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I’m writing this already halfway into May! Wow!
April was a month of slow financial progress and high spending. It’s OK though. I went on vacation and had a good time!
General $ Updates
I am finally in the TEENS of debt
I reached an exciting new milestone! I now have over $16K saved for my student loans so I am officially in the teens!
I went way over budget this month
I knew I would be spending a lot more money because of traveling, but the numbers I predicted were way too low! I ended up going over budget in several areas which I break down below.
I pulled $717 from my sinking funds and also ended up having to use some of my emergency fund to pay everything off. My emergency fund will be replenished by the end of May though.
Debt
I started the month of April with my official debt at $36,000 and ended with $36,000. However, I technically started at $20,491.06 if you consider the money I have saved to pay those loans down.
In April I saved an additional $542.06 for my student loans (bringing my total saved to $16,160.48) so my final debt for April would be $19,839.52.
I still have paid $0 in interest 😊 I did gain $9.48 in interest through my HYS account.
Spending
Some main things to point out about my spending in April:
Groceries and Food out: Food in Hawaii is quite expensive! I paid $80 for 2 pizzas lol. Groceries don’t look too bad, but I don’t think I’ve ever spent over $250 on food out in a month in my life!
Gas (car): I filled up my tank 1x and then our rental car 2x in Hawaii. Gas over there was over $5.40 a gallon!
Business: I ended up buying a GoPro and some things to go with it! Luckily I can write off tech purchases as a business expense.
Personal: This was mostly spent on books! I also bought a few tops and a pair of sandals.
Travel: This was way higher than expected. Two weeks before our trip our original Turn (car rental) was canceled…so I had to book another and of course prices were higher.
I booked a flight to Boston (for my grandma’s memorial in June).
And then excursions/rentals such as snorkeling, surf boards, a paddle board, etc. in Hawaii made up a large chunk!
Entertainment: I ended up buying tickets to 2 concerts.
Parking: This includes a Stone Mountain pass and a visit to Lake Lanier.
Income
Full-time job (analyst/consultant) – Take home: $3,523.04
ONLINE/BUSINESS INCOME
Google AdSense (ad revenue from YouTube): $629.71
Financial Coaching: $200.00
Buy Me a Coffee/Venmo: $185.00
Mediavine (display ads on LivinglikeLeila): $108.55
Affiliates: $12.73
Etsy: -$0.80
Teachable: $2.42
Online/Business Income Total: $1,137.61
EXTRA INCOME
Chase Cashback: $1.29
Discover Cashback: $376.67 (1 year match)
BOA Cash Rewards: $20.31
CITI Custom Cashback: $6.74
Poshmark: $44.00
Fetch: $25.00 (Amazon Giftcard)
GA State Tax Refund: $338.00
Marcus HYS Bonus: $100
Extra Income Total: $912.01
Total Income: $5,572.66
Net Worth
As of April 30th, my net worth is $7,600.01. Down 10% compared to last month!
Total Assets = $43,600.01
Total Liabilities = $36,000
Net Worth = $7,600.01
Roth IRA (VTSAX): $9,146.49 (down 6.2% compared to last month)
401k: $1,138.15 (up 87.7% compared to last month)
M1 Invest (VTI): $5,965.44 (down 9.1% compared to last month)
Coinbase: $538.71 (down 13.3% compared to last month)
WeBull: $75.44 (down 17.7% compared to last month)
Fidelity: $144.06 (down 2.8% compared to last month)
Sinking Funds:
- Emergency Fund = $5,416.49
- Gifts = $188.10
- Beauty = $341.41
- Car maintenance = $1,560.63
- Travel = $1.04
- Car insurance = $180.30
- Project $0 to Profit = $14.06
- Phone = $14.68
- MacBook = $1,204.74
Sinking Funds Total = $8,921.45
Credit Score
My VantageScore is at 784 which is the same as last month.
April Goals Update
- Reach $17K saved for my student loans NO
- Make at least $1,800 in online/extra income CHECK
May Money Goals
- Reach $17K saved for my student loans
- Make at least $2K in online/extra income
- Reach a net worth >$11K
- Open a new credit card
- Spring Clean – post items for sale
