9 Major Things I Wish I Had Done With My Money Immediately After Graduating (2024)

When I was in college, I had a part-time job in the journalism department making $15 per hour. So my income took a nice jump when I started a paid full-time internship, where I earned $18 per hour. In other words, more $$$ = more to spend — at least that's what inevitably happened.

While there's nothing wrong with treating yourself more or just buying more expensive things when you get a pay increase, over-indulging can lead to over-spending. Come to think of it, I probably didn't need to go out to brunch as often as I did, and I probably didn't need to buy new clothes every month. That money honestly would've gone farther if I had saved it.

In addition to brunching and shopping, I spent a lot of my money on travel, coffee, and local attractions. That all would've been totally fine if I had learned to save a percentage of every paycheck and budget what was left as "fun money." Saving money only after I spent most of it often put me in a position where I only saved a small amount, or didn't save at all that month. It's a stark contrast to my current strategy of saving before I so much as order a tube of lip gloss.

I think I just didn't understand how truly important it was to start saving money for the future. I was lucky to be living at home rent-free while I figured it out. Plus, if you had told me to create a budget for the things I wanted, I probably wouldn't have even known where to start. But now I know how to track my budget goals with a spreadsheet and use apps like Simplifi that connect to my bank account to help me track my spending.

Like most 22-year-olds at the time, I wasn't thinking about retirement. I wasn't really sure what planning for retirement was even supposed to look like, and I honestly don't know how I thought I would get the money for retirement. But one thing I know for sure now is that taking small steps can make a big difference.

I had an internship position straight out of college, so of course I didn't qualify to be part of the company's 401(k) program. However, I could have opened up a Roth IRA. Unlike a 401(k), a Roth IRA is not company-sponsored. In other words, regardless of whether you're an intern, a full-time executive, a freelancer, a self-employed business owner, or a mid-level employee, you don't need your company's blessing to open up a Roth IRA. And you don't even need to already have a ton of money to make a deposit — Fidelity, for example, lets you open up a Roth IRA with no minimums. Also, because you're investing your after-tax income into a Roth IRA, you won't pay taxes on the withdrawals you make in retirement.

Had I started contributing even $50 per month to my Roth IRA just three years ago, I could've given myself at least an $1,800 head start on retirement.

I had been really into the idea of investing even before I graduated, but I always imagined needing thousands of dollars to get started. Plus, the idea of downloading an app, adding your personal details, and just buying stocks with a few taps seemed too good to be true (spoiler alert: I've tried it now, and it's sooo convenient). But even if the idea of needing at least $1,000 to get started seemed like a lot, there was nothing really stopping me from saving even just $30 a month to build up a market opportunity fund.

I think of a market opportunity fund as money you save up for the sole purpose of investing when you see an entry point into the market that's right for you. For example, you might use money in your market opportunity fund to invest in a share of Tesla if the price falls. The idea behind this fund is that the market can be unpredictable and you don't want to scramble to gather some money or sell off one investment to free up some cash to take advantage of another one.

Now I've built up a decent investment portfolio, and I'm putting that market opportunity fund into practice — it's never too late to start.

I knew that I would eventually pursue a master's degree after graduating, but I didn't know when. Nevertheless, I really wish I had started saving some money for my eventual grad school tuition. Now that I'm in grad school and I'm trying to earn my degree without taking on more student loan debt, it definitely feels like a race to stockpile some savings for tuition.

Putting my goals into perspective would've really helped me figure out how much to begin saving so that I could reach those goals. Since investing in real estate is another goal I have, I'm now taking steps to save an adequate amount for an upfront payment.

I've always been good about making my credit card payments, and I never had an extreme amount of credit card debt, but I was still making huge interest payments every month for continuing to carry a balance — and I didn't see anything wrong with that (until I got more financially savvy, that is). I used my credit card to pay for trips, shopping, and more. If I couldn't pay off the balance that month, it wasn't a big deal because at least I could still pay more than the minimum. I just shake my head thinking of how much money I paid toward my credit card — money that I could have saved!!! It wasn't like I was putting necessities on my credit card, anyway.

I now make it a point to be *really* aware of how much I spend on my credit card, and I make sure I always pay it off.