16 Money Mistakes Everyone Has Made—Even Financial Experts

Living above your means

“After college, I got a job as an editorial assistant at a magazine in New York, making $11,500 a year. My rent in Brooklyn was $400, subway tokens were $1, and my parents helped me out with a few hundred extra each month,” shares Jean Chatzky, financial editor of NBC’s Today and host of the HerMoney podcast. “I should’ve been able to make it work—especially with the extra income I earned from teaching SAT prep. Instead, I bought clothes I didn’t need, ate out too often and exercised at the trendy workout studios. Years later (and with a higher salary), I now shop the sales, cook in more than I dine out, and run outside for free.”