Money Mistakes to AVOID in your 20's

Your 20’s are the time that you’re starting to figure it all out. You’re graduating university and if you’re lucky, you might just find yourself with your first, full time job.
Which means you’re probably earning more money then you’ve ever earnt before.. what could go wrong?!

Welcome to your 20's

If you’re going to make money mistakes, now is probably the time you’re going to do so.
Educating yourself on these mistakes and taking steps to avoid them can be the difference between financial security, and living pay check to pay check. it could be the difference between buying, and renting.
Let’s get straight into it.

If you can’t afford it don’t buy it.
I’m talking Afterpay, and I’m talking credit cards.
Do yourself a favour, and never open an afterpay account. Having something like this encourages you to spend money you don’t have. If you want to buy a $200 dress, but you only have $100 in your bank account, it might seem reasonable to pay this dress off over 4 weeks at $50 a week, but you’ve essentially just put yourself into $100 of debt.
If you can’t afford it. Don’t buy it.

Newer doesn’t equal better
Don’t upgrade your iphone purely because a new version came out. Your iphone 8 works perfectly fine. Don’t buy yourself out of your existing contract and pay hundreds of dollars just to upgarde.
Wait out your contract, and upgrade when it’s finished and it wont cost you extra.

Lifestyle inflation babyyyy
Ever heard of her? Lifestyle inflation is where you start upping your spending habits because your income has increased. If you’ve gone from 25k a year to 50k a year, suddenly you have 25k extra than you never had before, so you can spend that, right?!
Absolutely not. Live within your means. You lived on 25k a year just fine. Continue doing this and save that extra money. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.

Never learning to invest
I grew up in a household that didn’t invest. I learnt everything I know today from YouTube (thank you Graham Stephan)
Now in saying that, I’ve only been investing for one year, and so far I’ve only invested $450. But in doing this I’ve learnt the basics and seen what positive returns it can have. In one year I’ve made $50 worth of returns. Image what another 30 years will do! Take the time to educate yourself, download a micro investing app and dip your toes in.

Understand where your money is going
I track my entire income through google sheets. Everytime I make money, be it from my full time job, YouTube, selling a jumper on Depop, I log it into google sheets.
I can see exactly how much money I’ve made each month, and let me tell you this is going to be SO HANDY when I finally buy a house. I’ll know how much I can spend on my mortgage because I know my average monthly income.
I also challenge you to see what you’re spending your money on. Track everything you buy (even if it’s just for a week). You’ll be surprised how quickly those $15 snack hauls from the grocery storeadd up. It’s truely eye opening, but you need to be self aware of what you’re spending your money on, and chances are, you’ll find something you can cut down on.

Set clear goals and challenges
I know I want to put a downpayment on a house. I have a goal of saving a minimum of $50k. So when I’m bored and browsing Princess Polly and fill my cart up to $200 worth of cute clothing, I remember that that $200 could be spent on these pieces of clothes, or I could put that towards my house deposit which will be so much more fulfilling in the long run.. *empties cart*
I have another goal. I want to have a $5000 month. Now I’ve worked out that I generate around $3500 a month. So if I want to have a $5000 month, I need to find a way to make an extra $1500. Now this isn’t too crazy, yet it’s still a challenge. And let me tell you, the day I have a successful $5000 month, it’s going to feel amazing!

Bigger doesn’t equal better
Oh yes, that 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom, pool included two story house looks amazing. But you’re a single person (at least I am anyway) and that’s seriously impractical and out of my budget. What’s the point of having this beautiful house if you’re stressing every week to pay off the mortgage? Get the 2 bedroom 2 bathroom if it means you can live comfortably.
In the words of my favourite financial podcast host Victoria Devine — “Fake rice now = real poor later”

Side Hustle
We’re living in a internet dominated world, and if you’re not finding ways to make money outside of your full time job, you’re missing out.
Start a YouTube channel, sell your unwanted clothes on Depop, take the annoying surverys that pay you 50 cents, freelance write on medium… ;) There’s always a way to earn extra money outside of your full time job. Heck, walk dogs on the weekend. What a dream!

And finally… Uber Eats.
Yes, it had to be said. Lower your deliverable food consumption. If you’re in the range of having food delivered, you can go and pick it up yourself. Save yourself that $8 delievery fee just to get some Maccas.
Absolutely treat yourself every now and again, but if you’re doing this weekly.. that’s going to add up fast and this is a sure fire way to save some extra cash. Also, make your coffee at home. seriously.

Change your habits, change your mindset and save some serious cash.