MEET VANESSA

A fellow fashion lover who grew up with an eye for style, a jam packed closet and frequent shopping trips. 

My motto of quantity over quality quickly caught up with me in college when I experienced credit card debt. 

Fast forward to today and I haven't been in credit card debt for 10+ yrs, paid off $60k of student loans, and still feel like one of the best dressed in the room. 

I want you to feel empowered to do the same - because we all know you can. 

Ever since I can remember - I have always loved clothes & style. Probably because my mom did and would always dress me up when I was little. A new dress and new shoes for upcoming events and all day shopping trips were what I knew best. 

But how did that lifestyle & relationship with shopping come into play when I was older and in charge of my own money?

Here's how:

16yrs old 

My first money belief: If it comes in, it goes out

I got my first job with a paycheck and a debit card. I quickly learned the terms "over draft fee" and "backordered" and still had no real concept of spending [or saving] responsibly. 

I didn't have to pay any bills or have any other responsibilities, so any money coming in meant it was ready to go out for that cute new sweater I wanted from American Eagle.  

Seeing how low I could keep my checking balance was an art. But the repercussions no longer mattered because I no longer had to ask my parents for money for a new top from Aeropostale. I could go get it myself. 

I also got my dream teen job at Abercrombie. So working around clothes (that I got a discount on) simply fueled my fire. 

18yrs old

My second money belief: If I don't have the cash, I have the credit card

My concept of financial freedom was not in a good place when I opened up my first credit card in college. 

Not only was I responsible for bankrolling college expenses like tuition through financial aid, but I also had to get books, groceries, all those "bill-like" things I never had to deal with before. 

Like, what do you mean I have to spend $100 on a text book instead of 8 new going out tops from Charlotte Russe? 

So of course I would STILL go shop at Charlotte Russe, and just charge the books on my credit card - I mean, that's what they were for, right? "Emergencies."

19-21yrs old

My third money belief: Budgeting is restrictive

The concept of "accruing interest" was a big slap in the face. Especially after the 0% introductory APR wore off. 

I tried to budget, but staying within the confines of constantly having to tell myself what I don't have the money to buy was just not it. 

So I continued to shop to buy what I wanted. All my other friends were [with their parents money], but I had my own. It was all there as my "available credit." 

So I'd use it until I had none left.

Then open another credit card so I could have more. 

I NEEDED those new jeans, boots and swimsuits, ok? Why should the shopping lifestyle I was raised with be hindered by the fact I have to manage my own money now?

I also continued to work in retail. Not just at Abercrombie, but at BCBG - where prices were higher - as was the temptation to buy. If not from there - from Somewhere at the mall. 

$6,000 in credit debt later, I knew something had to give.

Graduation and the real world was around the corner, and I knew I couldn't enter it with this debt.

I broke up with working in retail and went to the restaurant biz until I graduated.

22yrs old

Fourth money belief: I'm the only one who can take control of my financial future

That concept of budgeting? I decided to take it seriously. 

That NEED to constantly buy new clothes? I worked through it and gave myself grace to still embrace a new purchase, as long as I was able to pay for it with cash.

That available credit card balance I had? I no longer looked at it like "new money ready for me" but instead a balance of debt over my head going down. 

My perspective started to change. My thoughts about what money meant to me and where it would go started to shift. I had control.

When I got an internship that paid $20/hr that new money mindset and relationship I had with clothes expedited my debt pay off and I was able to graduate college credit card debt free.

22-30yrs old

Fifth money belief: No credit card debt means more of my own money to spend

Post-grad, big girl job was here. 401k? Psh. Emergency savings? Ehhh.

The spending money was flowwwing with that big girl paycheck [I mean, as big as a 45k salary could get you].

Then it hit. The 6month grace period for my student loans was over. The interest that accrued in that 6months hit. A $283/mo payment was now the norm for me. 

It was a tough pill to swallow, but new ways of managing my spending and shopping habits allowed me to make those minimum payments. 

Yes, MINIMUM payments. Because buying new clothes was still one of my big priorities.

I NEEDED the new clothes for my awesome new big girl job at a cool marketing agency..

I NEEDED a new dress for every birthday, new years eve, or cute girls night out - because I was the fashion forward friend.

I NEEDED all the items in my thrift haul because, well, they were thrifted.

I NEEDED the newest top that I could link to my LTK during my "faux-fluencer" era.

I NEEDED to continue to pay for Rent the Runway on top of my normal shopping because it was another way to get new things in each month. 

You can see how even though my relationship with money and spending improved over the years, my relationship with clothes & shopping did not. Any time I'd feel guilty or disappointed in myself after a haul, I'd just distract myself with more shopping. 

I knew I had to start breaking free from spending money on clothes for versions of myself that would come and go. 

By healing my shopping habits [as clothes, shoes and accessories were my biggest vice], I was able to expedite paying off my student loans and was completely debt free by age 30 - and it stayed that way.

30yrs old - 37yrs old (Today)

Sixth money belief: Paying future me matters

It's crazy to think that healing my relationship with shopping would make such a big impact.

For a large portion of my life, I was paying other people. 

For a large portion of my life, I was paying myself in cold hard clothes. 

But healing my relationship with clothes & shopping opened up a new sense of empowerment.

One that gave me a $250k+ savings balance, and zero regrets.