The 6 Money Mistakes That Keep You Poor

What's up guys, it's Graham here. So here's the deal: it was recently found that Millennials were more stressed about money than any other generation. They also have more financial regret than any other generation, and over half are said to be reduced to tears over the home buying process. That's why I think it's incredibly important that we discuss the worst money mistakes that should be avoided at all costs, especially if you're under the age of 30.

Because I have to say, when it's reported that most Millennials believe that they'll never have enough money to get what they want in life, that's a signal that we really need to stay away from the biggest money traps that people fall into. Like not subscribing or hitting the like button if you haven't done that already. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but it does help tremendously, and so thank you for doing that.

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Alright, so when it comes to this, I was rather surprised to find out that Millennials were responsible for almost all the luxury market growth in 2022. And with that, I see way too many people spending too much money and living above their means. After all, it's said that one of the most prevalent spending categories for those under the age of 35 is convenience, or in other words, online shopping, delivery services, Uber, and the biggest expense: food. Not to mention, 75 percent of Millennials were said to be competing with their friends in terms of clothing, cars, phones, and other extras, which at the end of the day just means wasted money.

Look, I've seen it time and time again, but it's way too easy to fall into a lifestyle that you can't afford, especially if you've just finished up with school. You got your first job, you finally have a little bit of money, and you think to yourself, "I'm young! I got my entire life ahead of me this day, so I may as well spend a little bit of money now. Where's my Starbucks?"

This is usually when the weekend trips start occurring, along with the expensive nights out, buying nicer clothing, getting a faster car, and buying things you don't need, which effectively winds up eating away at the safety net that you could have been building. That would have set yourself up for the rest of your life. This also ties in perfectly to what's known as the dinner effect, which is the psychology that when you buy one nice thing, it makes everything else seem less nice in comparison.

So you have to upgrade everything else to match that same level of niceness, and you end up consuming way more than you ever anticipated. The other danger with this is that spending too much forces you to become reliant on keeping a steady stream of income, even if it means working a job you really don't like. Ideally, you should be in a position where you could take risks, try new things, and move around as much as possible to gain experience, which is hindered anytime you spend too much money. So don't do that.

Second, while we're on the aspect of spending too much money, one of the worst things that you could do is get into substantial student loan debt. For instance, it was found that the average student loan balance for the class of 2021 was $37,574, while the average college graduate earns just $55,000. It makes no sense; by taking on debt instead of starting your career and being able to invest right away, your priority becomes paying down the debt as fast as possible before interest rates increase even further.

What most people don't realize is that the amount of time and money needed to pay down debt while you start a career on the low end of the pay grade can sometimes set you back decades in terms of building your wealth, especially if you don't have the means to move back in with your parents. Now, I understand that college is expensive, but you have to ask yourself a few things:

1. What do you want to do with your life, and does that require a degree? If it doesn't, then it's probably a good idea to question whether or not you should go in the first place or if it's worth it to save the money.
2. If it does require a degree, is it worth it to take on debt to get that degree? You might also be surprised to hear that more recently, employers are valuing work experience over education, with 58% of employers preferring someone with past work experience to someone with good grades.

Third, while we're on the topic of finding cheaper alternatives, it is a huge mistake not to realize as soon as possible that almost everything is negotiable. Notice I say almost because I don't think you'd have a lot of success negotiating the hamburger bill at Wendy's or trying to get free clothing from Neiman Marcus. But outside of that, I think it's important to go into every situation with the mindset that nothing is set in stone.

For example, when you're starting a career, everything from vacation, salary, benefits, health insurance, and work-from-home are negotiable. The more leverage you have and the more convincing you are, the higher the chances of getting that approved. This also applies to just about every other major purchase that you could think of, from the terms of the car that you drive, the price of the apartment that you rent, the furniture you buy, the gym membership you get, or even the seat on an airplane.

The fact is, you never get what you don't ask for, and a lot of people would be surprised just how far a polite request will go. I know it sounds kind of silly, but trust me, half the time you ask for a discount in a polite and funny way, they'll give it to you almost anywhere you go. And once you realize it, it's life-changing.

Not to mention, being able to negotiate is probably one of the most important skills that you will ever learn in your entire life because this affects the trajectory of everything moving forward. So in terms of how you could use these strategies to put you even further ahead, there's one more aspect to this that you could use to your advantage, and unfortunately, most people don't even realize that they should be doing this.

Although before we go into that, even though we usually talk about taking care of your investments, I'll be honest: from my experience, I tend to do the best work and make the most amount of money when I eat better and exercise on a regular basis. In fact, for the last three months, I've made it my goal to exercise for at least 30 minutes every single day, and our sponsor Copilot was able to make that a reality.

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For example, I am really bad at making sure I drink enough water throughout the day, so my coach was able to create a plan to keep me accountable to actually follow through, which otherwise I probably wouldn't have done. Plus, with Copilot, no access to the gym is required. You're able to get unlimited in-app text messages and video calls with your coach, and the entire program is crafted around a routine that fits your life and your schedule.

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Alright, now in terms of getting one of the highest benefits from everything we've mentioned so far, one of the most immediate things that you could begin doing right now is to either build or improve your credit score. The fact is, the credit history in your late teens and early 20s is going to help you tremendously in the future anytime that you want to buy a house, get a car, obtain a business loan, and negotiate terms from the standpoint that you're a responsible borrower who's never missed a payment.

Plus, it's incredibly easy! But before we go into some of the tips to immediately improve your credit score, I just want to get this out there: I was the one who learned all of these things the hard way. Point blank, I grew up thinking that credit cards were bad, that anyone who used them was irresponsible, and as a result, I just paid cash for everything. Little did I know that was complete backwards thinking, and I didn't realize that until every single bank denied me for getting a mortgage on my first property because I had zero credit history.

To be honest, that experience taught me that we live in a world where your credit score matters a lot, regardless of how much you make and save. And if you want to effectively build your wealth while paying as little interest to the banks as possible, it all comes down to this:

First, go ahead and open up a free credit card with no annual fee. Second, treat the credit card like it's an extension of your bank account, and if you can't afford to buy something outright in cash, you definitely can't afford to buy it on a credit card. Third, all you gotta do is put your normal expenses on the credit card just like you would spend any other day. And fourth, pay off your credit card in full at the end of every single month by the time it's due to avoid paying any interest.

Frankly, if you just paid attention to those four steps, that covers about 80% of everything you need to know when it comes to building your credit. And as long as you keep your balance completely paid off, you'll get the lowest interest rates anytime you want to buy a house or leverage your money. In fact, most people don't realize that when it comes to buying a home, having a good credit score could save you more than $41,000. Just promise me that you'll be doing this if you haven't done it already; it's so important.

And I'm sitting here on a Monday night at 9 PM just trying to get this point across to you, and there are still people out there that'll watch these videos that don't do anything about it. You know this is serious when I'm not asking you to subscribe or hit the like button or get a free stock down below in the description when you sign up for public.com because that could be worth all the way up to a thousand dollars. Trust me, a good credit score goes a long, long way.

And if you want to improve on the score you already have, make sure to pay down your balances as much as possible, add new credit cards into the mix, and remove any negative marks in your credit report that could be bogging you down.

Fifth, one of the biggest mistakes that almost everybody makes is not tracking your finances. In fact, this is so bad that 45% of Millennials have no idea how much money is in their bank account, and only 24% of them are spending money in such a way that they could actually afford, which is way less than I ever expected, and that's got to stop.

First, I'd immediately recommend signing up for a free budgeting software like mint.com, which aggregates all of your accounts and itemizes everything in one place. Second, from there, review all of your spending throughout the last 60 days. Even if you think you're perfect and you have nothing to cut back, I guarantee that there are things in there that you have no idea ever existed, and those are things that you could begin saving money on.

Third, speaking of saving money, itemize everything into two categories: the first one is your must-have non-negotiable spending and your second is the discretionary spending. Go ahead, from all of those, add them up. Fourth, once you get that total, begin cutting back in your discretionary spending that you don't absolutely need, and then begin negotiating the mandatory spending to see if you could lower some of those costs.

Trust me, if you actually go and do this, in a few hours you should be able to save a few hundred dollars a month without even realizing it. Plus, if you're single, it was found that the majority of women find irresponsible spending a turn-off, so get it together.

And finally, sixth, with 35% of millionaires saying that retirement is going to take a miracle, don't forget to contribute to your retirement accounts as soon as possible. That's because one of the biggest advantages that you have in your 20s is time. Not only can you ride out any short-term fluctuations in the market, but you could also take advantage of compound interest, where the money you make makes you more money, which makes you more money, which makes you more money until eventually you're worth a quadrillion dollars and have a Lambo.

But just consider this: If you invest $100 a month beginning at the age of 20 at an 8% return, by the time you're 65, you'll have $504,000 invested. But instead, if you figured, "Oh no, I'm young! I want to go to Coachella, I'll start doing this at the age of 25 instead," well, by the same time you're 65, you'll only have $337,000 invested. That's a $167,000 difference just by waiting five years to invest.

That's why the money you save and invest throughout your 20s is easily going to be the most important money throughout your life because you'll have 40 years for that money to grow into something much, much larger. The way I see it is that this is a time where you could leverage everything to your advantage. It might not be worth a lot right now, but by the time you're ready to retire and lay on a beach after driving your Ferrari, you'll be thanking yourself for listening to this, saving your money, and subscribing if you haven't done that already.

Oh, and also don't forget to check out our sponsor Copilot down below in the description. No joke, for all the comments who have said something about me getting in better shape, they've helped out tremendously, and having someone there who's helped along the way really does make a tremendous difference. So thank you guys so much, and until next time!