August has been an expensive month for me. I moved into my new apartment in Madison, bought all this new furniture (including my very first queen sized bed), and had to make another payment towards my student loans, which I’m only just beginning to pay off. And I know that I’m not the first 23 year old who’s bitched about being low on funds, but as I stood at the counter in the kitchen paying off my bills, it occurred to me that financial success is actually something that’s important to me.

My family has never had much money, so it’s not as if I’ve become accustomed to a particular unattainable lifestyle. I hate shopping for clothes, so that helps considerably. But I hate having to stretch the groceries at the end of the month. Or only being able to fix one part of my p.o.s. car at a time. And I love cooking, and music, and buying gifts, and going out to eat, and traveling, and seeing movies, and plays, and concerts, and none of these things is cheap.

I’m lucky enough to have a wonderful, supportive family and I’m very well taken care of. Nevertheless, I’m moving closer and closer to the edge of the nest where I’ll be completely supporting myself—by choice if not necessity. And I guess that’s the crucial part of it. I want to be able to live entirely on my own merit and know that I’ve built a successful, comfortable life for myself, by myself.