She had been working for 3 weeks now and it was finally payday. She had no idea it would take this long to get her first paycheck and after a long 4 months of unemployment after graduation, she only had 86 cents left in her account. Not to mention, she swiped her credit card more than once to buy groceries and pump gas. She was beyond broke at this point, which wasn’t exactly how she pictured life after school to be.

She checked her bank account to see if her check had gone through yet. Yes it had! But the number was way off. Surely they had miscalculated her hours. She was certain they only paid her for one week. Something had to be wrong. She frantically checked her email for her paystub. She looked through it in complete shock, how was THAT much money being taken out of her account?! Her pay was cut almost in half after taxes, insurance, and her 401K. At this rate she would never be able to join the new “it” gym.

No one told us that we would be broke after we finished school. In fact, we’re pretty sure that every high school guidance counselor started college conversations with how much more money we would make by getting a degree. They failed to mention how difficult it would be to get a job and that some degrees aren’t necessarily much more lucrative than your typical minimum wage gig. And maybe they didn’t tell us because they wanted to make sure we went to college, but we know now that there are so many other reasons than money to go to college (more to follow in another post).

Most people will be broke right out of school and maybe for some time after. We let that get to us. Don’t let it get to you because you’re not alone. We were so excited to get our first real jobs, we didn’t think about negotiating salary, vacation, 401K, stock options, benefits, etc. (more to follow in another post). And we sure as hell didn’t realize how much they would take out for taxes. So there was more than one Friday night when we only had 86 cents in our account.

We would love to give you some great financial advice that would rock your world and leave you with plenty of money to spare, but we aren’t really finance people. Maybe we can have one of our more finance savvy friends write about that at a later date. What we do know is that we did some things we shouldn’t have, so we’ve compiled a list of tips when your pay isn’t ideal:

1. Budget (yes, this is a dirty word that we wish wasn’t part of our vocabulary) There are apps and websites that help you with this (try mint.com). Tracking your spending is a great reality check and can show you exactly where your money is going. If you slip up, it’s not the end of the world, just get back on track.

2. Stay away from credit cards. Those swipes can add up quickly and your paychecks probably will not increase at the same rate as your credit card balance. If you can’t afford it now, you probably can’t afford it tomorrow so don’t buy it. Now, if the only way you can make it home for Christmas is by swiping, then our “bad” advice is to swipe the credit card. Just pay it off as soon as possible.

3. Bring your lunch AND eat it. It’s much less expensive to make lunch at home or take a frozen meal than to buy lunch at a restaurant. If you have a sweet discount in your work cafeteria where you can get a decent lunch under a few dollars then that might be okay.

4. Stay away from coffee shops. Those lattes add up. Really, they do. At about $5 a latte and about 22 working days a month, that’s $110. That $110 could have easily been $15 on grounds at your local grocery store.

5. Carpool, walk, bike, or take the bus to work. Try to find a way to save money on gas. It may be nice to drive your car every day, but if you can walk or bike there in less than 20 minutes, then that’s a better option. Unless it’s snowing, then maybe bicycling is a bad idea.

6. Buy a good pair of black pants. If you have to dress business or business casual at work, black pants will go a long way. No one can tell if you wear them twice in a week. Try to buy higher quality so you get more use out of them. Buying cheap black pants might actually lead you to spending more if they don’t stand the test of time.

7. Buy a Steamer. This will save you a lot of money on dry cleaning. For most clothes, you can either hand wash with Woolite or wash in a cold cycle. Don’t throw them in the dryer – air dry and steam once dry. Except the J. Crew Tippi Sweater, that was a lesson learned the hard way, that must be dry cleaned.

8. Share an appetizer and only have one drink out. To tell you not to go out because you’re broke would be terrible advice, it’s important to have relationships with your coworkers and friends. When you do go out, be financially responsible. Suggest sharing an appetizer with someone so you can split the cost. Order only one drink because ordering more than one is a bad idea financially and practically {if you’re staying in, boxed wine isn’t that bad, try Black Box Wine}.

9. You don’t need cable. Yes, we said it. You can watch most things online and you will need internet in case you ever need to work from home.

10. Get a roommate. I know, this may sound terrible but having a roommate can save tons of money. If you don’t get a roommate, stick to the studio apartment. Spending extra money on rent isn’t a good way to go. Find a safe and suitable place, and hold off on that 22^nd floor apartment right now.

From our experience, you will be broke for a minute…or two. It will get better.

You’ve heard our experience, now let’s hear yours…