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Hello September!
There were a lot of things going on in August and it was definitely a very exciting month because I am officially 100% DEBT FREE!!!
I went live on YouTube on Sunday, September 3rd. You can watch it here:
General $ Updates
I am 100% debt free
As I mentioned above, I am now completely debt free since I paid off all of my student loan debt before the interest resumed.
I started my debt free journey with $82,200 of debt and it took me 5 years to get to $0!
I received a checking account bonus AND opened another checking account
Y’all know me! I love opening accounts for bonus cash. A couple of month ago I opened an account with Fifth Third Bank, had $3,000 direct deposited over a few paychecks, and got my $450 bonus.
Then I received an offer from Regions bank in the mail to open an account for a $400 bonus. I’ve already direct deposited the required $1,000, so I should be receiving that bonus within the next 90 days or so.
It’s one of my favorite ways to make money!
Spending
Some main things to point out about my spending in August:
Furniture Fund: I thought I would be able to make more progress in August, but I ended up spending more than I expected in other areas. However, I did save a lot more to this in the first couple days of September after getting back from traveling!
Groceries/Food Out: My boyfriend and I spent about a week in Costa Rica so I spent more in both of these categories. The food was actually more expensive than I expected!
Health/Beauty: I got my second round of MiraDry done early August and ended up buying some vitamins and other health related items.
Business: High spend category again this month! I ended up purchasing a refurbished Steelcase chair from Crandall Office because The Morning Brew shared a 20% off code! Finally an ergonomic chair!
Income
Full-time job (analyst/consultant) – GROSS: $5,880
ONLINE/BUSINESS INCOME
Buy Me a Coffee/Venmo: $49.53
Etsy: $105.99
Mediavine (display ads on LivinglikeLeila): $133.37
Coaching: $196.55
Affiliates/Sponsors: $540.22
Google AdSense (ad revenue from YouTube): $1,507.24
Online/Business Income Total: $2,532.90
EXTRA INCOME
Wells Fargo Cashback: $11.76
CITI Cashback: $26.99
Rakuten: $86.60
Fifth Third Bank Bonus: $450.00
Capital One Venture X Cashback: $585.60
Extra Income Total: $1,160.95
*Total Gross Income: $9,573.85
*I decided to start putting my gross income from all sources. This number does not reflect my taxes or 401k contributions.
Net Worth
As of August 31st, my net worth is $67,519.08. Up about 2.8% compared to last month.
*Total Assets = $67,519.08
Total Liabilities = $0
Net Worth = $67,519.08
*Does not include the value of my car (personal preference).
Roth IRA (VTSAX): $23,106.42 (down 2% compared to last month)
401k: $13,849.55 (up 6.3% compared to last month)
M1 Invest (VTI): $6,625.94 (down 2% compared to last month)
Vanguard Brokerage (VGT): $772.31 (up 13.2% compared to last month)
Coinbase: $357.97 (down 12% compared to last month)
Sinking Funds:
- Emergency Fund = $12,076.24
- Gifts = $711.29
- Beauty = $0.33
- Car/Car maintenance = $2,504.81
- Travel = $4.23
- Car insurance = $303.58
- Sabbatical = $14.69
- Furniture/Home = $4,618.25
- House Down Payment = $101.42
- Student Loan Savings = $160.08
Sinking Funds Total = $20,494.92
Credit Score
My VantageScore is at 801 which is a few points lower than last month!
August Goals Update
- Put at least $2K to my furniture fund ❌ (This was really because I was traveling when I received my second paycheck in the month so I ended up finishing this sinking fund within the first couple days of September!)
September Money Goals
- Put at least $2.5K to savings
- Make over $3K from business income
- Stay in budget!
