What I'm Doing With My Money When Things Feel Hopeless

It’s been a weird week here in the U S of A. I don’t know about y’all but the internet is starting to feel extremely stressful.

To be honest I slightly disassociated after the election results, I knew it was going to be bad but it felt like a problem for the future so I put it off.

Now that future is here and it feels like the internet is ablaze with so many headlines and hot takes and infographics that I feel myself getting overwhelmed and desiring to log off.

I stopped regularly engaging with news sites in 2020.

I was reading article after article about black people getting killed by the police and I just couldn’t do it anymore. On top of the enormous amount of stress I was already feeling about the pandemic living in New York City, it became entirely unsustainable and so I tuned out.

It felt necessary for my well-being and yet I also felt guilty. I feel this strong social responsibility to “stay informed” in order to resist oppressive forces and yet media is a business designed to keep us hooked.

There is so much more to say about all of this, but what it really came down to is what I actually have the capacity for.

We live in a time of global connection and global disaster, and “being informed” started to feel like all it did was keep me tired, overwhelmed, and unable to do anything.

I’ve seen this sentiment echoed a lot on social media these days, that all the chaos of the new administration is designed to distract us, to weigh us down so we can’t resist.

I believe that and for me, it also keeps me paralyzed and unable to do the work of helping folks with their money.

I can’t serve from an empty cup.

So what should you do about your money when the world seems insane?

It can seem ridiculous to talk about “planning for your future” in the midst of climate catastrophes, unnecessary wars and gen*cide.

Not to mention the price of EVERYTHING increasing on what feels like a daily basis.

The truth is it’s a lot.

Take a breath. 😮‍💨

The fact that sh*t is crazy right now is actually the perfect reason to reevaluate your money.

So here are some things I’m doing with my money at a moment when things feel more than a bit uncertain.

1. I’m working on spending more intentionally.

I wrote about this in relationship to my spending “ban” (I’m not loving the word ban, so let’s say recalibration) which is ongoing. It started out of necessity, but I’m interested in continuing the experiment.

I’m not expecting myself to be rigid and perfect about it, but it is giving me a lot of information about my desires and my impulses.

It is forcing me to pause and really consider whether I want to stray outside of the boundaries I have made with myself around what’s allowed.

I “overspent” on popcorn at the movies recently and regretted it, but forgave myself.

In contrast, I walked into Sephora last weekend (my first mistake lol) and bought skincare which is outside the bounds of what’s allowed, but I ended up happy with my choice.

As I like to say, it’s all information.

2. I’m saving more.

After adjusting to the ups and downs of irregular income, I committed to myself to save 5% of my income last year. It was enough that I didn’t notice it, even in the lean times, but it really adds up.

As of now this year, I’m upping it to 10%. I’d love to aim for even more eventually but this is where I’m at for now.

Starting small with my savings goals has always been more impactful for me and helps avoid the need to pull money out of my savings when I set the goals higher than what is realistic for my life. (This is also a common pattern I see with clients!)

The US is sorely lacking in many social safety nets, so having an emergency fund is key.

I recommend anywhere between 3-12 months of your living expenses, depending on the stability of your income, but that can be a very daunting number to start with.

Take it step by step and do your best.

3. I’m logging off more regularly.

Ok this isn’t explicitly money-related, but taking breaks from social media feels more essential than ever right now.

I get a lot of my information about the world from social media, I connect with friends and family and I also use it for my business. It is a valuable space, but I can often feel a tipping point in the day where it starts to make me feel more anxious and compulsive and that’s when I know I need a break.

Not to mention that I think constantly being bombarded with ads does something undesirable to our brains and our bank accounts.

4. I’m focusing on paying down debt.

This is intentionally listed behind saving more because having more liquidity is my top priority. Additionally, I would like to have more freedom regarding my expenses and reduce the amount of debt I carry.

Part of this is tied up in the recalibration of my spending, I am focused on paying for as many things as possible with my debit card and moving away from my credit cards.

Credit cards can be incredibly useful when used correctly (paying them down in full), but with my irregular income, that’s not the season I’m in.

I’m not setting aspirational debt payoff goals because those are unrealistic and would likely lead to me feeling more shame, but I am throwing extra money at the cause when I have it.

So that’s what I’m focused on these days. None of it is particularly radical, but I think it goes to show that we can always recalibrate our focus and habits when it comes to our money (and in general).

How are you approaching your money during these uncertain times?

Let me know!

xo,

Selomé

What I’m consuming:

📺 Naturally, I got sucked into Selling the City (the NYC version of Selling Sunset, one of my faves) and it is terrible as expected, but enjoyable. Kind of a bummer to find out that the main character is buddy-buddy with our garbage mayor Eric Adams, but we’re not looking to reality tv for role models, right?

📖 Naomi Klein - “Doppleganger” Woof this book from 2023 is all about our political landscape and how people are getting sucked into a world of conspiracies that are espoused by the right. It’s a bit much to handle at this exact moment but helps me understand how we got here.

🎧 Let’s be real, I’m still listening to Bad Bunny, but this week’s track I’m focused on is DtMF. I may or may not be scheming to go to Puerto Rico this summer to see him so stay tuned.

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