In high school, we learn a lot of things, but we do not learn what I think we should learn. I haven’t used the Pythagorean Theorem yet in my adult life. But, we should have learned the things we will actually need to know as an adult.
1. Cars
We have to buy insurance for our car — if you want full coverage, that is about $120 to $140. We have to buy windshield wipers for our cars and those are about $20. We have to get an oil change and tire rotation every three months - oil change is about $30 and a tire rotation depends, but I looked the other day and a place had it for $11. Tires have to be bought every once in a while — about $200 per tire and then add getting them put on the car with balancing and you have another $150. Lastly, you have to buy the sticker that goes on the tag every year; if you live in Tuscaloosa City it is more expensive than Tuscaloosa County and mine is about $90 every year.
All those prices add to $1,221. I didn’t add that I have the rear windshield wipers, plus the front windshield wipers, so that’s an extra $20 for me.
2. Taxes
Did you know that when you make about $600 a month based on your hourly wage… you don’t actually get $600? You get maybe $400 of it. That’s a lot of money you are missing out on because of taxes.
From about February to April, you have to file your taxes. This is the time when the government and the state determines whether they owe you money or you owe them money. They could owe you money and it be great! Or you could owe them money and you have to come up with that money before April.
3. Bills
I still live at home with my parents; however, when I graduated high school, I didn’t realize you had to pay for so much to live on your own. I understood that rent was to be paid, in addition to phone, electricity, water, cable, and internet bills. But, I didn’t realize you had to pay for trash.
Hopefully phone and internet and cable can be combined into one price but usually, electricity and water are separate.
4. Food
You try to eat healthily and it costs you an arm and a leg. You don’t eat healthily and it costs you an arm and a leg because it runs out quicker and it’s not as good for your body.
You realize, as an adult, that you can’t eat out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. You have to cook large meals and possibly freeze the rest to eat throughout the week. You have to take your lunch every day to save money.
5. Saving and Debt
While I was in high school, I never saved money. I always figured I could do that later. Now, I wish I would have saved money. I would have been able to pay outright for some things instead of getting into debt over it. Also, debt is real. Debt collectors are real people who annoy you until you give them money.
Being an adult is hard. I never expected it to be this stressful or this expensive…
