12.1 “The Unexpected Expense”
Picture This:
You have always prided yourself on being “good with money”—tracking expenses in a budgeting app, skipping frivolous purchases, and paying bills on time. Everything seems fine until the unexpected happens. One afternoon, your laptop dies without warning, jeopardizing your coursework. You look into repair costs and discover they’re astronomical, while a brand-new device is even more expensive. Suddenly, your financial safety net doesn’t exist: your chequing account balance is lower than you thought, your credit card is maxed out, and you never opened that emergency fund your dad kept suggesting.
Panicking, you scramble for solutions. You borrow money from friends, apply for a quick loan, and consider an extra work shift. As stress mounts, you realize you never truly understood your budget or how to prepare for life’s surprises. Your academic performance slips, relationships grow strained, and your confidence in managing money evaporates.
Feeling overwhelmed and embarrassed, you turn to your parents for help. While they lend you the funds, their disappointment is clear, and it stings.
Money is not everything. However, less financial stress can pave the way for optimal well-being. With more stable finances, you can invest (literally and figuratively) in other dimensions of wellness, such as a gym membership for physical well-being, therapy sessions for emotional well-being, or simply taking a break when you need it without the looming fear of financial strain.
Financial wellness is part of a larger process of making proactive, informed choices that support your journey toward optimal being. This chapter explores the essentials of that process (budgeting, saving, investing, and using credit responsibly), offering practical strategies to help you take control of your finances.
