Yes, it's true I am a shopaholic and I will be the first to admit it with no shame, but when I moved to New York City for college I had a rude awakening. I would spend an obscene amount of money on clothes and shoes and make-up just for it to seem like I lived a certain kind of lifestyle, and at first I did (I guess). Until suddenly, I didn't have money for food. When I first moved to the city I had money saved up for transportation, food, and other necessities. Later on I had gotten comfortable with the fact that I had money saved up and I would spend unnecessary money on things I didn't need. I would take random trips to Soho and spend my money on Aldo shoes every time. Hanging out with my more privileged friends didn't help either. They always wanted to go out to eat and have fun and let me tell you, that costs money. When it's early in the school year, you're pretty much down for anything especially when involves fun so I had to learn how to say no– but that with come later in the article. If you are a New York millennial, then you know that everyone has the classic Adidas shoes. They go with everything, wearing heels all the time is unrealistic in the city (sorry Carrie Bradshaw fans), and they're cute. I remember leaving class and splurging on the $80 shoes just to have them. My friends and I joke about this now because I was super broke and like, who was trying to impress?
Don't get me started on the subway y'all! That's when I knew I had hit rock bottom, like I'm talking titanic. For all my upper east siders, we know the 6 train gets us everywhere. The first couple of months of school I had a monthly metro pass. Wait, before I get to that let me tell you how my dad looked at my spending habits and cut me off! I was on the bus (no more uber everywhere because at this point I'm already MC Hammer broke) and he called me and said, "Unique how do you spend $2,000 in a month?"
I'm very confrontational and argumentative. I like to prove a point, but at that moment he was right. I responded by saying, "There is nothing I can say, you are completely and without a doubt correct." He gave me this whole rant about saving money like all parents do, and then he cut me off...unapologetically. So how was I going to get to class everyday or eat?
Anyways, back to the subway story. So my monthly ran out and I didn't have money on my debit card. I had to go to class so I tried to sneak onto the subway. I waited for someone to open the emergency door and I just walked right through it, but as I'm pacing to the train I was stopped by a man. He looks at me and asked why I had just walked through the door and not paid for my transportation, and then he flashes his badge at me. IT WAS A FREAKING UNDERCOVER COP!!! My heart stopped; I was deceased with silence. I looked up at him with the saddest puppy dog eyes and gave him the sappiest story of my life– my whole broke college student story. He ask how old I was and because I was 17 at the time he let me go. It never felt so good to be underage.
The moral of this crazy story is to stop pretending for social media and people that don't benefit your life. Work hard and with time your dream life will come. Putting up fronts can actually bring you setbacks and sometimes send you back to square one. There's nothing wrong with starting over if you do it the right way, and take what you've learned from your previous journey.
The next article I tell you guys how I turned my spending habits around. Until next time, stay chic...
