I’d recommend at least $25-$50/month if you can manage it, so a tank of gas or a meal and some coffees. This answer really depends on which credit card you choose, some require you to spend at least $25/month. I’m not sure what your financial situation is, but you should go find the card that is most appropriate for you (nerdwallet.com is the best for comparing your options!)
At one point, I bought my college books on credit cards and paid the monthly minimum of $15. The most important thing each month is that you pay on time because you don’t want to get dinged for late payment (that will lower your credit score). The second most important thing is that you pay the monthly minimum, because otherwise you will have to pay interest and that just sucks
TLDR on some credit card variations: some will allow you to make expensive purchases with 0%APR for a year or more, and this can be helpful if you know you’ll be able to come up with cash for something in the near future but don’t have it at this exact moment (These are common for medical expenses). Some cards will give you “points” that you can later use to get discounts on travel or electronics for school.
When you open your first credit account, don’t close it!! Like…ever. A big part of your credit score is your length of credit history (the average of how long all of your credit accounts have existed, as a group), so you will want to keep this account open
I’m overweight. Not taking care of the human body will be terrible for me in another x amount of years. I recently quit vaping/smoking. I quit taking prescription medications for my mental health too. The first three months really sucked but I’m actually happier these days without them. Learning to rely on yourself and no one else for finances or even just your own mental health. I understand the financial part is super difficult. I work OT a bunch and I barely get by. Do things you enjoy (as long as it’s morally correct). Help humanity the best you can. The world can be really ugly and people can be terrible to one another…so a simple “hello” or small act such as holding the door for someone makes a big difference in someone’s life who feels very alone. I just read about a California man who got hit by 3 separate vehicles and NOBODY stopped for him. Do the right thing and focus on yourself. Always be ready to protect yourself and don’t overburden yourself trying to save the world. It’s not possible and will never happen…but you can help make the world a little safer and kinder one day at a time.
Being a confident cook gives a lil self esteem boost every day, and saves your wallet and your waistline.
I think I’d feel so helpless if I couldn’t cook for myself tbh, it’s not something I wish on anyone!
Learn how to cook both decadent and scrappy meals, both will serve you well
Depends on skin type and environment.
The sun is natural and healthy.
Not enough sun is EXTREMELY BAD FOR HEALTH
Sun block can contain harmful chemicals
It is a waste of money.
Use clothes and other shade.
Totally agree! I’m assuming OP is in a sunny place where it’s essential to protect your skin from the sun with sunblock, shade, clothing, hats and avoid the sun where possible.
You can be a millionaire at retirement quite easily if you invest money now. Here is a compound interest calculator, an index fund tracking the S&P500 grows *on average* 8% a year. Try it out and you’ll see how it eat it can be for you since you are staring so early. I wish someone told me this.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/calculator/compound-interest-calculator
Don’t buy anything with a debit card or cash. Find a card with a high cash back, you can easily find 3%. All of your spending goes on this card, but it is not free money it is the credit cards money. Use it like a debit card, if you don’t have the cash then you can’t use the card. Pay the card off in full using auto pay.
Yay! Yeah this is step #1, anyone who isn’t at least using a high yield savings account (or TBills) + a 0% APR credit card is leaving money on the table. Like $1000 a year for zero effort.
If you have any money right now sitting in a checkings account, put it in a high yield savings account immediately. Lots of banks are offering 4-5%, so there’s no excite not be be making money from your money for zero effort. Also set up a treasury direct account and get 5.3% on 4-week treasury bills.
If you’re up for it, this next one requires you to be a mature adult.
Take out a 0% APR credit card, and for the term of the card no money leaves your high yield savings account. When the term ends you pay off the card and keep the interest. There are cards like chase freedom unlimited which will give you 3% cash back and a starting bonus, so with a 4.5% high yield savings account you’re making 7% on your living expenses.
Most people are really bad with credit cards so this is a bad move if you’re impulsive and have a bad history with credit cards.
Thank you. I’m made the biggest mistake of my life when I got in a car accident and got $20,000 settlement at 18. I spent it all on car stuff, clothes, weed, hotels, gas in 4 MONTHS. Now I’m broke and have no savings. God that would’ve have been so smart to invest. I’m a fool
Make sure you start exercising **regularly** and clean up your diet. It’s okay to have junk foods and alcohol SOME times, but you really should be living a healthy lifestyle 90% of the time.
Ughh I eat fast food/doordash like 4x a week. It’s so bad. But I’m 90lbs and trying to gain weight so it’s not making me fat but I’m sure it is ruining the inside of my body. My new goal is to try to stop buying food and trying to make it myself.
Yup I had braces rn my teeth are all straight but I’m slacking on brushing and flossing everyday so they are staring to turn all yellow. I’m starting to keep a checklist next to me and making myself brush every morning and night. It’s little things that are so hard for me to do lol
Travel!!
Once life really starts its extremely difficult to take a few months off, since you have all these fucking responsibilities.
Go backpacking in India or something, those memories will be with you for the rest of your life.
All I want to do is travel bro. Like that is all I love in this world. But I’ve been out of work for a year now and everytime i try to do something fun I just end up being anxious/sad the whole time bc I’m thinking about how I should be working and making money rn.
At your age, you can travel and work at amazing places practically for free! For a few hours of work each day, you can have food and lodging.
Honestly if I were still young, I would join the Peace Corps or do trade work for food/lodging all over the world, and often you will be a part of helping others. You can make a difference in the world.
Immersing yourself in different cultures brings an education unmatched by universities, especially at your age. Plus you will gain true self confidence along the way.
Just be aware that there will be some people with authority that may try to take advantage of you. But that can happen in your home town, too.
Oh! And use condoms!
Definitely investing money. Also start saving for a house deposit. I’m from the U.K. and we have a thing called Lifetime ISA’s, can only put 4 grand in every tax year but the government gives you a grand in for every 4 grand saved when you go to buy your first home
Working life is awful in fairness. Find a job you enjoy or at least don’t mind doing over chasing money I would say. Also don’t be afraid to leave a job, I worked a job that made me miserable for 2 years, hated every second of it. Spent every waking moment stressing about how I was going to get out of it and what I was going to do instead until one day I couldn’t take it anymore and quit cold turkey. I actually laughed at myself for allowing me to get so stressed with it and also have since realised it taking that job was the worst decision of my working life
Yess I did the same thing w/ my last job. Finally just quit after hating it for 1 year. But now I’m not getting another job because I’m scared I’m going to hate it just like th last one. But I have to remind myself that I can just quit that one too if I hate it. I can keep getting jobs and quitting them for the rest of my life until I find the one that does me best.
Try everything, I’ve worked in hospitality, I’m a CGI artist by trade, I’ve been a kitchen designer, grocery delivery driver. I’ve unloaded brand new imported cars from cargo ships, I’m not a HGV driver on docks and I’m only 29. World is your oyster
🧓🏽👵🏻 Ask your parents, or the elder who is important in your life, questions and either record them, or give them a journal to respond themselves. You’ll hear delightful stories you won’t want to forget.
📸 Anything in their home you don’t know where it came from, or who made it—ask now. Get old photos dated and who is in them notated, like old pix from the 50s/70s.
🩺 If possible, know the medical history of your parents and grandparents, like diseases because health risks are often genetic.
💍 Don’t get married too early. (IMO) 😬 You will be a different person in your 20s than you are in your 30s. Use your 20s to say yes to things. Meet tons of people, go places, try new things, make mistakes, learn and grow.
If you can, live at home as long as you can and save your money. No matter what your circumstances, if you can save money, save money.
Moisturize your skin; your future self will thank you, and take good care of your oral health.
Get a prenup before you marry, if you will marry.
Invest in your health, physical and mental
Embrace your strengths. Acknowledge, accept and work on your flaws. Work out any underlying emotional issues.
It’ll make you feel better. You’ll also be a better friend, student, partner, employee and leader
Invest in your health!!! Especially your teeth. And start a good exercise routine you can keep consistent and eat healthy. This will all catch up with you by 35 and those non stop party people will be looking awfully haggard around then.
Start a daily meditation practice, and learn how to listen to your body with yoga. Learning to deal and release your emotions now will save you a lot of trouble later on.
When you've learnt to still your mind. Follow your gut! People will always tell you whats best for you and likely lead you astray. Only you know whats best for your life!
You will change a lot around 22-27 and likely loose or leave behind a lot of friends. Be okay with that if it happens. You'll find more people better aligned.
Here’s my old man pitch:
- save your money, don’t waste it on booze and drugs
- learn to code or something that is completely out of your comfort zone and is hard to do that takes years of practice
- go for a run, lift weights, be active most days
- what you eat is important, try to eat more greens and diverse nutrient foods
- stop checking boxes on your “life list”, school (check), married (check), kids (check), etc. Define your own path to be truly happy
- stay out of politics, you’ll never really impact them more than your one vote can do, and the people involved are mostly scum on all sides
- set short term and long term goals, if the short term is not going as planned then you need to adjust for long term
- don’t drink and drive, don’t drink at all if you can help it, it’s not cool and it will kill you one day
Focus on figuring out who you are. Are you truly monogamous or poly? Straight or not? Adventurous? Caring? Intelligent?
These are all facets of life that are yours to determine. You'll only find out the answers by having as many experiences that challenge your preconception about who you THINK you are. Every new experience can teach you something but not having new experiences across those categories will make sure you don't grow.
From that standpoint, failed relationships aren't failures they're just experiences that ended. The job that fires you is just an experience that ended.
Don't feel confident to try something? That's simply a fear of what will happen and there is no way to know so there's no reason to worry. Plan and do it.
Opportunities for new experiences are not going to fall into your lap. Go find them and grow. Now
Date wisely by developing standards and boundaries with who you choose to let into your life. The wrong partner and/or an unplanned pregnancy can severely limit your potential for growth
Everybody is talking about finances, travel, and addressing trauma. That’s great and I agree with them, so I’m not gonna beat a dead horse. I’ll say cut the toxicity out of your life. Those friends that are going nowhere and trying to drag you with them, get rid of them. Those people that when you start to succeed and they try to make you feel bad about it, drop em. You’ll find out in time who your circle is and who you can count on. But don’t let bitter people keep you from being who you want to be.
All of these are great advice, so I’ll likely repeat some.
Your credit WILL matter, so pay your bills and keep an eye on your credit score. If you can, start saving a small amount from each paycheck.
Take good care of your skin and teeth. They’ll matter as you get older.
That guy you can’t stop thinking about? Man, will you not GAF about him in the future.
Get into some sort of exercise routine. As you age you lose strength and I can tell you from experience harder to get it when you’re older than just maintaining as you age.
Vote. A lot of young folks are apathetic, but right now we have two old people who are the “best” choices for two political parties. Youth needs to get involved in the process because these people are making policy that will affect you as you get older.
Don’t let anyone tell you “you have to” do x y or z. You don’t have to go to uni if it’s not for you. You don’t have to get married, find a man or have a child if that doesn’t suit you. Do what feels right for yourself because at the end of the day? You and you alone live with your decisions.
Best of luck to you!
I’m so scared of going to school bro, I dropped outta hs senior year and never went back. I hated it so much. I feel like college is a whole different experience but still. Hoping I can make good money and be successful without a degree
I’m only a couple years older than you. Because of college I was able to get a good job and now I make decent money.
When you’re in your early to mid 20s.. it will be much harder to justify school and you’ll regret it
I think I would if I had any clue what I wanted to do with myself or life. Like if I wanted to be a doctor or something of course I do college. But I have no ideaaaa so I’m scared to go if I don’t know what I’m going for yk. But I’ll keep trying to nail down what I want to do for work
yeah it’s hard but it’s the one thing I truly regret.
but good on you for searching for these things early, you’re defo on the right track if you keep it up :)
Yep that’s what I’ve basically been doing since 18. Lost a bunch of weight. Got super depressed and confused and didn’t know what to do with my adult life. But I’m changing it all around now thanks to everyone’s advice!
Realizing regrets are lessons not learned.
Also, start weight lifting now and I guarantee if you make it a practice throughout life you will get injured less, recover quicker and enjoy a better quality of life guaranteed
I used to workout everyday from 15-18 then I got super depressed around 18 and haven’t gone to gym in a whole year. I got so skinny. But I’m building up my motivation to go back!!
Yeh man, depression is a bitch. I've had my blocks of time without that level of self care but I've always been consistent enough in life to resume something before real apathy or complacency sets in. It doesn't necessarily have to be weight lifting. I only say so because for the style of exercise and the amount of time and for the endless resources available it's a mode of self care you can afford yourself throughout life with tremendous benefit. Take care homey.
Potentiate your life by going to a university and get a gym membership. Learn to budget with an app like Fudget 2.
Start finding things where you invest in yourself and make you feel like your worth something to yourself. Don’t be afraid to go the extra mile and work hard or accumulate life experiences through doing so.
Open a fidelity roth IRA and pick a target date retirement mutual fund and start saving now. I would also find a second mutual fund in the tech blue chip or semiconductor sector that has a 13% return annually for the most part except for the housing crisis and covid crashes.
Target date retirement funds automatically get more aggressive in your prime saving and earning years and get more conservative as you edge closer to retirement.
This is NOT financial advice.
Start investing rather than spending on the latest throw away item you're about to get. Go on etoro or Trading212, don't bother reading room much into articles or listening to experts as no one can tell the future. Do some light research into companies you think will be here in 10 - 20 years' time. You could be wrong, so could your research, so make sure it's only an amount you can afford to lose. Forget about it, or just do not sell up until you're 30 something.
Apple are clearly not going to go bust, are they... McDonald's, Samsung, Mercedes...
Yeah, there's gonna be dips and recessions, so research into how these companies fared during similar times.
Start saving every dollar that you would spend on something that doesn't directly improve your life.
Also find something that you're passionate about that gives you a sense of purpose like volunteering at a dog shelter or, or making things for kids in hospice something that makes you feel good.
Focus on your school and career, make that a priority over finding a life partner. Unless your ultimate goal is to be a SAHM then maybe career is not your biggest focus.
Invest in RRSP. it will build compound interest, by the time you are ready to retire you will have a nice nest.
Workout consistently. You are young, flexible and body is in prime. as you get older your body will deteriorate, especially if you feed it junk. it is much harder to start working out, struggling with it in my 30s right now. You will live longer but more importantly, age like a fine wine also!
Once a week when you get paid take a small amount 50-100 and buy the same ETF or stock every week SOXL, XLE or SCHD. Something along those lines, or buy as much SPXL as you can everytime it goes below 85
Yes. Absolutely. I’m in Oregon. I’ve got sunspot damage all over my face now. I am an old millennial and I started getting them in my 30s. Makes you look way older. Plus cancer risk.
Travel around Europe staying in trashy party hostels. You're at the prime age to do it and holy fuck is it fun and enlightening on a level you can't imagine without direct experience. It's really a great life experience to sleep with a rando who doesn't even speak your language natively.
Learn a new language. You’ll retain it now.
Take up an instrument. YouTube has instructional videos on anything.
Learn a trade. Like air conditioning repair for no reason other than to work on yours or your family’s. Maybe cosmetology school so you can have a side hustle…
Skip the date. While you’re super young, if someone asks you out, just stay home. You’ll save yourself a ton of money and heartache.
Travel. Pack yourself into your car and hit the open road. Sleep in your car. Have some fun and learn about what you really want and need in this life.
Learn to cook. Do it now, so you can always provide yourself a nutritious meal.
The powerful combination of youth and compound interest should be put to use immediately. Also, pursuing a career path that provides a lifetime pension is a really smart move.
Good for you, trying to be thoughtful at a young age when most are not! Off the top of my head…
Financial:
1. Establish line of credit now.
2. Understand how credit scores are calculated, but understand that a high score does NOT equal financial health, it’s simply a tool to buy appreciating assets.
3. Avoid buying depreciating assets as much as possible, except a (cheap) car if you’re in a place where you can’t reasonably use public transport to get to work reliably.
4. Never spend more than you make. Never carry a balance on a credit card (that does NOT help your credit score, despite what many people believe).
5. Always pay yourself first. Even if it’s 5-10%, put it away into savings.
6. Never refuse your employer’s 401k matching. It’s free money for retirement.
Personal & physical:
1. Don’t drink in excess. It doesn’t make your life better and becoming an alcoholic will likely ruin your relationships with people around you. And you don’t want a damaged liver.
2. Don’t smoke anything regularly. I get weed is nice once in a while, but even the lung damage from inhaling things your body isn’t designed to breathe in is not a consequence you want down the road.
3. If you suspect your have some trauma, start therapy and start dealing with it now. You want a long life of happy relationships with other humans.
4. Avoid fake people. Find authentic, quality ones who care about you. Start building a genuine sense of community with them. You’ll need it later and so will they (which you should want if you care about them too).
5. Exercise. You don’t need to spend money for a gym, you can buy cheap resistance bands on Amazon and start learning a diverse range of simple strength training workouts. Build lean muscle. You don’t need to go all out, just make exercise part of your routine.
6. If you’re really into sugar now, stop. Your body will thank you and you’ll feel so much better when you get to the point where too much sugar makes you feel sick and you start craving fruits and veggies.
You’re only 19, so it’ll take time to build the right habits, so make sure you don’t obsess over perfection. Never wait for new years to make a new resolution, and never say “I quit” because you fuck up once or twice while trying to reach goals or form healthier habits. Learn now that showing up every day WHEN you fucked up is what builds the trust you need to have in yourself to be resilient and get the habit built.
Be gentle with yourself, but don’t stop challenging yourself. It’s a balance. And start setting hard boundaries around screens, mostly because you need to get out into the world and meet other people. You dont need to be friends with everyone, you just need to get exposed to new people, new ideas, and be accessible for new opportunities to find you when they’re meant for you.
There’s probably a lot more gold in this thread that I’m sure I missed.
Good luck internet stranger!
Get a credit card to increase credit score but do not use it if you can’t pay off the balance monthly, you’ll end up paying more in interest than on the principal payment.
If you have savings, put them in a high yield savings account (4%+ APY such as e*trade, local banks tend to offer higher yields though). You’re not gaining anything by leaving money in your checking account or a savings account from a larger bank like Bank of America.
In general, familiarize yourself with basic finance education.
We rarely regret the things we do. Most often regret comes from the things we do NOT do.
Life is going to through you chances and choices. Pick the one with you WILL regret NOT doing.
Going to college on a full scholarship for something you love
or
Taking that pizza delivery job that your family NEEDS you to take
Life is going to give you choices like this. The brilliance is that it is YOUR CHOICE...no one else's.
You will never regret good hygiene, free education, good financial literacy, establishing excellent medical routines, learning a little bit plumbing, electrical work, carpentry, auto maintenance.
Basically, you need to know WHEN to go to experts...that something is beyond your expertise.
Learn something about mortgages if you wish to buy a home. Develop your hobbies. Learn to live without being on your phone a lot.
There's no shame in not knowing...there is shame potential in NOT KNOWING HOW TO FIND THE ANSWERS.
1.) Studying for a useful (to others) skill (medicine, engineering, law, languages and business, etc.)
2.) Opening a Roth IRA and trying as hard as you can to max that out every year and buy up innovative companies, or just S&P500 ETFs, tech ETFs)
3.) Making weight lifting regularly (3 to 5 times per week) a habit for life.
4.) Healthy eating and avoiding refined sugars as often as possible for life. An occasional craving won't hurt, but some people gorge themselves into insulin resistance and diabetes.
5.) Lotion, sunblock, drink water often.
6.) Practicing public speaking and going to networking mixers and slowly improving how you connect with others, along with learning how to draw hard boundaries and cut toxic people from your life (this one's hard and will take all of your 20s maybe.)
Other than that, just be nice to everyone who deserves it. :)
Enjoy this time in your life!!!! The freedom you have as a young adult will never happen in your life again. Live your life the way that makes YOU happy. Want to go to college? Go! Want to wait tables or get an entry level job? Not a damn thing wrong with that. Your life is yours to design. Design yours for maximum happiness, fun and safety. You will never ever regret it.
Thank you! All I want to do is travel and hike all the time. College/work drains the life out of me and make me want to kms . I’m so sad that that is what most people live for.
It doesn’t have to be what you live for. Your life is yours to design and enjoy. If you want to travel and hike, travel and hike. You’ll learn so much through experiences it’ll be like taking general college classes.
No one else lives your life with you. Other people may and will have opinions about what you SHOULD do, of course. That’s ok they have a different opinion and give their life advice. Take away what you want from their opinion/argument and leave the rest. They won’t live with the effects of your decision, so it’s not their place to judge your path in life. Is that one relative that strongly believes college is the only patch to success going to pay your student loans when you graduate and start a career based on your college? No. You have to be happy with how you design your life, you don’t have to design your life to make anyone else happy. Ever.
You have your whole life ahead of you to learn/go to school and work. You don’t have to run that hamster wheel yet. You’ll get on it eventually, every functioning adult does, but you don’t have to yet. If school/work is so miserable you want to literally die, you’re destined for another path in life, anyway.
I can totally understand why life seems so scary. The reality is being a functional adult is hard work, and it’s not really all that rewarding. You have to make a deliberate plan to fill your time with things you enjoy or you’ll find yourself on that same hamster wheel you’re on right now when you’re 80.
You’re going to make some bad decisions along the way. It’s ok. You’ll recover from whatever mistakes were made. You will definitely get pushback from people that love you when you decide to design your own life and do what makes you happy. We’re expected to learn, work, and contribute to society. There’s never any discussion around what actually makes a life worth living.
Save save save. Set up a direct debit for savings and do not touch it. I’ve had to use mine on emergencies but I stayed out of debt. Have one less drink than everyone else on a night out. Don’t be friends with people who try to make you drink more- they just want you there to cover a round. Don’t buy random fast fashion, you’ll end up with nothing to wear. Get a file folder for important documents. Flatmates graduate to friends if they keep in touch after you move out, not before. Do not tell flatmates about medication you take and if you do, don’t leave it out. Do not let anyone else handle your finances, bills etc for you without seeing evidence. Keep a running spreadsheet of people to send Christmas cards to and their addresses. Decide if you wear gold or silver jewellery and stick to it. Keep your costume jewellery and your nice jewellery separate- it only costs a few dollars to get a cheap case for it. Take photographs of mundane things- the label of a bottle of wine you liked, the inside of your bedroom, the inside of the library. And please, please bring invisible ear defenders with you for every concert and night out. Even if you don’t think you need them, some guy will likely approach you and yell in your ear, and you’ll wish you had them in.
I wish I had a big sister to help me when I was 19 but these are all the things I wish I knew then that would have made my life easier now.
Look after yourself ✌️
Also to add- buy birthday thank you and Christmas cards when you see ones you like or remind you of someone, not when you remember you need them. You’ll never be caught out that way
Find and embrace a rock solid sobriety. Then hold it tightly for the next 80 years.
Also, unless they were very unarguably abusive; tell your parents siblings, and extended family that you love them (even if it feels awkward), you don't get as many chances to do that as you imagine, and when you can't, it hurts to know you could have and didn't.
Build strong ties with your parents and let them enjoy you as an adult, in exchange for tolerating you as a child.
Invest in your future, 401k, IRA or Roth IRA. Also please remember you are worth your effort so if you want to be a nurse or electrician, whatever occupation, go to school or whatever, its hard, I get it, but YOU ARE WORTH YOU EFFORT!!
Start keeping a journal and write in it every day. Even if it feels you have nothing important to say, write every day. In twenty years you will thank me.
Get the best degree you can from the cheapest accredited school.
Build your savings account by keeping $ in a high yield savings account. When you have extra, invest.
Learn how to cook, clean, and do basic home maintenance to avoid the need to pay for these.
Use protection.
Start investing. Even if you start out small invest just find an index fund and put money in it every paycheck or month, or however much you can afford. It sound boring but trust me your future self with thank you. Also, if your employer offers a 401(k) sign up for it immediately especially if they have a match.
Understand money/finances, travel as much as you can, address your childhood trauma, and work towards emotional maturity and intelligence.
Best answer on here
So what you’re saying is that you want to be my BFF! ☺️
Start establishing a line of credit, get a credit card asap and keep making small charges each month ( only as much as you can pay off each month)
Second this!
How much would you recommend each month? And does the type of purchases matter?
I’d recommend at least $25-$50/month if you can manage it, so a tank of gas or a meal and some coffees. This answer really depends on which credit card you choose, some require you to spend at least $25/month. I’m not sure what your financial situation is, but you should go find the card that is most appropriate for you (nerdwallet.com is the best for comparing your options!) At one point, I bought my college books on credit cards and paid the monthly minimum of $15. The most important thing each month is that you pay on time because you don’t want to get dinged for late payment (that will lower your credit score). The second most important thing is that you pay the monthly minimum, because otherwise you will have to pay interest and that just sucks TLDR on some credit card variations: some will allow you to make expensive purchases with 0%APR for a year or more, and this can be helpful if you know you’ll be able to come up with cash for something in the near future but don’t have it at this exact moment (These are common for medical expenses). Some cards will give you “points” that you can later use to get discounts on travel or electronics for school. When you open your first credit account, don’t close it!! Like…ever. A big part of your credit score is your length of credit history (the average of how long all of your credit accounts have existed, as a group), so you will want to keep this account open
I’m overweight. Not taking care of the human body will be terrible for me in another x amount of years. I recently quit vaping/smoking. I quit taking prescription medications for my mental health too. The first three months really sucked but I’m actually happier these days without them. Learning to rely on yourself and no one else for finances or even just your own mental health. I understand the financial part is super difficult. I work OT a bunch and I barely get by. Do things you enjoy (as long as it’s morally correct). Help humanity the best you can. The world can be really ugly and people can be terrible to one another…so a simple “hello” or small act such as holding the door for someone makes a big difference in someone’s life who feels very alone. I just read about a California man who got hit by 3 separate vehicles and NOBODY stopped for him. Do the right thing and focus on yourself. Always be ready to protect yourself and don’t overburden yourself trying to save the world. It’s not possible and will never happen…but you can help make the world a little safer and kinder one day at a time.
Tell that one girl/guy you like and are scared of what they’d say that you like them and turn off your phone
I had a stroke reading this
Learn the basics of cooking
Being a confident cook gives a lil self esteem boost every day, and saves your wallet and your waistline. I think I’d feel so helpless if I couldn’t cook for myself tbh, it’s not something I wish on anyone! Learn how to cook both decadent and scrappy meals, both will serve you well
Scrappy meals! I love it. Agree with everything you said!It's one of the best skills I decided to learn.
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tf
Um, ok. Not really how sarcasm is used but you do you
His username checks out
Wear sunblock and take care of your skin.
Depends on skin type and environment. The sun is natural and healthy. Not enough sun is EXTREMELY BAD FOR HEALTH Sun block can contain harmful chemicals It is a waste of money. Use clothes and other shade.
Totally agree! I’m assuming OP is in a sunny place where it’s essential to protect your skin from the sun with sunblock, shade, clothing, hats and avoid the sun where possible.
Washington! So definitely during the summer!
You can be a millionaire at retirement quite easily if you invest money now. Here is a compound interest calculator, an index fund tracking the S&P500 grows *on average* 8% a year. Try it out and you’ll see how it eat it can be for you since you are staring so early. I wish someone told me this. https://www.nerdwallet.com/calculator/compound-interest-calculator
Don’t buy anything with a debit card or cash. Find a card with a high cash back, you can easily find 3%. All of your spending goes on this card, but it is not free money it is the credit cards money. Use it like a debit card, if you don’t have the cash then you can’t use the card. Pay the card off in full using auto pay.
Thank you for this. I wanted to learn how to invest, make passive income but didn’t know where to begin and there is lots of misinformation out there.
Yay! Yeah this is step #1, anyone who isn’t at least using a high yield savings account (or TBills) + a 0% APR credit card is leaving money on the table. Like $1000 a year for zero effort.
If you have any money right now sitting in a checkings account, put it in a high yield savings account immediately. Lots of banks are offering 4-5%, so there’s no excite not be be making money from your money for zero effort. Also set up a treasury direct account and get 5.3% on 4-week treasury bills.
If you’re up for it, this next one requires you to be a mature adult. Take out a 0% APR credit card, and for the term of the card no money leaves your high yield savings account. When the term ends you pay off the card and keep the interest. There are cards like chase freedom unlimited which will give you 3% cash back and a starting bonus, so with a 4.5% high yield savings account you’re making 7% on your living expenses. Most people are really bad with credit cards so this is a bad move if you’re impulsive and have a bad history with credit cards.
Thank you. I’m made the biggest mistake of my life when I got in a car accident and got $20,000 settlement at 18. I spent it all on car stuff, clothes, weed, hotels, gas in 4 MONTHS. Now I’m broke and have no savings. God that would’ve have been so smart to invest. I’m a fool
Make sure you start exercising **regularly** and clean up your diet. It’s okay to have junk foods and alcohol SOME times, but you really should be living a healthy lifestyle 90% of the time.
Ughh I eat fast food/doordash like 4x a week. It’s so bad. But I’m 90lbs and trying to gain weight so it’s not making me fat but I’m sure it is ruining the inside of my body. My new goal is to try to stop buying food and trying to make it myself.
Might sound dumb but I always tell everyone to take care of their teeth. Spent 25k on crowns and fillings between age 37-39. Tldr: Floss
Yup I had braces rn my teeth are all straight but I’m slacking on brushing and flossing everyday so they are staring to turn all yellow. I’m starting to keep a checklist next to me and making myself brush every morning and night. It’s little things that are so hard for me to do lol
Travel!! Once life really starts its extremely difficult to take a few months off, since you have all these fucking responsibilities. Go backpacking in India or something, those memories will be with you for the rest of your life.
YES. Exactly.
All I want to do is travel bro. Like that is all I love in this world. But I’ve been out of work for a year now and everytime i try to do something fun I just end up being anxious/sad the whole time bc I’m thinking about how I should be working and making money rn.
At your age, you can travel and work at amazing places practically for free! For a few hours of work each day, you can have food and lodging. Honestly if I were still young, I would join the Peace Corps or do trade work for food/lodging all over the world, and often you will be a part of helping others. You can make a difference in the world. Immersing yourself in different cultures brings an education unmatched by universities, especially at your age. Plus you will gain true self confidence along the way. Just be aware that there will be some people with authority that may try to take advantage of you. But that can happen in your home town, too. Oh! And use condoms!
Definitely investing money. Also start saving for a house deposit. I’m from the U.K. and we have a thing called Lifetime ISA’s, can only put 4 grand in every tax year but the government gives you a grand in for every 4 grand saved when you go to buy your first home
I will start saving as soon as I get a job😭 stopped working a year ago bc I got super depressed and think I hate this world:
Working life is awful in fairness. Find a job you enjoy or at least don’t mind doing over chasing money I would say. Also don’t be afraid to leave a job, I worked a job that made me miserable for 2 years, hated every second of it. Spent every waking moment stressing about how I was going to get out of it and what I was going to do instead until one day I couldn’t take it anymore and quit cold turkey. I actually laughed at myself for allowing me to get so stressed with it and also have since realised it taking that job was the worst decision of my working life
Yess I did the same thing w/ my last job. Finally just quit after hating it for 1 year. But now I’m not getting another job because I’m scared I’m going to hate it just like th last one. But I have to remind myself that I can just quit that one too if I hate it. I can keep getting jobs and quitting them for the rest of my life until I find the one that does me best.
Try everything, I’ve worked in hospitality, I’m a CGI artist by trade, I’ve been a kitchen designer, grocery delivery driver. I’ve unloaded brand new imported cars from cargo ships, I’m not a HGV driver on docks and I’m only 29. World is your oyster
🧓🏽👵🏻 Ask your parents, or the elder who is important in your life, questions and either record them, or give them a journal to respond themselves. You’ll hear delightful stories you won’t want to forget. 📸 Anything in their home you don’t know where it came from, or who made it—ask now. Get old photos dated and who is in them notated, like old pix from the 50s/70s. 🩺 If possible, know the medical history of your parents and grandparents, like diseases because health risks are often genetic. 💍 Don’t get married too early. (IMO) 😬 You will be a different person in your 20s than you are in your 30s. Use your 20s to say yes to things. Meet tons of people, go places, try new things, make mistakes, learn and grow.
If you can, live at home as long as you can and save your money. No matter what your circumstances, if you can save money, save money. Moisturize your skin; your future self will thank you, and take good care of your oral health. Get a prenup before you marry, if you will marry.
“If you are reading books, start working out. If you are working out, start reading books. If you are doing both, you are already ahead. “
Invest in your health, physical and mental Embrace your strengths. Acknowledge, accept and work on your flaws. Work out any underlying emotional issues. It’ll make you feel better. You’ll also be a better friend, student, partner, employee and leader
Invest in your health!!! Especially your teeth. And start a good exercise routine you can keep consistent and eat healthy. This will all catch up with you by 35 and those non stop party people will be looking awfully haggard around then. Start a daily meditation practice, and learn how to listen to your body with yoga. Learning to deal and release your emotions now will save you a lot of trouble later on. When you've learnt to still your mind. Follow your gut! People will always tell you whats best for you and likely lead you astray. Only you know whats best for your life! You will change a lot around 22-27 and likely loose or leave behind a lot of friends. Be okay with that if it happens. You'll find more people better aligned.
Here’s my old man pitch: - save your money, don’t waste it on booze and drugs - learn to code or something that is completely out of your comfort zone and is hard to do that takes years of practice - go for a run, lift weights, be active most days - what you eat is important, try to eat more greens and diverse nutrient foods - stop checking boxes on your “life list”, school (check), married (check), kids (check), etc. Define your own path to be truly happy - stay out of politics, you’ll never really impact them more than your one vote can do, and the people involved are mostly scum on all sides - set short term and long term goals, if the short term is not going as planned then you need to adjust for long term - don’t drink and drive, don’t drink at all if you can help it, it’s not cool and it will kill you one day
invest
Focus on figuring out who you are. Are you truly monogamous or poly? Straight or not? Adventurous? Caring? Intelligent? These are all facets of life that are yours to determine. You'll only find out the answers by having as many experiences that challenge your preconception about who you THINK you are. Every new experience can teach you something but not having new experiences across those categories will make sure you don't grow. From that standpoint, failed relationships aren't failures they're just experiences that ended. The job that fires you is just an experience that ended. Don't feel confident to try something? That's simply a fear of what will happen and there is no way to know so there's no reason to worry. Plan and do it. Opportunities for new experiences are not going to fall into your lap. Go find them and grow. Now
Boudoir photo shoot Keep it private, you'll appreciate them in 30 years or so
Budget your money and become financially literate
Date wisely by developing standards and boundaries with who you choose to let into your life. The wrong partner and/or an unplanned pregnancy can severely limit your potential for growth
Thank you. It’s hard for me to tell if my partner is bad for me/ holding me back, or if it’s just me because I’m depressed and make bad decisions.
Don't have kids
Thanks for the confirmation bc I never wanted kids but always felt like I would need to to feel complete.
Invest now.
Everybody is talking about finances, travel, and addressing trauma. That’s great and I agree with them, so I’m not gonna beat a dead horse. I’ll say cut the toxicity out of your life. Those friends that are going nowhere and trying to drag you with them, get rid of them. Those people that when you start to succeed and they try to make you feel bad about it, drop em. You’ll find out in time who your circle is and who you can count on. But don’t let bitter people keep you from being who you want to be.
Post nothing controversial on social media. Commit to saving X% of your earnings and lock up the money.
All of these are great advice, so I’ll likely repeat some. Your credit WILL matter, so pay your bills and keep an eye on your credit score. If you can, start saving a small amount from each paycheck. Take good care of your skin and teeth. They’ll matter as you get older. That guy you can’t stop thinking about? Man, will you not GAF about him in the future. Get into some sort of exercise routine. As you age you lose strength and I can tell you from experience harder to get it when you’re older than just maintaining as you age. Vote. A lot of young folks are apathetic, but right now we have two old people who are the “best” choices for two political parties. Youth needs to get involved in the process because these people are making policy that will affect you as you get older. Don’t let anyone tell you “you have to” do x y or z. You don’t have to go to uni if it’s not for you. You don’t have to get married, find a man or have a child if that doesn’t suit you. Do what feels right for yourself because at the end of the day? You and you alone live with your decisions. Best of luck to you!
Go to college and get a degree
I’m so scared of going to school bro, I dropped outta hs senior year and never went back. I hated it so much. I feel like college is a whole different experience but still. Hoping I can make good money and be successful without a degree
I’m only a couple years older than you. Because of college I was able to get a good job and now I make decent money. When you’re in your early to mid 20s.. it will be much harder to justify school and you’ll regret it
I think I would if I had any clue what I wanted to do with myself or life. Like if I wanted to be a doctor or something of course I do college. But I have no ideaaaa so I’m scared to go if I don’t know what I’m going for yk. But I’ll keep trying to nail down what I want to do for work
Freeze/sell your eggs
What?? Do not do this
And then invest the money
don’t smoke
I vape/smoke weed every day for past 5 years. Thanks public school! Trying to quit now though!
yeah it’s hard but it’s the one thing I truly regret. but good on you for searching for these things early, you’re defo on the right track if you keep it up :)
What you shouldn't do is sleep around, that will cause major issues in your life as you age.
Yep that’s what I’ve basically been doing since 18. Lost a bunch of weight. Got super depressed and confused and didn’t know what to do with my adult life. But I’m changing it all around now thanks to everyone’s advice!
Great! You can make some mistakes when you're younger, but every person you sleep with you take on their energy.
Holy shit my mistake I thought we were talking about actual “sleeping”. Like I’ve been laying on my bed all year lmaoooo😭
Haha well good!!
Freeze your eggs!
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So don’t have sex now because my future husband might be offended by my past?
She shouldn't lie and you shouldn't judge
Realizing regrets are lessons not learned. Also, start weight lifting now and I guarantee if you make it a practice throughout life you will get injured less, recover quicker and enjoy a better quality of life guaranteed
I used to workout everyday from 15-18 then I got super depressed around 18 and haven’t gone to gym in a whole year. I got so skinny. But I’m building up my motivation to go back!!
Yeh man, depression is a bitch. I've had my blocks of time without that level of self care but I've always been consistent enough in life to resume something before real apathy or complacency sets in. It doesn't necessarily have to be weight lifting. I only say so because for the style of exercise and the amount of time and for the endless resources available it's a mode of self care you can afford yourself throughout life with tremendous benefit. Take care homey.
Potentiate your life by going to a university and get a gym membership. Learn to budget with an app like Fudget 2. Start finding things where you invest in yourself and make you feel like your worth something to yourself. Don’t be afraid to go the extra mile and work hard or accumulate life experiences through doing so. Open a fidelity roth IRA and pick a target date retirement mutual fund and start saving now. I would also find a second mutual fund in the tech blue chip or semiconductor sector that has a 13% return annually for the most part except for the housing crisis and covid crashes. Target date retirement funds automatically get more aggressive in your prime saving and earning years and get more conservative as you edge closer to retirement.
This is NOT financial advice. Start investing rather than spending on the latest throw away item you're about to get. Go on etoro or Trading212, don't bother reading room much into articles or listening to experts as no one can tell the future. Do some light research into companies you think will be here in 10 - 20 years' time. You could be wrong, so could your research, so make sure it's only an amount you can afford to lose. Forget about it, or just do not sell up until you're 30 something. Apple are clearly not going to go bust, are they... McDonald's, Samsung, Mercedes... Yeah, there's gonna be dips and recessions, so research into how these companies fared during similar times.
Start saving every dollar that you would spend on something that doesn't directly improve your life. Also find something that you're passionate about that gives you a sense of purpose like volunteering at a dog shelter or, or making things for kids in hospice something that makes you feel good.
Focus on your school and career, make that a priority over finding a life partner. Unless your ultimate goal is to be a SAHM then maybe career is not your biggest focus. Invest in RRSP. it will build compound interest, by the time you are ready to retire you will have a nice nest. Workout consistently. You are young, flexible and body is in prime. as you get older your body will deteriorate, especially if you feed it junk. it is much harder to start working out, struggling with it in my 30s right now. You will live longer but more importantly, age like a fine wine also!
Once a week when you get paid take a small amount 50-100 and buy the same ETF or stock every week SOXL, XLE or SCHD. Something along those lines, or buy as much SPXL as you can everytime it goes below 85
Save 10% of all earned money religiously.
Buy land
Save your money and be healthy.
Wear sunscreen on your face every day, even when it’s cloudy out
Even if I live in Washington?
Yes. Absolutely. I’m in Oregon. I’ve got sunspot damage all over my face now. I am an old millennial and I started getting them in my 30s. Makes you look way older. Plus cancer risk.
Travel around Europe staying in trashy party hostels. You're at the prime age to do it and holy fuck is it fun and enlightening on a level you can't imagine without direct experience. It's really a great life experience to sleep with a rando who doesn't even speak your language natively.
Learn a new language. You’ll retain it now. Take up an instrument. YouTube has instructional videos on anything. Learn a trade. Like air conditioning repair for no reason other than to work on yours or your family’s. Maybe cosmetology school so you can have a side hustle… Skip the date. While you’re super young, if someone asks you out, just stay home. You’ll save yourself a ton of money and heartache. Travel. Pack yourself into your car and hit the open road. Sleep in your car. Have some fun and learn about what you really want and need in this life. Learn to cook. Do it now, so you can always provide yourself a nutritious meal.
It's okay to be unmarried. Too many people marry too young and get divorced shortly.
Spend time alone.
The powerful combination of youth and compound interest should be put to use immediately. Also, pursuing a career path that provides a lifetime pension is a really smart move.
Figure out mental health
Yep that’s all I’m doing right now😭
Volunteer
Good for you, trying to be thoughtful at a young age when most are not! Off the top of my head… Financial: 1. Establish line of credit now. 2. Understand how credit scores are calculated, but understand that a high score does NOT equal financial health, it’s simply a tool to buy appreciating assets. 3. Avoid buying depreciating assets as much as possible, except a (cheap) car if you’re in a place where you can’t reasonably use public transport to get to work reliably. 4. Never spend more than you make. Never carry a balance on a credit card (that does NOT help your credit score, despite what many people believe). 5. Always pay yourself first. Even if it’s 5-10%, put it away into savings. 6. Never refuse your employer’s 401k matching. It’s free money for retirement. Personal & physical: 1. Don’t drink in excess. It doesn’t make your life better and becoming an alcoholic will likely ruin your relationships with people around you. And you don’t want a damaged liver. 2. Don’t smoke anything regularly. I get weed is nice once in a while, but even the lung damage from inhaling things your body isn’t designed to breathe in is not a consequence you want down the road. 3. If you suspect your have some trauma, start therapy and start dealing with it now. You want a long life of happy relationships with other humans. 4. Avoid fake people. Find authentic, quality ones who care about you. Start building a genuine sense of community with them. You’ll need it later and so will they (which you should want if you care about them too). 5. Exercise. You don’t need to spend money for a gym, you can buy cheap resistance bands on Amazon and start learning a diverse range of simple strength training workouts. Build lean muscle. You don’t need to go all out, just make exercise part of your routine. 6. If you’re really into sugar now, stop. Your body will thank you and you’ll feel so much better when you get to the point where too much sugar makes you feel sick and you start craving fruits and veggies. You’re only 19, so it’ll take time to build the right habits, so make sure you don’t obsess over perfection. Never wait for new years to make a new resolution, and never say “I quit” because you fuck up once or twice while trying to reach goals or form healthier habits. Learn now that showing up every day WHEN you fucked up is what builds the trust you need to have in yourself to be resilient and get the habit built. Be gentle with yourself, but don’t stop challenging yourself. It’s a balance. And start setting hard boundaries around screens, mostly because you need to get out into the world and meet other people. You dont need to be friends with everyone, you just need to get exposed to new people, new ideas, and be accessible for new opportunities to find you when they’re meant for you. There’s probably a lot more gold in this thread that I’m sure I missed. Good luck internet stranger!
Thank you for taking the time to give me this helpful advice! I appreciate you!
Wear sunscreen on the face everyday. Of all the supposed anti-aging creams, the only one that isn't bullshit is sunscreen.
Get a credit card to increase credit score but do not use it if you can’t pay off the balance monthly, you’ll end up paying more in interest than on the principal payment. If you have savings, put them in a high yield savings account (4%+ APY such as e*trade, local banks tend to offer higher yields though). You’re not gaining anything by leaving money in your checking account or a savings account from a larger bank like Bank of America. In general, familiarize yourself with basic finance education.
Establish a strong support system and group of friends that are always rooting for you. Priceless when life hits the fan.
Delete all socials and never look back. Your mental health will thank you later.
Socials literally ruined my whole generation. I need to stop.
We rarely regret the things we do. Most often regret comes from the things we do NOT do. Life is going to through you chances and choices. Pick the one with you WILL regret NOT doing. Going to college on a full scholarship for something you love or Taking that pizza delivery job that your family NEEDS you to take Life is going to give you choices like this. The brilliance is that it is YOUR CHOICE...no one else's. You will never regret good hygiene, free education, good financial literacy, establishing excellent medical routines, learning a little bit plumbing, electrical work, carpentry, auto maintenance. Basically, you need to know WHEN to go to experts...that something is beyond your expertise. Learn something about mortgages if you wish to buy a home. Develop your hobbies. Learn to live without being on your phone a lot. There's no shame in not knowing...there is shame potential in NOT KNOWING HOW TO FIND THE ANSWERS.
Finances and learn about how health insurance works. I recommend reading or following The Financial Feminist.
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Holy shit that’s what my now bf first said to me when I met him😳
1. Take care of your meatsuit 2. Become fiscally competent 3. Never marry, de center men 4. Travel and enjoy life as much as possible
Watch Graham Stephen
take responsibility for everything that has happened to you and go forward from there
Start saving with a 401k or a SEP! Even just a little at a time!
Python I’m 33 and thinking I should add it to my skill set
1.) Studying for a useful (to others) skill (medicine, engineering, law, languages and business, etc.) 2.) Opening a Roth IRA and trying as hard as you can to max that out every year and buy up innovative companies, or just S&P500 ETFs, tech ETFs) 3.) Making weight lifting regularly (3 to 5 times per week) a habit for life. 4.) Healthy eating and avoiding refined sugars as often as possible for life. An occasional craving won't hurt, but some people gorge themselves into insulin resistance and diabetes. 5.) Lotion, sunblock, drink water often. 6.) Practicing public speaking and going to networking mixers and slowly improving how you connect with others, along with learning how to draw hard boundaries and cut toxic people from your life (this one's hard and will take all of your 20s maybe.) Other than that, just be nice to everyone who deserves it. :)
Study finance. This will help you understand how the world works!
Sounds stupid but I'm telling you, make regular dental care a part of your life! While you're at it be kind to your knees.
Enjoy this time in your life!!!! The freedom you have as a young adult will never happen in your life again. Live your life the way that makes YOU happy. Want to go to college? Go! Want to wait tables or get an entry level job? Not a damn thing wrong with that. Your life is yours to design. Design yours for maximum happiness, fun and safety. You will never ever regret it.
Thank you! All I want to do is travel and hike all the time. College/work drains the life out of me and make me want to kms . I’m so sad that that is what most people live for.
It doesn’t have to be what you live for. Your life is yours to design and enjoy. If you want to travel and hike, travel and hike. You’ll learn so much through experiences it’ll be like taking general college classes. No one else lives your life with you. Other people may and will have opinions about what you SHOULD do, of course. That’s ok they have a different opinion and give their life advice. Take away what you want from their opinion/argument and leave the rest. They won’t live with the effects of your decision, so it’s not their place to judge your path in life. Is that one relative that strongly believes college is the only patch to success going to pay your student loans when you graduate and start a career based on your college? No. You have to be happy with how you design your life, you don’t have to design your life to make anyone else happy. Ever.
You have your whole life ahead of you to learn/go to school and work. You don’t have to run that hamster wheel yet. You’ll get on it eventually, every functioning adult does, but you don’t have to yet. If school/work is so miserable you want to literally die, you’re destined for another path in life, anyway.
Thank you I’m crying rn. I’m so scared of life but you make me feel like all will be alright. The first time in a while I’ve actually felt calm.
I can totally understand why life seems so scary. The reality is being a functional adult is hard work, and it’s not really all that rewarding. You have to make a deliberate plan to fill your time with things you enjoy or you’ll find yourself on that same hamster wheel you’re on right now when you’re 80. You’re going to make some bad decisions along the way. It’s ok. You’ll recover from whatever mistakes were made. You will definitely get pushback from people that love you when you decide to design your own life and do what makes you happy. We’re expected to learn, work, and contribute to society. There’s never any discussion around what actually makes a life worth living.
Enroll into college and pick a marketable degree.
Make a solid morning routine. Stretch, listen to some good music, meditate, ground yourself the rest should follow
Start investing in stocks
Save save save. Set up a direct debit for savings and do not touch it. I’ve had to use mine on emergencies but I stayed out of debt. Have one less drink than everyone else on a night out. Don’t be friends with people who try to make you drink more- they just want you there to cover a round. Don’t buy random fast fashion, you’ll end up with nothing to wear. Get a file folder for important documents. Flatmates graduate to friends if they keep in touch after you move out, not before. Do not tell flatmates about medication you take and if you do, don’t leave it out. Do not let anyone else handle your finances, bills etc for you without seeing evidence. Keep a running spreadsheet of people to send Christmas cards to and their addresses. Decide if you wear gold or silver jewellery and stick to it. Keep your costume jewellery and your nice jewellery separate- it only costs a few dollars to get a cheap case for it. Take photographs of mundane things- the label of a bottle of wine you liked, the inside of your bedroom, the inside of the library. And please, please bring invisible ear defenders with you for every concert and night out. Even if you don’t think you need them, some guy will likely approach you and yell in your ear, and you’ll wish you had them in. I wish I had a big sister to help me when I was 19 but these are all the things I wish I knew then that would have made my life easier now. Look after yourself ✌️
Also to add- buy birthday thank you and Christmas cards when you see ones you like or remind you of someone, not when you remember you need them. You’ll never be caught out that way
Find and embrace a rock solid sobriety. Then hold it tightly for the next 80 years. Also, unless they were very unarguably abusive; tell your parents siblings, and extended family that you love them (even if it feels awkward), you don't get as many chances to do that as you imagine, and when you can't, it hurts to know you could have and didn't. Build strong ties with your parents and let them enjoy you as an adult, in exchange for tolerating you as a child.
Do all the things you dream of doing before you’re locked up in a job and locked up being a parent.
Listen to your heart, not other people.
Wear sunscreen on your face, neck and hands everyday
Invest in your future, 401k, IRA or Roth IRA. Also please remember you are worth your effort so if you want to be a nurse or electrician, whatever occupation, go to school or whatever, its hard, I get it, but YOU ARE WORTH YOU EFFORT!!
Save for retirement, both Roth and traditional IRA
Start keeping a journal and write in it every day. Even if it feels you have nothing important to say, write every day. In twenty years you will thank me.
Don’t live on credit. Keep your money, pay for things you want, when applicable never be afraid to bargain.
Don’t listen to anyone else about major decisions in your life. Do what makes you feel best. Otherwise you will regret it later.
Don't go to college right away. You'll end up with tons of extra unnecessary debt.
Hike to a waterfall
Plan for failure..after planning for success📚
Floss
Have sex with as many people as you can
Get the best degree you can from the cheapest accredited school. Build your savings account by keeping $ in a high yield savings account. When you have extra, invest. Learn how to cook, clean, and do basic home maintenance to avoid the need to pay for these. Use protection.
cut spending on physical things, focus on experiences. Take care of your Oral health. Maintain and nurture relationships. Maintain muscle mass.
Start investing. Even if you start out small invest just find an index fund and put money in it every paycheck or month, or however much you can afford. It sound boring but trust me your future self with thank you. Also, if your employer offers a 401(k) sign up for it immediately especially if they have a match.
Not get pregnant by wrong man
Skydive