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I was reading this 10 Year Savings Strategy post on Ramit Sethi's site (also the author of the book, I Will Teach You To Be Rich) regarding the things or situations that people in their 30's wish they had saved for when they were 20-something's.  The post specifically states that if you don't know what you should save for, or just aren't sure, then ask someone that is ten years older than you what they had saved for, and do exactly that:  save for that issue.  Even if the ideas you get don't sound like something you would do, it's extremely possible that you will do exactly what those ten years older than you have already lived through.  After all, none of us know where we are going; we just hope that we know!

So in an effort to help the 27-year-old Brian out there, my current 37-year-old mind wants to tell you the things that I wish I had done a little better with regards to our finances.  Maybe also a few things that I should have saved for, or not spent my money on that would have made things much easier to get through today!  For clarification if you are a one-income family, married with a small child, and possibly at least one more on the way, then your situation is very close to mine at 27 years old.

Emergency Fund - we didn't have a lot of spare money at that time, in fact we were pretty much in debt to our eyeballs, but having a couple thousand dollars in a savings account would have given us a little bit more peace of mind in the case of an emergency. Specifically medical emergencies, which happen A LOT when you have small children in the home.  If I were 27 again, I would put whatever I could, $5 or $10 if that's all I had, to build up that emergency fund and not have to use a credit card to pay for those all to frequent medical issues.

Down Payment on a House - If I knew then what I know now, I would have also saved for the down payment on our home.  I wish banks could protect us from ourselves by not allowing us to by homes without having 20% for the down payment.  Honestly, if you can't save that 20%, then you probably won't be able to afford the problems that go along with owning a home.  We did not have 20% and have had to scrape in years past when a house repair issue has come up.

Almost everyone thinks that home ownership is great and a good investment.  Well, they did up until the housing bubble popped anyway.  But what no one, including the realtors tell you when searching for a home, is that all homes, even new ones break.  And the things that break in a home are pretty darn expensive.  Water heaters, refrigerators break or begin leaking.  That in turn could ruin the floors.  There's also the occasional tornado that blows off the shingles.  Homeowner's insurance pays for that, but there's always a deductible to be paid.  See emergency fund above!

Vacations or Travel -  At 27, we had no money for vacations.  Not that we really wanted to take a 2-year-old on a long vacation, but at some point past her and her brother getting a bit older, we did.  Unfortunately, we saved nil (as in nothing) for future vacations, and thus had no money to take a vacation.  Stay-cations, up until the past year, have been our defacto vacation destination of choice.  If you have small children, you may think you would like to take a real vacation at some point, but you won't be able to unless you save your money now!

Misuse of Credit Cards - I could say a few more things regarding fully funding your retirement funds, or your kids' education funds.  But at 27, our really big concern was the over-use of credit cards.  We spent far more than we should have on just plain stupid things.  Things we no longer own, or things that broke quickly.  Money spent on hobbies that we no longer pursue, and may have not pursued for long at all (my golf and mountain bike racing hobbies come to mind).  But what it all boils down to is that we spent far more than we earned by using credit cards unwisely.  Yes, credit cards can be a good tool for some.  For others, like our younger selves, they were a detriment.  We didn't know what we were doing, and did not think about how we were going to later pay for the items we felt like we should have now.

Hopefully, this personal experience of mine helps you out a bit, even if you aren't exactly at the age of 27!  If you enjoyed this post, drop me a comment below on something that you would like to tell your 10 years younger self.  I would love to hear from some that are around 47 or 48 years of age right now!

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If you are interested in a fully-automated stance at setting up your personal finances, check out Ramit's book I Will Teach You To Be Rich. The book is really for those who have either stayed away from the debt problems of the typical Dave Ramsey follower, or for those who have recently become debt free and want to hear some ideas about automating their finances.

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