The Weight of Money

The Weight of Money is my personal fiscal journey. I’m partnered with a wonderful man with a passion for metal, heavy metal, thousands and thousands of pounds of metal. Our joint steps have illustrated a new concept to me, seeing money in terms of weight and not value.

When the partner works to clear out space or sell items, he reports back in terms of pounds lost and not dollars sold. This reflects the physical and psychological weight money has on our lives and I realize that it is the management of that weight that has the greatest impact on our quality of life.

My fiscal experience includes running up and running from credit card debt, bouncing checks left and right, scrounging for change to buy food, credit collections, poor credit scores, and a childhood of poor financial examples.

However, from all of these experiences, I learned how to manage my cash and establish a budget. I spent several years working with a twice-a-year income and learned to control my spending so the money would last for 6 months (including unexpected expenses) and how to set goals and priorities. I no longer live paycheck to paycheck and manage all of my bills responsibly. I also have several personal savings accounts and recently started contributing to a personal retirement account.

I’m living in a partnership that is weighed down with debt and a history of poor financial choices. We’re struggling through the ramifications of those actions and doing everything we can to get life in order and we know we’re on the right track. I’m also raising a preteen to (hopefully) be financially intelligent and responsible.