Humble Beginnings

I wrote a lot when I was younger.  There was always a lot going on, with a trans-Atlantic move just as I started school, adjusting to life in America, navigating my way through a tumultous neighborhood, school experience, and family life, forging my way into the world of education at a time when girls my age from my culture did no such thing, and all of a sudden (or so it seems), finding myself catipulted into the throes of adulthood.  Every so often, I take a look at my life and cannot believe that I am where I am and that I have all that I have. 


Most of my journey revolves around becoming financially independent at a fairly young age, starting to deal with income, bills, and budgeting just as I turned double-digits.  I started reading a lot of personal finance blogs as I was getting close to graduating and entering the working world, and there were times where I just couldn't get enough.  If nothing else, my own experience has taught me about the importance of balance when it comes to money, and other peoples' journeys have confirmed as much. 


What I haven't found as much of, and maybe I just haven't clicked on enough links, is stories of people literally starting from the ground up, without a lot of resources or advice or anything else that comes from parents and family that grew up here and know the system and understand how to deal with the fine print.  Or people who can't necessarily follow the obvious pf tips and should-do's.  So I've been really wanting to write again, and this time, not just in my wide-ruled notebook, but to share the story of someone who started out really really small, and may not even make it to some really large sum in her retirement savings account.  Partly to throw another perspective out there.  But also for me, to remind myself that my progress is my own, that I should not be racing to catch up to someone else's networthIQ or feel inadequate when I can't save as much, and that I don't want to get so caught up in my spreadsheets and percentages and budgets that I lose sight of the better things in life.  So here's to making strides, big and small, in that direction.