The first salary feels bigger before you start spending it.
Then the month moves. Food. Coffee. Taxi rides. Eating out. Small things you barely notice.
And one day you check the account and think: wait. Where did it go?
I remember one of my first full-time jobs. Getting paid felt great. For the first time money was arriving regularly.
A month later I check my balance and I've got one question.
I wasn't broke. I just had noticeably less than I thought I should.
So I went looking for it. Food, coffee, taxi rides, eating out, small purchases. Nothing expensive.
That's what surprised me. I hadn't lost the money in one big decision. I'd lost it in dozens of small ones.
We spend years at school learning mathematics and almost no time learning how money actually works. Then school ends, money starts moving in and out of your life, and you're expected to know what you're doing.
I didn't. I knew exactly what I earned. I had no idea what I spent.
Making money is one skill. Knowing where it goes is another.