The Wu-Tang Clan said it best – “…Cash rules everything around me. C.R.E.A.M., get the money”. In reality, it’s more like credit. Having no credit or bad credit can hold you back. Especially if you are trying to build a business or live your best life. So two years ago during Financial Literacy Month (April), I made the decision that it’s time for a change. I’m rewriting my money (love/hate) story.
What is a money story?
According to Women Who Money, your money story is made up of your beliefs, thoughts, and feelings about money. It is formed in early childhood and leads you to have either a positive or negative relationship with money as you get older. Meaning there may be a reason why you “hoard” or spend money with no worries.
Apparently, there’s a book that we should read called Psychology of Money that may help us get a deeper understanding of all this. I’ll add it to my reading list and let you know what I think. For now, let’s get back to money stories, there are questions you should ask yourself in order to help you figure out your own story.
- What’s your earliest money memory?
- What messages did your parents/guardians pass down to you about money?
- Growing up, did you have more than/less than/about the same as your peers?
- Do you believe money to be good or bad?
- What was the feeling like about saving money? Spending money?
- How would you describe your current financial situation? Are you happy with it?
There are many more questions you could ask yourself but this is a great starting point. Once you figure out your money story, then you can decide whether or not it needs changing. Mine definitely does.
Rewriting My Money (Love/Hate) Story
My money story is like a revolving door. I have experienced a lot. I had my first job at the age of 16 and had to learn about “FICA” and everything else that gets taken out of your check. Outside of getting money for birthdays and Christmas, that job was my first “semi-adult” interaction with money. With no bank account, I use the Check Cashing place to cash my check which charges a fee. A few of my fellow coworkers did that same, so to me, that was normal.
I did eventually get a bank account and had to learn about that system too. They get you in with the free “Student Account” and as soon as you are not a student, here comes the mess. First, there are the minimum balance requirements, maintenance fee, and an overdraft fee. Not to mention getting charged an out-of-network ATM fee on top of the fee to make the withdrawal.
With all of that working against you, including a low income, you start thinking about whether or not it’s a good decision to keep your money in the bank. It’s a whole lot and it makes you think about why financial literacy wasn’t a part of the school’s curriculum. We are just taught general skills. Many of us don’t come from a family that was taught these things so they can’t pass it down. The cycle continues until someone (hopefully you) decides to educate themselves and share that knowledge.
This is my current reality. I held a variety of different jobs, and got paid minimum wage as well as above it. I had money, lost it, and definitely wasted it. Of course, I’ve gone into debt, semi-got out of debt just to turn around and repeat my mistakes, and went back into debt.
All that’s about to change.
Back in 2020, I purchased an ebook and never read it. My original goal was to fix my credit and that is where I actually started my new journey in 2022. The first step was to get a copy of my credit report.
If you are in the United States, you should know that we have three credit bureaus – TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. And by law, you are allowed to get one free credit report from each within a calendar year (12 months).
I was pretty sure that my credit score took a major hit so that was the next thing to look into. I did some research and found a tool that I can use. Look out for my full honest review on whether it actually worked. Until then here’s some things that I have done to rewrite my money (hate/love) story.
What I have done so far with rewriting my money story.
- I learned the art of couponing and stockpiling items. When we went into lockdown and the shelves started to get empty I was happy that all I had to worry about was looking for food and certain supplies. I never thought to stockpile Lysol spray or hand sanitizer, just would grab it when I needed it.
- When I shop for anything, I look for coupons, and sales. I will often miss out on things because I take too long to make a purchase. I just tell myself, it wasn’t meant to be right now. And I can also catch the next one.
- When it comes to tech, I’m perfectly okay with second-hand, older models, and keeping my current model until I absolutely need to upgrade. And even then just upgrade to the model right after that but not the newest one.
- Keeping my expenses low. I’m a proud prepaid phone plan customer. Secondly, I am trying to eat at home more with the help of planning out my meals.
Basically, I stopped trying to keep up with the Joneses. The Joneses can’t even keep up with the Joneses.
The most important thing is that I decided to educate myself in the areas that I need help with. That includes but is not limited to budgeting, saving, credit, and investing. Lack of information will keep you stuck and I am done with being stuck. From here on out, I’ll try my best to stay in my financial lane. If and when that lane widens due to an increase in income, I will be keeping a watchful eye so I don’t fall back into bad habits again.
So that is how I’m rewriting my money (love/hate) story. I would love to hear from you.
Let me know in the comments about your money story? Does it need a little tweaking or is it just fine? If it’s the latter, let me know what kind of work you did to get to that place.
