My First Step To Financial Freedom
It’s Sunday today, and I decided not to work overtime at my regular job today. I have been working overtime every day so far and need to take today off to catch up on my blog posts. I also finally created my first step to financial freedom this weekend!
In Journal Entry 6 (you can find it here), I wrote about how my card declined and had to sell one of my investments to avoid my checking account from going negative again. Within the past couple of days, I sold another investment and transferred it into my high-yield savings account. This is not part of my step to financial freedom.
It was more so to feel safer with my money. A lot of financial books and influencers recommended having a high-yield savings account before an investment account. I wanted to transfer my investments over to something more secure and stable.
What I did create which is a step to financial freedom are spreadsheets. I’m listening to Tiffany Aliche’s audiobook Get Good With Money and she, like Kate Northrup from Money A Love Story, also suggested creating spreadsheets to track finances.
I’ve already created a spreadsheet as per Kate Northrup’s suggestion which I titled Blessings I’ve Received (BIR) as mentioned in Journal Entry 5 here. I took that and merged it into the new spreadsheet I created with Tiffany Aliche’s suggestions.
Tiffany suggested we track our money in and our money out. Kind of like the same concept of Kate Northrup. However, I haven’t tracked where my money has been going other than towards regular monthly bills. I sat down Saturday night and finally entered all the money I spent that wasn’t towards regular bills into a spreadsheet.
Money out is more for things you’ve spent that were not accounted for in a monthly budget. This money-out log does not include regular bills such as credit card, rent/mortgage, insurance, utilities, etc.
Take my instructions with a grain of salt as it was hard for me to follow her exact steps since I listened to her on audio. In fact, she offered other suggestions, I didn’t quite hear but didn’t have a chance to listen back yet. I think one of her suggestions was to also open multiple accounts for different purposes. That’ll probably be my next step later on.
As a side note, I recommend purchasing a physical copy of budgeting books instead of listening to them like I’m doing with Get Good With Money. This is because I need to consistently go back to follow the directions she provides in her book. Which is pretty hard to find when you’re listening to it on audio.
This is the second time, I’ve purchased a budgeting audiobook and found it difficult to follow directions clearly because I didn’t have a visual guide.
Okay, back to my spreadsheet. After writing everything I spent for January excluding regular bills, my total came out to $2424.41!
For January, I made $7346.28 from my full-time job, selling items on Mercari, and charging my adult kids $500 in rent. This amount is also after deductions such as 20% into retirement, insurance, and my Flexible Spending Account (FSA). I get paid a good amount of money. I know, I shouldn’t be in this mess. Yet here we are. Scold me later, gator.
I have already felt shame and embarrassment. Now, it’s time for me to take control, build helpful skills, and learn from my mistakes.
Anyway, although I make a good amount of money, I also spend a good amount of money. I hate to admit a good portion of that went to restaurants and travel. My two highest expenses for the month of January.
Here are the numbers that totaled $2424.41:
Restaurants: $565.15
Travel: $562.07
Pets: $479.29
Groceries: $176.74
House: $334.82
Beauty: $259.06
Business: $47.28
I can definitely cut restaurant costs down. In fact, I just went grocery shopping towards the end of January. That should help with bringing restaurant costs significantly down since I’ll start cooking more.
Not an excuse, but a part of restaurant costs were due to my daughter’s in-laws visiting from the UK to attend the wedding. We went out a couple of nights for dinner before they had to leave.
Travel was also a part of my daughter’s wedding expenses. I got a hotel room in San Francisco the night before her wedding day for me and my daughters. This also included parking in San Francisco as well.
But let’s be real. A significant portion of that travel amount was towards airfare to New York. In March, we’ll be celebrating one of my girlfriend’s 40th birthdays out there. I also have an upcoming trip to Portland with my oldest for her 30th birthday this month.
The house expense was when I had a leak from a pipe in the garage. I paid a handyman to clear my drain and do other small jobs around the house.
Pet was also high for January because my cat wasn’t feeling well and those were multiple visits to the vet for her care. I haven’t met the insurance deductible yet to get reimbursed.
My beauty expense was pretty high as well because I finally got a haircut. I’ve been cutting my hair for the past year just because I haven’t found someone I trust after my stylist retired. Recently, my daughter referred me to her stylist. I thought I’d give them a try since I liked her haircut. I only get my haircut about once or twice a year anyway.
However, that number also includes beauty products I ran out of and needed to re-purchase. Next month, I should be good with beauty and hope my spend will be zero dollars.
Now that I have a better idea of where my money is going, I can slowly create a budget for each category and have a better idea of how to allocate my money.
At the same time, I really need to increase my income by stepping up my Mercari and Poshmark sales, consistently working on this blog, and continue working overtime until the cutoff month of March.
If you read my other blog posts, like this one here: 9 Of The Best Beauty Products For Natural Looking Makeup For Over 40 People, you’ll find that I’m gifted a lot of things which I’m very grateful for.
However, there are times when I have no more space or need for these items. I definitely have enough things to sell right now, and yes, I also donate and give some away to friends and family.
In other news, I still haven’t paid off that one loan I mentioned I would in another blog post after selling one of my investments. I’m honestly scared to let go of a chunk of my money.
I need to mentally prepare myself and take baby steps to get to that point. I am trying to correct my behaviors alongside my mentality about money. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be. I’m proud of myself for creating the first step to financial freedom though.
I also want to track my spending for the next couple of months to get a better idea of where my money is going and where I can increase and decrease my finances and expenses.
So there you have it. Finally, my first tangible step to financial freedom! Creating a new spreadsheet and tracking my spending.
I know I haven’t shared exactly how much debt I owe yet nor the amounts of each debt. I’m just not ready right now. It’s still hard for me to share that. If you’ve been reading my other blog posts though, you’ll know that it’s at least 6-figures of debt.
I’m finally sharing how much I earn for the month of January which I find hard to share as well. As I continue learning, sharing, and writing, I hope I will build the confidence to disclose every amount. Just know as of right now, I owe 6-figures and make 6-figures (before taxes and other deductions).
I admit, that when I started making more money, I spoiled myself and my children. I grew up in very poor conditions. As I mentioned before, I grew up in the projects of Oakland, CA. I had my first daughter at 16 and had three kids by the time I was 21.
I ended up as a single teen mom. My first daughter’s dad was incarcerated and was in prison for 25+ years. My other daughters’ dad passed away. Needless to say, I had no financial education or support from them whatsoever.
Now, I’m learning all over again (I had some financial literacy in my 30’s). Although I may be too old for most to be in this predicament at 46, I give myself grace and love. We can always learn something new at whatever age. We’re all human with different stories.
Part of my debt was giving myself an education that I was never afforded to me early on. Heat, food, and cable were all such luxuries I rarely enjoyed growing up.
I dropped out of school at 15. Now, I have a bachelor’s and a license in nursing. All of my daughters are also college-educated. As deep as I am in debt, I’m proud of how far I’ve come and the experiences I’ve created for myself and my family.
I don’t share this to give excuses for my debt but more so for understanding really. Also, to share with those who may have similar paths and most likely feel alone. I know I feel alone right now. Like I said before in another blog post, none of my friends or family know the extent of my debt. I know for a fact there will be judgment and shame from them if they find out. And I care about what they think because I care about them.
When I started this journey, I read and heard so many stories about people who got out of debt. I have yet to read or hear about people who are actually going through it and creating steps to get out.
Hopefully, my blog posts can inspire others to feel less alone. I hope my blog posts offer a safe space and compassion to those who need it most. Together, we can do this and get through this!
I would love to hear from you about your financial journey big or small, losses or wins. As always, thanks for reading!
Love, Sutivi.
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