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Finances

February 2020 Debt and Spending Update

March 1, 2020April 4, 2020 Leila Leave a comment

It’s March?!?

I’m not sure how February went by so fast, but I’m excited for March and warmer weather.

February was tough for me.

I battled with some weird negative emotions. I didn’t really feel like myself and had trouble focusing.

It was caused by lack of progress really.

Financially, February wasn’t the worst but it wasn’t the best. I ended up paying a large chunk of cash which I didn’t expect. More on that below.

My debt-free journey is slow, but I’m still making progress.

DEBT PAYMENT/INCOME SPREADSHEET

Current FICO Score: 759
Current Debt: $52,895.86
Roth IRA Value: $2,782.69

THE GOOD NEWS

I paid off over $700 of debt and am now under $53K total

I’ll always celebrate a decrease in debt. I would love for this number to be higher, but it’s still progress!

I made a decent amount of extra income

I love having side hustles. Extra income here and there is amazing and I’m so grateful for it. I also traveled for work in February and received a per diem rate for food. Of course I don’t need all that money for food so I got to keep what remained of it.

I’m FREE from a co-signed car

I’ve been dealing with that car for 3 years and I’M FINALLY FREE. I ended up going to court mid-February and then I got to have the car. I don’t want the car so I took it to CarMax and sold it there.

Unfortunately they only offered $4,000. The loan balance was over $6,600, plus I had paid the monthly payment the month before.

BUT I am so glad to be out of that situation. I’ll make that money back and then some.

THE BAD NEWS

I paid almost $3K unexpectedly

As I mentioned above, I paid the difference of the car.

My emergency fund is depleted

In order to pay for the car I had to use my whole emergency fund. This may set me back for a bit while I replenish it, but I’m going to stay positive and just focus on increasing my income.

I went over budget on groceries

I went over budget on groceries by about $27. But I’ll cut myself some slack here because there were 5 weekends in February so that means I had an extra grocery trip!

SPENDING

Taxes: ($1,040) I put this money aside into my High-Yield Savings account until I have to pay taxes.

Sinking Funds: ($300) I put $200 in my sinking funds (car maintenance, vacation, gifts, and medical/dental), I added an extra $100 to save more to my emergency fund.

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

Donate: ($50) Every month I donate at least $50. This month I donated to a rescue group called Old Dog Home. Specifically to a dog named Benny. Please donate if you can!

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

Renter’s insurance: ($15.50) 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: ($55) I have Google Fiber. It was recently increased to $55 per month.

Electricity: ($50.34) My electricity bill.

Water: ($36.14) My water bill.

Food: ($277.49) This is all on groceries and food out.

Gas: ($24.05) I only got gas once.

Car: ($382.55) My minimum car payment.

Student Loan Debt: ($127.86) I decided to apply for the graduated extended repayment plan which lowers my minimum payment from $301 to $127. I did this so I could pay off my credit card balance transfer quicker (now to save quicker).

Then once I pay the card off I’ll be able to put more money to a specific student loan.

Credit Card Debt: ($399.69) My goal was to pay off $500 of my Bank of America credit card, but I was only able to do about $400.

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.

Health: ($87.09) This includes my Ritual multivitamins ($32.40), my eye exam ($49), and some vitamin C ($5.69).

Phone bill/car insurance/Dogs: ($230) My sister 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 pay an extra $50 to help her out with our dogs. My dad and stepmom paid off their phones so I offered my dad the $50 difference each month but he said to save it, which I’m so grateful for.

Business: ($19.99) This includes paying for Tailwind and GSuite.

Spotify: ($9.99)

Grow You: ($49) Group coaching program with Natalie Bacon.

Parking: ($15) I had to pay for parking at the courthouse and my doctor. I also paid to park at a shopping market/walking trail. So that was my only $5 of unnecessary spending.

Co-signed car: ($2,649.46) This was the difference between what CarMax offered and the remaining loan balance.

Interest: ($1.50) My Bank of America card still had some charged expenses at the beginning of the month that were not part of the balance transfer. Luckily it’s not too much.

Excluding my savings and debt I spent a total of $5,068.70.

Let’s Review my February Goals

  • No spend FOR THE MOST PART
  • Less than $250 on groceries/food out FAIL
  • Post at least 1 thing for sale FAIL

March Money Goals

  • No spend
  • Less than $250 on groceries/food
  • Post at least 1 thing for sale
  • Put at least $200 to my emergency savings

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A little weekend photo dump: ▪️Sydney Cumming A little weekend photo dump:  ▪️Sydney Cumming's workout
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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
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▪️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
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