Comments on: What Would Your Mulligan Be?

By: Jeffrey Baron

Jeffrey Baron — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:25:33 +0000

Good post, thank you! I really love it!

By: zud

zud — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 07:21:45 +0000

wow i’m amazed at the number of school related mulligans, makes me feel a little less alone.

my mulligan would have to be my choice of major in university, i chose something i thought was “interesting” without knowing how little the jobs paid, how non-progressive the companies would be how specialized i am now. its really hard for me to find a job and this industry operates on a low profit margin. if i could re-do it, i would go get a commerce degree or nursing, something where there are larger companies, room to move around and grow and options…

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 02:13:35 +0000

Two Mulligans:
1) Wasted my talents at university: I succeeded in completing two degrees in 5 years concurrently. Sounds great, right? Like many others, I didn’t study hard enough or focus and my marks were abysmal. With better marks, I would had more options after. Even though I have a fantastic job now, I wish every day that I worked harder at school.
2) Hubby & I bought a timeshare in 2004. We have to pay until 2044, we will be in our sixties and STILL owing for this d*** thing. We were pressured into it, without even realizing that they were pressuring us. A few days later, once our heads had cleared, we tried to cancel the contract but were threatened with a lawsuit. We pride ourselves on being level-headed and good with money but we just got suckered. That would be a marital Mulligan.

Amazing.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 01:43:22 +0000

Mine? Definitely scholastic. I’d have buckled down in high school, no matter how boring it was and then gone directly to college, instead of pissing away 3 years. Then I’d have NOT taken what I did in college – I like computers, the field I chose is so horribly oversubscribed the only job I could find in my field paid as much as an experienced burger flipper at the fast food joint down the street.

The only other thing I did wrong was assuming my husband had a clue about finances. He didn’t. I left it up to him to manage things while I was in school and it was so badly managed. Credit cards and overdrafts, it was completely terrible. I should have taken the reins a long time ago. Now that I have the debt is slowly disappearing.

By: aem2

aem2 — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:55:43 +0000

#1 I received some really horrible advice about saving money in university. A prof told us to take our co-op savings and put it into an RRSP, so we’d have it for the next term. Of course I lost about half the money I’d saved in early withdrawal fees and taxes. I would like to go back and tell that girl I used to be to put the money in a GIC.

#2 I also wish I’d worked harder in second year. I managed to hang on to my scholarship in first year, but lost it after second year by only about 5%.

#3 I wish I had just paid the $20 c.c. balance I carried for … two, three years? in university. Stupid. So very stupid.

There are a few others. I have no regrets about all these things, because now I can tell my students “Look, here are all the mistakes I made. Don’t you make them too.”

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:54:48 +0000

#1 Trying to take on more than I can handle has definitely cost me a lot! Attempting to complete too many CGA courses at once while working crazy hours in public practice and raising a toddler has lead me to dropping courses that I couldn’t handle only to have to pay for them again the next year! At a $1,000 a course and not to mention the numerous late assignment fees that I have paid over the last couple of years, I could have saved myself a bundle by sitting down and setting out realistic goals for myself!!! At least I know that once I am a designated professional (CGAs are equal to CAs here in BC) I will be making more money to make up for this mulligan!

#2 Moving in with the loser I dated for 3 years while in university and allowing him to mooch off of me! I was fortunate enough to have my parents flip the bill for my university education, so I have no student loans, but they would also have happily paid for my living expenses as well, if I hadn’t chose to live with this loser and let him mooch off of me. Basically I ended up working full-time while also going to school full-time only to have him spend all the money I made while sitting on his ass and doing very little or partying (he dropped out & didn’t work)!!! Luckily I still managed to graduate with my B.Comm and the highest GPA in my grad class and immediately left his sorry ass behind me, but I could have had A LOT more fun while in university if I hadn’t been so blind about him in the first place!!!

Especially knowing how fortunate I was to have parents that are willing and able to support me, I know realise how lucky I am and hope I can help my daughter avoid a guy related mulligan in her youth!!!

By: Rita

Rita — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 02:36:29 +0000

#1 Not taking the advice of my best friend’s father and buying the little house next to theirs. At the time I wanted to travel rather than pay a mortgage. The downtown property would have cost me very little at the time and I could have turned around and made a very good profit a few years later like the people who did buy it did. Very short-sighted of me.

#2 Not Nortel but another kind of investment that didn’t pan out. Wish that money were in my RRSP or savings account.

and #3 a sort of mulligan: That I bought a car instead of doing a 6 month working holiday in Australia. But if I had gone I may not of ended up with the job I have (which I love) so I’m not so regretful about it now.

By: Improve Gas Mileage Guide

Improve Gas Mileage Guide — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:21:33 +0000

I would buy a car for cash, rather than financing it, and I’d be careful to purchase a fuel-efficient model rather than a gas guzzler. Maybe not a hybrid, but at least something that get’s good gas mileage. Spending money on gas is like throwing it away.

By: Maureen

Maureen — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:01:32 +0000

Hi Alison and Suzanne – I am happy to be back but have so much reading to catch up on! I just love this mulligan blog and the more I read the more do-overs I can relate to and empathize with. I was on bed rest for a few weeks (tried to stretch it out to a few months but the stupid doctor says I can assume normal activities like vacuuming and laundry. Like he knows. Cough. Cough. I am going to get his medical license revoked – obviously a quack.) and I have to say I do not know how so many people can work on the computer while lying down or sitting cross-legged on the floor. I have to use a dozen extension cords and my monitor keeps falling over so it is just not do-able. Should get a lap top.

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:20:53 +0000

Funny, I think if I could do things over, I would actually take more risks.

From a young age, I’ve watched family members go through very bad debt situations, and I’ve been determined not to put my self in the same sitaution. I’m also a “planner” by nature. As a result, I’ve taken things slowly and planned things out, hoping to never get in over our heads. In general, the approach has worked out very well. However, in hind-sight I would:

1) Take just a bit more risk and use a variable rate mortgage. The key here is that we could have easily absorbed the extra payments needed if the rates went up – so we were too conservative by locking in. We’ve paid a lot more interest than necessary by taking the conservative road.

That said, I’d strongly recommend to most new home buyers that they do lock their rate in (’specially now), since most are cash strapped when they first buy.

2) Would have invested more – either in the markets or in real estate. Again, have probably erred on the side of a bit too conservative / cautious.

Two things I’m really glad I did was to (1) purchase real estate (that I could easily afford) in my late 20’s. We were lucky to buy before the market went up, but even if it hadn’t increased, it was a good move on our part.

(2) Solid education in a field that has many jobs. I was very lucky to have good advice & good mentors to help guide me in my early choices. I worked and studied so much in my mid-20’s that I must admit I feel I lost out a little bit on life, but I know feel the hard worked paid off and I can coast a bit more now.

By: Tara C

Tara C — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:18:53 +0000

Like another poster above, I went crazy spending money I shouldn’t have after 14 years of marriage to a very controlling man. I’ve learned my lesson now and am on track to be debt-free by the end of this year, but it’s been a long hard road. Other than that I have no real regrets.

By: MrsP

MrsP — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:51:03 +0000

My mulligan is financial – I started a home-based business a few years ago and got caught up in my Sale’s Director’s ideas on how much inventory I should carry. Long story, short: I invested in too much product (borrowed the $$ from my brother) without the sales to pay for it all. I wound up $15K in debt with a bunch of skin care and cosmetics that I wound up giving away as gifts when I got out of the biz. I am still paying off the loan to my brother 4 years later – last installment will be in April – Woo Hoo!

I don’t regret getting in to the business- it was a great learing experience and I met some incredible women that I am good friends with to this day. My do-over would be to not have invested in so much inventory.

By: KL

KL — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:23:51 +0000

#1 would probably been not budgeting and wasting money away

#2 I probablys spent too much on my wedding

By: Melaniesd

Melaniesd — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:41:20 +0000

My mulligan would be not listening to my gutt feeling when I was signing my name onto a mortgage with an ex-boyfriend. BUT, at the same time, the results taught me a lot about myself and helped be become the person I am.
We all have a path & plan, my mulligans have become strong roots in my path that keep me grounded and remind me to make better choices along the way.

By: Canadian Personal Finance Blog » Blog Archive » Random Thoughts: Without Inflating it

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 06:41:29 +0000

[...] Vaz-Oxlade asks What Your Mulligan Be? in the area of personal finance. I have far too many of those I’d like to forget, but glad to [...]