I was inspired by the survey in this post to ask about today’s Tell Us Tuesday topic (say that five times fast!):
What was the best, or worse, financial decision you ever made?
I’ve alluded to this before, I think, but my worst financial decision was to trade my nearly paid for, 0% loan, mint condition, nearly brand new Ford Escort for a cranky, cantankerous, unreliable Jeep Cherokee with some criminally high interest rate and enormous monthly repair bills.
She was pretty though.
I don’t know what my best financial decision has been. I guess I’m not there yet. I think it would be a series of small, good decisions, most of which have been chronicled here on Almost Frugal, like starting to budget, tracking my expenses, and avoiding needless purchases. Yeah, that’s it!
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{ 5 comments }
My best financial decision was to work at paying my children’s way through college. I have student loans and I did not what them saddled with them. This is for their undergraduate programs. If I win the lottery, I might make the decision to pay for an advanced degree.
My worse decision was to refinance my home. It was changed to a higher fixed rate, but I would have made more progress had I not joined the “Equity Bandwagon”. I blew the money paying bills that just return over time. I am going to work at keeping my assets.
My worst financial decisions were 1) taking out student loans to pay for university. I wish I had just saved the money and went to school as I am still paying this off and I am in my 30s. 2) Going to Germany for work and taking numerous trips without saving the $ for it. It was hard to actually save as I had a mortgage but I went away every free weekend and I paid large for that.
I think my worst financial decision was to finish my college education at a private school when a state school was only another 20 minute drive away. The best decision I’ve made so far was the decision to not spend any more on our credit cards till we pay off the balances! (And then only use them wisely.)
I’m with Rhona as I really wish I had saved more money before attending college. (Which was only a 1 year program.) My Student loans are currently destroying me financially and I keep having to defer them over and over. Very stressful. :\ Other than that I used a few credit cards to pay a bunch of bills when I was out of work for a little while. I’m kicking myself pretty hard right now. Oh well.
-Chris
Like so many others out there, my worst financial decision was deciding to take out credit cards in my late 20’s and early 30’s and using them to help finance my lifestyle. When I think about how much interest I have paid (and am still paying!) to the credit card companies over the years it makes me want to cry.
My best financial decision was getting a night job and paying for my first two years of college out of pocket. Yes, it was community college, and no, I don’t think it mattered that I didn’t spend the whole four years at the university.