Latest / Many Things with Steph Libby / Money, Part 1: Getting Honest About the Numbers

Transcript

Money, Part 1: Getting Honest About the Numbers · Many Things with Steph Libby

Welcome back to Many Things.
I'm Steph, I'm multi-passionate, and I am building my dream life one step at a time.
And this is the podcast where I talk about all of it.
Um, if you're new here, every week, I pick a word of the week.
It's basically just any random word that, um, I spend that week kind of ruminating on, thinking about, um, and paying special attention to.
And then I get on the mic and I talk about what I learned about myself and, um, where it showed up in my life that week.
This one might become a two-parter.
We'll see.
Um, I wanna talk about money.
Um, there's...
It's something that's on my mind a lot right now.
It's something that I'm trying to work on and have been trying to work on for several years.
So I wanna talk about my money journey a little bit, and some of the goals I'm working towards, and some of the things that I have leaned into to be a little bit more consistent and a little bit more mindful along the way.
Um, I'm also doing something a little bit different this week.
So a little bit of, um, behind the scenes, how I put these episodes together.
Um, usually I put together, uh, show notes.
So like a script or...
And then I kind of riff on it a little bit.
But I wanna do something a little bit different going forward.
I...
Well, at least for this episode, we'll see how it goes.
Not sure it's off to a great start.
But instead of writing out all these different ideas and having, uh, y- you know, almost a script to kind of go by, I have just put together just, like, some bullet point notes for myself.
One of the things I want to work on Is, so I'm pausing because the thing I wanna work on is I don't wanna keep saying like, um, and, uh, all those words, all those filler words.
I'm trying to be more mindful of how I'm speaking, and that was part of the reason why I started doing, like, scripts for episodes so that hopefully I wouldn't rely on those filler words quite so much.
But what I'm finding is that is not helping me practice the skill of being mindful when I'm talking.
So I wanna try something a little bit different this week.
So I just have my bulleted list of notes, and I'm gonna try to talk a little slower 'cause I think that's also part of where my issue comes in.
Anyway, so we're gonna talk about money this week.
Like I said, this might become a two-parter.
I'm not sure.
We'll just sort of see where we go.
Um, I guess to start off with, it would probably be helpful to know where I'm at financially right now.
Money is, like, one of those things that is so strange to talk about because it's so personal, and there's a lot of basics that we should all do and that are all helpful, and it's sort of just math.
You know what I mean? But there's so much emotion tied into it, and there's so much vulnerability tied into it.
Money is something that I've realized I only talk about with the closest, closest, closest people in my life, and it's so strange because Uh, it's something we all deal with.
It's something we all think about.
It's something that, as much as we don't wanna admit it, money does rule our lives.
You can't s- you really can't survive without money, unless you kind of go f- even to go fully off-grid, like you still need money to get that lifestyle set up initially.
So money is something we can't avoid, but we don't talk about it a lot.
I've really loved, um, getting to know all the different content creators out there who are focused on money.
Not like the Dave Ramsey-type people, but the people who are real people, everyday people sharing their financial journeys and giving real insight and a peek behind what it's actually like to live, um, mostly in America are the ones that I watch.
But really giving insight into how real people live with real incomes.
Like, not everyone is making 100K plus a year, despite what shows like, um, you know, reality shows want you to believe, because they always find these, you know, people who are making six figures.
Um, and we...
I mean, we talk how expensive stuff is, like in a, you know, obviously the midterm elections are coming up, so you're hearing a lot about affordability right now, and a lot of promises about how people are gonna make things more affordable.
You hear a lot about, you know, supposed waste with Um, social programs and things like that, and every- and cuts and taxes, and, like, all these money buzzwords that you're hearing.
So we talk about it in that general sense of, like, general affordability, are we headed to a recession, the cost of living, all that kind of stuff.
But we don't really talk about...
But for how personal money is, I don't think we really spend a lot of time talking to each other about our personal money struggles.
I think it's kind of embarrassing.
It's easy to feel like if you don't have money, you're a failure, 'cause that is, I feel like what capitalism is kind of based on.
If you make money, you feel good.
If you don't make money, you feel horrible.
Um, if you make money, you can survive.
If you don't make money, you can't survive.
I mean, that's, like, capitalism in a nutshell to me.
And it's really eye-opening when you start to dig into, like, the budgeting, finance, debt payoff realm of social, and I think it's one of the few positive things that social media has given us, are, like, insight into real people and real stories in ways that probably wouldn't necessarily get covered.
Um, it makes me feel, like, not alone, because going back to where I'm at financially right now, I don't feel great about my financial position.
I'm genuinely worried about, you know, if we have...
if we do go into a true recession or a depression, if cost of living and inflation continues to skyrocket, like, w- what do- what does affordability even mean anymore? Like, I don't In some respects, um, I think I'm doing okay.
Like, I think I make decent money.
Um, I'm able to...
It, it's weird, it's like being able to live paycheck to paycheck right now feels like a big privilege, and it shouldn't be that way at all.
Um, but I know that there are a lot of people who are really, really struggling, and I'm lucky enough that I make enough money that I haven't had to make any, like, real tough decisions yet.
You know? It's not like I'm...
I know there are a lot of people, um, not just now, but even last year, it was a really expensive winter and, um, it was cold, and there were a lot of stories on the news about people in my area.
These, these aren't stories from, like, other states or anything like that, but people in my state who have to make a choice between feeding their family this week or paying for oil and having hot water.
And there's just so many things that we take for granted because especially as Americans, we are very, very spoiled.
We forget that there are a lot of people who go without, and when we are forced to go with the littlest bit of without, it feels like a real struggle.
And so I think, I think that's important when we're talking about money to also kind of keep things in perspective, but I by no means think people should, like, be struggling, and I'm definitely not one of those people who, like...
I don't know.
Like, what did RFK Jr.
say a few months ago where he was like, "Just get a different cut of meat.
Get one of these crappy cuts of meat.
It's just as good as a rib eye."
Like, that's not the conversation we should be having around money of, like, um, well, are you buying the right kind of snack, or are you buying the right cut of meat? Like, we- if we- when we have to get into those kinds of granular debates, there's a big problem going on, I guess is my point.
So, so anyway, I kind of went off on a tangent for a minute, but, um, but I guess, like, that just shows how emotional money is.
Like, money is the epicenter of our lives, even if we don't want to admit it.
You have to have money to survive.
You have to be able to pay your bills.
Everything gets, just gets more expensive.
You have to think about the future.
And, you know, I- I'm lucky because I think I was, you know, I'm, I don't...
I guess maybe I'm just, like, a middle of the road millennial.
Um, but like a mid-aged millennial or whatever.
But, um, or maybe I'm, I don't know.
It doesn't matter.
But as a millennial, I think I was one of those last, um, classes that had a home ec course when I was in high school, and I actually really liked that course.
It, you know, I learned a lot.
I learned about balancing a checkbook, and I learned about credit cards, and I learned, you know, other little skills about, like, I learned how to cook, I learned how to measure food, I learned how to meal prep, and essential life skills.
Like, I can hem a pair of pants and patch a jacket and add a button because of home ec.
Like, but I don't think they really teach home ec anymore, and there were, like, a lot of valuable life skills that people don't, just, like, simply don't have anymore.
Not just because, like, we don't write checks or anything like that, but I just mean that, like, we don't...
That was where I f- had my first conversations around money.
That was where I, um, you know, learned about student loans and student debt and all this kind of stuff and, and trying to figure out a budget for our household and all of that.
Like, I still use a lot of those essential skills today, or they at least created a foundation for me to build on, and I think it's really sad that so many people don't get that anymore.
Um, growing up...
Okay, well, let me, before I talk about growing up, where I'm at financially right now.
So I am...
So I make decent money.
Um, so I'm just gonna be really honest about the numbers 'cause I think it's important.
Um, I'm a project manager at a marketing agency.
Right now I make, um, in the Between 75 and, and $80,000.
Um, we don't have, like, a formal bonus structure, so it's not like I'm making money off of commission or anything like that.
So the, my salary is my salary.
Um, I have a good 401f- through my work.
They do a pretty good, um, matching program.
Um, you're fully vested, like, out of the gate, so there's, like, not, like...
You know, I've been at companies where you have to wait five years before you're fully vested and all of that.
Um, my 401though, unfortunately I'm not maximizing it.
Um, I'm not able to put any extra money in it during the year, and I'm also not able to put in, um, the highest percentage that I can at work because that would just, it...
I need, uh, as much paycheck as I can to survive.
Um, I'm the breadwinner between me and my boyfriend.
Um, he is currently...
The work situation is always in flux, but he is, um, looking for new work, and, um, I'm the breadwinner.
Um, and so right now I'm also paying for the majority of our bills.
Um, I have some debt.
I, a student loan is my biggest debt.
It's strange though because student debt is so far out of my mind or has been the last few years because it's such an ungodly sum for, um, what I went to school for.
Um, I, I am not gonna say how much student loan debt I have.
I'm not a budgeting content creator, but it's a lot.
And, um, I just, like, haven't made enough money to be able to pay back the way I would like to given all the other responsibilities I've had in my life.
I do think that there's a little bit of a cop-out there that I'm gonna own because I do make enough money that if I were in different relationships or if I made some different choices in the past or had different financial conversations with past partners and stuff like that, I might be in a much different financial space than I am right now.
So I own that.
Um, but I also think that, like, the student loan situation is just, like, out of control in general.
Like, it was really expensive for me to go to school for an education that was f- just fine.
Like, it wasn't like I got, like, the most amazing stellar education ever and it kind of justified what I was spending on it.
I was also lucky to have scholarships and, um, my grandmother and great-grandmother had set up a college fund for me, so I, they definitely contributed every year that I was in college to that, um, for my bachelor's.
But it was the master's program where, the two master's programs that I went to that I accumulated the most debt because I had to take loans out for both.
It was, I mean, looking back, I've talked about this a little bit.
Maybe I'll talk about it more some other time.
But, um, it's one of my biggest regrets in life.
I try to kind of keep a silver lining perspective on it so I don't um, make myself feel too horrible.
But there, there could've been some better decisions or maybe a little bit more research into what I was getting into.
I think that's the tough thing with student loans is you're asking people who are between mostly the ages of, you know, 17, 18, and maybe 27, um, depending if they go for, you know, advanced degrees or whatever.
You're really asking them to really have a lot of things figured out and a lot of...
You- no one takes out student loans, um, thinking, "I'm gonna not be able to afford them later."
You know? Like, I think people, I think we, I think most people take them out thinking, "I'll find a way to, uh, like, if I have the degree, I'll be able to make the money."
And that's just n- it's just not true, and it's, it's crazy.
Um, so I have a lot of student loan debt.
That's honestly, like, so out of my mind right no- it had been.
Now it's very much on my mind because my student loan repayment p- program got cut, um, thanks Trump, and so now I'm having to, I'm anticipating that my student loan payment is gonna jump up by hundreds of dollars a month, which is crazy.
I mean, when they're factoring, like, what you should be able to pay every month, it doesn't factor in, like, what things cost in your area or how much money you make, or...
I mean, it factors in, like, how, like, they factor in how much money you make, and that's basically, and they say, "Oh, it's gonna be this flat number of how much you make."
There's no consideration of, like, how much an apartment or a mortgage costs in my area.
There's no figuring out if you're spending hundreds of dollars in gas in order to drive to that job that you have to get paid the money that you have.
Like, there's just so many factors that aren't considered.
It's just, "Oh, well, this is what you make, so your student loan income should be this much."
But I, it's not like I'm given that information of how much my student loan is gonna cost before I've gotten myself into, you know, my housing situation or where I'm living and all that.
So it just seems, like, very ass-backwards to me.
Um, and then I have, like, a little bit of credit card debt, not a lot.
Um, but I have a little bit of credit card debt that I'm trying to pay off.
And then, um, I have a loan that I took out to help with some home renovations when I bought this house, and, um, I also lumped in some, uh, some debt into that loan as well so that I could, um, pay that off sooner at a, like, a lower interest rate.
So that's kind of where I'm at financially right now.
I don't have, like, a massive emergency fund.
Every time I get some...
I keep getting random bills from, like, the dentist and the endodontist and all this stuff, and so that emergency fund is quickly being used up for those things, or, like, an emergency cat visit or whatever.
Like, I feel like I'm getting hit with a lot of emergencies lately.
Um, and that's it.
I don't have, like, a s- a, I don't have an- any other savings, so that's really scary for me.
Like, I am someone who likes to consider myself being, to be a responsible person, but I feel like I have no safety net, and that definitely keeps me up at night.
And what I crave more than anything, something that I've learned about myself, especially in the last few years, is I really just want stable and reliability.
Like, I just want a stable life.
I want to know what tomorrow is bringing me.
I don't like surprises.
I like to...
I'm a planner.
I like to prep for things.
I like to be prepared for things.
I wanna know what's coming my way.
I don't, I don't like constantly running into different surprises.
Um, and that's really hard with money, because I feel like most things with money just end up being one big surprise.
Um, I, I would consider myself...
I own my own home, so that's a big thing.
My car is paid off But I would consider myself to be, and this is very, very embarrassing to admit, but I would consider myself to be house poor.
So I can own a home, but, like, I cannot afford to fix anything in it.
That loan that I mentioned a little earlier that I took out for my home renovation was because, um, this house was built in the 1940s.
It doesn't...
The electricity was not was home rewired by my great-grandmother, so it's, like, not really up to code in a lot of places, and it actually, like, where the box was lo- I thought I'd be able to, like, rewire my house with this loan.
What ended up happening is I basically had to spend thousands and thousands of dollars just to get my box relocated and part of my house rewired and, um, get my house grounded and put in a couple of outlets in places that kept short-circuiting and rewire a couple things.
But the majority of my house still needs to be rewired, um, and like my upstairs, I have no three-prong or grounded outlets, so it's all just, like, two prongs.
It's like outlets from, you know, like, the '70s.
So it- it's really hard, and, um, it makes me feel bad about myself.
It does.
Like, I can't afford to fix these things.
I can't afford to, like, redo my kitchen.
I don't even have expensive taste.
I think that's the thing that bothers me the most is I don't have expensive taste.
Um, oh, the other big expense that I had to pay for when we moved into this house was the bathroom ups- We only have one bathroom, and it doesn't have a shower.
It was just a tub.
And so we had to, um, put in a shower.
But it has a really slanted roof, so it was, like, a just a really oddball kind of combination, but we had to spend a lot of money, like re- The, the bathroom was, like, our number one priority when we moved in and then taking all the carpets out because they were disgusting.
So there were just some, like, very, very basic things that I put a lot of money into when we first moved in here.
And we've done, like, some small projects like scraping wallpaper and things like that that have improved a few of the rooms, but, like, they take a lot of time, and everything just costs money to fix.
I don't even have that expensive design taste when it comes to my house.
I just...
I really do pr- I like kind of the rough-and-tumble house kind of vibe.
I like a cozy vibe.
Um, I'm not looking for, like, a massive renovation.
I don't want marble countertops.
I don't want all new flooring throughout the house.
Like, so it's extra frustrating to me that I...
Like, I priced out redoing, like, my kitchen, and it might cost, like- If everything went kind of according to plan as how, how I was picturing in my mind, it would be like less than probably $2,000.
You know? Like, it's not a lot of money.
And, but I can't find myself able to pull together that much money, or by the time I do, something happens, like my cat gets sick or the car needs some massive repair or something like that.
So that money gets diverted to something else and I'm never able to have enough money to like meet an emergency and do something for the house and do a renovation or go on a trip.
And that's the other thing is like I'm not spending my money in crazy places.
Like, I know people who rack up a lot of credit card debt traveling all over the world, and I'm not doing any of that.
Like, I...
My idea of a really fun trip is to like go camping for seven days in Acadia.
I did that with my boyfriend once.
I think the whole trip all together with, you know, gas and food and k- the campsite and everything, everything that we did that whole week was like, it was like 1,200 bucks.
You know, it was like not expensive, but the, that's a lot of money for me.
Um, and I would love to get to a place where that isn't such a hardship.
That would make me feel like really good about myself.
That would make me feel like I had made it, when I could do those kinds of things without it feeling like I'll never financially recover from this.
That, um, meme from Tiger King is, is something I think about every day.
There's just like, every time I do something, every time I spend money on something, I just think, "This'll, this is gonna ruin me financially.
I'm never gonna recover from this."
Like, and it's always the tiniest expense, uh, like small expenses.
It, that's the part about all of this that I find so embarrassing.
I'm not embarrassed that I have debt.
I think most people have debt.
I'm not embarrassed...
I, I, I'm just embarrassed that you can't breathe lately without losing money and feeling like a failure because everything is just...
Every time I go to the grocery store, it's another $20.
It's like how...
But my, it's, but I bought the same stuff I did last week.
So it just, it's hard not to, um, feel down, so I'm very, uh, very grateful for my Zoloft lately.
Um- So I guess maybe it would be beneficial to talk about where, like, how I grew up.
So I grew up lower middle class.
I grew up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
That's where I live now.
Um, and, you know, I, we grew up in a decent, a nice, decent middle class home.
Like, we had a backyard and, um, I, I don't know if the...
We had, like, an above ground pool, and my dad was handy, and so he, like, built a deck for it and all this stuff.
I can't even remember where my parents got the pool, if the pool was at the house, if they bought it n- I don't think they bought it new, or they might have bought it, like, used from somebody.
Um, but we lived in, like, a nice little, like, you know, three-bedroom house, three-bedroom ranch.
Um, my mom converted the garage into a craft business, so she had a craft shop and did crafting classes and was on the craft fair circuit.
My dad, m- uh, my dad always said that, like, the craft shop just, like, broke even.
It wasn't, they didn't really make any money from it, but it l- gave her something that she was passionate about and it gave her, like, an outlet.
Gave her, like, a hobby.
And, um, and I'm sure that it probably m- in certain times of year probably did actually help, you know, the house.
Um, I think it also, she was a stay-at-home mom, so, like, she was, you know, 'cause she was working out of the garage and stuff, so she was, got to spend a lot of time with me, my brother, and my sister.
Um, my dad worked in construction and he also worked at the public works department for the town.
He u- I think he, both were, like, part-time jobs.
Um, and then certain times of year one would be, like, more full-time or whatever.
It just seems like he was always, like, kind of bouncing around between them and, um, all of that.
You know, my parents are in their mid-60s now.
They are retirement age.
They are trying to figure out their retirement.
Um, I think they are waiting a couple more years just to have, like, a little bit more saved up, and I think to maximize all of, like, some of their pensions and stuff like that.
I don't really know what my parents...
This is what I find so weird, like, I don't even know what my parents' retirement situation is.
I get the vibe that it's not amazing, and that it's definitely gonna be a struggle.
Um, I do worry about them being on retirement.
It's not, I, I don't think my parents have, like, millions of dollars stashed away, you know what I mean? It's like, I don't think there's anything like that.
I don't think they're, like, as comfortable as, like, my great aunt or my grandmother or anything like that.
Um, if something were to happen, I think it, I think they would find themselves in a major, major crisis.
So I'm not really sure what their situation is and, but it does make me nervous.
But it's also strange that I don't know what their situation is.
I know that m- talking about money with your parents is odd, um, but I f- also find it very strange that I don't, I don't know anything about their finances.
Um, so I mean, I don't know.
D- I, I, I just sort of assume that they have a 401.
I assume they maybe have, like, a little bit in savings, and I sort of assume that my mom might have some sort of pension from, like, and maybe my dad does too from, like, the times that he worked for, like, the state a, um, for the town.
And my mom at one point was making money through the state.
Um, she's a, a d- rec- director for, um, one of the towns here.
So- Um, so I just assume all of that, but I do worry.
I'm, am nervous.
Um, I'm also nervous, not just monetarily for my parents for their retirement, but they're not, they don't, they don't, um, rest well.
Like they, they always have to be doing something.
They always need a project.
Even talking about retirement, they somehow still seem like they're going to keep their jobs part-ti- Like, I don't know, it just like And it doesn't seem like it's And I can't figure if it's just financially related or if it's just because they are worried they're gonna be so bored, so it's just, I don't know.
We'll see what happens.
But, um, so I mean, so that's also kind of what's interesting about money is like, if you don't talk about money when you're growing up, you have no idea if you're doing it right later in life, and by the time you realize you may or may not be doing it right, it's kind of, it feels like a little too late to be figuring that out.
I wish that families talked more about money.
Like, my parents taught me how to budget, and they taught me, you know, I, my, they were very visible about when they were doing finances.
Like, my dad would sit down like every Sunday and be in his office and, you know, balance the checkbook and pay bills and stuff like that.
So I adapted, like, I adopted that same kind of behavior.
But that was kind of the extent of it.
We, we never talked about student loans.
We never talked about credit cards.
We never talked about debt management or how to save.
I mean, the on- they did talk to me about saving when I was very little.
Um, the bank came into our school and helped all the kids open up a checking account, um, a savings account.
And I remember wanting guinea pigs, and my parents told me that if I could save up the money and find a way to make sure that I would have money to, like, buy their food and stuff like that, then I could get a guinea pig.
Um, so I eventually did it.
I saved up, like, all of my birthday money for, like, a year and all this stuff, and so I got the money together.
So that was like...
but that was, like, the extent of, like, the saving sort of thing.
And, um, you know, they didn't buy a car.
Like, they didn't buy a car outright for me when I was 16.
They basically advanced me, they loaned me the money for me to buy my aunt's used car, and I had to get a job, and I had to pay for my own insurance, and I had to pay for my car.
And every paycheck I had to give my parents something, you know? And I, we had a piece of paper on the fridge, and so every week when I got paid, I would give them something.
And I think the car only ended up being like 2,300 bucks or something like that, or 1,800 bucks or something like that.
Um, but I paid it off, and that was, those were kind of the financial lessons that they taught me.
But we never really talked about- How to value, like getting your value from money or what, where I sh- what I should be doing now to help myself when I'm 30 or when I'm 40.
We never talked about like saving up for a house.
We never talked about any of these things.
So I didn't really like know what I was doing for most of my 20s and most of my 30s, and a lot of it I learned just by educating myself and u- maybe using some common sense.
But I've always been really cognizant of money.
I'm not a, I'm not great at saving it and I spend money on stupid shit all the time, but I am at least very aware of money and I'm aware of my financial situation and I'm always thinking about it Some of the goals that I have, um, uh, the reason why I bought this house was one, I just thought, like, New Hampshire housing prices are so high, I'll never be able to afford a place on my own, like, as a single person So I, uh, I knew my aunt was gonna sell...
my great aunt was gonna sell this place at some point.
Um, she had inherited it from my great-grandmother who passed away, then my great uncle was living here until he passed away.
So I knew that she didn't wanna pay for property taxes and stuff like that anymore, but I know that she was also, like, really hesitant to get rid of the house.
So I had asked her if she might consider selling to, like, me.
Um, it was the only way that I knew I'd be able to, like, buy a place in New Hampshire that I could afford myself.
So I got a really good deal on the house, obviously friend and family discount.
Um, and it was enough so that I was able to get, you know, approval for a loan, uh, for a mortgage, like, by myself and all of that.
And I know that one day I'm hoping I'll be able to, like, sell this place.
I live in a ski town, so I'm hoping it-- when I'm ready to move somewhere else, I can sell this place and use it to buy, like, kind of upgrade and buy a, a better place or in a better location.
Um, I've always wanted to have, um, a house on the water.
I would really love to be on a lake, just some, like, remote lake in Maine, like a little fixer-upper kind of farmhouse or cabin or something, or, or on a river that's deep enough to swim.
Like, I just wanna be able to, like...
I love swimming so much in the summer.
It brings me so much joy.
I just wanna live in a place where I can be around that kind of beauty and be able to do this activity that I love every single day that I'm able to do it, rather than having to, rather than having to, like, fight tourists for a spot on a river and all that stuff.
So that's one of the big goals I have.
Um, I spent a lot of my late 20s and early 30s really financially preparing myself to buy a home.
That was something I really, really wanted to be able to do.
I really wanted to be able to do it before I was 40.
Um, and so in my late 20s and early 30s, I spent a lot of time really educating myself on getting my finances in order and spending time thinking about how to advance my career, how to save money, how to pay off debt, being smarter with a budget, all that kind of stuff, and really starting to think about my future.
And so it was something that, like, when I was finally able to buy this house and do it myself, it was a really proud moment because it wasn't just something I happened to be able to do.
It was something that I had been preparing for for a long time, even though the house I ended up buying happened to be kind of a happenstance situation.
But there was, like, a lot of pre-planning and effort and work that went into feeling like I was even remotely capable of doing this thing Um, so that's one big major goal I have.
Another goal I want is just to, like, spend money without feeling anxious every time I do it.
Like, right now, even just spending money on the basics gives me heart palpitations.
Um, every little extra bill seems unmanageable.
I wanna be able to get away from that to the point where I can go have a movie night and not have to be like...
I'm, my, my internal monologue most of the time is just, like, a constant stream of numbers and math and how is this gonna impact me long-term? Am I, can I afford to do a date night? Like, it's stuff like that.
Like, I, I feel like I'm not living life to the fullest because I don't have any money to be able to do it.
I know there's lots of things you can do for free, for sure, but a lot of the things that I like to do or bring me joy or things I'd like to try to do do cost some money.
You know, it's not like you can go to, like...
I've always really wanted to try, like, a Pilates class.
It's not that they offer them in my area, but if they did, I would love to do something like that.
I would love to, like, do a fun date night every once in a while.
Like, I can't afford to do those things right now.
Everything's just, like, way too tight for that.
So it would be nice, like, I would love it if I could actually go see a movie once a week.
You know, if that was just, like, something I like to do.
I used to love going to the movies by myself.
I would love to be able to go back to doing some of those things.
I mean, it's at the point now where, like, I also have to think about, like, oh, can I afford to buy this book for me to read? You know, it's just, uh, I don't wanna have to live like that anymore And then obviously the, the big thing that's in the back of my mind is retirement.
Like, I, I, I probably at this point in my life not gonna have kids.
So it's not like I have to save up for other people's college tuition or buy them cars or all that stuff.
But I would like to get to a point where, like, because I don't have to pay for all that, it feels like I should be able to save up for retirement a lot faster than other people.
But I'm seeing people who have families, and they're saving up for retirement, and they make less money than me or whatever, and I know that part of that is, like, the two-income problem that I have in my household where we're just one income, income right now.
Um, but so, so those are some of the things that I have that I'm working towards in the back of my mind.
I would like to get to a point where, like, all my debt is paid off.
I would love to get to a point that I don't even have to think about student loans anymore, um, and that, like, all my debt is paid off.
So I'm gonna start to put a plan together, and I think maybe that might be what I focus on in the next episode is just sort of like, how am I starting to wrap my mind around some of these numbers, and how am I...
What are some of the decisions I'm starting to think about? What are some of the things I need to do now? What are some of the things I need to start thinking about in the next year? And what are some things I need to think a little bit more on long-term? I would love to be one of those people who's, like, maxing out their 401, putting money into a savings account, and, like, doing some other investments.
Like, I would love to just feel like I have...
I love control, and I feel like if I had just, like, a little bit of extra money in my pocket, I feel like I could set myself up really nicely.
Like, I love prioritizing saving and finances, um, over buying just, like, stupid shit, even though I still buy some stupid shit.
But I do think I am a very, like, savings first kind of person, or at least I try to be, and I think if I just had, like, a little bit more money, I would be able to do a lot more with it, um, and set myself up nicely longer term.
So, so yeah.
So we'll probably talk a little bit more about money in the next episode.
It's just really top of mind for me right now, I think because it's, like, getting to the end of the year, being- starting to talk about, like, raises and bonuses and the cost of living and the midterms and all these different things that my student loan paperwork and waiting to hear what my payment is actually gonna be and all this stuff.
Like, so money's just, like, very top of mind for me right now.
So, and I think it's on top of a lot of people's minds, and if you're not worried about money, I really envy you.
Um, so yeah.
So we'll talk about money a little bit more, um, coming up.
Recommendation corner this week, I honestly, like, don't have a ton to recommend right now.
Um, I was trying to think of anything that kind of related financially to money.
I don't really have anything right now.
Um, and I don't know, it's just kind of been like the same old, same old stuff that I talked about last week.
I'm still listening to a lot of Substack, uh, reading a lot of Substack, um, and listening to a lot more podcasts and trying to not watch as much TV.
Um, I mean, I'm still watching way too much TV, but, um, and I'm trying to...
I'm still listening to some of the same audiobooks I've, I've talked about a couple weeks ago.
So there's not really a lot, um, going on right now for, um, recommendations, so I'll probably have a few more next week.
All right.
Well, I will see you in the next episode.
Once again, like, I'm also starting a Substack, so, um, feel free to go over there, Find Many Things with Stef, and, um, connect me with, connect with me there.
You'll get some more, um, content like this.
All right.
See you in the next episode.
Bye.