A 34-year-old optimist living in Toronto, Canada, I’m a former starving artist and creative freelancer now working full-time in a corporate office. In today’s financial climate, I’m nothing but grateful for my current employment. At an age when thoughts of settling down and potentially starting a family are becoming more prominent, earning a steady paycheck with health benefits means more to me now than making money through my creative passions.

I’ve never lived beyond paycheck to paycheck before, but I’d like that to change. So I’m learning to be financially responsible, to appreciate the value of an earned dollar, and to make financial choices with my future self in mind – while trying to keep things fun along the way.