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.

"You can only spend it once". It was my Gran's saying and I'm using it a lot at the moment.

This in spades

To not give answers for free to lazy journalists trawling parenting sites in the name of "research"

It’s cheaper to stay the same size than to have a fluctuating body shape and have to buy a whole new wardrobe.

If you wouldn’t buy it at full price (or would want it but not be able to afford it at full price), don’t get it on offer.

have an “on fuck” fund.

NEVER have a joint account - no matter how much you love your partner.

Make sure you're married before you start having babies.

Never lend money to people. They will hate you for it and eventually you will lose both the money and the relationship.

A partner who gets into serious debt and hides it from you for as long as possible will do it again. And again. All the tears and the promises mean nothing. Some people just can’t handle credit cards or manage money and it happens with high earners too.

That if you are not born with wealth you are screwed in Britain.

Not quite what you were looking for I feel, op, but all too true. Working gets you nowhere here.

Never accept a role that requires a lot of unpaid overtime/work scheduled outside of paid work hours that “will be reflected in your bonus” - get paid for that or TOIL.

Never give your bank card and PIN to a friend, asking them to get some cash out for you. Even someone you think you know well.
A man we used to know took £300 from DH's bank account when DH had a broken leg and couldn't get to the bank (I was working away).
The man tried to pretend that the machine had made a mistake. Yeah, right.

Turning down 10k on Deal or no Deal and going home with £50 in my early 20s 😂.

Also, being short sighted with regards to savings after having my first DC. We would spend little and often - it eventually crept up on us and now we have no savings at the worst possible time. The second maternity leave wipes us out. I regret that we spent so much on toys after having my first too - we now don't have the space for it all and have realised that most of it barely gets any use. We try to buy second hand now but we are mostly going without anything other than food and bills because of the current financial climate. It's a tough transition.

Never rely on a man financially. I stupidly assumed that because I financially supported my ex after he resigned he would support me and our baby for 6 months before I could go back to work.

I'm now obsessively independent.

BTW - for everyone saying that this thread was started by a lazy journalist - I doubt it. It is incorrect to write "in regards to". There should be no 's' appended. A journalist would know this.

Trust no-one. Especially not retail banks.

Be very wary of 0% offers on credit cards.

Don’t enter into a deal you don’t understand - looking at you, lease contracts on cars.

Maximise your income, minimise your expenditure.

Trust no-one.

Never lend money you can’t afford to lose.

Don’t lend people money…

OP @Cupcakeicecream has a habit of starting threads like this and then never returning to them,

That being asked to openly and honestly managing a family budget well for over 20 years in marriage is labelled a controlling behaviour when divorcing.

Don't get in the habit of paying every time you go out with an unemployed friend. You think you're being kind, but they think you're a mug.

It doesn't take them long to feel entitled to you paying, and woe betide you if something happens and you can't afford to any more.

Don’t date or marry someone unemployed.

Never lend money to friends

I got a mortgage for 300k and have never had a credit card.

A sensibly used credit card is not a bad thing.

agree about the man though!

Credit cards give extra insurance for purchases, even if you only put some of the payment on them.