I made a post about reaching my 6 figure annual salary goal and then I started doing some research around salary and happiness. I came across this article by MarketWatch. To sum up the article: Life satisfaction – $95,000 annual salary Emotional well being – $60,000 to $75,000 annual salary I am a single mid 30s male with no kids living in a vibrant city. Downtown living is expensive, but I am grateful for my…
I started planning for a major expense planned earlier this month (August 2018) to support my side hustle of buying and selling sports cards. Every year an annual sports card show takes place called The National Sports Collector Convention. 2017 was the first year I had gone to “The National” in more than 8 years so it was more about gaining the experience of attending a huge show and interacting with the big dogs who…
I recently started questioning where I should stash my emergency fund. The past several years, my emergency fund was split between a couple high yield savings accounts. I also saved more than a year’s worth because well, I am not sure why. I would love to hear where others are stashing their emergency fund. Here are 4 thoughts that have been going through my head regarding my emergency fund: Keep my high yield savings accounts…
When I was growing up, I wanted to be a stockbroker because I had the perception that stockbrokers made tons of money. I eventually made a goal to make a 6 figure salary. No age goal, no specific amount. It was simply an arbitrary 6 figures I wanted to make. I achieved the 6 figure salary goal in my 20s. Now in my mid 30s, I continue to earn 6 figures to this day as…
Throughout this journey I am on as a money moron, self reflection made me realize some of the lame excuses for not saving money. What are some of your reasons you have not saved money? The 9 lamest excuses I told myself for not saving money I don’t make enough – early on in my career during my early-mid 20s, I fell into the trap of telling myself, “if I were to make a little…
In a previous post, I shared my passion hobby. Buying and selling sports cards serves as my primary money making side hustle. I started collecting sports cards back in the 90s thanks to my dad. I then went in and out of the hobby until I went to college. I took out student loans to fund my entire Big 10 education. What do you get when you take out student loans and you are a…
I am always fascinated and interested to learn more about other people’s passion hobbies whether that hobby makes money or not as well as side hustles. For example, a colleague of mine has a hobby of taking improv classes, which I found so interesting. It is a creative outlet with no intention of turning this hobby into a side hustle. Totally fine and open minded about that. Share your passion hobby or money making side…
I might have been going down the path of another money moron moment that perhaps turned out for the best. What do you think? Since May of this year (2018), I made it a goal to start taking my first steps in buying my first home, an investment property to either flip or turn into a rental property. In order to achieve this house goal, the money would have been with my savings, which would…
What are some of your financial habits you stopped? I am guilty of many of the common financial habits listed in this post. I have used the word “try” so many times in my 20s and even up until I started this personal finance blog back in May (2018). I was inspired by posts made by Cash Money Life, Money Crashers, and The Balance. Here are my 8 biggest financial habits to stop now Not holding…
If you have not yet retired, what are some money secrets you follow to strive for your goal of retiring early? If you retired early, what are some of your favorite money secrets to retire early? Early retirement is not something I ever, ever considered before this year. As I started to create this personal finance blog and posting more, I inevitably started to write down goals. One of those posts was completing my first…
This post is inspired by my day job and also a blog post I came across. By day I am a full time digital marketer and one of the market analysis that I have completed is a SWOT analysis. Investopedia has a good overview of what this is in the context of why a company would complete such an analysis. I also know of entrepreneurs who want to start a business and end up completing…
What are some of the biggest debt traps? The word debt is about as cringe worthy as it gets. I am certainly caught in some of these debt traps. This post is inspired by this 2 Cents Lifehacker article.I hope many of you are in the process of getting out any of these 11 debt traps. Here are the 11 biggest money debt traps Student loans (government/federal loans or private loans) – I know all…
What are your favorite top money rules that you (try to) follow? I referenced blog posts from NerdWallet, The Simple Dollar, and The Practical Saver to create my top money rules. My 9 top money rules Pay yourself first – a lot of the financial gurus, ninjas, influencers really preach this. Whether you work a traditional 9-5 like I do or work for yourself through your own business, set aside a percentage of your income and…
What side hustles do you do currently to make extra income? Please share. I have been looking into a few other side hustles to make extra income. Despite making a 6 figure income and having no family to support, I feel like I should be using my idle time more wisely. Here are 5 side hustles I am taking more seriously for extra income Buy and resell – currently my hobby passion is buying and…
My first post listed out the first 5 financial milestones to achieve while in your 20s and 30s. This post lists the remaining 5 financial milestones. The inspiration behind this post was when I came across a post by the Investor Junkie. Here are 5 more financial milestones to achieve in your 20s and 30s Buying your first car – Major financial fail on my part to this day. Ever since graduating from college, I have…
Mid-30s age life crisis that made me start googling financial milestones? Perhaps. Whether you are in your 20s or 60s, what are some financial milestones not included in this list that you think are important to call out to others? Here is the financial milestones post that I came across on Investor Junkie that triggered this blog post based on my own experience. Here are the 5 financial milestones to achieve in your 20s and…
Everyone has guilty pleasures. Whether you are struggling financially and living off paycheck to paycheck or a self professed financial guru, ninja, influencer. What are your biggest guilty pleasures? Here are my top 4 guilty pleasures Funding my side hustle – the problem here is I was attempting to fund my side hustle through my side hustle fund, but I am not selling enough of the inventory so part of my paycheck goes towards funding…
If you are a parent, what are some money lessons you have shared to help improve your child’s financial literacy? In college terms, let’s say I was entering “Financial Literacy 101” in my mid to late 20’s. I feel like I then graduated to Financial Literacy 201 in my early 30’s and now in my mid 30’s. I hope for the sake of your children that you start Financial Literacy 101 before your child enters…
Cue Usher’s “Confessions” melody….these are my confessions….for being a money moron to this day. I live in a city that is extremely public transportation friendly meaning if you live or travel into the city (even as far out as 1-1.5 hours away in the suburbs), then the majority of the public will take the train. I have this thing against public transportation (buses, trains). I think this started when I had to take the bus…
As I have been listening to my list of recommended personal finance and investing podcasts, a few episodes of The Dave Ramsey Show podcast stood out. Listeners ask whether they should pay off debt or contribute to the listener’s company employer 401K match. Here is one example of Dave Ramsey’s answer to whether one should take the 401K match or not. I took Dave Ramsey’s advice and skipped contributing to my company’s employer 401K match of…
