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One month down already!
January was a very productive month for me and my finances aren’t looking too bad either.
I will say that I did feel some negativity around my finances but I tried my best to not let it distract me in any way. To feel better I ended up saving more money lol
I’ve also been doing a lot of reflecting and I’ve realized that I really need to work on my income in order to reach my goals. I’m so grateful for the money I earn and the growth I’ve seen in my business, but I know that I can earn way more in a new career.
I am aggressively working toward this and I know it will pay off soon!
Let’s get into the money stuff:
General $ Updates
I reached over $13,000 saved for my student loans
Yay!! Another milestone! $13K is amazing, but going forward I REALLY need to buckle down and put more to my student loans. I really should be averaging about $2K/month to debt.
I switched my renter’s insurance policy
I was paying $13.83/month with Statefarm. I then received a renewal letter and they were going to be raising the price which is odd because they usually lower it.
I decided to get a quote with Geico since I have my car insurance with them and they offered $77 for the whole year (same coverage)! This is a $90 annual savings. I paid it in full and I’m very happy about the switch!
I’m now saving for my student loans in my Marcus HYS account
For the last year I have been saving for my student loans in my M1 Spend account which was earning an interest of 1% APY. I got this account as part of M1’s Plus membership because it was free for a year.
Personally, I don’t think the annual fee is worth it for me at this time, so I moved all of my savings over to my high-yield savings account with Marcus.
I broke my crown
I had a root canal in 2019 and of course a crown on top of that. A few weeks into January I was eating a protein bar and things felt a little too crunchy. It was my crown 🙁
I ended up going back to the dentist who placed this crown and he is replacing it at a discount ($355.50). As I’m typing this, I have the temporary in and will get my permanent in another week or so.
I’m glad it was cheaper than I expected, but I’m still upset it even broke.
My full-time salary was lower than expected
I didn’t realize that the cost of my insurance was going to increase for 2022 by over $17. This means my paycheck was $17 smaller than usual.
I made over $1K from YouTube
On the other end…I beat a new record and made over $1,000 in YouTube revenue!! This was money earned in December. I am so grateful for this!!
My boyfriend and I booked a trip
TO HAWAII!! So far this trip is costing about $4K total, but I’m grateful that my boyfriend is covering the bulk of it.
We wanted to take a bigger trip this year for our 5 year anniversary and I am so excited!
Debt
I started the month of January with my official debt at $36,000 and ended with $36,000. However, I technically started at $23,920 if you consider the money I have saved to pay those loans down.
In January I saved an additional $1,025.44 for my student loans (bringing my total saved to $13,115.02) so my final debt for January would be $22,884.98.
I still have paid $0 in interest 😊 I did gain $10.02 in interest through M1 Spend and my HYS account.
Spending

Some main things to point out about my spending in January:
Roth IRA: I sold >$300 worth of stocks on WeBull and decided to put $300 extra to my Roth IRA! I actually put that extra $300 to my 2021 contribution and I also contributed $300 for 2022.
Renter’s Insurance: This is “in the red” because as I mentioned above I switched to Geico and paid for the whole year. I did get a small refund from Statefarm as well due to the lapse.
Groceries: My plan was to spend exactly $1,500 on groceries through January, February, and March so I can optimize my 10% cashback from my Discover card. However, things didn’t work out perfectly. I should still make it all work out though.
Health/Beauty: I was shocked to see how much I’ve already spent in this category. Over $350 was from my broken crown and the rest includes a doctor visit, vitamins, and supplements.
Personal: I was doing pretty good in this category until the final week or so of the month. However, everything I purchased is an investment in my wellness. I bought a sunrise alarm clock, a mouse pad, 2 pillows (for sleeping), 2 pillow cases, and 3 books. I did use a $25 Amazon gift card to cover the books.
Travel: As I mentioned above, we’ll be going to Hawaii! The $544 that you see here is the Turo car rental alone.
Courses: I ended up purchasing 2 Salesforce course that were on sale. I think this is a pretty good deal.
Income
Full-time job (microbiologist): $5,117.32
ONLINE/BUSINESS INCOME
Google AdSense (ad revenue from YouTube): $1,079.29
Financial Coaching: $437.95
Buy Me a Coffee/Venmo: $207.51
Mediavine (display ads on LivinglikeLeila): $188.48
Affiliates: $18.95
Online/Business Income Total: $1,932.18
EXTRA INCOME
Fetch: $25.00
WeBull Stock Sell: $308.82
Chase Cashback: $15.56
Discover Cashback: $105.23 (1 referral)
BOA Cash Rewards: $20.73
Extra Income Total: $475.34
Pre-Tax Total Income: $7,524.84
Net Worth
As of January 31st, my net worth is $3,134.59.
I also started calculating my net worth differently by counting excluding my taxes owed/tax savings all together since it doesn’t really make since to use it. Below is an updated graph (this includes changing the calculations for last year as well).
Total Assets = $39,134.59
Total Liabilities = $36,000
Net Worth = $3,134.59

Roth IRA (VTSAX): $9,084.39 (up 0.3% compared to last month)
M1 Invest (VTI): $5,693.98 (up 15% compared to last month)
Coinbase: $512.70 (up 324.1% compared to last month)
WeBull: $280.89 (down 46.8% compared to last month – sold stock)
Fidelity: $147.96
Sinking Funds:
- Emergency Fund = $3,608.15
- Gifts = $75.83
- Beauty = $86.04
- Car maintenance = $1,258.11
- Travel = $0.76
- Car insurance = $450.84
- Project $0 to Profit = $14.03
- Phone = $573.06
- MacBook = $902.83
Sinking Funds Total = $6,969.65
Credit Score
My VantageScore decreased by 22 points to 767, unfortunately. I had over $700 of charges on my Discover card and paid them off as soon as they appeared, but that amount was already reported to the credit bureaus.
January Goals Update
- Reach at least $13,000 in my student loan savings CHECK
- Make over $1,500 online CHECK
- Get 2 new financial coaching clients NO, I got 1 new client though!
February Money Goals
- Put at least $1,500 to my student loan savings (over $14,500 saved)
- Make over $2,000 online
- Get 2 new financial coaching clients
I really like this format rather than the YT videos. More info and I can review it as fast or slow as I want. You might want to provide the SF total and show your net worth calculation.
I’m glad you like it Alice!
What is up with the small investment balance at Fidelity? You do not list it in your YT videos. I can understand small balances at Coinbase and Webull because they are mostly referral bonuses.
I forgot to include it before so I went and added it back in! I had contributed $50 to Fidelity just to get a $100 bonus…after a few months I’m just going to pull the money out to put toward debt!