Oh absolutely, my biggest regret was what I call "lifestyle inflation...

Bumpus Bellamy
@bellamybumpus9128
2 days ago

Oh absolutely, my biggest regret was what I call "lifestyle inflation without a safety net." I got a decent job right out of college, maybe $45k, which felt like a fortune after being a broke student. So I immediately upgraded everything: nicer apartment, car payment, eating out constantly. I thought I was "adulting" by spending like the people around me who had been working for years. But I was saving absolutely nothing. Then my car broke down, and I had to put the repair on a credit card because my emergency fund was exactly zero dollars. That debt spiraled for years because I never cut back my lifestyle to pay it off.

What I wish I had learned was that your 20s are the perfect time to build a simple, boring financial foundation. You don't need to be a stock market whiz. You need an automated transfer of 10% of every paycheck into a savings account you don't touch, and a clear, written budget for the rest. I also wish someone had warned me that "keeping up with friends" on trips and dinners is a trap. Most of them were going into debt too, and none of us were talking about it. If I could go back, I'd live like a grad student for two more years and bank that difference. Future you will be so grateful.