(this is annie)

By nature I am a somewhat anxious person when it comes to money. I often worry that I'm not saving enough, that I'm not making enough, that perhaps I should take on a weekend job just to create more of a nest egg. When I started my first salaried job, I dutifully socked 8% of my income away in a 401(k) (and of course, now at 9%, still I worry that it's not enough). I credit this financial freakiness to a childhood spent knowing that we didn't have enough money, and when we did, it wasn't always spent wisely. I love my father, but at age 77, he still hasn't mastered this very simple concept: Spend less than what you earn.

This is why I am constantly trying to figure out how to save more money. Especially now that I am almost 30, I feel like I need to invest more of it. I love the magic of compound interest and I already panic that 22 was too old to start investing my money. There are only a few problems with this:

1. Make 1.5 times former salary, yet banking the "raise" makes me feel like I merely pay higher taxes but do not benefit from bigger paycheck.


2. Am scared of investing outside of 401k. 401k is like warm, tax-deferred blanket. Mutual funds are like unknown, potentially scary blanket made of snakes.


3. I don't really have any furniture. Aside from the bed, everything was bought on Craigslist. My dresser was $30, and although I don't love it, I don't really need a new dresser, and therefore I cannot bring myself to buy a dresser that will ultimately lose its value.
4. Oddly, though, I am not cheap. I donate to various good causes each month, I don't buy only generic food at the store, I eat out at least twice a week. But lately I just don't want more stuff. Not even the things you supposedly need, such as a dresser made within the last 60 years.
   
   

Like I said, I'm a little anxious about it.