Ladies and gentlemen, grab your hats and blow out your party horns—it's almost my birthday! I turn 23 years old on Sunday.

Birthdays  are classic evaluation points in one's life. You sit back and think: Is this where I thought I'd be at [insert age]? This inevitably leads to comparing oneself with others of a similar age (which I am NOT a big fan of, but seem to do anyway).

Luckily for me, the 23-year-old checklist has several things crossed off—things many others are hoping to cross off, too. Career , yes. Apartment , yes. And then there's the money check—finances in order —which doesn't quite have the big red check by it.

Ahhh yes, it all comes back to money, doesn't it? No, I didn't expect to be completely out of debt and have $10,000 in savings by 23. But as I look back on it, I could have (and probably should have).

Earlier financial planning could have made a big difference. I'll give you an example.

Remember those paid internships I told you about? Well, the first two were completed while living rent-free with my parents (and board-free, too, thanks to my parents' nicely stocked refrigerator). So where, you ask, did the $8,000 I earned go? The answer lies not in my savings account, but in my closet (well, not all of it, but a good chunk).

It's a bit of a Carrie Bradshaw moment. When she's trying to buy her apartment the people at the bank tell her she's "not an attractive candidate for a loan." Later she realizes that at $400 a pop, her 100 pairs of shoes would have given her a $40,000 down payment. OK, it's a moment like that on a very minute scale. And while Carrie is my fashion icon, I prefer to watch her look trendy  while I get by with a wardrobe à la Target®.

I'm starting to see the financial light—as they say, it's better late than never—but it pains me to know what my pocketbook could look like had I made better financial decisions. Here  are some major financial decisions to consider as we become adults.

As you look back at how you've handled your money, which financial decisions would you change?