I graduated with $25k in student loans from a public state university. With a need-based scholarship covering 100% of tuition and fees. And a part-time job for living expenses. 😳

$25k wouldn’t be as so bad if my loans actually paid for my education. Instead,  it funded my lifestyle. I refused to live at home, even though my parents were nearby. I ate out all the time and had a healthy shopping habit. My girlfriends had a free reign with daddy’s credit card and I tried desperately to keep up.

After I graduated, I moved to the most expensive city in the country and then realized that I wasn’t making enough for living expenses and loan repayments.

So I did a couple of smart things. I moved back home with Mom and Dad and became your typical millennial boomerang kid. That summer, I forfeited every paycheck to the Department of Education. That was a little painful, but easier to do sans rent.

And soon after, I learned about the near-religious movement that is financial independence. The skies opened.

Over the course of 7 years, I slowly began to prioritize things that made me happy and stopped spending money on things that didn’t. It was a slow process, but now I have nightmares getting manicures, luxury handbags and beautiful cars.

Instead, what I want to buy is my freedom. My “F-You” fund lets me take a few months off work almost every year. My mental health is thankful.

Eventually, my fiance “FM” and I hope to build up our fund so much that we could take off from work indefinitely, if that made us happy. This blog documents parts of our journey. ❤

Throughout this journey, my love for personal finance grew and grew.

Budgeting, analyzing cash flow, and optimizing investments make me so happy. So I started helping my friends manage their money and found it to be the most rewarding job I’ve ever had!

My goal now is to help others learn money management, build their “F You” fund and really, live a life of their dreams. That’s the goal of having money anyway.