broke à la mode

Spicy broke. That’s what I would call my situation. Like maybe I’d eat a PB&J and wash it down with La Croix while wearing a Tory Burch cardigan.

All the while, seeing myself spiral into a miserable position, but not doing anything to fix it. It’s what they call insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I was operating under the ministry of foolishness. As long as I’ve had my own money, I think my relationship with finances has been poor. I thought that I could do what my parents did which was spend but didn’t realize they had steady incomes — I did not. Plus, minimum wage is not an all-clear for nobody’s anniversary sale at Nordstrom. I was in very bad limbo with my money. It often involved shameful phone calls, crying, less-than-appetizing dinners, and pretending that my financial security was all but insecure. These behaviors followed me from my first job when I was in high school and quite frankly, until recently at my first full-time salaried job. In January 2020, I was introduced to Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University (FPU) and it changed my life. I’ve fallen off a bit with my practices, but I am nowhere near where I used to be. Instead of feeling pathetic, I feel like I have power and I control my money instead of it controlling me. I’m going to spill out some of the most important lessons I’ve learned that have helped me in only a few months time.

1. Recognize you (may) have a problem. I couldn’t take control of my finances until I really came to terms with the actions that got me there. This involved understanding that I was behaving like a child. I would go places and tell myself “I have to have it” and internally, act like a brat because I felt like I needed it and couldn’t tell myself “no.” I also had to call out my issues by name: poor spending habits, poor self-control, impulsivity, financial insecurity. The most surreal thing I did and put my situation into perspective was looking at my bank statements. It was sick. Who the hell spends $50+ at the sushi restaurant for one? So, you’re greedy and broke. Pick a struggle, my girl. This step doesn’t feel good, but it’s so necessary. Just call yourself out, already.

2. Create a budget. I’ve attempted to budget by buying books, workbooks, listening to podcasts, allat. During my FPU class, I was introduced to an app called Every Dollar. Y’all. Game changer. Budgeting doesn’t confine you or constrict you, it gives you the freedom to move how you want to with your money. Without a budget, I realized I couldn’t hold myself accountable. All I was left with was the aftermath of the dumb purchases I made. With a budget, I can see my mistakes, areas for improvement, and make my money go where it really needs to go. With EveryDollar, you can link the app to your bank account(s) and track transactions as the month goes on. The app is designed to help you practice a zero-based budget, as well. So, instead of wondering where your money went at the end of the month, Every Dollar encourages you to budget all your categories, until you have $0.00 left. The app shows you when and where “every dollar” is allocated. It also includes visuals to show you what areas of your life you’re spending the most money on. Sit down at the top of each month (or based on your pay period) and type out everything you know and/or think you will have to come out of pocket for. Every Dollar even has categories for fun money, entertainment, etc. and you can add categories as you see fit. As you spend, remember to track the transactions to ensure you’re within your budget. This also helps for the following month to know where you can spend less or more of your funds.

3. Use cash. Groceries, gas, clothes. Those are mainly the areas I try to use cash for. With cash, there’s more of an emotional attachment. You can see it. Feel it. Touch it. And you can see your exchange happening before your eyes. With debit/credit cards notsomuch because the card just goes back into our wallets. If I take out $80 cash for groceries, I’m making a list and sticking to it, checking and comparing prices, and really trying to stay at or below my $80 grocery limit. Talenti gelato can wait. Again, you can’t be greedy and broke and try to throw in Italian flare. Choose a struggle.

Pro tip: Enroll in your local grocery’s loyalty program. You can save lots of money at check out when you enter your phone number or scan a barcode.

Pro pro tip (only if you ain’t scared): Slide the produce off the scale a lil’ bit at self-checkout.

4. Prepare your own food. This is very much self-explanatory. I realized it was ridiculous that I was going to the grocery store spending so much money and then turning around and meeting a friend for lunch/dinner after I just bought groceries. Consider skipping leaving the office for lunch, making your own coffee, packing your own snacks, investing in a water bottle. I mentioned this in step 3, but making a grocery list also assists with this step. If you know what you are getting at the store, you can plan your meals for the week and commit to eating them. I have to attend a number of professional development courses and trainings for my job and they always dismiss us for lunch to nearby plazas filled with restaurants. If you want some extra dollars in your pocket, just pack your own lunch and eat it at whatever restaurant your colleagues go to. A peanut butter jelly sandwich tastes just like drunken noodles if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, amen.

5. Sell something. After starting my class, it was suggested that we begin to sell any and every thing we don’t use or need any longer. We live in a society that values accumulation and acquisition, and over time we have carried things with us from place to place, house to house, that we’ll never really touch again. I went through my closet and other areas of my home to find items that I knew I wasn’t going to be using as often anymore. I used the app Mercari to sell quite a bit of handbags, and I consigned a few pieces from my closet with a local shop where I live. It was easy money and it doesn’t require much effort at all.

6. Get a part-time job. This may seem silly for those of us who already have full-time jobs, but if you can manage the time and schedule, I highly suggest exploring this option. I worked as a dance teacher outside of my full-time job for about two hours for three evenings a week. This was perfect because I was getting paid weekly and I would use the checks to pay off a credit card bill or add it to another category in my budget — whatever I needed it for at the time. That way, I didn’t have to dip into my larger check to take care of smaller scale situations.

These are only a few tips that really helped me out on my journey to financial freedom and security. It feels good not to get low balance alerts lol and being able to tithe regularly or support a friend when they’re in need. I’ll list a few more tips below for you to ponder. If you have more questions about my journey and advice, shoot me an email or comment!

• Cancel subscriptions you don’t use or when a show you watch isn’t in season

• Shop sale and clearance

• Stay away from credit cards

• Use coupons

• Keep your gas tank at half a tank or full

• Don’t get pedicures in the winter (lmao!)

• Consider pre-owned vehicles

• Work for service delivery occupations (Uber, Instacart, GrubHub, etc.)

• Use standard/basic versions of music and video streaming services, you can stand an ad or two

• Workout outside instead of at a gym