October 2018 Spending and Saving

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My cash-flow was negative for October! I did do a bit more spending than I wanted, but it was my birthday, so ya know. But that wasn't what caused my funds to plummet. It was that $5,000 payment toward my student loans! So, it's not all bad.

I Just Paid Off ~30% of My Student Loans!

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Last week, I made a $5,000 payment on my student loans which I hadn't paid a single cent on in about 3 years. Why? I couldn't find my dog's leash and harness.

September 2018 Spending and Saving

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Another month has come and gone, and another month has gone where I reached my savings goal! Not without some slip-ups though. I could have done much better if I had chosen cheaper glasses, but I didn't want to. I value nice frames, especially since they're something I'll wear daily for a long time.

Let's check out the numbers shall we...

My Credit Score Increased by 29 Points This Week!

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I had an unofficial goal of getting my credit score into the "good" range (720-780) before the end of the year, and to my surprise it happened this week! I'm no expert on credit scores. All I know is from the little bit of reading I've done on what factors contribute to it. And all I can tell you is that I did just one simple thing before my score shot up.

August 2018 Spending and Saving

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August was an interesting month for me. I started off really well with not spending, but toward the end of the month, things kind of exploded. The first reason for this was that I got a new job and wanted to treat myself to some new clothes (I have a problem, I know). Luckily, Labor Day was just around the corner which means sales! I also received my Chase Freedom Unlimited card, which offers $150 cash back after you spend $500 in the first three months, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases. Clearly, I couldn't resist.

Book Talk: The Money Answer Book by Dave Ramsey

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Dave Ramsey wasn't a name that I was familiar with until I started to get into personal finance. Now, it's a name that I see everywhere, so when The Money Answer Book became available at my library, I checked it out. It took me a little over an hour to read, and I feel like I learned quite a bit. I'm by no means suddenly Team Ramsey, but I do think he a good well of knowledge. This was an interesting taste of his financial opinions, and I'd recommend it to see if his values and goals line up with yours.

Book Talk: Meet the Frugalwoods by Elizabeth Willard Thames

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I'm sure you all know about The Frugalwoods' blog if you're part of the Financial Independence/Early Retirement realm. It's one of the first ones that I found when I started my research and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Mrs. FW had recently written a book! I immediately requested it from my library, and when it finally came in, I started reading it right at the bus stop (which is right outside my library). Needless to say, I was hooked.

I got the job (and a $0.15 raise)!

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I mentioned last month that I had an interview. Well, I didn't get it. I know the title of this post says otherwise, but I did get it! Just not at that time. The position was posted again earlier this month, so I applied again (after laughing when I saw it listed again!).

Book Talk: Early Retirement Extreme by Jacob Lund Fisker

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Another title which has shown up on almost every personal finance reading list is Early Retirement Extreme by Jacob Lund Fisker. I can certainly see why that is, although it's very different than I was expecting. If you're looking for a step-by-step guide to financial independence, this book is not it. Instead, if you want to learn more about how our society really works and the thinking behind financial freedom, absolutely pick this one up.

July 2018 Spending and Saving

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My first month of getting serious about my finances has come to an end. I learned a lot over the last few weeks, and discovered some surprising things about myself and my spending habits. But I vowed to do better and put my new-found knowledge into practice. I showed you all my starting point, so let's see how July changed those numbers.

Goal #2: Have a Fully Funded Emergency Fund by 2020

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I've decided that I'm going to work on my first two financial goals concurrently. This means that I'll be paying off my student loans less aggressively, but it also means that I'll still have money on hand if I were to need it. Since that's kind of the point of an emergency fund. From my reading, I've seen emergency funds explained in two ways. Either, 3-6 months of expenses or 3-6 months of income. Both make sense to me for different reason, but only one really works for my current lifestyle.

My Sandal Broke, So I Shopped My Closet for a Replacement

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About two weeks ago, my flip-flop broke while I was walking to the bus stop. My first thought, of course, was that I need to buy new ones. I even knew exactly what kind I wanted. Then I paused and really thought about it. Why would I need to spend money on another pair of shoes, especially a pair that I only wear to walk to the bus stop or across the street to get the mail? I considered my other options.

Insights From Google Docs' Annual Budget Sheet

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I had created my own, rough budget spreadsheet for this year, but I wanted something a little more "fancy." Google Docs has an Annual Budget template, so I decided to check that out. It looked pretty good, so I took the time to fill in the past six months worth of income and expenses. The results were shocking! Was I really spending that much on clothes?! Was I really saving so little?! Was I really making that much extra money on the side?! This simple spreadsheet showed me exactly what I was doing wrong and what I had been doing right (not much!).

Book Talk: The Simple Path to Wealth by J.L. Collins

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The Simple Path to Wealth by J.L. Collins shows up on almost every recommendation list for the personal finance blogs that I've read, so of course I had to check it out from the library. After finishing it, I can certainly see why it's recommended so much. It really does make the path to wealth seem simple: invest. That's it. The tone of the book is very chill and straightforward. The author explains everything clearly and gives you exactly what you need to know without being overwhelming.

Book Talk: The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes

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If you read my introduction post, you'll already know that I'm an avid reader and I'll read almost anything. While fiction is still my go to, I do read a lot of nonfiction as well. After discovering financial independence blogs, my reading list has grown exponentially, and I plan on sharing some of these reads with you. One of my recent reads was The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes. Now, this is not about personal finance, but I still found it applicable to my life right now.

3 Months Until the Start of My 30th Solar Revolution

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I'll be 29 in three months. Fifteen months until I'm 30. There's something about these milestones which make me want to get my life together. It's not a complete mess, but to society, I'm probably not where I'm suppose to be. Other people my age seem much older. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe a mix of both.

I Resisted the 4th of July Sales and Saved $800

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I am a huge fan of sales. I almost never order anything unless it's during a sale. I could also flip that and say that I always order during a sale. Everything that I want is cheaper, so of course I have to get it now! For Memorial Day, I placed four orders totaling $982.98. Yep, I spent nearly $1000 on clothes in one day. Have I worn all of it? Nope. The worst part is that there was a "Spring Cleaning" sale a few weeks before that where I spent over $500 as well. There were random other purchases during the month that brought my total nonessential spending up to $2020.36.

Goal #1: Pay Off My Student Loans

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I could consider myself lucky that my only debt is my ~$17,000 student loan. I'm careful with credit cards and never carry a balance. I don't take out loans. I don't have car payments (or a car). I don't have a mortgage (or a house). And my student loans could have been a lot worse if I didn't have that partial fee waiver due to my dad being a veteran. Even if it did disqualify me from accepting scholarships and grants. If I'm careful with my spending, I can pay this thing off relatively soon.

Starting From Not Quite Zero

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Now that you all know what this blog is about and who I am, I guess I should lay out what my starting point is. You already know that I don't make much money, have no real bills, but may have a bit of an online shopping problem (particularly when it comes to clothes). But how much do I actually earn, save, and spend? I'm choosing to use July 1st as the first day of the rest of my life, so let's look at what I had at the start of the month.

Who is Angie?

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Hello, again! I'm glad you decided to come back and go on this journey with me. Since you're here, you're probably wondering who exactly Angie is and why she wants to get out of debt and retire early. Well, I'm going to tell you all that!

Welcome to Angie's Venture!

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Hello, fellow humans (and unicorns)! And welcome to my newest blogging endeavor, Angie's Venture.