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My Journey to Financial Empowerment!

Welcome to my blog!

Ya girl been on this serious "BOUT MY MONEY" kick this last couple of months. Main reason I been ghost. (also hired myself a personal trainer...and she been kicking my azz....lol) This blog is to track my crusade to financial empowerment.

First let me give you a little insight to how ya girl's mind works. My zodiac sign is the oh so divine Capricorn and this is what the zodiac sign reveals about my money management:

Money management is just one of your many strengths, Capricorn. The secret to your financial success is your ability to find necessities at bargain rates. You can then put your extra money into savings accounts and investment portfolios. Waiting for interest to accumulate is no problem for you -- actually, you enjoy the process. Just resist the temptation to confuse your financial wealth with your personal value -- the two are totally unrelated.

How on POINT was this ('cept for the last sentence)!?!?!? Some who really know me would say EXTREMELY. You know I be bout my bargains. Now bout confusing personal value with how much money you have...........NEVA DAT! I do think that relieving yourself of financial debt makes life so much easier and more enjoyable. But the amount of money you have doesn't make you who you are. I will always be the same ol' Rosie even when I become a millionaire. LOL You know how?!!! I plan on giving as much as I can to my people and my community. Nothin makes me happier then seeing black folks succeeding and conquering.

Now back to financial empowerment. I have set some goals for myself. They are listed below:

  1. Pay off credit card debt by 12/31/2007.
  2. Increase my net worth to $50,000 by 04/01/2008. (I think it will be way above that since I will be purchasing a home by then. But gotta start somewhere.)
  3. Buy first home by March 2008.
  4. Get debt-to-income ratio down to under 40%. (currently at 53%)
  5. Have a credit score of 750 or higher by August 2007.
  6. At least $500/month of extra income by April. (bonuses from work, side jobs)
  7. Have $3000 saved in my Emergency Cash Fund.
  8. Have $4000 saved up in First Home fund.

Crazy huh!!! These goals are based on a meticulous analysis of my current financial situation with very lil assumptions (i.e. the extra income i plan on bringing in and no emergencies to seriously impact my money). And YES I will still have a LIFE while accomplishing all I listed. You bets believe I incorporated that into my analysis. I just realized something: I think being a Financial Advisor is my calling. I love me some numbers. I love managing numbers. I need to see if the plan I have set for myself works. If it does that will be proof enough for me that I am GOOD at this! Then I can get to working on making Lejiste, Inc. legit. WHAT!!!!!!!

Anyways thats what I have been about these last couple of months. Hit me up if you wanna know more details (naw i aint gonna tell yall my exact numbers). And feel free to get on da Financial Empowerment train. One more thing: I am very realistic. I know I will only reach my goals with persistance, determination, and GOD!!!

I listed some websites that have helped me and will continue to help me throughtout this journey:

  • www.elance.com (freelance work varying from proofreading documents to doing creating webpages)
  • www.singlemomandmoney.blogspot.com (homegirl got her ish right)
  • http://home.ingdirect.com/index.html (these folks offer a 4.50% APY on saving accts and 4% on ya checking.....yeah man! you can earn money on a CHECKING acct)
  • www.hsbcdirect.com/ (they offer 6% APY on savings)
  • www.thebeehive.org (all sorts of tools, from budgeting to creating resumes)
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