FIXED MONTHLY PAYMENTS (begining of 2015)

We thought we would start the first post of spending habits spelling out our current expenses. Like we said earlier, we don't have rents or regular grocery bills to pay, but here's what we do pay.

TAYLER

6 Months grace period of loans ended for me this month. So, including my private loan I get to pay a healthy $450 in loans a month. I'm planning on calling to switch my payment plan, that's just too much.

I pay my portion of my family's phone bill of $45/month 

And then my monthly trimet pass of $100/month which is my main and only source of transportation.

Oh, and every four months I spend $60 on birth control. That makes it $15/month. 

That comes out to a fat $610/month - not including- normal adult payments like, rent, utilities, car, or insurance of any kind.

That leaves $700 left out of my monthly paycheck, which goes to show you how little a recent grad makes in a professional full time job these days.

Side hustle

It's always been a big part of me and what I do. Always having something of my own going on at all times. Throughout college, the entire four years I was a full time student, worked 20-25 hours a week in either one or two jobs depending on the year, participated in campus activities and I have my blog of which I treat like a job.

Because of this, I earn a tiny bit of cash here and there. Most recently this month got another $100 check from google AdSense from my blog (and a super old embarrassing YouTube DIY video). You know where that's going? Straight into my savings account. This is the sweet spot that I want to increase profits— Chandra and I both.

Secondly, I finally got my reward for winning an award for my collection at my senior fashion show which ended up being a $100 MasterCard. And you know where that's going? Straight into purchasing myself a bed when I'm able to move out. This was just surprise cash I thought I'd mention because to me, $100 is a lot of money.

CHANDRA

Writing this post is hard for me because I currently feel like a loser. I finished an UNPAID internship on December 18th and have been applying to jobs like crazy since then. While I have gone on many interviews and I feel like most of them went well, I have still not confirmed a job outside of one freelancing gig.

I am in interesting position where I live with my boyfriend and his family. This family consists of his mother and an 8 year old boy. An 8 year old boy. So I currently don't pay rent. $0

My bank account at any given time fluctuates between $30 - $70, given to me by my parents back in Oregon every other week or so. This kills my ego and gives me a lot of guilt being a 22 year old who is still receiving money from her parents. Also, my boyfriend who does work pays for most of our activities, meals, grocery shopping and sometimes my metro card. Again, I didn't go to college for 4 years to have a man support me.

My biggest expense is getting around this city. Each ride on the subway is $2.50. So its at least $5.00 to walk out of the apartment for every job interview. I have also done a terrible job of keeping track of how much I spend on transportation each week. Ideally I would have an unlimited metro card which is $112/ month.

I also have a student line of credit through my credit union back in Oregon that I have been pretty negligent about. I had it completely paid off upon arriving in New York but, I quickly hated not paying for my own things and dug back into debt again. I owe a  >$500 and I just made a $25 minimum payment to avoid being turned over to collections. 

I worked a freelancing sales assistant job for Lanvin the 10th-16th so I am awaiting to be paid for this job still.

I'm having a rather hard time creating an accurate budget at the moment since my expenses aren't many and I am technically unemployed. Which kills me on so many levels.

And that's that. Thy struggles as 22 year old recent grads as of February 2015. 

Love, C/\T

INTRODUCTION TO CAT PERSPECTIVES

Welcome to CAT Perspectives! 

Written by, Chandra and Tayler. Learn about each of us in the about tab above. We're longtime non-romantic soul mates and are bursting with new ideas and projects by the minute. This year in 2015, we've decided to join forces on a new concept. 

A money concept. 

The theory: Only purchase things in your life that will make you richer— in every definition of the word. 

rich

adjective\ˈrich\

: having high value or quality

: highly productive or remunerative
: meaningful; significant
: very expensive and beautiful, impressive, etc.
: having or supplying a large amount of something that is wanted or needed

It's as simple as that. The most important of them all the 2nd and 3rd in the definition. Although are both materialistic people, we value the ability to be financially stable. This is a new way to tame our itch to spend our money on new fancy things. With that being said, we are also in our early 20's, recently graduated from college and totally broke just like the vast majority of people our age. 

So, we are implementing this concept into every single thing that we buy. But understanding underlying concepts for this is essential. 

If you want to be rich, you will only collect things that will make you rich. 
If you feel rich, you are rich. 

Look at each and every thing you buy and think about these three things: 
1. Will it help you earn money? 
2. Will it waste your money? 
3. Will it help save your money in the future? 

Common categories people spend on: food, clothing/beauty/technology/home and transportation. 

For us, our only fixed payment is to our school loans. Everything else is up in the air. Neither of us have our own place yet, we don't always buy our own food because we live with family, so we are starting out the year in a place where all of our new money habits can be redefined and changed within a year of transition. With goals of each getting a new place, getting better paying jobs and being the healthiest and happiest we can be. That's what everyone wants, right? 

Oh, and one another thing— we each live in two of the most popular cities in the United States. Chandra lives in Brooklyn, New York; Tayler lives in Portland, Oregon. 

This is a documentation on our adventures, successes and struggles on our road to wealth and everything in-between.

Love, C/\T