Your Life Sparkles

Growing up, money was not discussed in my household. At least not with us as kids! We had many fabulous opportunities (travel, camps, horses, sports) and always got a new dress for occasions, school clothes in September and amazing gifts for birthdays and Christmas. But we did not have ANY meaningful conversations around money. No talk of any planning, spending, budgets, investing, mortgages, nothing at all.

 

I did not learn how to use or handle money for a long time. I did (unfortunately) learn that I 'deserve' a lot of things and I can buy what I want. (Enter Credit Cards and a 12 year journey of pain!)

 

The first time I could not pay a telephone bill in college, I remember calling my parents. Crying and feeling shame, I had to ask them for money. It was an awful experience- one I never wanted to go through again. I DID however, go through it again... a few times. AND EACH time berating myself for being stupid and not handling my money. I was very angry with myself. HOW could such a smart girl be in trouble with money?? Frequently!!!?

 

How did my parents pay bills? How did anybody? And where was this 'magical money' people were 'saving'? These questions flew through my mind with .. again, anger and frustration. The easiest thing for me to do was to resign, get another credit card and 'worry about it later'.

 

I have so much to say on my money journey. At 30, I realised I needed to make changes and get my finances together- I had to face bad credit, a black mark on my credit, multiple credit cards and loans in TWO countries.

 

I want to open the conversation to money and finance. I want to talk about what I am doing, where I have succeeded and failed and how I can inspire ANYONE else to get on track.

 

It's scary... it means I will be sharing what I actually have... and what I actually do... but I have nothing to hide. And I didn't like the Money Silence... so here is where you can read about it.

 

Feel free to comment, ask questions and share!