Ask Carrie: Q. What’s the biggest mistake you see young adults make?
A. The thing I definitely see the most is the use
of debt and getting into debt as a tool to fund the American dream. At least in the South, it’s very common. At 19, 20, 21 you find your soul mate, you get married, have a kid, buy a house – and you’re doing all of this before 25. You can’t really establish yourself financially by that time, so you’re using debt to fund all these quote unquote ‘American dreams.’ All of those possessions are things you should acquire throughout your life like our parents did. But instead we grow up in this wonderful lifestyle, and we jump out of college and think we deserve all of it too.
Q. Do you have any basic, daily advice?
A. Anytime I’m going to make a purchase, I think about it. I take my time with it, I guess. Also, I don’t like to take on a lot of, well, I call it “noise.” Lifestyle noise, money noise, stress noise, whatever. I just call it noise. So if it’s creating a lot of noise in my life, I try to shut it off. That’s my thing. Turn it all down. Simplify your life. That’s really what my blog is about: “making cents of life,” because even though we all try to keep work at work and home at home and personal and business separate, it really is all intertwined. You’ve got to learn how to make sense of it and be successful at all that noise at the same time.
Q. How do you counter that?
Q. What other problem do you see with the 20s to 30s demographic?
A. It seems really simple, but start small and work your way up. Be consistent; be faithful with the small things. For example, I purchased my first home at 23 and was like, “Please take this away from me,” by the time I was 25. It was a huge mess. You’ll definitely learn the hard way if you’re not ready to take on something of that financial responsibility. I definitely should have started small and should have been diligent with the small amount of money I made, the small amount of place to live and the small car, instead of trying to take on all this “keeping up with the Joneses.”
A. I honestly think that this generation of younger people my age, they don’t give themselves enough credit. I think they underestimate their potential. If they don’t want the American dream, I’m sure there’s still something they want to do, something they want to accomplish. We just are a little bit lazy, a little bit lax, a little bit unsure and don’t give ourselves enough credit. You really do have the skill and the potential to build wealth, to become debt free. It just takes some discipline and dedication but also believing in yourself that you can do it.
The Bottom Line: How to make “cents” out of your life Dont go into debt trying to fund the American Dream right out of college
Network, connect with the right people
Think about your purchases, disicpline yourself Give yourself credit, do not underestimate your potential
LIVE IT UP SUMMER 2012 51