1-Year Anniversary of MyFIDiary (How Far I’ve Come in the Past Year)

Hello! If you’re new to my blog, welcome. If you’ve been here before, thanks so much for reading my blog! I’ve just hit my one year anniversary a few weeks ago of starting MyFIDiary and one year has made SUCH a big difference.

One year ago, I had over $9,000 of high interest credit card debt.

One year ago, I didn’t have an emergency fund of over $2,000.

One year ago, I wasn’t investing in ANY retirement accounts. Nothing at all!

Just typing all of that is a shock to me. I have been an avid follower of the digital nomad, online business, and the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) communities for the past three years. In the past year, I have been following influencers such as A Purple Life, Retireby40, and Our Rich Journey . They made me feel like it was even POSSIBLE to pay down debt, invest heavily into stocks/bonds/real estate, and decide to stop working when the interest from your investments can cover your daily expenses.

Perhaps the one podcast that turned the switch on for me in my head was Choose FI’s podcast, episode 169 with A Purple Life, titled Early Retiree Case Study. It came out on March 2, 2020, and I was listening to it on my way home from my office in San Francisco, riding on the BART train, and I listened soo intently.

Purple, who was interviewed, blogs about her journey to early retirement (which she achieved in 2020) and is anonymous, which allows her to be transparent about all of her details so that she can help inspire others with concrete details. She was just one year older than me at the time, and she was almost retired! On top of that, she is a Black woman in the US, just like me. I can’t explain how powerful it was to hear her story and feel like “I can do this.”

Ever since then, I’m determined to take control of my financial life in order to build the life of freedom that I want to create for myself. Even when I reach my early retirement number (which I still recalculate ever few weeks), I may choose to still work. I may travel full time. I may start a non profit. But I will have the freedom to choose the path that I want to take.

I may not have enough money saved and invested to cover my daily expenses without actively working until I am 40, 45, or 50. The age doesn’t matter for me. The fact that I am conscious about where my money goes and feel empowered and confident to talk about money helps me make decisions that are best for me and my family. I am determined to live a happy and fulfilling life on my journey to financial dependence.

One year later, I pay off my total statement balance on one credit card every month.

One year later, I have an emergency fund of $20,000.

One year later, I have $23,000 invested in stocks and bonds in my Roth IRA and my Personal Investment Account.

One year has made such a profound difference in my life, and I can’t look forward to year 2,3,4,10, and beyond!