In college I had the time (with a couple extra years) to worry about student loans and such and was able to work and keep a good bank account balance while buying all sorts of anime and video games. Then after getting a new job I bought a car as mine crapped the bed.

So I finally did get to it and started the 401K a few months ago. I’m 26 now so better late than never, right?

Still, there are days when I see myself as a single guy with almost no bills (my rent is super cheap as it’s from family) and my debt will be paid off in less than a year provided nothing else happens.

Still, I do wonder about my long term goals. What do I really want in life. At 26 I feel I should know these things but I still have my doubts, ya know.

I’ve been great about saving for retirement (though only got to start at 27, as I didn’t have access to retirement accounts before then). I’ve routinely put in 15% for the last ten years, and even with all of the horrific-ness of late, I now have a year’s salary in my retirement accounts. I’m shooting for 2 years’ worth before I hit 40, but.. we’ll see.

I’ve also paid off my credit card & car loans, and am closing in on paying off my master’s degree. I also have a reasonable emergency fund, and could live on unemployment if I needed to.

Those are the good things. The bad is, I’m in my late 30s and haven’t saved anything toward buying a home. I’ve been a coastal city dweller since I got out of college, and I’ve only seen prices go from ridiculous to outrageous, so it’s never felt achievable. But, I totally relate to not being motivated by life’s circumstances. I’m right now saving for travel/school loan payoff, but still not saving for a house downpayment. Will I? Should I? We’ll see.

I’m 26, just out of school, and have no idea what I want to do next year let alone in 5 years. But my paycheck still seems like an amazing luxury over my stipend and I’m extremely competitive with myself so I’ve set arbitrary savings goals and am making it a game.

I guess the quasi-revelation is that I don’t want to make my future self miserable. I’d like to be a position to act if/when I find something I’d love to do.

Not all of us have big dreams at any given point in our lives.

What helped me also was calculating how much interest I was paying on my student loan and credit cards. This is money I’m giving to a financial institution for the “privilege” of using money that, at least for the cards, I didn’t need. Seriously, I’m still paying off tires on a car I don’t even own anymore, clothes I don’t have anymore, books I didn’t even read. That was revelation for me! Not again!

It amazed me what little money I’m living on as a full time grad student. Try a spending diet for a couple of months and see how little you can live on. It might open your eyes.

I lived in a 1 bedroom apartment during this time after being used to living in a nice 3br, 2bath, 1500 sq ft home. I still drive that paid off car. Since then I have gotten remarried, paid off another car for the wife in 2 1/2 years and been able to save quite a bit for our next home.

We thought we were being pretty responsible financially – no consumer debt, we’d paid off both our student loans, were making good pension provision and were just enjoying the rest. We felt we deserved to enjoy our good salaries after 10 years of enforced frugality whilst we went through university and entry level jobs. But really, we were letting an awful lot of money just slip through our fingers. We weren’t in debt (other than the mortgage) but we weren’t saving much either.

Six months ago, we started afresh financially. Since then, we’ve paid $25,000 off the capital of our mortgage – money that we otherwise would have frittered away. We are now on track to own our house outright in 18 months, instead of dawdling along paying a mortgage for another 18 years and paying thousands in unnecessary interest.

I wish we’d started earlier, but at least we’ve turned it around now.

Thanks for such a great blog.

Deborah Johnson
A Writer’s Voice: http://litchick73.blogspot.com/

As a teenager with a weekend job, I saved some of it to go to university/college. I also managed to save for a 6 week holiday adventure upon graduating. I’m hoping my children don’t leave education with a pile of debt. I think that is often a big trigger for many to over spend; because they start their working lives in an unhealthy state financially, which personally I would find overwhelming. Admittedly I am fully aware this is hard to avoid with spiralling education costs.

I had no real revelation either. I started getting “real” paychecks after college and realized, wow, I had no idea what I should do with “all that money”. I still had college tastes, couldn’t fathom spending it all, and knew that wasn’t the best answer.

So, I started learning about it. I can hardly believe two years ago I didn’t know what a Roth IRA was, or how to contribute to one.

I picked up a money management book a few months after I moved out and that really helped me understand how to budget.

It makes me cringe thinking back on how much money I spent on clothes, make up and alcohol.

Oh well… at least I am on the right track now!