August was a fun AND productive month for me and I’m proud of where I’m at even though I had a little bit of a set back.
I can still pay off all this debt by April 2022, I have no doubt about it. I don’t want to stress myself out trying to hit a specific number each month, I’m just going with the flow of things.
My income will continue to increase and I’m confident of the actions I take in my life to get there.
Natalie Bacon’s coaching has helped me a lot with my mindset lately, it’s amazing. I’ve also been way more driven and motivated to work on my business. I got tons of work done, even with a week of vacation this month.
I spent more on vacation than I expected, but I’m glad we went and made amazing memories. Living in the moment and taking time off is such a great thing.
Anyway, on to my debt and spending:
DEBT PAYMENT/INCOME SPREADSHEET
Current FICO Score: 711
Current Debt: $60,404.68
Roth IRA Value: $2,234.76
THE GOOD NEWS
My credit score went back up
My credit score had dropped significantly last month because of the balance transfers I did of my student loans to my credit cards. However, Bank of America randomly increased my credit limit by $3,000 so that lowered my credit utilization rate!
711 is also my special number that I keep seeing! It’s also the date of my birthday so I think it’s telling me something.
I made a good bit of extra income
I almost hit the $1K mark for extra income! My MediaVine pay out was high this month, I also got paid by Google Adsense from my YouTube videos, I sold the rest of my stocks and profited about $80, and I sold a couple of clothing items on Poshmark!
In September I hope the other things I posted for sale will sell as well.
THE BAD NEWS
My debt increased
Well, I’m a bit disappointed that I allowed my debt to go back over $60K, but I’m confident in my journey to still be debt free by April 2022, maybe even sooner.
I spent more money than expected while on vacation and I also decided to invest in my business. I hired a Pinterest VA and I bought an iMac computer. Spending more in general means I can’t put as much to my debt, and then I did charge the computer to my Apple Barclay card. The charge is interest free for 18 months, but extra income from my businesses going forward will pay off that debt. It should be gone within a few months.
I spent so much money
As I said above, I spent a lot more than expected on vacation. Most of it was on food and parking. However, we had a great time and I don’t regret it.
I also spent a lot on my business, which I do consider as investments though. The good thing is that I can write these off when I file my taxes!
You’ll see all of my spending below. It definitely won’t be this bad for the coming months.
SPENDING
Savings/Sinking Funds: ($1,752) 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. The rest is for my taxes.
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 Rescue Dogs Rock NYC. Please donate if you can!!
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: ($55.46) My electricity bill.
Water: ($35.85) My water bill has been high lately, but not too bad.
Food: ($439.22) Wow! Lots on food between grocery shopping and eating out in Miami.
Gas: ($45.86) I only got gas for my car once, but got gas twice in Miami.
Health: ($142.40) This includes my Ritual multivitamins and a spontaneous 2-hour full body massage! It was worth every single penny.
Car: ($382.55) My minimum car payment.
Student Loan Debt: ($301.14) This is my new minimum student loan payment. I didn’t put any extra toward my loans since they’re technically on my credit cards now.
Credit Card Debt: ($300) I put extra toward my credit cards (which are actually my student loans because I did balance transfers).
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: ($1630.24) This includes paying for Tailwind, Canva, and GSuite. I used other services but pay most of them annually. I hired someone to take over my Pinterest for August, bought another 1 TB hard drive, and also decided to invest in a new iMac computer!
Google Play: ($0) I have canceled GP for now because I am using a free trial of Spotify for another 4 months.
Lor (Phone bill/car insurance): ($277) 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. I also decided to start giving my sister $50 a month for our dogs.
Other: ($412.26) This category basically includes unnecessary spending. I was going to try to have another no-spend month, but I bought a bit more than June.
I bought:
-Things at Wal-Mart (Box Fan and detergent) – $25.75
-Group coaching with Natalie Bacon – $49
-Amazon (felt tip pens, 2 pairs of small hoop earrings, vegan collagen) – $59.98
-Court fees (long story, not against me) – $110.50
-Certified mail – $8.25
-Checked luggage – $60
-Activities in Miami (paddle boarding, bike rentals) – $31.78
-Parking in Miami – $67
I wasn’t the only one paying for stuff on the trip by the way! Me and my boyfriend split everything 50/50. He paid for the rest of the food and fun we had 🙂
Excluding my savings and debt I spent a total of $4,653.10.
Let’s review my August goals
- Put an extra $300 toward my debt CHECK (even though I added more debt)
- Make over $600 from Mediavine FAIL (I made about $473 in August)
- Post a few things for sale (make over $50 extra) FAIL (I was so close! I made about $40, but I have posted more things for sale!)
- Sell the rest of my stocks CHECK (Well, I only have 3 left worth <$30, but I sold all the profitable ones so I count that)
September Goals
- Put at least $300 extra to my Barclay Apple credit card
- Put $1,000 EXTRA to my other credit cards
- Spend less than $300 on groceries, ideally less than $250
- Spend less than $150 on “unnecessary items”