Did you know that women (on average) earn 77 cents for every man’s dollar? Or that showing cleavage at work can affect your career? I’m still convinced that the internet can solve almost any problem and obviously is a great source of knowledge. The downfall that I know of to the internet’s great span of information is that it’s not always easy to find information that’s applicable to directly to us twentysomethings. This is why I like to have round-ups fairly regularly. I follow a number of informational resources and I’m always wanting to share my findings with my fellow GenPinkers.

Looking Back - Things I Wish I Had Known When I Was 18

Just because you can pay the minimum doesn’t mean you can afford the balance. It took me years to figure that out. For a long time I was a creditor’s dream come true. I carried a large balance on my credit cards, and faithfully paid the minimum balance by the due date every month. I thought I was doing great, because my credit score was great. I never thought to add up all the interest I was paying on my purchases.

What Are the Best Jobs for College Graduates Today?

To all graduates and all other twentysomethings who don’t know what you want to be when you grow up (myself included): follow your dreams, but find a career that pays well and has long term growth prospects. The more money you make, and the more secure a job you hold, the more time and freedom you will have to pursue your life outside of work. In today’s rapidly changing and uncertain economy, what fields are best?

6 Tips for Landing Your Dream Job

Twenty and thirty-somethings have more flexibility when it comes to test-driving different careers. The process of self-discovery is much easier when you’re unencumbered by family responsibilities and substantial financial burdens, and when you haven’t yet reached a level in a career where it’s tougher to turn back.

Life After School: Advice for New Graduates

“You’ve got to find your passion,” Celia says. “I changed my major six times. That’s okay. Everything you do leads you to the person you’re becoming. As long as you have some goals, you’ll be fine.”

Celia stressed that it’s important to think about the sort of life you want to live. Some of what she said reminded me of Tim Ferriss’ notion of lifestyle design, building your life and career around what you want to do.

Men Earn in Nine Months What You Earn in a Year

The gender pay gap is definitely not a thing of the past — the 77 cents that women make for every man’s dollar in this country is a sure sign that gender inequality continues to plague the workplace. To put things in perspective, men make the equivalent of a woman’s yearly salary by the time the first of September rolls around.

Cleavage Could be Asking For Trouble When Colleagues Are Involved

The WSJ article called "Risky Business: Décolletage At a Work Dinner" tells us that for a businesswoman, "There’s no greater crime than to show cleavage." Jonscott Turco, a psychologist and consultant with Partners In Human Resources International, commented in the article saying, "They’re thinking it’s an empowering thing that they can be sexy and professional, but guys don’t see it that way. If she’s dressed sexy, that’s all they see."

Have some great resources you’d like to share for twentysomethings of twenty-something women specifically? Send it to for:elysa on del.icio.us.

My tax situation is fairly complicated because I’ve always had a full time job in addition to my freelance business. Consequently I keep most of my financials in pretty good order most of the year. I am not a last minute tax payer but I do know there are some people who are scrambling these last few days to get their taxes handled. For those of us who have already filed for 2007 these tips will be helpful in setting up your finances for the next tax year.

Tax tips from around the blogosphere that are fitting for twentysomethings:

• Tax Tip: Deduct Your Job Hunting Expenses
• Keeping Track of Your Tax Paperwork
• 46 Tax Deductions that Bloggers Often Overlook
• When to Expect Your Economic Stimulus Rebate Check
• IRS Tax Tips for 2008

I always love new resources, feel free to send me your great money tips via for:elysa on del.icio.us or email/comment directly on genpink.

There are a few people who I would consider to be big names in writing specifically about Gen Y, Rebecca Thorman is one of those names. On her blog Modite, Rebecca gives advice to "navigate beyond the line of work and play." Rebecca will be sharing her career advice today on a topic that is an issue for many twentysomethings — wage (as in salary).

This guest post was written by Rebecca Thorman, author of the blog Modite, which as been featured in several media outlets including the New York Times as the key community for Generation Y leadership

My first job out of college paid me $26,250/yr. It was the most ridiculous salary. I thought it didn’t matter because I would love what I was doing. Instead, I did the dirty work. Really.

Unbeknownst to me, we did a lot of deconstruction projects. That means we tore down buildings in such a way as to reduce, reuse and recycle what would have otherwise gone in the trash. One of our projects was deconstructing an old hospital so that a developer could put up a trendy condo development. I was in charge. I supervised day laborers wearing heavy work boots to avoid the old syringes, balled-up hospital gowns and other items from the hospital of horrors that lay on the dust-infested floor. Walking through the corridors, rooms that had been closed off from fresh air and light for months gave off a particularly interesting smell.

Oh, how I hated it. I hated every single second of it. There’s no way I’m getting paid enough for this, I thought, day after day. They could never pay me enough for this.

And therein began the downward spiral into complete job meltdown. Before I knew it, I could barely get up in the morning.

Money isn’t everything, but I think money in a job is a lot like sex in a relationship. It’s an indicator of deeper issues. If you get too much in the beginning, things may turn out to be meaningless later. If you’re not getting enough of it, things may turn into one big mess of frustration and anger.

The people who say money doesn’t matter are wrong. So, soon I began a new job where I received more money, more benefits, and was much happier. Soon after that, I started my current position making more money and became even happier.

That’s because money can’t buy you happiness, but the two seem to be inextricably linked, so as one rises or falls, the other follows suit.

Recently, with my newfound money and happiness, I bought one of those trendy condos that the developer was building in place of that old hospital. They’ll finish it and I’ll move in sometime in June. And that is one of the most satisfying circles of fate ever.

I always love when a good circle of fate comes about. There are people who stay in jobs they hate because the money is good and there are those who leave otherwise good jobs because the pay is not enough. The goal is, at least for me, to have a job that satisfies me and pays well.

mon·ey
–noun
1. any circulating medium of exchange, including coins, paper money, and demand deposits.
2. a particular form or denomination of currency.

Throughout my twenties I have had a love hate relationship with my money. I have spent the greater part of the last few years getting myself into and now almost out of debt. Money is a topic that is never far from the back of my mind. I have had several posts on this topic because the dreaded M word is a concern of many of my friends. We are fortunate today to have a guest writer who can give those of us who live in paycheck to paycheck land a bit of insight.

This guest post was written by Michael Rubin, author of Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck: A Conversation About Income, Wealth, and the Steps in Between. Michael gives financial planning advice on his website Total Candor.

Financially speaking, we’re a country of idiots. Despite spending billions educating our children, we fail to provide some of the most important and basic of life’s lessons. For me, money, nutrition, and relationships are the most critical but neglected topics. Unfortunately, I have no credibility to write about the last two—my love affair with homemade chocolate chip cookies notwithstanding. Plus, today is brought to you by the letter “M,” so MONEY it is:

# # #

Your problem isn’t Starbucks.

Many financial experts feel that the problems of the world (and especially of young people) would instantly disappear if we could only get rid of our coffee shops.

Look, if you’re going to Starbucks five times a day, spending $100+ a week there, you’ve got problems. But your money problem isn’t the first one to address. Of course, most people don’t use Starbucks that way, and so what the financial talking heads miss is that nobody—not even the most coffee-addicted person you know—is going to find ten grand a year by pinching pennies at Starbucks.

Instead, you’ve got to put major focus on major expenses, like your housing and car choices. The typical underpaid twenty-something simply can’t live on the same block as the manager two levels up from her or drive the car her boss drives. Not yet. When you commit to high housing or car expenses, you pay them for a long time. Therefore, that’s where you want to put most of your financial energy and discipline. Remember: just because someone will sell you something doesn’t mean you can afford it.

Still, day-to-day spending can make a difference, so it’s important to stay emotionally connected to your money. Most people have no idea how much cash they have in their wallets until they find themselves at a place that has the audacity not to accept credit cards. This disconnection matters because when you’re emotionally separated from your money, you spend more. Spending cash hurts—right away. Using credit cards is painless—until you get the bill.

Leave your credit cards at home for a few days, use cash, and see how your spending habits change. They will. When you see two options for something you need, one at $55 which is “good enough” and another at $89 that is “better,” spending cash means you’ll likely take the one for $55. Handing over three twenties to the cashier feels a lot better than saying goodbye to five of them.

By prioritizing what really matters to you, constant budgeting isn’t required. The beauty of following the saving strategies is that you save so much you don’t need to micromanage your finances. Budgeting can limit your desire for spontaneity, making it hard to keep at it. But you can get away without budgeting entirely if you simply commit to saving. After all, if you’re putting away 15 percent of your income, what’s the difference how you spend the other 85 percent?

Most of all, relax.

Don’t worry about retirement. Yes, I said that. You’ve got all the time in the world. It’s only if you haven’t done anything about your retirement and are now a fortysomething that you should begin to be worried.

The key for twentysomethings is to just start. By saving for retirement while in your twenties, you eliminate the key source of worry later on: the cost of procrastinating throughout your youth. Thanks to the miracle of compounding interest (your money earning money), the amount you have to save when you are young is quite minimal compared to what you’d have to save if you wait just a few years.

Don’t worry about it, just do it.

The key is not to begin cutting all of your discretionary spending. Instead, you need to find a way to spend on the items you value the most. If it’s coffee, pull up a chair and enjoy. But if it’s not, simply keep walking.

Personal finance isn’t that hard. Your day job is much more complicated. But you were taught how to do your day job. Managing money only takes a little effort, some patience, and an occasional bit of willpower. Today, you can choose to make a big difference in your financial future. Why wait?

I recently came across an interesting series of posts Money Matters for All Ages. There are two articles giving advice for those of us in our twenties. Both articles have a pretty standard combination of tips that I have seen in various money advice posts but having them geared towards age specifics added an interesting spin on things. Without reposting all of the advice given in these posts here are snippets of advice that stood out to me.

Financial Advice for your Twenties at Remodeling this Life

This is the best age to be frugal because living frugally early on is the foundation for the rest of your life and will give you the opportunity to live well while also living below your means.

Money Tips for the Twenty Something Crowd at Cash Mooney Life

Your career and your ability to create income is your greatest asset. During your twenties, you should be more concerned with taking the job that offers you the most professional opportunity - not necessarily the highest salary. Professional opportunity is the currency that will define your options as your career progresses and lead you to more satisfying and higher paying paying positions.

One of the best ways to save money is to cut down on the amount of times you go to restaurants and fast food places. You can save so much money by making food at home. I like to make extra’s at dinner so I can have leftovers for lunch the next day.

One of the problems I have with cooking at home is thinking of ideas. There are so many great recipe sites (my favorite is allrecipes.com) but I get overwhelmed if I go there without an idea of what I might want. Reading over menu’s at restaurants is a strange pleasure of mine. There have been several times I’ve read something on a menu and thought "hmm that sounds good I bet I could make that at home." But by the time I get home I forgot what it was I was going to attempt to throw together.

Today I found the solution … I found this website called RecipeInsider that has secret recipes from many different brands and restaurants.

From the list of recipes I am most excited about:

• Starbuck’s Frappuccino
• Girl Scout Samoa Cookies & Girl Scout Mint Cookies - hello 500 pounds here I come
• Olive Gardens Fried Mozzarella
• Black Eyed Pea’s Baked Squash
• Black Eyed Pea’s Broccoli−Cheese Soup

I could keep going but I’ll let you check out the list yourself.

For many twenty somethings money, or lack there of, is a pretty prominent issue. For me my main issue is saving money so that I can get out of the dreaded D word (debt).

The Simple Dollar has a great round up of resources on Thirty Ways To Use One Hour To Improve Your Finances - And Open The Door To More Riches.

Some of the items I have implemented in my life to save money:

• stopped buying bottled water
• bring my lunch to work most days
• limit eating at restaurants - I used to eat out several times a week
• selling books on Amazon that I was not longer using
• plan my meals before going to the grocery store so I don’t impulse buy
• use a bank that reimburses me for atm fees

Things I plan to start doing:

• not buying Christmas presents for anyone and everyone I know this year
• selling more random things around my house that I don’t use or like anymore
• stop buying books from Amazon and start using the library

Previous Monday Money tips:

• Getting Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck
• Debit or Credit? Do you know the right answer?
• I believe the pay of women compared to men is …
• Freeze your spending addiction

Do you have any money saving advice to share?

This article needs no introduction, if you are living paycheck to paycheck or poo-check to poo-check (as in poor) this is a must read - Getting "Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck". I know that GenPink readers are all independantly wealthy but you probably have some friends who could use some advice

Here’s the scenario: you are shopping in your local grocery store and the woman behind the check out asks you “will that be debit or credit?”. You are very aware that you are holding your debit card but to make matters easier you just say credit. After all it is quite an ordeal to remember 4 or 5 numbers in a row. I just did this for the last time about 2 minutes ago at Starbucks.

Did you know you could be protecting yourself against identity theft just by chosing the debit option instead of credit?

If you are like me and have forgotten what it’s like to carry cash I’d highly recommend you read Money Crasher’s reasoning for opting to say debit instead of credit.

Today is Monday which means I am playing catch up on my finance blogs. I came across an interesting headline on I Will Teach you to be Rich - There’s an interesting discussion on women and salary happening in the comments section which led me to his post 13 stunning differences in how men and women think about money. Of course, before I could read the comments I had to read what they were commenting about.

I am not really surprised by the results of the survey but I do find it interesting to see a percentage break down.

This particular slide jumped out at me:

I can image that a large part of this discrepancy is because of these statistics …

I’d recommend for anyone interested in this topic to join in the conversation or at least have a read, there are some pretty interesting debates going on.