Brokeamateurs — Carrie

But here’s the truth they don’t put in the montages:

I realized I had romanticized the struggle. I wanted to be the character who is "broke but chic." But in reality, broke is just broke. It’s anxiety at 3 AM. It’s turning down happy hour because you can’t afford the tip. It’s the loneliness of realizing that the lifestyle you built was a sandcastle at high tide. carrie brokeamateurs

It has been humiliating. It has been freeing. But here’s the truth they don’t put in

When the rent went up $200, the house of cards collapsed. I had no savings. I had no backup. I had a closet full of shoes I couldn't walk in and a fridge full of condiments. It’s turning down happy hour because you can’t

If you had told me two years ago that I would be typing this from a cramped studio apartment, eating ramen with a plastic fork, I would have laughed in your face. Not because I was rich, but because I was a master of the illusion.

I learned that the hard way.

I’m still an amateur at life. I still buy the fancy cheese sometimes when I definitely shouldn't. But I’m no longer pretending.