What would you do with 3 financial do-overs?

BudgetsAreSexy asks: What would you do with 3 financial do-overs?

I personally don’t regret anything I’ve done in my life, otherwise I wouldn’t be the person I am today. You learn from everything you do, and you can take those learning experiences and apply that knowledge when new situations arise. That being said, it’s still fun (or maybe a little tragic) to think about where I would be had I done these 3 things differently:

• I wouldn’t have moved into my own apartment in between switching colleges. When I came back from the USA after completing 2.5 years of University, I took 2 years off before going back to college (1 of those years I spent taking random courses, but mostly I worked full-time). And during those 2 years I started to date someone my parents didn’t like. I was used to the glorious freedom of going away for school. So, being the rebellious ungrateful brat I was, I moved out into an apartment downtown. So I went from zero expenses to a zillion expenses. Had I stayed living at home, I could have saved myself over half of my student loan debt – if not all of it!

• When I was working my 1st government job (1st of 3 stints), I should have saved at least some money. I remember when I got that job. It was a summer placement right before I started college. I was living at home, and went from making $250 bi-weekly at a PT job to $1,100 bi-weekly at an entry-level government job. I spent pretty much all of it. I had no expenses! I didn’t care about saving money. I would literally wander around downtown on my lunch breaks, trying to spend my money. If I had money left over, I wouldn’t save it, I would figure out a way to spend it. On clothing, purses, shoes, food, electronics – anything I could think of. I’m cringing at how many thousands of dollars I wasted away. And what do I have to show for it today? A big fat nothing.

• I would have started to contribute to my RRSPs a lot sooner. My sister is so smart. She started to contribute to an RRSP when she first started working a PT job. I started when I was 24. That’s 8 years after I started working.

And just for fun, here are 3 that could have been considered “mistakes,” but I’m glad I made:

• Going to University in the USA. I pursued my dream of playing high level sports, and I earned a full athletic scholarship to a Div.1 NCAA school. I hired someone to make my recruitment video, sent out packages, got the offers, and did everything on my own. That being said, even with a full scholarship, University life was expensive. The Canadian dollar was worth about $0.60, and according to NCAA rules, I wasn’t allowed to get a job. I had very little money saved up from working PT in high school, and I’ll admit that I fell victim to one of those credit card offers so I could get a free t-shirt. No joke. And don’t get me started on the fact that the cost of flights home ended up almost being more than a semester of tuition of my hometown’s University.

• Not taking that sweet, sweet job in Northern Alberta that I was offered 1.5 years ago. I seriously cannot imagine what my life would be like had I taken that opportunity. It was a great offer (Communications Manager for an entire city), and something I wouldn’t be able to achieve here on the Lower Mainland for at least another 7-10 years. But I waited for something to come along that was a little more local, and I ended up moving to Vancouver. If I were living in Alberta, I wouldn’t be with BF, wouldn’t be looking to buy a home … who knows what I’d be doing. It’s weird to think about. I was so close to choosing such a different path in life.

• Moving to Vancouver. Moving was a pain and I was excited but sad about it. I really wanted to stay in my hometown. But, I needed to experience something new. I needed to get out of my parents basement, and I needed to see if I could survive in a big city. It cost me a lot of time and energy to move, and the cost of living is so much higher here. But I’m glad I did it. Now I know that big city life isn’t for me, and it makes me certain that my hometown is where I’d like to eventually live again. And if not my hometown, than a city like it – something smaller, with a rich history, lots of culture, and a slower pace of life.