M’s Nutty Path

I was like a squirrel… I had retirement in multiple accounts, didn’t really have a plan of how to put it all together, what to do to build wealth for financial freedom (or what financial freedom meant) and had forgotten some of the places that I had my financial nuts… This was probably a nutty way to approach finances, but I didn’t know any better.

I think this is also probably pretty common in adults from 23 to 38 years old – otherwise known as Millennials… My parents weren’t very interested in teaching me about budgeting, I didn’t take classes at University about finances and they weren’t offered in Secondary School, and, maybe the worst, I had no interest.

I had also lived and worked in three countries by this point and didn’t understand the implications on my retirement when living outside of my home country.

So what changed? Two years ago, I feel like I suddenly woke up from my adult hibernation and realized I was responsible for myself. I also had almost no clue on what to do to even start approaching this beast. Should I poke it further? Just throw in some more nuts? Or run away into the world of denial that can come with international life (can be like Never Neverland, I’ll deal with it when I am an adult)?

I decided that I needed to find out what I was spending money on and how that was effecting the big money picture. I also wanted to work on a better savings plan, how to get 100% out of debt, and what this “investing” thing was that people were so interested in.

First, I just started a little notebook and wrote down EVERYTHING that I spent. Little 100¥ treat, or a big 10,000¥ expense, it all went down… And wow! I learned a lot about myself.

During the early days of my wake up, I ended up going to YouTube University. Searching about what people did, where to even get started and trying to find the motivation to follow through to realize some big mistakes. This took a long time… but eventually I stumbled upon Dave Ramsey and his “7 Baby Steps”.

As a starting point and not knowing much about anything, I read his book “Total Money Makeover” and liked the simple format of what to do for getting out/staying out of debt, having an emergency plan and building wealth.

Motivation… That was hard to keep in the first year and that is where the rest of what I want to share in this blog maybe starts. I read other books, would drop into YouTube University often for tips and direction, and started doing a budget along with a “Money Date Night” (yummy). Maybe one of the most important things was that I started to talk to A about what she was doing and that was a big help to have someone who is more experienced and knowledgeable of what to do. She recommended resources and we started to share what we found.

Now in the second year on this path, I finally feel like I am in a better financial place, ready to share what I did and am doing to continue to move forward, and more clear in my direction. I still have a lot to learn and sometimes get stuck in old patterns, but life is a journey and money is on the path (if only it were growing on the trees lining the path!).

This new path also includes a new country again, and while it is exciting, moving is also a set back to a financial set system for me. BUT, I look forward to sharing this, too, as I continue on my path towards getting my nuts in order.