Spend More. Smile Less.

I’m thoroughly thrilled with myself for coming up with this title while sitting in traffic on a Friday night.

Since my divorce (and even slightly before that), I learned to listen to my rhythms again and slowly fade out everyone else’s noise.

I’ve always wanted to be a writer — wait, I am a writer.

While living with my parents, I paid off debt and saved up what I had left to move out and get my own place eventually. And here I am: A Writer by day and a Home Health Aide by night. That’s what I wanted my life to look like since the day I found this platform. The downside to this whole setup? I often sit in traffic on Friday evenings, conjuring up my next article.

That’s not a negative, if you ask me.

Money flows and goes, and I’m at the ‘goes’ stage at the moment. As fortunate as I was to save money while living with my mom and dad, moving out alone (with two teenagers with hollow legs that fill with food because where else does it go?) gets expensive.

Towards the end of my marriage, the living situation was unbearable, unsettling, and unhealthy. I finally started listening to my gut again. I knew I had to remove myself as quickly and calmly as possible because my ex-husband was Hulk-angry, and I wouldn’t expose my kids to any more of his bullshit, even if it meant leaving behind most of my belongings.

I grabbed my kids, cat, cash, and G.T.F.O. I packed my journals and guitars somewhere in there, too.

For September, I only bought items I needed or could buy without using my credit card. (Ha! What a concept!) We are only on day two, and I have five Amazon packages ‘on the way.’ Granted, half of those gifts are for my daughter’s birthday, but it’s highly unlikely I would have keeled over and died from going without a fluffy purple fleece robe for the fall and winter months. However, I did pay for them upfront and left my unhealthy coping mechanism (retail therapy) behind.

I’ve got to tighten those purse strings this month.

So, when an Amazon truck cut me off while merging onto the freeway, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I read: Spend Less. Smile More.

‘Ha! More like, spend more, smile less!’ I declared and laughed all the way home.

One Love. ❤