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Hey, I'm Erin!

I’m a Wisconsin-based personal finance writer who is passionate about helping women feel more comfortable and confident in their finances. Whether you’re a woman who wants to learn more about money or a company looking for a freelance personal finance writer, I can help.

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Let me guess: You’ve heard personal finance expe

Let me guess: You’ve heard personal finance experts and influencers say that credit cards are bad and that you should cut yours up immediately.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Yep, we’ve all read those warnings. And many of us have probably wondered if they were right, and maybe even felt guilty for swiping our credit cards on the regular.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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If this is the only type of personal finance expert you’ve been following, then you’ll probably be surprised to see me say that I love credit cards.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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While it’s true that credit cards have high interest rates and have caused many Americans to go into debt, when used correctly, they’re an incredible tool. In fact, not only do credit cards not have to cost you a dime, but you can even make money by using credit cards.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It’s important that if you’re going to add credit cards to your personal finance toolbox, then it’s important to understand how to use them responsibly and in a way that really benefits you (and not the credit card companies).⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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This week on the blog, I shared some of the pros and cons of using credit cards, how to use them responsibly, and what to do if you’re already in credit card debt.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Click the link in my bio to read the post!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#personalfinancetips #personalfinanceforwomen #budgeting #budgettips #budgetingtips #creditcards #creditcardtips #savethatmoney #savemoney #moneysavingtips #debtfreecommunity #debtfreegoals #femalefinance #financialfeminist #financialfitness #millennialmoney #millennialmoneytips #moneyhacks #moneyhelp #moneytalk

Way too many personal finance experts treat money

Way too many personal finance experts treat money decisions like they’re black and white.
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You can either save and have a comfortable retirement OR you can enjoy your life today.
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Way too many people believe this myth and feel the urge to choose between enjoying life now and enjoying life later. They save every dollar and don’t spend on themselves today OR they spend every dollar and don’t save for the future.
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The good news is that you do NOT have to choose.
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You can enjoy your life today and still save. You can spend money on yourself today and will live comfortably during retirement.
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Double tap this photo if you’re choosing to enjoy your life now AND later!
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#personalfinancetips #personalfinanceforwomen #womenandmoney #financeforfemales #femalefinance #financialfemenist #womeninvestors #womenwhoinvest #wealthjourney #debtfreecommunity #millennialmoney #savethatmoney #budgetcoach #budgetlife #budgettips #budgetingtips #womeninspiringwomen #youvegotthis #womenonamission

If you're anything like me, then your first job ou

If you're anything like me, then your first job out of high school or college wasn't exactly lucrative.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Like many people, I entered the workforce earning well below the average salary. Frugal was the only way to get by.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The good news is that over time, most of us see our salaries gradually increase, which can open up a whole new world of opportunities.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I don't know about you, but it often felt like those pay increases disappeared as quickly as they appeared. I struggled to save money and I wondered where all the extra money went.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The answer? Lifestyle creep.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Today on the blog I talked about what lifestyle creep is, how to avoid it, and how to work some intentional lifestyle elevation into your budget.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Click the link in my bio to read the whole post!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#personalfinance #personalfinancetips #personalfinanceforwomen #moneytips #moneysavingtips #moneytalk #moneyhelp #budgettips #budgetingtips #budgeting #budgetlife #millennialmoney #debtfreecommunity #debtfreegoals #moneyhacks #savethatmoney #savingmoneytips #womenandmoney #financialfemenist #financeforfemales

The start of the new year seems like the perfect t

The start of the new year seems like the perfect time to talk about one of my favorite budgeting tools: sinking funds.
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Have you ever had one of those months where you're right on track with your budget, but then an unplanned expense throws everything off track? Maybe it’s an unexpected car repair, a medical bill, or your best friend's birthday that you totally forgot about.
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Normally, these unplanned expenses throw off your entire budget, and may even cause you to go into a bit of credit card debt. And it could even be a planned expense that throws off your budget. I’m sure plenty of our budgets took a hit last month with holiday spending!
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Sinking funds help lessen the blow to your budget because instead of paying for these expenses in the month they come up, you’re saving up a bit each month.
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Stay tuned, because I’ll be coming back in the next couple of weeks with a post sharing some common sinking fund categories you might include in your budget.
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#budgeting #budgetingtips #budgettips #financialgoals #moneygoals #personalfinance #personalfinancetips #personalfinanceforwomen #moneytalk #moneyhacks #savingmoneytips #savethatmoney #millennialmoney #millennialmoneytips #financialcoach #femalefinance #financialfeminist #womenandmoney #financeforfemales

Hey, I’m Erin! I’m a personal finance writer a

Hey, I’m Erin! I’m a personal finance writer and educator who is passionate about helping women feel more comfortable and confident with their money.
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I figured it’s probably time for an introduction, since it’s been awhile since you’ve seen this face around here. Last year, I inadvertently took a nine month break from Instagram and my blog. Between moving cross country and growing my freelance writing business, life just got in the way.
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If you’re new around here (or even if you’ve been around for awhile), here are a few things you should know about me:
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👉 I run a full-time freelance writing business where I’m published in outlets like Time, Credit Karma, Personal Capital, and more.
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👉 I’m 31 years old and live with my husband and our 12-year-old pup Toki.
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👉 We recently spent a year traveling the western United States in an old RV we renovated ourselves. Now, we’re settled back in Madison and planning to buy a house (but still plan to travel!)
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👉 I found personal finance after a divorce left me starting completely over at the age of 27. That experience taught me the importance of women playing a hands-on role in their own finances. Since then, I’ve made it my goal to help other women feel confident and comfortable with their money.
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Now It’s your turn! I hope you’ll stick around, and I’m excited to get to know you. Leave me a comment to introduce yourself and share a fun fact.
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#personalfinance #personalfinanceforwomen #personalfinancetips #moneytalk #womenandmoney #womeninfinance #womenwithmoney #financeforfemales #millennialmoney #financialfeminist #financialempowerment #financialcoach #femalefinance #debtfreecommunity #womenonamission #budgeting #financialindependence

In 2020, my husband and I sold most of our belongi

In 2020, my husband and I sold most of our belongings, moved into our newly-renovated RV, and hit the road.
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It was a dream we had been working toward for two years.
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As you can imagine, the pandemic threw a bit of a wrench in our plans. We had already sold our belongings and spent our savings buying and renovating the RV, so calling it quits wasn’t in the cards.
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Luckily, RV living is inherently well-suited for social distancing. We’ve been able to avoid in-person social contact while still enjoying some of the best natural beauty the U.S. has to offer.
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As we approach our one-year anniversary of life on the road, we’ve begun planning our return home, which includes plans to buy a house.
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In my latest piece on the Personal Capital blog, I shared why buying a home is the right decision for us and the six steps we plan to take to make it happen. Click the link in my bio to check it out! #paidcollab
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#personalfinance #personalfinanceforwomen #financialwellness #financialplanning #femalefinance #financialplanning #millennialmoney #moneycoach #womenandmoney #womeninfinance #financeforfemales #moneytalk #moneyhelp

How much time have you spent wishing you could rea

How much time have you spent wishing you could reach a certain goal, and dreaming of what your life would look like if you could reach it.
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Maybe it’s paying off debt, starting a side hustle, or saving for your dream home.
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Now where would you be if you had taken all that energy you spent wishing, and instead had spent it planning? Where would you be if you had focused on action instead of dreaming?
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It’s easy to convince yourself that it will take too long to reach your goal, but the time is going to pass anyway. Wouldn’t you rather have spent that time working toward your goal rather than wishing it could happen?
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Raise your hand if you’ve ever bought something

Raise your hand if you’ve ever bought something you saw someone share on social media 🙋🏻‍♀️
I think I’m speaking for almost all of us when I say...I’ve been there. And there’s NOTHING wrong with that. I love that social media allows us to share things we’re loving.
But where it starts to become a problem is when you can’t seem to stop yourself. You see someone share something, and you impulsively buy it. It becomes a problem when your impulse spending starts to impact your finances.
So here’s your money tip for today: Unfollow those social media accounts that make you want to overspend. If you don’t want to unfollow, you can even just mute them for awhile to get out of that spending habit.

We need to talk. More specifically, we need to tal

We need to talk. More specifically, we need to talk about one of the most common myths I see making its way around the personal finance world. That myth is:
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“Renting is throwing away money.”
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Multiple times per week I hear from people who want to buy a home because they’re worried they’re throwing away money by renting. Maybe they heard this from their parents, or maybe it was strangers on the internet.
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In my latest blog post, I broke down a real-world example that may or may not show that you actually “throw away” more money owning a home than you do renting. Click the link in my bio to check it out!
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When I saw this quote from @thebrokeaccountant on

When I saw this quote from @thebrokeaccountant on Twitter, it immediately spoke to me.
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For most of my adult life, debt just felt normal. Taking out students was the only way to attend a four-year school at 18. Taking out a loan felt like the only way to buy a car. Credit card debt didn’t feel like that big of a deal, because everyone had it.
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It wasn’t until my husband and I got married with a combined six figures of debt that I decided this wouldn’t be our normal.
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It started as a determination to make us debt-free. It’s turned into determination to make sure our future children don’t have to go on this same debt-free journey.
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The pandemic has taken a toll on everyone’s fina

The pandemic has taken a toll on everyone’s finances, but it’s been particularly hard on women.
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You’ve probably seen the news stories. Women make up the majority of lost jobs. Women are leaving the workforce to care for children. Women are seeing the wage gap widen rather than shrink.
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Through it all, women are having their confidence shaken. A recent survey shows women feel considerably less confident in their finances than their male counterparts. In my latest piece on the Personal Capital blog, I talk about some of the survey results and the current societal trends that may be causing them.
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Click the link in my bio to check it out! #paidcollab
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Are you a millennial? Then we need to talk about w

Are you a millennial? Then we need to talk about why you should be investing and how you can start today.
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Millennials are those born between the early-1980s and mid-1990s. Made up of about 83 million people, our generation is the best-educated and most diverse, but we’ve gotten a tumultuous start to our financial adulthood.
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Many millennials entered the job market during and immediately after the 2007-2008 financial crisis. In other words, we got off to a rough start.
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Because of that, it should come as no surprise that millennials are a bit leery of putting their money into the stock market. Data shows that more than two-thirds of millennials have nothing invested for retirement.
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It’s time for us to fix that.
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This week on the blog, I shared a few simple steps to help you start investing as a millennial. Click the link in my bio to check it out!
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The average adult in America has $29,800, excludin

The average adult in America has $29,800, excluding mortgages. And 15% of those Americans believe they’ll never be debt-free.
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One of the biggest financial roadblocks that many Americans face is trying to pay off debt while saving for retirement. Emotionally, you want your debt to be gone ASAP. But financially, you’re losing out on a ton of money if you aren’t putting money into retirement accounts.
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In my latest piece on Personal Capital’s blog, I talked about how you can balance saving for retirement while paying off debt. Click the link in my bio to check it out! #paidcollab
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Have you ever added up how much time you spend eac

Have you ever added up how much time you spend each month on your finances?
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Or, separate from the time you spend working on your finances, how much time you spend stressing about your finances?
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When I first decided to change my financial situation, it felt like hours per week. Hours per week, and I never seemed to make any progress.
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And the more time I spend without progress, the more the stress would eat into every other part of my life.
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Finally, I found one trick that saved me time, reduced my stress, and finally started making a difference: automating my finances.
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Money doesn’t have to be hard.
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In fact, sometimes the easiest solution is also the one that makes the biggest difference in your finances.
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Happy parallelogram season! 🎉
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75% of Americans believe the outcome of the presid

75% of Americans believe the outcome of the presidential election will impact their finances, but most aren’t sure how.
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A recent survey on behalf of Personal Capital and Empower Retirement looked at American’s financial reactions to the new presidential administration. Some of the results might surprise you.
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In my latest piece on Personal Capital’s blog, I took a closer look at the survey results to find trends among different demographics. Spoiler alert: Age and gender were two of the biggest factors determining how someone responded to the election.
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Click the link in my bio to read the article! #paidcollab
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I hear this question all the time: How do I stay m

I hear this question all the time: How do I stay motivated to pay off debt and save money?
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The short answer...you don’t.
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Motivation can be a powerful tool in helping you take those first steps toward a big goal. It’s what gets you excited and what gets you to sit down and make a plan.
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But motivation doesn’t last forever. And if you rely solely on motivation, you’ll struggle to stick with it.
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Think about people who exercise every day. They don’t do it because they feel motivated every single day. I guarantee there are days they just aren’t feeling it. But they’ve built the habit of exercise, and that’s what keeps them going.
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Money is no different. Motivation is what gets you to set that huge goal of paying off your student loans or saving the down payment on a home. Use that motivation to help you make a plan and create helpful habits that will keep you going when you don’t feel motivated.
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A few helpful money habits to help you reach your goals are:
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👉🏻 Schedule a weekly money date with yourself to update your spending tracker and budget
👉🏻 Set up an automatic transfers to your savings or debt so you don’t rely on willpower or memory
👉🏻 Plan your purchases ahead of time, with a one-week waiting period before making any big purchases
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Millions of Americans worked remotely in 2020 beca

Millions of Americans worked remotely in 2020 because of the pandemic. And for many, it’s not going to end anytime soon. Some companies are planning to stay remote well into 2021, and many companies have decided to maintain remote work after the pandemic.
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Remote working comes with its fair share of advantages and disadvantages.
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Many have saved money on commuting expenses and eating lunches out, but have missed out on the workplace camaraderie. There are also some consequences that may come as a surprise to many workers, including the effect that remote work can have on your taxes.
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In my latest Personal Capital piece, I talked about how remote work will affect your taxes this year. Click the link in my bio to check it out! #paidcollab
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Tell me if this sounds familiar:
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You know you’re supposed to be saving money, but you don’t really know how much to save (or even what you’ll use the money for). You genuinely try to save money each month, but can never seem to stick with it.
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Literally the best way to stick with your savings goal is to choose something specific to save for. Set a goal, figure out how much it will cost, and decide exactly how much to save each month.
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Here’s why this really works: When your initial boost of motivation inevitably wears off, you’ll still have your WHY to keep your going. Will your goal top of mind, you’ll be so much more committed to your savings goal.
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Whenever people ask me, “Where do I start with m

Whenever people ask me, “Where do I start with my finances?”, I ask them one simple question:
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Do you know where your money is going?
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There’s no magic pill to help you reduce your spending, pay off debt, or save more money. It’s literally just a matter of spending less than you earn and using the rest wisely.
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So if you’re starting at square one with your finances, the very first thing I recommend doing is track your spending. Look at your bank statements to see where your money has gone for the past three months. Start tracking your spending in a spreadsheet or budgeting app.
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Once you know exactly where your money is going, the next steps will be easier. You’ll know what areas you could do to cut back. You’ll know how much you have leftover to save, pay off debt, or invest.
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The first time I did this was in my early twenties. My partner and I at the same made plenty of money, and I couldn’t figure out why we didn’t have more left at the end of each month. It was seriously eye-opening.
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It sounds simple, but it’s actually a life-changing first step.
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