plays “fast and loose” with money

[KLPNO]

Hello everyone,

From the book Choose Your Story, Change Your Life by Kindra Hall.

I mentioned earlier that, in our home, I am known as the spender. I’m the one who plays “fast and loose” with money. And don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of true stories in my past where I flat-out failed at money.

The time I rented an apartment and needed to keep a second job to afford it.

The time I had a boyfriend in Minnesota when I had moved to New Mexico, and I bought plane tickets to see him every other weekend even though I was a broke grad student with tens of thousands of dollars in student loans.

According to the dictionary definitions, "play fast and loose" has clearly negative connotations implying irresponsibility or lack of seriousness.

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.co...le, unreliable, or,," played at country fairs.

However, the second sentence says: "And don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of true stories in my past where I flat-out failed at money", which implies to me that "play fast and loose" means something positive.

So what is the intended meaning of "play fast and loose" in the above context?

 

[5jj]

'Don't get me wrong' has a suggestion of 'I am not attempting to deny this'.

 

[Skrej]

'Fast and loose' does carry a negative connotation in this example. She's also admitting that there have been many times when her 'fast and loose' approach really has been bad for her finances, as evidenced by a few examples. These just reinforce the negative aspect of 'fast and loose'.