Working As An Assistant Is No Excuse Not To Save: Here’s How

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Lilit Marcus

Assistants Are LearnVesters, Too!

I know what you’re thinking: I’m an assistant! I barely make enough to pay my rent and now you’re expecting me to save money? Believe me, I know it’s hard. I spent two years as an assistant myself, and the experiences – good and bad – inspired me to launch a website, Save the Assistants. My book of the same name, a funny but practical guide for entry-level employees of all stripes, was published yesterday by Hyperion Books. So, based on what I learned, here are some ways that you can save cash while still making barely-scraping-by wages.

1. Save Money Every Week

Even if it’s ten dollars a week, put something in a savings account. It doesn’t have to be a lot, but putting a little bit of money away each week will motivate you. Brown bag your lunch one day a week and put the cash you would have spent in your account. Watching a little pile of cash grow in your account will make you feel better about your job – it’s a lot easier to gauge your priorities when you have a financial cushion to fall back on. You never know when you’ll have a health emergency or get laid off, either.

2. Figure Out What You Can Get For Free At The Office

If your office has a coffee machine, it’s worth coming in a few minutes earlier every day and brewing your own java, since you’ll be saving the cash you would have spent at Starbucks otherwise. Does your office have free bagels? A lunch once a week? Often, there are little extras you can get at work for free. Considering how little your company pays you, letting you take that extra sandwich home is really the least they can do.

3. Hang Out At Home

Instead of going out to bars and spending money on drinks every night, have your friends over at your place for cocktails. You’ll save a bundle by making your own drinks or splitting a six-pack, and you don’t have to tip anyone either. Ideally, your friends are the kind of people whose company you enjoy no matter what the location is.

4. Use A Debit Card Instead Of A Credit Card

I got into some credit card debt when I was first working as an assistant. Luckily, I was able to pay it off, but getting into a hole like that is really dangerous. Either use a debit card so you can only spend money that you already have, or religiously pay the entire balance of your credit card every month.

Virginia Woolf wrote that a woman needs money and a room of her own in order to write. What that meant was that a woman needed funds and space of her own if she wanted to be independent. Although trying to save money when you’re already financially stretched may seem crazy, any cash that you can put aside will help you to feel free. The number one reason people give for staying in jobs they hate is money, and if you can give yourself some kind of financial cushion you’ll be able to make work decisions based on your feelings instead of the state of your bank account.

Tell us in the comments (and win a free copy of Lilit’s book, Save the Assistants!): What’s your best money-saving assistant story?

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  • LoveLV

    Well, there was that summer I worked as an intern and wouldn’t feed myself in order to keep from going too far into the red… but I’m not sure that’s particularly admirable. Is food>IRA?

  • Emily

    I’ve been working for non-profits for my whole adult life, where my boss’s salary is pretty much equal to an assistant’s– so you know what that says about mine! I have a few good tips: one– I walk or ride my bike to work in reasonable weather, so I then I don’t have to go to a gym either(!) and when I arrive at work I already feel ready to go because the exercise wakes me up.nn I also have learned the importance of making the right friends and building community to pool our “freebies” from work. I get free entry to museums, so I take friends there (or allow them to borrow my card) in return for tapping into some of their privileges, like eating at their restaurants, drinking at their coffee shops, going to their plays, etc. Similarly, the big social event every week in my circle of friends is a big potluck, to which any friend of a friend is invited, so you’re meeting as many people as you would by “going out”, but you aren’t spending anything you wouldn’t have by staying at home. When I do go out, sometimes I’ll just get a soda so I can still feel social but spend way less.

  • Lilit Marcus

    Emily, you make a great point about pooling resources with friends! When I was first working as an assistant, I was friends with this girl whose parents funded her lifestyle. She always wanted to go to the most expensive restaurants and couldn’t understand why I never wanted to join her. I was pretty frank about my income, but she took it as a personal insult and we aren’t friends now. Having friends who understand your own financial situation is huge. Even more important is friends who just enjoy spending time with you, whether it’s at an expensive restaurant or just hanging out at home.

  • Emily

    I hear what you’re saying Lilit! Someone can have a great sense of humor or style, but if they aren’t on your financial wavelength, or at the very least share your values when it comes to spending, that friendship can be hard to maintain. It took me years to find the “right” friends, but now that I have, I no longer feel ashamed of my poverty.