Let's be honest. My story isn't original.
In fact it's probably pretty common in many ways. Most people these days look at "common" or "usual" as some sort of illness. In this age of perpetually inspired uniqueness, admitting one's commonality with your neighbour, whatever form that takes, feels like a bit of a failure somehow.
My story is that I wasn't that good with money. I lived with a man for 7 years, my first real commitment, and he and I did not manage our money well. We both made good money for people in their early 20s, and I managed to get my two-year diploma for library and information technology without going into debt thanks to my parents putting aside an RESP. But at the end of the summer in 2018 when we split up, we had practically nothing saved and in fact both had some credit card debt. Thankfully, we had never integrated any of our finances together, so when I moved out, I took my bank account and my Visa with me and he kept his. A beloved cousin who had just come into some money loaned me the damage deposit and first-month's rent on my new place so I wouldn't have to move back in with my parents.
I splurged some more a few months after moving out, spending a lot more time out with my friends seeing movies and having dinner. A little while later, I started to see one of them more and more, and we went to dinner a lot. So by the time the New Year rolled around, here were my approximate totals:
Cousin Loan of Love: $1500 (due by September)
Visa: $1500 (with lovely 19% interest)
I aimed to have it sorted by May, and I almost did, except my car started to smoke in April and $2300 later, my debt-free-date was shunted back. The way it worked out, just after I first heard about FIRE, I finally cleared my debt!
I would bet that many people have gone through something similar, or perhaps are in the middle of it. Shortly before my breakup in 2018 I read this incredible book called The Year of Less by Cait Flanders, where the author one day came into the realization that she had way too much stuff and she spent too much money on stuff.
The book really spoke to me, especially when I was separating my things from my ex's. So much stuff... Before I discovered FIRE, I had already begun it; quit spending money on things you don't need.
I kept getting rid of stuff, almost every month I have another bag to go to the thrift store. At Christmas and my birthday, I explicitly told my family that I didn't want stuff; don't get me anything, I just want to spend the day with you. It was semi-successful. And when my new guy moved in with me, we purged his stuff hard. 'Stuff' is turning into a four-letter word for me.
So that's my baseboard to start from. Nothing original, nothing spectacular, but it is very exciting for me!
In fact it's probably pretty common in many ways. Most people these days look at "common" or "usual" as some sort of illness. In this age of perpetually inspired uniqueness, admitting one's commonality with your neighbour, whatever form that takes, feels like a bit of a failure somehow.
My story is that I wasn't that good with money. I lived with a man for 7 years, my first real commitment, and he and I did not manage our money well. We both made good money for people in their early 20s, and I managed to get my two-year diploma for library and information technology without going into debt thanks to my parents putting aside an RESP. But at the end of the summer in 2018 when we split up, we had practically nothing saved and in fact both had some credit card debt. Thankfully, we had never integrated any of our finances together, so when I moved out, I took my bank account and my Visa with me and he kept his. A beloved cousin who had just come into some money loaned me the damage deposit and first-month's rent on my new place so I wouldn't have to move back in with my parents.
I splurged some more a few months after moving out, spending a lot more time out with my friends seeing movies and having dinner. A little while later, I started to see one of them more and more, and we went to dinner a lot. So by the time the New Year rolled around, here were my approximate totals:
Cousin Loan of Love: $1500 (due by September)
Visa: $1500 (with lovely 19% interest)
I aimed to have it sorted by May, and I almost did, except my car started to smoke in April and $2300 later, my debt-free-date was shunted back. The way it worked out, just after I first heard about FIRE, I finally cleared my debt!
I would bet that many people have gone through something similar, or perhaps are in the middle of it. Shortly before my breakup in 2018 I read this incredible book called The Year of Less by Cait Flanders, where the author one day came into the realization that she had way too much stuff and she spent too much money on stuff.
The book really spoke to me, especially when I was separating my things from my ex's. So much stuff... Before I discovered FIRE, I had already begun it; quit spending money on things you don't need.
I kept getting rid of stuff, almost every month I have another bag to go to the thrift store. At Christmas and my birthday, I explicitly told my family that I didn't want stuff; don't get me anything, I just want to spend the day with you. It was semi-successful. And when my new guy moved in with me, we purged his stuff hard. 'Stuff' is turning into a four-letter word for me.
So that's my baseboard to start from. Nothing original, nothing spectacular, but it is very exciting for me!
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