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Happy August!
In last month’s update, I was sharing how I felt really negative about my finances.
Things took a positive turn throughout July.
I had a stronger financial month, I completed a money manifestation workbook which helped with my mindset, and I allowed myself to spend money!
Let’s get into some updates.
General $ Updates
I saved the highest amount of money for my student loans since February
Complete opposite of what I said last month! Yay!
My High-Yield Savings rate has increased again
It’s now at 1.5% but mine is at 2.0% due to referrals!
Debt
I started the month of July with my official debt at $36,000 and ended with $36,000. However, I technically started at $18,580.40 if you consider the money I have saved to pay those loans down.
In July I saved an additional $1,230.40 for my student loans (bringing my total saved to $18,676.01) so my final debt for July would be $17,323.99.
I still have paid $0 in interest 😊 I did gain $26.01 in interest through my HYS account.
Spending

Some main things to point out about my spending in July:
Household: I decided to start separating what I spend on household purchases (detergent, cleaning supplies, etc.) from my grocery spending.
Groceries and Food out: Yay for under budget!!
Personal: Very high! I received quite a bit of birthday cash so I decided to spend it! I bought 2 pairs of shoes, some jeans, Skims bodysuits, a bodysuit off Amazon, a book series, and I got one of those jeans hemmed.
Income
Full-time job (analyst/consultant) – Take home: $3,665.42
ONLINE/BUSINESS INCOME
Google AdSense (ad revenue from YouTube): $603.43
Financial Coaching: $50.00
Buy Me a Coffee/Venmo: $259.30
Mediavine (display ads on LivinglikeLeila): $111.13
Affiliates: $34.67
Teachable: $4.30
Online/Business Income Total: $1,062.83
EXTRA INCOME
Chase Cashback: $109.16 (1 referral)
Discover Cashback: $125.60 (1 referral)
BOA Cash Rewards: $27.07
CITI Custom Cashback: $22.03
Wells Fargo Double Cashback: $247.89 (includes sign-up bonus)
TalentStacker Referral: $165.13
Birthday Cash: $485.00 (includes $75 Amazon gift card)
Ebay (sold old laptop): $154.02
Extra Income Total: $1,335.90
Total Income: $6,064.15
Net Worth
As of July 31st, my net worth is $14,489.82!! Up 42.8% compared to last month!!

Total Assets = $50,489.82
Total Liabilities = $36,000
Net Worth = $14,489.82
Roth IRA (VTSAX): $10,083.87 (up 13% compared to last month)
401k: $2,970.23 (up 33.5% compared to last month)
M1 Invest (VTI): $5,991.82 (up 9.5% compared to last month)
Coinbase: $323.36 (up 16% compared to last month)
WeBull: $85.54 (up 10.8% compared to last month)
Fidelity: $144.37 (up 2.7% compared to last month)
Sinking Funds:
- Emergency Fund = $6,036.14
- Gifts = $392.27
- Beauty = $598.29
- Car/Car maintenance = $1,819.62
- Travel = $301.79
- Car insurance = $451.58
- Project $0 to Profit = $14.10
- Phone = $165.11
- MacBook = $0.72
Sinking Funds Total = $9,779.62
Credit Score
My VantageScore is at 779 which is the same as last month.
July Goals Update
- Reach $18.5K saved for my student loans CHECK
- Make at least $2K in online/extra income CHECK
August Money Goals
- Reach $19.5K saved for my student loans
- Make at least $2K in online/extra income
- NO Personal spending
What happened to the ebay amount from selling your laptop? Ebay taking 21% fees is outrageous.
How many TalentStacker referrals did you get? You mentioned multiple people using your link but only one referral bonus: why is that?
Lol sheesh 🤦🏼♀️ missed it on both!! Just added it, thank you!
For TalentStacker referrals they don’t pay out until 45-60 days later, so I received another 2 in July and won’t see that money until September or October!