3 Money Lessons I Wish I Knew Before 25
At 16, I landed my first job at a local movie theater, the impetus being my school was offering a trip to Europe the following summer. My parents agreed I could go as long as I got a job and saved the necessary funds for it.
Spending Christmas night at the moving theater, cleaning throw up, scrubbing toilets, and working on school nights were just a few of the small trials I gladly endured in exchange for 12 glorious days of summer vacation soaking up Italy, Greece, and Turkey with a few schoolmates (chaperoned, of course).
After that trip, I came home from that trip with a bigger vision for my life and started immediately plotting my return to Greece.There’s a lot more to that story but suffice to say, the travel bug had me.
In the years since, I sometimes wish there had been someone in my life (with strong Biblical and business acumen) to listen and encourage me in my endeavors. But, I’m also so thankful there wasn’t. If I hadn’t learned things the hard way, I might not appreciate what I know now, and I might not have gained the knowledge and experience that came with it.
All of that being said, here are 3 money lessons I wish I knew (and put in practice) before 25:
1. Intentionally Budget According to Your Values.
One of the biggest mistakes I made early on was not creating a budget based on my own personal values. Instead, I created a budget based on what others told me was important (my family, teachers, Dave Ramsey, etc). I kept failing to keep a budget so I figured that I was the one that was broken (not the budget).
Looking back, I could certainly have been more disciplined but I think more so, I was just in an inner rebellion because the budgets I was trying to make work didn’t really align with the values and priorities for where I saw the trajectory of my life going.
It wasn’t until I read “Five Wealth Secrets 96% of Us Don’t Know” by Craig Hill that the concept of budgeting according to my values really clicked for me. The book completely changed how I view money.
One key practice Craig lays out is the "jars" method to organize your finances. By consistently allocating a percentage of your monthly income to each of these main categories (tithe, giving, saving, investing, spending), you can more accurately and easily define your budget and live within it.
Don’t overcomplicate it. Ask God for wisdom to discern what categories are important to Him, which ones you should prioritize to carry out the calling He’s given you for your life, and how you should allocate to each category.
The simplicity of this system, combined with the alignment with my values, makes keeping a budget these days a breeze.
2. Create a Self-Replenishing Travel Account - aka the “travel jar”
Obviously, I added a “travel jar” as an additional main category (or you could view it as a subset of the main spending category along with housing, transport, etc). Personally, travel is a priority in my life and for my calling.
One of the top questions I get asked is not related to where I travel but how I travel. Additionally, I would also say about 60% of the questions we receive within TravelherCo are related to finances and budgeting for travel.
Since I operate out of the system mentioned in lesson one, I literally have a monthly, automated income source pumping money into my travel jar each month. It’s only a matter of hard work, patience, and consistency. But it doesn’t end there.
Pairing this financial management system with methods that maximize travel (i.e., travel rewards) furthers the extent that my travel jar takes me every year.
Imagine having a self-replenishing travel account and getting travel perks on top of it… like free flights. It’s not far-fetched. My trip to Greece last fall? Round flight from the USA to Athens for about $10. Thank you, travel rewards!
3. Cultivate a mindset of multiplication.
Sunday sermons are filled with messages on tithing so I’ll skip that one one for now, though it is essential.
Do you know what material principle is mentioned in the Bible even more than tithing? Being fruitful and multiplying.
“Investing in things that multiply,” also from Craig Hill’s book, is found throughout scripture. The Bible has at least 63 instances that talk about being fruitful and multiplication.
Multiplication, in the Biblical sense, isn’t just about having kids (Gen 1:28). It involves every aspect of our lives—our time, money, resources, relationships, discipleship, etc. Stewardship isn’t just reflected by whether we tithe or how we spend, but also whether we invest and receive a return. (Spoiler Alert: the return isn’t always financial, but that’s another topic for another day.)
What if instead of looking at your monthly income as what you receive, you viewed it as what you’ve been given to multiply? How might that change your financial habits?
Do you remember the Parable of the Talents? The master gave financial resources to his servants and expected them to be fruitful and multiply (without explicitly saying it). To the one who did not multiply the resources he was given, he not only called him “lazy” but also “wicked.”
While I know this Parable is referring to a lot more than financial resources (it’s a parable about God’s kingdom), I believe Jesus was trying to show the bigger picture of having a mindset of multiplication. Which again involves every aspect of our lives—our time, money, resources, relationships, discipleship, etc.
While these may not be groundbreaking lessons, they’re ones I wish I’d learned, absorbed, and applied sooner in my life. Remember, this is not me telling you how to manage your own money. These are simply three lessons I learned along my own journey.
As always, keep the Lord at the forefront of your seeking. Whether you have much or little. Your only responsibility is to be faithful to the Lord and to what He’s called you specifically to prioritize or do in your own life (which isn’t going to always look like everyone else’s).