Q&A with Darya
January 12, 2023
Welcome to Member Money Moments – a Q&A series sharing the wisdom, struggles, success, and goals of our Happy Money Members as they navigate their journey to financial freedom.
How does money and or debt affect your mental health?
😟 Negatively
What do you find is the most difficult challenge you face when it comes to money?
💰Saving Money
✍️ Creating A Budget
💳 Managing my debt
🤑 Impulse Spending
What do you wish you knew about money growing up?
To stop buying frivolous things. To save up for something I want instead of automatically putting it on credit and dealing with interest charges.
What topics would you most like to learn about when it comes to money?
💸 Learning good spending habits
💰 How to save + achieve financial freedom
😊 Healthy budgeting techniques
What is one piece of advice you would give to others on their personal finance journey?
Credit cards are great tools in building your credit history. But the spending can quickly get out of hand, especially if you have a high credit limit. I would recommend making a wishlist of the things that you WANT (not need). Revisit that wishlist when you have extra cash available at the end of the month or quarter. Make sure you budget so that all the things that you NEED to pay for are accounted for before you start spending on the wishlist. This way, you can still use your credit card to rack up the points or cash back, but then you can pay it off in total when your due date comes around. Waiting to buy what you want also makes you think if you really do want it, or if it's just an impulse buy. Doing this has also helped me bring in less clutter into my home. I'm no longer buying random things that I will only enjoy for one or two days.
What’s your first financial goal when you become debt free?
🏡 Now that I am debt free, my husband and I are trying to buy our first house.
In what way did Happy Money assist you in your personal finance journey?
The Payoff Loan was used to consolidate the majority of my credit card debt. Since I had a fixed rate and a fixed monthly payment, I did not have to worry about extra charges or not having enough money to buy necessities.