That’s the question, isn’t it?
Why am I always broke?
It’s actually something I’ve been asking myself since forever. Or at least that’s how it feels. Certainly the worst of it has been since moving to England in September 2017, to start my first full-time job since returning to the UK in the summer of 2016 after spending two-and-a-half-years backpacking my way around New Zealand and Australia.
Isn’t it funny that, when I was backpacking, I always seemed to have the money I needed to do the things I wanted to do?
Now that I’m a fully functioning adult (well… I’m trying at least), I seem to have neither the money nor the time to do the things I want to do in life.
And do you want to know why?
Because since returning to the UK I realised I haven’t budgeted for a single thing.
It’s like I’ve never left. I’ve got credit cards and debit cards with approved overdrafts and not a single care for spending money I don’t actually have. When I was a backpacker I only had the cash I left with and had to plan out every single cent of that until I got myself a paying job. Failing that, I was working for my accommodation, I was working for my meals, I was making ever dollar count. I knew exactly what I was buying and I was weighing up the pros-and-cons of every single thing: food, clothing, fun, you name it.
And I did have fun. I had amazing fun. But I’d always budgeted the money for it. I never left myself in a position where I couldn’t afford a bed for the night, where I couldn’t buy food to feed myself. And the times when I didn’t have ‘fun’ money? I found parks and and I found libraries, and I found the time to start and finish writing my first novel. Something I’d been trying and failing to do for years.
Since returning to the UK however, not only have I just spent-spent-spent money I don’t have, I also cannot honestly hand-on-heart tell you that the debt I’ve gotten myself into has been worth it.
Which means it’s time for a change. And time for some accountability.
I don’t expect anyone to read about my journey into becoming debt free, but sometimes all you need to do it make the commitment to yourself, and then you need to put that commitment out there for some semblance of accountability. Because if you can’t be honest with yourself (and strangers on the internet), then who can you be honest with?.
The aim of all this? To become debt free. To get rid of this black cloud hanging over my head and change my life. To get my inspiration for writing and life back again. And, to finally have some fun!
If you are reading this, I hope you’ll join me on my debt free journey.
And if you’re on your own journey, please feel free to share your story with me.
(Being my first post in over a year, my website will be going through some changes as I rearrange and update things. If you’re already a follower of my blog, please bear with the housekeeping over the next couple of weeks whilst I re-evaluate my content. This doesn’t mean I’m moving away from Novel writing or updating my travel section ‘Wanderlust’. If anything, it’ll hopefully inspire me to actually get back onto both of those things whilst starting this new chapter in my life!)