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Happy March!! I’m writing this a bit late. It’s been a busy month and per usual, it’s flying by!

February was a very strong month for me financially and I’m so excited about it. At this point on my journey, things are going much smoother and speedier.

This is what I’ve been working toward.

I filmed a video about how finances get easier, not only to encourage people to keep going, but also so that people don’t see my current numbers and forget where this all started.

General $ Updates

I’m going to be debt free sooner than I expected

I made a decision in February that I had been pondering on for a couple of months. I want to be “debt free” sooner. I put quotations around that since I won’t actually be completely debt free until the student loan forbearance ends and I actually pay off my debt, but I know I want to be done saving for them asap.

If I stick with my current path, I would probably reach my goal by May 2023, but I want to be done in March. I am going to save as much as I can from my full-time job and side hustles first, but then I’m going to pull the remaining balance from my emergency fund so I’ll be done! I go into more detail in my March Budget video.

2 successful months down for Low Spend 2023

Another month of no personal spending!

Debt

I started the month of February with my official debt at $36,000 and ended with $36,000. However, I technically started at $9,981.33 if you consider the money I have saved to pay those loans down. 

In February I saved an additional $3,731.21 for my student loans (bringing my total saved to $29,828.67) so my final debt for February would be $6,171.33.

I still have paid $0 in interest 😊 I did gain $78.79 in interest from my HYS accounts.

Spending

Some main things to point out about my spending in February:

Gifts: I ended up spending more on gifts than I expected to because my sister and I got an early birthday/Father’s Day gift for my dad. I pulled the $116 from my gifts sinking fund though.

Travel: I’m going to Colombia with my boyfriend and his family (their home county/town)! This was kind of a last minute thing since the trip is in March. All I’m paying for is my flight and the flight insurance!

Income

Full-time job (analyst/consultant) – Take home: $3,842

ONLINE/BUSINESS INCOME

Teachable: $45.50
Etsy: $105.31
Mediavine (display ads on LivinglikeLeila): $285.85
Buy Me a Coffee/Venmo: $321.61
Affiliates/Sponsors: $1,113.49
Google AdSense (ad revenue from YouTube): $1,438.48

Online/Business Income Total: $3,310.24

EXTRA INCOME

Upside: $21.96
Discover Referral: $100.00
Rakuten: 145.20
Chase cash back: $202.01
Wells Fargo Checking Bonus: $325

Extra Income Total: $794.17

Total Income: $7,946.41

Net Worth

As of February 28th, my net worth is $33,670.26. Up about 16% compared to last month!!

Total Assets = $69,670.26
Total Liabilities = $36,000
Net Worth = $33,670.26

Roth IRA (VTSAX): $14,192.70 (down 0.5% compared to last month)
401k: $7,402.73 (up 7.1% compared to last month)
M1 Invest (VTI): $5,859.91 (down 2.4% compared to last month)
Coinbase: $328.00 (up 1% compared to last month)

Sinking Funds:

  • Emergency Fund = $6,146.21
  • Gifts = $250.39
  • Beauty = $1,210.36
  • Car/Car maintenance = $1,951.19
  • Travel = $4.13
  • Car insurance = $547.48
  • Sabbatical = $14.36
  • Furniture/Home = $0.40
  • House Down Payment = $0.73

Sinking Funds Total = $10,125,25

Credit Score

My VantageScore is at 799 which is up a lot and the highest it’s ever been! It looks like the delinquencies on my credit were finally dropped!! A long time ago I co-signed on a car loan and that was a horrible, horrible decision. The car has been gone for a couple of years now, but I love that this is officially not a part of my life anymore!

February Goals Update

  • Reach $28K saved for my student loans CHECK
  • Get rid of 50 things CHECK

March Money Goals

  • Reach $36K saved for my student loans (I’ll be done with my debt!!)
  • Get rid of 50 things