Many people in their 20s and early 30s find money stressful, confusing, and scary – and it’s holding them back. 

After a night on the town, Erin, the author, and her friend Lizzie sobered up over coffee. Like many millennials drawn to New York, Lizzie came to the Big Apple to pursue a creative career. But she’d found herself trapped in a boring corporate job. 

Erin asked Lizzie why she didn’t just quit. After all, she was 23, debt-free, and single – wasn’t this the perfect time to work crappy waitressing or nannying jobs while she pursued her true calling?

“I don’t know,” Lizzie replied. “Money just really stresses me out!” She never looked at her bank account and always just hoped there was enough cash to make it to the end of the month. Quitting her job would mean managing her money, which she’d never learned how to do.

The key message in this blink is: Many people in their 20s and early 30s find money stressful, confusing, and scary – and it’s holding them back. 

Lizzie was a smart young woman who came from a well-off family. But if a savvy professional like her couldn’t manage her money, how were other people her age coping? It’s a question Erin couldn’t help asking herself. And it wasn’t long before she realized that Lizzie’s experience is pretty common among millennials.

Getting a handle on your finances is often the difference between a life of fulfillment and a life of frustration. If you don’t manage your money properly, you could end up working to pay the rent but being unable to afford the kids – or pets – you really want. It might even mean skipping out on every exciting experience on your bucket list, or else splurging on those experiences now, only to find yourself living from paycheck to paycheck for the rest of your life.

Yes, getting a handle on your finances is a serious business. It’s no wonder the anxiety about money can be crippling. So, how do you break out of this anxiety trap, or – better yet – avoid it entirely? 

As we’ll see in these blinks, it’s really not that hard when you know how. In fact, improving your relationship with money doesn’t require complex formulas. All it takes is a series of small steps that, together, add up to one big change.