I’m a regular listener of the Choose FI podcast and a question they ask their guests each week is “What is your biggest financial mistake?”. This got me reflecting on my own life and, guess what – I’ve made quite a few!

I didn’t think we were “bad with money’, because we have always had a pretty good grip on the small stuff like managing day to day budgeting, avoiding credit card debt and saving regularly.

However we have made some pretty stupid decisions regarding the bigger material expenses. Needless to say these have been more impactful and damaging to our finances than, say, buying lunch at work each day.

I’ve read and listened to an enormous amount of material on personal finance and the FIRE movement over the past 12 months. As a result, I now have new role models, frames of reference, case studies and solid advice highlighting a better, more sustainable way forward.

Of cours,e it is easy in hindsight to say I would have done things differently. Instead of beating myself up about all the things we did “wrong”, I’m instead celebrating that I’m now more informed. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t make some of the same decisions. Hopefully sharing my big errors helps you avoid similar mistakes.