So, are you wanting practical basics, esoterics, or both?

Practical:

1. What that other person said about debt is and isn’t good advice. Without debt you can’t build credit and without credit you can’t get big things like houses, mortgages, etc. More and more of society seems to rely on credit scores to judge a person’s worth, too. Which is concerning, but this is the world we live in, not the world we wish it was, so…

On the other hand, with debt it’s easy to get into a ‘pay later’ or ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ mentality and get yourself into a bad position. So, better advice would be: never take on large debts unless you absolutely have to. Get a credit card, buy one or two things with it a month, and pay it off every month. That way you can build credit safely.

(Obviously ignore this advice if you’re rich.)

2. Learn basics. I was taught cooking, cleaning, how to properly do laundry, basic electrical wiring, basic home repairs (attach things to studs, how to patch drywall, etc), and sewing. All of this has come in handy once I got my own place.

Learning simple car stuff like changing oil, changing tires, and perhaps redoing spark plugs and belts can help you too, especially if you want to save money on car maintenance.

3. On a related note to that, cars, houses, and boats are all basically giant pits you toss money into. (That’s why people often take on debt to get new cars; a lot of the expensive maintenance is covered under warranty.)

4. Be careful with student debt. An education is important, but you can be stuck with that debt for a very long time, and owing that much in an uncertain economy like we have can be dangerous. So plan your education well.

5. With the understanding that there are some things people call ‘hobbies’ that are just them being gross (ogling little anime girls because they’re ’really 700 years old so it’s fine!’ comes to mind), in general enjoy your hobbies and don’t be ashamed of them. If, say, you like doing drag, and one of your friends says nasty things about it, that person is not your friend and you don’t need to feel ashamed of your hobby to make them feel better. If it makes you happy and doesn’t harm anyone, then just have fun.

But, in counterpoint to that, don’t fall into your hobby so hard that you start gatekeeping and being an ass about it, or ruining your health about it. Remember, other people are in the hobby to have fun too, so who cares if so-and-so’s drag wig is a little basic or messy?

6. I hope you know this already, but it’s astonishing how many people don’t: bathe every day. And wear at least moderately clean clothes. No-one likes stinky people and it’s easy to become inured to your own smell.

Esoteric:

1. Like that other person said, read. Terry Pratchett, Mark Twain, Richard Feynman… plenty of people have put amazingly good thoughts down on paper. I especially like Pratchett’s definition of sin.

2. Learn history, and not just the basic ‘approved’ things taught in schools. For example, our school ‘neglected’ to teach about the Tulsa Race Massacre, or the brutal Union fights in West Virginia.

I’ve found, for good summaries of more ancient history, Overly Sarcastic Productions does a pretty good job. It’s impossible to know where you are going until you know where we have been. And of course that old adage ‘those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it’ is very true. See: the US right now.

3. Learn what a cult looks like and avoid them like the plague. Doesn’t matter how lonely you are, how much ‘esoteric knowledge’ they offer, they will destroy your life and probably your family’s lives as well.