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

Money management in all its forms. Wish we had been taught that as a subject at school rather than wasting time on subjects which would not be really beneficial in adulthood!

Wish I had known about council tax and bills in general. I was completely clueless about how much tax, water, gas, electric cost and also how to save money by using utilities wisely.

That anything too good to be true generally is and that you can get ripped off easily, if you try to make investments without professional advice!

Don't use a credit card to supplement your income as if you do need to borrow, you're living beyond your means

don't spend a fortune on things you don't need and save the money a deposit for a house and wedding!!

Make sure you have spare money stashed away in case of emergency (boiler breaking down, car repairs, new washing machine)

I wish I had saved for retirement, I will advise my little chap when the time comes to save for example £40 per month and then annually increase it by £10 a month so that the savings steadily grow, you get used to putting it aside and over the years it would build up to be a substantial amount.

I wish I'd known that, even though nobody who gets married is actually planning to get divorced, that sometimes that's just how it ends up. I'd have reigned in my then-husband's spending if I'd known what was going to happen.....

My parents always taught us to save but best of all they taught us how to budget. I wish I had been interested in all the different aspects of money when I was young to attain a better knowledge of achieving optimum performance.

Save 10% of what you earn - what you don't have, you don't miss

I wish we'd have a financial education workshop in school - I would do things so differently now if I had the knowledge then that I do now! SAVE would be the big one, especially when I was younger, working like an ox & frittering money away left, right & centre with nothing to show for it! Also other smaller things - like when I went to uni, I changed my address with my bank each time I moved house, not realising that this would affect my credit rating negatively - what I should have done is left my banking address as my parents address until I was in settled long-term accommodation as I was moving house every 6 months back then! I wish I had spent less on clothes over the years & been less frivolous when I started uni, I bought new clothes every week & would only wear them once! I love budgeting now, I feel like I understand money & how I can make things work for me - I get quite a buzz from living on a budget - but still love splurging on a credit card.. interest-free of course!!

Save as much as you can, don't spend on rubbish and do not use credit cards, luckily the damage I have done is very minor.

Start a pensions early
Buy a house as soon as you can (may not longer apply)
Don't borrow to buy anything that isn't going to gain value.

I wish I'd known how to save for a rainy day. I wish I had known that top brands are not always the best and I wish I had known you had to pay for gas, leccy, council tax, TV license amongst other things! Why did I think they came with the house!

Start saving sooner rather than later, even if it's just a little bit each month!

to save more money

Start saving early! Although my mistake has helped my daughter to recognise she needs to, so that's a plus from it :)

I wish I had known that by saving a significant portion of my income and investing it wisely, I could retire much earlier than everyone else,

I wish I had known that I would never be able to save enough to buy a house.

Not to trust Lloyds bank.

Money doesn't actually burn a hole in your pocket and savings aren't something that old people have, it's something I need to do myself. And also, don't spend what you don't have.

Always pay off the credit card asap

To save any money that is left at the end of the week, not think oh I've got some spare what shall I do with it.

APR's on loans and credit cards. I would have definitely shopped around for better deals instead of taking the first one offered.

To put a little away rather than spend it, it's common sense really but I didn't and learnt the hard way. It taught me a lesson though