This post comes to us from Newly Corporate reader Mariana who wanted to share a few money saving tips with new college graduates starting their careers.

This is the moment you’ve been waiting for. You’ve finally obtained your college degree, landed your dream job (or a job), and you’re officially part of the real world. Your high school teachers may have told you college was the real world, but now you’ve realized that is definitely not the case. As a young professional, you have much more to do than you did in high school or college. You have to worry about balancing your budget and creating an ample savings account. After all, your parents won’t always be there to save you on a rainy day. Creating good saving habits now will be immensely beneficial for your future.  Here are some simple ways to save money on a daily basis.

Take Your Lunch to Work
This may seem like a daunting task. However, you will be surprised how much money you save by taking your lunch to work instead of eating out every day. Although it can be fun to go out with your co-workers for lunch, the weekly tab can be stressful on your wallet. For example, let’s say you eat a pretty modest lunch even at a chain like Chili’s. You will probably spend at least $10-$12 per meal. If you work 5 days a week, that adds up to $50-60! Instead, you could probably spend $15-$20 on a week’s supply of groceries. If you make yourself a sandwich every day, you will be saving close to $120 a month! Plus, you’ll be saving your waistline from extraneous calories. That extra $120 could be useful if your car needs repair on a random day!

Investing 101: Diversify your Polio
So, here is a way to increase your available cash flow: Investing a part of your salary. Of course, you need to decide how much you’d like to invest. Also, if you have any of those really successful friends in investment banking, now may be the time to invite them over for dinner or drinks. Here is a link that can help you get started, with basic tips on investing.

Be a Sensible Socialite
It can be really exciting to be a salaried employee. You always have a cash flow. Plus, every time you get a paycheck, you feel like you are being rewarded for your hard work! However, with great power comes great responsibility. It can be easy to spend your money on extravagant nights out on the town. It is important to spend your money wisely, and in moderation. Rather than spending $100 at a bar, invite your friends over to have drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Make it a potluck, where every person brings some sort of alcohol or appetizer. Even if you want to go out afterwards, you probably won’t spend even half the same amount as you would have without the pre-party! Plus, the pre-party will be fun, personal, and cheaper!

Get Rid of Your Credit Cards
Even rappers who make $50 million a year have become destitute after putting too many expenses on their credit cards. There’s no class in overspending. If you think you are likely to spend more than the available supply in your account, leave your credit cards at home! Or better yet, don’t have one. You may need one for emergencies, but if it is not necessary, just stick to using your debit card!

Think Before You Buy
So, practicing restraint may not be one of your strong suits. It is definitely not one of mine. However, exercising your critical thinking skills before making a purchase can help you save a lot of money. Every time you are considering a big purchase, write out a pros and cons list. How badly do you need the item? How often will you use it? Take a look at every store/outlet offering the item to find the best price. The more time you spend thinking about it, the less likely you are to buy unnecessary items!

Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031@gmail.com.

You’re ahead of the game, you have a well thought out budget set and you’re doing a great job of tracking your expenses and BAM! Some unexpected charge nails you out of the blue! You do what you can but it ends up on your credit card and it impacts your spending for the next few months. We have all been there, in fact that can turn in to a spiral for some. How do you deal with these unexpected changes in your spending month to month?

Here are the 3 best ways to prepare for budget variance ups and downs:

1. Build Seasonal Expenditures in to Your Budget
Most people set the amount they budget for each of their budget categories as low as they can. They figure they can hit it and they want to try to be aggressive. They use their lowest month’s spend amount as their goal rather than looking at their average spend when they set it. If you have a good history in Mint or Yodlee, the average spend can be a great guide as to how much you really spend. Also, just looking back at the way you spend can help you make a realistic budget. Make sure that you build in things like more outdoor activities or higher gas costs in the summer.

2. Level Out Your Bills
Some of your bills can spike on you in a given month, causing the scenario described at the beginning of this post to happen. Avoid this by setting up payment plans where you can. A classic example of this is car, home and fire insurance (for more on insurance, check out our post 3 Ways to Save Money on Insurance and a Myth Busted). Many companies charge you for 6 months at a time in one month, causing a big spike in spending. A great way to solve this is to set up a payment plan that charges the same amount each month for all of your policies, it may cost a dollar or a bit more a month in fees but, it’s totally worth it when you consider the interest you might have to pay if you have to put big 6 month bills on your credit card.

3. Track Budget Category Spend Yearly, not just Monthly
When most people budget, they track their costs monthly. At the end of the month, if they spend less in a few categories they pat themselves on the back and go spend the money they didn’t spend for those categories. Unfortunately, the next month rolls along and the pent up demand for the goods in that category makes you go over your goal in that category and you now have a credit card balance or you have to cut back on other categories. This can be solved! Treat each category like a separate bank account. My grandpa told me him and my grandma used to have separate envelopes with budget categories like “Gas” and “Groceries” written on them. They would put their budgeted amount of cash in each month and then let anything extra each month stay in the envelope for when they needed it later. You can do the same on paper or with the carryover budgeting available in Mint. Give it a try, then you can see your budget status year to date, not just for any given month!

How do you control budget variance? Add your suggestions in the comments!

With mortgage rates hitting new lows almost every other week, many young professionals who recently purchased condos or homes in the recession-induced buyers market are trying to weigh their options for refinancing.  I recently went through the process to refinance and came across a number of things to consider if you are trying to make a decision.

5 Things to Consider When Refinancing

1.  Are you really saving money?  Many mortgage companies will dangle low payments in front of you but, when you dig deeper all they are doing is extend your loan and you are actually paying more in interest throughout the new, longer loan.  For a great breakdown of this with examples, check out Mortgage Refinance and Resetting the Clock by a blogger from The Finance Buff.

2. Can you make more of a principle payment and get rid of Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)?  Many first time buyers do not put the full 20% down on their mortgages and end up paying over $100 a month in PMI.  Getting rid of PMI can take many years and even then can cost $400 for a new assement and to prove youc an drop it.  If you you can put down some extra principle to get your Loan to Value under 80% you can get two birds with one stone, lower your rate and get rid of PMI.

3. Are you really getting the best deal?  Make sure your lender isn’t playing games by offering you a low rate with lots of refinancing fees.  Sometimes the fees make up the difference in rates.  Use the comparison tools and calculators at sites like BankRate.com to avoid this.

4. Do you have enought saved up?  Be sure to fully read and understand the documents and quotes the lenders send you.  Often times you need even more than they say because in some cases you need to pay an extra months payment ahead of time on top of title insurance, lenders fees and other fees.  Have everything you need ready and liquid for the transaction.

5. Are you staying in your condo or house long enough to realize the benefits? Young professionals tend to move around more than most.  It’s easy get excited about the prospect of lower payements and saving money but, keep in mind you can realize the savings of refinancing unless you stay in your place for awhile after you refi.  Basically you need to understand how long you will stay in your place, how much you save per month and how much your refi will cost and then you can divide the cost by how much you save each month to see how long you need to stay to make the refi worth it.  If you don’t like doing the math yourself you can use this refinance calculator.

Have you recently refinanced and run in to other areas to focus on?  Drop us a comment below!

While in a meeting yesterday, I noticed one of my colleague’s screensavers, as cliche as screensaver messages can be, this one got me thinking, it said:

“Attitude is Contagious: Is yours worth catching?”

The economic challenges that we are all facing right now have an undeniable effect on our attitude.  Some handle the stress of layoffs and cost cutting in different ways, from cynicism to criticism and sometimes even downright anger.  Our attitude, however, is not just a coping mechanism, it is one of the many factors our peers and supervisors use to judge our ability to do our jobs and motivate others.  Along with job performance, it can make or break hiring and firing decisions.

Is your attitude worth catching?

As we did in 2007, we here at Newly Corporate like to highlight the most popular posts each year.  Using a popularity system that aggregates views, comments and links to posts, here are the most popular posts for young professionals on Newly Corporate in 2008:

Overall Most Popular Posts of 2008

1. Business Casual – Men’s Clothing as a Young Professional Part 2 – Shirts
2. 10 Crucial Questions on How to Interview (and the Answers)
3. How to Create an Impressive Career Portfolio
4. Business Casual – Men’s Clothing as a Young Professional
5. What does casual Friday attire say about your image?
6. Gen Y Help: How To Dress at the Office for Women
7. Live Rich on Any Paycheck
8. Daily Business Zen: Is there such thing as too much social media?
9. Boss problems? Don’t Leave, Train Your Manager!
10. Real Life 101: Ten Things You Must Do After College

Most Linked to Posts of 2008

In addition to the overall most popular posts, this list includes the articles other bloggers found most valuable by linking to them.

1. Business Casual – Men’s Clothing as a Young Professional Part 2 – Shirts
2. Maximizing Your Two Weeks: Travel Tips for the Frugal Traveler
3. 19 Great Gift Ideas for Young Professionals
4. 2 Days in 1 : Get More Done
5. Helicopter Parents: Taking Care of Business
6. A Millenial’s 6 Step Guide to Getting Things Done
7. 4 Things I Learned About Image from American Idol
8. 5 Ways to Establish Yourself As An Expert
9. Coffee Break: Job Aid for Your Daily Grind
10. Beat fear: Get your ideas out there!

In the coming week, the bloggers here on Newly Corporate will highlight their favorites for you to review and leverage if you haven’t read them yet.

What are your favorites?  Share them in the comments!

As a public relations and communications professional today is our ‘superbowl’, the ‘gold-medal’ event for people who wish to stir, educate, inspire and send a message far and wide.  Some send messages in their job with a touch down, or an eighth gold medal, but today it is with something truly mightier than the sword.  Words with a message.  A voice that sends out a vision.  A time to invigorate and motivate.  A time to promote, this time an idea called CHANGE.  A way to speak to many with tools valued by those who love the word, the message, and the delivery.

I do not believe in discussing politics at work, but anywhere else it is always top-of-mind for me.  Not a surprise to those who know me best to those who have read my profile on newlycorporate.  I do encourage our readers to take a moment and reflect the words from the past that inspired a country every four years from men who were called by their nation to lead her.  The following are excerpts from our last four Presidents.  

I kick off this celebration for Communicator’s, with ‘the great communicator’ himself;

Ronald Reagan – January 20, 1981

…The crisis we are facing today does not require of us the kind of sacrifice that Martin Treptow and so many thousands of others were called upon to make. It does require, however, our best effort, and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds; to believe that together, with God’s help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us. -

George H.W. Bush – January 20, 1989

…And so, there is much to do. And tomorrow the work begins. And I do not mistrust the future. I do not fear what is ahead. For our problems are large, but our heart is larger. Our challenges are great, but our will is greater. And if our flaws are endless, God’s love is truly boundless. ??Some see leadership as high drama and the sound of trumpets calling, and sometimes it is that. But I see history as a book with many pages, and each day we fill a page with acts of hopefulness and meaning. The new breeze blows, a page turns, the story unfolds. And so, today a chapter begins, a small and stately story of unity, diversity, and generosity—shared, and written, together

Bill Clinton – January 20, 1993

…And so, my fellow Americans, at the edge of the 21st Century, let us begin with energy and hope, with faith and discipline, and let us work until the work is done. The scripture says, “And let us not be weary in well-doing , for in due season, we shall reap, if we faint not.  From this joyful mountaintop of celebration, we hear a call to service in the valley. We have heard the trumpets. We have changed the guard. And now, each in our own way, and with God’s help, we must answer the call.

George W. Bush – January 20, 2005

…History has an ebb and flow of justice, but history also has a visible direction set by liberty and the author of liberty. When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public and the Liberty Bell was sounded in celebration, a witness said, “It rang as if it meant something.” In our time it means something still.  America, in this young century, proclaims liberty throughout all the world and to all the inhabitants thereof. Renewed in our strength—tested, but not weary—we are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom.

*If you can, tune in online form your desk, grab your ipod earphones and listen.  For words on this day are more valuable than a trophy and more costly than gold.  Seth travis is a generation Y young professional that values communications, and offers is thoughts on that and other top-of-mind ideas at work and play.

Unemployment is at an all-time high. Companies are cutting back on office supplies, and US! That’s right they are shrinking their base costs by finding ways to cut jobs, and even departments. If you are coming out of college or graduate school in January on the job hunt for the first time, or a seasoned professional who has recently been laid off you may be worrying less about your perfect resume and more about how you can afford that perfect interview look.

In my first post on style, Communicate in Color, I discuss the power of color in our day-to-day dress in the office, in front of the boardroom and with the boss. This would be a great post for those of you who missed it during the holidays! Now it is time to tackle another style stumper.

How can you afford to look like the best choice for the job, when you are looking for your first real one? What if you have been laid off, and have all your bills, still coming and the unemployment check just does not cut it? Each scenario is real to a growing population of generation Y professionals.

Graduates, do not panic! Though it is a tough time for the economy hopefully you spent your last semester planning your escape to the real world, and I don’t mean the one with 7 strangers picked to live in a house. Your plan hopefully involved saving money for your job relocation, rent fees, and moving expenses, and your new big-kid digs! That is right, no more ripped A&F jeans, or hoodies displaying college pride. If you’re young and new to corporate America, you will need to look the part, and look the part for less in these times.

For the recently unemployed, looking for an edge on the interview process

consider temp agencies! Most positions are business casual. Also, if you are in the market for a new career, perhaps the job you want doesn’t call for a suit at all. I worked for a fortune 500 Company and I never saw anyone in more than a button down and slacks. If you think your closet still needs resuscitated, then join the newly graduated and check out my tips on looking the part for less.

Look the Part for Less
1. Borrow clothes from friends for an interview.
(Guys, give your best bud a call, or dad if he is still GQ! Ladies, you all have huge closets raid each other’s.)
2. Hit the sales NOW, what are you waiting for GO!
(Retail store are hurting right now, so they are cutting prices on suits and such, this is a perfect time to snag that Suit or evening attire for your big Winter Gala with the office team.)
3. Make it a game…scavenger hunt!
(I love the “hunt” for clothes. If you have not shadowed a TJ-Maxx, or Marshals or other discounted clothing shops, what are you waiting for! Nobody leaves broke or empty handed.)
4. Mix it up!
(Have you looked at stores you normally would never go in? Did you know Ralph Lauren has an inexpensive line at J.C.  Penny’s!)
5. Make style sacrifices
(Maybe you are a Sarah Jessica Parker gal, or a ‘Hello my name is Earl’ guy…sometimes we just have to tone it down; or take more time with the iron and mirror to turn up our game.)

I am excited about being a part of the Newlycorporate team; if you have an idea for a post or a question just e-mail me! seth1travis@gmail.com. Also, checkout my blog at http://xyzforsuccess.blogspot.com/

In this corner we have your day to day, repetitive motion act followed by an hourly wage. In the other we have a 50+-hour workweek filled with lots of extra curricular projects to impress the team and seal the deal for a promotion.  Can you guess what corner is the job, and which is the career? Maybe your definition is a bit different than the above, however the standard difference is being challenged, and then being rewarded for your good will, effort and success rate.

I am beginning 2009 on the (job)/career hunt! As a student in communications, I was heavy on writing, but really enjoyed the speeches and debate tournaments. Looking for a company that will allow a young professional to be the voice and face of their brand is hard. No one told me that at 22 or 25. I am doing the normal day-to-day search on Monster, careerbuilder, and others.

The process is not that exciting. It has been exciting to go shopping for that dream career. You know the one. The one you took classes for, wrote papers about, and prepared your whole college career for. Well if you’re like many of my friends and myself, your doing something that will get you to that ‘someday’. So as I search for that ‘someday’ career I am looking for a stepping stone role that will launch me to ‘someday’ a little quicker on the corporate fiscal calendar.

What is so bad about getting to ‘someday’ sooner? I think in these times you need to be strategic, and calculating to snag that dream (ehhhm) career. Find time to look around online for job postings. Many businesses are laying off teams of people, but are looking for a leader to take over departments that did not need 3,4, or 5 people when they could pay one person a larger salary to get the job done. It never hurts to look, and when you get some bites on your resume take time to evaluate the opportunities. Do you ever notice that guy down the hallway that is in his 40’s and seems like he is just there to survive. I think those people are all around us, because they don’t pause and look at themselves while they navigate their career. I don’t know about you, but I do not want to be ‘that guy/gal’.

Of course it is great to keep your current job until you have successfully signed a contract for your step closer to that ‘someday’ career. I am considering many different career paths right now. I am a communications professional, with sales, advertising, and marketing background so I am thankful that I can reach across the landscape of jobs and grasp at my next career.

Do you think you are stuck in a job, and waiting for that ‘someday’ career?

Does the economy make you want to look or stay put? Let’s discuss in the comments section?

Is your job safe?  If you say,”yes,” I think you’re full of it.  If you think you are safe, you have not thought about it enough.  I thought I had a rock solid job but I have to tell you, making sure I have a Plan B is my Plan A right now. How many other young professionals feel that way?

It’s tough to write about this but I have to tell you– no one is safe. Some of the nation’s biggest businesses are laying people off in mass records. Everyone needs to be a watching the news.  If you’re not, you are missing news about the biggest crisis facing our nation in many years. Don’t bury your head in your job– PAY ATTENTION!  Do you think the economy can recover?

I invite our NewlyCorporate.com readers to participate in a discussion with other young professionals about the recession and its implications on our professional lives.

Let’s talk about it.  Start a dialogue in our comment section:
What do you really think about the current economic situation?
How many more layoffs will there be?

This is not a political blog, but I think it would be unwise to avoid this topic. As a young professional, you should be keeping up on these matters.

We all know that both the US and global economies are in bad shape at this moment. The question is, what can we do about it? We just elected someone on the precept of change, but can he really change the economy?

The current policy is essentially pure supply-side economics (also referred to as Reaganomics or sometimes incorrectly as Trickle-Down economics). It has been this way since the early 1980s. The basic principal is to give tax breaks and other economic benefits to the producers of goods and to investors, on the assumption that they will then create more jobs and spur more industrial activity. The benefits of this activity will then “trickle down” to everyone else. For example, a tax break to company could help create more jobs. Those jobs produce wages and would be considered a benefit to the person who received those wages.

The debate on our horizon will be a debate for and against this policy. You’ve heard President-Elect Obama say he wants to end tax breaks for the rich and for companies making record profits. This is essentially a battle cry against supply-side economics. I think we would all be well served to read up on the arguments so that we can have informed opinions.

Arguments in favor:

• Investopedia
• UConn Economics Lecture Slides

Arguments against:

• New York Times
• A long essay
• Charts and graphs from an ultra-liberal source