Post by @devamshagunput

at this point I just need to time travel and send myself all my own content from the future 1️⃣ The budget I used to get out of debt (60/10/10/10/10) was great and good and amazing but that’s ALL it was good for. It was a ramp to get me out of a bad financial life and into a new one where the budget didn’t actually come in handy anymore. I couldn’t just use it forever, it had to change with my lifestyle & goals 2️⃣ Tracking my transactions BUT ONLY for 3-6 months. Just so I could understand why I spent what I spent I.e. understanding my emotional habits, because working on those is actually what cured the overspending 3️⃣ Matching my money habits to my financial season. IMO your 20s should be for learning how to earn and keep your money, so that you can really be in your grow season afterwards. Applying seasonal habits is hard because you have to force yourself to do a few RIGHT things instead of just trying to do all of the ‘financially healthy’ things. As an overachieving ambitious girlie that’s hard 4️⃣ Paying myself first always, even if it meant I had to spend way less than normal. (As a self employed girl this now includes paying the taxman before myself >:() but this habit CHANGED how I think about money. Like it actually made a lightbulb go off in my brain about how our brains just get used to different amounts in the bank - I spent how much I had left instead of trying to force myself to save what I had left 5️⃣ Reading more fiction & embracing my offline hobbies did more for my money than doing anything financial. Sounds unhinged as a financial habit but truly my overspending was 90% a lack of emotional regulation. Dopamine hits to cope with a life I wasn’t truly happy with. 6️⃣ Nobody cares about you. Now I don’t mean this in a depressing way but moreso that a lot of us spend a lot of hard CASH trying to fit in/be liked/be included. It’s something I call the self-hate tax. We spend it by buying trendy outfits or spending time with people we don’t even like. These people are never going to return the money you spend to be liked by them so start liking yourself enough to know what’s worth the money.