Happy Birthday to ME. Some Instagram questions answered here..

It’s my birthday 
It’s my birthday 
I’mma spend my money 
It’s my birthday……

As you read this, I’m somewhere in Vegas……..spending my money! Just kidding coz when you are almost 40 you are the most responsible about your money, finances, goals, and your life. I turned 39 and there are so many things I’m grateful for. After the past year, being healthy and alive is what I’m grateful for the most. It has been an eye opening year and what I’ve realized is that every single minute ( big or small) is worth celebrating.

So this year I want to celebrate this little world that I’ve created which I proudly call my Insta family. I put out a post where my followers could ask me personal questions and I was pumped to see so many questions pop in my DM. I’ve tried to respond to every single one of it. Some were repetitive, so I just rephrased the questions to accommodate similar ones.

When’s your Birthday?
It’s actually tomorrow, the 14th but since Tuesdays are the days I post- I have this birthday special post live today.

Where are you from?
I am from Ranchi Jharkhand, India. Moved to US fifteen years ago and now I’m from US.

What’s your educational background?
I have a bachelors degree in business. I tried to get my MBA after arriving in US, but as an immigrant who had only 12+3 years of college years, I had a hard time getting into a program. Plus I lost my drive and decided to pursue my passion for fashion.

Tell us something about your marriage/married life?
I’ve been married fifteen year now. It was an arranged marriage and our parents arranged everything. A lot of folks have a hard time believing it was an arranged marriage. For those who know me always thought I was the love marriage material.

Anyhoo, fifteen years down and I’m happily settled with a cute family of four. I virtually met my husband first time on my birthday 16 years ago. We chatted, video conferenced, physically met for the first time four months later, got engaged and then two months later we were married. It was the ideal case of ” CHAT MANGNI, PAT BYAH ( an Indian saying which mean quick engagement, quick marriage ).”

It was a big fat Indian wedding of close to 1,200 guests since my husband was the last and I was the first to get married in our families. Post marriage, I spent a month with my in-laws and then came to US.

If there was one thing you could change, what would it be?
Well, we all have so many things we regret or wish we had done differently. There is a long list, but the one thing I would like to change is my career choice. I really regret not getting my masters. I always dreamt of a corporate career, respect and financial flourishing. Not that I don’t have it now, but a corporate designation would have meant a different level of confidence and charisma.

I could still do my masters, but the imposter syndrome has become real for me now……

What advice would you give to newly or soon-to-be weds?
From my 15 years of experience I would just advice one thing “keep your expectations low“. Life will be happier, uncomplicated if you keep your expectations from your significant other really low.

How do you manage to shop all the time and do you believe in saving?
Truth be told, I am a very calculated spender. I spend but in a planned way. Impulse purchasing happens sometimes but then make sure I balance it out somewhere. I have a set monthly budget for my shopping and seldom do I go over it. If I go over my budget then I consciously choose to return things that don’t fit the bill for that month. But if my affiliates and Poshmark do good, I just keep the extra stuff as a treat to myself.

I am a huge advocate of coupons and promotions. Unless its designer or something that never goes on sale, I don’t remember ever paying full price for a thing. Couponing is my jam.

As for my savings, Indians in general believe in saving for the rainy day, no offense to anyone. They work hard and work even harder to save more. As a wife to a financial adviser I am expected to be smart about our savings and I AM. We have invested in properties, college fund is secured, rainy-day savings are done and I feel financially secure.

If you had a chosen a different career path, what would it be?
That’s a really a good question and my response to this will always be unwavering- AN ARCHITECT. I always had a knack for planning and building things and I could see myself going that route, but ten years ago. After my high school, I dropped a year to prepare for IIT JEE. I gave my best shot but not everyone makes to the top. So, I had to join a business school instead as I was late for engineering enrollment elsewhere and I didn’t want to loose another year.

Where do you see yourself ten years from now?
This last year taught us so many things, including living in today. We do have long term plans but life is uncertain. I don’t know about ten years, but in the next year or so I see myself turning the big 40, traveling more, moving to a bigger house and getting more dogs.

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