If I could start all over...

[Yankees338]

If you were to begin your post school life all over again, what things would you change? What regrets do you have about some decisions you made or things that happened? I think one great way to learn is by looking at your, and others', mistakes and evaluating what works and what doesn't work. If everyone could share some little pieces of advice I think it could go a long way towards helping everyone should the time come for them to have to make a similar decision.

Feel free to post about anything you can think of here. Whether it's based on a real experience or not, as long as it's a piece of constructive advice, it's more than welcomed here.

 

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[andviv]

spend time learning from others

I wish I had known about the rat race concept earlier. I had no idea that you could make a living without a "job". I was focused only in my professional career cause I didn't know better. You have a great advantage there.

DO NOT GET IN THE RAT RACE if you can avoid it.

Do not get in bad debt (you don't need a Lexus the first year after graduation)

Try dating people with a mindset and understanding of this type of life, a significant other with the wrong mindset will set you up for failure or will delay your success (it has taken me years to convince mine that you can make a living without a corporate job, but finally she understands the concept... the only way was to get her an autographed copy of Rich Woman and then she understood)
You job is just a mean to get to the big goal

Save money. I mean it. Save a lot so you have something to start with (you don't want to start from -$5k, you better start with +$10K, right?)

Read, read, read more. Learn. Study how others have done it (you don't need to reinvent the wheel... if others have done it, ask them how). Listen to those that have made it, not to those that are in a worst situation than you. You want to learn from the successful ones, not from the losers.

Those are the things I can think of for now....

Good question, by the way.

 

[AroundTheWorld]

Boy - this is a hard one to answer...

.... lemee think...

• Get started on the road to financial freedom as soon as you can! We didn't really get started until about the age of 27. Where could we be today had we gotten started at 22?
• ummmm... that's all, really!

We have made many mistakes along the way, but I'm glad they happened. It is what helped us learn and grow and brought us to where we are today. I don't regret any of them.

I will say that - everything happens for a reason. We didn't exactly do it the easy way. I had three kids by the age of 24. My husband was in the military. It was a rough start.

Then, I got cancer and became infertile at the age of 25. I was meant to be a mom, and it obviously had to be done in my early 20's. There are special challanges associated with the quest for financial freedom when you have kids - but then again - we all have our challanges, don't we?

So, I guess the other one is don't be afraid to make mistakes. Don't be afraid to get it wrong or go down the wrong path. Know that it WILL happen, and when it does, you can either lay down and eat potato chips or learn your lesson and apply it as you move on.