In a world dominated by materialism and a false "ideal" image of beauty, many people feel the need to break their bank to form a certain public image of themselves.

I know so many people who feel the need to spend their money on certain clothes, certain beauty procedures (like constantly dropping $30 JUST to get their nails done), and certain material items just so they can feel like they belong to a certain "in-crowd."

I will never be the type of woman to throw my money away on such unnecessary things. I wasn't raised to center my life around objects.

My parents taught me all the important things in life, like love, being grateful, helping to heal the world, however, I can, and accepting myself just as I am. I was not taught to live my life worrying about what others thought of me. What's the point in living a life that is not completely your own?

As a girl, refusing vanity is one of the lessons I learned from my family that I still cherish to this day and will never be able to thank my parents enough for.

You will never catch me in a clothing store such as Nordstrom. Whatever clothes you see me wearing are most likely from Plato's Closet (yes, used clothes) or the $3-$5 rack at Rue 21.

You also will never find me in makeup stores like Ulta, either. Where do I get my makeup, you may wonder? Walmart. The makeup is cheap and it does the job.

I won't constantly pay for someone else to do my nails when I'm fully capable of doing my own, and I'm not waxing anything off my body, thank you. My natural self is in fact, my favorite self.

Above all else, I guarantee you that you will never find me buying anything pricey- simply because of its brand. If there's a cheaper, more reasonably priced version of something I want, you can bet your sweet a** that's where my money is going.

You may be thinking, "Oh, but those things aren't as good." Well, I've been doing this long enough to tell you that that statement is indeed, false.

I might add as well that I choose a lifestyle like this, not because I can't afford it, but because it's ridiculous to me to waste money on things that don't add value to me as a person.

I could care less about having anything high-end. I would rather save my money for necessary things, or save it just to save it. Hey, my future husband won't be complaining.

Life is not about how you present yourself to the world, but how you feel about yourself, your friendships, and your relationships.

To me, there are much more important things to life than feeling like I have all the "right" things, look a certain way, or am a part of a particular group.

Feeling true to my real self, the self I would be if I were not in a world surrounded by media trying to convince me that my life is not complete or the best it could be without certain things/objects/materials, is where my focus is.

I'm proud to not have become a slave to what other people's opinions of me are and I will not apologize for not conforming to what society believes a woman should be.