u/ProfessionAnnual8482

Every month after I get paid, I think, I'll save a little more this month.

The strange thing is, I don't even feel like I'm buying anything expensive. I just spend a little here and there without thinking too much.

Then at the end of the month when I look at my account, I see that most of my salary has been spent. I really don't know where all that money went.

How do I keep track of it? Does anyone have a workable plan for this?

For a long time, I thought that budgeting was just about seeing where the money went at the end of the month. I would look at my transactions and almost always find purchases that seemed unnecessary.

For me, at least, the hardest part is the few seconds before I buy something. That's when it's easiest to tell myself, "That's not that expensive," even though I have no intention of buying it.

Now I try to stop for a moment and ask myself if I'll buy it next week. Sometimes the answer is yes, and sometimes I close the tab and move on. This little pause has probably saved me more money than keeping track of expenses later.

I'm curious to know if anyone else has a simple habit that helps me make spending decisions before I run out of money, without having to review everything later.

I don't think it's because of one bad day.

It was me seeing the same problems over and over, and nothing ever changing. As time went by people stopped speaking up, expecting the same result.

What signs did you see that made you feel your company no longer cared about its employees?

When I began working, I honestly believed that if I worked hard, the rest would take care of itself.

I stuck around late for a time, volunteered for extra work and tried to do more than the expected amount.

Then I began to see that people weren’t always rewarded for effort.

Sometimes it was about being seen. They did, sometimes. Those who did the least sometimes moved ahead the fastest.

That’s not to say that hard work isn’t valuable.

It just made me think that doing a good job and getting credit for it aren’t always the same thing.

In retrospect, what made you realise hard work was not enough?

When I started working I quickly found out that first impressions aren't always how you form your opinions of a company.

Sometimes it's the first promise that is broken.

Maybe you were told you'd get training and then it never happened. Maybe a promotion timeline shifted in silence. Maybe the hours flexibility disappeared, or the promised support never materialised.

One broken promise doesn't always mean people will walk away.

But it often changes their level of trust in the company going forward.

Thinking back, what was the first promise your work place broke that changed your perspective on the job?

I have been working for a while and I’ve seen new employees make the same mistake.

They believe that working harder is the same as working smarter. They raise their hand for everything. They say yes to everything. They try to prove themselves as fast as they can.

Sometimes that is the way.

Sometimes it just becomes more work being the expectation, not the exception.

Most people only discover this after they’ve been in the job for months.

What was your biggest mistake when you first started a job that you would not do again today?