Found this gem on Thought Catalog. (LOVE that site). I loved this post so much and related to it in so many ways, that I decided to add my own commentary as it relates to me. My thoughts are in red.
1. Keeping close track of your bank account and preparing a detailed budget is the most practical kind of math you will ever know. Unless you intend to be a Mathematics major, there is no reason the every day student has to know Algebra and Trig. No one is ever going to stop me on the street and ask me how to plot a point. We should be teaching students from a very young age about savings accounts, budgets and credit card spending. Luckily, I had financially aware parents who DID teach me about money from a young age. I credit my ability to manage a budget and keep a savings to my parents. Their teachings are also why I have an amazing credit score.
2. People who have to leave your life for one reason or another do not automatically leave your social circle, geographic location, or local haunts. It is imperative to learn how to deal with them without making a mess of yourself as quickly as possible. I really need to learn to deal with this; I still run from aisles when I see people I know and don’t like or don’t want to talk to.
3. If you wear an amazing outfit and no one got to see it, you can wear it again, guilt-free. Definitely. Same with photos. If there are no photos, it was like it was never worn.
4. Learning to cook basic meals for yourself instead of consistently relying on pre-made stuff is, beyond better for you health-wise, an extreme relief for your wallet. Yes. YES, YES, YES.
4. There are going to be horrible roommates in your lifetime, and learning to extricate yourself from those living situations, a) gracefully and b) with security deposit intact, is an art everyone should practice. My ex-roommates list of awesome qualities included: leaving shit in the toilet, not taking out the trash for days, turning the heat up to hell and having sex on my couch. She was also the most financially irresponsible person I ever met. She didn’t pay bills most of the time because she “didn’t want to” and after I moved out (deposit in tact!) she proceeded to not pay rent to 4 months. I bet my landlord regretted letting her stay and me leave. How am I sure of this? He asked me to come back after he kicked her out. It gave me great satisfaction to say, “sorry, I bought a house!”
5. If you don’t learn to fix minor problems — electrical, automotive, or otherwise — you are likely going to be exploited by people who know how to do them and want your money. True.
6. Shopping around for any big purchase is always the best decision, even if you fall head-over-heels for the first thing you see. The prom dress I ended up with was the first one I tried on. However, I didn’t want to just get the first one I tried on, so I went ahead and shopped for a few weeks. Then, when I ended up with the first dress, I knew it was definitely the right one.
Still friends too!
7. There is no reason to eat less than you actually want to eat while out to dinner because you want to impress someone or make them think you’re more dainty. They’re going to find out you eat entire large pizzas by yourself sometimes anyway. I eat like a pig and figure if you can’t handle it, I am not the girl for you!
8. Everyone wears their jeans at least five times before washing them, it’s perfectly okay and it doesn’t make you dirty. If you say you don’t, I will think you are a liar anyway.
9. Breaking up with someone is difficult and messy, but the best way to do it is always to be up-front and honest with them as soon as you know it’s over. Dragging it out may make it slightly less hard on you, but it makes it excruciating for the person you’re dumping. If R2 had done this, it would have saved me a lot of pain. I have never and will NEVER do this to someone.
10. Having a good handshake and a trustworthy smile will be one of your greatest professional assets. (In fact, there should have been a semester-long class in how to handle the first five minutes of any job interview.) I judge people by their handshakes. True story.
11. Learning how to do your own taxes is essential — even if you ultimately end up paying someone else to do them. You should always know what is happening to your money. Check and check!
12. The differences between political parties are not always very clear, but there may be key issues to be tuned into that can change a lot, especially when you are voting in local elections. Know why you are voting. Regardless of party lines, just know why you stand where you stand without regurgitating MSNBC or what your parents have always told you.
13. Voting in local elections is important, in many ways more important than voting for the President. I believe every vote counts…but it DEFINITELY counts where you live. And if you pay taxes, even more reason to vote.
14. Credit cards are almost never worth it, except in the rare instances they are necessary, in which case they should be used with extreme caution and attention to the fine print on the agreements. I have always known this and yet, I got into debt. Working on getting out. Getting out is a whole lot tougher than getting in. Beware.
15. A credit score is a thing, and you have to maintain it. And if you just accrue a bunch of debt in the early days of adulthood and are really bad about paying it off, it’s going to be terrible and take a lot of effort to fix. One of my proudest accomplishments in life has been keeping a high credit score, even through debt and some college repayment issues.
16. Flossing is extremely important, arguably more so than brushing, and your dentist is going to be able to tell when you go and you’ve only actually flossed for approximately three days before your appointment. I know how true this is but I hate flossing. And that is just the truth. I do it anyway, but I seriously hate it.
17. There is nothing unhealthy, weird, or dirty about masturbating. Who cares what anyone else does in their own bedroom?
18. Everyone should have condoms at their disposal, and no one is a slut or gross for having them. If we listened to more of this and LESS of Teen Mom, we might not have a teen pregnancy epidemic.
19. Traveling is very expensive, but there are many ways to make it less so. There are dozens of websites which will allow you to find cheap boarding, discount flights, transportation shares, and other people who speak your language. A life well traveled is a life well lived. Spend money on memories, not things.
Aruba 2007
20. The metric system is a thing you should be vaguely familiar with, even if you live in stubborn, standard America. I have no clue.
21. Borrowing and loaning money amongst friends is a very dangerous endeavor, and should only occur if there is a profound level of trust between the two parties. If you end up on weird terms with someone because of money problems, it was your own fault for agreeing in the first place. Could not agree more.
22. Being on the lookout for good happy hours or specials at bars is an essential component of being an adult with an active social calendar, unless you are a secret millionaire who is happy paying 12 dollars for a cocktail. Especially when you have the bedtime of a preschooler.
23. There are some people who are going to need to get cut out of your life, and doing it for your own mental health doesn’t make you a bad person. I have done this. It has made me a better person.
24. No one’s choice of career is inherently better or more deserving of respect than anyone else’s. Thank you!
25. The only way to be sure you’re not going to get something you want is by never asking. Exactly!
What do you think? Anything to add?
Finishing is Winning 