I think it’s fair to say that every single one of us has made some financial mistakes.
There are several that I regret — getting into debt, buying gifts I couldn’t afford to try to make someone happy, and cashing out a retirement fund.
Then there are a few that could have ended up disastrously but didn’t — mistakes that I made but miraculously escaped from by the skin of my teeth without huge negative effects. (Buying a duplex on an interest-only loan when I didn’t even have an official job being one of those.)
But then, there are the financial “mistakes” that I’d make all over again.
One of those was quitting my full time job with benefits and a 100% 401k match to….go work in West Germany for 3 three months. I worked in a tourist information office, staying with a host family and receiving a VERY small monthly stipend that basically paid for lunch and bus fare.
From the financial perspective, it was kind of a dumb thing to do. I did at least speak German, but I remember landing at the airport and wondering what the heck I was thinking.
Things were by no means perfect while I lived in Germany. Some of them were far from perfect, in fact, but I learned a lot about myself, and I would do it again even in hindsight. (I might do a few things differently while there if I had to do it over again, but I would still quit my job and go.)
Sure, my bank account suffered, and my old job was not immediately available again when I returned.
Sometimes though, we need to make mistakes to grow. And sometimes the things that appear to be mistakes from the conventional perspective actually set us on a positive path that we would never have otherwise gone down.
So, are there any financial mistakes that you’d make all over again? What were they, and how did they turn out?
Posted in Money Management on 09.06.10 with 11 comments.
I have a lot of financial mistakes as well such as getting into too much debt, buying the wrong investment, but I think the important thing you learn from all of them and to make sure that you don’t repeat the same mistakes.
Just visiting fellow Yakezie members. I just signed up recently and I just want to drop by and see what other members has to offer. Keep up the good work, you’ve got a good blog going on here.
Thanks for stopping by
Nothing like financial mistakes you KNOW you’ll commit again. Probably for me it’s making stupid purchases because it seems like such a bright idea at the time and I’m so enthusiastic only to later realize I didn’t need the product and I’m not using it nearly as much as I thought I would. I’m trying to be more patient when it comes to purchasing stuff.
I find the 24 hour rule helps with that. (Telling myself that I’ll come back again the next day if I still want to buy it…)
Yup, 24 hour, 48 or 72…they’re all great to institute before a big purchase.
I just joined the Yakezie challenge last week and found your site. I can’t really think of any major financial mistake that I would do over again. However, I think you make a great point here. Life is way too short not to take some financial risks once in a while. It sounds like you had a great life experience in Germany which makes it worth losing out on your 401k and job.
Thanks, and glad you’ve joined the challenge
I wouldn’t call that a financial mistake, quitting your job and moving to Germany. You could say it was an economic trade-off, purchasing or trading a life experience for a certain sum. People do that all the time with vacations, and don’t even have the benefit of a vacation being a learning experience like yours was.
Maybe calling it a big financial risk would be more accurate. I had no money in savings, and if I hadn’t found a job fairly quickly when I got back things would not have been pretty.
Sometimes trusting your instinct is the right mistake to make, and you trusted your instinct about leaving your job. There are some things in life more important than money.
Richard Brown recently posted..Basics on How to Start Budgeting Your Finances
I’m not so sure it was instinct, as much as it was that I was determined to go!