I have a conundrum…

I have in my savings, about 2 months worth of local salary. This amount of money can usually feed and house a family of 4. So I can live off it, for maybe 3-4 months.

My problem is, I left some important paperwork in the US. and I need to actually get it personally. This means, I’ll have to spend that money for a ticket to go back. I think I know what I have to do. Which is, go back to the US. Because while there, I can earn more. It’s just a bit scary to use up the money I have left to run an errand.

Someone guide me.

Since I don’t have bills, I can develop some website and see if any of them can have income in a month before I have to buy a ticket. Thoughts? Suggestions?

-S

Where the Wind Blows

I have officially told my roommate that I’m leaving at the end of the month in September. I’m not sure if it’s the best decision, but I know that I cannot afford to pay rent so I’ll be moving home. My income has been unpredictable and that’s the scary part when it comes to moving to a new city, but even as I’m typing this I am realizing that it makes so much sense to be home. I’ve been a little aggressive lately when it comes to side hustles, so I hope it all works out. Fortunately, moving back home means cutting some expenses, but my travel costs and a possible lost of access to my clients is a worry that I will face once I’ve settled in.

I wish it was so easy to save money to buy a house instead of rent, and to pay off debt. But I know that taking this step means I will be spending less and I can focus/ concentrate on my financial goals. It’s so easy to feel discouraged and nervous so blogging and typing about it actually really helps.

Boost!

I got a boost of happiness lately, I’m not sure what the source is. I think it’s doing what I love and being my own boss. I participated in a flea market sort of thing in my city this weekend, and I sold some of my crafts! The road getting there is a bit hard and difficult and I learned so much about how to work with people, but overall it was a great experience. I actually ended up almost wanting to stay in my city because of it. But I know not to be distracted by small victories as if they’re the source of my true happiness. In fact, I didn’t profit. But, what is important is that it gave me energy to keep pushing on working for myself. I want to make it so that I can have my own workshop/ studio but I probably need at least $10,000 to make that happen. I’ll need that soon too, since I’m about to give up my apartment. I’m questioning whether or not it’s the right decision but I kind of want to just decide and commit to it, so I can’t look back. I need to not have other options, so that failure can’t be one of them. I have to make it work. Fortunately, my new boost of energy has kept me so productive lately.

Here’s to hoping I can keep selling my crafts and keep finishing passion projects that will eventually lead to me actually getting paid by working for myself!

Best,

-S

Re-strategizing.

I just updated my list of things to pay-off/ do and unfortunately, I haven’t accomplished as much as I want to by now. I’m about 10 weeks away from leaving my apartment and there are still big decisions to be done before that could happen successfully. Like, where am I going? What am I doing with my life? The next month will be very unpredictable. I have a few projects that are coming to fruition, and I am hoping some of them will yield me some form of income.

I can feel getting close to failure, which in a way is good. Because, I really don’t/ cant have a back-up plan. So failure is NOT an option. One thing I know is that consistently talking about things do help. As long as I keep being active with blogging maybe I’ll be more productive.

Wish me luck! and I will try my best and give it my all.

-S

Weekly Budget

My $500 – Budget

Pay CC1 – $200
– use this money to pay for phone bill.

Withdraw $100 in cash – live off this money.
Keep $200 in bank account.

Trying to be a Nomad

I want to take a year simply exploring the world. I have no budget as you guys know. But if I were to go home, I think I can afford it. Even better, I might have enough to start a company. I can live off my grandparents’ farm. But I have a math problem. For sure, I can leave for 2 months but I might need to come back to my city right now for a week or two for a professional event. Should I airbnb my room out? or should I just completely get out of my lease?

Time and Money

I have about a 3-4 month that I can keep living off my unemployment if everything goes well. I look at it as my grace period. Within that 3-4 months I need to be able to keep all my bills current. Renew my passport, and stand on my own 2 feet.

I think I will start investing money in the stock market even if it’s only a little bit at a time. I also decided to make all my credit cards current, and I think I can have 2 of them paid off before that time is out.

More importantly, I need to have my career almost set-up before that time is up. There’s so much to do! Now is not the time to be complacent.

Dreaming and Strategizing

One of my lifegoals is to built my own house. For someone that was raised as a renter, owning a house has been a dream. I’m almost 30 and I’m still dreaming about it. Fortunately, since my other home is in a developing country, the cost of owning a land there is so cheap. So I turned that dream into a plan, by setting a rough estimate on how much it would cost me to build. Fortunately, my architectural background would enable me to build it on my own. I have ID background too so I can build my own furniture. But just for shits and giggles, I wanted to what kind of money it would take to just furnish a 1 bedroom/ 1 bath house. And my shopping list in Ikea is running about $6,000 at the moment. I can buy a small plot of land for about $3000 back home. If my built cost is the same as the larger number, I should be able to build my dream for about $15,000. That’s not even a downpayment for the United States City that I live in! So it sounds doable, but of course since I plan on building it myself, it means I’ll need to take some time off from working and just building my dream.

Considering, I’m still looking for a job, it feels unattainable at the moment. But it’s good to have a plan for it. Save $15,000 for my dream cabin/ tiny home. If I add another $5000 to turn whatever furniture I build for myself into a furniture line to sell, that means I just need to save $20,000. Easy peezy?

The first number for my goal seems set. Now I just need to figure out timing. How much time do I need to finish my dream cabin?

Savings Plan

I haven’t really set a budget, because I’m catching up on so many bills. But I know one thing for sure, is that in order for me to not be reactive, but instead proactive for my financial life, I need savings. I’ve read plenty of blogs about how to do this, and I do think that it’s something that should be designed for your lifestyle and goals.

My plan is slow and steady. For now, I’m going to deposit 10% of my weekly check to my Savings account the day after I get it. This way, Savings is the first thing I do with every check. I have a few things on collection, and few accounts that are not current to work on while I’m on this 10% plan. After I’ve paid the following things, I will up the percentage by 5% for my savings plan. And every time I’ve paid off something on collection, I will increase my savings budget by 1%. Until I have $3,000 in my Savings account. At which point, I’ll need to re-strategize my Savings goal. I think that’s a good number to have in my liquid savings minimum. After I have that amount, I’d like to re-examine what my debts are, and other savings goals and then re-strategize. It would still be important for me to keep contributing to savings in order to keep that habit, but I would like to have a more aggressive plan on saving for a real estate down payment/ retirement/ business capital/ travel/ wedding/ debt payment.

Plan:

1. Pay off $500 debt to cousin.
2. Have my Phone Bill current and no longer on ‘payment plan’
3. Have my Power Bill current and no longer on ‘payment plan’
4. Increase Savings Rate to 15% of income.
5. Pay off Parking Ticket
6. Pay off Ticket from a long time ago on [Collection]
7. Pay off Credit One Card
8. Pay off Capital One Card
9. Check Credit Report and Re-strategize.

Off the top of my head these are my immediate needs. After all these are paid, I need to review and restrategize, I think this will be when I start tackling my student loans.

Retrospect – Week 1

I think I’ve had this blog for a week! And even with the small change of talking about my finances and lifestyle, already makes me feel like I’m starting to claw my way out of the ground. As I’m thinking about my situation, I have such a long list of goals, plans, ideas, budgets, strategies. But to be completely honest, I don’t think I can fulfill all of them if I tackle each of them at once. Remember how I said I’m going to focus?

So instead of changing my lifestyle drastically in order to keep a budget, I’m going to start with 1 small change each week.

Next week, 3 habits I’m going to build would be:

1. Save on Mondays
2. Spend on Fridays
3. Track Expenses

I think these habits would lead up to being a prioritizing saving over other expenses. Keeping and maintaining a budget, and also knowing where my money goes. It’s steps I need to take to better strategize in the upcoming weeks.

Wish me luck! and keep me accountable guys!
-S