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Meet Katie
Week 3Age: 28
Occupation: Executive assistant (and part-time fitness instructor)
Location: Boston, MA
Salary: $72,000
Why she needs a makeover:
Not having a foundation in managing her finances has made it hard for Katie, who has supported herself from a young age. She has personal loans ($19,000), credit card debt ($6,000), a car loan ($16,500) and student loans ($13,000) to pay off.
What She Said
“I want to control my money and not have my money control me.”
Katie has her sights set light years ahead of where she is right now. “I’ve accumulated debt with college loans and the non-CEO salary I was making after college,” she says. “I work full-time, teach fitness and volunteer part-time for Big Sister Little Sister. I want to set an example not only for my Little Sister, but also for myself and, hopefully someday, my children.”
Not having a foundation in managing her finances has made it hard for Katie, who has supported herself from a young age. She has personal loans, credit card debt, car loans and student loans to pay off. She also needs to save up an emergency fund.
But she has a good salary and dreams of opening her own fitness business someday: “I want to save for my particular goals—not try to ‘survive’ for the next ten years,” she says. “I want to control my money and not have my money control me.”Her Outlook
“I want to set an example not only for my Little Sister, but also for myself.”
- Katie has $19,000 in personal loans, $6,000 in credit card debt, a $16,500 car loan and $13,000 in student loans.
- Much of Katie's debt was racked up helping to support her family financially right after college.
- Right now, she doesn't have much in the way of savings and needs to concentrate on building up her emergency fund.
In Five Years ...
“I want to be able to open up my own fitness business.”
Katie says: I’m nervous the makeover is coming to an end! But I’m excited about the newfound confidence Stephany has instilled in me, and the resources she’s shared with me throughout the homeworks cater to the areas where I need improvement. They’ve been right on the money (no pun intended).
I was able to move from my spreadsheet to using the LearnVest budgeting tool, which gives me a better understanding. (I love the color-coded folders and breaking my discretionary spending by day and/or week.) Overall, I’m left with some great takeaways!Our Expert
Stephany
Planning Experience: 9 Years
Kirkpatrick,
CFP®
Best Financial Decision: Setting up retirement savings in my early twenties - time really is money!
Financial Motto: Save big now, spend big later.- Now you’re more informed on the costs of opening your own studio, you’ve been inspired to make this a 2-3 year goal instead of 5-year. Awesome! Start writing a business plan and thinking about what your cash flow will look like.
- Use these next two years to pay off all additional debt—stay dedicated to your personal and car loans by putting 50% of all money gifts (like Christmas or birthday) toward those debts, and 50% toward your studio savings.
- Network! Check out the Center for Women & Enterprise as well as other women’s organizations to gain advice.