Biglaw

How To Live Frugally While Working In Biglaw

Can you really live a Biglaw lifestyle without busting your bank account?

By  
on

I am sure that many of you out there went to law school in order to earn a big paycheck.  Indeed, a lot of us were brought up to believe that lawyers earn a very comfortable living and have the resources to purchase fancy cars, nice properties, and all of the other trappings of wealth.  Of course, the reality is that many lawyers do not earn the kind of money we were made to believe, and this website and others have comprehensively discussed this fact.  However, some lawyers will indeed earn a good living right after graduating from law school and will have significant monetary resources to either pay down student loans or purchase items that bring personal enjoyment.

As I have discussed many times on my blog Student Debt Diaries and on this website, it is extremely wise to pay down student debt as soon as possible in many situations.  However, it can be very difficult to resist the urge to spend the money one earns from working at a big firm.  It takes a great deal of sacrifice and commitment to be hired at a large law firm, since one must typically excel at law school in order to be hired by a Biglaw shop.  After all of this effort, it might be appealing to reward oneself with creature comforts.

Indeed, it could be argued that large law firms benefit from hooking young associates on an expensive lifestyle.  Large law firms make a massive investment in beginner attorneys, and the longer associates stay at these firms, the more value firms will realize from their investment.  However, if one wants to be liberated from student debt as soon as possible, and keep career options open, it is necessary to live frugally and not get used to wearing “golden handcuffs” while working in Biglaw.

One of the strategies I employed while working at a big firm that kept me committed to a frugal lifestyle was never realizing how much money I had.  I paid the majority of each paycheck to my student loans, and I set the payments to be automatically deducted from my bank account the day before each pay day.  By employing this tactic, I literally never saw the lion’s share of my paychecks hit my bank account, and I never had the temptation to not pay down my debt and use these funds in another way.

I also did not keep much money in bank accounts except for a modest emergency fund.  Rather, I devoted nearly all of my money instead to paying off student loans.  Even after I completed my summer associate gig, I only kept a small amount of my earnings, and used the rest to lessen the amount of debt I needed to borrow during my final year of law school.  The reason why I kept so little money in savings was to devote more cash to my high-interest student loans as soon as possible and to not have cash on hand should I have the urge to make unnecessary purchases.

I also kept all of the savings I had in several different accounts with a variety of financial institutions.  By employing this strategy, I never really knew exactly how much money I possessed.  This tactic had the effect of reducing my urge to spend money, since I never felt like I had enough funds to make big purchases.

It is also important to take steps before you enter Biglaw to set the foundation for a frugal lifestyle once you are working at a large firm.  Before I even started working as an associate attorney, my roommate and I signed a lease for a modestly priced apartment, and this low rent ensured I would be able to pay the majority of my paychecks toward student loans.  We ended up staying in that apartment for years, mostly through inertia since it is a huge hassle to move, and living there kept me from spending more money on housing.  This concept can be applied to other parts of your life too, and you could lease a modestly priced car, and make other life choices before entering Biglaw that will ensure you maintain a frugal lifestyle while working at a large firm.

Sponsored

Some people have told me that while working in Biglaw, they were expected to dress well and make other purchases to project a positive image and perhaps fit in with the culture of their firms.  I did not do this at all, and I encourage everyone to save their money while employed at a large firm.  During my time in Biglaw, I mostly wore clothes that my grandmother bought for me through the KingSize Catalog (I’m 6’8″, after all) on the cheap.  Some might be embarrassed to admit this fact, but I don’t think that anyone should be ashamed of saving a buck even while working at a large firm.

During my time in Biglaw, I wore the exact same shoes that I wore in high school, until the shoes literally had holes in them.  A few times, I even wore the same shirt and tie that I wore at my bar mitzvah!  I know people who probably spent thousands of dollars on clothes while working at a large firm, and by not spending too much money on a wardrobe myself, and by being frugal in other ways, I was able to devote more money to my student loans.

All told, living frugally while working in Biglaw is not easy, and internal urges and peer pressure might try to influence you to spend money.  However, keep your eyes on the prize and take any steps necessary to save the most money possible.  The rewards of student debt repayment and the flexibility to do whatever you want with your law degree will be well worth any sacrifice.

Jordan Rothman is the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a personal finance website discussing how he paid off all $197,890.20 of his college and law school student loans over 46 months of his late 20s. You can reach him at Jordan@studentdebtdiaries.com.

Sponsored

Topics

, , , ,