Fictional: a made-up site for Fruitful’s example. Nothing here is real.
Writes First Paycheck, a Slopslack newsletter about money and work in your twenties
Harbor City
I write First Paycheck, a free newsletter on Slopslack about money and work for people in their twenties: rent, raises, retirement matches and the quiet drift of a takeout habit.
Before that I spent six years in payroll, which is where you learn that almost nobody reads their pay stub and everybody should.
I post each new issue here once. I don't do "Agree?".
New First Paycheck is out. The whole system is two checking accounts: your pay lands in one that covers rent and bills, and on payday a fixed amount moves to the second. The second is what you can spend. When it's empty, you're done for the month.
No categories, no streaks, no app sending you a disappointed notification at 11 p.m. It's boring on purpose.
This issue is the letter I'd send myself before my first salary negotiation, where I said "that sounds great" about four seconds after hearing a number.
Ask for the range before you name a figure. Ask about the parts that aren't salary: start date, title, when your first review is. A "no" costs you nothing you had before you asked.
I'm told posts here do better with a story about a stranger on a plane. Sorry. I had a window seat and a spreadsheet.
If your employer matches retirement contributions, put in at least enough to get the whole match. That's the issue, and it's the one thing in First Paycheck I'll be bossy about.
It isn't a mindset or a hack. If they match half of the first 6% you put in, that money is up 50% before it's invested in anything. Nothing else on offer at work comes close. Do read the vesting schedule before you plan your exit.
Lifestyle creep rarely shows up as a sports car. It's the nicer coffee, the delivery fee you stopped seeing, the third streaming service you joined to watch one show.
This issue is about checking for it once a year without becoming someone who refuses to enjoy anything. Spending more as you earn more is fine. Doing it by accident is the part worth catching.
I joined Professional Circlejerk because readers kept asking where else to find First Paycheck. A week in, I've been congratulated on three work anniversaries I don't have.
So, something real: this week's issue is on quitting a job well. Give the notice you said you'd give. Write the handover doc you'd want to inherit. Say nothing in the exit interview you wouldn't say to your manager's face. Your industry is smaller than it looks from inside it.