Marcial Gutiérrez, a 29-year-old Cuban who arrived in the United States ten years ago, broke down TikTok five pieces of advice for compatriots who have recently arrived in the country; keys that he considers fundamental to get ahead.
The first is to buy a carbut advises not to buy it in installments but rather paying for it in cash and second-hand.
“Don’t get a car by letter. Get a car cash and if you don’t have enough cash, try to negotiate with someone. “You want 3 thousand, I’m going to give you 1,500 and I’m going to pay you quickly,” she explained.
The second recommendation It is after three or four months – as soon as you have a little autonomy – leave the house that welcomed them when they arrived in the countrya point on which several Cubans who have spread similar advice on social networks agree.
“Go away, it’s not your house, it’s not your home. They are doing you a favor by taking away your privacy and your goals as a home to incorporate you. Find a home to live in,” he said, and advised that whatever you look for to rent be something for 25 percent of what you earn, maximum.
Although he admitted that this part is complicated, he advised resorting to shared housing with other people in the early stages.
The third tip -and one of the ones that generated the most controversy in the comments section of the publication- It is fighting to not have debt.
“Zero debt. Don’t take out credit cards that you can’t pay within the month. Don’t get into debt. Debt is the easiest product to acquire in this country and the worst,” said Gutiérrez, who said that it is easy to end up being a slave to payment of compound interest.
The fourth suggestion is to have more than one jobwhether walking dogs or paddling, but having more than one job.
“Have more than one job, free time is not for this country. Don’t come here to have just one job and drink beer in your free time. That is not the way to get ahead in this country,” he said.
The fifth step, and the main one in his opinion, is extreme savings.
“Save like a madman. Saving in this country is mandatory. They call you ridiculous but don’t buy a single brand-name item of clothing or thing. Expensive clothes are to impress people you’re not interested in. Save like a madman,” Marcial recommended. Gutierrez.
According to the Cuban Tiktoker, if you do not follow the aforementioned advice, after ten years you will be in debt, with a bill, possibly with a house that will never be paid off and you will be “unhappy.”
“This is how freedom works in this country. If you don’t have financial freedom, you don’t have freedom of any kind, and you are going to join that large percentage of the population that cannot pay an unexpected expense of a thousand dollars and who lives depressed”he concluded.
In the comments section of the publication, some Internet users completely agreed, but the majority made several additions and others stated that they were openly against some of the advice.
“Don’t have two jobs. Have only one and use your free time to study, so if you are going to grow”noted one of the most applauded remarks.
Others regretted that it was not mentioned the need to learn to speak English as one of the basic starting points for a US resident
There was also no shortage of those who indicated that it is essential Share life with a partner who has similar goals to make it easier to get ahead.
The most controversial point was the debt section.
“The only objective in this country is to build a good credit history and if you don’t have debt you will never have a good credit history”; “I agree with everything except the credit cards, your credit also gives you financial freedom, of course as long as you use it correctly”; “Bro, everything was very good, there was only one thing missing: work on your credit and take care of it as best you can,” were some opinions on the matter.
“In this country it is very important to have good credit, I have been there for 43 years,” said another Internet user.
In recent months there have been several pieces of advice of this type broken down on social networks.
At the beginning of November, the Cuban influencer Christian González de la Moneda – better known as San Memero – decided to share with his followers nine tips that he assured have helped him in the last year.
Aware that “each situation is a world”, San Memero listed a series of recommendations focused fundamentally on the search for organization, control, goals and adaptation to the environment, the latter marked by the always useful recommendation of learning English.
