The last couple of years have seen a vast number of personal blogs arising vowing to help you solve personal problems and manage your life. One title that most of these personal blogs have in common is “Things I Would Tell My Younger Self.”
The message is clear, there are things people feel they know that they should have when they were younger, including personal finance.
What could you have told your younger self, or what lessons do you wish you’d have learned way back –while in high school even?
Basic Budgeting Skills
A lack of budgeting skills is one reason why most people in the world today are stuck in the financial house of cards they are in. Despite the financial basics class (home economics) taught in school, the subjecting of budgeting often isn’t ever covered.
You can go back and forth on your old lessons, and it's likely that you will hardly find a peep about budgeting.
Budgeting is an essential skill that should be taught as early as high school. If, while in your teens, you can’t plan your lifestyle as per your earnings, how will you budget when you are older with responsibilities?
Budgeting is one of the best ways that you can achieve your financial goals.
Basics of Investing
When you hear of investing, where does your mind quickly rush to? It doesn’t matter where; you should have an idea of how to invest.
There’s the obvious feeling that investing comes with some overwhelming information, but it should and can be cut down to some essential basics.
For example, investing in stocks doesn't necessarily require a huge financial amount on your part. All you needed to know is how to differentiate between safe options and scams.
Balancing Books
Another great lesson that should have been taught in high school is how to balance books. The time when everything was run manually is not of this world anymore, as we are in a digital age. This is the age of credit cards and other automated money systems.
Balancing your books can help you in both your finances and in the case that you have a business. You need to have a basic understanding of your money flow, even if you aren’t an accountant.
It doesn’t have to be a manual system that is used to balance books; it can be electronic, too, but it’s a lesson that should have been taught.
How Interest Works
Most people wouldn’t be neck-deep in debt today if they knew how interest operates. Some of them find themselves in debt because of the interest they acquired while they were in their late teens and early 20’s.
You can generally get your first credit card when you turn 18 years old. That’s when you are most likely to incur huge interest because of educational loans and other responsibilities.
What if you were taught a little bit more about interest and how it works, though? Credit cards and credit are quite easy to manage when you’re paying them off monthly. That’s a piece of knowledge you should have at least gotten from high school.
When you can carry a substantial balance, it can be detrimental and cause you financial stress. Learn how to avoid falling into that bad habit.
Conclusion
There are a lot of lessons that you may have learned while in high school, and though you can't change that time now, personal finance should have been on that list, as well. Follow these tips to help you manage your personal finances better.
