Of course, this was preceded by many years of worry about my financial future — it wasn’t until I was 40 that I actually did something about it.

My family is filled with pack rats and frivolous spenders – people who grew up with very little money and didn’t know how to manage their finances when they raised their income to middle-class or higher. I received all of my financial advice and education from these people and began down that path myself.

I blew through my savings (what little I managed to keep) in my first year of university. Since I turned “of age” I have spent most of my money on unnecessary, fun things – putting all of my expenses on my credit card and making payments against an ever-increasing debt.

Why did I decide to change? The same reason I decided to start blogging about personal development and personal finance; I stumbled across some really valuable information posted by normal people who just happened to manage their money better than I did. I had an epiphany moment where I looked outside of myself and saw where my life was headed – nowhere near the future I wanted for myself and my family.

Because of these sites, I went from being a spender to a saver and I am working on becoming debt-free instead of living off my credit. It’s a bumpy road, but it feels so beneficial and so incredibly liberating to be on it.