“What gets measured gets managed.”
-Peter Drucker
I am not 23 but this blog post is about Reno, a 23 year old financial analyst living in Cleveland. He breaks down item by item what he spent his money on in the month of July. Tracking expenses can be difficult and challenging but once you watch this hopefully it inspires you to consider tracking your expenses and consider creating a budget to boot.
“You can’t control your money until you know where it’s going.”
— Unknown
Rent: $1,650 not bad because where I am about to move I'd be paying a little under that amount for a studio and he's in a 1 bed room.
Utilities: $160 since my internet is baked into my utilities I am certain I will pay way less than he does.
Parking: $130 I will pay zero since I have free parking
Eating Out: $243 I will have to track my spending there since I really don't that much but I think I might be a little over him since I don't cook
Coffee: $37 I don't buy coffee out so my coffee cost will be less by a long shot
Groceries: $308 meh I will be way under that which offsets my eating out cost
Uber Eats: $154 mine will be zero I never use it lol
Gym Membership: $50 My new place will have a gym so again I will not be paying that; current membership is $15 (PF - who needs more than that?)
Subscriptions: $73 again I think I have Amazon Prime and Netflix; about to kill Netflix when I move
Movies: $57 I don't really go to the movies anymore so again I won't be spending that
Bus Pass: $95 nope I don't ride public transportation
Gas: $45 I drive electric with no cost charging; early adopter got it for life
Drinks: $78 I will have a drink here or there so I might hit that amount
Amazon: $108 since I am moving I will be getting some things but that will be offset by all the stuff I am selling before I move
Uber/Lyft: $43 I will have a trip that I might have to pay Uber or Lyft for; prob Lyft can't stand Uber.
Misc: $45 I might have some things that fall into this category
Grand Total: $3,433
Note: I noticed that he didn't mention a mobile phone which I am sure he has since he's making Youtube videos :) Also, I didn't hear anything about any credit card bills (I believe he prob doesn't carry debt so good for him) I would be in the same category. No Health, Dental, Vision benefits or Insurance or 401K cost, etc. I am sure he wasn't trying to be comprehensive just giving you a hint about the life of a 23 year old in Cleveland, but this is a great exercise for many to do.
“Tracking your spending is like checking your pulse — it tells you if you're alive financially.”
— Original
How much does it cost you a month to live? Do you even know? If he repeated this same month for an entire year it would cost him about $41,196. So he's needed to be making about $50K-52K. Given his job in finance (entry-level 0-1 year) I wouldn't be shocked if he's making about $65K. So, this all leads to you creating a budget for your life. If you start with how much you make, then you should divide that amount up by percentages and that should let you know what you can spend. To get out of the rat race you need to control both how much you make (work to create the maximum) while controlling how much you spend (life frugally) and that is how you become financially free.
Here is what his budget looks like if he was making $65K:
This means he has about 37% that he can save and could you imagine what would be possible if he put at least 25% of that into Bitcoin? Saving in Bitcoin is
“Budgeting starts with awareness. And awareness starts with tracking.”
— Original
If you found value in this, please subscribe, like, tip, and share with others; it might be the encouragement they need to change their financial health.
