Little Miss Fortune

I haven’t seen "Confessions of a Shopaholic" yet, but I remember reading the book a few years ago—and that it hit a little too close to home: Damsel in (financial) distress Rebecca Bloomwood starts the story in a face-off with her credit card bill and its shockingly high balance.

Suffice to say, I’m familiar with that scenario. The scenes with threatening calls and overdue notices from credit card companies? Yeah, those also rang a bell.

I’ve been living in a material world for a long time. I knew the words—and the moves—to Material Girl at the ripe age of 8.

Post-college—in NYC—I was part of a tight circle of friends who enjoyed late nights at hot clubs, leisurely brunches and shoes, shoes, shoes.

I’ve never been a big-ticket spender—my flashiest car was a Honda Civic—but 14 years of frequent little credit card purchases (a dinner out here, a round of drinks there … oh, hello, cute dress!) have certainly added up. Add to those some college loans, a few emergency veterinary bills, and a wedding, and I’m pretty far in the hole. So far in the hole I’m not exactly sure how much I owe, at this point. But I know it's a lot.
Rebecca Bloomwood eventually gets out of debt—in the book version, anyway—through a series of amusing antics and by [spoiler alert!] marrying up. I, on the other hand, married a graphic artist. And while Rory is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, his bank account is (quite) a few zeros off from Donald Trump’s.

My not-a-fictional-heroine plan for getting out of debt? Step one: Figure out exactly how much I owe. Step two: Figure out how much I make. See, I left my 9 to 5 (and direct-deposit paycheck) last October, and while I think I’m doing a great job at pulling my weight as a freelance writer/editor/woman about town, I’m not doing such a great job of keeping track of what I’ve earned, what I owe, and who owes me.

From there, I’ll have a lot of figuring out to do. I’ll document the steps (and missteps, I’m sure) of my journey here. I’ll share the tips I get from money gurus and tight-fisted friends—and hopefully advice I get from you. I’m not going to become a miser—a girl’s gotta have fun, after all—instead I plan on figuring out how to live the life I love on less.