“Again, the key thing isn’t to become an expert about financial arcana, it’s just to have a sense of your own habits, needs, goals and plans.”
Blog Name: My Open Wallet: A personal finance blog about money and life in New York.
URL: http://www.myopenwallet.net
Start date: July 6, 2005
Blog tagline: An anonymous New Yorker tells the world how much money she earns, spends, and saves.
Hello, you! You’ve come back, despite our bitchy advice  haha! And good that you have because today we ask one of our favorite financial bloggers, Madame X, what kinds of mistakes she made over the years. Are you ready to prevent some of your own? If you’ve missed our earlier installments, click here and here.
You’re a model as someone who has done all the smart moves. But you’re only human. What would you say your “wrong” moves have been? Any mistakes you wish you could change when it comes to managing money?
My worst move was probably procrastinating and being cowardly about the real estate market. I made a good move in my early 20s in buying my first home with a partner. When I moved out of that place, I had a lot of cash that I should have used to buy another place. Instead, I rented for 6 years. Those years were from 2000 to 2006, the biggest boom years ever for real estate! If I had bought something right away, and then refinanced when rates were at their lowest, I’d have much lower housing costs now. Of course I didn’t have a crystal ball to know all that, but I think the lesson was that if you can afford to buy a home without over-extending yourself, (and have a relatively stable life in terms of job, family, potential relocation, etc.) it’s probably always a better bet to buy than to rent. That doesn’t mean buying is always the right choice for everyone, but at that time, for someone like me, it was pretty stupid to rent for that long.
I’ve also made mistakes like having bought stocks that I should have known better than to buy. There wasn’t much to do other than to cut my losses by selling and moving on.
I am sure I’ve made lots of other mistakes too, in terms of not paying enough attention to investing, not being a smart shopper, overspending, etc. Some of that was due to laziness, some due to ignorance, and some due to just willfully prioritizing other things over financial goals at the time. Hell yeah, I’m only human!
What would you say to yourself if you could go back in time to college days with respect to money?
Probably something like “you doofus, wake up and go to class for a change!” I always have feelings of regret about college just because my parents and I spent a boatload of money on it but I didn’t take advantage of everything I could have. Hindsight is the only way of knowing that you might have picked the wrong major, but whatever I studied, I probably could have put more effort into it. I also wish I’d networked more in order to get a job after college, instead of just pounding the pavement until I found a retail store that would hire me! But I can’t really complain about how it’s all turned out.
With regard specifically to money, I just wish I’d paid more attention to my spending and learned about ways to invest– my college years were back in the dark ages before anyone knew what a website was, so it was harder to do back then, but I should have started trying to inform myself. Again, the key thing isn’t to become an expert about financial arcana, it’s just to have a sense of your own habits, needs, goals and plans. The worst thing you can do is stick your head in the sand and think your money will take care of itself.
Okay… If you designed an online financial tool for young people, what would be the three best things to include?
I think net worth tracking is key, because it keeps your eye on the prize. I personally also find retirement calculators really valuable, because they help you figure out what kind of prize you should be aiming for in the first place. And the social networking aspect is good when it allows you to see how you compare to others and share suggestions, motivations, etc. And maybe it should have all that stuff they have on Facebook, where you can throw a sheep at someone or chestbump them. I think that really adds a lot of value. 
Your voice has been heard, Madame X! As it turns out we’re in the middle of developing a chestbump/headbutt/sheep-throwing app. Look for it in the new release.
Madame X, thank you for taking the time to talk with us and give us a peek at your finances. We appreciate your insight. You, and your rules, rule!
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