When I first started browsing this sub a few years ago I had no savings, a "thin file" credit rating, and despite my comfortable income I was blowing it all away every month. After a few months of almost missing rent due to stupid spending I started to get more serious about my money habits. Thanks to a recommendation of YNAB, as well as a suggestion of a secured credit card, that is no more!
YNAB was a major turning point for me, even though it took me close to a year to finally get things oiled and running smoothly (I hated reconciling and kept having to "start fresh"). I'd never done any manual reconciling in the past, and it took me a while to get it down, but I really enjoy tracking all my spends, as well as DECIDING where my money is going instead of just flinging it into the winds.
I went from counting the days to my next paycheck, to forgetting that the day had even arrived. It was a wonderful feeling once I got it all dialed in, and this basic budgeting has lifted an incredible amount of stress from my shoulders.
I now have a cash back credit card, and last year I made more than $300 cashback while suffering no late payments or interest to BOA! I waited the whole year to collect the 10% cashback bonus at BOA and bought myself a guitar with the "Free money". When I started I couldn't get anyone to even give me a credit card and now I'm killing it with this cashback card. Also, thanks to my budgeting I finally reached my goal of a one month buffer, with a small bit stashed away for other inevitable disasters like car repairs.
For those of you out there who may be just getting started, or are lurking and looking through the sub, just be persistent in your progress of moving forward, and don't give up when you hit a roadblock. It took me a long time to get the budgeting to stick, but if you just keep grinding you'll get results. I wanted to write this up because seeing people get these small victories when I was lurking made me more optimistic that I could eventually succeed.
Thanks to everyone in this sub for providing the motivation and concrete examples that nudged me toward actually getting my shit together financially.
Submitted March 08, 2017 at 02:08PM by HAHA_Aku_HAHA http://ift.tt/2n00Gt7
