I thought I made 30-35k last year but I actually barely made 21k. I didn't realize how little I worked (5.5 months where I worked more than 1 full day a week). I made this little yet I never felt I was financially struggling at all last year, while living in an expensive city.
Some background into my work and story of 2018..
I'm a single lady in her mid 20s. I work as a substitute teacher as someone who was trying to transition from early education teaching to secondary education teaching. I wanted to get my credential to become a full time teacher so I took some time off from January to the end of May to study to get into a credential program (was trying to pursue math teaching without a math degree). This ended up leading nowhere lol. I wasn't fully committed to pursue teaching but I didn't know what else I could do for work because it's all I've been doing for the past 5 years. June came by and I found small private schools to work at for 30-40 hours a week up until the beginning of September, when I went traveling overseas for 2 weeks. I came back with no work schedule for the rest of September. October began and substituting started picking up again and I worked every day until mid December when winter break started. During winter break I returned to work at the small private school.
Subbing gets me $190-260 a day depending on the assignment. The private schools paid from $12(shit minimum wage) to $30(shit work schedule). I also had 1 tutoring client that would pay me $30 an hour (parent is a friend of mine so I charged little) for 0-10 hours a month.
How did I afford it?
Several things to note, but I'll just share my expenses. First of all, I have no student loans to pay off. I went to a state school and got grants to pay off tuition during the time I was working toward a BA. I lived with my now ex and we both worked part time at restaurants that would feed us yummy food.
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I currently make no car payments. I got rid of my car when I started working close to where I lived. Before I would pay $450 a month in total car expenses. Now I pay either $100 a month for the bus or I'll take my little motorcycle around (which I bought for super cheap). Other transportation fees like uber, lyft, bird, etc. come up to $50-100 a month because I try to take the bus as much as possible when I decide to buy a monthly pass that month. I think it helps a lot that I live in a safe neighborhood where the buses pass by frequently.. every 3-10 minutes during work hours.
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I pay $650 a month flat for rent. I live in the living room space that has been sectioned off into a large master-sized "room" with a beautiful wide view of the city. I share this 2 bedroom apartment with 2 other people and they usually keep to themselves so I have a lot of privacy. I live in a very safe and beautiful part of the city. Houses just a mile from me will cost a few million dollars. Apartments across the street from me are 7k a month for rent. There's a big homeless problem in LA but this neighborhood doesn't deal with a lot of it. I think I lucked out on this one.
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Food.. I would cook at home as often as I can. It's something I've done since college which began 7 years ago. When I didn't have shifts at the restaurants I worked at, I would cook my own meals. And going vegan, I've been able to save a loooooot by buying beans in bulk. Think 50 lbs of beans for $30, which would last 6 months if I ate those beans every day for both lunch and dinner. I get my vegetables and fruit fresh and organic from the farmers market every sunday. I'm lucky to live in the part of the world where fresh produce is abundant. I'm also lucky to live in the part of the city where there's 10 official farmers markets within 3 miles from me. I spend less than $20 a week on produce. Super flavorful, delicious, and better quality than anything whole foods has to offer. I eat fresh food 90% of the time, rarely anything that's processed, packaged, canned, etc.
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Clothes and other frivolous things.. I bought maybe less than 10 pieces of clothing last year. I shop at good will and consignment shops. I dress nicely too. I'm very minimalist when it comes to owning things. I like to buy things that I will enjoy, and I try to buy everything used, not because I'm trying to be cheap but because I'd rather not allow perfectly functional stuff go to landfills. Some stuff I bought in 2018... I got a practically new vitamix for $175. I got an overseas plane ticket for $450. I got unopened airpods for $130?150? I got a gently used food dehydrator for $8.
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I started a gym membership at equinox that's about 3k a year, thinking that's less than 10% of my annual income. Now after seeing what I really made I'm wondering if I should keep it.
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I had medical last year. I have back problems and I was able to go to a questionable physical therapist for a few months, get dental work, and checkups, all for free except a tooth extraction which wasn't covered so I paid 1k. I feel like this stuff should be free no matter what your income is though. Like public education and public roads.
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Going out? I would spend $30-150 a month when going out with friends. We go to a lot of free or cheap events. I should mention that I sporadically go on binge dates from dating apps and I've found myself going on a lot of dates with guys who like to flaunt their wealth and pay for full dates. I date guys who are in their mid to late 20s. I prefer no cost dates over extravagant dates though especially if I'm really into the guy but I won't say no if they suggest the latter.
I don't know how it's possible but I was also able to save up 8k this year while only making 21k. It's not a lot but you would think that number would be much lower. I didn't worry about money at all last year. I was a little more lonely last year than usual (a lot of nights staying in) but that's something I got used to after a few weeks, the same as doing without a car, going vegan, and having unconventional living arrangements. I think it's a lot of discipline.
What's in the future for me.. I'm in the process of switching careers to programming and if everything goes well I hope to be moving significantly up in the financial bracket by the end of 2019.
January 28, 2019 at 02:35AM
