In this video, Tasha discusses money habits that she would have used in her 20s. Learn how Tasha increased her income in this video:
Hi i’m tasha from one big happy life on behalf of the financial diet and this is the lifestyle fix brought to you by wealth simple the lifestyle fix is all about helping you create the life that you want on any budget welcome to the first lifestyle fix episode of 2019 the start of a new year is an opportunity to look inward and reflect on your goals and think about
The new habits that you want to incorporate in your life from now on to help you with that today i’m gonna be sharing a 730 something money habits that i wish i had had in my 20s number one defining my own financial priorities when it comes to personal finance there are a lot of people out there voicing their opinions about how you should live your life and what you
Should do with your money on one side we have the consumerism culture that pushes us to find joy in the purchasing and owning of things on the other side there’s the financial independence retire early community and the minimalists that rail against consumerism and encourage you to own fewer things live frugally and save most of your money in my 30s i’ve come to
Accept that my money philosophy doesn’t have to fit perfectly into any one category there are things that i just don’t want to spend money on like iphones and haircuts and there are areas where i’m unapologetically spendy like having a nanny for my son owning a vitamix and taking international vacations with my family now it took me over a decade to go from being
A single teen mom to having a career that allows me to have those things in my life but it all started with putting aside those voices telling me what i should want or what was possible for my life and deciding for myself what my ideal life looked like and then doing what it took to make that life a reality number two creating a debt repayment plan before taking
Out debt there are some people out there that falls squarely into the never take out any debt ever because all debt is the devil i’m not a member of that camp i believe that debt can be used responsibly as part of a sound financial strategy throughout most of my 20s i took out debt without giving much thought to exactly how i was going to pay it back or how much it
Would end up costing me in the long run in my 30s i’ve learned to look at the whole amount that debt will cost me including the amount of interest i’ll pay over time i compare that cost to how much i would pay if i used cash i also consider whether i’m willing to pay more for the convenience of having item now rather than waiting until i have the cash for it later
And i look at the impact that taking on that debt will have on my other financial goals in addition to planning for how i’m gonna repay that debt taking the time to think about all of these things in advance make sure that i’m comfortable with any debt that i take on and that i’m fully prepared to meet that financial obligation number three automating my saving
And investing i’ve always had a savings account starting with the very first time that i opened up a bank account when i was 18 years old though i didn’t know a thing about personal finance at the time some part of me understood that i should at least attempt to put money aside every month my paycheck would come in i was making around $14,000 a year back then and
I’d move at 50 or $100 over into savings that money would just sit there for a week maybe a week and a half until i ran out of money in my checking account and started borrowing from my savings because i knew that i had the extra cushion there i didn’t really take my spending limit seriously and more often than not i wouldn’t even transfer the money into savings
At all i didn’t start making real progress towards building my savings until i started automating my savings and investing when i was twenty nine seven years later i have a six-figure nest egg in addition to multiple savings accounts for different financial goals and priorities like one for travel and another for my emergency fund if you want to start automating
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Number four expecting more from my bank accounts and credit cards in my 20s i really didn’t pay attention to interest rates or fees or other benefits that banks and credit cards offered i tended to just go with whichever bank was the most convenient to wherever i was living at the time honestly it was only after i became a banking and finance attorney in my late
20s that i started to pay attention to the banking terms that affected my personal finances now i look for and do business with companies that show that they value me as a customer by creating a mutually rewarding business relationship companies that give me a lot of features that matter to me i pay close attention to the terms i’m offered including things like
Competitive interest rates on savings accounts and checking accounts overdraft fees transaction fees i also look for and expect things like access to mobile banking responsive customer service and other perks like free checks and atm fee reimbursements i keep an eye out for credit cards that offer great rewards intro bonus offers or perks like free stays car
Rental insurance or access to airport lounges number five shopping around for better interest rates and prices i bought my first car when i was 18 and my first house when i was 19 i got my mortgage from the bank i was using at the time and i find ask my car with the dealer which was the first dealership i walked into by the way and yes i got completely screwed
On both the price of the car and the financing thanks to that sneaky four-quadrant box thing that they like to use while sticking with the most convenient financing option made both processes a lot less intimidating it also meant that i didn’t get the best deal that i could have 20 something-year-old me had no idea that i could shop around for the best deal by
Getting quotes from multiple lenders before taking out a loan now that i know that i can use those competing offers to negotiate with lenders on their interest rates terms and fees this is also true for car dealerships you can contact dealerships in advance and negotiate the price of the vehicle and the fees before you ever set foot on the lot if you do choose to
Finance your car you can secure your financing with another lender who has excellent terms beforehand then see if the dealership can beat it that way you make sure that you are getting the best deal no matter what number six knowing my worth and negotiating for more money in my 20s i had this idea that jobs would always pay me what i was worth that whatever salary
They offered me would automatically be fair and that if i tried to negotiate i would just end up losing the opportunity now i know that i’m responsible for knowing my own worth and that i need to be bold enough to ask for it as i’ve gained experience in my legal career and my own business i’ve become more comfortable with asking for what i want and walking away
From opportunities that weren’t the right fit that doesn’t mean that i’m now a negotiating master there are still times when i feel like i left money on the table but it’s happening less and less often whenever i start feeling nervous during negotiations i remind myself that while i have experienced resentment when i’ve allowed myself to work for less i’ve never
Once regretted asking for more money or walking away from a deal where i felt undervalued number seven having a budget that i could actually stick to budgeting is an essential skill to master if you want to reach your financial goals but you don’t just want to have a budget you need one that actually works for you and not one that you keep busting through every
Single month and my twenties i was guilty of what i like to call having a wishful thinking budget i created the budget that i could maybe stick to on a good day and inevitably ended up short many months either because i decided to splurge just this once or because i had forgotten to include certain expenses now even with this so-so budget i still managed to make
Progress on my financial goals because it was certainly better than not having a budget at all over the years i’ve managed to make my budget better so that it actually reflects my financial priorities that means making room for the splurges that make me happy like my audible subscription the unconscious of the places where i tend to overspend like eating out and
Building in space for my big future goals like paying for college for my kids now that my budget is comprehensive and i can relate it back to things that are important to me it’s way more effective and easier for me to stick to mastering these thirty something money habits in your 20s will have you reaching your financial goals in no time thank you so much for
Watching and be sure to subscribe hit that notification bell and tune in here every single friday for new episodes of the lifestyle fix see you next week
Transcribed from video
7 30-Something Money Habits I Wish I Had In My 20s | The Lifestyle Fix By The Financial Diet