What I Spent in May 2021

MAY DAY, MAY DAY! It's time to get into my May monthly recap and overview. I had the highest income for 2021 this April. Although I am so grateful for it, I wish it were because of happier circumstances. I also had a very shoppy month as I’m on the hunt for the perfect high cut black bikini for summer. I’m excited to share with you a look behind the scenes of my May spending.

Context About My Situation

I know you're probably not new here, but in case you somehow landed on this article and you are, hey, what's up!? Go subscribe to my Youtube channel 🙃. Here’s a bit about me so you have a better understanding of my financial situation:

• Live at home with my parents, so no rent, utilities, or groceries (I buy dinner when Mom doesn’t feel like cooking.)

• Have 6 figure salary as a visual designer in tech with 8 years of experience

• No debt, parents helped pay for my undergraduate education

• Parents saved for their own retirement

Income

Let's dive into my May numbers.

💰 Paycheck: $6,222.69

I had an average paycheck this month.

👗 Resale: $149

I sold a few items on Poshmark this month. I don’t add new items very actively because it’s a lot of work, but it’s fun when I get a few sales to throw into my investments!

🎨 Freelance: $2164.20

I finally got paid for building a client’s Squarespace website. I love Squarspace, it’s so easy to cutomize and it is what I use for this blog.

💵 Cash back: $194.50

📈 Interest: $4.57

I keep my 6 month emergency fund in Ally high yield savings account and I also have a high yield checking account at Wealthfront. Collect all the interest!!!

🤑 Dividends: $19.54

Definitely a big drop from the $200 in dividends I got last month since it was the end of Q1.

🍯 Millennial Money Honey: $151.94

THIS was a hugeee month for MMH! After a year of running this blog, I finally got my very first Google Adsense payout! You need $100 to be able to cash out and it took over a year to reach that threshold.

I also got my first $10 from Anchor. I publish the audio from my Youtube videos there and when people listen it via podcast I earn a few cents every time it gets played.

Finally a little bit came from my Etsy shop.

🌟 Other: $5,219.20

I was supposed to go to Taylor Swift’s Lovers Fest West concert last year. However that finally got cancelled and I got a refund back. 😢 I will have to console myself with Fearless (Taylor’s Version) in the meantime.

The majority of this, $5,000 came from a windfall that I received from my late grandmother, my Popo. She passed away last year at the age of 94 and gave all the grandchildren a little bit of money. I really wish I would’ve been able to see her before she passed, but unfortunately due to the travel restrictions, I wasn’t able to see her. I am so sad, but so blessed to have gotten to know her for the 29 years I did.

🤝 Affiliate: $230

I use the Dosh app to earn passive income. All you do is download the app, link your credit card and go about your merry way! They partner with places like Popeyes, Sephora, Adidas, and more stores to give you cash back. It is kind of like Rakuten in that sense BUT you don’t have to remember to click a browser extension or anything, which is why I like it better. One day you open it up and you have money you can cash out!

I promoted it on my Instagram the other day, so I received some affiliate money. Thanks to all those who used my link! If you haven’t had a chance to check it out feel free to use my link for the Dosh app and get your first $10 free! 🤑

Expenses

🏡 House: $0

⚡️ Utilities: $0

🚖 Transportation: $0

Not going anywhere!

🥦 Groceries: $0

🍽 Food: $141.35

We ate out quite a bit this month!

🍹 Drinks: $0

👩‍💻 Work: $174.02
I bought a Squarespace subscription for a client whose website I’m working on. However I will be reimbursed for the $115 I paid when I invoice them through the Bonsai app at the end of the project.

Bonsai is the best freelancing software. It puts together contracts, has templates for project proposals, and makes invoice for clients very easy to pay. Bonsai makes me look so professional (read: EXPENSIVE). I highly recommend checking it out if you're a freelancer or solo entrepreneur.

🍿 Entertainment: $32.10

I spent a little bit on my crafting hobbies this month! I put those expenses under entertainment. I made a rainbow catcher, fixed up an ornate gold mirror, and spruced up a Mid Century Modern desk that I got for free.

I am planning on flipping the desk, since I got it in decent

✈️ Travel: $0

🚙 Car: $0

🏥 Health: $36

I made the mistake of picking up scissors that were sitting on the bathroom counter and attempting to give myself face framing layers 💇‍♀️ . LOL. As a result of the predictably horrendous results, I ended up going to a hairdresser to even everything out.

I wish I would have just gone to her in the first place, because although she did what she could to fix it, the end result is much shorter than I would have liked thanks to my poor handiwork. I have only myself to blame.

🛍 Shopping: $198.66

I went with my sister to drop off her car at the shop. What was supposed to be a short wait turned into 5 hours, so we went to the mall to kill time. Of course, you know what the means…

She was going on quite the shopping spree and me being me, I couldn’t resist browsing. It’s been so long since I’ve truly shopped at a mall. Plus I’ve been on the hunt for a high cut bikini for summer and started buying up ones to try on since I couldn’t at the store.

I am going to be returning a lot of the things I bought, but in the meantime, this is the damage.

💝 Gifts: $86.45

It’s my sister’s birthday this month so we split the cordless vacuum she wanted. Hopefully she’s not reading this, but if so, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SARAH! (She knows we got it for her.)

❓Miscellaneous: $0

Savings

👵 401K: $0

I maxed all $19,500 of this out! So no more 401K contributions for 2021.

💰IRA: $0

Also maxed all $6K of this out.

🏦 Savings: $0

I basically invested everything this month and then some, so I didn’t really save.

📈 Brokerage: $11,610

I decided to put $2,000 of the money my Popo gave me into SCHD (Schwab’s Dividend ETF) since she was a huge fan of dividend stocks. Although I normally don’t invest in this fund, I decided to do it in her memory.

I bit the bullet and without much research, decided to invest $100 into cryptocurrency. I opened a Coinbase account and put $100 into BTC. I am also planning on buying a little Ethereum. This is 0.01% of my entire portfolio.

This is not financial advice, just what I’m doing. If you are in high interest debt, don’t have an emergency fund, and haven’t started investing into more traditional methods, I personally would not look at crypto as the place to start. Again, this is an extremely small FRACTION of my overall portfolio.

I also opened a brokerage account with Public. A friend recommended it to me and Graham Stephan and a lot of other financial influencers are on there as well so I wanted to see what it was all about! The verdict is still out but the UI is nice and easy to use. I will probably only put fun money in here. If you’re interested in checking it out my Public link earns you up to $50 in free stock!

💵 SEP IRA: $0

I had a chat with a CPA and applied to open a SEP IRA account with Schwab. It is still pending approval, but will hopefully be open soon so I can transfer funds here before the May 17th tax deadline.

💸 Checking: $425

Checking is my income minus the rest of my savings accounts. I don’t have a separate category for that under my savings column in my money tracking spreadsheet.

Monthly Totals

🤑 Income: $11,884.50

💸Expenses: $668.58

🏦 Savings: $11,215.91

📊 Savings Rate: 94.37%

Again this is the most income I’ve had this year thanks to my Popo and as a result of that I was able to save and invest over 5 figures into the market.

I am so, so, so grateful to her and my family for setting me up for financial success and happiness. Go watch the video up top to hear some wisdom from my grandma.

If you’re on your own journey to early retirement be sure to check out my Youtube and subscribe below!

Let’s retire early together!

p.s. I am still on the search for the perfect black bikini though so if you have any recs drop a comment below.

---

Disclosure: Some links are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn some compensation. All opinions are 100% my own! I truly appreciate you and your support. :)

Living at Home with Parents at 29 (and more!) • ASK ME ANYTHING

I did an Ask Me Anything sticker on Instagram and y'all came through with the questions. Here is the first part of my two part AMA. I go over all of your question about pursuing Financial Independence and Early Retirement. We're talking about how to get creative to save more money and retire even faster.

Context About My Situation

I know you're probably not new here, but in case you somehow landed on this article and you are, hey, what's up!? Go subscribe to my Youtube channel 🙃. Here’s a bit about me so you have a better understanding of my financial situation:

• Live at home with my parents, so no rent, utilities, or groceries (I buy dinner when Mom doesn’t feel like cooking.)

• Have 6 figure salary as a visual designer in tech with 8 years of experience

• No debt, parents helped pay for my undergraduate education

• Parents saved for their own retirement

---

Disclosure: Some links are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn some compensation. All opinions are 100% my own! I truly appreciate you and your support. :)

A blogger, yoga instructor, and business development professional living in LA and FI/RE-ing in 16 years with $1.6M

Follow @practicalbloggers on Instagram!

Occupation: I'm a Travel & Wellness Blogger at Practical Bloggers, a yoga instructor, and a full-time Business Development professional in Tech. Currently, I'm on a corporate sabbatical, passively seeking full-time opportunities, whilst collaborating on a travel style line + studying to become a health coach.

Industry: Tech, Internet, Non-Profit (varies)

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Age: 28

Salary: My regular full-time income is approximately $6,200 a month after taxes. Nowadays, I probably bring in $2K with EDD money (unemployment) + coronavirus pay, so I am resting while I can. This is how early retirement will look like I believe :D Minus the lack of travel.

Ethnicity: Asian/Pacific Islander & Indian

Education: Bachelors

Current financial situation: Living at home with my parents for the pandemic, planning a move OUT of CA. TBD on that, debating whether to go for further education, full-time job while building up the Practical Bloggers empire ;)

What was your first job? Why did you get it? How much did you get paid?

I was a phone banker at a Los Angeles City Council political campaign. I was paid $10/hour back in 2010. I guess this sparked my interest in the art of persuasion ;)

Growing up how did you learn about personal finance? Was money talked about openly? How did it make you feel?

No. My parents are Scientists who are very much undereducated with money. They didn't know what an index fund was until I told him. Now I help my mom automate her finances, with the help of books and her money coach @savemycents. I never felt like I lacked anything, even though my parents rarely ate out. Indians are bestowed the stereotype of being "cheap", but I don't think they were that frugal. Yes, I travel 20X as much as they did, but I owe it to them for the foundation they laid for me for cultivating the sustainable, and abundant mindset. Education is key! And that doesn't necessarily mean formal institutional education. South Asian culture tends to be extremely money hungry and obsessed. Money is energy and the more you give and enjoy it freely, the more you'll get. Yes, you need to be mindful on your conscious spending plan but by no means is it reasonable to hoard and be a stingy f**k. Srry!

What was the moment or event that made you realize you needed to start getting your money together?

I've always worked in downtown San Francisco, where the shopping is PHENOMENAL! I love sourcing fabrics and styles through the stores and often indulged in emotional shopping. My first job out of undergrad paid $45K/yr so it wasn't a lot. I was frugal with food and with finding an affordable studio in rent. Where I failed was Banana Republic. Their clothes aren't even that great. I came to the point where I was too embarrassed to tell my parents about my credit card debt and lack of student loan repayment, that I borrowed money from a friend. A WHOLE YEAR after repayment, I got my shit together.

Let’s Talk Money

Net Worth: I actually don't know this. Will need to research later. I haven't hit the $100K mark yet but plan to by EOY.

Debt: I'm debt free, baby!

Monthly Expenses: Right now, it’s about $700/month with the courses I am taking, personal training, investment allocations, business coaching, my books, food, sparse hangouts with friends. I'm very lucky to have a majority of my costs covered by making the conscious financial move to spend the pandemic with my mom!

Savings Rate: I also don't know this, but its probably around 30% of my income. I plan on upping this to eventually hit 50% once I resume working full-time.

Investing strategy: I’M LAZY BUT EFFICIENT, so it's all Index funds via Vanguard; Stocks (Equities) 90%:

35% VTSAX [Total Market Index Fund]

25% VTIAX [Total International Stock Index]

15% VGSIX [REIT Index]

10% VGT [Technology Stock]

5% VWO [Emerging Markets Fund]

Bonds: 10% VTAPX [Short-term Inflation Protexted Securities Index]

Your FI/RE Story

FI/RE number: $1.647M at 45.

FI/RE type: Right now, I'd say I’m on Slow FI/RE thanks to my family, otherwise it'd be a regular $66K/year spend :).

Years until FI/RE: 16-17 years; depending on how my business runs, and contingent on many more intangibles (kids? partner? property?)

FI/RE location: No idea, but I want to be close to my mom, so probably in the West Coast of the United States. Knowing me, I will probably hop through countries: Greece, Kerala (India), Washington D.C., Miami, Japan, Costa Rica, Portugal, Colombia, are all on the "live here long term" list! These aren't random spots, I've researched thoroughly.

How did you first hear about FI/RE?

Through Our Rich Journey's YouTube channel. I ADORE Amon and Christina!

Why do you want to reach Financial Independence/Retire Early? What keeps you motivated on this long journey?

So I don't have to grovel to corporations that place a cap on my endless flow of creativity, integrity, and talent!

In what ways have you cut back your spending? In what ways have you started mindfully spending more?

I read Ramit's book [I Will Teach You to Be Rich] and created a Conscious Spending Plan, a List of Wants which I consistently iterate for purchases over $200, Investment Asset Allocation, Sinking Funds in Capital One 360, Track hacking through credit cards. There's too many strategies to name, but the KEY IS IN AUTOMATION AND ORGANIZATION. The yoga teacher in me says: Patience and Gratitude. Money is energy!

What do friends and family have to say when you tell them your plan to achieve FI/RE? Are they supportive?

I don't talk to just anyone about money; I protect my space and disassociate with the haters, so much so that I don't even know who they are. I speak with my IG FI/RE friends and my best friends about this and they're always rooting for me <333.

Are you doing anything to achieve FI/RE faster?

Prolonging my stay with Mummy in LA.... for now! LOL.

What does retiring early (or financial independence) mean to you? What will you do once you FI/RE?

I will help my mom pay off her home, and travel like crazy! More so than I do. Before having children, I will take as many risks as I want and be as uncomfortable with life so I can be FREEEE

FI/RE Advice

Any advice you'd give to someone who wants to pursue FI/RE, especially if it seemed hard or unattainable?

READ THE BOOKS, talk to creators like Catie. Find your tribe for support and check-in with them every month as an affirmation practice.

What is the biggest thing you learned about money on this journey?

People ask me for financial advice, apparently I give off the put-together vibe but personal finance is personal, and I cannot stress that enough. My goals are my own, so unfortunately I am unable to assist them/whomever they may be and simply share what I do.

Have you made any money mistakes or learned any lessons on the way that you wish you knew before?

Obsessed with my image at work. People repeat outfits all the time. I've been called out multiple times for being "stylish" and that felt like an insult to me because the undertones were that of "damn, do you ever repeat clothes." Imposter syndrome at its finest! What more can I say.

What are your favorite FI/RE resources that you'd recommend to someone just getting started?

I Will Teach You How to Be Rich, Our Rich Journey on YouTube, The Simple Path to Wealth, for mindset: You are a Badass at Making Money. No masterclasses or 1:1 coaching, that shit didn't work for me. Just read. Immerse yourself. Follow Catie's IG! Shang's! Jannesse's! Delyanne!

Follow @practicalbloggers on Instagram!

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Disclosure: Some links are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn some compensation. All opinions are 100% my own! I truly appreciate you and your support. :)

What I Spent in April 2021

MAY DAY, MAY DAY! It's time to get into my April monthly recap and overview. I had the highest income for 2021 this April. Although I am so grateful for it, I wish it were because of happier circumstances. I also had a very shoppy month as I’m on the hunt for the perfect high cut black bikini for summer. I’m excited to share with you a look behind the scenes of my April spending.

Context About My Situation

I know you're probably not new here, but in case you somehow landed on this article and you are, hey, what's up!? Go subscribe to my Youtube channel 🙃. Here’s a bit about me so you have a better understanding of my financial situation:

• Live at home with my parents, so no rent, utilities, or groceries (I buy dinner when Mom doesn’t feel like cooking.)

• Have 6 figure salary as a visual designer in tech with 8 years of experience

• No debt, parents helped pay for my undergraduate education

• Parents saved for their own retirement

Income

Let's dive a little bit deeper into my actual April numbers.

💰 Paycheck: $6,222.69

I had an average paycheck this month.

👗 Resale: $37.56

I sold a few items on Poshmark this month. I don’t add new items very actively because it’s a lot of work, but it’s fun when I get a few sales to throw into my investments!

🎨 Freelance: $0

I did $0 this month. I’m still on that one job that I'm slowly wrapping up from 2020. It’s been dragging on. I've been building a client’s Squarespace website, which is what I use to power this blog.

💵 Cash back: $0

📈 Interest: $4.57

I keep my 6 month emergency fund in Ally high yield savings account and I also have a high yield checking account at Wealthfront. Collect all the interest!!!

🤑 Dividends: $19.54

Definitely a big drop from the $200 in dividends I got last month since it was the end of Q1.

🍯 Millennial Money Honey: $151.94

THIS was a hugeee month for MMH! After a year of running this blog, I finally got my very first Google Adsense payout! You need $100 to be able to cash out and it took over a year to reach that threshold.

I also got my first $10 from Anchor. I publish the audio from my Youtube videos there and when people listen it via podcast I earn a few cents every time it gets played.

Finally a little bit came from my Etsy shop.

🌟 Other: $5,219.20

I was supposed to go to Taylor Swift’s Lovers Fest West concert last year. However that finally got cancelled and I got a refund back. 😢 I will have to console myself with Fearless (Taylor’s Version) in the meantime.

The majority of this, $5,000 came from a windfall that I received from my late grandmother, my Popo. She passed away last year at the age of 94 and gave all the grandchildren a little bit of money. I really wish I would’ve been able to see her before she passed, but unfortunately due to the travel restrictions, I wasn’t able to see her. I am so sad, but so blessed to have gotten to know her for the 29 years I did.

🤝 Affiliate: $230

I use the Dosh app to earn passive income. All you do is download the app, link your credit card and go about your merry way! They partner with places like Popeyes, Sephora, Adidas, and more stores to give you cash back. It is kind of like Rakuten in that sense BUT you don’t have to remember to click a browser extension or anything, which is why I like it better. One day you open it up and you have money you can cash out!

I promoted it on my Instagram the other day, so I received some affiliate money. Thanks to all those who used my link! If you haven’t had a chance to check it out feel free to use my link for the Dosh app and get your first $10 free! 🤑

Expenses

🏡 House: $0

⚡️ Utilities: $0

🚖 Transportation: $0

Not going anywhere!

🥦 Groceries: $0

🍽 Food: $141.35

We ate out quite a bit this month!

🍹 Drinks: $0

👩‍💻 Work: $174.02
I bought a Squarespace subscription for a client whose website I’m working on. However I will be reimbursed for the $115 I paid when I invoice them through the Bonsai app at the end of the project.

Bonsai is the best freelancing software. It puts together contracts, has templates for project proposals, and makes invoice for clients very easy to pay. Bonsai makes me look so professional (read: EXPENSIVE). I highly recommend checking it out if you're a freelancer or solo entrepreneur.

🍿 Entertainment: $32.10

I spent a little bit on my crafting hobbies this month! I put those expenses under entertainment. I made a rainbow catcher, fixed up an ornate gold mirror, and spruced up a Mid Century Modern desk that I got for free.

I am planning on flipping the desk, since I got it in decent

✈️ Travel: $0

🚙 Car: $0

🏥 Health: $36

I made the mistake of picking up scissors that were sitting on the bathroom counter and attempting to give myself face framing layers 💇‍♀️ . LOL. As a result of the predictably horrendous results, I ended up going to a hairdresser to even everything out.

I wish I would have just gone to her in the first place, because although she did what she could to fix it, the end result is much shorter than I would have liked thanks to my poor handiwork. I have only myself to blame.

🛍 Shopping: $198.66

I went with my sister to drop off her car at the shop. What was supposed to be a short wait turned into 5 hours, so we went to the mall to kill time. Of course, you know what the means…

She was going on quite the shopping spree and me being me, I couldn’t resist browsing. It’s been so long since I’ve truly shopped at a mall. Plus I’ve been on the hunt for a high cut bikini for summer and started buying up ones to try on since I couldn’t at the store.

I am going to be returning a lot of the things I bought, but in the meantime, this is the damage.

💝 Gifts: $86.45

It’s my sister’s birthday this month so we split the cordless vacuum she wanted. Hopefully she’s not reading this, but if so, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SARAH! (She knows we got it for her.)

❓Miscellaneous: $0

Savings

👵 401K: $0

I maxed all $19,500 of this out! So no more 401K contributions for 2021.

💰IRA: $0

Also maxed all $6K of this out.

🏦 Savings: $0

I basically invested everything this month and then some, so I didn’t really save.

📈 Brokerage: $11,610

I decided to put $2,000 of the money my Popo gave me into SCHD (Schwab’s Dividend ETF) since she was a huge fan of dividend stocks. Although I normally don’t invest in this fund, I decided to do it in her memory.

I bit the bullet and without much research, decided to invest $100 into cryptocurrency. I opened a Coinbase account and put $100 into BTC. I am also planning on buying a little Ethereum. This is 0.01% of my entire portfolio.

This is not financial advice, just what I’m doing. If you are in high interest debt, don’t have an emergency fund, and haven’t started investing into more traditional methods, I personally would not look at crypto as the place to start. Again, this is an extremely small FRACTION of my overall portfolio.

I also opened a brokerage account with Public. A friend recommended it to me and Graham Stephan and a lot of other financial influencers are on there as well so I wanted to see what it was all about! The verdict is still out but the UI is nice and easy to use. I will probably only put fun money in here. If you’re interested in checking it out my Public link earns you up to $50 in free stock!

💵 SEP IRA: $0

I had a chat with a CPA and applied to open a SEP IRA account with Schwab. It is still pending approval, but will hopefully be open soon so I can transfer funds here before the May 17th tax deadline.

💸 Checking: $425

Checking is my income minus the rest of my savings accounts. I don’t have a separate category for that under my savings column in my money tracking spreadsheet.

Monthly Totals

🤑 Income: $11,884.50

💸Expenses: $668.58

🏦 Savings: $11,215.91

📊 Savings Rate: 94.37%

Again this is the most income I’ve had this year thanks to my Popo and as a result of that I was able to save and invest over 5 figures into the market.

I am so, so, so grateful to her and my family for setting me up for financial success and happiness. Go watch the video up top to hear some wisdom from my grandma.

If you’re on your own journey to early retirement be sure to check out my Youtube and subscribe below!

Let’s retire early together!

p.s. I am still on the search for the perfect black bikini though so if you have any recs drop a comment below.

---

Disclosure: Some links are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn some compensation. All opinions are 100% my own! I truly appreciate you and your support. :)

A 24 year-old "retired" civil engineer living in New York City and FI/RE-ing with $1.5M

Occupation: “Retired” Civil Engineer

Industry: E-commerce

Age: 24

Location: NYC

Salary: $110,000/year

FI/RE Number: $1.5M

Years Until FI/RE: 4 years

Current financial situation: I’m grateful that my financial situation is alright at the moment. I’m able to make income from my e-commerce store with future endeavors. I am currently doing my Masters in construction, so like everyone else, student loans are killing me.

Ethnicity: White/Black

How did you first hear about FI/RE?

Podcasts. When I worked as an engineer, it was in transportation and infrastructure design. While working on my CAD and MicroStation drawings, I would listen to podcasts.

Why do you want to reach Financial Independence/Retire Early?

FI/RE is freedom. I was raised by a single mother, when we came to America she worked as a housekeeper then made her way up to a program coordinator. I remember how much she worked. On Christmas Day, she would leave me at 7 years old to go to work. I think that’s why I’m not a fan of 9-5 jobs. As an engineer, I worked a 9-5. I loved learning, but I felt controlled. They controlled my sick days and my vacation days. I wanted some say.

Do you have any debt?

$109,000 student loans only

What is your % savings rate?

60% before tax

Are you doing anything to achieve FI/RE faster? If yes, what?

I plan to open a dropshipping store, a membership community and possibly a construction company

Any advice you'd give to someone who has a similar FI/RE lifestyle as you, especially if it seemed hard or unattainable?

I would say keep going. Don’t feel limited in your capabilities. The worst thing you can do is not try.

Favorite FI/RE resources you’d like to share?

Podcasts are my favorite: Millionaires Unveiled, Listen Money Matters

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Disclosure: Some links are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn some compensation. All opinions are 100% my own! I truly appreciate you and your support. :)