it’s only money honey

Whenever I get stressed out or overwhelmed about money my dad has always said to me, "It's only money honey.” 

It’s not that my parents have a ton of money to throw around, he’s just good at keeping things in perspective. 

When you boil it down people have jobs and make money for a reason: to live their lives. 

I have not personally encountered another instance when this was more important to keep in mind, but impossible to swallow, as moving and adjusting to a new city. Everything is SO expensive. I knew it would be and I didn’t even move to a super expensive city, but man, things are EXPENSIVE.

I am a pretty self aware person. I am quite mindful of money (this sounds better than saying frugal). I also have never successfully settled into a new apartment after the first month of being in a new place; meaning if I don’t do things like buy new curtains and hang them up immediately I will never do them.

Within my first few weeks of living in Atlanta I had a couple grand racked up on credit cards. I moved some money around and was able to have interest removed from a CC billing cycle (seriously you’d be amazed at how companies will help loyal customers if you just explain your circumstances and ask). Still, staying on top of my finances has been challenging.

Normally I would pull back my shopping (which I really have done) as well as going out to dinner, grabbing drinks, etc. But not going out to dinners and for drinks can put you in another difficult situation as a young professional in a new city: you’d have nothing to do. 

To get adjusted and be happy in a new environment you need to say yes to (almost) any and all invitations. You should go out to dinner and grab drinks with new friends. You need to be safe and pay for a cab across town if you’ve had one too many whiskey gingers (or whatever). Sometimes you have to just forget about it and remind yourself that you’re investing in your own happiness.

I know that this may be teetering on whiney or first-world-problems-y but this is an important part of this life stage for those in it and I want to acknowledge it. 

It’s about keeping things in perspective and making yourself able to live the life that you want and that you are building for yourself. That and like my dad says, it's only money, honey.

Oh, and also, keep your receipts just in case you want to return anything…

Just some of my collection of moving receipts