Long Read
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How I Saved $100,000 By 30
A couple of months after celebrating my 30th birthday, I celebrated a financial milestone that I didn’t think I would achieve by that age – having $100,000 saved up. I feel simultaneously proud and self-conscious writing about this milestone. Proud because it’s a pretty damn good achievement in my books. On the other hand, self-conscious because it doesn’t feel like that big of a deal when so many others have gotten to this number (or higher) quicker than I have. Because if you’ve read enough personal finance articles, you’ll know that saving $100,000 by 30 isn’t a new concept, and I suppose my perception has been skewed from reading too…
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The Costs of Being A Woman: Why I’m Choosing Not To Pay Them
This post comes after a lot of thought. Thoughts that I’ve mulled over for most of my twenties. Thoughts that have led to purchasing decisions, that have led to where I am today. The day after International Women’s Day, I was at a baby shower thrown for a heavily pregnant woman, who was a literal stranger to me. There I was, no idea who anyone was. To make the situation more awkward, I sat across a chatty young mom holding her 9-month-old girl precariously in her arms. “Only have children when you’re really ready for children,” she warned me. That struck me as odd coming from a new mom. In…
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My Stock Investing Workflow: A Step-by-Step Guide
A common phrase I hear is “I want to invest in stocks but I don’t know how to start”. My usual reply to this is, “It’s not that hard to learn, just gotta start somewhere.” For a while, I felt like people just didn’t want to put in the time and effort to learn. After all, there are so many free resources out there to help you get started. These days I’m much more forgiving in my opinion. People just don’t have the time nor can afford to put in the effort to learn. They have jobs, families, relationships and so many other commitments to worry about. I don’t blame…
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5 Financial Personality Types That Affect Your Money Habits
I would hazard a guess that most of us never thought about how our personalities could affect how we spend, save, and invest. But improving our personal finance game requires self-reflection. What fears cause us to spend too much money? How are we motivated to save money? To understand what compels us to spend or save, we need to look inwards. So, let’s look at 5 financial personality types and how they affect our money habits. 1) The Spender We all have that one friend. You know the one. He’s got the nice car, goes on luxurious holidays, and always first in line to buy the new iPhone. That person…
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Reflecting on My Gap Year
Today marks the one year anniversary of the day I left my corporate job and entered into self-employment. Recently, I’ve started calling this period a gap year instead. Sure, I did some independent work during my time off but I wasn’t exactly self-employed by the textbook definition. While I spent half the year working myself to the bone only to realize I’ve put myself in a worse position than when I had a full-time job and the other half, well, I didn’t work much. At exactly the one year mark, I’m back at a crossroads again. One Year Ago I vividly remember the months leading up to my resignation. I told my…