Chapter 1: Life & Money (Or How to Afford Life) CHAPTER 1Life & Money(Or How to Afford Life)
I love to talk about money, but until we launched Money Diaries in January 2016, I didn’t really know that other women felt the same way. The runaway success of the series—where millennial women share the intimate details of their financial lives—clearly struck a nerve.

It’s probably not that surprising. After all, it’s fun to read Money Diaries because you get a peek into someone else’s world. We marvel at—and judge—the diarist as she navigates her week, spending too much on avocado toast or dutifully meal prepping on Sundays. We admire those who set aside more than 10 percent for retirement or are aggressively paying down student loans. We finally get an answer to the question that nags many of us: How do they afford their lives?

I imagine a lot of you opened this book for the diaries, but I hope you’ll stay for the education and frank conversations about personal finance. Though most of us care a lot about our money, it’s still a rather unpopular conversation topic—in a 2017 Refinery29 survey, we found that only 18 percent of millennial women talk about money with their friends at all.

Maybe that’s because money is emotional. But just because it makes you squirm doesn’t mean you can ignore it. And my hope is that by talking openly and honestly about it here, in the pages of this book, we’ll begin to feel even more confident about how we spend and save.

In this chapter, we’ll dive into the nitty-gritty (how often to check your bank balance) and even get a little philosophical (money mantra, anyone?). It’s just the beginning. Throughout the book, you’ll find the tools you need to get more comfortable with your finances so that you can afford the life you want.