savings

would you like a receipt?

“Today was much better than yesterday’s five hour meltdown” I wrote this sentence in my journal, the day after meeting with a financial advisor.

This meeting would’ve never happened if it weren’t for a conversation I had with my brother. He works for a financial investment company (not as an advisor but something completely different) and although I don’t know exactly what he does, I trust his judgment when it comes to money. He basically called me out on my shit and told me to look into investing in my financial future like I do for my health.

Initially, I booked the appointment to hear about different portfolios I could be investing in, considering my current employer doesn’t offer a 401K, and I’m actually taking adulthood seriously. (I do want a family within this decade).

Growing up, my family never really talked about finances. Conversations around money were more along the lines of “I don’t have anything, ask your father” and my dad responding with laughter. Getting the mail was always daunting because out of the 20 pieces, half were probably bills, and at a very young age I thought credit cards were the devil.

Meeting with this financial advisor turned from a conversation about investing to a wake up call that I needed to hear.  After the meeting I spent the next 5 hours wallowing in this hole I (unnecessarily) dug for myself, and it was precisely what I needed to feel in order for me to take everything seriously and pull myself back to the surface.

Until that day I had never tracked my spending. Granted, I don’t have a ton of debt in comparison to the majority of people in the U.S., but it’s enough that I feel it’s a block in my path to progress, and [financial] freedom.

So, for the past two months I’ve kept all my receipts from my purchases and have tracked them on everydollar.com.

Thinking I had to ask for a raise or find another job that pays more in order for me to “survive” was a false assumption. Tracking what I’m actually spending my money on provided clarity on where I could allocate any extra money towards paying off debt and saving.

For those who think “I don’t make enough money to save, let alone invest.” Try again.

For starters, I’ve been using digit to automatically pull money from my bank based on what I spend into a savings account.

This is a referral link, and if you’re interested in saving money without even thinking about it, try it out.