First Job Finance Planner

Your first salary is the most important one you'll ever earn

Not because it's the highest — it won't be. Because the habits you build in the first 12 months follow you for the next 20 years. Most people spend their first raise before they save their first thousand. This planner is designed to stop that from happening.

What's Included

• First paycheck breakdown: enter your gross salary, the sheet estimates take-home after income tax, National Insurance / FICA, and pension/401k contributions
• 12 monthly budget tabs: one for each month of your first year, pre-structured so you can track how your spending evolves
• Emergency fund tracker: set a target (1, 3, or 6 months of expenses), track progress with a visual bar, see projected completion date at your current saving rate
• Starter investment calculator: "if I put $X in an index fund now" — shows projected value at 10, 20, and 30 years
• 90-day financial goals template: set three specific goals for your first 90 days at work and track them
• Works in Google Sheets and Excel

Who This Is For

• Anyone who just started their first full-time job and wants to do this right from day one
• People who have been earning for a few months but haven't started a proper budget yet
• Anyone whose company offers a pension or 401k match and wants to understand how much to contribute
• Recent graduates moving from student life to a real salary

How It Works

1. Enter your job offer or first payslip — the sheet estimates your monthly take-home
2. Set up your emergency fund target in the tracker tab
3. Fill in the first monthly budget tab — takes about 15 minutes
4. Update it once a month — budget the next month, review the last one
5. At 90 days, review your goals tab and set three new ones