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MNHQ

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

429 replies

AngelieMumsnet · 02/10/2015 15:38

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

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
OP posts:
glennamy · 12/10/2015 13:16

I wish I had not applied for a credit card as it was very easy just to use it whilst not thinking about repaying it. After I cleared the balance I destroyed the card and now only spend what I can afford to, which has made me a better saver!

amusedchrissy · 12/10/2015 13:27

Save every month. Don't wait until you earn more because it never gets easier.

purpleluvbug · 12/10/2015 13:29

I really wish I'd known how hard it is to get out of debt. I also wish I was taught how to budget at school. It is very daunting havng all this money, and not knowing how to use it.

sofieellis · 12/10/2015 13:40

I wish I'd known that it wasn't compulsory to go out every single night at university (I might have done better with my degree, as well as not incurring huge debts, if I'd realised this!).

I wish I'd known that I didn't need all those new things: TVs, stereos, carpets, curtains, furniture etc when I bought my first house. I could have waited and saved for things instead of paying for everything on credit cards to get them straight away.

I wish I'd been told to save for a rainy day, it would have been useful once our children were born and we went from two incomes to one.

I wish I'd known that the Citizen's Advice Bureau could help us to resolve our debt problems, a lot sooner than we did. They were fantastic and took charge of all our debts, negotiating re-payments we could afford and letting us sleep properly for the first time in years.

Neither myself nor DH had ever had any financial advice from family. We didn't have a clue and debts spiralled out of control to the point that we were doing our weekly food shopping on credit cards, because we couldn't afford it any other way. It was terrifying and depressing and I wish we had known that we would eventually be able to get back in the black and even have some savings.

I really think the basics of personal finance should be taught to all secondary school students. I think it would have made a huge difference to our lives if we had some earlier advice.

bridge16 · 12/10/2015 13:58

I wish i had put even a small amount away each month in an account i couldnt touch for 5 years and managed to save something from those years of partying and spending a fortune on nights out and clothes!!

ann28 · 12/10/2015 14:06

make sure you save a bit every month, it soon adds up.

pixelwife · 12/10/2015 14:06

I learned the power of compound interest quite early and overpaid my mortgage from the start which allowed me to quickly move up the property ladder and gave me lots of breathing space when the recession reduced my self employed income for quite a while.

diane56 · 12/10/2015 14:09

Wish i'd known more about shopping round for better isa rates.

MAT12 · 12/10/2015 14:14

The actually amount of different bills you will have and an estimate of the cost of each yearly/ mothly e,g gas/electricity/poll tax/tv licence and all the rest. At least then you dont have any surprises and you can balance your money

pipersky · 12/10/2015 14:17

I wish I'd known how important it was to train - I was keen to earn money as soon as possible and so didn't realise my potential :)

clarem100 · 12/10/2015 14:21

you will put the heating on much later than you did when you weren't paying for it

beckyinman · 12/10/2015 14:26

Don't get a credit card - save for the things you want it is much more rewarding

annarack99 · 12/10/2015 14:28

never borrow money, then you will never be in debt, simple but true

Gilla01 · 12/10/2015 14:55

I'd like to have kept more control of my money.

Children need to be taught that we don't have an inexhaustable money mine.

feeona123 · 12/10/2015 15:16

I wish I had bought a house! When I was uni I could have probably afforded a small mortgage but it wasn't something I was interested in. The prices rocketed and I missed out on getting a cheap deal.

Oh well at have a nice house and a nice mortgage now!

gholmes724 · 12/10/2015 15:18

Unless it's life or death never use credit.

Funkyferret · 12/10/2015 15:28

Credit cards aren't "free money" Thankfully I learned this really quickly and didn't get into trouble but no one at home or at school had explained the way they work. Also, don't be too trusting - those fellow students or workmates frequently have no intention of paying you back that £20 you loaned to them!

ImmortalBeloved72 · 12/10/2015 15:32

Not to marry a man who would take it all off you

loubrow · 12/10/2015 15:49

Not to spend it as soon as I have it, and to be sensible and save some for emergencies.

farhanac · 12/10/2015 16:27

Never trust banks and financial institutions, their interests are not aligned with yours.

starlight68 · 12/10/2015 16:44

Save even just a small amount whenever you can as it will come in useful for a rainy day. Things may seem years away now but before you know it you'll be wishing you had some savings put aside for things.

JoJoY · 12/10/2015 16:47

I wish I'd known that lots of money would disappear from my pay slip - tax, NI etc. It was a rather big shock!!

FreckledLeopard · 12/10/2015 16:51

I wish I had realised that the years of easy credit in the early 00's were not as benign as they seemed, and that one ending up in a pile of debt was frighteningly easy to do and hard to emerge from.

I'd like to have saved more when younger and really understood how budgeting worked. I definitely relied on my mother to bail me out (which she did, many times, as did my friends' parents).

I'm trying to teach DD to save rather than spend and to budget.

lindseystuart85 · 12/10/2015 17:03

I wish I had been made pay digs whilst I stayed with my parents, I was very cocky getting my own home and got a HUGE shock when I had the responsibility of paying bills and food shopping
I would have loved to have been able to save when i was young but i was never good at saving until I realised (at the age of 19) the importance of money.
I am now settled and am good with my money but i learnt the hard way.
I think advise when you are young is brilliant and every 16 year old that works and stays at home with parents should be made contribute in some way.

carolacr · 12/10/2015 17:13

I think you should learn all about finances at school, you can learn to cook, make a metal candle holder! make a wooden keyring! learn french/german, write a poem, find your way around the world, see which royal was on the throne many centuries ago, Learn parts of the body, how to use a bunsen burner, and physics!!!!! but you are not shown how to manage money, pay bills etc. I think every pupil should have finance lessons.