The time when I was struggling with credit card debt [flashback post]
If you have been forwarded this newsletter, welcome to The Commonplace Book! Subscribers get a complete essay a week before it is published on my website. If you haven’t, you can subscribe below.
How was I living like before I became debt-free, saved up six months of emergency funds and finally got my financial act together? I dug up this old blog post, and I tell ya, I nearly forgot how it was like to be anxious at the end of the month, scrimping to just make ends meet, and finally, defeated, reaching for the credit card. And worrying about a RM200 insurance bill? Goodness, if only old me knows how much I’m paying for insurance now.
These days, I am fortunate to not worry about having money to last me till the end of the month because I always have margin. This, of course, is due to the fact that I now earn a lot more than what I used to back in 2005. However, a big part of it comes from conquering my shopaholic tendencies through minimalism. I rarely struggle to resist buying things anymore. And that prevents me from flashing the plastic.
You can read the rest of the essay on my blog: