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u/Gav_18

r/FIREUK r/personalfinance r/UKPersonalFinance
My Stocks and Shares ISA as a 22 year old…
▲ 281 r/FIREUK

My Stocks and Shares ISA as a 22 year old…

Just wanted to share as I am proud of myself consistently investing some of my money to the S&P 500…

Edit:

A lot of people have commented saying, “I wish I started at your age.”

What I would say is that it’s never too late.

For some context, Wingstop was my first ever job in the UK.

I started working there when I was 18 and managed to save my first £3,000 by being disciplined with my money and living with my parents.

Unfortunately, I also made some mistakes. I lost most of that £3,000 because I got involved in leveraged crypto trading.

At the time, the promise of making money quickly was tempting, but the market moved against me and I ended up losing almost everything.

Some of the remaining money was spent on a family holiday.

Looking back, it was an expensive lesson, but it taught me the difference between trying to get rich quickly and building wealth slowly.

I’ve never really been interested in expensive clothes, designer brands, or flashy purchases. The one thing I genuinely enjoy spending money on is food.

One thing I’ve learned is that saving money is important, but saving alone isn’t enough.

There’s only so much you can save. Eventually, increasing your income becomes just as important.

Learning valuable skills such as sales, content creation, AI, coding, marketing, or anything that helps you create value can open up opportunities that simply cutting expenses cannot.

If you’re older and thinking,

“I wish I started sooner,” don’t beat yourself up.

The best time to start was years ago, but the second-best time is today.

Everyone’s journey is different. Mine certainly hasn’t been perfect, but I’m grateful for the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

Thanks for the kind and supporting words!

I did not expect this community to be supportive. 😁

u/Gav_18 — 10 days ago
▲ 0 r/personalfinance

Hello guys,

I’m 22, currently on a gap year working full-time as a barista and living with my parents. I’ve been following a pretty extreme 80/20 budgeting split where 80% of my income goes into savings and 20% is for me.

Because of this, I’ve managed to build up around £5,000 across a Stocks and Shares ISA and an emergency fund. But I’m moving out for university in September 2026, and honestly I’m starting to realise how big of a shift this is going to be.

I grew up in a financially unstable household, so that’s a big reason why I’m such an aggressive saver. It’s helped me build a safety net, but at the same time it makes me pretty anxious about the idea of spending more when I move out.

I’ll be getting a maintenance loan of about £6,000 a year (£2,152.26 each term), and I’m not really sure how I should adjust my 80/20 approach once I’m living independently.

And yeah before anyone says it... I do want to move out. I want the independence, I just didn’t expect it to feel this daunting.

Any tips on how to rebalance my budget or approach this would be really appreciated.

Thanks!

reddit.com
u/Gav_18 — 1 month ago
▲ 2 r/UKPersonalFinance

Hello guys,

I’m 22, currently on a gap year working full-time as a barista and living with my parents. I’ve been following a pretty extreme 80/20 budgeting split where 80% of my income goes into savings and 20% is for me.

Because of this, I’ve managed to build up around £5,000 across a Stocks and Shares ISA and an emergency fund. But I’m moving out for university in September 2026, and honestly I’m starting to realise how big of a shift this is going to be.

I grew up in a financially unstable household, so that’s a big reason why I’m such an aggressive saver. It’s helped me build a safety net, but at the same time it makes me pretty anxious about the idea of spending more when I move out.

I’ll be getting a maintenance loan of about £6,000 a year (£2,152.26 each term), and I’m not really sure how I should adjust my 80/20 approach once I’m living independently.

And yeah before anyone says it... I do want to move out. I want the independence, I just didn’t expect it to feel this daunting.

Any tips on how to rebalance my budget or approach this would be really appreciated.

Thanks!

reddit.com
u/Gav_18 — 1 month ago
▲ 0 r/FIREUK

I’m currently on a gap year working full-time as a barista and living with my parents. I’ve been following a pretty extreme 80/20 budgeting split, where 80% of my income goes toward savings and 20% is for my own spending.

Because of this, I’ve managed to save around £5,000 across a Stocks and Shares ISA and an emergency fund. However, I’ll be moving out for university in September 2026, and I’m starting to realise how challenging this transition might be.

I grew up in a financially unstable household, which is why I tend to be an aggressive saver. That mindset has helped me build a safety net, but it’s also making me anxious about spending more when I move out.

I’ll be receiving a maintenance loan of about £6,000 per year, paid as £2,152.26 each term. Given this change in circumstances, I’m unsure how I should adjust my current 80/20 budgeting approach once I’m living independently.

I do want to move out, I value the independence and feel it’s the right step for me... but I’d really appreciate any advice on how to rebalance my finances and manage this transition more comfortably.

Thanks in advance.

reddit.com
u/Gav_18 — 1 month ago