My personal finance journey so far has been a long and varied one. I have always been terrible with my money and to be honest I avoided looking at my finances or learning more because it often seemed too hard. During my first relationship that lasted 11 years, I left the finances to be managed by my ex-boyfriend and never made a move to track expenses relative to income. Though we did relatively well – we saved a deposit for a home, went through the whole getting a mortgage process and went on some lovely overseas holidays-, until the breakup cost me more than expected. Then, I realised I didn’t do enough despite being a very hard-working and intelligent woman. I had no clue where my money was going, how to do a budget or how to set up my savings.
Fast forward through those years of financial obliviousness (is that a word guys?), I was single for the first time and trying to navigate my way through setting up my own finances. My minimal savings were drained and I accumulated more debts due to the legal and financial ramifications of dissolving the relationship in which we were “financially dependent” upon each other. Suddenly I had to budget on my own, pay all the bills myself, pay legal fees associated with selling the property etc. Thankfully I have some amazing friends and family who were able to point me in the right direction to get advice (although it cost me a little extra hiring a lawyer to help me navigate) Oh boy!, did I regret not having learnt how to manage my own money.
Fast forward another 12 months and I didn’t do very well, I had credit card debt, no savings, no budget and returned from a vacation with my mum completely flat broke. Unexpectedly, an opportunity came to move overseas for an amazing job opportunity with career growth prospects and I took it with both hands. My debt extended further to cover flights, a second-hand car, and rental costs. But, honestly, it was the best career and life decision I ever made. Although, it took me another 12 months to pay it off after becoming intentional with my personal finances. Now, my life is amazing controlling my finances and finally being debt free.
Moving overseas, I realised within a few months that I was starting to drown financially and what I was doing was not working.I knew I had to start to take control… that’s where my journey to financial independence started. My first goal to convince myself that I could be better with money is to save for what I enjoy doing (a cruise holiday) without putting it on a credit card. After doing this, I realised if I could save for that then I could find a way to pay off my credit card debts and start saving properly but of course, I had no idea how to really do this. I sought the help of my friends who were financially savvy and they pointed me in the direction of great podcasts, books and they gave me some great “simple tips” to get me started.
It was these tips that blew my mind. They were simple and seemingly obvious, yet I had no idea about them. They were amazingly helpful in getting me on track. As I progressed on my journey and started talking to my female friends, my mum, and co-workers, I realised that some of them also had no idea about these simple financial tips and steps. Opening up to these friends and family made me realised that I wasn’t the only one who had ignored her finances and didn’t make effort to gain more financial education..
In my quest to achieve more financially, I sat down with my partner, who luckily for me is brilliant with money and has a PhD in economics. He has been a great source for books, podcasts and websites references to help me on my Financial Independence journey and shared my findings, that there are so many smart and intelligent women I knew who just like me sucked at money and finances, and I felt the need to help my friends out the way many others had helped me. Thus, the first seed for this blog was planted.
I have been on this financial independence journey of mine since June of 2018 and started writing this blog in late November 2018. In those 6 months, I almost paid off my credit card debt and have built up a tidy little savings. It may not seem like much to some people but to me, it is massive and an indication that what I am doing is actually working!. I used to be so embarrassed by my finances and my lack of financial knowledge but now I am proud of how much I have learnt and how far I have come.
This feeling that I have from getting a handle on my money has given me the drive and the confidence to start this blog- I am not a financial expert, I am just a smart and regular hard working woman who used to be terrible with money but is working hard to turn that around. Also, I want to use my experience, intentional changes and journey to help other women who used to feel like me (stuck, embarrassed and daunted by their finances) to gain some financial confidence and take control over their money.
I want this blog to be a place that women can get together and share their stories, seek help, advice, support and encouragement. So please join me on this journey and maybe together we can kick some money butt together.
