Courtesy of Aaron
- Aaron, 27, makes about $60,000 a year as a marketer for a software company. He also spends about 10-15 hours a week on his side hustle blogging at Personal Finance for Beginners.
- He's working to make his side hustle his full-time job, but it's taking time - he's saving 20% of his income every month in an "opportunity fund" and also paying back $25,000 in student loans.
- For Business Insider's "Real Money" series, Aaron shares how spent and saved his money during a week in July.
- Want to share a week of your spending? Email yourmoney@businessinsider.com.
I've always been an entrepreneur.
When I was in elementary school, my best friend and I would knock on our neighbors' doors selling our homemade products: bookmarks (made from dried Elmer glue), magnets (laminated stickers with magnetic tape on the back), and books (short stories we wrote and stapled together).
I remember we drew up plans for the office building that would one day be home to "A&T, Incorporated" (based on our initials). While those floor plans haven't come to fruition (yet), those years as a child entrepreneur have stuck with me.
Since then, some of my entrepreneurial pursuits have included creating (and eventually selling) a professional basketball blog as a teenager, consulting small businesses on marketing, and helping to lead a student organization that helps provide funding for student entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs are dreamers and creators. It takes vision, that's for sure, but ideas aren't enough on their own. Entrepreneurs find a way to bring their ideas to life… Often with limited resources.
If you consider yourself an entrepreneur, you can most likely relate. Perhaps you feel like you have:
- plenty of time but no money
- plenty of money but no time
- plenty of ideas but neither time nor money
Personally, I've decided to keep my expenses low and dedicate my time toward my work.
I think I've found my "idea" for now: building a brand that teaches young adults the basics about money - how to get a higher credit score, what to do when you get a raise, how to find the right auto insurance, etc. I also work a full-time job doing marketing for a software company and earn about $60,000 a year.
Now my challenge is bringing my side hustle to life. Since I want to avoid business debt and keep my monthly business expenses, I get to practice what I preach: spending less than I earn, and being resourceful with what I have.