Heather Allen

Oh, if I only knew then what I know now!

This list is embarrassingly painful to write. My relationship with money has never been great. The only proud point of my financial life is that I have a high credit score. When I think about the life I want vs the life I have led so far there’s a pretty big disconnect because I am making spending decisions based on wants instead of needs. When I imagine the person I aspire to be, that life is always out of reach because I can’t afford it (but if I had made smarter decisions perhaps I could?). Reviewing my financial decisions just makes me regret so many choices. I want to be honest about how I interact with money so I might as well lay it all on the table.

I could go into detail about each point, but I am just not ready for that much embarrassment. My goal for this list is to move on from these habits, and be a more conscious spender. But further, just fully acknowledge that my choices now affect my life later on. The habits I developed in high school have evolved, but never fully gone away. I’m not saying that every choice I make is going to be stellar from this point forward, I’m just acknowledging that I could do much much better. This list is off the top of my head, in no particular order, and not in chronological order:

• Not following up on money due to me when I sold my car.
• Overspending on cotton tees at the Gap.
• Recklessly spending on my credit card with no plan.
• Over spending on gifting.
• Not saving each tax return or bonus.
• Taking out massive student loans for grad school that have no end of payoff (*laugh/cry* more to come on this).
• Falling into the mind trap of “need it now” spending.
• Spending each paycheck in high school instead of saving.
• FOMO (fear of missing out) spending.
• Buying lunch when I should have and could have just packed something.

Does your list look similar to mine?