What financial decisions would you have made back when you just became an adult? I started my first salaried job about a month ago. So far, the vast majority of my spending has been on groceries, utilities, rent, and paying off debt. I have a Google Drive folder called “Money” with a bunch of spreadsheets in it. The plan is to make a new sheet each month to keep track of every penny I spend. Once I’ve gathered data over a few months, I hope to use it to put together a more general budget. I’ll still be keeping track of where my money is going, but the budget would provide a rough guide to follow. That should help me build savings while aggressively eliminating debt. About 20% of the money owe is in medical expenses. I’ve been prioritizing them over the other 80% (federal student loans), but my life is plagued by health issues that keep incurring new costs. I’ll be doing the opposite from now on. Unlike with the government, there’s no risk of garnishment for not paying a hospital (at least as far as I know).
I’m not looking for hot trading tips, just the stuff everyone would do if they had the financial literacy. I want to talk to a pro in person at some point, but I’m interested in knowing what people here have to say.
