9 Best things to do with your First Salary

Congratulations! Years of hard work have finally started to pay off. Irrespective of the amount, the first paycheck is always special. Very likely you may have experienced the first hit of income taxes too. Despite the size of pay, the first salary is worth all the sweat and blood. There are a lot of financial obligations but still, you need to do something special with your first salary. You spend your money in hundreds of ways if not less but we can show you the 9 best things to do with your first salary.

1. Buy yourself Gift

Yes, you read it right. Go back to your wish list and pick the things you had kept in your checkout cart for ages. A little reward for all the hard work done is one of the best ways to use your first salary. Gift something to yourself to make yourself feel proud. This gift will become the forever souvenir of your first salary. As a personal preference, buy something durable. It can be a 4K-UHD TV, beanbag, bedside lamp, laptop, shoes, or denim. You must have a few things in your home bought on special occasions and probably that’s how you remember the occasion now. Buy a gift for yourself to make a memory out of your first salary. Word Of Caution: Please buy one suitable gift for your significant other too if you happen to have one.

2. Throw a Party

Partying with friends, family is one of the most popular ways to celebrate an occasion. Feel free to invite close friends and colleagues to be part of the celebration. Make sure to give a thought before choosing a place. Good food with the right ambiance can leave a long-lasting memory of all the good things happening in life. As a fact, choose a place where people do not spend too much time thinking of food or drink but rather spend time talking and grooving all along.

3. Start Investing

Investment is a way to make your money work for you. The longer the horizon (aka investment period) better the chances of exponential yield. Investment requires discipline and patience to make something tangible out of it. Starting early can give you a super good cash position for securing your future. There are many ways in which you can invest your money. You invest a portion of the first salary in ELSS, Mutual Fund, Equity Stock, Bonds via one-time or SIP. Each has its own pros and cons. Do some research and choose as per your risk appetite. Do remember to be patient. It is your money working for you. It takes time to show returns.

4. Give Gift to Parents

Won’t it be selfish to spend all of it on yourself alone? I believe a nice way to thank your parents for all their years of hardship would be to buy them some nice gifts. Take some time to think what are the things they chose not to buy by giving uncompelling reasons. These are the things parents give up over the years to fund your personal-cum-professional life. Pick any of those and make sure to wrap it nicely for a warm first salary gift for your parents. Oh, by the way, you will need to buy a separate gift for each parent, else they end up picking on each other over it.

5. Go for a Road Trip

Pack up your bag and kick yourself out with your significant other or buddies or both on a weekend to have the best road trip you had yet. Make a rough plan and go out. Go to a hill station, sanctuary, remote town, food junction, camp, or whatever you feel right at the moment. If you are a travel freak who had always been short of money during school or college days then your time is now. Let your first salary help you realize your travel dreams. You can always take a long weekend break too to absorb all the fun you had during the road trip. Please do not forget “No Drink and Drive”.

6. Get Life/Medical Insurance

If none of the above do sound interesting enough and you feel it is not the best use of your money then you may feel interested in getting a safety net during rough times. Many people avoid this at an early age especially on their first salary but this is one of the best ways to use your first salary. A life/medical insurance gives you peace of mind. In case of any adversity, you can claim insurance and prevent bills from putting holes in your pocket. It allows you to focus on the issue at hand rather than spending your time to make financial ends meet. You can always do a bit of research and choose the insurance policy best suited for you. As a plus point, starting early will keep your premiums very low, hence super pocket friendly.

7. Support a Child’s Education

Maybe you are not like the majority of people spending money on themselves only. Maybe you wish to bring some change to society or you want this world to become a better place or you are all of these but you don’t know where to start than supporting an unprivileged child’s education is one of the best ways to start doing it.

Nothing else would make a more profound impact on society than education. A quick search will give tens of verified government recognized NGOs which are working towards uplifting society by alleviating a wide range of prevailing issues. Unlike working on social stigma or practices, sponsoring education is instant, transparent, and prudent. As a plus, you can do a cross-check with the NGO to claim tax benefits by adding transaction details while filing your income tax return later. Do not feel embarrassed to start small. It will go a long, long way.

8. Start Skill Development Courses

Take a deep breath and think about what you want to be in life. Do you have the skills required to be there? Have you even started working in that direction? Probably NO. One of the things that differentiate between people’s growth trajectory is their hunger to learn. Continuous learning helps you stay ready for challenges effectively helping you in quick growth, role transitions, and work-life balance. Also, there may be a few things say guitar, cooking, etc you wanted to learn but couldn’t make time for it. Pick a couple of skills you wish to learn and enroll yourself in such skill development courses. There is no right or wrong time to start learning, but be sure you do. The first salary gives you a financial leeway to get started. So join quickly, start early and get going.

9. Buy Lottery Ticket

It is one of the craziest things to do with your first salary but maybe your time is now. The question is not which lottery but why lottery? Isn’t it gambling? Maybe it is worse than gambling because you never know how to receive your money. Well to answer all the objections, do not overdo it. Commit not more than 1% of your salary to buying a lottery ticket. Ya, that’s all. You can easily search a really long list of recognized portals, there are several ways to buy tickets or play games. Maybe you are the crazy one who wants to be different with good luck on your side. It is not going to hurt and maybe the cheapest option too in this list.

Conclusion

From being indulged to yourself to philanthropy, from being in control to letting things happen by luck, we listed a range of things to do with the first salary. Hope you went through this list and found something meaningful that suits you to do the best thing(s) with your first salary. This list is not exhaustive best captures the best things only. Feel free to suggest other things to do with the first salary. Thanks.