The Halfway Mark

6 months down, 6 more to go!

If you came up to me on the street a year ago, with tears in your eyes, and told me that in 2024 I’d be saving half my income, I would have said that you’re nuts! Then I’d start speed-walking away, because that’s a weird thing to say to a stranger. 

In all seriousness, I would not have thought saving 50% of my income was possible a year ago. And yet…here I am. This whole challenge has flipped my world upside down. The changes have been plenty, and so have the lessons and learnings. However, through this wild “upside down” ride, what has become exceedingly clear to me is that us kooky humans can do a lot more than we think we can. 

Gyms And Bros

As you can imagine my goal raises a few eyebrows. This being the case, I tend not to shout from the rooftops (with or without a tin hat on) that I’m saving half of my income in efforts to reset my finances. Nay nay, I keep that information squarely where people likely won’t find out about it, the internet.

However, last week, I was feeling a little adventurous rolling into my gym on my bike. A few dudes at my Calisthenics gym were eyeing up my sweet ride and started asking me questions about it. They oooed and awwed when I told them the tale of my brother’s friend helping to source the bike for me at a discount. With an engaged audience, I dared to share a little more. The reason for the bike was because I was electing to cut costs to reach my goal of saving 50% of my income. 

Then, pandemonium. The dudes lost…their…MINDS!

Immediately all the men started saying things like “How is that possible?” “I couldn’t do that!” “I spend 150% of my salary, there’s no way that’s doable!” (That comment concerned me, yeesh!) “That can’t be done.” “How could that work? Do you know how expensive dining out is?” On and on they went, for a good five minutes.

Oddly enough, the women in the class were silent. I sat there with the other women mostly listening, trying to interject “well, I mean there are ways…” only to be spoken over with disbelief. (At this point, I checked in with 150% comment dude. Turns out he doesn’t spend that much, his point was that things are expensive. Yes they are 150% dude, yes they are.)

I found it odd that the guys (whom I love, to be clear, they’re a lovely bunch) were vocalizing their disbelief, pure shock, and bias towards my actions when the case example was staring them in the face. If it can’t be done, how am I doing it? How am I sitting here with you in the same class that we all pay the same amount to attend?

Riddle me that batman?!

Where Things Are At

It was fun to quietly observe my fellow gym member’s minds being blown that day. It was doubly fun to observe them as I knew I'd actually surpassed my goal. Yeah, that’s right, you read that correctly. How could that be, you ask?

Without further ado, let’s dive into it - how much have I actually saved this year?

Here is a monthly breakdown of my savings in percentages of my total income:

• January - I saved 56% of my income

• February - I saved 58.7% of my income

• March - I saved 74.6% of my income (I received a nice, big tax return from papa government)

• April - I saved 37.1% of my income (like Icurus, I flew too close to the sun this month)

• May - I saved 52.8% of my income

• June - I saved 62.5% of my income

Adding these up, so far this year I’ve been able to save 56.95% of my income.

Me, shookith.

Tallying everything up, I rechecked the data, and then checked it again. Numbers aren’t my thing (as discussed), so I poured over the data for a while. Tabulating the numbers a few different ways it finally hit me, the numbers were accurate, that is my total savings rate - 56.95%. My target was 50%, I’m 6.95% above my target.

Honestly, it feels a bit surreal. Sure, there have been lots of sacrifices, creative problem solving, and different ways of doing things, but being ahead of where I thought I would be, I’m shookith. 

Not to get tooooo ahead of myself here. There are many more months to go, and a lot of life left to live this year (and you know life has a way of kicking you in the teeth when you least suspect it). But I have to say that I am so dang proud of myself. Heck yes! Woooooooo!!!

Truth be told, I’ve been reluctant to keep a running tally of my savings rate because I didn’t think I’d hit my goal. With the truth of the data staring me in the face, I started reflecting a lot on what’s possible and what’s impossible.

You Can Do A Lot

Thinking about the last 6 months blows my pooping mind. I honestly didn’t know that I had the discipline in me. Sure, I’ve done nutz-o things and pushed myself in different facets of my life. But getting my finances in order? I always thought I needed someone to do it for me, I thought I needed a guru, an accountant, or my older brother telling me what to do. Turns out, you don’t need any of that (sorry bro-bear). Turns out you just need the motivation and some delicious, tasty eyes and some smelly, sloppy ears to ingest information and learn. 

With incremental progress, I’m realizing that I can achieve and do a lot…like a lot a lot, like so much! It makes me wonder what other goals I could reach. If I’m achieving something today I would have thought impossible just a year ago, what could I do a year from now that I think is impossible today? 

Dream Big

I’m here to tell you that it’s never too late to experiment or try something new, pursue a passion or attempt a change. Sure, there’s struggle and I-don’t-know-what-the-f*ck-I’m-doing vibes from time to time, but there’s also so much gained when you move towards achieving a goal, especially when it’s hard won. There is a confidence that builds within you, a confidence in knowing that you know you can weather different storms. Which is pretty dang awesome.

After this whole experiment is over, I don’t know what I’ll do next, but I’m proving to myself that with a clear goal and by remaining consistent, a lot can happen in six months. And I can’t wait to see what will happen by the end of this year, how my life will expand and grow.

We only get one shot at this so dream big!

And remember that you’ve got this!

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Over the past many weeks of creating content and templates, I realize that to help sustain this passion project I would be grateful for your support!

For those with a dollar to spare, I’ve set up a Buy Me A Coffee account for folks to contribute to here and there. For those frugally focused, I would be incredibly grateful if you were to share my work with your networks and folks you think would enjoy my journey (via email, social media, or homing pigeon).

A special thank you to those who contributed to my Buy Me A Coffee or shared a post! Your support means the world to me - truly.

Whether you're able to contribute or not, I’m so glad you’ve joined me on this journey!

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