Girl Meets Financial Freedom

 Woah. This financial journey has been wild. I still falter regularly and have a long way to go (like a realllllly long way), but I will say two things:  1. I have so much more energy I can devote to thinking about things OTHER than my financial ruin. It's honestly created such a serene and healthy space to examine other areas of me which may have contributed to the financial pitfalls.  2. I had to get new jeans yesterday, and instead of ordering online and reaching for the "pay in 4", I went to the store, found a perfect pair and paid with my debit card- my equivalent of cash.  There is nothing better than knowing that in a month, I won't see this expense on my credit card bill. There are still a lot of others on there, but I know that this is one baby step that I can really feel proud of.  It sounds so basic, but to me, it's everything. 

 Hi All - I am in work mode at the moment, so I started this like I do one of my group emails... seems like we're off to a great start...  Today, I want to talk about something interesting that I've been seeing a lot of lately. I'm going to preface this with the fact that this is something that I've been seeing on TikTok, so take that as you will. Given that TikTok may or may not be a platform filled with fully or semi-manipulated and frankly, manipulating content, you may choose to take this with a grain of salt.  I've been seeing a lot of people on there discuss the idea of manifesting wealth, love, material possessions, intentions, quantum time travel - you name it. Initially, my reaction was one of interest and curiosity, that is, until I realized that these people may not be leading "the masses" in the right direction.  It's important to be positive in your daily life- to have optimism and to send "positive vibes" to the universe. I'...

 Do you ever feel trapped in your own life? In society, we hear the word "privilege" come up a lot and I'm not going to lie- by societal and historical standards, my life has been extremely privileged. I have had to work hard and, yes, I did face a little male to female adversity, but certainly, I have had a major advantage economically and racially since I have graced this Earth with my presence.  With that all in mind, life should be "easy" for me, right? I'm coming to the realization that, in fact, my life has been very easy and in that, I haven't really had to learn anything about evolution and survival. I have learned, instead, about American and European history (no others), basic trigonometry and calculus, theological studies and economics. I have learned about what is right and wrong, as long is it fits into the moral standards of where I come from, and I have learned a lot of other semi-useless things. I don't know what it is about this morn...

Don't you love when people mess something up (more specifically, something you'd never mess up in your opinion) and they say "I'm only human"? Immediately, you may experience the "Well, I am too, but I didn't mess that up!" or "How can you be so weak?" or "How could you fail at completing something that seems to be so simple?" Being human may not seem like a great excuse at first glance. After all, we're all human. But are we all created with the exact same DNA? Are we born into the same circumstances? Are we taught the same things? Are we raised by the same people, if even given the opportunity to be raised by anyone at all? Are our highly complex brains wired in an identical way? NO. So why do we expect for everyone else to respond to or to cope with situations exactly how we would?  This is a pretty broad topic, so I want to narrow this down specifically to spending money compulsively. Do you know what is really scary about...

 You guys... This month has brought a surplus of interesting financial situations (and psychological happenings) to my little world. At the cost of losing my 2 readers to boredom reading through all of those findings, I have decided to just focus on one thing that happened and how it changed my life.  So - we went to Las Vegas on vacation for a weekend this month. Of course, as I reviewed my closet, I realized that I had absolutely nothing to wear. I hated my swimsuits, bags, pants, dresses - ALL OF IT. So, as you can imagine, I reverted back to my old ways and started shopping like a mad woman. Not to mention that my relationship was getting rocky and I love to band-aid real life issues with THINGS* (*This is not healthy by the way). In the month leading up to my trip, I bought 6 (SIX) new swimsuits. I already have 12 and I go swimming exactly 3 (THREE) times per year... doesn't add up, does it? Of course, these had to be designer suits, because everyone at the Vegas pool wou...

 It's no surprise that every now and then, things in life can get a little bit shaky (let alone apocalyptic). Sometimes, to get through ups and downs, people cope in different ways. Some choose venting, eating, gambling, doing drugs, drinking, taking prescribed medication ( or perhaps not prescribed), exercising (sigh) or....you guessed it! Shopping!!! Without any shadow of a doubt, I am 100% sure that this particular coping mechanism is exactly what got me into the financial mess I am in now. I have really only opened up about it to a few people and it was not easy. After losing my dad to addiction - a very serious one at that - It's apparent to me that different addictions receive different opinions from society. If companies are making money and people can justify that something is necessary to attain some sort of status - think overspending on a nice car or buying that "perfect outfit" for an event to "fit in" - then whatever that is is suddenly OK. But ...