Read a blog post on SimpleDollar.com that brought back a lot of memories.

I spent my money in countless foolish ways when I was first starting out. I don’t even want to calculate the money I lost to that first car, those poor grocery buying habits, those first stupid credit cards, and many other dumb moves that I could have easily avoided without giving up much of anything enjoyable in my life. Personal Finance Blogger, Speaking for ALL of us!

Sound familiar? For me, it was getting married too young, immediately jetting off to live in a cool city, in the coolest ($$$) part of the city, a just-starting-out salary, credit card debt, the whole dumb story. So this 30-something writer’s cautionary tips bear repeating. Here are the bullets from “Eleven Things I Wish I Understood About Personal Finance Before Starting Out.”

• Other People Don’t Really Care What You Own, Wear, Drive, Etc.
• The First Possible Moment Is the Best Possible Moment to Save for Retirement
• The Smaller Your Living Space, The Better
• The Less Stuff You Have, The Better
• In Cities, Public Transportation Means Not Having to Buy a Car
• Making Meals in Your Own Kitchen Is One of the Smartest Things You Can Do
• The Best Thing You Can Do for Career Security Is Build More Income Streams
• Shopping at Goodwill, Aldi, Etc. First Saves a Ton of Money
• Renters Insurance Will Likely Save Your Cookie at Least Once
• There Are More Free Things To Do Than You Can Possibly Imagine
• Carrying a Credit Card Balance Doubles the Cost of Whatever You Buy (or More!)

Again, just the highlights. Lots more knowledge at the original piece. The BIG QUESTION: would I have listened to this advice at age 22? Would YOU? Would your kids? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page!