Overcoming Debt, Achieving Financial Freedom

Chapter 6Become a Conscious Consumer

For the longest time, I considered shopping a hobby. This pastime started when I got my first job at the Bronx Zoo at the age of 16. I worked for the membership sales department and my pay was based on my hourly rate (I believe it was $7/hour at the time) and commissions. At the end of each shift, my coworkers and I split the commissions, which were based on the number of memberships we sold that day. The more memberships we sold, the more money we made. A bigger paycheck meant I had more to spend on clothes and shoes. The spending habit I developed crept into my college and law school years.

In my freshman year at Stony Brook University, I learned there wasn't much to do on campus during the weekends, but the campus bus was available to take students to the mall. My best friend and I both had on‐campus jobs, which meant that we had a paycheck to spend. Paychecks were for spending, not for saving. We knew our way around the nearby Smith Haven Mall like the back of our hand. After visiting our favorite stores—Forever 21, Wet Seal, H&M, Macy's—we would wrap up our trip at the food court, or The Cheesecake Factory if we felt fancy.

In law school, my spending habit spiraled. My law school classmates were different from my college friends—many had trust funds, an allowance from grandparents, or had worked prior to law school and had some type of savings. I wanted to keep up with my new group of friends. However, I had no disposable income. Because ...