I am 25 years old and I started dancing a year ago. For the past year I have been paying too much in Rent and was just learning the ropes with stripping so I haven't been thinking about the future until now. I love what I do but I realistically can only do it for 10 years tops but probably more like 8. By then I want to be financially well enough off that I could either start a small business or get a Masters Degree without going into debt (I already have a bachelors) and I want to be well into owning a home. Here are my specifics.
Income: My income is super inconsistent month to month but it averages about $5,000. It has been consistently going up since I've started and I am about to start traveling to places where there is more money because my city is pretty saturated with strip clubs. My guess is that I will at least make $72,000 this year and my goal is to be in the six figures for 2019 and every year after that. As I start traveling more and with my continued improvement I am confident that I will continue to see my income increase.
Debt: I am putting all my extra income towards my debt and am following the snowball method with the exception of paying off both my credit cards before my car. I haven't used any credits since August other than one $500 emergency.
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CC1 - $1,200 min payment $50
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CC2 - $6,500 min payment $200
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Car Loan - $5,641 min payment $210
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Student Loan - $28,263 min payment $300
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Total - $41,604 min payment $760
Expenses: I have been terrible at keeping track of extra spending like food and fun money I usually just focus on paying a significant amount towards my debt and then just using the rest as a free for all.
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Rent - $700
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Utilities -$80
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Phone - $60
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Car Insur. - $130
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Media/Subscriptions - $30
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Min Debt payments - $760
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Total - $1760
Investments: A couple years ago I bought $200 of crypto currency and now I have roughly $10,000. I am in the process of cashing most of it out. When I put in the $200 I did it as fun "play investing money" I decided back then that if I did make anything out of it I would just continue using it towards investments. My current plan is to max out a charles schwab Roth IRA at $5,500 and then find other ways to invest the rest including some risky investments because I am a gambler and this is my play money. I know everyone is going to tell me to pay off debt with this money and if you make a strong enough argument for that I will think about it but I really would rather just pretend I never had this $10,000 and learn how to invest. I find it fun and it motivates me to think about and prepare for the future.
Taxes: Most strippers pay very little in taxes but I am a believer in paying my taxes and it is honestly my only proof of income. If anyone has any insight into paying taxes as an independent contractor that would be great. I currently have $1000 set aside as an emergency fund/to use for my taxes in January. I know I should pay quarterly but I don't know how. For 2017 I just went to H&R block and gave them all my information but I feel like I could have been smarter about it. I am saving all receipts for work related expenses but I have a hard time knowing if some things count or not. For example I use to only justify spending $60 on getting my hair done but as a stripper I get my hair done more often and spend about $200 on it, that is an expense I would never justify except it really does make a difference in how much I make so would that be a tax write off??
Goals:
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Become Debt Free
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Have a significant safety net
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Buy a House in 3-5 years
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Save up enough so that in 8-10 years I have options
Questions:
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How should I invest the extra $4,500? I want it to be really diverse with some risky investments in there.
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How should I prepare to buy a house in 3-5 years? What kind of proof of income in required? How much down payment should I save up and when should I start saving that? The Roth IRA I'm opening up allows me to withdraw up to $10,000 with no penalties to put towards a down payment on a first home. If I max out the IRA every year would this be a good idea?
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If I want to use a large chunk of money in 8 years to either start a small business or go back to college, what is the best way to save that up? Savings account or investments?
Thank you in advance for any help. Let me now if you need any additional information.
Submitted June 03, 2018 at 10:51PM by solar_girl https://ift.tt/2Jbdjgk
