Sometimes I look at my coworkers and wonder when they are going to figure out that they need to start saving.  Those of us who are recent graduates have the good fortune to have a job - and a job that pays much better than most of our other friends who have just graduated.

But as far as I know, none of the other people who started working here at the same time as me are putting any money to their 401(k), and I find myself not being able to afford to keep up with their eating out, buying new cars, and purchasing new outfits to wear each month.

But while I think of saving as a responsible thing to do, I wonder if my employer would really prefer it if I just racked up some credit card debt and started living paycheck to paycheck. Why? Because in a high-turnover industry, it’s good to have employees that are super reliant on having their jobs - they won’t be able to pack up and leave quite so easily.

I was speaking with a friend about someone they work with who wants to switch jobs. This woman gets paid in advance, so if she turned in her two weeks notice, she wouldn’t get another paycheck from her current employer. And then if her new job pays her every two weeks, she probably won’t get her first paycheck for 2-3 weeks after starting there. Because of this gap of 4 - 5 weeks between paychecks, she apparently cannot afford to switch to the other job. I’m sure her employer did not sit down and plan this out, but they are reaping the benefit of her extreme lack of financial independence.

One of the bosses here has joked that he wants the male employees to get married and have babies so that they’ll “be more stable.” But really, having a family to support means that you can’t as easily leave your job if you don’t like it, nor can you move to a new city with better opportunities quite as easily.

I assume that no one is really paying attention, but some of the coworkers my own age see that I bring my lunch, know that I have cheap rent, and they assume that I’m saving a ton (actually, I’m probably saving less than they think.) Sometimes I wonder if I should try to hide this “responsible” side of me a bit, because it allows me quite a lot of freedom to stop and think “Hey, I don’t need THIS job.”

Of course, I do need this job, especially since no matter how much of an emergency fund I have, if I could not find a new job quickly, I could be facing a long and difficult road to finding more work. (Since being unemployed already makes it harder to find a new job, and then the longer it takes to find one the harder it gets.)

But I can see myself in 3 or 4 years time with good experience to put on my resume, and plenty of savings to help me transition to a new city. Since I’m not planning on having kids for quite some time, I expect I’ll be able to be quite flexible about where I can live. I’ll be a terrible thing for my employer to have - an employee with experience who can just walk off to a new job if they try to give out low raises, bonuses, or benefits. Hopefully by that time, competitors will be back to offering some better benefit plans themselves, of course!

(Then again, I may look back on this post in 4 years time and laugh at my own arrogance/foolish expectations!)