What Financial Advice Would You Like to Give Yourself As a Young Man?
There are many things I would do differently, in terms of money, right after college. I stayed longer in my first apartment, which was further away from work, but $ 400 a month cheaper than the smaller and dirtier place I moved to shortly after arriving in New York. I would take the time to find out about the benefits of commuting earlier and I would switch my bank account earlier (in fact, I would advise my younger self to do more research on bank accounts, fees and credit cards before moving on to that).
But I would have started earlier. I would tell me in high school to stop spending all the money I earned from part-time jobs (I worked at Arby’s for three years, and yes, I still like food) and put it aside for college. I would accept my dad’s offer to subscribe to a popular personal finance magazine instead of rolling my eyes, and perhaps even consider taking the basic economics course offered in high school.
I tell myself to stop comparing the amount of money in my bank account to friends who were able to live at home after graduation, and to be more grateful for the benefits I have instead of stressing over appearances. I wish my 22-year-old would stop feeling guilty about working overtime for a few hours in her internship and encourage her to stay even longer – a time and a half is a blessing. I would remind junior that my editors probably didn’t care about my wardrobe the way I thought, and I would have survived with fewer sweaters and buttons. I definitely wouldn’t go to this trendy gym, which I rarely went to for a year (and would definitely read the auto-renewal clause more carefully).
I made a food budget and stuck to it, and I told myself to spend the money on weekend trips to see a good friend I’ve lost touch with since then – it was worth it.
And you? What would you say to yourself when you were young about money?