4 Money Moves I've Never Regretted Making

It's important to celebrate your wins, rather than just lamenting your losses.

Sometimes it feels as if all I've ever done with money is make mistakes. I stayed in a low-paying career for far too long (in my defense, I enjoyed much of the work itself, and I also felt good about working for nonprofits). I bought a house for the wrong reasons and at the wrong time in my life. I carried a lot of debt for a long time. Whenever I get down on myself, though, I try to remember my financial wins, and be grateful for them. These are the money moves I'm most glad to have made.

1. Pursuing higher education

I always loved school when I was a kid, and it was a foregone conclusion that I would be going on to college after high school. My plan had long been to pursue a doctoral degree, and ultimately, that didn't come to pass for several reasons (namely, I was burned out by the second year of my Master's, and in my academic field, getting a doctorate was no greater guarantee of finding a job than a Master's was). But I did complete six years of higher education and two degrees.

Earning them was hard work and not cheap, but investing in myself this way gave me the ability to get hired by history museums in my old career. I also gained the research and communication skills necessary to successfully transition to my current career as a writer and editor. Warren Buffett was right when he said in 2022, "The best investment by far is anything that develops yourself, and it's not taxed at all."

2. Being a renter most of my adult life

My one and only experience with homeownership ended in a short sale, which isn't usually what you want when you buy a home. Other than the two years I spent in that house, I've rented apartments and houses in several different states. Being a renter gave me the flexibility to move as necessary (extremely often, thanks to my old career and general life circumstances), and not have to worry about selling a house and taking on that stress on top of uprooting my life to relocate. While I am hoping to become a homeowner again, potentially next year, I've made my peace with renting. It comes with some pretty good perks, after all.

3. Maintaining my old car

I bought my current car almost 14 years ago. It was shiny and new back then, and now it's definitely broken in. But I've done all I can to keep it running well, including regular and surprise maintenance that has sometimes cost me more money than I wanted to spend. It's been worth it to fix this car, which is paid off and inexpensive to run and keep insured. And at this stage of my life, as a fully remote worker who is actively saving money for a future home purchase, I don't need or want anything newer.

4. Paying my bills on time

I'm proud of my perfect payment record from the last decade. In the wake of getting laid off and being unable to afford my mortgage payments (which led to the short sale), I was laser focused on repairing my credit, and I made a concerted effort to pay every bill on time, every month. This had a positive effect, and despite carrying a significant amount of debt until last year, my credit score was still over 700. Payment history makes up 35% of your credit score, so if you struggle with making on-time credit card payments (or for any other bill), it's worth buckling down and improving.

Getting better with money is a journey, not a destination, and while I've improved my finances significantly in the last year, I know I have room to be even better. All these moves were definitely winners, though.