Sofi Abroad 💕

My friends often tell me how organized I am financially and how I always seem to make smart money decisions. But the truth is: it wasn’t always that way 👀

For most of my life, I struggled financially. It wasn’t until I hit a breaking point that I realized something had to change.

In this post, I want to share how choosing a minimalist lifestyle and getting organized with my finances completely changed my life.

My Story: From Scarcity to Financial Clarity

I grew up in a small city in the north of Argentina. My family struggled financially for as long as I can remember, and scarcity was a constant part of our lives.

Still, I was decided to change that reality, and I worked hard, earned a scholarship, graduated from university, and eventually decided to move abroad in search of better opportunities. But starting over in a new country was very hard: you have to build everything from scratch: your environment, your job, your home, your network… and sometimes, your confidence. Managing everything on my own taught me a lot about resilience, but not yet about financial stability.

Then, in 2018, something happened that changed everything.

I had just resigned from a job to start a new one that promised a better environment – but at the last minute, the offer was put on hold 😱

Suddenly, I had only enough money to survive for about two months… and no clear plan.

That was my turning point.

I realized I never wanted to feel that kind of financial insecurity again. The levels of anxiety I felt were unbearable.
I wanted peace of mind – and the only way to get there was to start managing my money differently.

The Steps That Helped Me Take Control

Here are the exact steps I took to turn my finances – and mindset – around:

1. Take a financial photograph of my current situation. 📸
   That’s right! I needed to take a look at the sad situation I was in, face to face. To do this, I created a simple spreadsheet to understand what were supposed to be my expenses for 12 months from there, a.k.a, what was my cost of living and how much money I needed to make in order to survive live.
   
2. Set up a realistic budget 💶
   Once I had the info of how much money I needed, I set up a budget to respect the amount that should go in each category. Not even a single penny more. We have the power here!
   
3. Cut back on credit cards (temporarily) 💳
   Pausing credit card use (only for 3 months) helped me rebuild healthier spending habits. During that period, I focused on paying the credit card debt and get rid of the looping of credit card I was in.
   
4. Go on a low-buy challenge (even if it was unintentional) 💰
   This step changed everything. I learned to spend intentionally and value what I already had.
   I knew the “sacrifice” was going to be worth it, and that, with organization and peace of mind, I was going to achieve the material things I wanted, without incurring into new debt.
   
5. Find ways to make extra income 👩🏻‍💻
   Side hustles gave me flexibility and reduced financial stress. At that moment, I wasn’t earning much, so making extra income was crucial. I started facilitating private language classes and selling stuff I didn’t use.
   
6. Work on my money mindset 🧠
   Shifting from scarcity to abundance thinking was just as important as saving money, so I’ve learned as much as I could, reading books and watching youtube videos about personal finance and how to make more money.
   
7. Advocate for myself 🦹🏻‍♀️
   Whether it was asking for a raise or negotiating better conditions – learning to value my work made a big difference. I got a promotion in a short time after that, and by improving my confidence, I’ve landed a better job later on, where I scaled my income in ways I couldn’t think possible back then.

Final Thoughts 💰

Becoming financially organized and embracing minimalism wasn’t an overnight change – it was a journey of self-awareness and discipline. But it gave me what I was really looking for: peace of mind, freedom, and balance.

If you’re feeling stuck financially or overwhelmed by money stress, remember – you can change your story too. Start small, stay consistent, and believe that you deserve a better financial life.

With love,

Sofi. 💕