In 2012, my family and I went through some very significant changes. We downsized from a 3700 square house in which we had lived for 18 years to a 973 square foot apartment. Part of this move was due to the economy (money) and part was due to the fact that my husband and I were finally on our own. What I discovered in the moving process was that my money was wrapped up in “stuff” rather than an investment in my retirement, my dreams and my family. It was incredible the amount of stuff that we had.
My mother was a crafter and I always equated this to when the house was calm and quiet. I felt so loved when my mom was knitting. This was our time to talk and to go deeper. I wanted that same environment for my daughters. So, I started crafting too.
I developed the belief that if one project was good, then 50 were even better. I fell in love with the feel and look of yarn for knitting. I had a stash that could start a knitting store. I would never get to it all. Yet that was not all. Money also went into needlepoint canvases, cross stitch patterns and kits, and fabric for quilting.
I had hoped that my girls would catch the crafting bug and that this would be our connection. Unfortunately, this did not happen. The girls were into dance and crafting usually happened in a class not at home.
So why didn’t I go solo and recreate the ambiance myself? I hide my talent and only worked on projects when no one else was in the house. I was afraid that I wasn’t doing it right and that it was not perfect. Because of this, none of the projects were getting done and the stash kept growing.
It took gathering all my stuff for the estate sale for me to have my “aha” moment. It was overwhelming to see all that I had accumulated and would never get to even if I lived to 710. It broke my heart to realize what I had done to our dreams. With the move, I was given a fresh start.
Today, I am more conscious of where my money is going. Stuff can’t accumulate at the apartment as there is no room. I did a purge at the one year anniversary of moving in to open up some space. I am also conscious of the fact that I am paying off these excesses when I could be experiencing retirement or at least an increase in time to travel and build more incredible experience. I needed financial fluidity to handle this excessive debt and GIA Wellness is making that happen. What I also discovered is that what drives me is helping women to grasp how they may have sabotaged their dreams and how to turn that around. Is your money in stuff or is it in the experiences you have built? Is your money helping you to create the extraordinary life you want to live and the dreams you want to see fulfilled? Let me teach you what I have learned so you don’t have to make the same mistakes.