Financial Reflections of a Young Millennial Entrepreneur

Monica Church embraces her financial privileges while recognizing the need for better budgeting.

### Embracing Financial Freedom and Responsibility: A Personal Journey
* 💬 "Sure, I was a bit jealous for a little while, but honestly, I have **everything in life that I could possibly want**."
* 🏡 Living in both Seattle and Palm Springs, I acknowledge my privilege at 28 years old, with a mortgage of **$5,000 a month**, split with a partner.
* 💸 I also own an Airbnb property in Palm Springs, which costs me around **$500 monthly**, but it doesn't quite **break even**.
* 🚐 In 2020, I bought a vintage Airstream trailer for renovation, investing **$75,000** of the **$110,000 total cost**, hoping to **recoup expenses through rentals**.
* 🐶 My two dogs cost me about **$150 to $200 a month**, with grooming being my biggest expense at around **$125**.
* 📈 My pre-tax income averages **$40,000 a month**, but my expenses, primarily my mortgage of **$3,800**, are around **$8,000 monthly**.
* 📝 Despite earning a significant income, I admit feeling **anxious about my finances** and recognize the need for a budget, as I’ve **never had one**.
* 🍷 My guilty pleasures include a wine collection and golf, both of which add to my expenses, but I strive to remain **grounded and grateful for what I have**.

I'm a little bit embarrassed by my finances. Sometimes I feel like I don't have it all under control. This will be my fourth year of averaging five hundred thousand dollars a year. I've never had a budget, and every time I log into my bank account, I feel anxious. I know that's something I need to do a little bit better of a job at. I'm Monica Church, and you're watching Millennial Money. [Music] Thank you. I have three streams of income: my YouTube channel, my real estate agent business, and a new endeavor for me, which is coaching. I average about 250,000 dollars a year on YouTube now, and about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars as a real estate agent. The median price point I work with is right around eight hundred thousand dollars, but I'll really help anyone at any price point. My typical commission check could be anywhere from ten thousand dollars if I'm splitting it with another agent, up to my highest commission check, which was thirty-six thousand dollars. I just started coaching, and my

first month. I made ten thousand dollars. My time probably would be better spent just focusing in on one career, but I am passionate about many things, and I really like having the multiple streams of income. On average, my pre-tax income is forty thousand dollars a month. After taxes, it's closer to twenty-nine thousand dollars a month. My expenses are at least around eight thousand dollars a month. My biggest expense is my mortgage. My mortgage is thirty-eight hundred dollars a month, but I've never actually paid that full thirty-eight hundred dollars. When I first moved in, I actually had roommates in two bedrooms. So, one paid eleven fifty a month, and one paid one thousand a month, and I paid the difference. Now, I live here with my boyfriend. He pays me fifteen hundred dollars in rent, and I pay the twenty-three hundred dollars in difference. The average rule for how much you should spend on rent or a mortgage is 30% of your income. I don't spend anywhere near that. That is changing, though, because I am in contract on a house with my

boyfriend in Palm Springs, California. The mortgage on that home is going to be sixty-one hundred dollars a month in total. I'm going to have close to ten thousand dollars in mortgages. It will be split with one other person, so I will be accounting for five thousand dollars a month in mortgages. [Music] I'm going to live in Seattle for six months of the year, in California for six months of the year. I know so many people work all of their lives to be able to do this whole Snowbird thing, live wherever they want, and I realize how privileged and fortunate that I am to do this at 28 years old. I pinch myself every day, and it's not something that I take for granted. I do also own a home in Palm Springs with my sister, Shelby. It's an Airbnb, and we use it as an investment property. It doesn't quite break even, and on average, I pay 500 a month for it. I don't really spend that much money on clothes and makeup once a quarter.

basically, the change of seasons all feel the need to get some new clothes to refresh my wardrobe, and I'll spend on average fifteen hundred dollars on this shopping trip. This is pretty much all I wear, is a mix of this pant with this style of shirts. I like to think I'm pretty low maintenance with self-care. This accounts for makeup, hair styling products, getting my hair done, which I do about twice a year. I used to get my eyelashes done, but I gave that up a couple of years ago. I don't get my nails done, and my eyebrows I get threaded for twelve dollars about every two months, and that's pretty much it. Foreign [Music] is 13 a month. It is a catastrophic plan, so if something horrible happened to me, I would have to pay sixteen thousand dollars out of pocket, and then the rest would be covered. I do have enough money in an emergency fund where if something did happen, I would be okay, and it wouldn't be a huge hit to my finances. Between me and my boyfriend, we have

three dogs, but I'm financially responsible for two of them. People are so quick to get a pet but not really think about how much that's gonna cost them. My dogs cost me on average probably about 150 to 200 a month. The biggest expense is their grooming. This costs on average 125 dollars. Other expenses with my dog would include treats, some toys, and food. You should always also have an emergency fund for your pet. I'm pretty sure every pet that I've grown up with, there's always been some expensive vet trip. [Music] I spend about 150 a month on subscriptions. My main subscriptions are actually business expenses. Storyblocks.com is probably my most expensive subscription. This is 70 a month, and it is stock footage. Even just one clip a month that saves me time is worth it to pay the 70 a month. I really try to not do paid subscription models because sometimes I do them and I forget about them. I absolutely hate them. Unfortunately, I went through my finances recently and found I was paying five

thousand dollars a year in subscriptions, and a lot of them were things that I didn't know about and forgot about. It's so hard to track these all down. That what I did was I actually called and I reported my credit card as lost so that all of the subscriptions would cancel, and I would have a clean slate because it was honestly just so overwhelming to figure out. I'm a little bit embarrassed by my finances sometimes. I feel like I don't have it all under control. I've never had a budget, and every time I log into my bank account, I feel anxious. I know that's something I need to do a little bit better of a job at. On average, I spend probably thirteen hundred dollars a month on food. I think me and my boyfriend go out once a week for a nice meal. I will split a bottle of wine. We'll get appetizers, you know, we'll do the whole thing, and the bill comes out to be like 200 every time. [Music] It's not that I don't like to cook, but I

just don't like the time that it takes to cook. [Music] My guilty pleasure spending habit is on my small collection of wine. I have wine subscriptions to some wineries where the bottles cost on average fifty dollars. I don't drink that every day, but I do have a collection of my nice wines. Yes, I can absolutely taste the difference between a good bottle and a bad bottle. My favorite hobby would be golf. If you like to golf, it deserves its own category in your budget because golfing is expensive. This adds up really quickly. One round of golf can easily cost you a hundred dollars. I really don't golf much when I'm in Seattle, but when I'm in the desert, I like to golf at least once or twice a week. Two years ago, I bought my dream car. It is a Porsche Macan GTS. It has red leather seats. It cost me seventy thousand dollars. I put twenty-five thousand dollars down on it, so I have a monthly payment of 655 on that car, and

insurance is 159. I've loved having that car, but I'm actually going to sell it soon because I have an Airstream trailer, and I need to buy something that can pull it. In 2020, I bought a vintage Airstream trailer that me and my dad started renovating. I'm now having it professionally renovated in Texas. The renovation is going to cost about 110,000, of which I've paid in 75,000. This isn't my smartest purchase in the world, and it definitely is kind of a money pit, but I am really excited for it, and I do think I can recoup some of the costs of this trailer. To make all my money back from the renovation, I would have to rent it out 150 times. I make a lot of money, but I do spend a lot of money. The most expensive thing I bought recently that I don't think was worth it was a Sleep Number Mattress. It was six thousand dollars, and I tried it out and didn't

like it, so I actually ended up returning it. One expensive thing that I did buy recently that was completely worth it was my first-class flight from Atlanta to Cape Town. That was six thousand dollars, and it was so well worth it. A smaller purchase that I don't find to be worth it is Amazon Prime. I know everyone loves it, but I don't really like ordering things online. A little purchase that was really worth it to me was my daily planner. I do a lot of things in a day, and my mind is going a mile a minute. This planner starts every day asking me what I'm grateful for. That has been so grounding for me because I definitely do think I used to get caught up in wanting more and more and more financially. You could make a million dollars, and okay, the next year you want to make two million dollars. Nothing's ever gonna feel enough. A lot of people know I have a twin sister, Shelby, that makes YouTube videos, and you might have seen she last year made double what I made. A question

that I get asked a lot is, am I jealous of her? Sure, I was a bit jealous for a little while, but honestly, I have everything in life that I could possibly want. It's kind of hard to be jealous when I am so fortunate myself. [Music] Thank you.

Living On 500k-A-Year At Age 28, In Seattle | Millennial Money

Monica Church

Monica Church has a diverse income, averaging $40,000 a month pre-tax, with multiple streams from YouTube, real estate, and coaching.

Her biggest expense is her mortgage, but she has managed to reduce it by having roommates and now living with her boyfriend.

Despite her financial success, Monica struggles with budgeting and feels anxious about her finances, but she is working on improving her financial management.

Refreshing My Wardrobe and Self-Care Routine

I spend an average of $1,500 on new clothes each season and have a low-maintenance self-care routine, with minimal expenses for makeup and hair.

My health insurance plan is $13 a month, with a $16,000 out-of-pocket maximum, but I have an emergency fund to cover unexpected expenses.

A recent first-class flight to Cape Town for $6,000 was worth it, while Amazon Prime and my twin sister's YouTube success have been less impactful for me.

Personal Spending Habits and Financial Struggles

The speaker has a small collection of wine with subscriptions costing around $50 per bottle and enjoys golfing, which adds up to $100 per round.

They bought a Porsche Macan GTS for $70,000, leading to a monthly payment of $655, and struggled with tracking subscriptions, ultimately reporting their credit card as lost to cancel them.

The speaker feels overwhelmed by their finances, spends around $1,300 a month on food, and experiences anxiety when logging into their bank account.

Financial Journey: Car, Airstream, and Pets

The speaker is selling their car to buy a vehicle that can pull their vintage Airstream trailer, which is currently being professionally renovated for $110,000.

They have spent $75,000 so far and plan to rent it out 150 times to recoup the costs.

The speaker also highlights the financial responsibility of owning two dogs, with monthly expenses averaging $150 to $200, and they spend $150 a month on subscriptions, with the most expensive being $70 for stock footage.

The speaker briefly experienced jealousy but feels fortunate to have everything they want in life.

They are sharing a $6,100 monthly mortgage in Palm Springs and will split it, accounting for $5,000 a month.

The speaker is living a Snowbird lifestyle, splitting time between Seattle and California, and also owns an Airbnb property in Palm Springs with their sister, using it as an investment.