I just last week realized a story I’ve been telling myself was complete BS. I kept thinking that I didn’t really start being smart about money until my 30s. That I didn’t make any major financial mistakes in my 20s, but that really, I could have (and should have) done a lot more.  

I don’t know why I was so hard on Past Me. She was doing fine!

She invested in her company 401k (even with no match) and even scheduled the contributions to increase automatically every year. She bought a condo with an FHA loan (and didn’t stretch the budget for the place she really wanted with the fireplace). She had a $4k emergency fund that she kept in a high yield savings account. She never got into credit card debt that couldn’t be paid off the following month. She drove a used Honda and meticulously tracked the budget. She even did her own taxes. 👩🏼‍💻

Now that’s all well and good for 20s me. But in my 30s, I started making more money, got serious about investing, and fell down the FI/RE rabbit hole. I learned the whoooole alphabet (IRAs, HSAs, etc.) I hit lean FIRE at some point, and I will undoubtedly be able to retire early.🔥 

But holy cow! I used to sneer at my younger self and wish she’d gotten it together sooner.

I don’t know why I don’t want to give her credit, but 20s Liz set me up for success. And I’m so thankful for that! It’s not the kind of flashy success I see online today, but it was an extremely solid start. I read a lot of personal finance content online, and it’s easy to believe that absolutely everyone is 25, makes $150k, and will be able to retire in the next 4 minutes. 

My first job out of school paid $30k, and I didn’t crack the $50k mark until I was in my 30s. But I still did the basics: saved a cash emergency fund, invested in my retirement account at work, and mostly kept my expenses in check. Even without blogs and books and podcasts to break it down for me. I kind of got the gist. 📈

Now I had some major tailwinds helping me out: I had super low student loans, and that was a huge advantage. No health issues, no trauma, good education, I could go on. The privilege is real. ❤️ 

But I don’t give myself enough credit for doing a lot of things right. I’m proud of myself. Doesn’t really matter what other people are earning or doing with their money. Because I’m not living their life!

How do you feel about your early years with money? I don’t know why I was so hard on myself. I was learning and growing and doing just fine. 

_{The fine print: I’m not a financial advisor, and I’m definitely not your financial advisor. A reminder that the name of the blog implies I might be drunk, so take everything I say with a grain of margarita salt.}