Member-only story
with the help of a Pandemic
First and foremost, I make about $74,000 a year BEFORE taxes as a “beginner” nurse. I’m not going to act as if I’m not making decent amount of money so I’m probably better off than most with what I have to work with but that doesn’t take away from the hard work I put into saving. That’s me being completely transparent with my finances because there are individuals working way harder than me with a lower salary whom I applaud. My initial plan was to see how much money I could save without wasting it on food but that slowly morphed into planning on purchasing a home — some day I hope — the way the housing market is looking right now that someday keeps getting further and further.
Growing up, my parents weren’t poor poor but we weren’t wealthy. They were two shifts away from qualifying as middle class and that was with numerous jobs. One thing about West Indian parents is they will work however many hours to make the money needed to support their family — hustle is part of our DNA. My mom instilled in me the act of being cheap at a very young age but I now label it as smart spending *wink wink*. She would buy us clothes that were slightly oversized to avoid purchasing new clothes every growth spurt. I dreaded going anywhere that involved wearing clothes but this instilled in me the value of buying what I need vs what I want. This…
