Hello everyone,
First off, I have enjoyed and gained great insights from reading various posts. Thank you for the inspiration!
Now, a little about me and my financial journey. I am 31 and I'm behind the 8 ball. I have no debt, but I also have no liquid savings. I make 34,000 a year working at a University in a "tech" job (database administration) that doesn't pay a "tech" salary. However, this is much better (11,000) than what I was making 5 years ago. I graduated from the University of Virginia with a BS in Psychology, but didn't want to do anything counseling/psychology related. My GPA wasn't all that great so I'm having difficulty being accepted to a Grad program.
I am proud to be debt free because I had a long journey of getting out of debt. At the height of it, I had roughly 14,000 in debt. I currently have a net worth of roughly 11,000 (retirement and non-retirement investments).
My monthly expenses are low, I spend roughly 500/month on bills, the rest gets eaten (restaurants) and some saved. Also, I'm single with no kids.
I am currently trying to find a way to kick my Financial Independence journey into overdrive and make it a real possibility. I have identified the steps I need to take as:
1. Earn more money - new job and side business
2. Lower wasteful spending (Eat out less)
3. Learn to invest better
My question to everyone is... Do you think it is possible for me to retire in about 15 years? Do you think the steps I have outlined are the correct steps for me to follow? What would you do if you were me to start striving for financial independence?
Thank you for reading!
First off, I have enjoyed and gained great insights from reading various posts. Thank you for the inspiration!
Now, a little about me and my financial journey. I am 31 and I'm behind the 8 ball. I have no debt, but I also have no liquid savings. I make 34,000 a year working at a University in a "tech" job (database administration) that doesn't pay a "tech" salary. However, this is much better (11,000) than what I was making 5 years ago. I graduated from the University of Virginia with a BS in Psychology, but didn't want to do anything counseling/psychology related. My GPA wasn't all that great so I'm having difficulty being accepted to a Grad program.
I am proud to be debt free because I had a long journey of getting out of debt. At the height of it, I had roughly 14,000 in debt. I currently have a net worth of roughly 11,000 (retirement and non-retirement investments).
My monthly expenses are low, I spend roughly 500/month on bills, the rest gets eaten (restaurants) and some saved. Also, I'm single with no kids.
I am currently trying to find a way to kick my Financial Independence journey into overdrive and make it a real possibility. I have identified the steps I need to take as:
1. Earn more money - new job and side business
2. Lower wasteful spending (Eat out less)
3. Learn to invest better
My question to everyone is... Do you think it is possible for me to retire in about 15 years? Do you think the steps I have outlined are the correct steps for me to follow? What would you do if you were me to start striving for financial independence?
Thank you for reading!