11 devastating money mistakes I made in my 20s that you should avoid

11 devastating money mistakes I made in my 20s that you should avoid11 devastating money mistakes I made in my 20s that you should avoidMoney mistakes in my 20s? Yeah, pretty sure I made all of them.It has been said that you learn and grow wiser once youve experienced something for yourself, and made a few mistakes along the way. I do believe those words have merit, but boy, is it not fun when you are the one paying for it (literally).My parents were great with money and they had no debt we lived a very comfortable life. I guess they figured I knew enough to manage on my own finances (which, yeah, I probably should have). Unfortunately, schools dont teach financial literacy like they do algebra. So, I made some wrong turns before I got myself on the best path to maximize my money and make it work for me.I am now 37-years-old, and I often wish I could rewind the clock to fix those mistakes I made with my finances. Heres a list of my moneyfaux pas, and what to avoid1. I didnt have abud get.One of the biggest - not to mention, cringeworthy - mistakes I made is that I didnt even have a basic understanding of my cashflow. I spent money without thinking about the dollars I welches putting out, or if I even had enough in my checking account to cover what I was charging. Now I budget and know where my money is going with the help of the Mint app.2. I lost a lot of money on overdraft fees.As a surprise to no one, I often ended up paying overdraft fees for my checking account since I had no budget. If youve never been the unlucky recipient of an overdraft-o-gram, theyre not fun. Generally they cost you up to $35 per charge, and they can really snowball (though in 2010,federal regulationswere passed to try to eliminate banks from profiting off of these charges). These extra charges can be especially detrimental when you dont have a lot of money to begin with. Now that I have a budget, I keep track of the money in my accounts and I dont overdraft.3. I didnt save 10% of my income or really anything.I cant say I never saved, because I did. But my saving was sporadic at best, and was often spent just as suddenly and frivolously. I always think of the ereignis of Friends where Monica is about to ask her parents to borrow money after she loses her job, until they confidently assert that surely she must be prepared for herunemploymentbecause they always taught her to save ten percent of every paycheck. Yeah not true of Monica, or me. Now, I automate savings to myemergency fundand other short-term savings accounts.4. I shopped with complete abandon.In case you havent figured this out yet, I had no willpower to save or be smart about money. I loved - and still love - shopping. Somehow, all the clothes I already owned paled in comparison to the new dress and shoes at the mall. I shudder to imagine what it would have been like if Amazon had existed in my early 20s. Also, friends? Bars? Happy hour? Yes, please I had no limits. My 30s have taught me that sta ying home in sweats (or going to a friends house) is a real mood, and a bottle of wine goes a lot farther than the $20 vodka soda from the club.5. Also, I ate out. All. The. Time.Cooking? Whats that? I wont pretend that I have mastered the art of cooking even now, but I can tell you that the moment I moved out on my own, all I did was reservierung out for nearly every meal. If only I had learned the art of meal prepping on Sundays sooner. It has saved me a bunch of cash.6. I didnt negotiate mysalary.I love that women are becoming their own best advocates in the workplace, but it wasnt such a widely celebrated topic back when I was in my 20s. While I startednegotiatingmy salary in my 30s, I just accepted whatever I was offered back when I was younger. Who knows how many thousands of dollars (and overall earning power) I left on the table because I didnt speak up for myself?7. I didntprioritizesaving for retirement at myfirst job.When youre young, the thought of being older and provid ing for your golden years is the furthest thing from your mind. Or, it was in my case. Im embarrassed - and sad - to admit that this didnt become a topic of interest for me until about 3 years ago. Years for building compound interest went completely down the drain. Talk about the one that got away. Luckily, I did always have enough sense to meet my employer-sponsored match (if you dont, youre literally throwing away free money dont do it).8. I got divorced.Make good choices both with your money and with whoever you choose to be your life partner (they may have access to your money). I made a number of mistakes here, but in summary I didnt prepare or choose wisely. Divorce in and of itself is a costly experience, but my ex and I never had the necessary financial conversations we should have had prior to marriage. We didnt have the same views on money or the future. Despite how much I had left to learn about money, I was the mora responsible one. The marriage and the divorce left me both unprepared and financially devastated as he had secretly been opening accounts in my name and ruined my credit. I later had to file for bankruptcy, and have only started to fully recover my credit in recent years.9. I paid more interest due to a lowcredit score.Because my credit score was lower, the higher interest rates I was stuck with made me pay out nearly double of what I would have paid if I had a good credit score. Treat your credit score withrespectand pay plenty of attention to it. It will save you money in the future.10. I didnt take advantage of the more prosperous times.Despite all of my mistakes, I earned agood salaryand didnt want for much. My ex had a job that provided a free apartment, and we didnt pay for any utilities. I think I made so many mistakes early on because I didnt have to scrimp and save to survive. However, once the recession hit in 2008, I lost my job and was unemployed for nearly two years (with a young toddler to boot), and then my ex and I divorced. I realized that if I had only prepared myself better, I wouldnt have been so down and out when hard times hit. If youre reading this and things are going well, take the opportunity to save an extra 1% to retirement or set up an automated transfer to your emergency fund every time you get paid. Trust me, it pays to be prepared when an emergency decides to rear its ugly head.11. Most of all, I didnt ask for help when I needed it.Overall, this is my biggest regret. Asking for help could have saved me a lot of stress and money. When I needed to figure something out or when I needed money, I didnt reach out to my friends or family, and the online resources and communities didnt exist like they do today. But good news they do now, and you are not alone Never feel shy to reach out for help when you need it.Women are becoming more involved in their financial futures by investing in themselves and avoiding the kinds of mistakes I made. I cant encourage this enough. There are severa l resources I use now to upkeep a healthy financial situation, including theFairygodbosss salary database,the Financial Diet, and Stefanie OConnellsblog.A version of this post previously appeared onFairygodboss, the largest career community that helps women get the inside scoop on pay, corporate culture, benefits, and work flexibility. Founded in 2015, Fairygodboss offers company ratings, job listings, discussion boards, and career advice.