HORRIBLE with money
by Esther Kim
Is everyone bad with money or are the current financial systems in place not designed for the average person? “Bad with Money: the Imperfect Art of Getting your Financial Sh*t Together” by Gaby Dunn [who now goes by Gabriel Shane Dunn (they/them)] is a financial literacy book that helps people struggling with their finances to take steps towards financial freedom. Dunn discusses their struggles that they have faced growing up, particularly struggles with money, to try and help their readers avoid making the same mistakes that they did. While they state clear steps to take to set yourself up for financial success, Dunn also claims that there are many obstacles that can hinder you on the way that are inevitable obstacles. Dunn also seems to blame external factors for their financial struggles, when they are actually poorly-made personal choices made for their financial situation that clashed with the external factors. Although this book may be helpful to those with little to no prior knowledge on financial literacy, it can also be obvious, candid information for those with a basic education on personal finances.
Dunn struggled with money their whole life and started a podcast called “Bad with Money”, which eventually evolved into this book. They also were a comedy YouTuber and author of several other books and wanted to share their experiences as an LGBTQ+ freelancer to help others with money and personal struggles. Dunn can serve as inspiration for those struggling with their finances that they have a chance to recover from their mistakes, just as Dunn was able to. For young readers without much personal finance background, this book could be a great way into teaching them the basic steps for a secure financial ground. Many aspects mentioned are even areas I haven’t thought about, as someone who is extremely enthusiastic about personal finances. For example, the book dives into the importance of setting aside funds for weddings, funerals, writing wills, and choosing banks, which were all aspects that I had not necessarily given thought to before. Additional advice such as making a Roth IRA, contributing to 401K, having an emergency fund, and the basics of credit card were all aspects I was extremely familiar with, but information that could be life changing for readers learning about it for the first time. Starting a retirement fund and having a high credit score could drastically improve one’s life through the opportunities that it provides them as they age and have to make bigger financial choices.
Dunn claims that every person is affected by how their parents treat money. This definitely could be true to an extent, especially with the indirect effect of the wealth of the parents. If a child grows up in an affluent family, they may have little to worry about their spending for the rest of their lives, which goes to show the indirect effect of how their parent’s wealth affects their latter spending. Those who grow up financially struggling, could be heavily directly affected, following the footsteps of their parents, or even working extremely hard to not become like their parents. For example, a child coming from an affluent family with full financial support from their parents may spend recklessly, even if they don’t make enough money because they were raised in a way where they did not have to worry about money. On the other hand, a person who has a high paying job may be extremely frugal, because they were raised in a tight household who taught them not to spend recklessly. Both of these outcomes show the direct effect their parents’ spending may have on them.
While influenced by the poor spending habits of their parents, Dunn deliberately made the choice to take out significantly more debt. Their childhood consisted of their parents constantly putting themselves at debt to afford luxuries to fit in with their peers, which later influenced Dunn to do the same. They grew up in a relatively affluent neighborhood, attending private schools, going on extravagant trips, and throwing expensive parties, all under debt. A prime example of that is Dunn’s bat mitzvah cost their family $20,000– an outrageous amount for a thirteen-year-old girl, especially coming from a struggling family–but that is the lengths their family went to, to fit in with their social circles. This may have enabled Dunn to take out significantly more debt than they should’ve at their young age, and also influenced their younger sister to do the same, which supports her argument that they were heavily affected by their parents spending.
I can relate in some ways to this sentiment, but actually can be proof of the opposition. While my parents were not the greatest with money and never taught me much about personal finance, even before I turned 18 I started working as much as possible while educating myself on how to work towards financial success. I started contributing to my Roth IRA right at 18, opened up a 401K with my employer Starbucks, and budgeted meticulously, which were all things not encouraged by my parents at all, but simply choices I made from research. This shows that even though my parents never pushed me one way or another, possibly more towards negative spending habits, I on my own pushed myself towards achieving the best financial situation I could for my age and situation. This is not to say I am doing better than anyone else, as I know I will have to face a significant amount of student loans when I graduate from grad school, but I am still being very careful about all my decisions, and not blaming my parents for any poor financial choices that I make, unlike Dunn. This however, can also reflect Dunn’s sentiment on how our parents’ views can affect their children because my parent’s lack of educating me on finances is what pushed me to educate myself. Rather than one clear right or wrong answer, there is a blend of two different sides, as reflected with my personal experience.
Dunn claims that college can ruin young people financially. Although they do discuss the importance of college such as racial equity through higher education, they dive deeper into how much of a scam the college system is. They claim “college admissions are purposely confusing when it comes to finances. Need-blind admission doesn’t mean that once accepted, the school will fill in that need. If you’re on the margins for admissions, your ability to pay tuition may factor into whether a school can afford to help you attend”(Dunn 36). They discuss how people so young should not be allowed to borrow these huge amounts of money, or at the very least educated on the consequences of borrowing money that they would need to face the repercussions of for the rest of their lives. Dunn also sees college as extremely predatory in the way they take thousands of dollars from young adults fresh from high school. They watched their younger sister borrow tens of thousands of dollars to move across the country to attend community college, when she could’ve saved an immense amount of money studying at the local community college. Dunn also made the same error and neglected their student loans they had built up from attending an extremely expensive college in Boston, an extremely expensive city. I think Dunn and her sister made these colossal mistakes when they were younger due to the lack of direction, and overly ambitious, unrealistic expectations of becoming an adult.
Dunn’s mother would secretly go behind their back to help them pay some of these loans, which leads to another point they make–that a student’s debt isn’t just their own, but their family’s burden. Lots of loans require a co-sign from a parent or guardian, which could affect their credit scores and put them as liabilities for late dues and general fees. It is highly unrealistic for students to be expected to pay for the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt without the help of their family, even while working jobs, so it definitely does become a family’s burden. They claim that the whole system is extremely unjust, especially on the poor and marginalized. Jeff Noonan, an author, philosopher, and professor shares his opinion on the capitalist system:“The commodified approach to education subordinates life-value to money-value, and is thus a cancer sequence that undermines comprehensive social intelligence by restricting education to a paying elite and its particular interests in maintaining control over social life. The general problem is thus a systematic confusion between life-value and money which ever more pervasively threatens the conditions of life-support and development, but persists unseen by the ruling value system” (Noonan 440). The similar beliefs that Noonan shares with Dunn is expressed in how higher education may seem reserved for those who can afford it through wealth and status, while those on the bottom have to make huge sacrifices just to receive the same education. College in Dunn’s eyes seems to be just a money-hungry industry taking away from desperate children, who see college as their only chance at equality of opportunity as the wealthy and elite.
No clear solution answers to this everlasting debate of the question of the financial strains of college, but Dunn’s contempt towards college may be their own fault. It is proven time and time again, and in studies that “expected lifetime earnings associated with a college degree have increased markedly over time”(Avery 182). While Dunn saw their college experience as more of a way to network with other journalists, college degrees can actually be highly beneficial and more financially reaping than the amount of loans taken out. Due to their own negative experiences, and also watching their sister go into debt, moving across the country for community college, they have a negatively skewed view on the value that a college education can give an individual. Although this may be good advice for poorly informed individuals who also are unsure of their career path yet, and could be highly benefited from attending community college for a few years, “those who begin their studies at community colleges and for-profit colleges have particularly low college completion rates and are unlikely to realize substantial earnings gains associated with degree completion”(Avery 188). Many driven students can and do thrive at community colleges, but ultimately bringing down the general college education in negative ways, without mentioning the exceeding benefits of it, is not showcasing both sides in a fair manner.
Dunn claims everyone is so bad with money because the capitalist system of the financial economy is actually the problem and not the individual. Although there are many obstacles such as racial inequality, unfathomable wealth gaps, and difficult life circumstances, blaming the system for all financial struggles is not the way to overcome the system and escape the never ending cycle of poverty. Life is full of inequities simply based on luck and parents, which definitely can give some advantages that are way ahead of others. While this is very true in the millions of ways that the elite benefit from their wealth and status, it is also important to not let this hold you back, but rather create an ambitious desire to change your life for the better. For example, going back to the college discussion, while the elite may have many advantages in college by being able to afford tuition and additional costs, it still should not prevent others from receiving education as well. Going into college with the mindset and understanding that you are at a disadvantage, smartly planning finances, and not letting the disparages stop you, can be a great way for a lower-income student to succeed in college.
Dunn is not extremely fond of banks and larger financial institutions. They claim that it is a system built off of predatory means, that finds ways to embezzle from the poor, and creates an unjust system around money. Here is an example they give: “many people don’t have enough money to keep a minimum balance or wait for a check to clear into a bank account. It doesn’t help that the minimum balance for free checking constantly rises; in some cases, it’s a few thousand dollars”(Dunn 122). They portray banks as an unethical and deceptive business, which is not entirely wrong, and use credit unions, or even local banks as better alternatives to banks. Although these options may be better for the moral comfort to oneself, it could actually be much more inconvenient than a conventional bank, which is something Dunn also admits to.
Dunn themselves, keep a Chase credit card for international use when they leave the country, as the other alternatives aren’t as safe as the bigger banks. There also seems to be a lot of resentment on their end, blaming the banks in some ways for their credit card debt, when it was actually the lack of their own understanding on how credit cards worked that caused their financial demise. Similarly to them, “many Americans with low financial literacy are unable to judge their credit card debt and more likely to engage in costly behaviors such as incurring late and over-the-limit fees”(Limbu 851). Dunn maxed out their credit card traveling to Europe while going through a severe bipolar episode, which was conspicuously not a smart financial decision. Individuals could be smart with their credit card usage and actually use it to their advantage for benefits and points, which is something that Dunn does discuss, but still steers towards the negative side of. Again, this discussion of banks and financial institutions is not black and white, and it is important for individuals to research and consider all sides to make personal choices that would best suit their morals, lifestyle, and finances.
On a last note, it’s important to mention that one huge aspect of Dunn’s financial journey was their struggle with their mental illness — bipolar disorder. This could have a vital role in many of their irresponsible financial decisions that they made, such as traveling to Paris on a maxed out credit card, which is something that the average person probably would not do. When they finally accepted their diagnosis and started taking the medication and getting the help they needed, their financial situation started to improve significantly. When criticizing Dunn’s choices, I don’t mean to demean and fault them for their mental illness, but just wanted to include this as a disclaimer for an explanation for many of their decisions. Dunn however doesn’t fully blame their mental illness for their choices and takes full responsibility for their actions. While the discrimination of mental illness is a very pressing issue with the lack of evenly distributed support throughout all situations, this was not the case for Dunn specifically as they had multiple opportunities to improve their situation. Although mental illness is a huge aspect in their life, they don’t focus heavily on it as it is not the main sentiment of the book, or the main reason why they made the decisions they did.
Overall, Dunn makes a lot of valid points throughout this book that could significantly help those on a similar path to theirs. They provide an educational, yet entertaining and engaging story and instructional steps to help those who are financially struggling at a young age. That being said, for those who are more financially literate and comfortable in their financial journey would likely not benefit much from reading this book, excluding the entertaining anecdotal stories from Dunn, especially if they are a fan. Their audience, however may be the former and they definitely could be a huge positive to those not only struggling financially, but with their overall sexuality, mental health, and confidence.
Avery, Christopher, and Sarah Turner. “Student Loans: Do College Students Borrow Too Much — or Not Enough?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 26, no. 1, 2012, pp. 165–192., https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.26.1.165.
Dunn, Gaby. Bad with Money: The Imperfect Art of Getting Your Financial Sh*t Together. Atria Paperback, 2019.
Limbu, Yam B., and Shintaro Sato. “Credit Card Literacy and Financial Well-Being of College Students.” International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 37, no. 4, 2019, pp. 991–1003., https://doi.org/10.1108/ijbm-04-2018-0082.
Noonan, Jeff. “Life-Value vs Money-Value: Capitalism’s Fatal Category Mistake.” The European Legacy, vol. 24, no. 3–4, 2018, pp. 437–445., https://doi.org/10.1080/10848770.2018.1524046.
