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

Not to borrow money ! and to start saving straight away

Save 10% of your take home pay every month.

set a bit aside each month straight away so that you don't miss it and it can go into a savings account

I wish I had more of an understanding about debt issues and how credit cards and loans end up controlling you!

That if I'd have bought a property ten years earlier I would have been set for life!

invest in brick and mortar soon as you can.

How much house prices would increase. I would have bought a lot sooner.

to look after my pennies to make pounds would of been a valuable lesson then i wouldn't be in this mess

I wish I had learned to invest regularly into a monthly saving scheme and a regular pension plan.

On a family holiday aged around 10, I'd spent all my money at the end of the first week, whereas my sister still had all hers. My parents didn't feel sorry for me and give me more, just explained that I had a limited amount, and as I'd chosen to spend it all it was gone and if I couldn't buy things I wanted now it was tough! Very grateful they made me learn that lesson at 10...

I wish I had realised that I shouldn't use credit cards to buy things I don't really need. All paid off now but it can be a vicious spiral for some people.

I wish I was educated a bit more on the pros and cons of buying vs renting. I would have started saving earlier and then probably would have been in the position to buy when the time came to move out of my parents house rather than get stuck in what I feel is a rental trap as now we can't afford to save as much and it will take years for us to be ready to own a home.

I didn't save when I was younger and really wish I had. I wish I had known how expensive things are and when looking back I shudder to think of how much money I have wasted on disposable materialistic things.
My daughter has more money saved at her age than I did in my early 20s so I can only hope that my bad choices are something she can learn not to follow.

i wish i had known how to budget sooner

If you don't need it don't rush out and buy it

When we bought our first house we didn't think we could go above a certain figure. However, with the way house prices have risen over the past 15 to 20 years, we would have been better off 'stretching' our finances and buying a home more suitable to our needs.

To save a small amount each week or month

Household bills cost a lot more then you realise!

To be independent without the need of a man! Or anyone else for that matter.

To not take out a Lloyds Premier account as it was mis-sold to me. I was told it would improve my credit score at the time whilst I was trying to sort finances out after separation. After I was turned down for an overdraft and credit card several times and they even sent me an invitation to join their Lloyds Club Account and then rescinded it, I complained only to be told that I did not have a leg to stand on as I had activated the mobile phone cover (I was talked through it by their sales person there and then how to activate it even though I had cover through my mobile contract at the time) and because I made a one-off enquiry to see if my daughter was covered by their travel insurance (she wasn't), this all constitutes benefitting from the account. So it has cost me £900 for mobile insurance over 3 years. Could have got a brand new phone every year for that.

So what do I wish I had known, to read the small print as Lloyds mis-sell you products that you do not need and will never use. I reaped no benefits that an ordinary Classic account could have given me and only took it out on the advice of their staff.

The Omnibus Man hopefully will take a better view of my complaint.

Not to fall into spending on credit cards and the costly penalties that occur when your pyment is overdue. Don't spend what you don't have and save save save..I wish someone would have explained what ISAs are too. I still don't have a clue.

I wish I had known how easy it is to keep snowballing into debt once you start. Wish I had saved more when I was younger. The last 10 years would have been a completely different story

I wish I'd learned not to waste money on things I didn't need. Its taken me years to learn by mistakes and be really really careful with money choices! I still get caught out from time to time and it makes me cringe...like that dress I bought from the sale rail 2 years ago that is just that little bit tight and so has never been worn! Arghhhh!

I wish i'd known about ISAs

how expensive everything was when taken away from monthly income