I fully paid off $77,000 ($76,524.22 to be exact) in student loans! If you want to skip to how I paid it off, scroll to the bottom =) What a weight off my shoulders. One of my many money moron mistakes I made in my 20s can finally be put in the past. I went to an out of state college and I never worked part time. I used my leftover student loans on….stuff. After…
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….
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…
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 How to automate your money by Let’s Automate Your Money – click here My take – I am a big believer in automating your money. It is one or 10 less things to worry about. Why spend those brain cells remembering to pay yourself first or pay those bills when you can…
Last month (August 2018) I posted 15 total blog posts, slightly lower than the 21 blog posts in July 2018. With so many posts, I thought I would start a monthly post recap to share the most viewed. I do not think I can do a weekly recap so baby steps for now. Most viewed August 2018 posts The lamest excuses I made for not saving money – I share the 9 dumb excuses I…
I have to admit, the older I get the less I want to think about long term plans. Similar to how I have been thinking about how the next Olympics is X years away and how old I will be. In 3 years I will be close the big 4-0, which is crazy to think about. Back in high school I used to think 30 was old. Well I am in my mid-30s now and…
I have been thinking about this for the past couple months and I want to take action within the month…just to take action instead of sitting around. I really want your opinions on testing retirement investment strategies left in your old employer retirement accounts. I am in my mid-30s and I am very open and understanding of the volatility of the stock market. I have been with my current company for several years and I…
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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…
This post lists some of my podcast recommendations on: Real Estate Real Estate Investing Unlike the personal investing or personal finance podcast recommendations, I have not found as many well respected real estate podcasts. Let me know if you have suggestions. I spend a lot of time passive listening and active listening to podcasts, so expect my recommendations to be updated. Real estate is something that I am just getting into so I expect to…
