10 Questions and a Pizza Place with My UnhoardED Life

This is the 37th edition of our periodic guest post series called 10 Questions and a Pizza Place. (The 1500′s are pizza fanatics.) We have a list of 17 questions we pose to fellow financial bloggers, and they are free to pick and choose 10 or answer all 17. Let us know if you would like to be featured in a future edition of 10 Questions.

Today’s post features Zoe from My UnhoardED Life. Her blog is a very open and honest view of a childhood overshadowed by hoarding, her inability to deal with that at such a young age, and her eventual turn to an eating disorder to help her cope. She now lives her life trying to recover in a healthy way and shares her experiences with her readers.

Mrs. 1500’s parents like their things and her brother could almost qualify for the hoarding TV shows. She is waging her own battle against accumulation, and it is slow going. Progress is made every day, but measured in inches, rather than feet.

Tell me about your blog and why it’s great.
My blog is a recovery blog – recovering from an eating disorder and recovering from growing up as the child of hoarders. I picked up many of my parents’ compulsive saving and shopping habits, so my blog talks about why I spend money on wasteful things and why and collect things. I’m trying to teach myself how to make better decisions. Hopefully others can learn from my mistakes.

What is the worst financial mistake you made?  
Not saving during college. Right after college I found myself with no job, no place to live, and no income because of a fallout with my family. I slept on friends’ floors for weeks until I got a 20-hour per week job and returned to school for a professional degree.

What would you do if you inherited $1,000,000 (after taxes) today?
Pay off my condo and remaining debt, invest most of it, and buy myself just one gift: a Tesla to replace our Acura.

What kind of car do you drive?
I walk to work. My husband is currently driving a seven year-old Acura sedan which we expect to keep for eight to ten more years.

What’s your favorite tip for saving money?
Figure out why you spend money that you don’t need to spend. Do you do it because you’re bored? Unhappy? In need of a distraction? Come up with ways to meet those emotional needs and your spending should drop naturally.

What is your favorite pizza place (I am a pizza nut)?
Our place! My husband makes amazing pizza each Friday night.

What are your biggest goals in life?
To have a healthy, happy family.

What advice would you give to a 24 year old, just out of college?
Make a commitment to starting an emergency fund now because you’re going to need it down the road. Even $50 a month is better than nothing.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
My grandmother once said to me, “money buys the kind of misery you can live with.” Make sure you always have enough money not to be miserable, but recognize that money and the stuff you can buy with it won’t actually make you happy for very long.

What was your favorite job (or worst job)?
Favorite job? My current one. I love my co-workers, I’m treated well, and I get to work on fun projects.

Be sure to pay Zoe a visit at her blog and show her some support. In life, it doesn’t matter where we come from. It’s how we apply the lessons of our past to our future. Change is difficult. Best of luck to you Zoe.