From Debt To Dreams

Following the journey of a recent college graduate from debt to financial independence. www.fromdebttodreams.com Use the ask button if you have questions about college, student loans, personal finance, or whatever is on your mind!

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Early Retirement Tracker – October 2018

Early Retirement Tracker – October 2018

After seeing September’s net worth update, there isn’t too much progress to update you on when it comes to tracking early retirement. Numbers were essentially flat and they don’t look to be changing much this month either with the poor stock market performance. It could also be that I’m finally tracking in on my accurate retirement number at my current savings and net worth amount. If the decline…

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Net Worth Update – September 2018

Net Worth Update – September 2018

Welcome to Fall, even if it is increasingly just becoming an extension of Summer at this point. September was a decent month financially, spending was fairly average and I continue to save at the same pace. I had some larger credit card bills leftover from August, so there was a decrease in my checking account. There was also the fact that the market has been relatively flat to down this entire…

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Early Retirement Tracker – September 2018

Early Retirement Tracker – September 2018

Time for my newest update when it comes to tracking my early retirement, and things are looking good after the August net worth update. I actually expected more positive news when doing this, but it looks like things ended up remaining relatively flat compared to the net worth trend. I’m thinking this is probably just because of the increase in spending over the past few months, and it will…

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Net Worth Update – August 2018

Net Worth Update – August 2018

I am working on the climb towards $150,000 by the end of the year, and this month solidified my progress towards that goal. I was able to post gains pretty much across the board, and that was with a lot of travel expenses! I think the peak of my spending has already occurred as well, so it probably comes down to more of what the market is doing on whether or not I am able to hit my goal.With my…

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Early Retirement Tracker – August 2018

Early Retirement Tracker – August 2018

As opposed to last month when I went to do this analysis, I was super excited to see where things were going in August. I dropped my average expenses down in July, and my net worth was back on the way up and definitely trending in the right direction. The results from this report turned out to be true, with August estimates dropping across the board. Every single date is closer than it was last…

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Net Worth Update - July 2018

Net Worth Update – July 2018

After a June net worth summary that was less than desirable, I was able to come back in July with some good news and a positive trend change. My net worth is now back into the positive in a huge way this month. I know there are going to be down months eventually, especially if the market decides it isn’t going to cooperate, but it’s always nice to instantly reverse a negative trend as well. The…

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Early Retirement Tracker – July 2018

Early Retirement Tracker – July 2018

This is probably one of the posts I was least looking forward to doing, as I knew that after the poor results from my June net worth summary there wouldn’t be much to look forward to there. While I’m not constantly checking my portfolio, there is something addicting about seeing the numbers going up every month.  I have to realize that things aren’t always going to look that way, especially as my…

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Net Worth Update – June 2018

Net Worth Update – June 2018

June finally brought in Summer weather and sunny skies, but it didn’t do the same for my finances. This will actually be the first month that I report a decrease in net worth, or at least a substantial decrease. I did have a few months in a row from November to January that were extremely flat, but not quite like this. Although it makes the calculations and numbers not as fun, it’s only a blip on…

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Early Retirement Tracker – June 2018

Early Retirement Tracker – June 2018

Tracking my retirement number is just as exciting for me as tracking net worth, because they are so tied together. I love being able to watch my net worth go up, and seeing my target retirement date go down! Unfortunately that was not the case so much in June, as expenses caused the total amount needed for retirement to go up, cancelling out the net worth growth. When I first went to run the…

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Net Worth Update - May 2018

Net Worth Update – May 2018

May was another good month for me financially, keeping with the positive trends in most categories. Spending was up this month slightly, but that didn’t seem to affect my overall savings rate and I still posted a positive net worth gain. Most of the increases in spending were due to booking vacations for the Summer along with more general travel expenses. It seems like if I continue this pace, a…

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Early Retirement Tracker – May 2018

Early Retirement Tracker – May 2018

We’re finally making some progress again, this was welcome news when I went to calculate all of this in May. This was to be expected based on the net worth increase in April, but it’s always nice when the numbers are able to confirm it. The temporary lower expenses may have boosted my retirement estimation target the past few months, but now I know that my net worth will be the contributing…

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Net Worth Update – April 2018

Net Worth Update – April 2018

It’s been a long several months, seems like I’ve been in and out and visiting hospitals more than I’ve been at home. And while you may not have seen any actual blog post updates, I have been doing my best to keep track of all the numbers in the background with plans to release the posts with updates. April was a great month for me, receiving a bonus at work and boosting my net worth to the…

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Student Loans

Holy crap team. After working multiple jobs and paying extra money every month since I started college, a decade later I have actually paid off my student loans! I am so happy and so relieved that I’m on the brink of tears.

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Betsy DeVos Gets Hammered For Shielding Student Loan Servicers From State Regs

Rep. Rosa DeLauro attacked the secretary over her decision, and DeVos struggled to respond.

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Early Retirement Tracker – February 2018

Early Retirement Tracker – February 2018

I’m continuing the trend to track my progress into early retirement, even if I am a little late with this post this month! The numbers were all calculated ahead of time, I just had to find time to write the actual post. Net worth growth was slow in January so I felt like that would slow progress when it came to early retirement, but it seems like I’m still moving in the correct direction even…

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Net Worth Update – January 2018

Net Worth Update – January 2018

First month of 2018, and it wasn’t the greatest month for my net worth compared to the last few months of 2017. We also have the market going haywire so far this month, so I don’t think I’ll be seeing any impressive gains at the end of this month either. The important part is that I am continuing the same pace of savings, and that should help to boost my portfolio at the time. I’m still making…

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FINALLY PAID OFF MY PRIVATE STUDENT LOAN