True Life: I'm An Impulse Buyer with a Nasty Retail Therapy Habit and an Appetite for Self-Destruction

My Daily Market Reflection - The Stock Market Likes You On Your Birth Week

This week was a special week for the world, it’s the week I was born. 30 years ago this week, I graced the world with my presence so you are all very welcome for my existence. Just kidding (or am I?). The stock market has taken some WILD twists and turns for me this week. At one point, I was up over 20% in the last five trading days (this is a lot). I’m glancing at my portfolio as I write this on a Thursday afternoon and I have to admit, this has not been the best day for me (down 5.46%). With that being said, I had HUGE gains yesterday that were entirely unsustainable so I was prepared for this healthy correction - but I’m still a little wounded. I still think that I will be in the green for the week come tomorrow at the closing bell. Right now, I’m up 9.3% this week and my weekly goal is at least 5% so I guess I’m doing alright. How are your stocks moving this week? Drop it in the comments!

I'm NOT a Saver (AT ALL)

Many of you may have been reading my blog thinking that I’m this great saver with enormous self-control (unless you know me well and then you know that this is not the case). I am the WORST saver. I have opened savings accounts after savings accounts only to have them closed on me because I deposit money and then take it out days later for a pair of cute leopard boots or a shiny new necklace. Currently, both of my savings accounts are at a zero balance and most likely on the brink of being closed. I am not responsible fiscally (but I’m working on this). 

How Being Blindingly Self-Ignorant Led to a Serious Debt Load 

A little back history on me, I am both an emotional and impulse buyer. I’ve always known that I was an impulse buyer. I see something cute and I just have to have it right away, credit score be damned. However, it took me quite a while to discover that I always use shopping as a coping mechanism. I first discovered this when I was in college. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve improved my ability to self-reflect. People use the term “retail therapy” all the time but I didn’t really understand the concept until I sat down and did some thinking. I thought back to this time when I was in highschool. I had saved about $500 from this part time job I was working at the time (no small feat for me). I was so proud of the fact that I had been able to save that amount. Well one day, I got into a fight with my mother about something (I have no idea what it was about and don’t worry, we’ve patched things up since then). My first instinct was to go for a walk. Somehow that walk led me to the mall where I blew all of that $500 on clothes and shoes. At the time, I didn’t make the connection between my emotional state and my shopping (I was very self-unaware). It wasn’t until years later, when I was in college that I reflected on that day and what really led me to my shopping spree. Here’s another fun fact about me, when I’m in emotional distress, I can be rather self-sabotaging (don’t worry, I’m working through this in therapy). So not only was I using the shopping as a form of therapy, but I was also sabotaging my own savings success. Overtime, the impulse purchasing, combined with treating shopping as a coping mechanism, mixed with an appetite for self-destruction has left me with an embarrassing amount of credit card debt that I'm now working on shrinking (but it will be a long time coming until that's paid off).

But stocker girl, why are you getting so personal about your life on here? You should be talking about the stock market! And here’s why my revelations are important for the stock market. You can’t fix a problem until you know that one exists. For years, I didn’t recognize these things about myself and it wasn’t until I learned to self-reflect that I was able to get to the root of the problem. Maybe you have difficulties saving money and not spending your savings once you’ve built them up and maybe there’s more to the story for you just like there was with me. Since I have begun my stock journey, I have yet to pull a single penny from my portfolio. I do buy and sell stock all the time, but I use my profits to reinvest in other stocks. I also started out my journey by having $25 automatically deposited into my Robinhood account every Monday. As my financial situation has improved, I am now up to $50 per week. For me, this is a manageable amount that I never miss. You have to decide what number you can live with. 

Another reason saving money through stocks has been easier for me is because the money isn’t super accessible. If I want some extra cash, I’d have to sell stocks, wait for the trade to clear and then wait for the money to be deposited into my bank account. Therefore, I can’t use that money to make any impulse purchases (something I am still very much working on not doing). Furthermore, as I watch my money grow each day, I get excited every Monday when that transfer initiates because I know that when it comes to stocks, the more cash you have invested, the greater your return is likely to be. My point here is, don’t think that you have to be this major penny pincher in order to save money. Savings accounts never worked for me but this does. And it could for you as well. 

It's Not Money, It's Your Life's Energy 

As I have been getting better with saving my money, I’ve realized that my mindset on money and spending needs to change if I want to continue to try and be more fiscally responsible. So, I bought this audiobook called “Your Money Your Life”. In it, they discuss how to become financially independent and offer solutions to money problems by changing your thinking on how you live. Even just passively listening to the author’s advice, I have found that my thinking about spending has changed. The author reminds you not to think about yourself as spending money but as trading your life’s energy for goods and services. Before you buy something, think about how much time you had to work to be able to afford that. If the purchase in question aligns with your life values and beliefs AND it’s worth however many hours of your life’s energy you had to work to purchase it, then go for it; but if it’s not then don’t. Even just this simple way of thinking has recently stopped me from making some trivial impulse purchases and I’m happy to say that I haven’t been stressed out about money and bills in at least a couple of months now (and that’s a big deal for me).