If you knew then what you know now...

madbadger

I know my husband wishes he had been more careful with money, I have scrapped all my savings together and cleared it, not huge amounts but that money could have been put to something more enjoyable if he hadn't got credit cards etc for silly things like pizza's, his shopping, games, dvd's... when he couldn't afford too! Sometimes I think we feel like we need something, and impulse buy. I really thought I "needed" a DS, I won one and was bored of it within a week! So goes to show!

warburtonrichard

I remember saying aloud when I got my first credit limit increase on my first credit card: "The fools!"
And promptly going off on a spending spree
Not thinking that if I spent it, the joke would be on me.

If I knew that because money was available to me to spend, didn't mean that I had to spend it, I wouldn't be where I am today!

kunekune

I would never have had that first drink of alcohol ... I'd be a lot richer now.

I would have become a 'real' lawyer working in commercial law rather than an academic criminal lawyer, and would have put up with the 'inconvenience' of having to look smart. (Actually, maybe I wouldn't have cancelled the interview with the HP management training scheme in 1983, and would now be a vice president of something!)

I would not have moved house 17 times in 23 years.

Fortheloveofmoney

Wannabesaver wrote: »

i think kids need to be taught how to budget and manage money at a far younger age. i only taught myself about budgeting after finding this website and getting into 30K's worth of debt!

Yep I agree with this. That's when I taught myself too and now I'm trying to teach my mum :rolleyes:

dazzler123

thanks for all the feedback I'm really glad I did this. So how do you think people should go about teaching youngsters how to budget and manage money then? Should the responsibility lie with the schools, parents, voluntary initiatives from debt survivors? xx

Lucy1982_2

I would go with all of the above, My Mum has always been good with money as we have never had much of it, but when i discovered I had spendable income it all when wrong!

I think kids need to be taught how to budget properly and the importance of saving for things. I managed it when I didn't have much (which I don't understand!)

tomangler

I wish I knew about "The Richest Man In Babylon" by George S Clason.This is a terrific book and the lessons in it helped me to have the confidence to confront my debts and to speak to my creditors to negotiate repayment plans and freeze the interest!All youngsters should be encouraged to read this book, in fact, I would go as far as saying this book should be compulsory stdying in secondary schools.Tom

HairyHandofDartmoor

I couldn't agree more tom! I read this recently and it was fantastic.

I am going to persuade my 14 year old daughter to read it as it is presented in an entertaining way with interesting stories all illustrating a financial lesson.

It makes you look at money and your finances entirely differently and I wish I had read it 20 years ago!

Like many others, I had to learn to budget after I built up loads of debt, and my family would be in much more secure position now if only I had learnt it earlier!

blu-k

1. I would have been much more careful about 's*xually transmitted debts'. I kept paying off things for boyfriends who promised to pay me back and never did.
2. Instead of paying off my student loan I would have put the money into a retirement investment account - everything I've read tells me it would have been a smarter way to use my money
3. I would have stopped living in 'cheap' sharehouses where I was unhappy and spent money to cheer myself up and paid extra for my own place
4. I would have realised that 'save 10 percent of your salary' doesn't mean doing that and then blowing it on a holiday, saving for a holiday is separate!
5. Finally, one thing I wouldn't change is getting out of a high-paying but unhappy career, taking a paycut to move into a new career that I absolutely love... it's much easier to find ways to cut costs if you are generally happy, especially at work.

Redbedhead

I would teach them the difference between a 'need' and a 'want'. And if it is a 'want', how much do they want it and what are they willing to not have or go without, to get it.