Every twenty-something knows who Mike “The Situation” is from the Jersey Shore. Many people mock his infamous views on “GTL” and the dating world. What most of us don’t know is that The Situation is set to earn FIVE MILLION DOLLARS this year. Yes you heard that right. That’s a lot of money.

How will The Situation earn this gigantic some of money?

• Cost per episode. Apparently this number is at $60K per episode. Yes their drama is worth that much per episode.
• Dancing With The Stars. Not sure what this pays.
• Biography. A biography already.
• Workout book. The world needs another fitness book.
• Event appearances.  Supposedly Mike can earn anywhere from $15K-50K per appearance.

Instead of making fun of him today I wanted to try a different approach. So now let’s talk about what we can all learn from The Situation:

Branding is important.

We often hear about “personal branding” and “creating a brand.” This type of thinking may come off as “scammy,” but it’s exactly what happened with The Situation. Instead of being another character, he created a brand around his name and his unique presence. This is what us 20-something folks need to do as we attempt to make our marks on the world. We need to create a brand and perhaps a following of sorts.

Be yourself.

This may sound lame but its completely true. Instead of trying to change his image to appear more sophisticated or something that he’s not, he showed his true colors. This can apply to many of us young people out there. Our parents may want to push us to conform to some sort of a “corporate” image when in reality being ourselves could be much more beneficial. Being yourself may not always be the greatest idea to land you that respectable corporate position, but it could potentially elevate you to bigger and better things.

Stand out.

Over the last few years I’ve realized how truly important it is to stick out. To be honest, being a college student in a major lecture hall, keeping quiet may seem like the best option at times. However, this could end up being the worst option because we all know that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Those that go out of their way to stick out can often benefit from additional recognition from the peers and superiors. I learned this early on in my academic career. I figured that being the quiet guy that studied hard was the way to go. In reality, my grades didn’t really excel until I became outgoing and started speaking more frequently with my professors. I’m sure we’ve all experience how standing out can be beneficial.

Timing is everything.

Some opportunities will only come once in a life time. Whether it be the opportunity to appear on a reality television show or the chance to present in front of highly respected professors. I’ve taken advantage of great opportunities to join groups around my college campus that are highly involved. I’ve also missed excellent networking events simply because I didn’t feel like sticking around the campus for a few extra hours. It seems like timing is everything and we need to learn how to take advantage of time-sensitive opportunities.

As easy as it is to make fun of the Jersey Shore I’m sure that we’ve all learned something from the whacky cast of characters. What have you guys picked up?

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Let’s face it: Young adults tend to be pretty careless about a lot of things, including their finances. It has to do with that unpredictable, in-the-now, still-kind-of-rebelling attitude that lingers for longer than it probably should. If you’re young and broke and can’t figure out why, you may be making one of the following most common, but easily avoidable, financial mistakes.

Buying on Impulse

Think about every store you’ve ever shopped at. What surrounds the checkout line? Usually, as you wait to step up to the register and make your purchase, you have to spend a few minutes standing next to racks of stuff–random, inexpensive, needless stuff–like candy, sodas, batteries, tabloids and lip balm. This is where retailers hope you will impulsively grab a few more things you “forgot” you needed before leaving.

Maybe you’re good at avoiding impulse buys and don’t pay any attention to them, but it seems most people in their teens and 20s live in one long check-out lane. There’s no separating wants and needs, just an open wallet whenever the mood to make a purchase strikes. Breaking this habit of buying impulsively will not only curb overspending, but also prevent you from accumulating a bunch of useless clutter over time.

Overdrawing

Keeping track of your account balance is not exactly rocket science, especially since just about every financial institution offers 24/7 online banking, yet it seems most people pay the majority of overdraft charges early on in life.

Why is it so hard to maintain a positive balance as a youth? It’s really not, but you do have to stay on top of your transactions to prevent an overdraft. Balancing your checkbook is really the way to go. However, the practice is becoming somewhat passe, so at the very least, regularly check your balance online.

Charging Everything

A credit card is not a magical piece of plastic that lets you have everything you want for free. There will be a bill involved and somebody (you) will have to pay it. Most young cardholders know this, yet act like the former is true.

While it’s important to establish credit early in life, it’s also easy to take things too far. Don’t charge purchases to your credit card unless you already have the funds available to pay it off right away or it’s unavoidable.

Saving Nothing

When you’ve barely emerged from adolescence, retirement can seem like such a long way off. You believe you have plenty of time to save up some dough.

Unfortunately, this mindset prevents a lot of people from experiencing true financial security. A lack of savings sets you up for disaster. On one hand, you never have any emergency savings for when an expense you hadn’t counted on pops up. On the other, there’s your future; your happiness years down the road is heavily dependent upon your savings habits now.

Don’t believe it? Try using a retirement calculator. It’s terrifying.

Keeping up with the Jones’

This problem is not reserved for WASPy suburban families anymore. Young people endlessly struggle to top each other with the latest and trendiest possessions. Your friend has an iPhone 3G, so you need an iPhone 4G. Your classmate wears Ray-Bans, so you need Dolce and Gabbanas. What you really need is a reality check.

The truth is, nobody cares about what you own as much as you do, so save yourself the trouble and quit competing financially with your peers. You’re better off saving and investing your income so you can enjoy being the most successful person in your circle of friends later.

Some of the above habits can be tough to break, but you’ll thank yourself for turning things around now. You can still make up for any mistakes you’ve made so far by putting better financial behavior into practice today.

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