Magda Olchawska

Since I began my journey toward financial mastery, I’ve discovered that mastering personal finance has a lot to do with finding your true self. Learning about investments and financial independence set me on the road to sorting out and facing my long-standing financial issues. Thinking about and recording my spending let me see how much…

I almost never buy anything for myself that has a full price tag attached; with kids, it’s a different story, and we buy what they need. I started questioning this habit of mine and began asking myself if I needed to buy something/anything at all, regardless of whether it was on sale or not. I’ve…

Eating sweets or junk food is a bad habit. I’ve never been a fan of junk food, but sweets, ooooh, that I can eat. Especially when I feel tired or restless (maybe that’s why I work so much, hmmm… something to think about). The only way that I know of how to cope with not…

Ever since I can remember, I wanted to be free to do whatever I wanted to do. If you had asked my dad, he would surely have told you I always did whatever I wanted. Well, at least I tried… When I search deep inside my soul, I know that the freedom to do what…

Recently, I’ve been wondering about the ever-increasing speed with which time passes. In reality, I chose to keep busy (lots of tasks to tick off on my to-do lists) for the sake of keeping busy, while creatively, I was stuck. A horrible place to be in, but it happens when your goals and values aren’t…

A capsule wardrobe is a small collection of clothes that easily complement one another, can be mixed and matched, and of course, represent your favourite pieces. The capsule wardrobe goal is to minimise waste, save time when choosing what to wear, save money, and become more mindful and minimalist in our fashion choices. The number…

Clever marketers and their campaigns will suggest that such an uncomfortable feeling can quickly “evaporate” if you only buy something that will instantly make you feel great. It doesn’t matter if you can or cannot afford to pay for it; a credit card with a healthy balance will open all the doors for you. When…

Data, research, and the everyday socio-political reality we live in show that financial independence is often an unattainable dream for many women. Expectations of modern women are incredibly high, and support (I’m referring to both financial and social support) in many countries is deficient, especially for working or single mothers. From the female perspective and…

From an early age, I was programmed to believe that, for a woman to be taken seriously, she needed to look as good as possible. The message was very clear to me: whether or not a woman planned to be in the public eye, most of her focus should be on her looks. In short,…

For years, I nurtured the belief that whatever I earn must be spent. In my naivety, I never thought I should have invested the surplus, rather than spending it the moment it hit my bank account. I often wondered what I would buy with the extra money coming my way. For years, I also thought…