Taquila mhhhhhhhjmmmm i’m strait lol

Back in the mid 90′s I opened up a credit card specifically for buying Madonna merchandise.  That lasted about a year or 2.   About 10 yrs later I have sold most of those items on eBay to clear out the clutter.  I still LOVE Madonna, but no longer love the “stuff”…LOL

I can honestly say I am 20 and do not do any of that stuff, except maybe text. If you are tanning and smoking at my age, not only you are being ripped off but also will never reach 28 if you develop cancer…  so go figure.

I’m out of my 20s and I still need to work on the texting thing, I find it super convenient when I’m unable to answer or simply not in the mood for long convos of nothing-ness.

Wow, I relate to so many of these! And am happy to say that at 27 I’m almost through all of these habits (and some I never started – smoking, etc.). I only have a few hundred dollars to go in paying off my credit card, but I still really need to work on an overall budget. And that’s exactly how I stumbled across this website – so I signed up for the Bootcamp and hope it will offer some insightful tips! I actually maintain my own blog on today’s 20-something experience and recently wrote about my financial woes and goals. Here’s the link: http://20somethingrevealed.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/whats-money-got-to-do-with-it/.

Instead of being dependent on a man, I let my generosity get the best of me and assisted my boyfriend way too many times financially. When I look back at the probably thousands of dollars, one hundred here, a couple hundred here, that were always promised to come back to me (but never did) I think about how that money could have grown by now in an account.

I really like the subject of this article, as it addresses the habits that women are raised to perform, that we end up doing without even thinking about the consequences. I remember when I first moved to New York, and felt like I needed to be buying something constantly, new shoes, clothes, coffee, fancy treats. Now, before I spend my money, I stop to examine where the desire to spend is rooted: is it coming from a real need, or a longing to “treat” myself for a job well done? Or is it satisfying boredom, a feeling of inadequacy, sadness, anger, loneliness…When I take the time to reflect upon where my habits are coming from, I usually realize pretty quickly that my hard earned money (which is ENERGY) would be better conserved and spent somewhere more essential to thriving and survival.

Now, it’s more important to me to save my money, and put that towards paying off debts I accrued when I was less thoughtful about my expenditures. When I place my value in responsibility and integrity, the decision to snack on a coffee and a cupcake or buy new jeans becomes replaced with one that gives me a deeper satisfaction and fulfillment in the long run.

I think the “texting” comment is referring to those who still pay for texting related packages, i.e. 500 texts a month.  Most cell plans today come with unlimited texting.  I can say that I fell victim to the “texting” but not in that way.  I was naive and easily talked into buying a BlackBerry Pearl (when they were new!) on my own plan when I was 18 and just starting college.  I payed $250 for the phone and $120 a month for 2 years for that stupid phone.  Now I stick to a simple text/call plan with no data package (internet).  Makes things more simple!