Courtesy of Zee Gustafson

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Zee Gustafson , a 37-year-old fashion and finance content creator and freelance celebrity hair and makeup stylist. It has been edited for length and clarity.

As a celebrity hair and makeup stylist , I spent much of my early career surrounded by media personalities, lights, and glamour in the heart of New York City .

I loved it and am grateful for the profession I had worked hard to enter. Somewhere along the way, though, my lifestyle habits changed.

I left the busy city to move out west to Bend, Oregon, a small mountain town, to settle with my husband during the height of the pandemic.

We raised our child there, but we also raised something else: Our credit card debt .

Together, we make around $400,000 a year . I'm a freelance stylist, bringing in about $100,000, and I also earn roughly $50,000 creating social media content .…