There’s a certain kind of silence that comes when you open your banking app and see less than you expected. It’s not panic. It’s a quiet, familiar weight. A knowing. A memory. You think about that money you spent, on takeout, on clothes, on a trip you probably shouldn’t have taken, or maybe on survival. And you wonder who you’d be today if you had made different choices.
We’ve all been there.
Whether you grew up with nothing or you just never had a roadmap, money guilt can creep in like a second shadow. You tell yourself you should’ve known better. Spent less. Saved more. Invested sooner. But here’s the truth: if you were never given the tools, how could you have possibly built a fortress?
This post isn’t about budgeting tips. It’s about grace. It’s about reclaiming your power from the mistakes that tried to define you. Because you don’t have to be perfect to be financially free. And you don’t have to be rich to deserve peace.
You Are Not Your Mistakes
I’ve sat across from people with six-figure incomes who carry more shame than debt. And I’ve sat in my own living room, years ago, wondering if I’d ever feel safe again. I’ve made money. I’ve lost money. I’ve learned that regret is a poor teacher if it isn’t paired with reflection.
Mistakes are part of the process. They’re not a character flaw. They’re a signal that you’ve lived, tried, chosen. Some of us learned to overspend because we grew up with nothing, and now the smallest luxury feels like love. Some of us give too much because we were raised to believe our worth came from sacrifice. Some of us just never had anyone show us what to do.
You are not irresponsible. You are untrained. And that can be changed.
Money Isn’t Just for the Elite
I say this with the full weight of someone who now owns a small private fund with the intention of it becoming an economic engine for the life I want, not only for myself but for my loved ones:
Financial security is not an exclusive club.
It’s not for one race. One gender. One class. One kind of family. It’s not reserved for men in tailored suits, or trust fund babies, or people who had dinner every night in a quiet, warm home.
It’s for the woman who grew up skipping lunch so her siblings could eat. The man who lived in motels and still made it to work on time. The first-gen college grad trying to decode investment terms like a second language. It’s for anyone who’s willing to believe that their past doesn’t get to own their future.
If you’ve ever thought, “People like me don’t get rich,” I want you to know: security is not the same as riches. And it is absolutely available to you.
The Trade-Offs That Change Everything
Here’s what wealthy people, especially self-made ones, understand deeply: every dollar has a job. Every decision has a trade-off.
That doesn’t mean you never get the coffee or the concert ticket. It means you understand the cost of one choice over another. This is what we call opportunity cost.
- You can buy the shoes, or invest the same amount and own a piece of the company that sells them.
- You can eat out five times a week, or stretch that money into a future emergency fund.
- You can treat your tax refund like a gift, or use it to build your future.
I remember the first time I chose not to spend unexpected income. It was during the pandemic. I had stimulus checks like everyone else. But instead of treating it like free money, I treated it like a seed. I invested some. I saved some. I stretched every dollar like it had a destiny. That decision didn’t make me rich overnight. But it changed my relationship with money, and with myself.
Start small. Start where you are. I once invested $2. Some weeks, $5. Sometimes just $20. But it compounded. Not just financially, emotionally. Because every time I invested, I told myself: You are not that broke kid anymore. You are building something now.
You Can Become Good With Money
There’s a lie we absorb when we grow up poor, or chaotic, or unsupported. It says: This is just who you are. You’re bad with money. You’ll always be behind. You don’t deserve to invest.
That’s not truth. That’s trauma talking.
You can become good with money. Even if you’ve overdrafted a hundred times. Even if you bought the thing instead of paid the bill. Even if you’re scared of looking at your credit score. You can learn. You can heal. You can grow.
Start with:
- One small automatic transfer to savings, even $5.
- One money decision that’s future-facing each week.
- One honest conversation with yourself about what safety means to you.
Wealth is not a dollar amount. It’s a habit. It’s the sum of your repeated beliefs. Change the belief, and the money follows.
Forgiveness Is a Financial Skill
This might surprise you, but forgiving yourself is one of the most profitable things you can do.
Guilt paralyzes. Shame isolates. But grace? Grace frees you up to try again. To get back in the game. To open the account, make the plan, trust yourself.
Think of your past money self as a younger version of you. They did the best they could with what they knew. Now, you know more. You can do more. Not because you’re trying to punish your old self, but because you love them enough to build a better future.
Say it with me: I forgive myself. I am allowed to start again.
Final Thoughts: Security Is For You, Too
You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be persistent.
This world will try to convince you that financial peace is only for a certain kind of person. But I promise you, it’s for anyone who chooses it.
Including you.
Maybe today you only have $10 to spare. Maybe that $10 becomes a savings seed. Maybe it becomes an ETF share. Maybe it becomes the moment you look back on five years from now and say, That’s when everything changed.
You can become the kind of person who owns things. Who builds. Who rests. Who isn’t constantly looking over their shoulder for the next crisis.
Money guilt has no power over a person who has forgiven themselves and decided to move forward.
You are that person. And your future is still wide open.
The Broke College Student 
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