I don't live in the US so my expenditures in my country vary widely from what I have normally seen in this sub. But I've also been living a frugal life since turning 20 and after some awakening call after my father almost lost his job. Now I cannot imagine a life where my spending and general outlook of my finances aren't optimized.
I should be more grateful that I am in a position where I have no student loan debt, although uni tuition is nothing like what I would have to pay in the US.
NOT PAYING FOR
- rent. I live in my parent's other home in a metropolitan area.
- no car or payments (as public transport is great and on the cheap side
- transport in/out of the office (as I work remote since Covid)
- alcohol. I quit and don't see the value in it anymore.
FIXED EXPENSES
- $5 phone payment every 2-3 months, just to keep my phone number alive (free wifi is everywhere, in the metro, in the bus, in most streets and most stores). Also trying to be disconnected whenever I am outside, so win win
- $8/month for wifi
- $100-150/month for food for myself
- $30/month (summer) house/elec/water bills, up to $60 (winter) for the heating
- Netflix account for the whole family (I don't pay for any other subscriptions)
- hobbies barely cost anything. Maybe to fix my bike once in a while.
- ~$20/month, public transport. If I'm in the mood I cycle
INCOME
- $36k/year NET (I know this is very low end for the US/UK, etc, but slightly above average in my country for an entry-level global corporate job).
- $500-2000/month from freelance side hustle (which I mostly do in my company time :D), depending on projects and availability
- $1000-2000/month from day trading (also dependent on the market..)
- I also get a couple of $80 USD gift cards for completing marketing surveys that take 15 minutes, but mostly on a quarterly basis.
I consider myself very fortunate to be in this position where I do not have to pay rent (though who knows until how long), or any have loans of any kind. But I have learned my own lessons about money the hard way during college when my father's company almost went bankrupt, almost leaving him unemployed, which was the point I realized I recognized the value of money and skills to manage and grow it. I got on a scholarship, working two minimum wage jobs in a day during college, missed out on some social stuff. Ever since training myself to think this way, I can never go back to buying into marketing bs and any other time or money consuming thing that do not serve me. Now I have just over $100k after saving up relentlessly since 20.
I am now at a point I can easily save 100% of my income from my main job, and live off my freelance income. I reinvest all my gains from trading back in, and pretend that money does not exist so I don't touch it (and don't know where else it would even go). But this was all possible because I didn't have to live in survival mode. So a lot of times I don't feel I truly earned this, although I know I have done the best I could on my end.
Still, I would like to know how I can make this better? If you have been in my shoes, what actions have you taken that made your assets grow and what do you recommend?
I still have a lot to learn, and definitely willing to read any constructive feedback or suggestions so please feel free to leave them.
Submitted August 25, 2021 at 04:01AM by innout7 https://ift.tt/3jc738y
