Money beliefs that have changed since graduation

Personal finance is a topic that I’ve always held very closely to heart, especially so after graduating university. After earning my own income, I’ve worked to be more educated in this area so that I can make informed and intentional financial decisions because I knew of the downstream impact it could have on my future self.

Also, with the basic fresh grad pay that I was getting, it felt imperative to stretch every dollar I had. So it felt like any knowledge on money management would be extra useful for someone who didn’t command a high pay.

After being in the workforce for slightly over 6 years, I came to realise that my money beliefs have shifted quite a bit since I first stepped into the workforce. Thought it might be interesting to jot them down to see how much I’ve grown as a person.

1) Some things that seemed frivolous, are actually worth spending on

I was someone who was really strict with my own finances. I do my daily expenses tracking to make sure that my expenses were reasonable, though it’s not like the numbers would be shocking since I do not make any random big ticket purchases haha. Spending on “unnecessary” items was never in the equation. 

Fast forward to today, I am now more willing to part with my money on things that I feel makes me or my loved ones happy. This includes experiences, like going for a theatre production or trying out slightly more premium seats at the cinema. Or grabbing durians for my family (it’s really expensive to feed durians to a group of 5 haha). 

I’ve learnt that spending on things like that doesn’t mean that I’m being financially irresponsible or being too indulgent. It means making a conscious choice to enjoy and appreciate these moments in life, which is actually the very reason why I’m working hard to earn my keep to begin with.

2) Cheap is not always good

I was someone who was a big Taobao fan. I would look for alternatives on this wonderful Chinese shop and buy bags that were 1/5 the price of what I would find in stores in Singapore. I was really big on these cheap thrills, but looking back, it wasn’t as cheap as I thought given how I’m not really using any of these items anymore.

While there are probably items that are cheap and of good quality, the reality is that most of them unfortunately do not satisfy both categories at once. I realise that I was tossing out items pretty frequently, because the cheap clothing and bags I got were either not comfortable for me, or were spoiling earlier than expected.

Today, I still get some of my cute stationeries and homeware from Taobao. But for items like bags and clothing, I’m more willing to spend a little more on good quality material that would see me for the years to come. :)

P.s. I’m really enjoying leather bags and cotton/linen clothing! 

3) Don’t be penny wise, pound foolish

I was a hugeeee fan of discount apps and making small money through methods like doing surveys. I would spend so much time scrolling through diff apps to decide on where to have my next meal, and would always chionged when a new survey popped up.

And then I would somehow spend that hard earned $5 survey voucher so easily on some small frivolous purchase because it felt like “bonus money”. 

It took me a while to realise that the effort I was putting in to earn these bits of money wasn’t proportional to the value that I’ve gotten out of it. The great lengths I would go to earn that $0.50 was probably not worth that effort with the way I spent it. 

4) Growing your income > increasing your savings rate

I started off with an income of $3,100. Back then, I felt like that was more than enough for me. I could pay off my bills, save a little and even create different savings goals. It felt a little difficult to understand why people were on the endless wheel of wanting a higher income. 

While it was good in some sense that I was feeling contented and not on a hedonic treadmill, I realised that feeling fully content wasn’t the most ideal at that stage of my career as well. I could easily become complacent, and I needed more push to stretch myself in order to maximise my work and earning potential. 

With a not-so-high income, you could imagine that my savings were also moving at a rather slow pace. 

Over time, I found myself giving more thought into this whole career thing, and that saw me making some intentional moves in my career which led me to where I am today. The past six years saw me pivoting into entirely new fields with new responsibilities, in which I’ve gained new skills and might I say, allowed me to stay more relevant in today’s world. 

I am very grateful for the opportunities that have been given to me during this period, and while my current income might not seem high in any way to some, I am very proud of how far I’m come. 

5) You think you won’t invest FOMO-ly, but you would

I would like to think that I am a rather disciplined person… Until I wasn’t. Hahaha. In a world where we’re jam packed with new information every single day, it can get difficult to remain focused on your own thoughts and ideology. It became tougher when the field I was in required me to stay up to date with such news. In terms of investing, I took in a lot of hyped up news and ended up dabbling into different stocks, holding on to the idea that I was young and could take on more risk. I ended up holding a bunch of growth stocks which I now see as a portfolio of regret hahaha.

What I didn’t realise was that I was buying into the hype and was following the noise, which on hindsight seemed like the worst, yet most common mistake investors tend to make. I thought I knew better, but I ended up being just like everyone else. :’) 

Regardless, I’m still thankful that this happened relatively early so that I could get a clearer idea of my investment style, and the method I wish to take from here on. The difficult part is always staying on course, but this portfolio of regret serves as a very good reminder for me.

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Looking back, it’s interesting to see how much I’ve grown and how my mentality has changed towards personal finance. I used to think that this mindset that I have wouldn’t shift haha, but I guess this shows how we’re always evolving as individuals. The older we get, the more clarity we gain in the way we wish to spend our lives. And that’s the beauty of adulting (i think!).

Excited to see how different I’d be in another six years’ time!