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Finances

April 2019 Debt and Spending Update

May 13, 2019May 14, 2019 Leila Leave a comment

Hello May!

April flew by and was quite a productive and positive financial month for me. It feels good to have a debt pay-off plan and it has become like a game to me to see how much I can pay off each month.

I’ve learned a lot through this journey.

DEBT PAYMENT/INCOME SPREADSHEET

Current FICO Score: 748
Current Debt: $62,605.65
Roth IRA Value: $1,852.72

THE GOOD NEWS

My credit score increased significantly

Last month I shared that I paid off the last $1600 on my credit card. With my utilization rate now at 0%, my score jumped over 20 points! I’m so excited that it’s back up this high again. This also helped me with my next good news.

I refinanced my car

I purchased a used Toyota Camry (2015) in June of 2018. At the time my credit score was fairly low and I had recent negative marks on my credit history due to my name being on someone else’s car loan, whom was missing payments. My dad co-signed on my car and my interest rate was 6.79% with Ally Bank. My original plan was to pay off my car by December of 2019, but I recently realized that Ally bank doesn’t allow principal only payments. Last month I went to Associated Credit Union to apply, and got a refinance for 3.85% and 48 months! That is SO much better and should save me at least $1200 over the long run.

I put an extra $1,000 to my student loans

Since I refinanced my car, it is no longer the loan with the highest interest rate. I have 7 student loans that have a higher interest rate, so I decided I would put extra toward those before my car. I’ve never made an extra payment to my student loans, so an extra $1K felt kind of exciting. It’s definitely just a drop in a bucket, but it already is saving me some money on interest!

My groceries were well under budget

I’m not sure how this happened but I barely spent $250 on food/groceries! I guess over the last few weeks I’ve been opting for more whole food options, not so many vegan meats and such. I was really excited about this though because if you read my monthly updates, then you know I’m very rarely under budget.

THE BAD NEWS

My taxes were returned

My income from my full time job is not taxed so I have to make estimated payments. Well, I paid my estimated taxes in 2018, however, I failed to correctly report all of my income when I actually filed my taxes. Therefore, they returned all of the tax payments I made. I have amended my taxes now (with a professional) so I should be good to go!

SPENDING

Savings/Sinking Funds: ($1483.95) I’m not including this in my “spending” total because it’s not actually spending. $180 went to my sinking funds which I’m SO GLAD I’m doing (I use Qapital for sinking funds), and BOA automatically transfers some of my money to my savings for me. I transferred $1350 for my full-time taxes and about $128 for my side hustle taxes into my Marcus by Goldman Sachs savings account.

Investing: ($100) I automatically invest $100 into my Roth IRA each month.

Donate: ($50) Every month I want to donate at least $50. This month I donated to Farm of the Free. An amazing non-profit farm that is home to many rescued cows, pigs, chickens, goats, etc.

Rent: ($1,316) The cost of my one bedroom one bath apartment near Atlanta, GA!

Renter’s insurance: ($16.66) I am required to have renter’s insurance for my apartment.

Trash: ($35) Valet trash is mandatory at my apartment. Dumb, I know.

Wi-fi: ($50) I have Google Fiber. It is $50 a month.

Electricity: ($49.19) My electricity bill without use any heat or air at all for the month.

Water: ($14.76) I wasn’t expecting it to be this low! I’ll take it.

Food: ($255.90) Last month I decided I would increase my food budget, and then I somehow didn’t pay much at all! I just was eating more whole foods, which are a lot cheaper.

Gas: ($38.92) I got gas twice this month but didn’t drive as much.

Health: ($32.40) This is the price of my Ritual multivitamins.

Car: ($315.73) My minimum payment for my 2015 Toyota Camry is $315.73.

Student Loan Debt: ($1,288.37) I pay $288.37 every month. This month I was able to put an extra $1000 toward one of my student loans and it was pretty exciting!

Credit Card Debt: ($0) Still credit card debt free 🙂

Insurance: ($147.15) This includes vision, dental, and life insurance. I have health insurance through work on top of my salary which is really nice.

Business: ($887.34) This includes paying for hosting/my domain for this blog and G Suite (by Google), which is $12.99 and $5 each month. I also pay for a Tailwind membership ($14.99). I also finally bought a new camera! I’ve been saving all of the money I make from my side hustles, so all of the money used for it came from that! To me, this is an investment and definitely something I can write off in my taxes next year.

Google Play: I pay $9.99 to listen to any music ad free.

Lor (Phone bill/car insurance): ($220) Lor = my sister. She pays my phone bill so I pay her for that. I also pay for my dad and step mom’s phone bills because my dad pays for my car insurance…the costs basically equal out. That will be about $220 each month.

Other: ($521.74) This category basically includes unnecessary spending. I wanted to break this down to exactly what I spent my money on.
Books from discount store – $25.35
LUSH (my signature perfume is from here) – $56.52
Tanning oil – $16.97
Amazon (vegan collagen pills and tooth brush heads) – $45.94
Flight to Miami (in August) – $104.60 (-$61.11 because I used my CO rewards!)
Living room rug (Overstock) – $138.77
Balcony furniture and rug (Overstock) – $194.70

Excluding my savings and debt I spent a total of $3,644.90.

Let’s review my April goals

  • Put an extra $1000 toward my car loan CHECK
  • Make over $600 from Mediavine NOPE, $466 though!

May Goals

  • Put an extra $250 to my student loans
  • Spend less than $250 on groceries
  • Make over $600 from Mediavine

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I've been vegan for 5 years as of yesterday. It's I've been vegan for 5 years as of yesterday.  It's still the best decision of my life.  I've gained the most strength and look my best as a vegan.  It's also worth mentioning I was vegetarian for 13 years before going vegan, which is why I had to bust out a double bi in photo 3 lol  So yes, I do get enough protein despite not eating animals 😏  As a vegan I've also learned to cook better, eat more types of foods, and have discovered amazing restaurants, recipes, and vegan alternatives all without harming animals.  I never want to push veganism on anyone, but I encourage everyone to explore this lifestyle.  Personally, having an animal suffer for my food, clothes, and products just isn't worth it. Being a perfect vegan isn't necessary, but even small changes can make a large difference.  My sister (@loka1089) made this shirt for me for Christmas by the way!!  #vegan #bekindtoeverykind #veganfortheanimals #veganweightlifting #vegangains #strongvegan #veganwoman #vegananniversary #GoVegan #veganbodybuilding #anythingyoucaneaticaneatvegan #LivinglikeLeila
Happy March!  An update on my February goals:
▪️Pay off my car ✅✅✅🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️  ▪️Jump rope for at least 2 minutes daily ✅ (Well, I missed ONE day but otherwise I enjoyed this challenge a lot)  ▪️Start 'Phase 2' of my training program ✅ (it's more intense than I expected but my strength and body are improving!)  ▪️Finish reading 2-4 books ❌ (I finished 0. I stopped reading a fiction book because it was boring. I've been taking my time reading The Brain That Changes Itself because it requires focus lol)  ▪️Stick to my usual habits better ❌ (Feb was tough for me honestly. Sometimes I have bouts of intense fatigue and lack of motivation which I believe is associated with PMDD. Idk honestly)  March is usually a pretty transformative month for me, so here are my goals:  ▪️Put at least $600 to student loan savings
▪️Make over $1K online
▪️Finish The Brain That Changes Itself
▪️5 minutes of abs daily (new challenge!)
▪️Walk 10K steps daily again
▪️Stick to my habits/routine (for real this time!! I'm feeling better 😊)  #NewMonth #debtfreecommunity #debtfreejourney #blogger #youtuber #goals #february #habits #march #personaldevelopment #strong2021 #fitness #vegan #fitnessgoals #health #healthy #LivinglikeLeila #DebtOverIt
I just wanted to say a big thank you for all the l I just wanted to say a big thank you for all the love and kind words on my previous post ❤🥺  It amazes me that I have this growing community of support and I'm so grateful for it.  I know paying off a car and paying off debt isn't a big thing for everyone, but it's a huge part of my life and I genuinely appreciate that everyone is proud of me and celebrating with me!!  I do hope my progress and my openness on my finances encourages more people to look into theirs and improve it. Improving my finances has made a HUGE difference in my life.  No, money may not buy happiness. But when shit is in order you have less stress, more clarity, and more faith in what's to come👌  These blue light glasses are from @tijneyewear 👓 (gifted)  #thankyou #financialindependence #finance #debtfreecommunity #debtfreejourney #DebtOverIt #blogger #financialcoach #debtcoach #personaldevelopment #neverstopimproving #LivinglikeLeila
I paid off my car today 🙂 27 months EARLY!!! T I paid off my car today 🙂 27 months EARLY!!!  This car should have cost me about $22K, but it ended up being about $30K!!! I'll break down why that is in a future video.  But for the first time in my adult life I am paying $0 in interest right now 😭  I started my debt free journey in June 2018 with $82,200 of debt... I'm now down to ONLY my student loans of $36,200. Which are in forbearance and at 0% interest right now.  This is like a little preview of the debt free life 🥺  Not to mention, my minimum car payment was $382.55 and if I invested that monthly, it would grow to over $200,000 in 20 years.  You may be able to afford that car payment, but it comes with a HUGE sacrifice.  My debt free journey has changed my life and I'm so, so excited for my financial future. 🙏💰  #cardebtfree #finances #debtoverit #cardebt #debtfreecommunity #debtfreejourney #money #finance #studentloandebt #financialfreedom #financialindependence #firemovement #financialindependenceretireearly #TransferTuesday
'Living like Leila' will always be my first born b 'Living like Leila' will always be my first born baby business, but as my personal finance business has significantly grown I've realized I just want LLL to encompass Me.  If you haven't noticed, I am VERY multi-passionate. I love fitness, finance, personal development, veganism, plants, books, food, planning, habits, business. I literally lose sleep at night because I CONSTANTLY have ideas lol  So I know this IG and my LLL YouTube covers everything under the sun, but that's exactly what I want it to be. It's just a digital journal of my life and even though it can be a lot, it's just a reflection of my life and the things I value.  This has allowed me to put less pressure on myself for the content I create, and I truly just enjoy it all as a hobby now.  So I understand that some of my content may not resonate with everyone, but I appreciate ya'll being here 😊❤  And as a side note, if you decide to start an online business...niche down to ONE topic. It will go a lot further, at least from my experience 👀  #multipassionate #livinglikeleila #vegan #personaldevelopment #books #debtfreecommunity #finance #debtfreejourney #business #onlinebusiness #habits #fitness #life
Post-filming, pre-workout selfie ✌ hence the mes Post-filming, pre-workout selfie ✌ hence the mess.  My January finance update and February budget will be up Friday 😊  Also these are the best leggings ever from @ptulaactive  #ptulafamily #ptulaactive #ptula #youtuber #health #fitness #vegan #fit #igfitness #blogger #debtfreecommunity #debtfreejourney #debtoverit #budget #finance #livinglikeleila
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