Don’t mess up your priorities and let materialism get the best of you.Ģ4. And by “pay for it,” I mean don’t use credit!Ģ3.

Don’t travel the world unless you can pay for it. Related: A Game You'll Never Win: The Payday Loan TrapĢ2. The worst! They’ll charge you 300% interest with a smile. The older you get, the smarter your parents get.Ģ1. Your parents weren’t perfect, but they probably knew more than you gave them credit for. Get-rich-quick schemes are good for one thing: making sure you get broke quick. But, many times, we go ahead and make bad choices anyway. We all know if we’re being irresponsible with money. Personal finance is 80% behavior and only 20% head knowledge. If you sorta, kinda want to get out of debt, you’ll never make it.ġ8. To get out of debt, you’ve got to get sick and tired of being in debt. You won’t get out of debt until you get mad. Money fights are going to happen, but it’s extremely important that you agree on the basics of money-like budgeting, no debt, and saving.ġ6. Marriage is much more difficult when you disagree with your spouse about money. Stay away from 30-year mortgages and ARMs no matter what!ġ5. Your monthly payment should be no more than 25% of your take-home pay. You should only get one type of mortgage: a 15-year, fixed-rate. Don’t expect that level of house right away.ġ4. Remember, your parents took 20 years to get their house. Your first house might not be your dream house. The corner office might not come right away.ġ3. Learn, get experience, and build your career. Your first job might not be your dream job. Save and pay cash for stuff instead of using debt to “buy” them instantly.ġ2. When it comes to money, patience will always pay off.

The more you have, the more you can give away to bless others.ġ1. Giving is one of the best things you can do with money. The Bible never condemns money, only the “love of money.”ġ0. A lot of people these days like to criticize rich people, but wealth isn’t evil. (Try our compound interest calculator that will do the calculations for you.)ĩ.

Start saving for retirement as early as you can and put compound interest to work for you. Retirement matters as much now as it does 30 years from now. Part-time jobs, scholarships, grants, more affordable schools-there are many ways to pay for college without debt.Ĩ. That means you’ll need to have “the conversation” with them about wills and estates before it’s too late.ħ. And if they don’t, you should find new friends!Ħ. If a friend asks you to go on a trip or out to dinner, and you don’t have the money, there’s nothing wrong with saying no. They might look nice, but they’re in debt up to their eyeballs and one emergency away from financial disaster.ĥ. It’s simple: making a budget every month and sticking to it means you are going to win with money.Ĥ. You can pay for a nice used car with cash and avoid the average $500/month car payment.ģ. Why before age 25? The point is that the earlier you learn this stuff, the more success you’ll have with money throughout your life.ġ. Honestly, a lot of younger 20-somethings I’ve spoken with the last few years still have a lot to learn when it comes to money.īecause of that, I thought I’d create a list of 25 things everyone needs to know about money before they turn 25. As a recent 25-year-old, I can promise we don’t believe we know everything.

Budgeting advice for young adults