Dreaming of Mexico: How We Stopped Bleeding Money and Started Adulting

We knew we wanted to move to Mexico, so first things first — show me the money. At the time we were living our best lives — or so we thought. Money was something that just sort of… existed. We had some, we spent some, we owed some. Rinse and repeat. The first step in our big life overhaul was to face the music: How much did we actually have? How were we spending it? And what did our debt look like? Spoiler alert: It wasn’t pretty.

We needed a “state of the state” of our finances. So, we rolled up our sleeves and went through our checking and credit card accounts to figure out where our money was going. It took a couple of weeks to track everything down, and let me tell you, it was like finding a hidden treasure — only instead of gold, we found mountains of receipts and regret.

Retail Therapy R Us

I’ll be the first to admit it: I did a lot of retail therapy, which — surprise — didn’t work. Turns out, buying another pair of shoes or the latest gadget didn’t actually solve my problems. Who knew?

DoorDash VIPs

And then there were the DoorDash drivers. We were on a first-name basis with half of them. “Hey, Jim! How’s the family? Oh, you have my sushi again? Thanks, buddy!” It was convenient, but yikes, those delivery fees add up.

Auto-Pay Enthusiasts

We loved autopay for our bills. It was like magic! Electric, cable, internet, water, garbage — all taken care of without lifting a finger. The downside? We became completely immune to where our money went and how much it all cost. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

Subscription Service Hell

Subscription services were the bane of my existence. We signed up for different streaming services, magazines, and other things. Oh, and a gym membership too. Guess how often we went to the gym? If you said “never,” congratulations, you win a gold star.

Lazy Spenders Anonymous

We had gotten very, very lazy, and this exercise was a huge wake-up call. One-click checkout from Amazon was my kryptonite. Two-day shipping trained me to expect whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted it. We were truly Consumers with a capital C. Hypnotized by the ease of online shopping, I’d sit on the couch, see something on TV, decide I wanted it, hit Google, and bam — purchase made. It was so easy, too easy.

A Sobering Reality Check

This financial deep dive was sobering. It led to a lot of self-reflection. I started journaling to understand what I was getting out of this behavior. Did it make me happier? Was I content? Did it bring value to my life?

Ultimately, the answers were pretty clear, and not in a good way. It was painful but necessary. Going through this exercise gave us the big picture overview we needed and allowed us to prioritize, change some habits and start planning for our move to Mexico.