What Personal Finance Advice Would You Give to Your Former Self?

If you could go back in time and give your younger self advice on your personal finance decisions, what would you say? Are there any personal finance decisions that even educated younger people often make that you would warn against?

 

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I would say mine would be to actually track expenses and focus on the big ticket items vs fretting the small stuff (eg $ spent on car, vacations, rent, clothing vs whether or not to buy a coffee or something).

Other one would be to just know that no one cares about most of the status items you buy. I just downgraded from a new car to a used 2010 hyundai because I realized I don't care about cars and no one even notices what kind of car you drive (my opinion). I'm also looking to downsize my apartment because I have too much space I don't use. The science shows that this shit doesn't bring you lasting happiness anyways, so why spend money on it other than to "try" to impress others.

 
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