Please give me one piece of advice that you wish you knew when you were 20!

Burlesque_Babe

Mine would be:

always talk about your finances if things are starting to go wrong. Head in the sand NEVER works.

don't get a TV etc on buy now, pay later unless you are 100% certain you will pay it off in one go when the time comes.

There are very few things you need to buy new. Yes, it's nice for something new and shiny as it comes out of the box but second hand (or even third) is just as good for loads of stuff these days.

A car does NOT have to cost thousands of pounds.

do not just sign up for that credit card/store card etc and then use it because it's there. A slippery slope to quickly maxing out a card.

Get hooked on this site. It will save you when you are spending and help you stop when you think you want to. I wish MSE had been around when I was 20.........or even 30........I would have had a very different life financially........very....

cloudcuckooland_3

Hi tibbles

There is such a lot of great ideas it's difficult to improve. Mine would be:

Buy property as long term investment if you can
Don't forget the value of upping your income as well as cutting back ie look out for opportunities to earn more by looking at the upping your income thread in the forum and perhaps join people who are working as extras and completing surveys/mystery shopping which adds a bit of interest to the daily grind for an income.
My own experience is that it helps to have a few irons in the fire but if you have a good income from one particular source maybe no need to worry about this.

purplelisa25

hi

i saw this and had to reply lol

i got my 1st store card on my 18th birthday for a birthday outfit and so it began!

by 21 i was in £18000 of debt on credit cards, store cards, catalogues, overdraft, loans the works!

im now 25 and still in £14800 of debt, i went through CCCS but missed a couple of payments, which then shut my account with them, so had go to each creditor myself and arrange payments which i pay monthly.

i would tell anybody DO NOT get debts! i didnt realise how much debt i was in and if im honest didnt really think about it when using credit cards, didnt feel like real money, but it defo does now!

if i could go back i would have never got that 1st store card, i cant go traveling (which i dream of doing), cant get my own house yet, cant go on holidays with my mates when i want all because of my debt and needing to make payments every month.

my honest advice is do not get any credit cards or store cards and only spend money that you have!

you will appreciate it in the future, trust me!

dancingwedger

Avoid credit cards like the plague, no matter how 'good a deal' they're made out to be......simples!

Saturnalia

Don't waste time on a partner who squanders their wages as soon as they're paid and then comes to you with sob stories.

Certainly avoid anyone who asks for itty-bitty loans, i.e a fiver here tenner there. The last fivers and tenners weren't paid back last payday as you were promised (as payroll messed up, for about the 8th time in as many months, aye right!) the next lot won't be either.

If they're being threatened with eviction for arrears not 3 months after moving in, run. (Their masterplan is that if they do get flung oot, you'll take pity and their feet will be firmly installed under your table rent-free. Thankfully I had the nouse to tell him no effing chance and could go back with his parents if that happened. I only found out about the situation as his landlord was ringing me constantly as he switched off his phone. Another red flag.)

If you're going and buying the groceries, lugging them home, cooking on your gas/electricity bill and they're eating at yours most nights and they never offer you a penny, again dump from a great height!

If their possessions are disappearing from their flat think twice.

If they put £40 in the fruit machine, win £20 and think they are £20 up, bad sign (especially if they can feed the fruit machine all night then come back to the table and announce it's your round!!!)

If you're planning to marry, open a cupboard and find an inch-thick stack of court summonses for unpaid debts, and they refuse to discuss it beyond saying "it's all under control" call it all off immediately.

And finally, if they brag to everyone who'll listen that "we never row" and the reason for this is that whenever you bring up anything they want to discuss (i.e. their unreasonable behaviour!) they flounce out, lock the door behind them!

Oh if only my young self had had the faintest idea... the time, heartache and MONEY I'd have saved myself!