I'm a 25 year old girl who has been an ICU nurse for 2 years. I worked very hard in school and secured a great job that also pays well. I started having the "I deserve this" mentality and never lived with a budget. I have traveled, purchased tons of clothes and makeup, and been in weddings. I never even had an idea of how much I brought in per month until about 18 months of work, (just told myself I made a lot) since my overtime fluctuates. Finally, I decided enough was enough after being in $5000 of credit card debt. I was constantly paying to the CC, and realized that all this money i was paying could have been used in savings if I made a budget. I make upwards of $90k a year and had nothing in savings, which mortified me. I did not have an emergency fund until Feb of this year and used it a week later for a big emergency. I actually kept my lack of savings a secret from my boyfriend for our first year of our relationship.
I began reading personal finance about 8 months ago, but it took me a lot of courage to actually write down my hard numbers to see what I make, how much I spend, and how much I can potentially save. I had a lot going for me already, which I had not realized before... 403b with matching by my employer (10k in now), FSA for $300 a year, health insurance/life insurance/ short term disability. I have $30k student loans through public service loan forgiveness. My credit score is upwards of 760.
Now thanks to personal finance, I calculated my minimum take home pay without OT, after taxes at $3000 (but i love OT and try to pick up 1-2 shifts a month). I created a budget from this minimum take home that is written out on a Numbers template on my iPad, which I drafted separately for each month. It includes a pie chart with income, spending, and leftover in a visual way. One thing that surprised me was how I spend $90+ on Starbucks a month, so I purchased a Keurig on mega sale to use instead. My bf and I made a pact to eat out less. I got a bonus of $1100 after taxes which just went to my credit card. I can now say I am beginning to take budgeting seriously and I am working towards paying the credit cards. Thanks to everyone who has put out advice on here about budgeting and credit cards.
Edit: I forgot to say I also cancelled my cable to cut that cost and am using Qapital for creating a small savings account with my rounded up purchases!
Submitted July 14, 2017 at 11:10PM by 12345hey http://ift.tt/2tcPL2W
