In my various social circles- young adults, New Yorkers, and actors- “broke” is a buzz word. Everybody’s saying it, doing it, and living it- and so am I.

But here’s the thing… I don’t want to be broke. That might sound super obvious, silly even, but it’s actually a fairly recent revelation.

When I graduated college I didn’t really care much about my pitiful salary or the stress that accompanied getting the bills paid in full each month. I was living my dream and if the cost was some monetary struggle, it was well worth it. For many years I operated under this mentality, fulfilling the starving artist stereotype complete with bouts of unemployment and stints as a babysitter, assistant, and coat check girl.

In the midst of pounding the pavement and working soul crushing survival jobs it occurred to me that I had accepted being broke as my personal status quo. I didn’t have a long term plan in place beyond book a Broadway show, which was neither a surefire nor a long term solution to my broke dilemma.

It was then that I stumbled upon the great wide world of personal finance, using information and financial fundamentals to break free of broke by maximizing each and every dollar- from getting better returns on my various bank and retirement accounts to scoring rockstar rewards through cards and cash back.

Learning to leverage my dollar to prepare for both my financial present and my financial future allowed for broke to be beautiful- a journey I’ve chronicled over the course of the last two years on this blog and now, in my book which, shameless plug, is being released TODAY!

As I look forward this New Year and beyond, my goal is to not only break free of broke by making the most of my limited income, but to leave broke in the dust by saying screw it to the starving artist stereotype and building multiple streams of diverse income to thrive artistically, financially, and every other awesome adverb there is.

I want it all, and dammit I’m going to have it all!

[tweetthis]Being young and living prosperously don’t have to be mutually exclusive #breakingbroke[/tweetthis]

My wish is for all my colleagues lamenting “brokedom” as I have is to follow suit and find empowerment this year through financial literacy- starting with simple steps like learning financial fundamentals, budgeting, and tracking spending. There is no need to be limited to a stereotype, whether it’s broke Millennial, broke New Yorker, or any other type of “broke” there is.

Have a healthy and WEALTHY New Year everyone! #breakingbroke

How are you breaking broke?