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Millennials, Gen X'ers, And Even Boomers: Let's Help Out Gen Z By Sharing The Worst Financial Mistakes We Made In Our 20s, And What We Wished We'd Done Differently

Let's help the next generation of twenty-somethings make better financial decisions by sharing the money mishaps we wish we could take back.

For many of us, our 20s are a time for growth, exploration, and figuring out who we want to be. They also tend to be when we make our first big financial decisions, and sometimes, those decisions don't always pan out the way we'd hoped.

Money mistakes in our 20s almost feel like a rite of passage, but they don't have to be! In fact, I believe that by sharing the lessons we've learned from our own financial mishaps, we can help others become more financially savvy and give them the advice we wish we'd gotten in our early, mid, and late 20s.

So, if you have a major financial mistake from your 20s that you'd like to share, I'd love to hear your story!

Maybe you quit your job without another one lined up, and thought you'd find a new gig immediately. But it actually took you a whole six months to land your next job, and in that time, you blew through almost your entire savings.

Or maybe it was time for you to get a new car, so you chose to get a brand new model from a luxury brand because you wanted the absolute best, but the monthly payment was wayyyy above your pay grade, and you ended up going into serious debt because of it, and your credit score tanked from missing payments.

A woman exiting an expensive car

Or maybe you opened up a credit card once you entered your 20s because you felt like it was the "adult" thing to do, but you had no idea how interest and credit worked, so you maxed it out almost immediately, and proceeded to open up even more credit cards. Fast-forward to your 30s, and you're still working toward paying off a mountain of credit card debt.

Whatever your experience, share it in the comments below! Or, fill out this Google form if you'd rather remain anonymous. Tell me about the biggest financial mistake you made in your 20s, why it was so bad, how much it cost you, and/or what you learned from it. We may feature your response in an upcoming BuzzFeed Community post.