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Forget old-school budgeting.
- The Money Wizard, who goes by "Sean," is a 28-year-old blogger and financial analyst saving and investing his way toward early retirement.
- Sean grew his net worth by more than $100,000 in two years, and he tracked the progress on his blog.
- He says he's learned a few shocking lessons about money so far, like the fact that real wealth comes from learning how to save (without a budget), and then investing that money into wealth-building assets.
They say you learn something about yourself when you keep a journal.
If that's true, then I think just graduated to a PhD in Me Studies. Because for the past two years, I've kept a very detailed (and very public) online diary.
It's a unique type of diary though. In it, you won't find any juicy gossip about high school crushes or family drama. Instead, you'll find a topic that might be even more juicy: raw, unfiltered talk about every detail of my personal finances.
You see, for the past two years I've publicly posted all the deets behind every penny I saved and every dollar I spent. And then, every month, I take an (often uncomfortable) look at the impact those decisions had on my net worth.
The end goal? Total financial independence in my 30s. So far, I'm $242,000 of the way there.
Each month of the journal tells a story.
- November 2016: A $6,000 plunge to my net worth. Apparently, buying a new car isn't the best move for your wallet.
- April 2017: A $3,500 boost to my savings, mostly thanks to a long-awaited promotion.
- November 2017: A wild stock market rally, and a $9,000 (!) increase in my wealth.
- April 2018: Buried in the depths of a kitchen remodel, with the $6,000 credit card bill to prove it.
And while it sure is fun to look back on those monthly breakdowns, when I zoom out from the details, some larger lessons enter focus. The whole experiment has left me with four shocking revelations I'd have never expected: