6 Personal Finance Tips I Wish I’d Learned in School

When I graduated from college, I had student loans, a low-paying job and bills for food and shelter. I did not make the best financial decisions, and at first, my credit suffered. I’m fortunate now to not be in that situation, and there are a few things I’ve learned along the way:


1. A job is a job.

My first job out of college was an attempt to follow my dream of working in the nonprofit field. It was a great opportunity, but the pay was low, and the company didn’t have enough hours for me to make a living. On top of that, it wasn’t a great fit. So, I began applying for anything I could get my hands on. It didn’t feel good to have a college diploma and apply for jobs where I didn’t feel like I’d be using my degree, but I needed to pay the bills somehow.

I swallowed my pride. I ended up working for a bank, which certainly wasn’t my dream, but a job is a job. I had great colleagues and supervisors, I worked hard and the money was enough for me to live on. Even if you’re in a job you don’t like, it’s important to build relationships and give 100 percent. Even though my job at the bank and my job now are very different, my supervisor was able to vouch for my transferable skills when I used him as a reference, and my work there became a personal investment in the long run.

2. 20% down payments on mortgages are not your only option.

Up until very recently, my fiancé and I were paying an absurd amount of money on rent. The plan was to save up, little by little, to be able to afford a down payment on a home. One day, I was talking with one of my colleagues about how it felt like it would take forever to save up enough, and I learned that there are so many more options than the traditional 30 year fixed-rate mortgage with a 20 percent down payment.

With help from a great broker and determination not to buy more house than we could afford, we were able to finance a great starter home with only a three and a half percent down payment. Our mortgage payment, which includes mortgage insurance and property taxes, is 25 percent less than our previous monthly rent.

Tip: Learn about different types of mortgages here. Also, it’s important to note that homeownership is not for everyone. Some experts will argue that buying a home is unequivocally the best decision that you can make, but that’s not always necessarily true.

3. Saving for retirement is hard, but if you can, do it sooner rather than later.

Pension plans are going extinct, and the future of social security is uncertain. That means you need to take retirement savings into your own hands. Here’s a little story from On Your Own Two Feet about why sooner is better:

It’s hard to think about retirement when you’re young, and even harder if you’re not well off. Even if you can only save $25 per month or less, that is a great start.

4. Some bills are negotiable!

I had read articles in the past about people being able to negotiate their monthly bills, but I never thought I had the skills to do it myself. When I learned that I was paying about $40 more than most of my peers on cable, I decided to give it a shot. For about an hour of my time with my cable company, I was able to reduce my bill and increase the number of channels available to me.

If you’re not as brave and you don’t mind a cut being taken from your savings, there are some services like BillFixers and BillShark that will do the job for you.

The same can be done for interest rates on credit cards or loans. If you are stuck in credit card debt like I was, it may be worth your while to give your provider a call and see if your interest rate can be decreased. If you have a trusted provider for a car or other type of loan, you may be able to refinance at a lower interest rate.

A $5 to $10 per month reduction on a bill may not seem like much, but it certainly adds up!