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1 month down of 2023! And 1 month down of low spend 2023!
January always feels so long because of how busy it is, but the month wrapped up pretty quickly.
General $ Updates
4 digit debt!!!
For the first time in my adult life, I now have 4 figures worth of debt instead of 5!!! Less than $10,000 to go which is insane!
I maxed out my 2022 Roth IRA!
Also for the first time in my life, I’ve maxed out my Roth IRA!! I really focused on contributing that final $1,500 to my Roth IRA and got it done about 3 weeks into the month. I am very excited and proud of this accomplishment.
I earned my largest YouTube paycheck ever
My YouTube paycheck was over $2,100 this month and I’ve never even been close to that! I had a huge increase in traffic and subscribers in December and that really helped. Because of this higher earning, I was able to max out my Roth and put much more to my student loan debt savings than I expected to.
1 successful month down for Low Spend 2023
I didn’t do any personal spending in January. The first month is definitely easy and there wasn’t anything that I really wanted to buy.
Debt
I started the month of January with my official debt at $36,000 and ended with $36,000. However, I technically started at $11,278.94 if you consider the money I have saved to pay those loans down.
In January I saved an additional $1,228.94 for my student loans (bringing my total saved to $26,018.67) so my final debt for January would be $9,981.33.
I still have paid $0 in interest 😊 I did gain $68.67 in interest from my HYS accounts.
Spending

Some main things to point out about my spending in January:
Groceries/Food Out: I’m not sure why I set my budget so low for either of these in January. I ended up spending way more in each, but per usual, I don’t stress about these numbers.
Fun/Entertainment: I got a tarot reading/reiki and then bought concert tickets for my boyfriend and I.
Income
Full-time job (analyst/consultant) – Take home: $3,842
ONLINE/BUSINESS INCOME
Etsy: $4.51
Teachable: $34.96
Financial Coaching: $70.00
Mediavine (display ads on LivinglikeLeila): $164.95
Buy Me a Coffee/Venmo: $338.36
Affiliates/Sponsors: $683.59
Google AdSense (ad revenue from YouTube): $2,151.88
Online/Business Income Total: $3,448.25
EXTRA INCOME
IBotta:$25.75
Facebook Marketplace: $60.00
Fidelity: $144.15
Extra Income Total: $229.90
Total Income: $7,520.15
Net Worth
As of January 31st, my net worth is $29,106.02. Up almost 25% compared to last month!!

Total Assets = $65,106.02
Total Liabilities = $36,000
Net Worth = $29,106.02
Roth IRA (VTSAX): $14,266.98 (up 17.8% compared to last month)
401k: $6,909.12 (up 16.9% compared to last month)
M1 Invest (VTI): $6,004.11 (up 6.9% compared to last month)
Coinbase: $324.61 (up 39.6% compared to last month)
Fidelity: $0 (sold it)
Sinking Funds:
- Emergency Fund = $6,127.37
- Gifts = $290.49
- Beauty = $1,121.79
- Car/Car maintenance = $1,845.36
- Travel = $4.12
- Car insurance = $455.95
- Project $0 to Profit = $14.32
- Phone = $0.40
- House (previously MacBook) = $0.73
Sinking Funds Total = $9,860.53
Credit Score
My VantageScore is at 767 which is a few points lower than last month.
January Goals Update
- Reach $26K saved for my student loans CHECK
- Max out my 2022 Roth IRA CHECK
- Get rid of 50 things CHECK
February Money Goals
- Reach $28K saved for my student loans
- Get rid of 50 things