Adulting 101: Realizations
You know that moment when something in you just clicks, as if your body somehow knows you need to start changing. The spark for change drives you forward for a while but then after some time the fuel runs out and you find yourself in the beginning again.
Most times, you give in after many failed attempts at starting. You only live once becomes the phrase you cling to. You might feel left behind sometimes and yet you could not find it in you to change.
It is just too difficult. It is impossible to change. The challenges you face become too much and you find yourself just existing day by day. Following the same monotonous pattern of waking up, going to work/school, sleeping, and doing all of it over and over again.
But does it have to be that way?
This article is an introduction to an article series that I will be writing about. Today's topics will be about the realizations, and some glimpse of what articles I will write for the series. This is motivated by my need to not live a boring and monotonous life just working and waiting to die. I want to find a way to be financially independent so that I will be able to enjoy my life without worrying about money.
Realizations
I am now 21 years old. When December comes, I will be 22 years old and hopefully preparing for college graduation.
When I was in high school, I have always thought that my life starts after college. I have always believed that after college is the right time to start my financial literacy study. Thankfully, I found noise.cash and read.cash and through these sites, I was able to meet amazing people who inspired me to take charge of my financial literacy now.
I mentioned a few articles ago that I have already gotten 2BCH just from writing articles and making noise. Honestly, that was already a big amount for me. Yet I find myself wondering how did I spend that money?
So I tracked all my expenses history (or at least the ones that have transaction details on the applications I used) and I was surprised at how much I have spent over my wants. I stopped using my budgeting method and just ran wild. Well, the results are expected. I spent a lot of money of unneeded things.
Take the picture above as an example. That is how much I spent on just the local stores. It excludes the expensive things I bought from outside the country like my drawing tablet, printer, and tons of arts and crafts materials. I do not even want to imagine just how much I actually spent. Especially when you include the three-month long binge eating me and my sisters did. We usually spent around P400- P600 for every midnight snack and we did that every day for three months straight. Imagine how much unnecessary spending we had.
Anyway, this year I realized that I needed to change my spending habit. I needed to take financial matters seriously and stop acting as if the world will always just give me what I want.
Adulting 101
This is where the articles series of mine comes in. I want to take you along as I learn how to navigate the tricky path of adulting. You can share your experiences as well so each of us can learn from each other's mistakes.
And if you are like me who does not have anyone to teach them how adulting works, let us learn together. This series will most likely be centered around finances like investing, savings, insurance, and other money related stuff.
I will share about the financial mistakes that I have been doing as well as the plans I have to correct them. I will also share the progress I have made from where I am currently in terms of financial literacy to where I will be after some time. I might also share a copy of my spreadsheet so you can just start tracking your money without much effort or edit my spreadsheet so it will fit your needs.
Just to be clear on this, I am in no way a financial advisor and I am not a professional. The things that I will be sharing are things that I learned along the way and some thoughts I have on them.
This series is NOT a financial advice so the readers must do their own research as well. Take what I write here with a grain of salt as I am just a 3rd year college student who does not want to live paycheck to paycheck.
Closing words
I am quite excited about this topic since I feel like there might be people like me who never quite bothered to learn all these things before. If there is just one person who will be motivated to study financial stuff from coming across my articles then I will be very happy.
Moreover, starting this series is giving myself accountabilities to continue learning financial stuff since I need it for content. If I would not have done this, I might stop along the way again and I do not want that to happen.
Thank you for reading this article!
If you want to read some more articles of mine, I have monthly summaries here:
December 2021 Articles Summary
November 2021 Articles Summary
My realization in life: living isn’t always about money. It’s the simple and pure joy we get out of the few things that we have. The contentment and gratitude we feel in every single thing that life gives us, even the bad. I had experienced having more than what I think is enough but i wasn’t really happy because I was alone at times. I was starting to drown in my own feelings and fears. Anxiety and depression were knocking constantly at my doors. I was like a robot. Eat, sleep, work and repeat. The simpler we live, the happier we become. That’s my realization. You are still young. Spend your money but limit yourself. Prioritize your needs and treat your wants as a luxury, a luxury thing that you need to work for. Good with your series!
All the best.