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

about loans, fees, interest, repayment periods, that the total repayable is actually more important than the quoted interest rate

I did make an effort to save & set up a standing order when I first started work, just wished I'd saved more!

I wish I'd known to save, but I'm not sure I would have listened anyway.
:)

That it is possible to have fun and save money at the same time!

I wish id have known more about money 'jargon' ... all the ins and outs of credit cards, finance packages etc. No one teaches you that stuff but in life its what is important.

I wish I had understood the true cost of credit cards/store cards/loans. Instead I took them all and was knee deep in debt within a few years. When you're 18 and every financial institution wants to give you money, you take it! It didn't help when banks would happily lend me twice my annual salary in an unsecured loan on top of existing card debt and overdraft.

That yes a dear old friend was right about not getting a Credit card

I wish I had saved earlier and not had loans and been able to use the miracle of compound interest. I wish I had known more about mortgages and how much money could be saved by paying off early. I wish I had the confidence to ask for more money and go for higher paying roles - it is much easier to save on a bigger salary!

I wish schools taught money management - I can't think of a more important subject but NOTHING is ever taught.

I should've got a pension in my 20s, saved every spare penny and set aside money for tax (freelancer).

Buy life insurance/critical illness insurance when you're young and it's cheap and you can take out a large sum.

Every so often keep a record of every single penny you spend/what your DD/SO are. Always thought I knew exactly what I was spending, you'll always be surprised at how much it is and where you can save.

Always take money out to a savings account on pay day. Took me years to convince DH we needed to so it, and not just "not spend it" and hope it was there stil in the current account at the end of the month.

Life might be great now, and you can afford expensive clothes/Starbucks every day but one accident can make it go tits up. Always try and have 6 months worth of mortgage payments in the savings.

Never to spend everything on credit cards. Saw this happen to friends and the mess it made.

It is cheaper to cook healthy from scratch than pay for pre prepared foods

I wish I had realised that some months are longer than others, and to budget accordingly!
And obviously that no matter how small the contribution, savings and a pension are essential.

I wish that someone had told me to save when I first left university and had a great job with lots of disposable income. I frittered so much on shoes, bags and clothes which don't even fit post baby. I wish I had saved so that now I have children I had a nest egg as it's much much harder to find spare money to set aside and save now

I wish I'd known more about how to save and invest. I never got into debt by airways spent what I had, and it would have been good to even put 20.00 a week into an account or an investment, ISA etc. My Dh sorted me out when we got married, but i feel like I wasted a lot of money just by not being wise with saving and investing.

I wish I'd understood more about investments. I used to save £1000 a month into my current account which I'm sure could have been better invested elsewhere.

I'm popping back to second wishing having known more about investments. I wish we could have had a course of lessons in not only managing money but how to invest in stocks, shares, and understanding the markets, how to apply and get mortgages, what % to save for a period of unemployment, how to choose a pension..

Like everyone else, I wish I had started saving earlier, and into an account that I couldn't touch. The folly of youth and all that . . .

How to do a proper budget and little things like structuring your payments so all bills go out at the beginning of the month.

Oh yes, and lump any savings out of your current account asap in the month. I find I am much more likely to not spend it then.

I was completely hopeless with money when I first left home. Had one of the first Barclaycards with a £200 limit(!) and just spent it. No real thought that I should pay it back. Got into more and more of a muddle from there :( I wish I had sat down and thought through how to budget, that I didn't need all those things I bought and that rent and bills do need to be paid :(

I wish I had known that you set up a standing order into a savings account for the moment you got paid. If you can't see the money you are less likely to spend it.

Don't get a credit card. Don't spend it until you have it.

I was lucky as I had very financially savvy parents who taught me well.

I do wish I'd known earlier that owning a house is like painting the Fourth Bridge - spending on it never seems to end and when you think you're done, you're back round again to re-doing the first thing you did..

I wish that I had got on the property ladder a few years earlier - we rented a flat for years and could have bought instead. Also, I used to buy a lot more branded food than I do nowadays, I look on that as wasted money. I've never regretted any money spent on holidays - I have the memories of different places I have travelled and enjoy thinking back on those.

I wish that I'd listened to my grandparents, and not lived beyond my means when I was in my 20's. Life then for me was just about living for today and damn the consequences, I ended up in massive debt, then lost my job, and it took me years to get back on track, I couldn't even get a bank account! Now, like my grandparents did, if I can't afford it, I go without! :)

I think it would be great to understand from a young age how difficult it is to get a mortgage if you have limited savings. Having this understanding might encourage people to save from a younger age so they will be in a better financial position later on