about me
I'm on a mission to empower women to break free from the cycle of shopping and discover the true contentment that comes from living an intentional life.
In my early twenties I was shopping away my financial future. I avoided checking my bank account because I knew my money wasn’t where it should be – it was in my closet. I had dreams of owning a home and getting married but I had $0 in my savings and I owed money (big yikes).
the catalyst
My beauty YouTube era started in 2014 and that’s when my shopping went from meh to shameful. In other words, it was the start of my worst habits. My small makeup bag blossomed into a shelf with nearly 500 products and I was overspending in most areas of my life.
It took me years to realize I was sabotaging my financial future.
The way I was spending continued until 2019 when I had my wakeup call. I hit VIB Rouge at Sephora after spending $1000 in just two months.
Thousands went into Black Friday shopping that year, and the excitement of those deliveries quickly devolved into overwhelm and clutter. I purchased hundreds of items (hiding them from my family) that I couldn’t afford. I was in grad school on a student budget and spent nearly 20% of my yearly salary in just one month.
Black Friday 2019 was my breaking point. That’s when I decided I was going to do a no buy year. I truly believed that this was the best solution and that a no buy would solve my problems. I was wrong.
I completed my no buy year, which was an accomplishment, but it only scratched the surface. My no buy didn’t address the real reasons behind my shopping habits. It didn’t teach me how to develop healthy shopping, coping, or budgeting skills (among other things).
It was like going on a crash diet – a temporary fix with no long-term solution.
How we shop is a habit, well, a whole constellation of habits. If we want to fix our shopping problems, we need to address our shopping habits.
the solution
I decided to shift my focus from not buying stuff to finding contentment in what I already had. I embarked on a project I dubbed the contentment year and its sole purpose was to explore how I could be happy with who I am, what I have, and where I’m at in life. And you know what? It changed everything.
I completely overhauled my shopping habits, addressed my triggers, and cut my spending across the board. I slashed my spending on makeup from over $3000 a year in 2019 to just $250 in 2022. Plus, I became a more grateful and confident person too.
But here’s the thing– changing our shopping habits is just one piece of the puzzle because shopping is just a small part of our daily lives. Changing our shopping habits is usually not our ultimate objective; Rather, we change our habits because we want to be happier people.
This is why contentment is such a crucial ingredient in major habit transformation—and it become my secret sauce. Contentment helps you appreciate what you already have, prevents comparison-induced discontent, curbs the urge to constantly buy new things, and addresses the boredom that accompanies a shopping-centric mindset.
Today, I’m proud to say that I’ve maintained my mindset and habits for nearly three years. The changes I made propelled me into an intentional life. I left my PhD and the career that no longer aligned with my life vision. I began saving up for a home, improved my credit score, and began actively creating the life of my dreams. My past self, who was sitting in her bedroom watching Netflix wishing the day would just be over, would be truly proud of the life I’ve created and just how far I’ve come.
Along the way, I’ve realized that I’m not alone. So many women face the same struggles, and I’m on a mission to provide them with the tools they need to transform their shopping habits and their lives.
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