Welcome! My name is Carrie Hunter and I’m an independent woman. The Oxford dictionary defines this as “not depending on another for livelihood or subsistence.” That is me, whether single, dating or married; I always have and always will, rely on myself. It’s just the way I’m built.
The first time this quality reared its head (outside of the accompanying photo) I was 18-months-old. I’d just scaled a fruit tree in the backyard of our Okanagan home. A short time later, I hightailed it to the beach–crossing a busy road, now a highway–to play on, what I’m sure I thought, was the world’s greatest slide.
It’s worth noting this topsy turvy ride dumped its riders into a lake. As the story goes, I attracted an audience as I fearlessly, sans parental supervision, ascended the slide again and again. By the by, my folks were fully signed up for their parental duty: I was a handful.
Underpinning my hardcoded desire for independence, rather incongruently, is my insatiable need for security. For as long as I can remember, my twinned goals have been to achieve personal and professional freedom alongside financial security.
That could be why I (more accurately, my mom and dad) opened my first bank account when I was in elementary school. Or why I landed my first job, at the age of 10, delivering the Pennysaver, followed by a successful stint as a babysitter (age 12) and then a security guard (age 15).
Did I take all this hard-earned cash and blow it on Twizzlers and cocktails? Some of it for sure (a girl’s got to live), but the majority of it was deposited into a bank account where I quietly marvelled at my growing balance credited in part to FREE MONEY (aka compound interest).
I never subscribed to the notion of Prince Charming. In fact, I was 30 when I met my now husband. He was and is a handsome devil of a man with a sense of humour that lights the darkest of days. But, at that time, he’d discovered he was about to lose his job. Plus, he’d gone through a divorce a couple of years before…so while my Prince Charming did arrive…Easy street did not.
I share all of this with you because it’s important for you to know this journey–that of being a financially independent woman–started with an aspiration and is becoming a reality. This journey has been filled with peaks and valleys, but the end goal has not changed.
I’ve been focused on achieving financial independence to take debt-free trips to Italy, Australia or, most recently NYC, to strike off a bucket list item (catching Ethan Hawke and Paul Dano in Sam Shepard’s artfully crafted True West on Broadway).
For me, this freedom is the definition of Pound Wise and Penny Prudent.™
Given the choice between an experience and a thing, nine times out of 10, I’ll go for the experience. The planning, the delicious anticipation and the memories, that’s what matters to me.
The trade-off? Our vehicles are definitely not fresh off the sales lot; I have limited interest in any kind of shopping; brands (Fluevogs being a notable exception) bore me and dining out at five-star restaurants is a spectacular treat. It helps that I love to cook. And consume anything and everything in the personal finance realm. Seriously, it makes my heart beat just that little bit faster.
There have to be trade-offs on the journey to financial wellness and those are mine. I can’t wait to discover how you define financial independence.
Yours in financial wellness,
Carrie
Pound Wise & Penny Prudent 