What's a lesson you learn the hard way in regards to money and finances

[Cupcakeicecream]

What's a lesson you learn the hard way in regards to money and finances.

Don't try to day trade shares when you are not in the industry...

Never let a family member convince you to put an asset up as security for them to consolidate their debts in a new loan.

We came so close to doing this, had a bit of pressure from the MIL to help SIL out but at the last minute I said no. SIL then apparently had a friend in the Bank who wrote her a new loan using false info and she got the loan that way. 6 months later she had increased her debts again and filed for bankrupcy. the Bank was left owed quite a bit of money and I believe the friend was investigated.

Pay day loans. Too forever to break the cycle

Get rid of an overdraft (better still don’t get one at age 18 with a student account on advice from your mum). I saved so much in overdraft fees and feeling crappy when I got paid it meant I was in the black and not still in the red..

Also..Buy the smallest house you need, drive the smallest car you can however people may find it strange or unnecessary I was able to thankfully work part time when I got poorly mentally and be able to spend more time with my son however reading all this about pensions means I’m probablyfucked- I’m 34 and it’s the worst possible time..😳I’m trying not to live paycheckto pay check which is given me a new thread idea I really need some wisdom on this..

thankyou for all your valuable experience I’ve learn a lot from this thread, thankyou

If you get divorced, make sure your or your new partner's ex can't creep out of the woodwork ten or more years after splitting up and demand half their earnings and half of what the ex marital home is worth. GET PROPER LEGAL ADVICE ASAP

To dump the bloke who constantly 'forgets' his wallet & doesn't believe in engagement rings.

My mother and father also took this view - had lots of good holidays etc - but don't assume the kids will get the house, care home fees swallow the capital from the sale of the family home in a couple of years. Maybe best to downsize or sell up and rent sheltered housing while you are 'young retired' if you want to avoid this scenario. Seems to be the only way round it.

There are exceptions IMO. If the credit is 0%, I take it because the money is better in my account earning interest over the time I pay off the balance. I only do that if I can afford to pay for the item up front though. I guess the exception to that might be for a needed car (or a house of course) when a person might not have that chunk of money available.

OK, the advice should be that buying on a credit CARD is different from buying ON CREDIT?

Debt, debt and debt again.

We spent beyond our means for about two or three years. Then missed a payment and got a marginally bad credit rating.

This meant we couldn't get a mortgage and that meant we couldn't buy a house for a long time.

We had then missed the housing market boat (as was).

We painstakingly paid it all back over many years. Our earnings were low but our standard of living was even lower while we climbed out of the debt.

Its never worth getting into more debt than you can afford to pay off, it's a prison. 😢

Never buy on credit. Like, ever. If you cannot afford it upfront you can’t afford it.
I disagree.
I am about to buy a new roads bike for £3,500. I am buying it interest free. I've git the money in the bank to do a transfer if I want but I may as well keep my money there and ha e the benefit of it and pay some each month that I would barely notice coming out of my wages. Seems to make sense to me.

Never sell your house, that you worked so hard for to provide a decent home for your children after coming from nothing, for a dream move abroad to try to give them an even better life. Lose all your money in the process and have to come back with a suitcase each, not even bedding or cutlery to your name, then have to rent for the rest of your life as you could never afford to save enough to get back on the housing ladder!

I echo 95% of the comments which are all very illuminating and underline how money, having it or losing it, can have the most profound impact on your life. Some sad illustrations and some great advice.

This right here is all the advice you need about adulting

@Blueisthecolour1 buying with a credit card rather than cash/debit card is important for protection under consumer credit act eg. if the retailer goes bust and you haven't received your goods such as the recent example with made.com going bust and people had paid for but not received their furniture. If you had paid in cash you have lost your money, with a credit card you would get a refund. I would say always use a credit card.

Hahaha.

Have you seen any Daily Fail/any red top newspaper articles recently?

A lot of their 'journalists' can barely spell, and certainly struggle to string a reasonable sentence together.

I echo much of the above. My first husband abused me in every way. The financial abuse was the hardest to recover from.

@ChillyFingers Gosh, what rotten luck!

^This. Use cash then you'll only spend what you have.

Have a budget spreadsheet- mark every purchase on it to really see what you are spending on day to day stuff.
I buy majority of stuff on a cash back credit card but only ever get a credit card if you pay in full every month.

Quite.

One I recently learnt even though I rent so technically it's not my money.

When you have a leak in your house, get it fixed ASAP don't do what my letting agency did and ignore the problem for 12 months because it turns into a even bigger leak and even when you think it's fixed it's bloody not!

Back in 1989 I had an savings account where you needed to give three months notice to get the money out and I didn't !
I lost a fair chunk of the interest ;(

This. And also keep your own work career going during a relationship.

That’s different. You can afford the bike you are just manipulating your money to best financial advantage. OP is making the point around buying on the “never never” as it used to be called. Borrowing money because you don’t have it.