My Personal Financial Journey: Andrea Pokorny, Founder of MainstreamMom

by Andrea Pokorny, founder of MainstreamMom

If there's one thing I've learned over the past few years, it's that the most relevant self-improvement tool is messing up and learning from it. And trust me, I've messed up a lot when it comes to managing my money.

Fortunately, I've learned from my mistakes and will never repeat them. Like Oprah says, "when you know better, you do better."

But, you don't know what you don't know.

I blame my money issues on the fact that for a long time, I didn't know what I didn't know. I didn't know I needed an emergency fund. I didn't know the importance of having a spending plan. I didn't know that I'd be haunted by credit card debt because I was living beyond my means.

I thought because I had an excellent job, I'd be okay. Now I know better, but before I didn't...

My girls were three and one. We found an acceptable day care for them. I only say "acceptable" because my true feelings were that they should be at home, with me — like when I was a kid.

Never did I come home to an empty house. My mom was always there. Never did I have to rely on a sitter or daycare provider for a meal or a kiss on an owie.

I was so sad yet conflicted with having a career and raising children — conflicted because I was skipping rungs on the corporate ladder (in record timing, I became a manager making money hand over fist), yet so sad that my babies hardly saw me each day. They spent more time at daycare than at home. My husband and I literally raced to daycare to pick them up each evening. I ALWAYS won.

I was okay with suppressing my true desires until the day my dad suddenly died. I began to think in a whole new way.

I realized how much he wanted to do and never did. I wanted things to be different for me and my family.

I made a decision to give up Corporate America. I gave my notice and walked away.

We thought we could manage on just my husband's income. But our debt began to increase. Then the bombshell came: my husband's boss decided an immediate pay-cut was necessary. Our income was cut in half, again.

Yep, we messed up. We had nothing to fall back on (no emergency fund). Our credit cards were almost maxed (no spending plan or budget), and I was seven months pregnant with our little guy.

Thankfully, my husband got a new job very quickly, but we ended up losing thousands in the sale of our home and land. We relocated to a new city.

This was a brand new beginning. We began looking at our spending habits. We got educated on becoming financially secure. I couldn't believe how simple money management was.

I took all that knowledge I'd gained in the books I read, courses I took, and experts I interviewed, and I created a nifty site for other moms looking for answers about their finances but not really knowing where to start. The site, MainstreamMom.com, is full of strategies and tips to becoming a better money manager.

I am convinced no matter how much money you bring home, if you manage it correctly, you can live debt-free AND fulfill your dreams.

Now that I know better, we are all doing much better!