Your dumbest financial mistakes

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Before nursing school, and maybe even after getting those nice nursing checks, what were some of the dumbest purchases made. Big or small. I have heard some good financial advice on this site. But people learn from our mistakes too. Most of my dumb mistakes came from being young. As a teen my boyfriend (now husband) and I took his last paycheck from gettting fired and went to six flags. Spent the whole check, not knowing the next time we would have money. Once graduating, we ate out at least 4 times a week until someone on this site made me aware as to how much I was actually spending(Family of 4). I thought nursing school would be a bad investment when I racked up loans not knowing if I was gonna pass. But it was probably the best investment.

My best friend bought a current year STANDARD suzuki forenza for over twenty grand right out of nursing school. It immediately depreciated and she ended up in an upside down situation when trying to trade it in the next year.

Specializes in NICU.

I am definitely concerned about my Sallie Mae loans--my parents couldn't cosign, so my interest rate is horrible. Yes, I do have federal loans as well, but they didn't start covering tuition until my 4th year, let alone living expenses. As it is, my fiance and I are planning on continuing to live on his salary while the entirety of my pay (assuming I get a nursing job when I graduate) will go towards my loans. My biggest financial mistake--besides the loans--was not saving the money I did have.

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Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.

-Buying a newer car and having a car payment instead of saving for another 3 months and getting a used car with CASH

-Using credit cards when I was 18-21

-Taking fluff classes when I was able to get grant/financial aid instead of classes that would be prereqs for a BSN. Now I will have to pay something out of my pocket.

-Getting pregnant by a loser (love my kiddo of course!!!!!)

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If you start saving $12K a year at age 25, by 65y you'll have over $3 million, assuming an 8% rate of return (I just read this in an article in US News and World Report).

I'm sure there are many out there who are able to become savvy investors, but can we really expect just anyone to be able to get that kind of returns of such projections? To me, it's much easier to save money than to "make it grow". I feel much more control over my spending choices than in taking calculated risks on investments. Investment education materials always ask you to balance your financial goals with your adversity to risk. The 'safer' your bet, the less your potential returns, but the less your potential losses as well. My emotions rebel at the thought that in attempting to achieve "financial security" one has to essentially gamble with their money!

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.
I'm sure there are many out there who are able to become savvy investors, but can we really expect just anyone to be able to get that kind of returns of such projections? To me, it's much easier to save money than to "make it grow". I feel much more control over my spending choices than in taking calculated risks on investments. Investment education materials always ask you to balance your financial goals with your adversity to risk. The 'safer' your bet, the less your potential returns, but the less your potential losses as well. My emotions rebel at the thought that in attempting to achieve "financial security" one has to essentially gamble with their money!

Your emotions may rebel at the thought of taking any risks ... but you are forgetting that simply saving money at 0% is terribly risky, too. Money that earns 0% return loses its value over time as inflation reduces the power of that money. So the reality is ... that in order to have your savings "just stay even" in terms of buying power, you need to make a return that is equal to inflation plus pay the taxes that you earn on those returns. In other words, your investment has to beat inflation to simply retain the same actual value.

So we all need to educate ourselves about the various types of investments, various types of risk, etc. in order to manage our money wisely. We need to choose which risks we wish to take -- because even if we do nothing with our money but put it in a savings account, we are taking a risk with it -- a risk that it will lose value over time if it doesn't out-pace inflation.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

For anyone (especially you young'uns under age 30) who are interested in investing in retirement, I HIGHLY recommend the book "The Automatic Millionaire". It is a VERY good, informative book on the importance of compound interest and why planning for your retirement early is so very crucial.

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Your emotions may rebel at the thought of taking any risks ... but you are forgetting that simply saving money at 0% is terribly risky, too.

I'm all too aware that saving money at 0% isn't a safe bet either. My emotions rebel because I don't want to have to bet at all, but that's part of life it seems. My mind fights the fact that there is no definitively 'best' option for financial security. Whatever calculated risks I take, I might misjudge or I just might be unlucky and lose out. And then if someone dares to suggest that maybe I "should've been more careful"... ugh!!! I know that most financially successful individuals have had major losses over the years - so it's not necessarily a horrible thing to lose out sometimes. But how to determine at any one time if something is truly a "good bet" or not? I know I'm overly sensitive on such issues, just talking about it is progress! I'm left thinking that 'financial security' is like 'honesty' and 'a perfect circle' - a Platonic ideal we can imagine and strive for but that doesn't exist in the material world as we know it. (philosophers be merciful, I only took Intro to Phil!)

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...but you are forgetting that simply saving money at 0% is terribly risky, too.

That's why I appreciate this thread... even a dumb investment means that risk was taken, and the ability to take risks is valuable!

For some, risk-taking comes all too easily and they'd do well to heed advice to be cautious and prudent, but for folks like me, encouragement to take risks, and the inevitability of making some 'dumb financial mistakes' is helpful!

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My dumbest financial mistake was signing up for Rue educational so I could do the lpn to rn- Adn via self study. At the tune of $5000 all they did was send the books to you so once you were ready,you would take the exams. No one told me you had to still register and be accepted into Excelsior College. On top of that,it was a contract you had to sign to pay them(Rue). You could not call them when you needed the next textbook,you needed to fax them. I did and still didn't receive a textbook.

I didn't pay them and they are still dragging dowm my credit score.

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While I'm at it,another mistake is not saving money and not working at a job that provides a 401k or retiremnt savings. My job doesn't contribute anything to our health benefits either. I have nothing to save after everything is paid.

Retirement? I'm just trying to live paycheck to paycheck which is hard. You guys must have good employers. Wow,I feel really poor on this thread.

I though stocks were only for rich people.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Geriatrics.
While I'm at it,another mistake is not saving money and not working at a job that provides a 401k or retiremnt savings. My job doesn't contribute anything to our health benefits either. I have nothing to save after everything is paid.

Retirement? I'm just trying to live paycheck to paycheck which is hard. You guys must have good employers. Wow,I feel really poor on this thread.

I though stocks were only for rich people.

If your employer does not offer a retirement plan, look into either a Traditional IRA or a ROTH IRA. Contributions to a traditional IRA are tax-deductible, ROTH contributions are paid with after-tax money. The limit is $5000/year. I urge you to do some reading on the subject and then re-evaluate your expenses. Maybe there are some areas where you can trim and find a little extra to save.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Geriatrics.
Your emotions may rebel at the thought of taking any risks ... but you are forgetting that simply saving money at 0% is terribly risky, too. Money that earns 0% return loses its value over time as inflation reduces the power of that money. So the reality is ... that in order to have your savings "just stay even" in terms of buying power, you need to make a return that is equal to inflation plus pay the taxes that you earn on those returns. In other words, your investment has to beat inflation to simply retain the same actual value.

So we all need to educate ourselves about the various types of investments, various types of risk, etc. in order to manage our money wisely. We need to choose which risks we wish to take -- because even if we do nothing with our money but put it in a savings account, we are taking a risk with it -- a risk that it will lose value over time if it doesn't out-pace inflation.

To tag onto what llg said, if you are really concerned talk to someone who is savvy about the subject. There are some conservative investments you can make if you are concerned about risk but with interest rates hovering at 1%, just "saving" may seem safe but it can carry almost as much risk as investing.

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If your employer does not offer a retirement plan, look into either a Traditional IRA or a ROTH IRA. Contributions to a traditional IRA are tax-deductible, ROTH contributions are paid with after-tax money. The limit is $5000/year. I urge you to do some reading on the subject and then re-evaluate your expenses. Maybe there are some areas where you can trim and find a little extra to save.

I tried to save but that maney I saved I'm trying to use for the bachelors program. I've trimmed a lot already. But I. Think I'm going to call in on Suze Ormans show on Saturdays.

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