Advice I'd add: pay careful attention to the responsibilities you take on.
Owning a car -- you have to maintain it, possibly repair it occasionally, insure it, etc.. A pet is quite a large one -- want to travel for a few months? And you'll probably have that dog for the next 10-15 years, and they may get sick along the way. Owning a house, of course, but also renting -- you have to deal with minor damage, rent, keeping the landlord informed ("I didn't notice water started leaking in during the winter" is very bad).
Debt, of course -- what if you can't quit an exhausting job you detest, because you're paying down large debts?
Many of these things are rewarding (I love having a dog, for example, though it does make some things hard...) -- I'm not saying don't do them, just realize what you're trading. Take on new responsibilities one at a time, and do it with your eyes open.
I personally wish I'd been slower to take on new responsibilities when I was first out of college -- my first salary seemed huge, and so I traded up my $900 car for a $12K one, married my long-time girlfriend in a way-too-expensive wedding, and got a puppy... not mistakes, per se, but it was all much too fast.
Owning a car -- you have to maintain it, possibly repair it occasionally, insure it, etc.. A pet is quite a large one -- want to travel for a few months? And you'll probably have that dog for the next 10-15 years, and they may get sick along the way. Owning a house, of course, but also renting -- you have to deal with minor damage, rent, keeping the landlord informed ("I didn't notice water started leaking in during the winter" is very bad).
Debt, of course -- what if you can't quit an exhausting job you detest, because you're paying down large debts?
Many of these things are rewarding (I love having a dog, for example, though it does make some things hard...) -- I'm not saying don't do them, just realize what you're trading. Take on new responsibilities one at a time, and do it with your eyes open.
I personally wish I'd been slower to take on new responsibilities when I was first out of college -- my first salary seemed huge, and so I traded up my $900 car for a $12K one, married my long-time girlfriend in a way-too-expensive wedding, and got a puppy... not mistakes, per se, but it was all much too fast.