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Money Advice I Would Tell My Younger Self

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 90 Comments

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I realize I’m still young since I am only 25 years old, but there are still several things I would tell my younger self about money.

I definitely was not great with money when I was younger. I made many money mistakes that led to me wasting thousands upon thousands of dollars. I cringe about the money I wasted, but I know that I learned from these mistakes and I am improving my financial life each and every day.

Everyone makes mistakes. The key is to learn from your mistakes and make an effort towards not making the same mistakes again. Dwelling in the past won’t fix anything, but it can be a good reminder so that you don’t fall victim to the same money mistakes over and over again.

Below are seven things I would tell my younger self:

 

1. Stop buying clothing!

I spent way too much money on clothing when I was younger. For the most part, they were all items I never even wore, or I only wore a few times.

A COMPLETE waste of money.

From about the ages of 16 to 21, I worked as a full-time retail store manager, which meant I was surrounded by clothing 40 hours each week. It was hard not to buy anything, and I often spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on clothing items each year that I did not need.

 

2. You don’t need a car that is worth more than your yearly income.

I made the ridiculous mistake of buying a nearly $25,000 car when I was just 18. I bought the car brand new, and while I thought I could “afford” the monthly payments, I definitely could not afford the overall purchase. It definitely was not worth it.

I should have been putting the money towards my student loans instead because that extra $400 a month could have been much better going towards debt.

 

3. You need a REAL budget.

I’ve always had something resembling a budget, but nothing that was useful. If I could, I would go back, sit myself down, and force myself to track my income and my spending. I’m sure if I would have actually tracked my ridiculous spending and had the amount in my face, I would have realized my mistake and hopefully changed my ways.

Instead, I ran away from the real numbers because I didn’t want to face my spending problem.

I made a “wishful” budget. Those do no one good if they aren’t based on actual spending.

 

4. You need to relax.

Even though I had a spending problem and I wasn’t doing anything to change it, I often felt guilty about anything money-related. I would analyze the littlest purchase, to the point where I would agonize about it and lose sleep over it.

I worked an insane amount when I was younger, and it made life hard. I used working as a way to cope with my dad passing, and when I think back about it, I realize how unhealthy that was.

Since I had such bad spending habits, I had to work as much as I could to make up for that. Whereas, if I would have just come up with a better budget, I could have worked much less.

I should have taken a break, relaxed a little, and spent less money so that I could have worked less. It would have been much better for my life overall.

 

5. Invest NOW.

We’ve always had retirement accounts, but didn’t aggressively invest or research any investments. Instead, we let most of our savings sit in low return accounts.

So much money wasted!

Read Why You Should Invest and Save For Retirement – Plus a Personal Finance Confession Fail.

 

6. Negotiate your salary.

I made the mistake of not negotiating any of my salaries when I was younger. I made okay income before, but I always just took what was given and never once questioned it.

I look back and sometimes wonder how much money I left on the table by not negotiating.

 

7. Skip the private university.

While I do still love the college I went to for my undergraduate degrees, I still cannot believe I spent so much money to go there. I had an almost full-ride to a state school, but decided not to go there because I didn’t think it was the best decision for me.

OH MY GOD.

Yeah, I just said that. I had the option to graduate with pretty much no student loans and my dumb self thought that wasn’t good enough because the private university had a great business program. However, now that I am older I realized that the small difference between the two wouldn’t have really mattered.

WHAT A MISTAKE!

What financial mistakes did you make when you were younger?

How much money did your mistakes cost you?

 

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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!

Comments

  3. diane @smartmoneysimplelife says

    I made lots of money related mistakes and I’m pretty sure there are more out there for me to make. By far the biggest money mistake I made was marrying the wrong man. Set me back financially at least 10 years. However, I never seemed to make the same one twice although… I’m not sure that’s anything to crow about.

    Basically, I learned everything the hard way but those lessons have definitely stuck.

    I guess sometimes you have to make the mistake to truly understand the value of the knowledge.

    Reply

  4. Young Millennial says

    Negotiating a salary is hard but it is a conversation you need to have with your superiors. Once had mine, I like to think that higher-ups started to respect me more as a younger engineer. It shows that you know how much you are actually worth…if the salary request is realistic.

    Reply

  6. Will @firstqfinance says

    I too went private – that was probably a mistake. The school helped me network with alumni far more than a larger school likely would have – and that networking got me a good job. But if I had to do it again, I would spend less on my education.

    And sorry to hear about your car being so expensive! Hopefully it was a cool car, at least!

    Reply

  7. Veronica Lee says

    #1 is spot on! But then again, you only live once!. As I grow older, I kinda regret I didn’t wear the clothes that I could have worn when I had the body for it.

    Reply

  8. Mrs. Frugalwoods says

    My advice to my younger self would be to 1) worry less–things will work out or they won’t and either way, worrying won’t help (maybe I should give that advice to my current self…) and 2) track your spending! I would just earn money at my high school and college jobs and then spend it. I was pretty frugal, but, I never sat down and tracked what my money was doing. I probably could’ve saved a lot more had I done that! Oh and 3) stop buying clothes :)!!!

    Reply

  13. Brian @ Debt Discipline says

    I wish I could tell my younger self to spend less then you make and have a plan. I left college with no debt and proceeded to rack up over $100k over the next 20 years. Glad to be debt free now, but so wish I start back then.

    Reply

  14. anna pry says

    oh dear, it makes me sick to think about all the money i wasted back then, especially on clothes! i could have saved a huge nest egg if i’d been smarter with my money

    Reply

  15. Anton Ivanov says

    I always love reading these types of posts 🙂 #1 made me laugh and I’d say that #5 is the most important one. What’s up with so many people waiting until they are in their 40s or 50s to start investing?!

    Reply

  16. cece says

    I know many people who regret their expensive private school education just a bit. I went UC and at the time it felt boring and totally sad to be staying so close to home but in the end I’m so glad I went that route. I would have spent less money on shopping. What’s the point? It’s just clothes. I’ve definitely put the breaks on shopping this year. I NEED to invest more aggressively but I’m scared.

    Reply

  17. Wendy@BlushandBarbells says

    My biggest mistake was thinking that I couldn’t afford to save. Just 5% of my paychecks wouldn’t have been missed, and I would have had all that compound interest!

    Reply

  18. Amy says

    Don’t listen to that girl who told you, “You know, you don’t have to pay your full credit card balance every month.” Worst.Advice. Ever.

    Reply

  20. Andrew@LivingRichCheaply says

    Hey at least you got a employee discount right? =) I invested right after I got out of college but did waste some money chasing hot stock picks…it was more gambling than investing. Luckily I did put money into IRA/401K also, and didn’t put too much into individual stocks.

    Reply

  22. J says

    My biggest mistakes were spending money on clothing, and not thinking that saving was important. I’d put a little in a separate savings fund, but I never thought long-term. That was for shopping or entertainment that I was bound to indulge in even thought it was entirely unnecessary!
    Great post – I think my younger self would have benefitted a lot from hearing from you as well!

    Reply

  23. Brian @ Luke1428 says

    I would have told myself to a) not chase after the quick money certain investing strategies promise and b) pursue a degree in personal finance. That seems to fit much better with where my attention is now. But no regrets…always moving forward. 🙂

    Reply

  24. Kara Bissonnette says

    I’ve made the mistake of spending lots of money on cheap clothes vs. buying fewer high quality pieces that would last much longer! Also buying a new car when I didn’t need one. The list goes on and on!

    Reply

  25. Jayleen Zotti says

    It would be hard to work in retail and not buy! I think the biggest mistake we made as a young married couple was selling our duplex instead of keeping it as a rental. It was a bit of a headache but it would have been a great supplemental income!

    Reply

  27. Jason B says

    I made a few mistakes. One was spending that I didn’t have. Another one was just paying the minimum on credit card bills. Those are 2 of the reasons I’m in debt now.

    Reply

  28. Kayla @ Shoeaholicnomore says

    I spent too much on clothes too. Shopping was my coping mechanism after my divorce. I still struggle with shopping for clothes, etc now it’s better than it was before. Slow progress is progress. I have to keep reminding myself of that.

    Reply

  29. dojo says

    The biggest one: getting a huge car loan 6 years ago. Fortunately I was able to pay if off, but it was soooo painful 😀

    Reply

  31. Dan @ Our Big Fat Wallet says

    Negotiating for a higher salary is something most people (including myself) don’t do – especially when starting out. I wish I would have done that as it is a starting point on what you’ll make for years to come, so its a lot more important than people think

    Reply

  32. Syed says

    It is sometimes comical to me how little I knew about money during college. I know it’s a result of a lot of reading that I know what I know now, but even knowing a little bit more would have helped me a lot. I think the best piece of advice is to invest early. Time is on your side, and with that you can make some mistakes and still recover and aso have more time to allow your gains to grow.

    Reply

  35. Beth Anne says

    I agree with all of these! I’m not even a big clothes person but every few months I go through my closet and think man this shirt looked prettier on the hanger or I’ve barely worn this shirt! I’m getting ready to move and doing a MAJOR DECLUTTERING I have soo much stuff I don’t even use!

    I totally agree on budgeting I was scared to know now I’m glad I know even though I sometimes go over budget.

    Reply

  39. Vanessa says

    Love this post! Don’t we all have those moments where we just have to throw our hands in the air and be like, “what was I thinking?” I personally regret a lot of clothing and makeup purchase. The issue I am still struggling with is asking for a raise, heck, even just negotiate for a better salary in an interview. It’s tough and I am still trying to learn!

    Reply

  40. Anna Marie M. says

    Learning from mistakes will make us grow. I wish I’d save all my money before but that’s life.

    Thanks for this post though. It made me get back to the past and realize not to get back on the current or in the future.

    Reply

  41. Christine @ The Wallet Diet says

    If you didn’t know me in high school, you would never believe that I had short, spiked pink hair and over 20 piercings (times have REALLY changed!). I spent thousands of dollars on those two things alone. I wish I could have told myself that by 21, I would be back to natural brown and have only my ear lobes pierced 🙂

    Reply

  42. John says

    Awesome post!! When you begin investing from a young age you are only setting yourself up for success later down the road. Also, I think that everyone could agree that too much money is spent on clothing when you’re young. Thanks for the read.

    John

    Reply

  43. Beth Anne says

    That seems cheap for rent. Do you wished you had just had a roommate or lived at home instead? I don’t know I wish I could have not had to live at home the few years out of college.

    Reply

  45. Jennifer Powell says

    I can remember I used to buy a lot of clothing and that is the only financial mistake I made when I was young. Now I do not make this mistake often.

    Reply

  47. Joseph Hogue says

    Way too much deja vu here with the mistakes I’ve made. I guess we all make them.

    The biggest one I see is waiting to invest. Too many people wait to be completely debt-free to start investing in their future. Spending is way too much fun and way too easy. Most will never be completely debt-free and that’s ok as long as its manageable and not high interest rate debt. Putting off investing until you’re debt-free just means you’ll never have a nest egg.

    Great post.

    Reply

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