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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The new semester is almost here and many students are going to campus to start their educations. Seniors in high school are preparing and applying to colleges. It’s exciting time for many students as they are working towards their careers.

Top Paying College Degrees

If you’re a high school senior, you may be wondering what major to sign up for when you go to college. One way people decide is by looking at the money graduates make on average.

PayScale released a report this year on the best paying college majors for undergrad degrees.  By far, if you’re an engineering major, you have some great potential.

• Petroleum Engineering
• Aerospace Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Nuclear Engineering
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomedical Engineering
• Physics
• Computer Engineering
• Economics

If your major is not at the top of the list, that’s fine. You should be careful though about taking student loans. It can be hard starting off at low salary with six figure debt on you. Consider staying in-state and find the best school that you can afford. You can also be aggressive about hunting for grants and scholarships.

It sounds simple, but it’s difficult – find something that you love to do and make sure people are willing to pay. Depending on your circumstances, you may want to acquire a minor.

Take an Internship in Your Major

Learn from the ground up and be willing to do more than the job entails so you can gain the experience you need later on in your career. Don’t just put in more hours, though, you want to work smarter, not harder. Ask to help out with an interesting project or have lunches with collegues that have the skills that you desire.

They can become mentors, whether it’s official or not. The best part of being a college student, people will usually want to take you under their wings and help. You just have to be willing to learn and ask.

Create an Internship

If you can’t find suitable internship, consider freelancing your talents. Volunteer to help a local charity with their websites or help a small business with their bookkeeping. You can start small and build your way up to more complex projects. Build a solid reputation for being a solution provider.

You don’t have a big business (though that would be nice), you’re trying to learn the ropes. You want to be able to have some real world items to put into your portfolio and resume.

Start Your Career with Networking

Whatever your major, one of your most powerful tools to getting started on a career that you love is finding people who can point you in the right direction. Many jobs aren’t listed online or in the paperwork. It really does pay to know someone personally and professionally in your field.

Don’t be a nuisance, respect others’ time when you need something. Be willing to help out others as well. If possible, really get to know your professors. Befriending your professor can help tremendously as you’re benefiting from their knowledge. Many of the best professors stay current with their spheres of influence and could put you into contact with someone that can help you.

It’s possible to find a meaningful career that you enjoy. You just have to be willing to work for it.

If you’re a college graduate, what advice do you have on education and careers?

I spent $7.27 like a complete fool the other day. What did this seven bucks and change get me? Did it get me a full meal with a drink on the side? Did it get me a new t-shirt? Nope. The $7.27 got me a bag of popcorn at the movie theatre. Yes, that’s right, a bag of popcorn. Nothing more. What else could I have purchased with this money? A whole meal perhaps. Two cases of water. Even possibly a brand new t-shirt at a discount clothing store. Instead, I got none of those options.

Why did I make this mistake?

• Laziness. Instead of seeking out cheaper alternatives, I chose the easiest options. I chose the option that required the least effort.
• Convenience. Other options may have been available to me, but I decided on the one that was easiest to act upon. I also could have gone anywhere else in the city, yet I still chose the option that was really close to me and really expensive.
• Moment of weakness. We all have these moments, even us personal finance bloggers. We all face the quick blurs where our fundamentals are forgotten and we revert to our old ways.

Instead of dwelling on the past, let’s have the most amazing cheap summer ever. I wanted to share a few ways that I have fun without going broke in the summer…

Take the bus.

Driving and taking cabs around town can really increase the price of your night out. Sure, you may arrive at the destination quicker, but is it worth the money? Taking public transportation across town may take more time but it’ll save you lots of money in the long run. Put it this way: a simple cab ride from the “popular” area of my town to my home costs $25. I could travel this same distance for a bit longer at $3 on the bus. Which sounds like the better deal?

Try random places.

Do you always attend the same events? Do you always go to the same places? This summer it’s time you tried something new. No more going to the same place. It’s time that you got on the bus and ventured off somewhere new (and no I’m not suggesting the shady part of town!).

Prepare your own stuff.

Instead of relying on the restaurant of the evening to supply the group with drinks and food for the night, why not prepare it on your own? Purchasing your own drinks and food for the night can save you a fortune. I started to save a pretty penny once I began to prepare my own lunch to school and work. The savings that come along with saving on a fancy Friday dinner will be seen as near-astronomical a few months down the road.

Have a backyard party.

If none of the others tips are applicable, why not consider hosting the festivities at your place? It may not be as enticing to be the host as opposed to the person that gets served and eats for free, but look at the bright side. One day in the near future it’ll be your turn to be the guest and enjoy yourself.

How are you saving money on fun summer activities this year? Any tips that you could share with us?

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It seems like every time September rolls around we start to panic. Could summer possibly be over? Have I picked my courses yet? Is the school year here already? Well this year, you’re not going to wait until September. As a matter of fact, the middle of July is when you’ll have all of your school stuff figured out.

Let’s get ready for the upcoming school year… right now!

Pay your fees.

Have you paid your upcoming fees? I know that it’s not fun to give money to your college, but if you pay in advance you avoid the potential of late fees, and yes late fees really do suck. On top of paying astronomical fees for your education, do you really want to incur additional costs just for being late? Didn’t think so. There’s no better day than today to ensure that you’re on top of all of your college costs.

Pick your courses.

Have you decided on your courses yet? You don’t want to be the person stuck with the worst possible course options. Waiting until the last minute will guarantee that you’re left with the worst courses, at the worst times (there’s nothing worse than a class on a Monday morning). You may not want to think about your Fall courses in July, but do you want to spend three months on a course at the worst possible time?

Figure out living situation.

Where will you sleep at night? I understand the thrill behind trying to find a place last minute, but do you really need that stress? If you start looking today, you can hopefully find a steady place to live in by the time the school year comes. You don’t want to move away for college, if you’re not sure of exactly where you’re moving to.

Solve transportation issues.

How will you get to school? This may not seem like an issue at this very moment, but how will you get to school on a daily basis? I never thought about this until I realized that it took me an eternity to get to school. The bus may be cheap but is it the most feasible option? Can you carpool or is the bus the best possible option?

Deal with administrative stuff.

Ugh. Who doesn’t love dealing with administrative stuff? Well I hate it, but it needs to be dealt with. Before the next school year begins, it’s important to ensure that you’ve dealt with past obligations. This can come in the form of accounting for credits, or making sure that the appropriate courses will be offered in the upcoming semester. A small administrative error can costs you thousands of dollars in the future (i.e. missing the deadline for a specific course). Deal with it now before it’s too late.

Are you ready for the upcoming school year? The middle of July is usually the ideal time to be chugging beers and hitting the night clubs. Don’t get me wrong, that’s perfectly cool. However, there’s nothing wrong with planning ahead of time to deal with disaster in the future.

Dating in college. A reason why some people go to college. Yes this is true. Dating life is often a criteria used by many when it comes to deciding between a few schools. Dating in college is also one thing that we’ll always remember. We won’t remember the exhausting early morning lectures on a Monday or that guy with the really long hair sitting in the front row. The nervous feeling at the beginning of the first date followed by the new found confidence a few weeks later, meeting a life long partner, staying up until the late hours of the night when you have an exam the next morning– these are all memories that we will take with us from college.

For those of you that love down to Earth advice that is free of judgment, let’s look at a few ways you can date in college when you have no money:

Stop relying on liquid confidence.

You will go broke beyond your wildest imagination if you’re constantly relying on alcohol to fuel your dating life. The greatest expense by far for most college students when it comes to dating is alcohol. I’m not going to be a hypocrite here and tell you not to drink. However, there are many ways to save money in this area and I want to touch upon a few of them.

• Realize how stupid you look. Getting a social buzz is fine. Being the guy that’s puking in the middle of a bar is embarrassing. You may feel confident with all of the beers in your system but trust me my friend, girls can tell that you are drunk beyond any belief. How cool is that?
• Drink at home. Drinks at a restaurant will kill you. Honestly. A beer at a restaurant can easily go for $5. Six beers mixed in with some food and there goes your budget for the week.
• Stop buying girls drinks. I don’t know who started this trend but it needs to end. It’s perfectly acceptable to treat your girlfriend to a drink. It’s flat out dumb to be buying drinks for every girl you see in the club just to gain their attention. You not only instantly devalue yourself, but you also spend unnecessary money.

Enjoy the day time.

Most college students wait until the night time for dates or to go out to meet someone. Why? What’s so bad about the day time? Going for a coffee can be much cheaper than going for martinis. There are plenty of people out during the day. Instead of waiting for the sun to go down, enjoy it while it’s still up.

Movie nights.

Once you get past the first impression part and get comfortable with each other, you can begin to start having cheap nights. There’s nothing like a movie night. The only challenging part is concluding a movie that the both of you will enjoy. My only tip here is to accept the fact that you’ll likely never agree on the same movie. Just rent two movies.

Escape early.

Gentlemen, if a female you’re trying to court is expecting expensive 5 course dinners and $12 martinis in the first few weeks then run away! You have nobody to impress in college, but your professors and future employers. I know that it’s easier said than done, but do you really need to be spending money that you don’t have on those that don’t matter?

So the answer is yes. Yes it is possible to date in college when you’re broke.

Please let me know what you thought about today’s post. I would like to cover more “college life” related topics in my articles here at Green Panda Treehouse. Is there anything in specific that you would like me to write about? Please do share any feedback that you may have.

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I worked throughout my college career. My brother has chosen not to. There will be readers that will share stories about working 40 hours a week during college. There will also be readers that come from a really intense college program that will talk about their 40 hours per week course load. Instead of trying to give you a final answer (I hate people that do that!), I wanted to share the pros and cons of working during college:

Pros of working in college:

Pay down debt.

As mentioned last week, one  of the most effective strategies for killing off student loans is to begin paying them down while you’re still a student. I technically never had any debt because I always paid my way through school as I went along. There were a few times where I was late on my payments, but I never had to take out any kind of a loan. This is the greatest benefit to working in college. It will suck. You’ll drink more caffeine than water. You’ll feel like there’s no end in sight. Then one day you’ll see the light at the end of the tunnel. It will all be over. You’ll have your college degree and your finances will be in check. Trust me.

Build solid habits.

The owner of this blog, managed to work full time while pursuing his MBA. That’s pretty impressive if you asked me. However, I’m willing to bet that he built his solid work habits in his early 20s. I personally find that this is the best time to create a productive lifestyle, that will follow you into your career and whatever comes after that (I’m guessing family?).

Create time management skills.

The last few weeks it seems as if I have no time for anything. Yet when I was in college I had time to attend all of my courses and still work full time. Why is that? Because I was forced to pickup time management skills. Now that schools out for the summer I’ve started to slack a little bit. I’m not proud of it but I definitely feel that the fall semester will force me to reunite with my good ol’ time management skills.

Cons of working in college:

Dilutes focus.

I don’t want to come off as arrogant. I do realize that many college programs are so rigorous that you can barely get 6 hours of sleep nightly, let alone hold any sort of part-time job. This is where working in college becomes totally pointless. The money that you earn will be offset by your diminishing academic performance.

It’s difficult to study for finals when your shift ends at 11pm. I know this because I’ve been there. There’s been many times where I felt that I thought I could have performed better academically if my focus wasn’t so diluted.

Energy drain.

This one really depends on your job. Some college jobs (bartending, manual labor, etc.) can be very physically demanding. After a long shift at work the last thing you’re going to want to do is study for that World Trade Economics exam the next morning. What will happen? Who knows. You might drink a Red Bull and pull an all nighter– or you might just crash and not get enough studying in. Neither options sounds very enticing. This is where working in college will start to wear you down slowly.

Less networking/socializing.

Yes I realize that socializing in college usually refers to playing drinking games with your buddies. However, is this such a bad thing? Think of all the dudes you can meet playing beer pong that’ll be able to help you out in the future. Think of all of the cute girls in the gym that might be working for that top company that you want to get into. Think of all those professors who need help on research projects, I’m sure they can write you a decent reference letter one day in the future. Working in college becomes a major issue when you always work and miss out on life. There are many networking opportunities available to you in college. Take advantage of them.

You might get a hot date– or you might get a nice reference letter one day in the future.

On which side of the fence do you fall on? Did you work during college? Did you choose to focus solely on your studies?

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