Why I Talk About Money So Much

I’ve been talking about money a lot lately. I didn’t plan on it and I don’t have any intentions of becoming a personal finance expert, but recently I’ve felt called to talk about money. I’ve always promised myself that I’d be open-minded and follow the breadcrumbs when it comes to this blog. I promised myself that if something felt right or if I felt a nudge towards a topic or idea, I would just roll with it and not overthink it. I guess that’s the beauty of not really having a plan or a long game: spontaneity and trust can come out and play. 

I’ve been sharing personal finance lessons I learned the hard way in my 20’s and 30’s. I’ve also been sharing basic financial advice that I’ve learned over the years from reading many books, blogs and listening to podcasts about it. And I’ve been delighted to hear from you. You’re telling me no one ever taught you this. You’re telling me you never realized that your invested money could snowball over time. You’re telling me money scares you and you don’t know where to start. I get it. I was there, too.

I do a lot of self-reflecting and one thing I keep rolling around in my mind is this: why am I talking about money so much? Again, zero strategy. I’m not trying to become known in the personal finance space. I’m honestly not qualified to be a financial expert. I’m just pulling together my learnings and sharing them with you in a very high level way to maybe, hopefully, get you to think a little bit more about the intention behind your money situation. After giving this some thought, I think I have the answer about why I keep talking about money and I want to share it with you. Because it’s not about the money.  

I talk about money because so few people do. I’m a huge fan of Ramit Sethi, David Bach, Jean Chatzky and (my personal favorite) Shannon McLay. But regular people in daily life rarely talk about money. And more importantly, they don’t talk about how money works. My entire life, no one proactively told me about money and how it works. I had an innate curiosity about it, so I read tons of books and followed the experts to learn on my own. No one tells you how the magic of compound interest works, no one tells you how much you should invest vs. save, no one tells you how to adjust your lifestyle in a way that won’t impact your happiness, but will impact your short and long-term wealth. So, I talk about it because the more people talk about money the more people will listen and the more people will learn and take action and create their own financially peaceful life.  

I talk about money because lack of money held me back. In my 20’s, I was living in Florida at a job I didn’t like, but I made so little that I was paycheck to paycheck and I didn’t have money in savings. I felt stuck in a city I didn’t want to live in at a job I didn’t like. My life was absolutely fine, don’t run a 5K in my honor, but I wasn’t living the life I was meant to live. I spent years in that place - literally. So, it’s no wonder that today, money means freedom and options to me. The funny thing here is this: if I had made more money in my 20’s, I like to think I would have moved, but I can’t say for sure. I might have just gotten a nicer car and shopped more. What I know for sure is that when I thought about moving, my first thought was “I can’t afford it.” And that sucked.

I talk about money because I know that someone, somewhere, is hearing this and it will impact their life. The thing is, I’m not saying anything new about money. I’m saying it in my style and to my circle, but the actual information isn’t revolutionary or unique. But I know you’re out there and that this is the first time you’re hearing some of this information and you’re taking action with your money, maybe for the first time. I’m talking about money because three years from now, someone who read or listened to what I shared and it sparked their own financial wellness journey is going to need an expensive dental procedure and they’re going to have the cash to cover it and not live in pain. I’m talking about money because 10 years from now someone is going to want to quit their job and travel around the world for a year and they’re going to have the money to do it. 

I talk about money because time flies. I remember reading those books in my early 20’s about investing and I remember thinking I had loads of time to start investing. And in the blink of an eye I’m turning 43 this year. You guys, time flies. Telling yourself you have time to figure it out or have time to make it up is a convenient lie because sometimes doing hard, new and uncomfortable things is so easy to avoid. But I promise, you’ll wish you had started sooner.

It’s not about the money. It’s about living your life with purpose and intention and, as it turns out, money impacts so many areas of your life. I love you all and want you to live such peaceful lives and I can speak from experience that when my money was out of control or simply gone, I wasn’t feeling very peaceful. So that’s why I talk about money.

Are we friends on social media? Let’s be. I’m on Facebook and Instagram here. I’m even into LinkedIn. See you here, there and everywhere. xx