired limit and when it’s done it’s done; simply look forward to the next month. 

3. Recognize your spending ‘problem areas.’ Not many of us do personal & home budgets, but we should. Budgeting is not a tiresome chore, it actually helps. Budgeting inspires financial discipline, although it may be uncomfortable at first. Set a monthly spending limit for all the ways you spend money (groceries, household expenses, leisure etc.) and record your expenses weekly. You’d be surprised to see week over week, not only how much you spend in these areas, but how quickly you may reach your limit. This can help you to identify your real spending problem areas, so that you can apply more discipline where needed and save a dollar or two. 

4.  Invest in something – anything. Believing that you can earn monetary rewards from someone else’s business idea is a wonderful thing. We speak here of investing in something – anything. Launching your own start up business to earn extra income takes dedicated time and effort, which many do not have. But there are lots of other startups looking for investors, or even existing businesses looking to expand. As long as you believe in the idea and its promise for profitability, why not invest or buy some shares? It’s an exciting way to employ a small piece of your earnings in a way that could benefit you directly by earning future monetary rewards.

5. Be thankful. What is your attitude toward your salary? Do you express gratitude every time you collect it? Or do you overwhelm your thoughts with pre budgeting every last dollar of it, days before receiving it, without a second thought of gratitude. Or worst – do you complain that it’s not enough and think completely negative thoughts.

Dear friends, adopting gratitude as the rule of thumb reaction toward receiving your salary can only bring benefits and contentment to its practitioners. Thanks to two years of lockdown, many of us have stumbled over one ‘Law of attraction’ YouTube video or another. And for those who haven’t, the Law of attraction is a universal principle that says you will attract into your life, whatever you focus on. Whatever you give your energy and attention to is what will come back to you. So, change that attitude to one of thankfulness. While you are working on improving your current situation, what will it hurt to focus on being thankful?

The above tips are helpful and practical if applied- for anyone who desires real change. They may not get you to your ‘first million’ by 2025, but you will see changes like – actual savings, financial growth and a happier and more successful you for 2023.

Written by: Dilma Bastien

For: Generation Y Dominica