Financial Freedom

As a young woman in her early 20's, I often feel pressured to go out for drinks and parties and dinners and shopping and other expenditures that are fun at the moment.  This, of course, is inevitable while you're young.  But how often do you hear your friends say "I can't go out today. I'm broke." or the ever-so-popular "It's pay day! We can go out!"?  It has become an epidemic for our generation to spend for "now"- personal gratifications with no real gain.  Don't get me wrong.  I love to have fun!  But what fun is it when you constantly worry about money, spending all of it at once and having to wait for the next pay check to arrive?  These habits will eventually catch up well into our 30's and it will become much harder to handle our own finances when we start our own families.  Is this really the financial norm for our generation?  What's even worse is that we live in a world of social media.  We are influenced by what our friends and others post on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, Pinterest, Blogs, etc.  I'm sure you've come across at least one of these memes:

It has been known that our backgrounds and social environment influence most of our decisions.  Rich people are rich because they're surrounded by rich people.  Poor people are poor because they're surrounded by poor people.  But this isn't always the case.  ANYONE can get financial education.  Most of us were not educated in grade school to handle our own finances.  Most of us learn on our own, and sometimes the hard way.  I refuse to fall into this category of 20 somethings that know only how to live for "now" and not for the future.  True personal gratifications can only come from financial freedom.

In no particular order, below is a list of things that I have learned (so far) to reach that financial freedom:

1. Pay yourself first.  And I don't mean to spend it on five shots of tequila every weekend or going on shopping sprees everytime you get paid.  Set aside 10% of your pay check in a Savings Account.  If you have bills (and we all do!) and can't meet that 10%, try 1% and gradually increase when there is a little bit of room after bills.

2. Cut back.  Do you really need to go out drinking every weekend?  Do you really need to eat out?  Do you really need to buy a new outfit to go out drinking next weekend and to eat out?  REALLY?  The key word here is NEED.  Think about your necessities.  Make a list of things that you want and need.  Now cross out the things that you can live without.  Other things to cut back on:

• lattes, coffee, tea that are not made in your house! these "little" costs add up
• check your phone and cable bill- see which features you have that you don't really need
• make your own breakfast! that time you spend in line at drive-thrus could be spent making meals
• pack your lunch. no excuses. anyone can do this.
• save on gas! don't go on useless drives. carpool whenever you can- that's more fun anyway :)

3. Don't go on dates.  This is more of a joke (kinda).  Dating has become very expensive.  If you can barely afford hanging out with your friends, chances are that you can't afford going on dates- unless they are paying ;) ..Well, the thing is, you are bound to spend eventually whether the other pays or not.  If you're happily in a relationship, go ahead and just laugh at this step. 

4. Put your finances on paper or something visual.  I have always monitored my finances by making an excel sheet of my income and expenses.  This way, you know what's going on with your money at all times.  By seeing all of your expenditures and cash flow in one place, you can easily judge whether you can afford that dinner out with your friends next Friday night.

5. Invest.  Put your money to work.  If you have the money to put on stocks and mutual funds then, by all means, go for it!  If you have a couple thousands in your savings account, put at least $1000 in a CD.  If you have at least $500, invest it in a Roth IRA.  See your banker for other investing options that is well within your means.  These investments will save your butt when you're in deep shit.  And it's never too early to start investing in retirement.  As you get older and gain more income, invest in things that will yield a higher return.  Riskier investments usually lead to higher returns.

6. Get Educated.  We are so lucky to have internet in our generation and it's FREE!  Search for videos and articles that will motivate and help you to achieve your financial goals.  There are THOUSANDS of them out there.  Find yourself a mentor.  Educate yourself.

XoXo

Cory

Sweet Greens

 I was diagnosed with lupus last year- it's an autoimmune disease where your body basically attacks your own organs :( That means I have to watch my diet and eat plenty of raw fruits and vegetables.  I'm all for raw fruits but raw vegetables is a little hard to take in.  So I started juicing and blending.  The only thing I don't like about juicing is the messy left overs.  I'm pretty sure you need to eat the solid parts of the vegetables and fruits to get the full benefit and that's also why I prefer blending over juicing.  At least with blending, you get to eat everything!  My favorite drink is a kale and spinach smoothie with fresh fruits and dried dates.  My favorite blend with kale and spinach are apples and pineapples but any fruits will do.  For extra sweetness, I add dried pitted dates or fresh bananas.

For today's smoothie, I used the following:

• a handful of kale
• a handful of spinach
• 1 ripe pear
• a handful of strawberries
• a handful of dried dates

Blend everything with ice cold water until liquified and bam!- the sweetest green smoothie you'll ever have in your life :) and no sugar added!

Cheers!

XoXo

Cory

Paradise Weekend

I went to Key West, FL this past weekend to celebrate my friend's 24th birthday and it was so much fun!  Despite being sick, sober, and spending a night at a horror condo, the whole trip was pretty successful.  I saw chickens running along the beach like they own the place.  I've lived in Florida for more than half of my life and I have never seen chickens on the beach...ever.  I've visited Key West many times before but never have I actually set foot in town and walked around.  It's a quaint little town filled with overpriced items!  Nevermind all the unnecessary price gouging.  I had a fantastic time.  Among the places we visited were Mallory Square, Custom House, Rest Beach, and a few that I can't recall.

Let's talk about food.  I love food.  

We went to a restaurant called Willie T's.  The prices were up there but everywhere else was packed so we went anyway.  I had a Mixed Seafood Pasta and it was delicious!  It was a little pricey but it was worth it.  My friends ordered other things on the menu and their food sucked.  A cardboard probably tasted better.  We didn't try everything on the menu but 5 out of 6 entrees that we ordered completely sucked and just were not worth the money.  The restaurant also does not offer anything special on birthday occasions. BOO!  The service sucked.  I think I've used "sucked" a lot in this paragraph...well, that basically summarized the whole experience at Willie T's.  I will NEVER go back to that restaurant again.  My dish was really good, though.  I'm guessing that they only put effort in their food when the price is above $25.  Did I mention that the restaurant walls and ceilings were covered with dollar bills signed by previous customers? Yea...I tried to take some of them to compensate for my friends' bad food.  Too bad they were stapled so securely on the wall.

For breakfast, we decided to have something simple and familiar... IHOP! We love IHOP! You can never go wrong with IHOP.  Except for the homophobic seniors sitting next to us, I can't really complain.  Food was great. Price was great.  We were filled with happy bellies.

The next time I come back here, I'll make sure I stay at a nice hotel.  I will take a cruise from West Palm Beach to Key West instead of a butt-pinching 4-hour drive.  I will need a week to completely scout the whole town.  I might also buy a house there once I'm financially stable..you know, to rent it out for extra income and for vacationing purposes.

XoXo

Cory