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

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.

Sign in to post a comment.

---

Sign In

---

Martin Aliana @alianamartin9863

dude, this hit way too hard. i literally did the exact same thing - got my first "real" job at 22 and immediately signed a lease on an apartment i could barely afford bc i thought that's what adults do. that credit card spiral is no joke, took me like 4 years to dig out of it. the part about nobody talking about the debt though... that's the realest thing. half my friends were probably in the same boat and we were all just pretending. wish i'd seen this 10 years ago lol
16 days ago

---