A few nights ago at a BBQ, I found myself in the spotlight of a very awkward conversation.  A girls’ night out where we channeled our inner SATC characters, the conversation had flowed seamlessly from men, to beauty, to shopping and beyond.  At least, until, in the midst of a conversation where most of the other women were discussing their “need” to shop and how they “simply can’t pay attention to the total and just swipe the card,” a friend made a comment about how good I am with my money.

Up until this point, I had politely, yet silently, been following along; nodding and smiling, but not adding my two cents–not to be rude or elitist, but simply because I’m just not that much of a shopper.  After my friend mentioned my fine budgeting skills and I responded in a very light-hearted tone that “my mortgage likes to kick my @ss,” a woman sitting across from me (who I’d just met 1 hour ago) blurted out, “You have a mortgage?  YOU bought a HOUSE?!”  The rest of the–very awkward–exchange went something like this:

Woman (before I could respond, with wide-eyes and a look of disbelief):  “Really, you bought a house?!”
Me:  “Oh no, just a condo”
Woman:  “A condo; in Boston?  “BY YOURSELF?!  What is it, 1 bedroom?”
Me (small voice by now, squirming in my seat a bit): “Umm, 2 bedroom.”
Woman (with evil look of disdain):  “Wow.  I like to shop too much.”

Now perhaps I’m not telling this story correctly or it may seem trivial to some of you reading this, but for whatever reason, this exchange has stuck with me for days.  Not because the woman was a tad on the rude side considering she’d just met me, but because I, for the first time since buying my place 14 months ago, felt as if I were being scrutinized for making what I consider to be good financial choices.

Is it that hard to believe that someone my age could save enough to invest in property?  I may look young, but I’m no spring chicken–and I’ve worked my tail off to get where I am.  You can read my story here or about how I paid off $14,000 in credit card debt here to get a better picture of why this conversation struck me the way it did.

It has also brought up a host of ideas that I’ll be blogging about in the future.  First and foremost, I had to post these initial thoughts because I find myself wondering if other single women have experienced anything like this. If you have, please share your story–I’m suddenly fascinated by this entire topic. I also hope that this post with serve as a “stirring of the pot;” that perhaps it will open the doors for a variety of related conversations. Stay tuned for the follow-up!

*Random side-note that my checking account has over $7,300 in it right now–man how I’m loving this stretch where I’m being paid for two full-time jobs but only working one–if only it would continue indefinitely!