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Finances

August 2019 Debt and Spending Update

September 3, 2019September 4, 2019 Leila Leave a comment

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”

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July 2019 Debt and Spending Update
September 2019 Debt and Spending Update

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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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