I made some dumb financial mistakes in my 20s such as defaulting on my student loans, but it all started with not saving money. This was the catalyst for all my eventual money mistakes. I want to share the excuses I made for not saving money in hopes of encouraging you to start saving money no matter what age you are. It is never too late. 5 excuses I made for not saving money 1….
I am sure most of you have come across a 0% financing offer typically when buying large ticket items such as electronics (TVs, cameras), large appliances, jewelry, mattresses, and furniture. 0% financing is also referred to as 0% promotional financing or “no interest if paid in full”. You might also come across 0% financing offers on lower ticket items because banks know they can make money. I have worked in the financial services industry for…
Thanks to a variety of personal finance and side hustle podcasts, I have been motivated more than ever to pay off my student loan debt. In my 20s I defaulted on my student loans and I have been paying the price on that mistake ever since. I am now on pace to pay off my student loans a month ahead of my personal goal and pay it off entirely in February 2019. I have been…
Having a side hustle to make more money is a great way to achieve your financial goal. Aside from tightening your belt a bit more and squeezing every single dollar out of your income, budgeting will only take you so far. Here are 7 reasons to have a side hustle to increase income 1. Pay off debt quicker One major reason I started to take my side hustle more seriously this year is to pay…
This is a public service announcement and reminder to pull one of your credit reports from Experian, Transunion, or Equifax by the end of the year. The only place you should do this is by going to the official site www.annualcreditreport.com. It is Federal law that allows each of us to get a free copy of your credit report from each of the 3 credit reporting companies every 12 months. Keep in mind that…
As the year comes to an end, it is important to take advantage of the Federal law that allows you to pull your credit report every 12 months. The only place you should go to do this is by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com. This is the official website. The credit reports will not have an official FICO score. I recommend that you pull your credit report one at a time and spread it over the course of…
One of my side hustles is buying and selling and naturally, eBay plays a part. eBay is not always my first choice for certain items/categories, but in many cases, it is. In those cases I use eBay, I am OK with the high eBay fees and eventual PayPal transaction fee because I know I am getting a lot of eyeballs (impressions) on my item compared to other sites. I want to share some of my…
There are some financial “entertainers” who believe that building credit and building your FICO credit score is unnecessary and a waste of time. There are some who believe you need to build your credit and continue improving your credit score. I believe that you should keep an eye on your credit and build your credit so you get a 760 and above FICO credit score. Aiming for an 800+ FICO credit score is a fool’s errand…
I originally intended for this side hustle extra money report to be monthly but clearly I failed. My only one so far is from September 2018 when I made almost $1,000 in extra income. I started this blog as a personal journal because I went through some of the dumbest financial mistakes possible most notably defaulting on my $77,000 student loan debt. Along the way my hope is that this blog will encourage and inspire…
I am “uber” excited to have this guest post from Lexi Carr. Lexi is a freelance writer with a passion for finance, research, and helping others. Feel free to drop her a line on her blog. Contact me if you are interested in contributing or advertising (on the cheap!). Lyft offer – click here to get a $5 credit for your 1st ride Uber offer – click here to get a $5 credit for your 1st ride Rideshare…
Recently I was talking to a colleague in her 20s and we started to talk about interests. I started to bring up my interests in financial independence, investing, and going on my podcast and audiobook binges related to those subjects. Throughout this conversation I realized that her financial mentality is exactly the same as it was for me when I was in my 20s. The biggest differences are she did not have the massive amount…
I have made some of the worst money mistakes any person can make. It took me at least 10 years to recover from these money mistakes in my 20s and I have been paying for these mistakes to this day. What are your worst financial mistakes and how have you or are you recovering? Here are my 5 worst financial mistakes Student loans and credit cards I funded my entire Big 10 out of state…
Ever since I set my student loan debt payoff goal of March 2019, I have been motivated more than ever to continue seeing my student loan debt shrink and eventually paid off. I have been paying a bit more on top of the $2,300 a month I currently pay thanks to my side hustles. Although my payoff month goal is March 2019, I am aggressively pursuing a payoff goal by the end of February 2019….
I was on a pretty good roll with putting posts up on this blog since starting this in May. Real life happens and the past 30 days has been hectic. It all started with business travel in October and then my favorite baseball team made the World Series in back to back years so I made a trip for the weekend. Probably a money moron moment, but I am a big Dodgers fan. I get…
I genuinely believe that if you are just starting to plan for your future whether that is early retirement or financial independence or developing a plan to get out of debt, then you need to start budgeting. I spend a minimal amount of time a month budgeting and it has helped me to know where my money was going. I noticed a pattern of spending behaviors that became acceptable to me. Here are 5 actions…
I started this blog as a personal journal because I went through some of the dumbest financial mistakes possible most notably defaulting on my $77,000 student loan debt. Along the way my hope is that this blog will allow me to learn from others, share knowledge, embarrass myself by sharing my personal finance journey, encourage others, and hold myself accountable. I enjoy my full time job and have absolutely no plans to leave. I make…
For this week I rounded up the following blog posts that I enjoyed reading. OMG My Money’s favorite personal finance posts of the week (My first contribution! Thanks Michelle and Howard for letting me be part of this!) Which is better for getting out of debt, experience or knowledge by Debt.com – click here My take – you can check out my response here or check it out in full below. I basically said knowledge first, take…
As I started to spend a couple minutes every month budgeting, I noticed a pattern of spending behaviors that became acceptable to me. I have also witnessed my dad going above and beyond to save a few pennies or a few bucks. I never asked if this was a thrill or some sort of satisfaction by beating the game of what is the lowest price he can get? I guess I should not assume. Here…
Earlier this year (May 2018), I had a personal finance epiphany. Out of nowhere I got this urge to get a hold of my finances and start aggressively paying off my $77,000 student loan debt and further educate myself on personal finance, financial independence, and investing. During this epiphany I decided to plan how I could aggressively tackle my enormous student loan debt. The baby step moment was to start budgeting. I needed to understand…
Through my buying and selling experience, I realized later on that I was naturally improving my negotiation and bargaining skills. My 8 best negotiating and bargaining tips Learn to actively listen – I have learned to ask questions and then stop talking to let the other person talk. For example, it can get very silent and awkward when I am going through someone’s sports cards collection and I am trying to calculate the collection’s value,…
