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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