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I’m grateful to say that 2020 was the best year for me overall and financially.

I have never felt more secure with my finances and I know that I am lucky to say that considering all things in 2020.

In this post I want to share whether or not I reached my money goals, the total debt I paid, how much I invested, and some other financial changes.

Did I reach my money goals?

Complete a No Spend Year – YES

I’m so happy I successfully completed it! I wasn’t perfect but I literally spent less than $200 on “unnecessary” or miscellaneous items!

This allowed me to save more money and reach the point I’m at now!

You can read all about my experience here.

Pay off all credit card debt by June – YES

I started 2020 with over $6K of credit card debt because I had done a balance transfer of my student loans earlier in 2019.

This actually was really stressful because I was worried I wouldn’t be able to pay it all off by June 2020, which is when the interest would have started accruing.

However, everything worked out and I paid it all off by March!!

I’ve been credit card debt free since.

Get my total debt under $40,000 – NO

I was $623 short of doing that, but so very close!

Honestly, I wanted to get WELL under $40K but I’m proud of what I accomplished.

At the start of 2020 my total debt was $57,357 and I ended the year with $40,623.

Make $24,000 in online income – NO

I wasn’t even close!

From my online businesses I made almost $5,000 in 2020. Not as much as I expected, but I’m still very grateful for any extra income!

Improve my money mindset – YES

I say yes for the most part, but there were times that I struggled.

I had thoughts of not doing enough, regret, and frustration with my debt. However, I always came out of it.

As my finances improved and good things kept happening, my mindset improved as well.

I will say that one of the best things I did for my mindset was Transfer Tuesday!!

Transfer Tuesday was created by Pennies Not Perfection and you simply make a “money move” every Tuesday. Before I started it felt like my progress was so slow.

Now I make progress every single week and it makes a huge difference in how I feel.

Full-time job

I made $57,810 gross in 2020.

I did get about a 3% raise in June which is always nice.

My income is kind of complicated because it is not taxed (it is considered “unearned” income) AND they consider my health insurance as an addition to my salary.

So technically I have to pay taxes on ~$63,000.

Online income

From my online side hustles I made $4,839 which is also pre-tax and before expenses. My expenses were almost $2,000.

The bulk of this was from Mediavine (display adds on my lifestyle blog), but I also made money from ad revenue on YouTube, affiliate sales, my courses, Etsy, and sponsors.

I made extra income outside of this from coupon apps, the stimulus check, credit card bonuses, and cash back rewards.

Net worth

Unfortunately, I don’t know what my exact net worth was at the start of 2020.

However, in June my net worth was about -$41,000.

As of December 31st it was around -$23,000!

I’m pretty happy with that.

Roth IRA

This is my only investment/retirement as of right now and I contributed $1,400 (all to VTSAX).

I was putting $100 a month into my Roth IRA, but I added a little bit more because I switched from RBC Wealth Management to Vanguard.

I am very glad I made that switch.

Debt paid off

I put a total of $17,093 to my debt.

In 2020 I paid $742 in interest which is crazy because I paid over $4,000 in interest in 2019!!

Now, I also had a co-signed car in my name that I thankfully was able to finally get out of, but it did cost me over $3K. So I really put $20,041 to my debt in 2020.

Credit score

I keep track of my VantageScore because I use the app Credit Karma.

So my VantageScore in January 2020 was 724 and I am now at 763! That’s a great jump.

Finance YouTube channel

I started my personal finance YouTube channel in December 2019 and I’m so glad I did. I got monetized in October 2020 and ever since then it’s been continuing to grow!

That also prompted me to start this blog and financial coaching!

I got to work with 4 clients and help them along their debt free journey and I really hope to grow this business further and help more people.

The year went so fast and I’m excited for what is to come!

I’m very grateful with how things turned out and I wish the best for anyone reading this!