What’s the Biggest Lesson You Learned About Money in 2019?
You may have already started thinking about where 2019 has taken you and what you want to focus on in 2020. You are planning a trip, or figuring out how to get back to the gym regularly, or thinking about starting a hobby. … But have you thought about your money?
When I started writing about money for Lifehacker back in May, I introduced myself by asking you two questions . I wanted to know the best you have done for your money so far in 2019, and I wanted to know what you wanted to know about money here at Two Cents.
Many, many responses have shown how much you care about improving your financial situation, whether you focus on savings, whether you start investing, or think about how to take care of your children’s education. And it showed me how much you want to continue to learn about how to best manage your money.
So, since the end of the year has arrived in a few short weeks, I want to return to the original discussion. Think back to all of 2019: what you bought, what you didn’t buy, what you messed up, what you messed up, but figured out how to fix it before it cost you.
I don’t expect you to have a bunch of financial decisions; and I don’t expect you to get involved in the New Year’s promises at all.
But if you’re ready to share (again or for the first time), I have two questions for you:
1. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned about money this year? How did you apply it to your financial situation?
2. What do you want to improve in your finances next year?
First, I’ll tell you what I learned this year. And damn it is boring: I learned how important it is to have a large fat fund in case of an emergency.
In October, I had to go to the emergency room for something that luckily turned out to be minor. Then, a few weeks after I went to the ambulance, I had a car accident. I was fine, but my car ended up malfunctioning. This was my first new car, and I had been paying for it months before. I absolutely loved life without paying for a car.
And suddenly I felt like I was caught in an expensive spiral of failure. Between co-payments and medical check-ups, my insurance did not cover the full amount, I paid about $ 1000 for follow-up visits and tests. And although my insurance company wrote me a good check for the value of my car, I knew that I would still have to pay a few thousand dollars to get another set of wheels (but this time a used one).
My emergency fund saved the day over and over again. I was suddenly so glad that I never succumbed to the temptation to pull all this money out of my high-yield savings account and use it to fund my ever-dwindling student loan balance.
Resisting the urge to get my money to do something instead of sitting and getting ready, I defended my monthly budget.
When asked in the emergency department for a way to pay for my copay, I didn’t think twice before opening my wallet (although physically it took me a minute). When my instinct told me to wait a few weeks before buying a new car, I went out and bought a bike and a new helmet so I could get around the neighborhood. And so on, until everything returned to normal.
Of course, it won’t surprise you now that my goal for 2020 is to back up my emergency fund while continuing to work towards my debt repayment goal. But seeing the power of my emergency fund, I was convinced once and for all of its importance.
But enough about me. Tell me about yourself. What did you find out? How did you know that? What do you want to do with (or for) your money in 2020?