What do you wish you’d known when you first became financially independent? Tell Lloyds Bank for a chance to win a £300 voucher! NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

Lloyds Bank have asked us to find out what Mumsnetters wish they had known about personal finances when they first became financially independent.

So, what do you wish you'd known? Maybe you didn't quite appreciate how expensive buying a house would be. Maybe you didn't think about saving when you were younger. Perhaps you wish you'd known how best to invest your savings. Or did you find it all quite easy? We'd love to hear your stories!

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 Love2Shop voucher!

Thanks
MNHQ

To open a savings account and make sure you start your pension as soon as you are able to. My not seem important when starting work but the earlier you start a pension plan the better. Don't get a credit card unless you can afford to pay bill At end of each month.

Don't stay with the same insurance company, switch to save money. I stayed years with the same company thinking loyalty means cheaper deals but it turned out it wasn't.

I wish had of put money aside for a pension and also not spent beyond my means

I wish I had started my pension and personal savings earlier. I also wish I would have shopped around more for general items and utilities - I do now!

I wish i'd known to save some money each month, and also how expensive general everyday living can be.

How to budget!

I wish I'd saved harder and joined my pension scheme earlier....I must be getting old!!!

That your in work and before you know it a reccession is only just around the corner and no work equalls no money. So put some away and wait for that new impulse purchase

That it would be wise to make investments for the future rather than spending everything you have at the time.Even saving/investing small amounts will bring security in later life :)

That I should have save as much as I could afford from the time I started earning money

to start saving from the moment you get your first job it gets you in the habbit

to have a better understanding of money in general- savings accounts interest, credit card repayments etc!

aaaah! i had so much spare money back then! I wish I had bought a house by myself, the one i paid £115,000 for only cost about £8,000 in the early 1980's its shocking how much they have gone up in price. I could have bought about four I reckon if I had a bit of common sense!

Instead I went out every night (only stayed in on Wednesday nights and that was to do ironing etc)! Its no wonder my younger years flew by!

I wish I'd known how hard it would become to get on the property ladder. I wish I'd had the sense to start saving for the future when I first started work.

I have always been financially aware as I worked in finance for over 28 years but it's important to encourage youngsters starting work to try & save 10% of their salary each month so they can build up a deposit for when they want to buy a house. If you pretend that 10% doesn't exist you get used to not having it

Wish i had known how to budget for essentials instead of squandering it on payday.

to put a small amouht of money aside in a savings account or ISA. it really helps when you have something to fall back onto in times of financial hardship

If you have spare money save it, don't spend!

There are a lot more bills than just rent and food.
Plan out what money needs to come out before you plan what you are going to spend your next paycheck on lol

I wish id known how to budget better and realise how expensive general household bills were!! I had no idea about council tax and thought having my heating on all day, everyday would be fine!!
Getting paid monthly was so exciting when i was getting my first ever wage slips, i would squander it all so easily and so quickly not realising i needed something to live on the other 3 weeks!!!!! xxx

I wish I'd known how to budget effectively.

When I first started working, I was living in the Nurses' Home, and my rent and utilities were taken out of my wages before I got them, so all I had to pay for was food, entertainment, clothes, books, travel etc - and I always ended up with the 'too much month left at the end of the money' situation.

We even had a weekend called 'cheque bouncing weekend' - this was in the days before debit cards ([old gimmer emoticon]), and as we got paid on a Wednesday, we knew that any cheques we wrote on the Saturday didn't get cashed until we'd been paid, so we'd go out the weekend before payday, and go shopping with our chequebooks.

I wish I had known to keep old of paperwork relating to financial matters. With mis-selling scandals of endowments, mortgages, packaged accounts, insurance........... I'd be rich if I had all the details.

i wish i had known about interest rates

I wish I had known not to buy my first home during 2007/2008 and wait for the forthcoming crash just months later!