Rianne (37): ‘my €15,000 fuck-it pot gives peace of mind’
A divorce, a miscarriage. There are moments in your life that bring you down to earth. Also financially. Rianne (37) closed the hole in her hand and now invests very consciously. ‘I don’t want to let lack of money guide my choices.’
- Son from previous relationship, LAT relationship
- Rental property
- Own company SamenAlleen
- Spiritual relationship therapist
Hole in hand
‘I’ve been hearing all my life that I’m worthless with money. I have a hole in my hand, would be irresponsible. And the annoying thing is: it was. Since I got divorced I have been dealing with much higher fixed expenses, but now I do have money left over at the end of the month. My divorce, as well as my miscarriage, have been a reality check. I decided to work more with my finances. I wanted to be able to take good care of myself, and my little son. During that period, Elfin came my way. Now the e-courses are with a big cross in my calendar. I read a lot about finance and I listen to podcasts, but then I miss the translation into practice. I use Elfin’s e-courses as a kick in the butt: come on, Rianne, now is the time to start working on your retirement.’
No buying house
‘When I started investing, I found everything interesting and was sensitive to hypes. The two thousand euros I invested in crypto had virtually evaporated for a time. That’s unfortunate, but you learn from that too. I am now taking it one step at a time. I am currently investing in a spread fund through ABN Amro and I have a fuck it pot in my savings account, meant as a piggy bank that I am not allowed to touch. If I no longer want the life I have created now, I feel the financial freedom to turn everything around again. I want the choices I make in my life not to be determined or limited by money. For example, I consciously chose to rent a house instead of buying one. That’s not the smartest thing to do, I know, but having a house to buy feels like a block on my leg. I still want to feel where life is taking me before I commit myself so firmly again. That too is freedom for me. If I wanted to invest, I would do so in my business. I recently realized a beautiful yurt on a large piece of land in the Achterhoek. I would like to buy that land, if the time and timing is right, in order to grow my business financially. That appeals to me much more. Being financially free also means daring to make choices that suit me.
Freedom
‘My then partner had to buy me out. Part of this excess value from my previous house I now have in my savings account. So that’s my fuck it pot, about 15,000 euros. Such an amount gives so much peace of mind, I can tell you. Suppose my business collapses, I can still bear my fixed expenses. I then don’t want to rush into the next job because I run out of money. I find that when things aren’t going well financially, I have trouble making choices from my heart. Is this what I really want or is lack of money the driving force? That is sometimes difficult to discern. So I already know well what financial freedom means, but financially I would like a little more bacon on the bones. I now invest about 150 euros a month, but ideally I would like to bring that to 500 euros. I have a sidehustle with online couples therapy, but that’s not running the way I want it to yet. If I put more money behind that, I expect that to run better. By investing money, you create money, I now know. I now know which expense is effective and which I’m better off leaving.’
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