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

Monko7

Probably goes without saying, but please, do NOT gamble. I started gambling when I was 20, with just a few, reasonably small bets here and there, which soon amounted to me spending my full wage packet on payday. Yes, there were good days where I won a LOT of money, but I was very quickly spending that, and more, on further bets. Before I knew it, I had 4 or 5 maxed out cards and was getting to the point where I almost couldn't make my minimum payments. I was lucky enough to win an appeal for a £25,000 loan which dug me out of a nasty hole and halved my monthly outgoings - I'd be paying this for 10 years though. This taught me the lesson about gambling... I still hadn't learnt my lesson about debt and continued to use 2 credit cards, just for random spending, petrol, shopping, computer games, DVDs, etc. Sure enough, this has all now caught up with me and I now find myself in that "hole" again. Luckily for me, I have found an amazing girl who has decided to "embark on a relationship" with me, and my debt, and she has turned my life around. I have my own, spreadsheet budgeting my monthly spending down to the very last penny and always know what I should (and shouldn't) have in my bank account. Yes, I still have a lot of debt, and yes, I will be paying it off for some time to come, but I have learnt 2 very valuable lessons along the way and know that, come that day when I am finally debt free, I will be able to look back and say that everything happened for a reason.

So... in summary...

1. Do NOT gamble.
2. Try only have a credit card for emergencys (that someone you can trust can keep until that day!)
3. Draw up a spreadsheet, budget EVERYTHING that you need to spend, see what you have remaining at the end of the month (it might surprise you) and save it.
4. Find someone who accepts you for who you are. If they love you, they will accept everything that comes with you and will do everything they can to make the bad things in your life good.

brighthair

no credit cards
don't lend to friends, guaranteed someone won't pay it back
Don't try to keep up with friends, find cheap stuff to do instead. I'm 26, and have no money to go out, now we stay in with pizza and X Factor!

humblepii

Great question! And heaps of great responses (special props to Monko7).

"Spend in haste, repent at leisure" is such a true saying. When I got my first proper career-type job at 23 I decided I would 'treat' myself to a nice coffee and lunch of the the Starbucks/Pret/Caffe Nero variety every day. Sometimes, this was two coffees, or lunch and snacks, plus after work drinks... You get the picture. It was only food, right? I needed to eat. I didn't think twice about it. And everyone around me was doing it, too.

I did that for five years before I came to my senses: I've EATEN my house deposit! :eek:

I really wish that someone had told me how quickly small buys grow into big ones. Seriously; if I had been spending per week for those five years on lunch what I spend now and saved the difference, I'd have an extra £30,000+ to my name right now.

immoral_angeluk

Never get joint finance!!

Raksha

I'd add it's not what others do that matters - it's what you do. So long as you do your best in all circumstances and can take pride in what you have done, you can be happy.

climbgirl

I'm in my early 30s and I really, really regret not starting to pay into a pension in my early 20s. I didn't start until about 28 or 29 and now I've got so much catching up to do. I regret that a lot.

Don't spend more than you earn.

Don't borrow money to buy things you don't need.

Someone once told me that unless you can afford to comfortably buy two of something, you can't really afford it (doesn't apply to houses though!). It's a good rule to live by.

And become a regular on these boards - you'll learn so much from them.

Puzzledbubbles

Listen to your head not your heart - if you think you need to look after your pennies do it and dont worry about what other people say - including partners!

Also echo the credit card and the over draft - oh, and learn what is good debt (i.e. a mortgage) and bad debt (a high interest store card such as Dorothy Perkins)

x

debtdesperado

I love this thread!

1. Never get a credit card.

2. Save up, rather than take a loan. If you can't get it by saving up, you can't afford it, so learn to do without.

3. Start putting a few percent of your salary in a pension without fail.

4. Save something, no matter how little, EVERY SINGLE MONTH = pay yourself first.

5. Read Alvin Hall, Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman etc - any of the financial gurus. There is a particularly brilliant american book called 'your money or your life' (not by Alvin Hall) which links earnings and savings and life goals very cleverly so you can construct a plan for your life.

6. Do what you love, rather than what you think will pay the bills (NB this is different to 'follow your dreams', which may always be dreams because you might not be good enough/fated to have that happen - so instead, do what you love).

7. Make sure there is always enough money in your budget to cover your passions, eg theatre tickets, travel..in a realistic way for your budget obviously! If you cut out all the fun in your life, you won't be happy.

8. Don't read glossy magazines; they make you feel fat, ugly, poor and stupid and cost a lot of money to boot.

9. Remember that you can never have enough of things that you don't really want... learn what 'enough' means to you.

10. Notice if you always focus on what you don't have, and turn your thoughts to what you do have, and who you have more than - you'll certainly feel a lot happier in the long run.

Mrs_Z

Clever you asking this type of question and learning from others' experience! Well, when I was at your age, there was no such thing as credit card and I luckily learnt from my parents that money was something that had to be respected and never got into debts. Personally, I'd recommend you stay clear of loans (except a mortgage in due time of course) and learn to live within your means with saving even a bit every month. I've always budgeted roughly on these principles: on a payday - 1) clear all bills in full due for that month 2) put aside a little, choose a nice round sum £50, 100, 500 3) then divide the rest by 4/5 depending how many weeks in a month (til next pay day) and then that is the amount that has to last you a week. I take my 'weekly allowance' from the cash point on a Saturday, and that amount which will cover my food shopping, cleaner, etc.

I used to get paid weekly which was ok to start with but when I later got into a monthly pay - I initially had difficulties getting the money last the whole month but with this method if you run out of your allowance - then at worst you'll only be without money for a couple of days! Has worked for me!

Dellers

1.)Never buy anything there and then when clothes shopping. Honesty wait another week and it will be on sale.
2.)Dont buy stupid magazines you dont need them. You can read all the gossip online.
3.) Shop around ! dont go to the first place you see.
4) bring cash going out on the tiles leave the cards at home .
5) learn to do your own make up and nails. I have wasted so much money getting manacures every two weeks and make up for special occasions. I buy a new opi once a month for £10 and thats a colour ill use time over.
6.) Use the off licence you dont always need to go out.
7) Set up a dd for savings and FORGET about it !
8) When getting perfume shop online its much cheaper than the shops.
9) Get christmas presents in the summer sales but dont be tempted to spend more at christmas.
10) Same with winter boots etc. Dont buy before Christmas day wait untill the sales and get the winter wardrobe then.
11) Think is it actually worth the price of it .
12) get a car in the no of very low tax bracket.
13) Enjoy being young xx