The Financial Diet
A Total Beginner’s Guide to Getting Good with Money
byChelsea Fagan, Lauren Ver Hage
Book Edition Details
Summary
Money mysteries, begone! The Financial Diet serves up a delightful guide for those who find finance a foreign language. With Chelsea Fagan as your savvy companion, unravel the secrets of budgeting without boredom, discover the art of investing with confidence, and transform spending sprees into saving success stories. This book isn't just about numbers; it’s a lifestyle makeover. From closet organization to kitchen essentials, it’s about making smart choices that empower your wallet and your world. Whether you're wrangling student loans or aiming to stretch a starter salary, this is your blueprint to financial finesse. Elevate your money game with practical wisdom, and perhaps a celebratory cocktail or two!
Introduction
Picture this: you're scrolling through social media, watching friends jet off to exotic destinations, buy their first homes, or land dream jobs, while you're sitting there wondering how everyone else seems to have their financial act together. The truth is, most people don't—they're just better at hiding the chaos. Financial literacy isn't something we're born with or taught in school; it's a skill we must actively develop. Yet somewhere along the way, we've been led to believe that talking about money is taboo, that caring about our financial future makes us shallow, or that we need to choose between enjoying our twenties and securing our tomorrow. This couldn't be further from the truth. Taking control of your financial life isn't about deprivation or becoming obsessed with spreadsheets—it's about creating the freedom to make choices that align with your values and dreams. When you understand how money works and develop healthy financial habits, you're not just securing your future; you're giving yourself permission to live authentically in the present.
Build Your Financial Foundation
At its core, building a financial foundation means creating a stable base that can support all your future goals and weather unexpected storms. Think of it as constructing the ground floor of your dream house—without it, everything else will eventually crumble. This foundation consists of three essential pillars: a realistic budget, an emergency fund, and healthy credit practices. Chelsea's journey illustrates this perfectly. At eighteen, she maxed out her first credit card within six weeks, buying Forever 21 dresses and living like money grew on trees. When the bills started piling up, she simply threw the card in the garbage and ignored the collection notices. By twenty-two, her credit was destroyed, her savings depleted, and she was facing the harsh reality that financial mistakes have long-lasting consequences. But instead of wallowing in shame, she took action. She negotiated with collection agencies, paid off her defaulted debt by taking huge chunks out of her first paychecks, and slowly began rebuilding her credit score. The transformation didn't happen overnight. Chelsea had to learn the hard way that her "Don't You Fucking Dare" rules weren't suggestions—they were necessities. She stopped spending money she couldn't pay back within a month, began checking her account balance twice weekly instead of closing her eyes and hoping for the best, and abandoned the fantasy that savings would magically appear. Most importantly, she started treating her money with the same respect she'd give a valued relationship. Start by creating a comprehensive budget using either an app like Mint or a simple spreadsheet. Track every expense for three months to understand your spending patterns, then categorize everything using the 50/30/20 rule: fifty percent for fixed costs, thirty percent for lifestyle expenses, and twenty percent for savings. Build your emergency fund gradually, aiming for three to six months of living expenses in an easily accessible savings account. Set up automatic payments for all bills and savings transfers to remove temptation from the equation. Remember that building your foundation is a marathon, not a sprint. Every small step counts, and every dollar saved is a victory worth celebrating. The goal isn't perfection—it's progress and the peace of mind that comes from knowing you can handle whatever life throws your way.
Make Your Money Work for You
Making your money work for you means transforming from a passive observer of your financial life into its CEO—someone who strategically deploys every dollar toward specific goals. Instead of letting money sit idle in low-interest accounts, you learn to leverage the power of compound interest, employer matches, and diversified investments to build wealth over time. Consider Jane Hwangbo's story, a former Wall Street semiconductor analyst who left the high-pressure world of hedge funds to teach others about sustainable investing. She discovered that the "win at all costs" mentality of professional trading was like "having sex without love, over and over again." After years of treating investing as pure competition, she burned out completely and realized that money should serve human goals, not numerical ones. Jane walked away from a lucrative career to create a more balanced approach to wealth building—one that prioritizes long-term stability over short-term gains. Jane's transformation led her to develop ten fundamental investing rules that anyone can follow. She emphasizes that money is a tool, not a goal, and that before making any investment, you need six months of living expenses in an emergency fund. She advocates for learning basic financial terminology, understanding company financial statements, and always maxing out employer-matched retirement accounts first. Her approach focuses on building passive income streams that can eventually support your desired lifestyle, regardless of what happens in your career. Begin by opening a retirement account and contributing enough to capture any employer match—this is literally free money you're leaving on the table otherwise. Learn the Rule of 72 to quickly calculate how long investments will take to double, then start with simple, diversified index funds rather than trying to pick individual stocks. Set up automatic contributions to remove emotion from the equation, and gradually increase your contribution percentage as your income grows. The most important shift is changing your relationship with money from scarcity to abundance. When you start viewing every dollar as having the potential to grow and work for you, you naturally begin making different choices about how you spend, save, and invest.
Create Your Professional Path
Creating your professional path means taking ownership of your career trajectory rather than hoping opportunities will magically appear. It requires treating yourself as the CEO of your own life, strategically building skills, relationships, and experiences that compound over time to create the professional freedom you desire. Stephanie Georgopulos exemplifies this approach beautifully. She started working at a hair salon for ten dollars an hour with no benefits, feeling completely stuck with massive student debt. But instead of accepting her circumstances, she began treating every spare moment as an opportunity. She started a blog during downtime at the salon, reaching out to bigger publications to contribute free content, and gradually building her writing portfolio. When she finally quit the salon, she supported herself through multiple income streams—focus groups, social media work, freelance writing—anything that would keep her afloat while pursuing her passion. This hustle mentality eventually led to a full-time position at Medium, but the journey took years of strategic side projects and calculated risks. Stephanie's success came from her willingness to abandon projects that weren't serving her growth or financial goals. She treated her career like a portfolio, constantly evaluating which opportunities were worth her time and energy. When freelance projects became tedious or underpaid, she walked away to focus on work that excited her. This selective approach, combined with her diverse skill set from years of side hustles, made her an invaluable employee who could command better opportunities. Start by conducting an annual career checkup, comparing your salary to industry standards using sites like Glassdoor and honestly evaluating your job satisfaction and growth potential. Develop at least one side hustle that complements your main job while building different skills. Network strategically by volunteering for causes that matter to industry leaders, and always look for ways to bring value to your current role that makes your boss look good. Remember that your earning potential is unlimited while your ability to cut expenses has natural limits. Focus more energy on increasing your income than on restricting your spending, and never be afraid to negotiate for what you're worth—it's a sign of professionalism, not greed.
Design Your Dream Life
Designing your dream life means creating a sustainable approach to pursuing your passions without sacrificing your financial security. It's about rejecting the toxic "follow your dreams at any cost" mentality in favor of a more strategic approach that acknowledges both the financial realities of dream-chasing and the importance of building multiple sources of fulfillment. Hank Green's journey perfectly illustrates this balanced approach. When he quit his job to move to Montana with his girlfriend, he wasn't following some grand entrepreneurial vision—he was just trying to make ends meet in a place where rent cost five hundred dollars a month. With no traditional job prospects, he cobbled together income from five or six small sources, including a blog that initially made only twenty dollars monthly. Instead of viewing this as failure, he embraced the experimentation. He kept his living costs low, maintained a small financial cushion, and focused on projects that genuinely interested him rather than trying to replicate someone else's success story. Hank's willingness to abandon ideas that weren't working became his superpower. His inbox is "littered with abandoned ideas" and domain names he registered for puns that never materialized into businesses. But this flexibility allowed him to pivot toward opportunities that aligned with both his interests and market demands. By 2007, he was earning seventeen thousand dollars from his various projects—enough to sustain his simple lifestyle and continue building. Today, he's one of the most successful creators on the internet, but he still shops at Uniqlo and finds joy in simple pleasures rather than lifestyle inflation. Create your happiness starter kit by first defining what you want your daily life to look like, then breaking your biggest dreams into smaller, manageable goals. Plan major changes at least a year in advance, building specific financial cushions for the risks you want to take. Maintain the Rule of Four by always having at least four sources of fulfillment beyond your work—relationships, hobbies, physical activities, and personal growth pursuits. Accept that you may not get everything you want, and that some dreams might not bring the satisfaction you expected. This isn't failure—it's wisdom. The goal is to create enough financial flexibility and emotional resilience that you can pivot, experiment, and adjust your path as you learn and grow.
Summary
True financial empowerment isn't about becoming wealthy or achieving some perfect lifestyle—it's about creating the freedom to make authentic choices aligned with your values. As this guide illustrates, "Saving money isn't about depriving yourself. It's about deciding you love Future You as much as you love Today You." This fundamental shift in perspective transforms every financial decision from a sacrifice into an investment in your future freedom. The most successful approach combines practical money management skills with realistic goal-setting and the wisdom to know that happiness comes from multiple sources, not just career achievement or material accumulation. Start today by choosing one small financial habit to implement—whether it's checking your account balance twice weekly, setting up an automatic savings transfer, or having an honest conversation about money with someone you trust. Your future self will thank you for taking that first step toward financial freedom.
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By Chelsea Fagan
