Money Management Myths That Can Plague Young People’s Finances

Millennials on the other hand must contend with the caprices of the gig economy, view the prospect of retirement as a pipe dream and a barely regulated private rental market means that most of them are getting ripped off on their rent to the extent where saving for a home of their own is about as realistic as walking on the moon in terms of life goals. If you’re of the millennial generation; if you’re studying or a recent graduate or trying to ascend the greasy pole that is the career ladder, it is incumbent upon you to prove previous generations wrong and challenge their preconceptions about millennial money management. But for many of us, it means letting go of some assumed truths of our own. Here are some money management myths that we all need to debunk if we’re to take control of our finances and blaze a trail for today’s 20 somethings…

You can’t get good financial products on a bad credit score

Many millennials are on the back foot when it comes to our credit scores, since we’re already ten grand in the hole with student debt. But if you’ve had to rely on loans and credit cards to help you scrape through your education, there’s a good chance that your credit score has impeded your ability to get access to decent financial products… or so you may assume. There are actually loans designed especially for people with poor credit scores with far more reasonable rates of interest than payday loans. Check out Avant loans for more info. Moreover, you can make efforts to repair your credit score using a debt consolidation loan. Not only will this make your debts easier to manage, it will improve your credit score because all of your existing debts will be replaced with a single new debt. So long as you can keep up the repayments on it, you’re golden.

Eating healthily is expensive

Good health starts and ends with a good diet. There’s no way you can be expected to be at your best at work, at home, in sport, in extracurricular activities, at the gym or in your personal relationships. Bad nutrition can impede concentration, make staying in shape seem like an uphill struggle and increase our chances of depression. Yet, for those on a limited budget it can seem as though cheap, heavily processed sugary, fatty, salty convenience foods are our only option. But eating healthily costs much less than you think. Switching to a mostly (or even entirely) plant based diet can not only give you comprehensive nutrition it can save you a small fortune. With the rising cost of meat, eggs, fish and dairy, a plant based diet can save your health and save you money.

That said, this can only work if you’re prepared to put effort into cooking and really take the time to cook something that you’ll enjoy eating. If eating right means choking down food you can barely stomach, you’ll be throwing a fortune away on takeaways before you know it.   

You don’t earn enough to save

Many of us assume that we don’t have the capacity to save because we’re on a limited income. This is, however, pretty far from the truth. Even if your income is sparse, you should make an effort to set aside some money for savings. Many of us tell ourselves, “I’ll take what’s left at the end of the month, and put it into savings” and then, at the end of the month there’s nothing left. Prioritise saving. Set up a direct debit into your savings account every month, and set up a savings account that doesn’t suck. Most high street savings accounts offer really poor rates of interest so you’re far better off with an online savings account. Here are some of the best.

Cash is king

Our parents taught us that it was always best to pay with cash. And for them, it probably was. But discounts for cash are much less of a thing now than they were when they were our age. Credit cards can offer extended warranties, extended insurance and fraud protection giving you more means of recourse if something goes wrong with a major purchase.