I can deal with a daily budget, but how do you stick with a long term financial strategy?
Living within a budget is pretty easy for me. I naturally lean towards a minimalist lifestyle and frankly I’m used to being broke. Oh no, I can’t go on a vacation or treat myself to a manicure? I didn’t even have a passport until a year ago (it’s still empty) and I’ve gone this long without ever stepping foot into a nail salon so why start now?
The day-to-day of not spending money isn’t the problem: it’s picking a strategy that goes beyond two weeks that gets me.
Luckily I just started a new job, which means I’ll get my first paycheck in about a month. In the meantime, I’ve been going back and forth on my modest google sheet to plan out where my extra income will go. But I’m stuck on the classic conundrum of deciding what to do first: pay off my credit card debt or save up an emergency fund.
The debt isn’t impossible to tackle, but it’s not nothin’. I know if I go with the emergency fund first, whatever I “save” will actually get eaten by credit card interest. I also know the balance transfer trick but I’m putting my foot down about opening another card. I’m over it.
I feel like saving for an emergency first could help me feel better (since I’m still pretty much always in survival mode), but I’ll also be annoyed at knowing how much I’m losing to interest fees. It really just depends on my mood. Some days I can see my negative net worth and not be phased. I’m going to die any minute now; an arbitrary number doesn’t dictate who I am and doesn’t magically mean that I’m a terrible person. But other days it’s hard to ignore the practical perks of having zero debt and a solid credit score.
Even when I think I’ve made a decision, I reverse it within hours. It’s hard to imagine the future three months from now, so making a financial plan feels abstract and absurd. It seems futile. It’s like I’m so used to being broke that I refuse to accept an alternate reality where I have financial stability. Brains like what they already know, even if what they already know totally sucks and means I once again won’t be able to afford the things I imagine are fun to do.