Somehow, I made this system work for most of my young life. But when I moved to New York City this spring and suddenly found myself face-to-face with Manhattan’s infamously steep prices ($15 for a vodka-cranberry?! Really?!), the years of unsolicited lectures from my (very financially savvy) parents on the importance of watching your spending didn’t seem so annoying. Oh, and I had just started interning with the Work & Money team at Refinery29. Yeah, the irony wasn’t lost on me, either. Suffice it to say, it was time to get my act together.