My boss always tells me, “You are yourself incorporated.”
He reminds me to evaluate a job offer for fair remuneration for myself as a company offering services to the job market. I urge all of you to do the same.
If you were to look at yourself as a company what are your operating expenses? Where could you trim the fat (figuratively and literally!)? How can you increase your revenue? How are you selling yourself? Can you charge more for your services to increase your income? What product do you have to offer?
I cannot stress it enough that taking stock of yourself, looking at your personal finance bottom line, your P&L, Income Statement and Balance Statement is important to your personal valuation.
I have a secret. I used to work in accounting as an accounts receivable clerk. I took Accounting 101 at night school on top of my undergrad degree in geography. (Now does my nickname make sense?) I’m tossing out these terms, but they aren’t so hard to understand.
Ask yourself, what do you want to make? Is You Inc. being remunerated properly? Do you have room to advance?
I’m not saying that making more money is the answer to all personal finance problems, curbing your spending is. But to get yourself more room in your budget and save more for the future, increasing your income is good. Ask yourself what you think you are worth and go out there and get it!
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Very good post, everyone should consider applications and offers in this way.
I think it is very important for people to evaluate the whole picture rather than just a “job title” or the “yearly salary”. If you have to travel 100m to work or have to spend 2 hours preparing at home it might not be as good an offer as you think.
Great points. On your last thought there, I would argue that income is every bit as important as curbing expenses. Most financial planning books, articles, etc. don’t address the income side of the picture because it is an entirely different type of discussion. It is simpler to assume that readers’ incomes are fixed and to plan around it.
I know that personally, I need to work on my cash flow statement. Income statement and balance shee are okay, but sometimes I put myself in a tight cash situation. However, sometimes it’s intentionally.
You’re absolutely right! It’s something I want to sit down and do, but always find an excuse to procrastinate. Good post. I’ll stop being lazy about it!