There are many pitfalls that you should avoid when you start making money.  You need to review your benefit policy. Look for things like direct deposit, healthcare, vacation time, 401k matching, tuition reimbursement, and healthcare spending (savings) accounts. Read through all of it. Some companies have start dates for certain benefits. An example would be: healthcare after 3 months, vacation after 6 months, and 401k after your first year. Mark these down in your calendar along with anything that you might have to do to take advantage of them.

With each paycheck, you will become more and more tempted to spend money frivolously. Remember that you need to start saving right away so that you don’t get used to spending it all. Find out if you can have a portion of your paycheck deposited directly into a savings account. If this is possible, do it even if it’s only 5 or 10%.

If you can’t split your direct deposit, or you don’t have direct deposit, you should open an online savings account and have it pull out a set amount each pay period. This will be the surest way to make sure you are spending less than you earn (for more on this, see this post).

Make sure to create a “rainy day fund”. This fund is to be used in case of job loss or a real emergency. Having one of these accounts takes a real weight off. Once you have a nice cushion in the account, you should find a nice minimum balance that you feel comfortable having in there. Some people say 3 months earnings, some people say 6. I’d say it depends on your job, your monthly expenses, and tons of other factors. The one rule that I would follow is find a number over the amount of money that you would need during the time that it would take you to find another job.

The next step is retirement planning. Yes, I said retirement. The sooner you get started, the more time your money has to earn you money. For more on this click here.