Millennial Money Honey

Reflections from my first 7 outfits of the 75 hard style challenge!

Q1 savings rate is in! Made some financial mistakes, but still performed well overall. This year has been a better balance between enjoying the now and running to become work optional ASAP. 🔥

March was good to me—went to Melbourne, partied (& thrifted) with friends, and celebrated getting a raise!!! I even made $12 back on my 2023 tax return 🤑

I logged in to SSA.gov to see what my reported earnings were since I’m working on filing taxes and it reminded me to check my lifetime savings rate! I’m sooo close to having earned $1M over the entire course of my working years and have saved ~81% of everything I earned. Hoping to make it 100%+ one day!! 🚀 Such a fascinating stat! Have you checked your lifetime savings rate??

Well technically 52%, but 50% sounded more fun! Saw someone else’s story who I track pretty closely with saying they were almost 50%, so I thought lemme go check my spreadsheet 🤔 to see where I’m at! And what do ya know, I am HALFWAY THERE!

2019 is when I started and this is less than 5 years later. Imagine where I’ll be in the next 5 💭! What should I do to celebrate this big milestone?! 🎉

It’s been YEARS since I’ve posted a term, but today I learned more about tender offers today thanks to and ❤️! Things they don’t teach you in school 🥲

Honestly my worst savings rate since I first started this journey to FI/RE in 2019. 😩 Hard to not beat myself up over this when saving this much is objectively really good!

With this fluctuation, I’m not sure how much time it would actually take me to reach FI/RE now. According to the MMM time to work optional chart, it would put me at 17 years! But maybe this spend is more realistic?

In 2022 my savings rate was ~73%. The biggest expense increase is due to the fact that I moved in with my boyfriend and started paying rent. I need to go back and figure out my true annual expenses 🤨

Unlocked a new net with milestone in December!! The market is back down a little, but I always count the first time it reaches that next $100k. Compound unrest is wild!

When you see your December dividends hit ‼️🦙

The market is back up! 📈 I’m annoyed at myself for not investing more when it was down 🤦🏻‍♀️. It’s still not back to my all time high, but pretty close

Spent WAY more money than I thought I would in October. Most of it was due to fronting almost $2K of my own money on a collab that is not officially signed…slightly spooky! 👻 An expensive lesson if it doesn’t pan out as I hope. 😬 If not for that, I would have been closer to the 70% savings rate.

I was looking at my money tracker today and saw something I hadn’t realized would be feasible for me to do! I’ve consistently made 5 figures of income every month this year. This is super exciting for me!! Although I noticed my spending has also increased significantly this year too 😬. More on that later…

In June I got a promotion at work and last month I finally learned about the raise that would come along with it! It equates to about $250 more per paycheck after taxes, so I’m increasing automatic investment contributions by $200. The other $50 I’m keeping to spend (on thrifting :).

Updated my FI/RE spreadsheet with this new milestone!!

This was the third longest period between my $100k goals after my first two. Clearly the market conditions can help you A LOT in the good times and slow you down if it’s not.

I still get SO excited when hitting new financial milestones. I hope I never lose that sense of accomplishment!

A little money update since I never post about money anymore 🤪. I’m annoyingly close to $600K. GO MARKET GO! 🚀

Set a money date with yourself this weekend—the ultimate form of self-care. ❤️ I solemnly swear to shut up about this soon, but I’m so stinking proud of it 🥲.

I never thought I’d sell a money tracking spreadsheet. I didn’t think it was good enough or that people would want it. But this anti-budget spreadsheet is the only thing that’s worked on my journey to FI/RE! I’ve kept mine up for years. One might even call it my longest committed relationship 😂.

Plus, how can you not be motivated to look at your money when it looks so pretty!? Available at the link in my bio ❤️

Here’s a list of all of the items I bought last year and my ratings out of 5. If I rated it sub 3, i would NOT buy/do it again…at least not on my own dime.

My top item for 2022 was definitely a Kindle. I’m reading SO much more by borrowing from via the .app and reading it on my !

Another year, another challenge! I also made a month-less version if you want to start later.

If there’s enough interest, I can make a Canva template too!

Save this chart next time you’re shoe shopping! If you missed my last Reel, I got a pair of kids shoes that were $75, but the adult size cost $120. I’m not sure why there is such a high markup when they are the same 🤔. It’s wild!

I feel like Gretchen Wieners trying to make Net Zero Shopping happen. I am GOING to do it!! Spread the word if you’re doing it too! 😊

Save money, declutter your house and be more intentional—what’s not to love?!

Do you know your Lifetime Wealth Ratio?It’s the amount of money you’ve earned over your entire working career (or at least what’s been reported to the IRS) and the percentage of what you’ve saved/invested.

I’ve saved about 68% of all of my lifetime earnings, which I think is pretty good considering I didn’t start really saving until my mid to late 20s!

Making a reel on how to find yours.

In case you missed the YouTube video, here is an update on my progress to FI/RE as of December 2022. The full breakdown of every dollar I invested, spent, and earned is in the link in my bio!

For context: I’m a 31 year old Art director working in tech and living at home! I’m very fortunate to have supportive parents and a partner that help me save. Plus I have the financial security of a well paying job.

I didn’t reach my savings rate goal of 85% ,but my 3 year average is at ~77%. I’ve been easing off the breaks, traveling more, and not being stingy AF. According to MMM’s savings rate chart puts me around the 6 years til FI mark! Counting back from 2019 when I started working towards FI/RE, i think in 2025 I’ll still become work optional!

My crazy big goal is to have $1.5M by then, BUT that’s not actually the number I need to be financially independent, it’s for peace of mind.

My true FIRE number is closer to $1M at my current rate of spend ($40K/yr * 25=$1M). $1.5M is to factor in kids and other unknowns. I’m still planning on a work sabbatical in 2025 when I reach $1M!

Last monthly money of ‘22! I bought myself my first designer item. Any guesses what it is…finance related of course 🤗.

Plus my raise went into effect and I got my Q4 dividends. Big money moves to close out the year and looking forward to 2023!

Get the full breakdown on YouTube 🎥.

Never posted my 7 summer weddings series in carousel form so archiving it here now and it’s bringing back all the mems 🥹 Money well spent!

Here are my thoughts and reflections on the last 3 months of my spent with intent purchases! I think it’s almost better to wait a few months to really reflect on each buy. I’ll have to do a full recap at the end of the year.

Have you guys heard of hypermiling 🚙? It actually makes a pretty big difference in saving gas ⛽️ !

One of my besties used to do it in high school and with gas prices at an all-time high my sister has been doing it too. She’s been getting ~40 mpg+ driving her HR-V. 😯

Would you try any of these tips to save gas??

Finally got a chance to break out my April Spent with Intent purchase, a 90’s leather jacket, since it’s been warm lately. All in all, I really love it and have been wearing it every chance I get.

The interest rate on series I savings bonds have gone from 7.21% to 9.62% as of May 1. That’s over a 2% increase!

I maxed out the $10,000 annual limit in December 2021. I’m thinking about maxing it out again at this new interest rate as a continued hedge against inflation. Would you buy ibonds?

Link in bio to watch my old YouTube video where I walk you through how to buy them through treasury direct.