
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 money I’d spent over the years, just trying to keep myself happy. I followed pop culture’s image of buying happiness, inflating my lifestyle with shit that gave me rather little joy.
For years, I was caught in a vicious cycle of spending the money when it arrived in my account on things that I didn’t even use that much: designer clothes, shoes, handbags (all the “essentials” women are trained to buy from the age of two). All those “essentials” are so bloody expensive that instead of helping women become independent, secure and self-sufficient, they push them towards debt and financial insecurity. My weekly spa treatments filled the emptiness and loneliness in my life.
That kind of overspending, while chasing happiness and pop-culture standards, never leads to financial independence or freedom. Unfortunately, that’s what I was doing for years. I associated money with spending only. And you know what, I’m not the only one. The majority of us think this way.
It never seriously crossed my mind that money could be my ticket to real independence (something I always wanted, but I stubbornly thought working for myself and freelancing would give me).
I also took lots of horrible, horrible financial advice, as people do when they don’t educate themselves. Never listen to people trying to convince you that debt is a positive thing or take financial advice from people drowning in debt themselves, believing that this is a sign of financial success.
So, before you start on your financial journey, make sure you have the right tools. (Below this article, I’m going to link the blogs and books I love to start you off.)
Striving towards financial independence helped me focus on what is essential to me, what I enjoy most, and what I prefer to spend my money and time on. I cut down on wastefulness, became mindful of where my money was going, created a budget to see how much I needed, and started making financial decisions backed by action. Apart from investing in Index Funds and building my stash, I began buying everyday products with long shelf lives. It’s not only good for finances in the long run but also for the environment and sustainability on Earth.
By learning a ton about finances, I discovered what I want my life to be like and look like.
Additionally, I began an ongoing conversation with my son about financial independence (he even started making remarks about financial freedom to his baby sister). One of my life goals is to make sure my kids are much smarter than I was about financial choices.
He is already aware of the FIRE movement, asks lots of insightful questions, and compares prices. I’m also teaching him to feel comfortable asking how much something costs and not buy an item if he feels it’s too expensive (sometimes salespeople can project invisible pressure on their customers, and I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about).
At the moment, my teenage M. is a bit of a slowly recovering shopaholic, but I’m putting it down to the fact that he isn’t earning his own money yet, and once he does, he will be much more careful with it. However, he took on board that he could keep only 10% of any gifts he received, with the rest wisely invested in his investment account.
Having a stash, investing, and making retirement plans are things I think about daily in a playful, happy way. The positive investment and saving actions I take bring far less financial stress and strain into my life. Knowing that I have an emergency stash and a plan I’m working towards is a vast life improvement for me.
For me, financial independence goes hand in hand with a sustainable, minimal-waste lifestyle. Since the beginning of the year, I have been slowly replacing everyday items with long-lasting, sustainable ones.
When it comes to gifts, I’ve been making handmade ones for the people I care about for years. Still, my commitment to giving people something unique and one-of-a-kind has grown even stronger, allowing me to repurpose things rather than discard them.
Mastering personal finances is much more than just running numbers and learning how to say “no” to the pressure of an inflated lifestyle. Becoming financially independent requires inner lifestyle adjustments and commitment. However, none of that can happen without discovering who you truly are, what your values are and what you stand for in life.
Financial independence isn’t going to happen overnight. Indeed, just as your knowledge of finances grows, evolves, and changes with time, your perspective on financial independence will grow as well, leading toward a truly lived life.
PS. I’m #MadeByDyslexia – expect big thinking & small typos.
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