It’s Per$onal is an anonymous blog series designed to shed light on the intricate details of the personal finances and lifestyles of women.
Name:
Catalina
How old are you?
24
Where do you live? City and State (or Country if outside the U.S.)
Fayetteville, NC
What is your highest level of education?
Bachelor’s
Are you single or married?
Soon to be married
If you are married, do you and your spouse have joint or separate finances?
Joint
Do you have any children or dependents? If yes, please explain.
No
What is your total monthly rent / mortgage for your household?
960
Has Covid-19 impacted you financially in any way?
If anything it helped us financially because we weren’t able to go out and spend as much. The stimulus checks helped us pay for a lot of things we wanted and needed for our wedding
What is your current occupation? If not currently employed, please say “Not Employed”
Civilian federal employee
What is your yearly salary (or approximate yearly compensation) for your current occupation?
$54,796
If you are currently employed, do you like your job? Why or why not?
Yes I love my job. I just started in February but I have a lot of independence and the ability to actually make a difference. There is also a lot of room for growth and improvement.
I’ll be moving up in the GS system very quickly because I was hired in a recent grad federal employment program
Do you have a second job or side hustle? If Yes, please explain.
I baby and pet sit occasionally, I also work field agent jobs and sell on Mercari
If you have a second job or side hustle, about how much money do you make monthly from your second job / side hustle?
$30-$50 on average
Do you budget on a consistent basis? If so, please explain how you currently budget:
Trying to find a budget method that works best for us. We do good at having money for bills but we struggle budgeting the money leftover or actually using it for what we budget it for
Are you debt-free?
No
If you are debt free, how much debt have you paid off and how long did it take you to pay it all off?
N/a
Do you have any student loan debt currently?
Yes
If yes, about how much student loan debt do you have?
About $37,000
What is your monthly student loan payment amount?
25
Do you have any credit card debt?
Yes
If Yes, about how much credit card debt do you have currently?
About $3k
Do you have any other kinds of debt? If Yes, please explain:
Car payments
Do you know what your credit score is?
Yes
If Yes, what is your credit score?
687
Are you currently saving for retirement?
Yes
If yes, about how much do you have saved for retirement?
Unsure
What does an ideal retirement look like for you?
Not struggling to live, being able to enjoy the free time by traveling and doing whatever I want to do
What’s your biggest purchase of 2020?
Wedding
Biggest purchase of your life?
Car
What do you spend money on that brings you joy?
What are your short term money goals, if any? ( < 1 year)
Pay off as much debt as possible and find a budget system that works for us
What are your long term money goals, if any? ( > 1 year)
Debt free, rental property investment
What is your #1 financial concern right now?
Debt and living pay check to paycheck
What financial victory/success are you most proud of?
Finally getting to a place with my fiancé where we are paying our bills on time and have extra money for some fun things.
We used to live literally paycheck to paycheck and struggle to pay our bills, let alone do anything fun or try and get ahead on debt
Anything we didn’t ask about you that you want to include?
My job also offers a student loan repayment program so that is going to help with our debt, but our wedding will put us a little more into credit card debt so I’m interested in seeing how all of that plays out since I’m not paying much on my loans to begin with
