The beginning

Hi! I'm Lotto!

I want to start by saying, I know that everyone has a different personal finance story. This blog is me sharing mine. It is by no means me saying "You can do this too" or "I've got the answers." I have a lot of privilege, a supportive community, and a little luck. I don't want to waste the opportunities they've granted me.

Money has been on my mind these days, as has my ecological footprint. I know that as a consumer in America most of our cultural forces are contributing to my tastes, the things I think are needs, and how I budget my money. I also know that money and how we spend it is one of the most powerful tools any individual has for cultural change. I  know that things don't look so hot for us millennials in the future. We need some changes in our world and it's not going to be cheap to get them.

That's the selfless pitch. The selfish one is that I could be financially secure and I'm not. I would love to know that I could lose my job and be ok for a little while, I would like to be able to travel more freely (not very ecologically sound, I know!), and someday, I really would like a house. (I want to keep bees!)

So, I want to save money and I want to keep an eye out for how sustainably I'm living. I don't expect to get this perfect and I'll make some compromises, but I will pursue these goals to the best of my ability. To help me reach my personal finance goals and to help me be more thoughtful about how I'm spending money I'll be recording everything here.

Here's some facts:

I'm 25.

I have a Bachelor's degree.

I have 14,000 in student loans. My parents have given me the gift of taking over payments for the foreseeable future.

I make a little under 40,000 dollars a year.

I'm single

I share a rented house with a brother, sister in law, sister, and baby nephew. Rent is 475 a month, utilities are usually about 105 beyond that.

I own a 2000 Toyota Camry, it didn't cost much but it does require repairs.

My daily commute is via light rail, my job pays for a monthly pass.

I'm contributing 8 percent of my salary to a retirement account.

I have health insurance that requires me to pay copays and not much else.

I currently have 345 in checking a and 1160 in savings.

Here are some goals: 

Retire at 65 (none of this FIRE stuff for me, I like work)

Keep an emergency fund of 1000 dollars at all times (This has been surprisingly hard)

Save 5000 dollars a year beyond my retirement account so I have a downpayment in 12 years (housing in Oregon is expensive!)

Increase my contribution to my retirement account by 2 percent a year.

Contribute to causes I care about

Move more of my buying to fair trade and renewable resources

Spend more money at my local farmers market

Cook with less meat

Sell some of my stuff

Spend more time hosting friends at home or doing free activities

Spend more time doing hobbies that are free, I already have the things for, or are part of my goals to live more sustainably.

How do I pull this off?

I say this because I've mostly failed at the above goals in the past. I told myself after saving 1000 dollars at the beginning of the year that I would immediately start trying to save 5000 a year. But it's the end of July and after paying for travel home, spending some money at a fundraiser for a cause I care about, and paying rent I'll be back well under 1000 dollars. 

I'm going to push hard to make this up and save 5000 dollars by January 1st. 

I'll figure out the details of how to make this happen soon. I think it will involve restricting my spending a great deal and probably some garage sales. I'll also post about progress I make towards my many other goals. 

Thanks for joining me!