Blogging about personal growth in financial independence, health, and happiness
My organization has multiple fiscal years for some odd reason (multiple funding sources), but the date that employees care about the most is July 1. This is when we get our annual salary increases. They aren’t raises per se because they’re only loosely tied to performance—everyone gets one, and it’s more of a lifestyle cost adjustment. It’s between 3-5% typically. And in the past, avoiding lifestyle creep wasn’t on my radar.
This is my first weekly update on the blog! Basically a short overview of relevant things that happened in my life this week; my hope is that putting these updates out will help me get into the habit of writing more consistently. Without further ado, I’ll start with the good news: starting a new side hustle.
Continue reading “Weekly Update: Side Hustles and Vet Bills”
The Personal Finance community has some pretty strong views about budgets. About whether or not you need one, about the proper way to allocate money, and about what tool is best. Excel spreadsheet user? You should totally be using Personal Capital. No, you should use Mint. No, nothing beats a good old-fashioned spreadsheet! While I hate to add to the noise of the budget debate, I am a fervent convert of You Need a Budget (YNAB).
It has officially been one year since I started my free 34-day trial, and I can honestly say that using YNAB has changed my life. Without it, I never would have gotten my financial shit in order, and I never would have found the personal finance and FIRE community. I finally feel like I have control of my finances, and I want to shout YNAB’s praises from the rooftops. Conveniently, I have a blog now! Complete with virtual rooftops galore!
So here it goes. Reasons why I love budgeting in YNAB: Continue reading “An Ode to My YNAB Budget”
This month, I officially paid off the last of my credit card debt. I’m honestly a little embarrassed that I had any to begin with—I wasn’t all that careful with my money right after graduating because taking home a real paycheck was dizzying. I didn’t bother doing the math, and was pretty liberal to treating myself when I had a bad day and needed a pick-me-up. Or when I had a good day and needed to celebrate. Or really anytime I wanted something; I was a pro at coming up with excuses. Finally, when I got serious about budgeting just about a year ago (and subsequently fell down the FIRE rabbit hole), I was able to make real progress on tackling the beast. Continue reading “Slaying My Consumer Debt”
Lately, during my phone conversations with my little sister, I have this overwhelming urge to bombard her with financial advice. All of the things that I wish I had known before I racked up credit card debt and bought a new office wardrobe. Before I spent some of my first real money on a classy pair of “big-girl” diamond earrings. Before I got my first apartment and spent absurd amounts of money on takeout. You get the drift…
But usually our phone calls are short because she’s busy studying or going between commitments on campus. Plus, she’s 20 and thinks she has all the answers. So I thought I’d compile my thoughts here in the spirit of encouraging student financial health in others, and maybe in the hope that having a written response will be helpful to her. So here we go!
Continue reading “10 Pieces of Financial Advice for My 20 Year Old Sister”
Something I decided to do when I got serious about eating healthier and spending less money was relying less on convenience foods. Last year I did a pretty good job cutting out delivery and eating out, but I was still such a sucker for higher priced items at the grocery store—the “oven ready” kits, the fresh sushi in the prepared foods section, the artisan bread loaves that always smell so tempting…the list goes on. In January, I resolved to cut back on these and make as much from scratch as possible. Continue reading “The Joy of Cooking at Home”
I absolutely love when the weather turns cold. I spent most of the weekend running both my dryer and my oven in a futile attempt to delay turning on my heat. I had to finally cave Saturday evening, but the effort was worth it! All my laundry is done, and my house is full of baked goods and roasted vegetables. Sounds like a win to me.
(Also, in an attempt to find an awesome winter photo for this post, this one below was one of the first that showed up in my search. And nothing can possibly beat a chipmunk in a knitted hat, so I decided to roll with it. Isn’t it cute??)
