🟪 I don’t invest in the stock market, I’m in the ‘I’ll work forever’ state of mind

🇺🇸 Dana Miranda, 39, personal finance writer & educator, from rural Wisconsin, USA

“Autistic bisexual passing for a nice Midwest lady. Certified educator in personal finance (CEPF).”

This is how Dana Miranda describes herself on her Substack profile.

If I may, I’d add: one of the sharpest and most refreshing voices in the money space right now.

Dana is the author of You Don’t Need a Budget, a book that investigates toxic budget culture and offers ways to build an ethical, stress-free financial life.

She also writes Healthy Rich, a newsletter that’s been consistently challenging everything I thought I knew about personal finance, sometimes breaking my beliefs, sometimes strengthening them, but always making me think harder.

Through her writing, she unpacks money using some of my favourite lenses: accessibility, shame-free education, and rebellion.

🔒 New for Money Feelings paid subscribers this week: get 30% off a paid Healthy Rich subscription for life. The code and link are waiting for you in The Paid Corner.

In her answers to the Money Feelings Questionnaire, Dana opens up about the joy of giving, the ethics of investing, and how five broke years taught her to live with less fear and more freedom.

Can’t wait to hear what her answers bring up for you.

Pauline 💜

🟪 If you’re new here, Le Questionnaire is Money Feelings' monthly series exploring how women around the world think, feel, and act around money. It’s not about numbers. It’s about psychology, habits, fears, and the stories that shape our financial lives.

NAME: Dana Miranda

AGE: 39

FROM: Rural Wisconsin, USA

ASTRO: Pisces (that’s all I know!)

LOVES: Wisconsin in the fall, San Francisco all year, my nieces and nephews, the New York Times crossword except on Saturdays, never not watching “The Office,” daily walks and yoga

MISSIONS:

→ Demystifying complex and scary subjects, especially in personal finance
→ Changing the way people talk about money

JOB(S)/PROJECT(S):

→ Healthy Rich newsletter

→ “You Don’t Need a Budget” book

SURPRISE(S): I’m a big grump today, but I was a cheerleader in high school 📣

🟣 Which of your financial habits do you suspect annoys your partner, your family, or your friends (or everyone!)? 

I suspect my partner is annoyed by the way I shop. I’m not a huge shopper, but when I do look for something, I’m always willing to buy a “good enough” thing, even if it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, just to check it off my list. He’s more meticulous and willing to put in the time to get just the right thing, which usually works out better in the long run.

🟣 Is there a money habit someone you know has that drives you crazy?

When we were young, my sister used to drive me crazy with shopping habits that are exactly the opposite of mine. Like my partner, she would shop around forever to make sure she saw all of her options before buying something. She would keep us in the mall all day, while I spent my money in the first couple of stores and was ready to get to the food court and go home.

🟣 When was the last time you felt even a little pang of jealousy about someone else’s financial or professional success? Who was it? No need to name names, just tell us a bit about the context.

Oh, constantly! I can always find someone who seems to have done everything better throughout their career and landed in a position I wish I were in. In particular, there are a few Substack writers whose work I admire and whose careers (and clout) I’d love to have.

🟣 What’s a purchase that brings you real, lasting joy? And on the flip side, what’s something you spend money on regularly even though you know it doesn’t actually bring you that much satisfaction?

Lasting joy: Comfortable shoes (am I 100 years old?? Yes.). Having a solid pair of Birkenstocks or TOMS ready to slip on takes a ton of decision-making out of my day. And any activity or function is more pleasant to endure when I’m not uncomfortable in what I’m wearing.

Not much satisfaction: Gas for my car. I live in a rural area and hate how much I drive, so it’s a bummer to spend money every time I fill up.

🟣 Does the way you manage your finances resemble your parents’ or did you rebel? Tell us a bit about how your money habits are similar to or different from theirs.

Totally different! My parents were working-class and penny pinchers. They were careful savers and frugal spenders. They taught us that we have to work hard and use our money wisely. I completely rebelled against that. I never wanted to do work I didn’t love, so I spent the first decade of my adulthood scraping by and not worrying about making or managing money. By the time I started earning a comfortable income, I’d developed a very laissez faire approach to money that informs how I talk about money now as a financial educator. I don’t share my parents’ fear of debt or lionizing of hard work, and I’m willing to leave jobs I don’t like even if it means being in a financial pinch for a while.

🟣 You just won the lottery. What do you do?

Travel and give money away! I’ve experienced small windfalls or periods of higher earnings, and I miss both of those things. I love being able to give money or other resources to friends when money is tight for them, to be able to pick up the check or pay for travel to give people kindnesses I was so grateful to receive when I was younger and more broke. And if I were flush with cash, I would absolutely be traveling more, and further! I’ve been all over the U.S., but never out of the country, and I’m ready to spend some time in the U.K. and Europe :)

🟣 When was the last time you spent money impulsively? What were you feeling in that moment? What was going on? What did you splurge on? And… does it happen often?

This doesn’t happen often in a big way, because I’m not a big consumer (I don’t judge consumption; I just don’t like having a lot of stuff). I’m the most impulsive when I’m buying something for my nieces and nephews. About a week ago, I was responsible for bringing snacks for our family to watch a few hours of the kids playing soccer. I went into the store with a small list of items in my head… but I saw some delightful “unicorn cakes” that made me think of my little princess of a niece, and I had to buy them 🦄 They were delicious and a total hit with the kids, too!

Impulsive purchases like that can make me feel a little guilty, because I don’t want to teach the kids to equate gifts or indulgences with love. But it also brings them so much joy to get a new treat (to know I thought of them), and it brings me so much joy to be able to do that for them. And I get to do that as an auntie, right?

🟣 Who handles the finances in your household? If you're in a relationship, tell us a bit about how you manage things together. Who takes care of what? How do you make financial decisions as a team? Do you share everything, or do you keep some things private?

I’ve been with my partner for 15 years, living together and sharing finances most of that time. We’ve supported each other’s careers and interests, and we’ve taken turns being the main income earner as opportunities have come and gone. For now, I’m the main earner, and he takes care of the logistics of keeping the bills paid. We make all of our major financial decisions together, after long discussions, but we don’t fret about money a lot. All of our personal finances are intertwined, but we each own solo businesses as freelancers and creatives, so we’re able to have independence that way.

🟣 Do you remember the last time you felt seriously stressed about money? What happened? How did you feel? And how did you handle it?

The past couple of years were tough in our household, because my partner and I bought our first house and bought a small business together in the same year. A year later, we reorganized the business and downsized a lot, but we were still paying off debt from the loan we used to buy it. The stress came from knowing we needed to make that big change for our mental health, but knowing it meant figuring out how to keep repaying the debt and find new income sources for the household. We slowed down our spending a lot in that time, and that helped ease the stress. I was able to get back into freelancing and eventually get a full-time job, and the reduced spending let me ease back into earning what the household needed. We’ve always kept our housing costs low, so whenever we have moments like this of feeling squeezed financially, we can find relief by easing up on other spending for a while.

🟣 Do you ever catch yourself thinking you’d like to earn a bit more? Even just a little? If yes, what would you do with that extra money?

Yes! I’ve written about wanting more money. Honestly, I don’t care about how much I earn, just how much it can buy. I’d be fine earning less if everything cost less! But I’d like to earn a little more — like 25% more — so I could easily travel and give money away without worrying if I have enough. If I could earn about twice what I do now, I’d like to move. I used to live in San Francisco, and I would prefer to live there again if I could do it without living in poverty or having a bunch of roommates into my forties. But I can never stomach the kind of work that would earn me that much money, so I stay in the Midwest for now :)

🟣 What does financial success mean to you? What does it look like, or who does it look like?

It means fewer constraints on my comfort and ability to do work I love. My current financial situation isn’t dire, but I’m always having to make compromises about how I use my time so I can earn money to live comfortably. Financial success would mean using my time exactly how I want to, living where I want to, traveling when I want to.

🟣 If you were to do a little clean-up of your money habits, what would you put in each of these three boxes?

🛑 To stop: A habit that isn’t helping you 

🟢 To start: Something you’d like to put in place

✅ To keep: A good habit you already have and want to stick with

🛑 To stop: Not doing tax planning each year and dealing with a bill.

🟢 To start: Refresh my savings planning and start regularly putting money into a travel fund again.

✅ To keep: Working as my energy allows and not overworking just to earn money.

🟣 Is there a moment, experience, or positive memory that has shaped the way you manage money today? And is there something negative you’re still carrying or trying to let go of?

For about five years, I was starting out as a freelancer, and my partner was getting started in his creative career, and we were completely broke and traveling around the U.S. a lot. I learned how to be clever and frugal, not because I was trying to be “smart with money” but just because I wanted to live my life and had almost no money to do it. I hold onto the memory of that time to remember how much I was able to experience with so little money, and it keeps me from being afraid of taking risks with work or money now — I know I can get by with nothing, so I don’t need to make unsavory compromises just to earn money.

🟣 If you could travel back in time and undo one financial mistake, which one would you fix?

I would have taken out student loans for my first semester in college instead of spending through my meager savings. A few thousand dollars is negligible as student loan debt, but it would have made a huge difference to have that cash when I was getting started as an adult on my own.

🟣 Has the topic of inheritance ever come up with your parents, siblings, or other close relatives? Is it a sensitive subject in your family, or something that’s discussed openly?

Very little. My family doesn’t have a significant inheritance to manage, probably just my parents’ house. I’ve got three sisters to split it with, and I’ve told my parents I don’t want to be included in the inheritance of the house. The cash that comes out of it won’t be worth the hassle of selling it in our low-income area or the potential for conflict with my sisters over it, so I’m happy to take myself out of the mix.

🟣 How do you feel when you hear the word “retirement”? Are you more Team “I’ve got a plan and a spreadsheet” or Team “I avoid thinking about it, it’s too far off / too overwhelming”?

I avoid thinking about it! I’ve written about how my generation (at least in the United States) needs to rethink retirement planning, because our culture doesn’t give us viable options. I’m in the “I’ll work forever” state of mind, but I know I can’t fully control whether that’s possible.

🟣 And what about when you hear “investing in the stock market”?

I don’t do it! I included a chapter in my book about the ethical problems with investing. I don’t begrudge anyone who saves for their future this way, because it’s the option we’re given, but it’s not a fair or equitable option, and I don’t like that we’re put in the position of relying on stock market returns for personal financial security.

🟣 If your bank account could talk, what would it say is your biggest extravagance?

Food — treats from the grocery store, fun snacks and occasionally eating out.

🟣 Do you know how much your friends earn? Do you talk about personal finances, investing, etc., in your friend group?

I talk about money openly with my friends who are freelance writers. We make a point to share rates openly and talk about business costs. Others, out of habit, don’t talk about money as much, though people in some of my circles do push for more transparency around income and finances, and we’re all slowly becoming more comfortable with these conversations.

🟣 What’s a money-related secret you’ve never shared with anyone — but would be willing to reveal to Money Feeling’s 2,300 subscribers today?

I’m a pretty open book!

My debt stories: Default, wage garnishment and bank levies — oh my!

🟣 Thank you, Dana!

💜 So, how did you feel reading Dana’s answers? Did anything feel familiar? Or totally opposite? Did it spark any ideas or feelings? Let us know in the comments!

And to join our next session, you can always sign up as a free subscriber, but a paid subscription gives you access to the No Buy Challenge, the 10+ tools, a chance to unplug with off-screen exercises, and discounts on professional support, including 30% off a paid subscription to Dana’s newsletter, Healthy Rich, for life. The code and link are waiting for you in The Paid Corner.

And remember: Money Feelings is your space, your platform, and your tool.

If you have questions, confessions, or something you’d like help with in your relationship with money, don’t hesitate to message me. You can also share something completely anonymously here 👇

See you in two weeks, or sooner on Notes.

Pauline 💜