I’ve been writing about our path to financial independence (FI) for a bit. In this post, I’ll explain what financial independence is, the different stages of FI, and which stage we’re at.
Tag: personal finance
I had some lofty goals for 2022. We wanted to max our Roth IRA, save for a move, and pad our emergency fund. That was difficult to do on a single salary in Northern California. Here’s a breakdown of our financial goals last year and whether or not we met them.
When I first started budgeting, I built a small emergency fund of $1000. This is the first of seven baby steps recommended by Dave Ramsey. Over 6 years, we built up the emergency fund to cover 6 months of expenses. At the same time, we also have sinking funds. So what’s the difference between emergency and sinking funds? And do we need to have both?
Before I started budgeting, I was horrible with money. I had a minimum wage, part-time job, and was living paycheck to paycheck. I also got help from my parents with tuition and some living expenses. But, I still wasn’t making any progress in my financial situation, as my checking accounts always dwindled back down to zero at the end of the month. I couldn’t build up any savings or emergency fund, which was horrible since I couldn’t come up with the funds for an emergency root canal.
In 2014, I started to learn about personal finance and budgeting, and tried YNAB. I credit the YNAB method on getting out of the paycheck to paycheck cycle. Here, I want to go over how I got out of the paycheck to paycheck cycle and was able to save for emergencies and future large purchases.
Recently, I made $500 from opening bank accounts with Bank of the West and Monifi. I’m still waiting on $600 from two more bank accounts. Here, I’ll go over the easiest money I’ve made by taking advantage of bank signup bonus offers.
When I first arrived to the US as an international student, I didn’t have any credit history. This made renting an apartment really expensive. My
Happy new year! it’s a new beginning. This year, we decided to automate our finances. After figuring out our monthly expenses, setting our budget in
I’ve been thinking more and more about financial independence and retirement, even in my early career as a postdoc. It’s important to think about retirement
Why should students care about budgets and savings? Don’t we have enough things to worry about? Classes, exams, research… Now you want me to add