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WOW September was a blink of an eye and I’m writing this basically already HALF WAY through October.
September was alright. Not amazing, but still some progress and that’s all that is important.
Life ~things~ are costing me a lot more these days. To be honest, it adds a little layer of stress on my life…but I just try to think that one day I’ll be very well off financially.
Let’s get into my finance update!
General $ Updates
I reached over $9,600 saved for my student loans
So close to $10K!
I now have over $11K invested
Last month I reached over $10K invested, so to get over $11K is very exciting as well!
I broke my No Spend rule
I purchased new jewelry and a few candles. Honestly, my No Spend 6 Months isn’t really going well (obviously my fault) but I don’t really feel bad about it.
Debt
I started the month of September with my official debt at $36,000 and ended with $36,000. However, I technically started at $27,243.91 if you consider the money I have saved to pay those loans down.
In September I saved an additional $861.31 for my student loans (bringing my total saved to $9,624.94) so my final debt for September would be $26,375.06.
I still have paid $0 in interest 😊
Spending

Some main things to point out about my spending in September:
Health/Beauty: I clearly went over budget here and that’s because I’ve been spending more on my health. Some of which I didn’t expect to. This included visiting the Holistic doctor, supplements, and pre-payment for acupuncture.
Dogs: Unfortunately, one of my dogs has been really sick and she’s had to visit the vet a few times and get medication. My sister also pays for these bills so luckily I’m not paying these all myself.
Car Insurance: I had to pay my 6 month premium for Geico which was $502.53. I had over $600 in my sinking fund for this and because I took the defensive driver course I got a discount. The extra money I got went to my student loan savings.
Coaching: I knew I had to pay for this in September, but I completely forgot to mention it in my budget. It’s quite expensive but I think it is worth it and is an investment in my future. I passed the exam I was studying for!
Personal: Again, I broke my No Spend Rules and bought new jewelry and a few candles.
Car Wash: My car really needed a wash!
Income
Full-time job (microbiologist): $5,134.44
ONLINE/BUSINESS INCOME
Google AdSense (ad revenue from YouTube): $627.76
Financial Coaching: $100.00
Buy Me a Coffee: $191.64
Mediavine (display ads on LivinglikeLeila): $141.47
Teachable: $43.07
Etsy: $5.51
Affiliates: $12.27
Online/Business Income Total: $1,121.72
EXTRA INCOME
BOA Cash Rewards: $2.51
Chase Cashback: $34.03
Poshmark: $24.00
Discover Cashback: $56.06
Extra Income Total: $116.60
Pre-Tax Total Income: $6,372.76
Net Worth
As of September 30th my net worth is -$4,163.86. So compared to last month it did go down, but that’s OK. It’s going to go back up soon!

Roth IRA: $7,952.50
M1 Invest: $3,279.67
Sinking Funds:
- Taxes = $1,191.29
- Emergency Fund = $3,608.74
- Gifts = $461.09
- Medical/Dental = $0.99
- Car maintenance = $938.46
- Travel = $134.22
- Car insurance = $90.10
- FinCon = $1.19
- Phone = $371.89
- MacBook = $501.06
Credit Score
My VantageScore remained the same at 766.
September Goals Update
- Put at least $1,500 to my student loan savings NOPE
- Make over $1,000 online CHECK
October Money Goals
- Reach over $10,000 in my student loan savings
- Make over $1,000 online
- Put in more effort this month to make over $1,500 in November
I love reading these updates – congratulations on your progress!! What do you use to organize your sinking funds? Reading your updates has inspired me to start my own!
Thank you so much Lauren!
I store my sinking funds in my High-yield savings account with Marcus by Goldman Sachs. I have 10 different accounts all under one account. Most HYS accounts do this and allow you to name them accordingly!