Time for a re-set

Hello everyone! For those of you who have followed my previous blogs, you’ll know that every 2-3 years, I tend to tackle something in my life that isn’t going as well as I’d hoped. Five years ago, I became obsessive about balance, trying to wrestle control of my life back from an insane consulting schedule that left me feeling tired, fat, and lonely. Two years ago, with more time on my hands thanks to a new job and better boundaries, I explored the world of dating, to figure out why I only ended up meeting men with Peter Pan syndrome (the answer was: it was partially my own issues, and partially because those are the type of men boys who live in Dubai).

This year, I’ve got a job I love, normal working hours, and a pretty awesome boyfriend, so I felt it was time to tackle the next big challenge in my life: money. I wasn’t going to blog about this, because I didn’t think anyone else particularly cared, but I’ve mentioned it to a few different friends, and have ended up in long conversations with each of them about what “good” personal financial management looks like, so it seems I’m not the only one.

It’s mortifying for me to admit this, but I’m terrible with money. I lived in Dubai for five years after law school, where my income was barely taxed, and I never saved anything. Sure, I had student loans, and yes, Dubai isn’t the cheapest place to live, but seriously? I was paying the minimum on my loans, and ending each year with around $10,000 in credit card debt that I’d pay off with my bonus. I would watch my friends start buying property and think “I will never get to that level of financial independence” (as I boarded a plane for my fourth scuba diving trip to Thailand in a space of six months).

Then I moved to London. London is a whole different ballgame. Suddenly, 40% of my income just DISAPPEARED in taxes. Forget about the diving trips – I wasn’t even sure if I could afford to go out for dinner with my friends. I spent the entirety of last year just trying to figure out how to make ends meet (ended the year with $5,000 in debt, instead of $10,000), and I knew that this year, something would have to change, drastically, if I wanted to pay off my loans and save for the future.

So that’s what this year is about for me. Building some new habits, and learning the ins and outs of a world that I’ve tried to avoid for my entire adult life. Investments, retirement accounts, interest payments? UGH. I tried to shortcut the whole thing and put what little savings I had into an investment account with SoFi, which finances my loans, only to have my boyfriend not-so-gently point out that the portfolios they had put together were highly risky and he doubted they knew what they were doing, which was fair, given they had only started offering this service five months earlier. (He was also right – I left the $100 “promo cash” they put in the account as an incentive when I signed up, just to see how it did, and it’s lost 2% of its value in what is supposed to be an incredibly bullish market.)

No more shortcuts. I’m going to figure this stuff out, and become a savings goddess. I’d love for anyone who is interested to share my journey! Please leave a note in the comments if there’s anything in particular that you’re interested in or otherwise feel inspired to share.