Become Financially Free: Travel & Transform – Pt1: My Story
Hi everyone and welcome to The Just Book It Podcast! Throughout the year 2023, I was really tested emotionally, financially & mentally to the point where I almost gave up. All of my hard work has come to this point and I am just baking in my glory. Really living the life I had envisioned for myself and I want to show you step by step how I did it.
In this episode, we’re going to get the conversation rolling on how I bought a house on my own at the age of 24, how I have over 100k in investments & how I get paid to travel & haven’t paid full price for a flight since 2019. I’ve been getting a lot of questions about this and honestly, I needed some time to collect my thoughts while renovating the new place and what better way to start than in 2024!
I want to make this a monthly series where I will guide you, share my tips & hold you accountable. I know that we have lives outside of work, friends, family etc so I know that monthly is perfect for getting things done and fitting in some trips. 2024 is going to be our year so let’s get into it.
- January | Part 1: My Story & Setting Goals
- February | Part 2: Financial Breakdown: Analyzing Your Spending Habits
- March | Part 3: Manifesting Success & Taking Control of Your Life
- April | Part 4: Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck & The Power of Side Hustles
- May | Part 5: Getting Out Of the Rat Race Pt 1: Lower Your Taxable Income
- June | Part 6: Birds of A Feather Flock Together: Building Your Blue Zone
- July | Part 7: Knowing When It’s Time To Leave Your Job To Earn More
- August | Part 8: Changing Your Mindset Experiences > Things
- September | Part 9: The Travelers Mindset, Budget & Local Travel
- October | Part 10: Time Management & Making Sacrifices
- November | Part 11: Getting Out Of the Rat Race Pt 2: Building Equity
- December | Part 12: Anti-Consumerism & How To Not Spend $$ For The Holidays
In part 1 I am going to break down my story. How I was able to purchase a home at 24, invest 5 figures, obtain my master’s degree at the age of 22 & still manage to go on three trips per year? Let me know if you have any questions, comments, etc and I’ll make sure to cover it in future episodes.
My Story:
For starters, my upbringing is the quintessential American dream. My great-grandpa on my dad’s side sailed here from Ireland longing for a better life. My grandma grew up raising her dad and aunt after her mother died & then raising her own children on her own after her divorce from her ex-husband. My abuelita on my mom’s side fled the political unrest in Nicaragua and my abuelito on my mom’s side moved to the US from Ecuador for more opportunities. It’s because of these circumstances that my parents had to grow up quickly. Living in divorced households and my mom growing up first-generation proves their immense resilience and I’m so proud of them. I wouldn’t be in the position I am today without them and my family as a whole. Everything I am doing is working toward getting them out of debt and buying their dream cottage which we always spoke about when I was younger.
My parents married young and wanted to start the perfect family they didn’t grow up having. While growing up themselves & learning their relationship, they also had to care for 1 actively energetic child bouncing off the walls and the other non-stop crying for the first 3 years of her life (yes, that’s me). Given their upbringing, they didn’t get help from their parents and had to work to support two kids, while paying rent and somehow trying to make it in the world. It’s also why my Dad is the financial backbone of the family. Growing up poor changes your mindset and makes you want to have more for your kids and not have them go through what he had to experience. As a kid, I didn’t know that we were poor. My parents did their absolute best to give us the life that we wanted. We were enrolled in any and every after-school extracurricular. We started off small with my older sister enrolled in soccer and I danced. Soon upgrading $30 ballet shoes to $100 Irish Dance dresses, and $85 hardshoes & way too much to tally right now. Then swimming, lacrosse, travel/club soccer & many tournaments, and swim meets later- we weren’t degenerates & instead teenagers with no free time and many talents. I was ALWAYS the overachiever. I never grew out of it. It’s embedded in my personality. It’s also because I am severely competitive and I just have a vision that I can’t lose sight of.
My entrepreneurial spirit shined through in high school. Every year, we’d have a band competition in Disney which was $600-$900 each year. My grandma helped pay for the first year (because I was 13 and didn’t get my footing in yet). Once it came to Sophomore year, my mom and I bought chocolate chip cookies from Costco and sold them throughout the day. Yes, for 4 years, not only did I carry my saxophone, lacrosse stick, and swim bag, but also a ridiculously large bag of cookies to help fund my trips. This was the first moment I realized that itemizing what needs to be earned monthly to earn xx trip will help you plan. I had 3 months to make on average $750. So that’s $250 a month, $62 a week, and $12 a day ($62/5 days we’re in school). So if cookies were sold for $3 each, I just had to sell $4 a day. I became KNOWN as the “cookie girl”. I walked around the cafeteria selling cookies throughout the day and soon couch people who forgot their lunch salivating at the box of desirable, tasty cookies, would cave in and cha-ching! My sweet 16 present was a trip from my grandma to England/Scotland and this was the trip that ignited my travel bug. This showed me that there’s so much more out there to see in the world and gave me a sense of purpose in how I envisioned my life. The wheels were turning.
My mom signing me up for swimming in the 3rd grade, was one of the best decisions she could have made. She just wanted us to learn since she didn’t know at the time, but learning to swim and swim well allowed me to work as a lifeguard. For seven years I made more money than I could imagine. More than anyone my age was making and I was on cloud 9. My first summer I earned about $5k and one summer I earned $10k just tanning, watching the water & saving lives! If you do the math from this alone, that’s around $58k.
My first year’s paycheck, I did what everyone did and waited until my senior year of high school to pay for my own trip to Italy with my high school. The life I had envisioned for myself is becoming a reality and what a cool way to express gratitude for this life than to appreciate and learn other cultures. My dad, the backbone of the family, set me up with a ROTH IRA account in which $100-$200 was automatically invested a month. The investments compounded monthly and it was money I wasn’t paying attention to. He also set me up with a credit card to build my credit. With a credit of over 6 years, that helps boost my score which is what you need to purchase a house, car, etc!
It also helped that I went to SUNY New Paltz. Not only is it a state school and one of the best in the country, but the cost of living there was nothing compared to NYC living. Drinks were $2, food less than $10. It was a financially responsible individuals haven for building their future! All throughout college I hustled really hard and landed an internship with the T.Howard Foundation (which promotes diversity in the media industry) at Hearst Magazines. I was a top networker and spent all my time having coffee chats with fellow Hearst employees and doing my work in the after hours. It wasn’t long before I graduated Summa Cum Laude a semester early, started my Master’s in my schools’ 4+1 program & accepted the first role I ever applied to. My journey couldn’t have been more seamless and I knew my career at Hearst was bright. I was earning $66k a year and moved my way up to $75k in 2 years. When I was still living at home, I put 33% of my paycheck in a 401k account and just like investing in the ROTH IRA, it was money that I wasn’t even thinking about so I made my budgets accordingly and changed my mindset. Living with a roommate was not the best decision upon reflection. I realized that $13k a year just to live 40min away from where I grew up was a great learning experience, but in the long run- things could have been done differently. That’s what happens when you want to help a roommate and simultaneously stop living with your parents. Paying on the lower end of $1100 a month was daunting and really got to me in October of my first year. I was looking at housing options to win the housing lottery and have a little break to get myself back on my feet. The best option for me as to consider investing in a home of my own. This was I could pay my own mortgage, build equity & become financially free. I picked up a side hustle as a social media manager for various local businesses which helped me cover rent expenses and save for the daunting closing costs and unbearable fees that come with homeownership.
Just recently, I accepted a new position with a title bump & pay increase to Senior Manager at a new job and couldn’t be more excited for what this year has in store for me. I know my story was lengthy, but I feel like it was worthwhile so you know where I am coming from when giving you guys advice. With already 2 trips booked, I am looking forward to growing and helping you guys build your dream life!
How does this work? I will focus on one theme per month to help you change your mindset, build equity & travel the world for free. I just need an hour of your time once a month sound good? That all starts with goal setting. Take some time to think about 3-5 of your goals for the entire year. Bonus points for writing them down. Research has shown that you are 46% more likely to achieve your goals if they are written down. Really think about where you see yourself in the future and focus on goals that are SMART, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant & Timely.
- Saying you want to be a millionaire is relevant and specific, but is it achievable? Not likely.
- Some goals could be…
- Build a savings account by 30% more than last year
- Start a side hustle that covers my rent
- Cut spending by 10%
- Cancel 50% subscriptions
There You Have It
As always, this advice worked for me but as you can imagine, there are tons of ways to become financially free so I recommend doing your research. If you have time, I’d also start reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad which will change your outlook on the financial game. We middle-class goers are in the rat race, but once you break free- the sky is truly the limit! Lastly, continue listening to these series to help you achieve your dream life & ask any questions you may have! That’s all for now and stay tuned for more episodes! Be sure to subscribe, follow me on my socials & check out my blog for all things travel!
what do you think?