No one prepares you for how money slaps different in your 20s. One minute you’re getting your first paycheck, feeling rich as hell, and the next you’re overdrafting on coffee and vibes. You make dumb financial decisions—buying stuff to feel better, ignoring debt, thinking “future me will handle it.” Spoiler: future you is tired. But that’s the thing—this decade is full of trial and error. You learn that credit cards aren’t free money, rent eats half your soul, and saving feels impossible when you’re just trying to survive. There’s guilt, there’s shame, there’s “why didn’t anyone teach me this?” But there’s also growth. Slowly, you learn to budget, to say no, to build instead of just exist. Mistakes happen—but they’re part of the blueprint. You’re not failing. You’re figuring it out, one lesson at a time.