All the details on my Financial Journey + Why I started Fueling Financial Freedom

MY FIRST BLOG POST - I GUESS I CAN CALL MYSELF A BLOGGER NOW, HUH? 

I'm not a regular blogger, I'm a money blogger alright!

_{I have a lot to say when it comes to the topics I cover regarding all things personal finance and fueling your financial freedom... and 10 photos or character limit in Instagram captions is often, just not enough!}

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_{My Background & Financial Journey thus far...}

_{Here's the lay of the land - I want to be as transparent as possible regarding my personal finance journey and also, my privileges. You deserve to know!!! Now, full disclosure upfront, there are 2 things I am not yet comfortable sharing for personal/privacy reasons - those are my exact salary and net worth.  You may see others share these things online- I am all for transparency and will share these numbers with clients/those I trust in private. Oh, and in my Investing 101 course, Fuel Your Fortune, I do expose my entire 401K. I am simply not yet in a place where I am comfortable blasting my household income and net worth on the internet. Maybe I will change my mind one day, but for now, that is where I stand and I appreciate your understanding and respect.}  

_{My Upbringing & Background}

_{I grew up in Kansas City in a household with 2 parents working very demanding, yet high-paying, jobs. My dad is an Anesthesiologist and my mom is an OBGYN. I learned a lot about money and work ethic from my parents. They have always been very open, honest, and direct.  Both came from large middle-class working families - my Dad one of 6 and my Mom the oldest of 4. They paid their own way through undergrad and medical school, racking up student loans, and are 100% self-made. My Mom in fact was the first in her entire family to attend college, and I was just the second on that side. That being said, their parenting style was very far from enabling- something many people assume might occur in a household with 2 people in the highest tax bracket.} 

_{What I learned from my Parents - The Good}

• The power of living beneath your means: My parents openly discussed how and why they made the financial choices they did. They lived in a 2 bed, 1 bath, 800 square foot home in a rough neighborhood until age 37, or until I was 3. They drove modest vehicles and they drove them for 10 years plus. My Dad wore the same clothes for years in a row without going shopping and enjoyed taking on in-home repairs and landscaping work instead of hiring out. I recall a few times friends' parents came over to drop someone off at our house for a sleepover and my Dad would be out In the yard mowing and pulling weeds... on several occasions, people said "I can't believe an Anesthesiologist is mowing his own yard!" For the most part, my parents didn't live like most who had a household income of their size. It wasn't until I was in middle school that I even realized a Doctor's salary was above average. 
• Invest Early & Invest Often: This conversation started early, in the late 90's. I remember being in 2nd or 3rd grade and my Dad bought the first computer for our house, a Macintosh. It was 1998 and this was the big ole block of a computer with the old rainbow Apple on the front. I remember telling my Dad that these weren't the computers I saw in the computer room at school. He explained to me that he knew that, but he had researched about this Apple company, really believed in their vision, and had invested in their stock. I've always been one to ask a lot of questions, so from 2nd grade on I had conversations with my parents around the power of investing your money instead of spending it.  
• A Budget is a tool to help you build wealth: My parents budgeted and I was NEVER handed money without understanding the "budget". When I started driving, my parents paid for my gas, but this money was given to me through a debit card and they explained the amount I was being given was calculated based on the average mileage I should be driving on a given week to school and back. If I needed more, that was on me. Same went for back to school shopping and a multitude of other things. I was never handed a credit card and sent off on my way.  

_{What I learned from my Parents - The Bad}

• Your primary home is not a "great" investment, contrary to what the American Dream leads us to believe:  My parents fell for this one - while they didn't get in over their heads or become "house poor" - they did build an unnecessarily large home on 7 acres where I spent most of my childhood. The house was a money pit, something was always broken or needing attention, insanely high taxes due to the size of the home, a roof that cost $20K to replace when it was time for a new one, a yard that required thousands of dollars for upkeep on an annual basis even with my Dad mowing the lawn himself, the list goes on and on. The worst part - when they sold the home 20 years later - they lost money!!! Most people do not factor in the actual ROI of a primary home - I will save that for another blog post. Still, to this day my mom reiterates over and over that fancy homes just aren't worth it, for the most part. Buy a simple home for what you need and don't get caught up in keeping up with the Jonses' when it comes to your house. 
• Getting Divorced is very costly - and can impose a lot of financial stress: Now, I am not saying you shouldn't get divorced if that is what needs to happen for the health of you and your family. I am here to say I witnessed a divorce at an age where I fully understood what was going on (my parents divorced when I was 18) and when you are divorcing someone at age 50, or really any age, the financial side of it is very stressful regardless of how much you make or your net worth. Not to mention, the year my parents got divorced was 2009. Imagine getting divorced and splitting your assets during a financial crisis - not fun.  

_{My Financial Journey} 

_{I have gotten many questions about this on Instagram - so here is the outline! No, I have not received any sort of inheritance and there is no trust fund in my name - but I was very fortunate to have my 4 years of college paid for, and my parents also generously paid for my husband and I's wedding.} 

• May 2013: Graduated from Mizzou and moved to Lawrence, KS for my first job at age 22. My starting salary was $45K and due to the location of my job, I could not live at home. I got my first apartment and quickly realized my salary didn't go as far as I thought it would.
• 2013-2015: I was putting 5-7% into my company-sponsored 401K but outside of that, I was not doing anything for my own good when it came to how I managed my money. I was blowing it all - buying clothes and designer items to impress others - and had no emergency fund. I think I had roughly $500 in savings and that was it. There were many times that I looked at my checking after a weekend out, and realized I only had $50 for the week until I got paid that Friday. Cue the financial anxiety and Sunday Scaries. 
• 2016: This was the year I started to get my $hit together and started learning more about how to fuel my financial freedom. I moved in with my now-husband in a modest apartment reducing my living expenses, we got engaged and I decided I wasn't going to live my life running the rat race. I have to give my husband credit here - while I had a great foundation from my parents - I wasn't implementing what they had taught me in my life. My husband, however, was very financially focused. He had devoured Dave Ramsey's books and was living well beneath his means, I started doing the same. Dave Ramsey is also a subject for another day, I really don't like him, but I will say that his foundational principles are what sparked my interest in personal finance and propelled me to begin fueling my financial freedom. 
• 2017-2020: My husband and I got married, bought our first home, and got laser-focused on our finances. I began devouring personal finance books, podcasts, and blogs while he did the same. We worked as a team, paid off $30K in debt, worked hard to increase our income little by little, and began investing in Real Estate as well. February 2020, right before the pandemic hit, we attended a Real Estate Investors conference in St. Louis and were ready to GO BIG on investing outside of our tax-advantaged retirement accounts which we had been going balls to the walls in until then. October 2020 we purchased our first investment property, a duplex. 
• 2021: My husband and I now have 2 investment properties, both duplexes, and have invested over $250K. We have done so through financial discipline and strong habits, in addition to working hard to increase our income which is now multi six-figures combined. After ~3 years of getting our own $hit together to achieve our life vision, which is ultimately complete control of our time and peace of mind financially, I decided I wanted to help others do the same. I dreamed of building a community for those who desired to improve their financial literacy and I took a leap of faith. 

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_{Fueling Financial Freedom - My Mission}

_{Time is a gift - we don't know how much time we have - and while money cannot buy happiness, it can buy you the freedom to spend your time in a way that aligns with your life vision. BUT when it comes to money, there is so much we do not learn in school!} 

_{Earlier this year I decided I wanted to use my knowledge and privileges to help others achieve financial freedom and financial peace. I saw so many struggles during the pandemic, filled with stress financially due to loss of income. While the loss of income obviously was not in their control, for many, the stress they incurred would have been far less had better financial habits and a focus on financial literacy been implemented earlier.} 

_{So, Fueling Financial Freedom was born. Here I am - 6 months into launching this business with big plans for the future. I believe Financial Freedom is more than budgeting, investing, and saving. It is about the way you get to spend your time on earth and the impact you have on others' lives. I am on a mission to empower others to make EDUCATED decisions financially. I lead by example and desire to show YOU how to use money as a tool to create the life you desire.}