I used to be really bad with money. As a business reporter, it’s hard to admit, even now that I’ve gotten it together.

By day, I would write stories on how stock pickers could mindfully invest in the market; yet by night, I would spend up to my credit card limit on shoes, bags or drinks out. After a year of living in New York, I had no savings, let alone extra cash to invest in the stock market I was writing about.