Making Sense Of Cents

Learn how to make extra money, how to save money, how to start a blog, and more.

JOIN OVER 300,000
MONTHLY READERS!
  • HOME
  • BLOG
  • Make Money
    • best online jobs
    • passive income ideas
    • paid online surveys
    • How To Make $100 A Day
    • 80 side job ideas
    • More Extra Income Ideas
  • SAVE MONEY
    • Free Amazon Gift Cards
    • 16 Alternatives To Cable TV
    • best rewards credit cards
    • How I Paid Off My $40,000 Student Loans
    • More Money Tips
  • Categories
    • Income Reports
    • How To Save Money
    • Extra Income Ideas
    • Blogging Tips
    • Career Advice
    • College
    • Pay Off Debt
    • Retirement
    • Self-Employment Tips
    • Travel
  • BLOG COURSES
    • AFFILIATE MARKETING COURSE
    • MAKING SENSE OF SPONSORED POSTS
    • HOW TO START A BLOG
  • Contact
    • About
    • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Recommendations

Financial Milestones in Your 20s

Last Updated: December 7, 2014 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - Leave a Comment

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

8 shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
We paid for this with CASH

There are many things that I want to accomplish in my life. Starting the things listed below will only make life easier for the most part. When you look at my list below, I have 11 checks so far so I’m about half way done. Some things I partially do, but decided not to say that they are a “check.”

However, I do think I’m doing good with this list, there’s nothing I’d really change about what I’m doing now in order to have more “checks.”

Erika and Vanessa both shared a list of their financial milestones. Check theirs out! Below is my list:

  1. Finance a dream vacation…in cash. Check! I’ve paid for all of my vacations in cash. I went to Kauai in March and this was definitely a dream vacation.
  2. Pay off your student loans. I haven’t paid them off completely. I have paid some though, and I plan on paying for this upcoming summer semester completely with cash. This definitely requires some saving and buckling down this summer.
  3. Automate paying your credit card bill in full. Check! I pay my bill in full always.
  4. Get rid of all bad debt. Check! “Bad debt” depends on the person, but all I have are a mortgage and student loans. I consider these to be “good” in my life.
  5. Build an adequate emergency fund. Check! Our emergency fund is currently at $15K, we do want to take this and start applying it towards debt though. Our fund doesn’t need to be this high and could be better used in other places.
  6. Make your first, and last, investment mistake. I’m still making investment mistakes. I’m still trying to understand everything. I guess since I work in the finance industry, I am much more critical and analyze the market a lot.
  7. Develop a statement of cash flows. I do this in my head, but I’ve never written it down. Probably need to do this though. I always make sure there’s plenty of cushion in our checking account so that we never bounce anything though.
  8. Max out a Roth & Contribute to your 401(k). I don’t save nearly enough right now. This is something I need to work on, but I do want my debt to be gone quickly. Right now I save between 10-15% of our after-tax pay every month.
  9. Get a degree or certification that increases your earning power. Check! I’m about to get my Finance MBA. WOOHOO!
  10. Take a career risk. Never done this. I’ve only had 2 jobs my entire life. 5 years in retail management and 2 years as a financial analyst. Definitely no career risk there.
  11. Negotiate something. Check! I always negotiate on vacations. When I booked our Vegas Bachelorette trip for this August, I called many places and eventually got a great deal. I asked this to match a price I found somewhere else, and they even threw extras in.
  12. Earn your first side grand. Check! I’ve made nice side money from my blog, mystery shopping and surveys.
  13. Start a sub-savings account for an upcoming financial goal. I don’t have any separate accounts, but I do think this would help since the money would be separated from the other accounts.
  14. Set a target retirement date. This isn’t set in stone of course since we are still young. Hopefully around the age of 50 though. This most likely won’t be a complete retirement though. I still see myself doing some sort of part time gig when I’m older.
  15. Monitor your credit. Check! I check this all the time, especially since someone stole my social security number when I was younger. Things always tend to pop up but for the most part I am safe now.
  16. Say no to a financial salesman. Check! I’m actually pretty good with saying no. My friends and bf always laugh because I can walk away so easily and not care. In Kauai, some guy tried selling us a timeshare and after about 15 minutes of him talking, I looked at my bf and I could tell he didn’t want to be mean. So I told the guy no and walked away. My bf still thanks me for having no heart when we are around persistent sales people.
  17. Give just enough to make it hurt. We hardly give. We used to give around $100 a month to United Way, but we didn’t realize until now that they are extremely corrupt. So we have limited this greatly and now we only give around $20 a month.
  18. Invest $1 for every $1 you spend- in progress. Check kind of. We save around 50% of our after-tax income every month, and soon this will be much more.
  19. Start a 529 College Savings Plan. Ehh not really interested in this at all.
  20. Buy a house. This is something I just added (thanks to Work Save Live). This is a CHECK for me!
How many have you completed? Any input on the list?

Related Posts

  • 4 Mindsets That Will Rob You Of Your Dream Life4 Mindsets That Will Rob You Of Your Dream Life
  • Don’t Compare Your Beginning to Someone Else’s MiddleDon’t Compare Your Beginning to Someone Else’s Middle
  • Stop Comparing Yourself To Others And Live Your Own LifeStop Comparing Yourself To Others And Live Your Own Life
  • The Less You Own, The Less That Owns YouThe Less You Own, The Less That Owns You
  • 27 Money And Life Lessons I’ve Learned27 Money And Life Lessons I’ve Learned
  • The Power Of Positive Thinking – This Can Change Everything!The Power Of Positive Thinking – This Can Change Everything!
8 shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Budget, Career, Debt, Extra Income, Life Tagged With: Budget, Debt, Life

About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Making Sense of Cents welcome page photo
Hello and welcome!
My name is Michelle and I'm the author/owner of Making Sense of Cents. Learning how to save money and make more money changed my life. It allowed me to pay off $40,000 in student loans, start my own business, and I now travel full-time.

As Seen On

as seen on
How To Start A Blog
making sense of affiliate marketing for bloggers
My Monthly Online Income Reports
My Student Loans Are Gone - How I Paid Off $38,000 In Student Loans
How To Prevent Financial Fraud From Happening To You
Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
How To Make Money Blogging Picture
How To Save 50% Or More Of Your Income Picture
How I Graduated From College In 2.5 Years With 2 Degrees AND Saved $37,500
75+ Ways To Make Extra Money

 

HOME
ABOUT
CONTACT
FREE FB GROUP

PRIVACY POLICY
TERMS OF USE
DISCLAIMER / EARNINGS DISCLAIMER
Copyright © 2011 - 2023. All Rights Reserved.

© 2023 Making Sense of Cents
Design by Swoon & Co. Creative