1. Eating out too much. It's unhealthy and more expensive than cooking at home.
2. Waiting too long to save for retirement. You're supposed to start doing it as early as possible, like in your 20s. Most people don't, but we hope our kids will.
3. Waiting to invest until you pay off all your debt. If you do that you might NEVER start saving for retirement. So even if you have student loans and other debt, you have to figure out a way to do both.
4. Not having an emergency fund. You're supposed to have enough savings to cover three-to-six months of expenses. Obviously that's hard or impossible for a lot of people, but we hope our kids can figure out a way to make it happen.
5. Not being open and honest about spending and debt. Especially once you're married. It can be a major cause of relationship issues.
6. Buying things just because they're on sale. In other words, buying things you don't really need, especially if you can't afford them.