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I finally figured out why my savings account never grew after 7 years of freelancing
Turns out I was treating my bank account like a checking account and just spending whatever was left after bills each month. What finally tipped me off was when my accountant asked why I had $12,000 in business expenses on a credit card but only $300 in savings after a great year. Anyone else make it years before realizing you need to pay yourself first?
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the_hayden1mo ago
Took me 3 years to realize I was paying my credit card minimums while my savings sat empty. Felt real dumb when I finally did the math.
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shane1701mo ago
Is it really that big of a deal though? Putting money in savings while you have credit card debt just means you're losing money on interest every month. Sounds like you got a free lesson in how compound interest works, which is probably worth more than the couple hundred bucks you missed out on.
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perry.jesse1mo ago
Nobody's talking about how the tax stuff works with this. If you've got a good year and don't set aside money for taxes, the IRS will come after you hard. That $12,000 in business expenses might mean you owe more than you think. I learned that lesson the hard way when I had to pull from savings to pay a surprise tax bill, only I didn't have any savings left.
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