3 smart things worth spending your money on as a developer 

Have you ever thought about how much money you wasted on useless stuff trying to learn to code?

We live in a society where people want us to buy their products. They show up in our socials’ homes screaming: “buy it!”. It’s so easy, for beginners, in particular, to get caught up in a spending loop buying resources they don’t really need.

I’ve found myself in this position so many times. My Udemy account is full of courses I never even opened. I’ve bought so many coding books I’ve never even read.

It just feels there is always more to know, and unless I buy 100 JavaScript courses, I won’t fill this gap.

So is there a solution to all of this?

My answer is: yes. You just need to set your priorities straight for your money and ask yourself a couple of questions before buying anything.

Let me show you how you can deal with this.

Invest in Your Health

This is the first thing to prioritize every day of your life. You have only one body, and it deserves to be treated with respect. A couple of years ago, I was the total opposite of who I am now in dealing with my health.

I would eat junk food every day, not work out, have a disordered sleep schedule. And guess what? The results of that behavior quickly came back and slapped me in the face.

I started to accuse many back pains due to my work as a developer and general inactivity, I gained weight, and I always felt tired.

Prioritize your health every day, and always do acts of kindness toward your body. So if you think that investing some money into your health is not a good investment, please think twice.

Invest in a gym subscription or some tools to work out. Invest in a treatment to feel better. Gift yourself a massage once in a while. Buy an excellent chair for your coding times, drop a few bucks in a blue-lights pair of glasses.

And remember, mental health is even more important, so buy books that you enjoy, spend time with your loved ones, or with a professional counselor if you have issues to address.

Invest in a Few Learning Resources

Of course, as a developer, you want to learn and grow technically. So it’s pretty evident that you should invest in proper learning resources.

But please, be extra careful on this point because new coding courses, resources, and ebooks are popping up every day in this field. You can’t possibly buy every single thing. You would end up consuming none of the stuff you bought, plus you would have a terrible headache.

You don’t need 1000 courses on learning JavaScript, 100 books to master React, and a full library of “ace the coding interview” resources.

My suggestion is this:

• Invest in some good resources for every technology you want to learn. So if you’re going to master React, go here and choose one resource to invest your money into.
• A different mention has to be done for full-package courses or Bootcamp. In that case, you pay to get a full service and learn a bunch of things together. This is still good because you’re focusing your money on one thing without lettings a million different products distract you.
• Invest in some technical interview preparation, buy a book like this or a course like this, and then seek out problems to solve online to complement your learning.

Invest in Attending Live Events 

To see positive stuff happening to your in your life, you must be where positive stuff is happening, and meet new people. Networking is often underrated by many people, but I now believe it’s a critical aspect of someone’s career.

Unfortunately, with this terrible pandemic still raging in many countries, live events and conferences are impossible. But when in-person experiences return, I encourage you to invest in those.

Participate in conferences, events, hackathons, and local meetups. Meet new people, let your mind be refreshed by their perspective. Talk with them about your projects and ask them about their ones. You might be surprised by how much a single, extraordinary encounter can change your life.