Hello there, this is your pilot speaking! (Why yes, I am calling myself a pilot.)
Today, our Jet Setter Interview is with Vanessa, of Vanessa’s Money fame.
This series covers Passengers on the Jet Setter Manifest, so we can all learn more about money from the experiences of others.
Drop me a line to be featured in an upcoming Jet Setter Interview, we would love to have you on board.
Welcome on board! Who are you?
My name is Vanessa and I blog over at the aptly named Vanessa’s Money. After graduating from university and traveling through Europe, I worked for awhile in Calgary before jetting off to Korea to teach English to businesspeople.
Money is for buying stuff, what was the last purchase you made?
The last non-food thing I purchased was MAC make-up
Why did you buy that stuff, in particular?
I like to look as unhideous as possible and, in a land where most of the make-up contains skin bleach, I spent a little extra to go with a brand that I know and can trust.
We like airplanes around here. When was the last time you were on an airplane and where were you going?
I was on the largest airplane of my life a few months ago. I was heading to Seoul, and then ultimately Ulsan, to start my new job
What is your current financial goal and how did it come to be your goal?
My lifelong financial goal is to do whatever I want, whenever I want. This is my goal because it’s absolutely the only way to live… Sort of like YOLO but with long-term financial considerations taken into account — I don’t want to spend all my money by 60 and then live like a pauper!
Who is your favourite person in Top Gun?
I haven’t seen Top Gun since I was about 10 years old and I have no idea. Let’s pick Tom Cruise.
Many people harbour some sort of fear of flying. What do you find the most overwhelming or scary about money?
Money runs out faster than you’d think and, even when I’m steadily employed, I freak out if I have less than a certain amount of net worth.
If I was super-rich and gave you $50,000 with no strings attached, tomorrow, what would you do with it? (I’m pretty benevolent.)
1) Update my net worth spreadsheets. 2) Figure out if this money is taxable. 3) Send it on over to my RRSPs. 4) Brag about how my RRSPs now are fully-funded.
Lots of things “cost peanuts,” what is a small expenditure that you just can’t live without?
COFFEE! Back in Canada I would have a cup or two a day of the regular stuff but here in Korea it’s about the same price to get drip coffee as it is to get a fancy latte. Mmmmm, lattes.
How long have you been the pilot of your own money? Did you have a job as a teenager? Did you have a lightbulb moment at a certain point in time and take control of your finances?
I was thrown into the pilot seat at 17 when I finished high school. My summer earnings were gone within a month and I tried to survive on $36/mo for personal expenses. Eating McDonald’s french fries for lunch every day and hoping that you’d win something good in McDonald’s Monopoly was a giant lightbulb that life is not fun when you’re poor.
Pretend you have a sky-writing airplane (that can write as many words as you want.) What is the main money message that you want the world to hear?
REEVALUATE YOUR PRIORITIES! Are you spending your money on limos and partying every week? Don’t hate on me because I can afford to go to Europe but you can’t — if you want something, look around you and see what you’d be willing to give up in order to get it.
You can read more of Vanessa’s writing at Vanessa’s Money. She’s also on twitter @vanessasmoney and Facebook give her a follow!
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