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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