Financial Mistakes I Made in My 20s (And Still Make)

I opened the fridge, ready to cook a delicious dinner with fresh ingredients that I would later soak on sriracha sauce for extra flavour. A plastic bag of kale was getting most of my visual attention, but something behind it got my eye. A small box of eggs. I grabbed the box with caution not to drop it and, to my regret, I saw the expiration date. With two expired eggs and fear of getting salmonella, I decided to throw them away.

And I experienced a déjà vu. “I have been here before”, I thought. But I wasn’t sure when. A few days before something similar happened with a pack of organic tofu (organic waste hurts more), and also a few weeks earlier with another box of eggs (I should stop buying eggs).

Very few things frustrate me more than throwing food for no other reason than my own negligence. And yet, this situation was extremely common for me a couple of years ago.

I realise that I needed new techniques to not to make this easily avoidable mistake again.

I confess that this used to be a huge thing for me. Buying unnecessary amounts of food, especially fresh vegetables and fruits that would expire in just a few days. I love having plenty of fresh ingredients at home. It is easier to cook nutritious, healthy dishes if you always have broccoli and 3 peppers in the fridge.

My favourite technique to avoid this failure was substituting the fresh vegetables for frozen ones. Of course, the fresh ones taste better and have a nicer texture, but the frozen ones don’t expire that quickly.

As well as wasting food and throwing it away, I thought I would share a few of my most common financial mistakes from the past, some of them still happening today.

Not waiting a couple of weeks before buying something

This is one of my biggest financial mistakes. Honesty? Given the crazy popularity of TK Maxx and other outlet shops, I dare to believe is a pretty common one for many of us. The classic situation where you only need cotton buds and you come back with 3 extra deodorants because of an unexpected 3 x 2 offer.

The best thing to do when I am thinking of buying something I don’t need is to wait for 2 to 5 weeks before buying it.

I have tried this with clothes and electronic gadgets, and it works wonders! It’s difficult to apply this strategy to low-priced items, like those cheap candles you can find in Primark. The truth is, those impulse buys don’t require much time or peace of mind because of the lower price.

It’s easy to stop and wait for 3 weeks before buying a new GHD straightener worth over £200, but a £2 candle is not a big deal, right? Incorrect! My issue here is…how much are those £2 candles (or any other type of decor) by the end of the year? How many £1, £2, £3 items have I bought that were forgotten after one day at home?

Financial Illiteracy

One of the most common mistakes people (including myself) make is not studying personal finances earlier in life. We expect those college classes and the people surrounding us to guide us on how to manage our money. In my case, the advice I heard the most growing up was to “keep everything in a savings account and don’t touch it”.

But that didn’t stop inflation from existing and making my money’s value decrease around 2% per year.

I know, investing is always a risk and even though I am aware of the possibility of losing money, I believe that doing it with diligence and investing in safe, trustworthy companies for the long term is the best way to make it grow.

This was only possible after I decided to re-educate myself on finances and try to stay as updated as possible with financial news around the world.

Saying NO to a Higher Paid Job

Why the hell would someone do that? After years of Freelancing, I was able to land a permanent job at a small company. However, a few months in, I got an offer from a pretty similar company offering me a job with a very similar role and a slightly higher salary.

The role, on top of coming with slightly higher pay, came with more responsibilities which could have been beneficial to my career growth. I hate to remember that I rejected that position.

But why did I do it? I have asked myself this question a few times in the past. The truth is, I can understand the girl that said no to the job. I was tired of the ups and downs that came with freelancing, the hype when I got a new project and the stress after finishing it and having to look for a new one.

I started to appreciate the idea of a steady income. Also, I was loving my new job as well as my fantastic team. I even loved the area in London where the company was located! It’s not common to find a job that you enjoy with a team you love in your favourite London district.

I felt that I needed to stay for a bit longer before leaving. Also, I couldn’t read the future. I didn’t know that in less than a year I would regret not accepting that offer.

Like people say, we win or we learn. Making financial mistakes, as well as personal ones has made me understand myself a bit better and collect data for future decisions.

Which have been your worst financial mistakes growing up?