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Happy March!!
I love this time of year because the days get longer, the weather gets warmer, and everything comes back to life!
February was quite eventful. A lot of exciting things came up!
I had a decent financial month, but I also spent a lot more money than I expected to.
Let’s dive in:
General $ Updates
I GOT A NEW JOB
YAY! I’ve been working toward a career shift for quite some time now. I got serious about it in March 2021, but after a few months I almost gave up. I’m so glad I didn’t though because I ended up landing a completely remote role in a new industry with great benefits.
I’ll be talking more about my new career in my Youtube videos and on this blog!
I reached over $14,500 saved for my student loans
It seems every month I hit a new milestone! I’m still behind considering I want to be completely debt free this year…but I have faith I’ll get there.
I opened a new credit card (Citi Custom Cash)
Below you’ll see that I spent a lot of money on a new desk setup. Well, I wanted to make up for that money a bit so I figured I might as well open a new card and take advantage of the sign-up bonus.
I knew I wanted to open the Citi Custom Cash card this year because I like the reward system they offer (5% in your top spend category each month – including groceries). This card offers a $200 bonus which I did meet in February…I’m expecting that to be paid out in March.
I opened two other bonus accounts
I also opened a Chase checking account for a $225 bonus (also will be paid out in March) and the Visa Upgrade card for a $400 bonus!!
I spent a lot on home office upgrades
I bought a whole new desk set up and it has been well worth it! I’m working from home now so I knew I needed more space. I spent about $500 or so on all of it.
My dog got a teeth cleaning/minor surgery
One of my dogs got her teeth cleaned and a growth removed (benign luckily) so this cost over $1K. My sister and I are splitting this and I’ll be paying her for it in March.
Debt
I started the month of February with my official debt at $36,000 and ended with $36,000. However, I technically started at $22,884.98 if you consider the money I have saved to pay those loans down.
In February I saved an additional $1,554.98 for my student loans (bringing my total saved to $14,677.38) so my final debt for February would be $21,322.62.
I still have paid $0 in interest 😊 I did gain $7.38 in interest through my HYS account.
Spending
Some main things to point out about my spending in February:
Food Out: I went over budget by almost $43. I paid for Indian food for my boyfriend and I, I got pizza, and some gelato. This definitely bothered me, but I guess it’s not so bad.
Business: I spent an extra $100 on logo design through Fiverr. I really want to have a unique logo so I can brand more, but I’m not so sure how I feel about what I received.
Personal: I bought a Samsung batch and silicone ice cube trays! I knew I was going to buy the watch this year and I saw it was on sale (saved $80). I pulled from my ‘phone’ sinking fund to pay for this.
Home/Office: As I mentioned above, I completely upgraded my home desk setup since I’ll be working from home. I got a new desk, drawers, foot rest, command strips, etc. However, I also bought a new cordless vacuum!
Income
Full-time job (microbiologist): $5,117.32
ONLINE/BUSINESS INCOME
Google AdSense (ad revenue from YouTube): $868.11
Financial Coaching: $125.00
Buy Me a Coffee/Venmo: $324.30
Mediavine (display ads on LivinglikeLeila): $144.24
Affiliates: $26.35
Online/Business Income Total: $1,548.56
EXTRA INCOME
Rakuten: $23.64
WeBull Stock Sell: $183.79
Chase Cashback: $346.85 (3 referrals)
Discover Cashback: $18.33
BOA Cash Rewards: $3.89
Poshmark: $26.15
Work gift: $200.00
Extra Income Total: $802.65
Pre-Tax Total Income: $7,468.53
Net Worth
As of February 28th, my net worth is $5,507.31. Up 75.7% compared to last month!
Total Assets = $41,507.31
Total Liabilities = $36,000
Net Worth = $5,507.31
Roth IRA (VTSAX): $9,152.71 (up 0.7% compared to last month)
M1 Invest (VTI): $5,752.19 (up 1.0% compared to last month)
Coinbase: $586.09 (up 14.3% compared to last month)
WeBull: $92.47 (down 67.1% compared to last month – sold stock)
Fidelity: $146.53 (down 1% compared to last month)
Sinking Funds:
- Emergency Fund = $4,210.40
- Gifts = $96.91
- Beauty = $171.14
- Car maintenance = $1,358.83
- Travel = $100.82
- Car insurance = $541.13
- Project $0 to Profit = $14.04
- Phone = $331.31
- MacBook = $1,003.36
Sinking Funds Total = $7,827.94
Credit Score
My VantageScore is back up again to 783! When I opened my Citi card it jumped a few points.
February Goals Update
- Put at least $1,500 to my student loan savings (over $14,500 saved) CHECK
- Make over $2,000 online NO
- Get 2 new financial coaching clients NO
March Money Goals
- Put at least $1,000 to my student loan savings (over $15,500 saved)
- Make over $1,500 online
- Reach a $10K net worth
