For today’s Money Snapshot, we’re talking salary, net worth, debt, and more with reader Evie in San Francisco, who works as a tech marketer. She noted, “I grew up with a lot of financial anxiety. … I have dreams about winning the lottery and truly believe that more money will solve 99% of my life’s problems. It’s something I’ve discussed with my therapist, and however I feel about money now, it’s 200% healthier than how I felt 5 or 10 years ago.”

Note: Evie wrote her original Money Snapshot back in 2020 and decided to share this update! (If we published yours and it’s been a few years or more, you’re welcome to submit a follow-up, too!)

We got a few requests from readers to launch our own “money diary” series, so we’ve asked willing readers to fill out a form with lots of details about debt, spending, saving, and more! If you’d like to fill out the form and be considered for a future personal money snapshot, please click here to submit your response! You can see a PDF of the questions if you want to review them ahead of time. See others in the Personal Money Snapshot series here.

Please remember that this is is a real person who has feelings and isn’t gaining anything from this, unlike your usual friendly (soul-deadened, thick-skinned, cold-hearted, money-grubbing) blogger — so please be kind with any comments. Thank you! — Kat

Name: Evie
Location: San Francisco
Age: 38
Occupation: Tech marketer
Income: $280,000 (80% is base, the rest are bonus and RSUs)
Partner: Spouse, age 37
Household income: $485,000 (W2 income; if you add back the 401(k) contributions, I think we’re at $525,000)
Household net worth: $2.1M
Net worth when started working: $9,000 in undergrad loans at age 22
Living situation: Own a home

Debt

What does your debt picture look like?
No debt other than mortgage ($625,000). Spouse and I are both quite debt-averse.

How much money are you spending each month to pay down debt?
We only have mortgage debt.

How did you pay for school?
Between us, we have two bachelor’s and two master’s. Undergrad was a mix of grants, loans, and family contribution. My master’s was from my savings, grants, and a $50,000 inheritance from my grandparent. I paid for all $70,000 of partner’s master’s with my earnings. We made it through $220,000 worth of tuition debt-free and I’m very grateful we were able to do so.

Do you own or rent? How much do you pay monthly?
$3,500 a month for mortgage and HOA

If you have children, how much do/did you spend for childcare and/or education?
No children. We do have a fur baby that we pay ~$7,000 a year for in food/toys, vet expenses, and doggie daycare.

If you have any other large expenses each month, please list them here.
No other big monthly expenses. We do allocate over $1,000 a month for property taxes and $400 a month for insurance that includes auto, homeowner, and umbrella, but these expenses are paid twice a year.

Home debt: Share your theories and strategies with us (including any that lead you to rent rather than own). 
We have a 30-year mortgage at 2.75% due to refinancing a couple years ago. I used to pay ahead of schedule when we were at 4%, and in retrospect that was the WRONG decision. Now with inflation 5%+ and our low rate, I don’t pay ahead anymore.

Have you ever done anything noteworthy to avoid or lessen debt?
We’ve rented out a person’s illegally converted garage-to-studio with a painted concrete floor and lived with a roommate in our 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom, sub-1,000 sq. ft. condo.

Savings, Investments & Retirement 

How much do you save each month or year in retirement vehicles like 401Ks, Roth IRAs, and others?
For the past 2–3 years we’ve saved $100,000–$200,000 a year in 401(k), mega backdoor Roth IRA, and brokerage accounts.

How much money do you allocate to other tax-savvy investments/accounts like HSAs, 529s, FSAs, and others?
Not as much as we should, probably, I think we have a total of $5,000 in HSAs and I save around $1,000 a year in a limited dental FSA.

How much do you save outside of retirement accounts?
I do save in a brokerage account and in T-bills (our emergency fund). I have an automatic deposit set up for $1,000 a month, but mostly I look at the money we have coming in and I make $1,000–$5,000 transfers a few times a quarter.

Talk to us about investments. Do you have a financial adviser or planner?
No financial advisor today, although we do have a tax accountant whom we pay $1,000+ a year. I hate doing taxes.

Do you have an end goal for saving or are you just saving for a rainy day?
I want a single-family home in San Francisco or another equally expensive part of California, but I don’t know how realistic it is if we ALSO want to retire early.

When did you start saving seriously? How has your savings strategy changed over the years?
I’ve pretty much been a saver, but it’s in the last 2–3 years when I’ve really kicked retirement savings into high gear. I’ve always thought if I just maxed out my 401(k), we’d be fine, but I realized that wasn’t enough. I’ve also been much more conservative in the past — for example. I had 30% bonds allocation in my 20s/early 30s!! I could kick myself.

What’s the #1 thing you’re doing to save money, limit spending, or live frugally?
We bought a home that’s probably a bit below what we can afford, especially with our current income, so our housing costs are manageable. On the more day-to-day front, I try to cook more at home both for health and cost reasons. Lastly, we do not have kids. That decision is not purely financial, but it does bring with it financial benefits. Although we would need to save more for retirement given that we won’t have a child to help with some of the things that I find myself helping my parents with.

Have you ever made a big money move or investment with savings in mind, such as rolling over an older IRA into a Roth IRA or superfunding a 529?
We convert after-tax 401(k) to Roth IRA… does that count?

Do you have an estate plan in place? A trust? 
We do not… but we should. It’s on the list of things that I know are important but not urgent…

How much do you have in cash that’s available today?
$10,000

How much do you have in cash that’s available in a week? 
$100,000 — can we take out T-bills?

How much is in your “emergency fund,” and did you include it in the previous question?
$80,000 in T-bills; yes, included in previous question

How much do you have in retirement savings?
$1,650,000 across 401(k), IRAs, and brokerage. This is joint.

How much do you have in long-term investments and savings (CDs, index funds, stocks) that are not behind a retirement wall?
$600,000, but this is included in the $1.65M retirement funds and $100,000 cash

If property values (home, car) are included in your net worth, how much are those worth?
$400,000

Spending 

How much do you spend on the following categories on a monthly basis?

Groceries: $500
Restaurants, bars, takeout, and delivery: $600
Clothing and accessories: $100
Transportation: $100
Rent/living expenses: $3,500
Entertainment: $100
Health care – premiums and other costs: We both have high-deductible health plans. I don’t track my health spending too closely, but I recently paid $200 for prescription tretinoin. I’ve also spent around $600 on dental expenses so far in 2023, which will come out of my limited FSA.
Other major expenses:

The biggest expense we have outside of the mortgage is travel. I target $20,000–$25,000 a year in travel spending, which includes flights/trains and lodging. In 2022 we went on three big overseas trips to Southeast Asia, Europe, and Mexico, and 8–10 weekend getaways in California.

In terms of day-to-day life, I am upping my spend in fitness and exercise — increasing from ~$100 to $400 a month for Pilates, weight training, and dance. I also spend a bit on skincare. My favorite brand is SkinCeuticals: I use their eye cream, vitamin C serum, and Triple Lipid Restore moisturizer, which is $150 for 1.7 oz., and recently turned my spouse on it too. He almost had a heart attack once he found out how much it cost, but he loves the way it feels.

What’s your spending range for these things? What’s your average?

Vacations – Range: $2,000 weekend to $10,000 for a 2-week international vacation
Vacations – Average: $5,000

Charity – Range of donations: None. I don’t donate right now. I’ll probably get heat for this but… I just don’t right now.
Charity – Average donation or giving amount: $0

Individual items of clothing – Range: $40–$200
Individual items of clothing – Average: T-shirt, $30; cashmere sweater, max of $100; shoes, $150. I try to stick with brands I know and trust. I typically buy clothes from Banana Republic Factory, Quince, Boden, and Anthropologie.

Apartment or house – Range: $700–$4,000
Apartment or house – Current main residence: $1.1 million

Car or other vehicle – Range: $20,000
Car or other vehicle – Current main vehicle: $20,000

Any other large personal expenses?
The dog is a big personal expense (see above).

Fill in the blank on this question: I could save _____ if I stopped ______, but I don’t because _______.
I could save $25,000 a year if I cut back on vacations, but I don’t because the deal I made with myself is that as long as we work our corporate America jobs, we can travel wherever we want. Aside from truly big-ticket items like an Antarctica cruise, and as long as we stick to our current style of travel, we’re more limited by vacation days than money.

If you’re married: When was your wedding, how much did it cost (total), and how much did YOU pay?
Total cost: $7,000 in 2013. My parents gave me $10,000 no strings attached as a wedding gift. We put it in with general savings, but one could argue they paid for it, since money is fungible.

At any point in your life to date, has inheritance played a role in your money situation?
My grandma left me $50,000 which I used for grad school.

How has your family provided financial support in your adult life, if any? (Or, do you provide support to them?)
My parents have given me a lot of financial support. They paid for a big part of my undergrad degree, gave $10,000 for my wedding gift, and gave $100,000 so we could put down a bigger down payment. For a few years after I graduated college, they would give me $500–$1,000 for my birthday. When we go on family vacations, they often pay for lodging and flights.

Does your family provide any non-financial support? 
Sometimes my mom will watch her dog grandchild.

Money Strategy 

Do you have a general money strategy?
It’s the same as it was in 2019: Try to work hard enough so I make enough money, but not so hard that I burn out and have to take extended time off. Try to stay as healthy as I can within my control. Invest in index funds. Enter retirement mortgage-free. Do things in the relationship that decreases risk of divorce. Try to be happy today while saving for tomorrow.

Time vs. money — do you spend money to save time (e.g., cleaning service)? Do you donate your time instead of money? What else does this phrase mean to you?
I prioritize flights that are nonstop and I never choose a basic economy fare. We STILL don’t have a cleaning service because I’m afraid once I start I’ll never be able to go back. I do really enjoy personal training and small group classes when it comes to fitness, so I suppose I see it as a better use of my time than larger settings or virtual classes even when those are cheaper.

What are your favorite resources for personal finance?
I said in 2019 I don’t read any personal finance blogs or books because they stress me out. That’s still overall true. FIRE still stresses me out. I hate the term “side hustle.”

What advice would you give your younger self about personal finance?
Do 90%+ stock allocation for your retirement savings.

Icons via Stencil.

Want more posts like this? These are some of the latest Money Snapshots…

• Money Snapshot: A Tech Marketer Shares Her Thoughts on Health, Retirement, and Travel
• Money Snapshot: A Lawyer on a Career Break Shares Her Thoughts on Debt, Savings, and Living Frugally
• Money Snapshot: An In-House Counsel Shares Thoughts on 529s, Avoiding Debt, and Past Money Stress
• Money Snapshot: An In-House Counsel Shares Her Thoughts on Expenses, Retirement, and Outsourcing Chores
• Personal Money Snapshot: Corporette Edition

The post Money Snapshot: A Tech Marketer Shares Her Thoughts on Health, Retirement, and Travel appeared first on Corporette.com.

For today’s Money Snapshot, we’re talking salary, net worth, debt, and more with reader Lisa in the Washington, D.C., area, who’s on a career break. She noted, “I paid off six figures of law school debt in my second year as a lawyer,” and explained, “I grew up thinking that if you didn’t pay your debt on time, you’d go to jail. Suffice to say, I don’t keep a lot of debt.”

We got a few requests from readers to launch our own “money diary” series, so we’ve asked willing readers to fill out a form with lots of details about debt, spending, saving, and more! If you’d like to fill out the form and be considered for a future personal money snapshot, please click here to submit your response! You can see a PDF of the questions if you want to review them ahead of time. See others in the Personal Money Snapshot series here.

Please remember that this is is a real person who has feelings and isn’t gaining anything from this, unlike your usual friendly (soul-deadened, thick-skinned, cold-hearted, money-grubbing) blogger — so please be kind with any comments. Thank you! — Kat

Name: Lisa
Location: Outside Washington, D.C.
Age: 37
Occupation: Former MediumLaw layer on a career break
Income: $20,000
Net worth: Rounds to a million but on the lower end
Net worth when started working: 22, a few thousand
Living situation: Single; renter ($2,000/month)

Note: Lisa submitted her Personal Money Snapshot back in 2021 (eek), and unfortunately it got lost in the shuffle! (Shall we blame the general craziness of the pandemic?) However, we had to share it because it’s quite different than our average Money Snapshot! Thanks so much to Lisa for her patience.

Debt

How much debt do you have currently?
$0

How much money are you spending each month to pay down debt?
$0

What does your debt picture look like?
I grew up thinking that if you didn’t pay your debt on time, you’d go to jail. Suffice to say, I don’t keep a lot of debt.

How did you pay for school?
My parents paid for college. I worked and saved up for four years before law school, using the money to keep my loan payments down. I also worked a few part-time jobs during law school.

Do you own or rent? How much do you pay monthly?
Rent, $2,000

Home debt: Share your theories and strategies with us (including any that lead you to rent rather than own). 
I rent. I’ve always wanted to own my own place but I’m enjoying the freedom, the beautiful “what if” that I can leave town whenever I want.

Have you paid off any major debt? 
After graduation, I had $112,000 in student loan and credit card debt (0% interest), which I finished paying off in my second year as an attorney in a medium-sized law firm.

Have you ever done anything noteworthy to avoid or lessen debt?
I took out $60,000 from my 401k to pay for law school. The jury’s still out on whether that was a good or bad idea. Granted, I went to school in 2009, when the stock market was hitting bottom, but I think I was invested poorly because the stock that was left didn’t seem to rise that much.

Savings, Investments & Retirement 

How much do you save each month or year in retirement vehicles like 401Ks, Roth IRAs, and others?
I max out my Roth IRA every year and I contribute a few thousand to a simple IRA.

How much money do you allocate to other tax-savvy investments/accounts like HSAs, 529s, FSAs, and others?
I contribute a thousand to a 529 every year, because of wishful thinking. =D I max out my HSA every year.

How much do you save outside of retirement accounts?
I don’t do a lot of saving because my income is so low currently. I’m cashing out stock to support myself as needed.

Talk to us about investments. Do you have a financial advisor or planner?
I don’t have a financial advisor. My 401k and most of my brokerage account is in index funds. Then I have a bunch of stocks that I invest in for fun. I’m terrific at buying stocks but I sell a lot of winners too soon (see Apple, Tesla, Netflix, Amazon, Costco, Target, Disney — most of which I still own but I could have rode those puppies for longer).

Do you have an end goal for saving or are you just saving for a rainy day?
I’m 37, single, and childless. I might have a child but I’m ambivalent. If I do, I would like the option to stay at home. Most of my savings have been so that I could leave my law firm job (which I did in 2019) and take a lower-paying job. I’m still looking for the job! But the money cushion has been a huge help for my psyche.

When did you start saving seriously? How has your savings strategy changed over the years?
I’m a first generation immigrant, so saving and sacrifice is just built in. When I compare myself to my parents, my life will always look extravagant, no matter how much I save. Still, there was a time when I was paying down my debt when I rather aggressively planned to pay it all off in a year. I had moved into my apartment and I had no furniture. If I forgot my lunch, I would just skip lunch to avoid going out to eat.

It just seemed too extreme for me, and I gave myself a break from that deadline. I bought furniture for my apartment and I went out to eat sometimes. I realized it wasn’t the end of the world if I still had debt for another six months. And still, I paid off my debt faster than most.

What’s the #1 thing you’re doing to save money, limit spending, or live frugally?
I’m doing what everyone is doing — staying in because of COVID.

Have you ever made a big money move or investment with savings in mind, such as rolling over an older IRA into a Roth IRA or superfunding a 529?
I took a COVID 401k rollover.

Do you have an estate plan in place? A trust? What lessons did you learn going through the process?
As an attorney, I think estate planning is really important (though this is not my area of law). I remember one time I was talking with an older friend about my estate planning and a young woman interrupted to ask why I would write a will when I wasn’t old yet. First, none of us know our last day, so today is just as good as any other day to get started. Updating doesn’t take nearly as much time as creating. Second, it’s not as if old people have a monopoly on accidents or health problems. A deer hit my car just the other day — if it had jumped a second faster it would have gone through my windshield.

Last year I finished working with my parents over their estate plans (I’m the executor). And I have a will, but most of my assets will transfer through the beneficiaries listed in my account. I wrote out a Big Book of Everything. My social media is set to destruct after a period of inactivity.

Planning for the worst is an act of love. I’m also very mindful of the Swedish act of death cleaning and I am trying to pare down my stuff for myself and in case it’s a burden for someone who has to sort it later (and I’m also cleaning out my parents’ house because they’re moving). This is all stuff that, should the worst happen, my family will thank me for. And it gives me peace of mind making it easier on them.

How much do you have in cash that’s available today?
$50 in wallet

How much do you have in cash that’s available in a week? 
$40,000

How much is in your “emergency fund,” and did you include it in the previous question?
I consider my checking, savings, credit cards, and brokerage account to be my emergency fund (though I would only access the brokerage in the event of a huge crapstorm). This would be about $300,000 (including the $40k from earlier). I could max out all my credit cards and take the money out of my brokerage account to pay for it, if I needed to.

How much do you have in retirement savings?
~$300,000

How much do you have in long-term investments and savings (CDs, index funds, stocks) that are not behind a retirement wall?
~$300,000

If property values (home, car) are included in your net worth, how much are those worth?
My car is worth a few thousand dollars, generously. It’s 21 years old and has a deer indent on the side.

Spending 

How much do you spend on the following categories on a monthly basis?

Groceries: $150
Restaurants, bars, takeout, and delivery: $100
Clothing and accessories: $60
Transportation: $30
Rent/living expenses: $2,000
Entertainment: $10
Other major expenses: Charity = $200/month now, used to be a lot more when I was working
Health care – premiums and other costs: $100/month, $500/year out of pocket last year but that was high

What’s your spending range for these things? What’s your average?

Vacations – Range: $100–$3000, I went to South Africa last year for a wedding
Vacations – Average: $300

Charity – Range of donations: $5–$100/month/charity
Charity – Average donation or giving amount: $50/month. Between $2,000 –$10,000/year.

Individual items of clothing – Range: Free to $150 (most expensive thing I ever bought is sneakers)
Individual items of clothing – Average: $20

Apartment or house – Range: $1,700–$2,000/month
Apartment or house – Current main residence: $2,000

Car or other vehicle – Range: $0–$5000
Car or other vehicle – Current main vehicle: I haven’t owned a vehicle younger than 15 years old in the past decade. My parents bought my car used in 2002. It was top of the line back then and even came with a car phone!

Any other large personal expenses?
I pay for a life coach. I’ve worked with her for years, and it’s part therapy for someone who doesn’t need to pay a psychiatrist, just to talk and part goal planning.

Fill in the blank on this question: I could save _____ if I stopped ______, but I don’t because _______.
I could save all my money by living with my parents, who live 20 miles away, especially while I’m not working. I had originally thought I would live with my parents after graduation and while paying off my debt, but on my first night I was already googling apartments.

It’s better for our relationship and my mental health for me to have another place to be. I could also move far away to a cheaper area, but I live where I do because I want to be close to my family. My sister and brother (and my nephews) also live in the area and it’s worth all the money that I get to see them grow up and that I can see my family during the pandemic.

How has your family provided financial support in your adult life, if any? (Or, do you provide support to them?)
My parents paid for my college and they gave me a few thousand dollars for law school so I wouldn’t have to take out another loan.

Does your family provide any non-financial support? 
I stay with my parents for about a week out of every month. I eat my mom’s cooking and my dad checks my car. They’ll pay for little things like if we go to the grocery and I want something or, recently, I needed staples, and my dad gave me a box. They would be so upset if I went out and bought stuff that they had to give to me.

Money Strategy 

Do you have a general money strategy?
I like not to worry about money. For me that means spending far less than I have the means to. This means I have plenty of money to not let the desire for money dictate my career goals or lifestyle.

Time vs. money — do you spend money to save time (e.g., cleaning service)? Do you donate your time instead of money? What else does this phrase mean to you?
I used to have a cleaning service but typically just a few times a year before parties. Now that I can’t have anyone over [COVID], and I’m in my apartment all the time, I’ve just tried to become neater.

What are your favorite resources for personal finance?
I’ve met so many wonderful people in the personal finance world like StoppedIroningShirts.com, PFGeeks.com, and ChampagneandCapitalGains.com. I read GetRichSlowly a lot and I was obsessed with The Billfold (RIP).

What advice would you give your younger self about personal finance?
You’re doing just fine, don’t stress so much about it. Maybe get married.

Icons via Stencil.

Want more posts like this? These are some of the latest Money Snapshots…

• Money Snapshot: A Tech Marketer Shares Her Thoughts on Health, Retirement, and Travel
• Money Snapshot: A Lawyer on a Career Break Shares Her Thoughts on Debt, Savings, and Living Frugally
• Money Snapshot: An In-House Counsel Shares Thoughts on 529s, Avoiding Debt, and Past Money Stress
• Money Snapshot: An In-House Counsel Shares Her Thoughts on Expenses, Retirement, and Outsourcing Chores
• Personal Money Snapshot: Corporette Edition

The post Money Snapshot: A Lawyer on a Career Break Shares Her Thoughts on Debt, Savings, and Living Frugally appeared first on Corporette.com.

For today’s Money Snapshot, we’re talking salary, net worth, debt, and more with reader F in Northern Virginia, who works as an in-house counsel. She noted, “[My husband and I] graduated with no debt thanks to parents (him) and scholarships (me). Income went up sharply six months ago (from $225K/year to current).”

We got a few requests from readers to launch our own “money diary” series, so we’ve asked willing readers to fill out a form with lots of details about debt, spending, saving, and more! If you’d like to fill out the form and be considered for a future personal money snapshot, please click here to submit your response! You can see a PDF of the questions if you want to review them ahead of time. See others in the Personal Money Snapshot series here.

Please remember that this is is a real person who has feelings and isn’t gaining anything from this, unlike your usual friendly (soul-deadened, thick-skinned, cold-hearted, money-grubbing) blogger — so please be kind with any comments. Thank you! — Kat

Name: F
Location: Northern Virginia
Age: 33
Occupation: Military law –> in house
Income: $345,000
Household net worth: $950,000 (not including home equity)
Net worth when started working: Worked part time since I was 13, full time at 25 with a net worth of $5,000ish
Partner/spouse: Husband, 38 years old; in tech
Household income: $460,000
Childcare and/or education: 2 children, $950/week for childcare
Living situation: Own single-family home

Debt

How much debt do you have currently?
Zero except for mortgage ($2,900/month) with $450,000 remaining

What does your debt picture look like?
We bought in 2020 and aimed to purchase a home where we could 1) put 20% down (even though w/VA loan eligibility that wasn’t necessary) and 2) we could make the monthly payment on one salary. We ended up meeting those criteria and got a 30-year loan in 2020 with a low interest rate for a $620,000 SFH. We’ve consistently paid an extra $500/month to the principal. Our main financial goal right now is to pay off the mortgage in 18 years (rather than 30), which will be when our oldest goes to college.

How much money are you spending each month to pay down debt?
Regularly pay $500 extra to mortgage each month; for the next 1.5 years trying to do $3,500 extra each month.

How did you pay for school?
I got a full scholarship for college (room and board) and a scholarship for tuition in law school (paid for housing with roommates, part-time jobs, and other scholarship money). My husband’s parents paid for his college and we are prioritizing being able to do the same for our kids.

Do you own or rent? How much do you pay monthly?
Own, $2,900/month for single-family home, principal/interest/taxes/insurance

Home debt: Share your theories and strategies with us (including any that lead you to rent rather than own). 
The only debt we’ve ever had is the house — no student loan, car, or credit card debt, and [we are] extremely debt-averse.

Have you ever done anything noteworthy to avoid or lessen debt?
Paying our mortgage down right now doesn’t make a ton of sense. With an interest rate just below 3%, we could easily make more in other investments. But if the most emotional thing I do with my money is pay down debt faster, I think I’m OK with that.

Savings, Investments & Retirement 

How much do you save each month or year in retirement vehicles like 401Ks, Roth IRAs, and others?
We max out my husband’s 401k, 2x IRAs, and my mega-backdoor Roth. I think that’s about $8,500/month total.

How much money do you allocate to other tax-savvy investments/accounts like HSAs, 529s, FSAs, and others?
We have about $150,000 in a 529 (for a 3 y.o. and 1 y.o.) and plan to contribute enough next year to get each to $100,000 and then $4,000/year after that. My husband has an HSA from a prior health set up, but I haven’t confirmed if it’s invested well, will plan to invest it and leave until retirement probably but low on the list.

How much do you save outside of retirement accounts?
After retirement, we have yearly goals. So this year was $34,000 to each kid’s 529 account, sinking fund for future car purchase (three years out or so), max retirements, then pour extra into the mortgage.

Talk to us about investments. Do you use a financial adviser/planner?
Target date for retirement and 529 plans, Vanguard ETFs for IRAs. We don’t have a financial planner, but I’ve taken advantage of free check-ins that my employer offers to make sure I’m on track.

Do you have an end goal for saving or are you just saving for a rainy day?
We’re debating this now. For a long time it was 1) down payment and then 2) college for kids. Both are well in hand, so trying to find a different goal to focus on.

What’s the #1 thing you’re doing to save money, limit spending, or live frugally?
On our previous income, we lived as if we would only have one in case someone was laid off. Since my salary went up, we’ve made minimal lifestyle changes (ordering pizza vs. making it at home is the biggest splurge I can think of) and are banking as much as possible.

When did you start saving seriously? How has your savings strategy changed over the years?
I started saving as soon as I started getting money. My father is an accountant and drilled it into us early. Plus when I asked my parents if they’d take me in if I was living on the street, they told me they might give me leftovers from their dinner but that was it. (I was seven.)

Have you ever made a big money move or investment with savings in mind, such as rolling over an older IRA into a Roth IRA or superfunding a 529?
Frontloading the 529. I’ll get stock from my employer in a bit and need to figure out what to do with that (probably sell and diversify in an ETF.)

Do you have an estate plan in place? A trust? 
I wrote my own will when I was a military lawyer, but it’s pretty basic. Having had to manage family member deaths, I’ve prioritized 1) collecting all account and password information and 2) having accurate beneficiaries on accounts where possible.

How much do you have in cash that’s available today?
$7,000

How much do you have in cash that’s available in a week? 
$180,000 (includes what is available today — blame my partner’s bloated emergency fund)

How much is in your “emergency fund,” and did you include it in the previous question?
$150,000 split between checking, savings, and HYSA. My husband leaves too much cash in his HYSA but I haven’t gotten him to reallocate yet.

How much do you have in retirement savings?
$270,000 for me and about the same for my partner

How much do you have in long-term investments and savings (CDs, index funds, stocks) that are not behind a retirement wall?
$60,000 in CDs, $5,000 in index funds,

If property values (home, car) are included in your net worth, how much are those worth?
Not included, but we have home equity of about $350,000. I don’t count the cars because we buy in cash and run them into the ground.

Spending 

How much do you spend on the following categories on a monthly basis?

Groceries: $450
Restaurants, bars, takeout, and delivery: $200
Clothing and accessories: $50
Transportation: $30
Rent/living expenses: $2,900
Kid-related expenses: $4,000
Entertainment: $200
Other major expenses: Subscriptions ($60/month) and dog ($75/month probably?). Our main hobby is keeping two small kids alive, which mostly involves free playgrounds.
Health care – premiums and other costs: $500/month for a family of 4, $6,000 yearly in addition to premiums.

What’s your spending range for these things? What’s your average?

Vacations – Range: $0-$3,000

Charity – Range of donations: $250-$1,000
Charity – Average donation or giving amount: $250/month

Individual items of clothing – Range: Lots of Buy Nothing! If not, then Old Navy or thredUP.
Individual items of clothing – Average: $20

Apartment or house – Current main residence: $2,900

Car or other vehicle – Range: $10,000-$29,000
Car or other vehicle: Current main vehicle: Used Honda CRV, $10,000

Fill in the blank on this question: I could save _____ if I stopped ______, but I don’t because _______.
$50/takeout once a week, because it is a huge pick-me-up to not have to cook in the middle of the week!

If you’re married: When was your wedding, how much did it cost (total), and how much did YOU pay? (If multiple weddings, please note separately.)
2019, $20,000; we paid for the whole thing but got generous financial gifts after the wedding from my dad and extended family that covered about half.

If you own, how much did your home (permanent residence) cost?
$620,000

Have any large medical expenses (including nursing homes) for yourself or others played a role in your financial picture?
I had my kids while in the military so paid $0 for the care associated with both.

At any point in your life to date, has inheritance played a role in your money situation?
My mother died when I was 17 and I saved the Social Security I received (as a minor) and used it to pay for living expenses in law school.

How has your family provided financial support in your adult life, if any? (Or, do you provide support to them?)
No support beyond about $5,000 as a gift for my wedding.

Money Strategy 

Do you have a general money strategy?
Make hay while the sun shines! And avoid lifestyle creep.

Time vs. money — do you spend money to save time (e.g., cleaning service)? Do you donate your time instead of money? What else does this phrase mean to you?
I don’t spend to save time but have been thinking a lot about it recently with two toddlers and two full-time jobs (and excess money). I currently handle the lawn, the cleaning, and the laundry; my husband does the groceries and cooking. I don’t want to start outsourcing, because I’m afraid it’s the slow burn into being locked into a job that I may want to switch out of some day (but would also like my house to be clean at some point!). I used to volunteer, but no longer have time for that so have upped my charitable contributions.

What are your favorite resources for personal finance?
I like reading these Snapshots and Reddit forums!

What advice would you give your younger self about personal finance?
My family stopped providing financial support at 18, so even with my scholarships I was extremely stressed about money from 18-25 (to the point of not turning on air conditioning in North Carolina in August, or eating only rice and beans for dinner for a month). I wish I had understood a small loan ($5,000-$10,000) would have alleviated a lot of that stress and probably not have set me back for life.

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Want more posts like this? These are some of the latest Money Snapshots…

• Money Snapshot: A Tech Marketer Shares Her Thoughts on Health, Retirement, and Travel
• Money Snapshot: A Lawyer on a Career Break Shares Her Thoughts on Debt, Savings, and Living Frugally
• Money Snapshot: An In-House Counsel Shares Thoughts on 529s, Avoiding Debt, and Past Money Stress
• Money Snapshot: An In-House Counsel Shares Her Thoughts on Expenses, Retirement, and Outsourcing Chores
• Personal Money Snapshot: Corporette Edition

The post Money Snapshot: An In-House Counsel Shares Thoughts on 529s, Avoiding Debt, and Past Money Stress appeared first on Corporette.com.

For today’s Money Snapshot, we’re talking salary, net worth, debt, and more with reader C, who lives in an HCOL area and works as an in-house counsel. She noted, “Our expenses … feel like they are high right now, but we try to not get into the trap of having discretionary spending that stops our goals to save for retirement.”

We got a few requests from readers to launch our own “money diary” series, so we’ve asked willing readers to fill out a form with lots of details about debt, spending, saving, and more! If you’d like to fill out the form and be considered for a future personal money snapshot, please click here to submit your response! You can see a PDF of the questions if you want to review them ahead of time. See others in the Personal Money Snapshot series here.

Please remember that this is is a real person who has feelings and isn’t gaining anything from this, unlike your usual friendly (soul-deadened, thick-skinned, cold-hearted, money-grubbing) blogger — so please be kind with any comments. Thank you! — Kat

Name: C
Location: HCOL area
Age: 47
Occupation: Medium/large law firm –> in-house for last decade
Income: $220,000 base, $75,000 bonus, approx. $150,000 realized equity annually
Partner: Husband, age 47
Children: I have two children. One is in a private school that costs $40,000 per year; the other child is in a public school. We also pay around $12,000 per year for summer camps, after-school activities, sports teams, etc.
Household income: Approx. $650,000
Household net worth: Approx. $3M (includes house, retirement assets, some pension, education funds)
Net worth when started working: I started work at 22 out of college with a negative $40,000 net worth. I worked for three years then went to law school. When I started work after law school, I had a negative $75,000 net worth.
Living situation: Own house, monthly mortgage payment of $5,400

Debt

How much debt do you have currently?
Our only significant debt is (1) our mortgage, which is $350,000 and (2) student loans, which are around $30,000.

What does your debt picture look like?
My debt picture is pretty straightforward — we have a mortgage, smaller student loan bills, and normal house costs. We have two children that are approaching college, so we have been saving more in anticipation of paying college bills soon.

How did you pay for school?
I went to a college based on the scholarships and financial aid that were available because my parents were not able to contribute financially. I did have some family support to help pay for books or the occasional plane ticket home. In college, I always had a job to help pay for daily expenses. After college, I worked for a few years to save up some money before going to law school. I partly choose my law school based on scholarships, but was also really careful not to spend much money during law school to minimize the loans I needed to take out.

Do you own or rent? How much do you pay monthly?
Monthly mortgage of $5,400

Home debt: Share your theories and strategies with us.
We have been in our current house for 10 years. We originally had a 30-year loan with a rate of 3.5%, but we were able to refinance down to a 15-year loan at 2.75% a couple of years ago. It makes our monthly payment higher, but now we have less than 10 years of payments on our current home. We live in a HCOL, but we have been lucky that our house value has pretty consistently increased over time.

Have you paid off any major debt? 
We have consistently been paying down our student loans for 25 years, but we have lucky to have low interest rates on outstanding balances, so it doesn’t make much sense to pay these off early.

Have you ever done anything noteworthy to avoid or lessen debt, such as cashing out your 401K early?
No — we think its important to fully fund our 401k each year and not to touch that money.

Savings, Investments & Retirement 

How much do you save each month or year in retirement vehicles like 401Ks, Roth IRAs, and others?
We each save the max amount on our 401ks annually — that will be $44,000 this year. There are employer matches of around $5,000.

How much money do you allocate to other tax-savvy investments/accounts like HSAs, 529s, FSAs, and others?
Annually, we save around $12,000 in 529 accounts for children.

How much do you save outside of retirement accounts?
Besides retirement savings + education savings, we aren’t saving much additional money at the current time.

Talk to us about investments. Do you use a financial adviser or planner?
Over time, we have worked to consolidate most of our assets with a financial advisor, but we still have some accounts with older employers. Our financial advisor helps with investment strategies, but its mostly straightforward funds / target retirement funds.

Do you have an end goal for saving or are you just saving for a rainy day?
Our current goal is to be able to pay for our children to attend a private college, if that’s what they want to do. I want to be able to retire comfortably but am not worried about retiring early. I am concerned about earning power later in my career, as I’ve seen lots of women closer to retirement get laid off. I’d rather save more aggressively now than worry about funding retirement in the later stages of my career.

When did you start saving seriously? How has your savings strategy changed over the years?
I started saving seriously when I was working at a law firm right after law school.

What’s the #1 thing you’re doing to save money, limit spending, or live frugally?
Maybe not the #1 thing, but we only have one car in our family.

Have you ever made a big money move or investment with savings in mind, such as rolling over an older IRA into a Roth IRA or superfunding a 529?
I used to contribute to a Roth 401(k) account, but that doesn’t make much sense from a tax perspective at the current time.

Do you have an estate plan in place? A trust? 
We have a simple will in place, but it definitely needs an update.

How much do you have in cash that’s available today?
$36,000

How much do you have in cash that’s available in a week? 
$100,000

How much is in your “emergency fund,” and did you include it in the previous question?
$20,000 in cash, in a savings account

How much do you have in retirement savings?
$850,000 (me), $800,000 (partner, but he also will get some pension)

How much do you have in long-term investments and savings (CDs, index funds, stocks) that are not behind a retirement wall?
$250,000 (not including 529 accounts; $12,000 annual contribution)

If property values (home, car) are included in your net worth, how much are those worth?
House market value $1.4M; net value $1M

Spending 

How much do you spend on the following categories on a monthly basis?

Groceries: $1,100
Restaurants, bars, takeout, and delivery: $750
Clothing and accessories: $300
Transportation: $150
Rent/living expenses: Mortgage $5,400 per month
Kid-related expenses: $7,000 (includes tuition)
Entertainment: $400
Other major expenses: We pay $2,300 per month for part-time child care and household help / cleaning.
Health care – premiums and other costs: Not sure — husband’s employer has good + cheap healthcare, which is a big benefit.

What’s your spending range for these things? What’s your average?

Vacations – Range: $2,000–$8,000
Vacations – Average: $5,000

Charity – Range of donations: $4,000–$5,000 total annually
Charity – Average donation or giving amount: $200 monthly to church; $50–$100 for other causes

Individual items of clothing – Range: $40–$200
Individual items of clothing – Average: $50 (I buy lots on sales/thrift.)

Car or other vehicle – Current main vehicle: Don’t have a car payment; we have paid for cars with cash savings (mid-sized SUV, $38,000).

If you own, how much does your home cost?
House purchased for $800,000, current market value around $1.4M.

If you have vacation homes, timeshares, or income properties, how much did those cost?
We don’t have any vacation homes or second properties, but that’s a future savings goal.

Any other large personal expenses?
Child care / tuition are our main large personal expenses.

Fill in the blank on this question: I could save _____ if I stopped ______, but I don’t because _______.
I could save $500 month if I stopped paying for house cleaning / laundry, but I don’t because [it allows] me to work the hours I need to without totally abandoning my children.

How has your family provided financial support in your adult life, if any? (Or, do you provide support to them?)
We haven’t formally planned for this but anticipate having to provide some financial support to our parents as they age.

Money Strategy 

Do you have a general money strategy?
Our expenses (and taxes!) feel like they are high right now, but we try to not get into the trap of having discretionary spending that stops our goals to save for retirement.

Time vs. money — do you spend money to save time (e.g., cleaning service)? Do you donate your time instead of money? What else does this phrase mean to you?
I am more than happy to pay for any house services that we can outsource — I consider these as an investment in my career and sanity.

What advice would you give your younger self about personal finance?
Invest in your 401(k) early!

Icons via Stencil.

Want more posts like this? These are some of the latest Money Snapshots…

• Money Snapshot: A Tech Marketer Shares Her Thoughts on Health, Retirement, and Travel
• Money Snapshot: A Lawyer on a Career Break Shares Her Thoughts on Debt, Savings, and Living Frugally
• Money Snapshot: An In-House Counsel Shares Thoughts on 529s, Avoiding Debt, and Past Money Stress
• Money Snapshot: An In-House Counsel Shares Her Thoughts on Expenses, Retirement, and Outsourcing Chores
• Personal Money Snapshot: Corporette Edition

The post Money Snapshot: An In-House Counsel Shares Her Thoughts on Expenses, Retirement, and Outsourcing Chores appeared first on Corporette.com.

I know everyone (including me) loves to read those money diaries on sites like Refinery29, and I’ve been meaning to create a “personal money snapshot” series to feature readers who are willing to share a summary of their financial situation. We now have a Google form (similar to the form we have for the CorporetteMoms Week in the Life of a Working Mom posts), and I would love to a) open it up for participants, b) get your feedback (too long?), and c) note that everything is possible for change. (The nice thing about Google forms is that we can edit questions, which is not always the case with surveys and things.)

Click here if you’d like to see the form and/or submit responses! You can also see a PDF of the questions if you want to review them ahead of time. See others in the Personal Money Snapshot series here.

Notes on the Personal Money Snapshot Form:

1. The reason we ask for your email address: It would be much, much better if we could have your email address so that Kate or I could ask follow-up questions for clarity — sometimes not everything is obvious from an outside perspective. THAT SAID, there are a lot of personal questions on the form, so I understand if you don’t want to share your address. I can’t quite figure out how to make that question optional, though, so just put something obviously fake and we’ll deal. (If you DO trust us with your email address, thank you very much! We will keep your info safe pursuant to the Corporette Privacy Policy — and I promise to never ever hit you up for a loan if you’re loaded.)

2. The general nature of the questions (and why it looks longer than it is): I’ve been observing reader comments and discussions on money for a long time, and I think the usual “what I spend in a week” summary isn’t necessarily illuminating or educational. That’s why the questions on the form are pretty wide-ranging — and it may seem long when you first look at it, but that’s because I’m not expecting EVERYONE to have something to say in EVERY category. (I’m assuming readers will have a lot to say in one or two of the sections and less in others.)

I also believe that people have “quadrants of knowledge” when it comes to personal finance. Maybe you know everything about country club fees, which markets are awesome for second homes, and which ostrich bag is REALLY worth the $10,000. That’s awesome, and we want to hear from you! We also want to hear from people who are in six figures of debt, flirting with bankruptcy, and/or living paycheck to paycheck (yes, even if you have a high income and are living paycheck to paycheck). We also want to hear from the FIRE people who are putting away $100K of their $120K income, and people who had their lives wildly shifted (for good or bad) by something like inheritance (hopefully good) or crazy medical bills (probably bad). 

3. Big Picture questions: There are a few questions I want everyone to answer because I think they generally inform the reading of responses. One question asks specifically what your net worth was when you started working since I think there’s a huge difference in what your personal finance journey looks like if your net worth at 25 or whatever is -$260,000 (in debt) vs. $5,000 vs. $150,000. Another question asks, “Is there anything else we should know about you from a “Big Picture” perspective up front, for context, as it relates to your net worth, expenses, or debt?” I included that to delve into situations that we wouldn’t know to ask about but certainly affect your money situation, e.g., “had to be life-flighted to the hospital and had $100K in medical bills,” or “private schools are not optional for my family because I don’t believe my kids will get a fair shake in public school” or “all of our home-related finances are super high because my in-laws live with us and we pay for everything.” 

Like I said, it’s pretty wide ranging and hopefully not TOO… asky. If there are specific questions that are offensive to people or otherwise problematic, I’d love to know which ones in particular. If people think there need to be specific questions added to any part of it, we’d love to hear those too.

Here’s a quick question for discussion today, though: what are your favorite resources to learn about money? What’s your favorite podcast, book, blog, or other resource?

Psst: here’s our last discussion on the best personal finance books for beginners, as well as my “money roadmap,” or what my own personal finance journey has looked like. 

The post Personal Money Snapshot: Corporette Edition appeared first on Corporette.com.

For today’s Personal Money Snapshot, we’re talking salary, net worth, debt, and more with reader N, who lives in a HCOL area and works as an analyst for the federal government. She noted, “My #1 goal right now is to have a fully-funded six-month emergency fund, and I am very close to reaching it..”

We got a few requests from readers to launch our own “money diary” series, so we’ve asked willing readers to fill out a form with lots of details about debt, spending, saving, and more! If you’d like to fill out the form and be considered for a future personal money snapshot, please click here to submit your response! You can see a PDF of the questions if you want to review them ahead of time. See others in the Personal Money Snapshot series here.

Please remember that this is is a real person who has feelings and isn’t gaining anything from this, unlike your usual friendly (soul-deadened, thick-skinned, cold-hearted, money-grubbing) blogger — so please be kind with any comments. Thank you! — Kat

Name: N
Location: HCOL area
Age: 29
Occupation: Analyst with the federal government
Income: $65,000
Net worth: With student loans, -$42,000
Net worth when started working: I technically started working when I was 16, but when I started working in my post-grad career, I was 26. My net worth then was -$70,000.
Living situation: Renting studio apartment; living separately from partner

Debt

What does your debt picture look like?
$81,000 in student loans, no credit card debt

I have student loans from going to a private school for graduate school. I am enrolled in the PSLF, as I work for the government, so my strategy is to pay as little as possible monthly, save the rest, and make it to forgiveness.

How much money are you spending each month to pay down debt?
I am not spending anything to pay down my debt right now, thanks to the COVID pause on student loan payments, as I am enrolled in PSLF. I will start paying $500 when payments start up again.

How did you pay for school?
My parents generously paid for my undergraduate degree at a state school. I paid for my graduate degree and living expenses through a combination of savings, student loans, work-study, and a combination of paid internships and part-time jobs while in school. At one point I was working over 40 hours a week while going to school full time, which put me in the hospital from stress. I quit one of my jobs and lived off my savings a bit more.

Do you own or rent? How much do you pay monthly?
I rent a studio and pay $1,350.

Have you paid off any major debt? 
I paid off $6,000 of credit card debt incurred while I was in graduate school and when I was looking for a job post-graduation! That was my priority as it had the highest interest rate and I was still in my grace period for student loans.

Savings, Investments & Retirement 

How much do you save each month or year in retirement vehicles like 401Ks, Roth IRAs, and others?
I save $315 per month for retirement: $270 in my 403b and $45 in my Roth IRA. My employer matches $270 in my 403b. I really want to increase my contributions to my Roth and plan to when I hit a financial goal this year.

How much money do you allocate to other tax-savvy investments/accounts like HSAs, 529s, FSAs, and others?
$75 a month goes into an HSA through work.

How much do you save outside of retirement accounts?
I save $1,065 a month, including the payment I would normally make to student loans that I am not now because of the COVID pause. These are split up into several categories: emergency fund, long-term savings, short-term savings, and a sinking fund. I do it manually whenever I get my paycheck, mostly because I get my paychecks on a different day of the month each month, so automatic transfers wouldn’t really work for me, but I never skip them.

Talk to us about investments. Do you have a financial adviser or planner?
I would like to go to a financial advisor one day! I have a diversified 403b that I decided on through discussing with a relative who works in investments whose advice I trust. I also invest $25/month through Betterment to get a sense of how it works. My Roth is in a life cycle fund.

Do you have an end goal for saving or are you just saving for a rainy day?
My #1 goal right now is to have a fully-funded six-month emergency fund, and I am very close to reaching it. After that I plan to up my retirement contributions a bit and direct more of my savings to the general short-term/long-term accounts. My short-term savings goals are for travel, a car, a dog, and a wedding. My long-term goals are for a house down payment and a baby. While my partner and I don’t live together, we have similar goals.

When did you start saving seriously? How has your savings strategy changed over the years?
I started savings seriously when I started my first post-grad job, which I started three months before COVID hit. While I was lucky to keep my job and work remotely throughout, I realized how precarious my living circumstances were and wanted a six-month emergency fund straightaway, as that’s how long it took me to land my job after graduating. My strategy has remained pretty stable throughout the years, although I’ve been able to save a lot more without monthly student loan payments, of course.

What’s the #1 thing you’re doing to save money, limit spending, or live frugally?
I keep a very close eye on my spending and always look for a free thing to do for entertainment. If I’m going to spend money it’s going to be for something worth it, like a girls’ trip for a milestone birthday or a much-needed new laptop. I don’t have a TV/cable, don’t own a car, walk most places if safety permits, and cook at home 95% of the time.

How much do you have in cash that’s available today?
$500 in actual cash, and $1,400 available immediately online

How much do you have in cash that’s available in a week? 
$19,000

How much is in your “emergency fund,” and did you include it in the previous question?
$15,000. I keep most of it in an online bank account I can access almost immediately, with $500–$1000 of it available immediately online. It is included in the previous question.

How much do you have in retirement savings?
$17,000

How much do you have in long-term investments and savings (CDs, index funds, stocks) that are not behind a retirement wall?
$5,000 ($3,000 is from an inheritance)

Spending 

How much do you spend on the following categories on a monthly basis?

Groceries: $270
Restaurants, bars, takeout, and delivery: $50–$75
Clothing and accessories: I don’t buy clothes every month, but possibly $150 a season or when needed.
Transportation: Work pays for my metro commute and I put away $40/month for transportation that I don’t always spend, for my personal metro and Ubers.
Rent/living expenses: $1,350 rent
Entertainment: I don’t buy books; I go to the library constantly. I have a fun budget of $110/month that includes entertainment, dining out, etc.
Other major expenses: All my friends are getting married and my partner and I are saving up for a wedding! I’ve been a bridesmaid three times in the past year, and going to be a bridesmaid again this year and have two other weddings on the calendar. I put aside $50 a month for “wedding season” expenses for weddings I’m invited to/in, but it is so expensive! I use my office gym for free but occasionally spend $20 on a ballet class as I love the workout.
Health care – premiums and other costs: I have a HDHP so pay $83/month in premiums, plus a few dollars for dental and vision. (I have glasses and poor eyesight!) I am lucky to be pretty healthy and wanted to take advantage of having an HSA.

What’s your spending range for these things? What’s your average?

Vacations – Range: I’ve only taken one self-financed vacation since I started working, and it cost $1,500 total for a week in Europe at peak season. I don’t go on a vacation like that often! I often go to the beach for a long weekend with my girlfriends or partner and spend maybe $500.

Charity – Average donation or giving amount: $25/month to the local food bank

Individual items of clothing – Average: I try not to buy anything full price, but I had to buy some suits for a new job that cost $200 total (top and bottom!). I try not to spend more than $30 for a shirt or $50 for a pair of pants, although I can be persuaded if its good quality and an item I really need.

Apartment or house – Current main residence: $1,350, utilities included

Fill in the blank on this question: I could save _____ if I stopped ______, but I don’t because _______.
I could save $25 a month if I stopped streaming subscriptions, but I don’t because I don’t have any other method of entertainment without a TV! I could save $100/month if I didn’t go to my friends’ weddings, but I don’t because my friends are reasonable in their wedding expectations and I love them.

At any point in your life to date, has inheritance played a role in your money situation?
My godfather died suddenly when I was an infant and left me investments that came up to $25,000 by the time I was in college. My grandfather handled them and let me use $5,000 of it when I studied abroad so I could travel like my godfather enjoyed doing, which I will never forget. I used $15,000 of that inheritance to supplement my part-time jobs when I was in grad school to pay for my living expenses, and the rest is still sitting in my investment account.

How has your family provided financial support in your adult life, if any? (Or, do you provide support to them?)
My parents generously paid for my undergraduate education and living expenses. I lived at home for a year while working full time before grad school to save up to my move to a HCOL city. When I was looking for work, I knew I always had a place to go back to, and they would sneak me money when they visited, but I didn’t like asking them for anything as I wanted to make it on my own.

I’m on the family phone plan and just recently started paying my part of the plan, even though mostly that is because we all forgot about it once I graduated.

Money Strategy 

Do you have a general money strategy?
My money strategy is to separate my savings goals in buckets/different accounts and be as disciplined as I can while still enjoying the life I live right now. I could probably save more money if I never went out, never saw my long-distance friends, or [never] bought new clothes, but I believe life is for living, and as long as I am hitting my savings goals I intend to give myself some breathing room in my budget so I don’t go crazy.

What are your favorite resources for personal finance?
Podcasts, blogs, and books! I enjoy The Financial Diet, Money Girl, and lots of different books and blogs.

What advice would you give your younger self about personal finance?
To think of saving money as giving your future self the gift of options.

Icons via Stencil.

Want more posts like this? These are some of the latest Money Snapshots…

• Money Snapshot: A Tech Marketer Shares Her Thoughts on Health, Retirement, and Travel
• Money Snapshot: A Lawyer on a Career Break Shares Her Thoughts on Debt, Savings, and Living Frugally
• Money Snapshot: An In-House Counsel Shares Thoughts on 529s, Avoiding Debt, and Past Money Stress
• Money Snapshot: An In-House Counsel Shares Her Thoughts on Expenses, Retirement, and Outsourcing Chores
• Personal Money Snapshot: Corporette Edition

The post Money Snapshot: A Government Analyst Shares Her Thoughts on Building Savings, Wedding-Guest Expenses, and More appeared first on Corporette.com.