Bag Baby
- Sep 14, 2022
- 4 min read

Keeping it Fresh: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Bag Baby's Latest Updates

Updated: Feb 15

We've been putting in a lot of work behind the scenes to bring more valuable, quality content here at Bag Baby. So be on the lookout for Youtube videos from us, where we will not only give you a look into the life of the CEO but we will also get into some financial, lifestyle and self-love topics as well.

Alright now, let's hop into today's blog, it's a piece from my personal finance ebook, which you can purchase on the Bag Baby website:

Studies show that stress induced by financial burdens harms a person's health and wellness, especially their mental health. Traditional schooling does contribute to this issue, being that it is not mandatory to take classes on finances at all schools. If it were mandatory, you’d probably see people make fewer financial mistakes that alter the quality of their life as they get older and their obligations grow.

Although school drops the ball (IMO), I have to admit it isn’t all their fault. The financial system as a whole is very dense and can be hard to understand when looking at it from a macro perspective.

Whether from your peers, scrolling on social media, or seeing one of those pesky ads before a YouTube video plays, you’ve probably heard of the term “financial freedom” or “financial stability”.

Many pessimists hate the idea of financial freedom whether it's because they’ve been misled about the true meaning and believe it translates to being selfish, or they’ve been led to believe it’s “just a dream” by society.

If you are that person, I do not know if this blog or any others I write after this will be your type of reading. Truthfully, a lot of the blogs & things I put out are meant to help those with little to no knowledge of basic personal finance.

You will soon understand I believe that to live a rich, meaningful, abundant life, you have to know & believe it is not “just a dream” it is a plan, one you will accomplish & be proud of.

Together we will learn the things necessary to lead us to a higher level of financial freedom.

One way to achieve financial freedom is to first make the decision.

Decide to commit, plan, and execute consistently.

As I’ve stated before, living a rich, meaningful, abundant life, is not just a dream. It is there for us all, we’ve just got to take the steps necessary to break it down to see how attainable it is.

Next comes planning, you must outline and constantly keep up with your plan and know it through and through.

Most people give up, they don’t make it through to the execution stage.

They convince themselves that it isn’t worth the effort or time, that it’d be better to lay down, let time pass and allow life to have its way.

Although life is tough, so are you, and much tougher than you imagine yourself to be.

Yes, it can be hard to do the work necessary at times, but it is even harder to allow time to pass and not live a life of your own.

"Hard" does not equate to impossible.

It is well past time for you to begin living your life to the fullest, you must go get what is ordained for you.

Let's *briefly* talk about some basics...

👉🏾 Surveying Income Vs Expenses

Once I understood how much I was spending on average, I put it up against how much I was earning per paycheck on average.

For example, I'd check my bank statement to see what I spent.

Let's say an average of $300 a week or, $1200 a month. I write that number down.

Now, I see I have $1200 a month going out, and let's say $2000 a month coming in.

That equals to $800 being left over after I’ve spent on all wants, needs, and habits.

If I stay up on my budget, I can consistently save $800 a month, or $9600 a year.

📝 If you want to take control of your money & start doing this too, first, you want to get your monthly income statement.

You can do this by getting check stubs from your job, or by getting your bank statement from the last month and using it to determine your after-tax take-home pay.

📝 Next, you want to get a list of all your bills & expenses from the last couple of months & use it to figure out what your average expenses are.

👉🏾 For example, let's say you want to calculate the last 3 months of bills.

📝 You will get the last 3 bank statements (If you don't use a bank or online bill pay you can save receipts from each bill you paid & all things you spent money on), next you will add the numbers up & divide by 3.

Just like if you want to calculate the last 6 months of bills. You will add them all up & divide by 6. Whatever number you get is what you will subtract from your income.

📝 For example, if your average income is $2000 per month and your average expenses are $1800 per month, your equation will look like: 2000 (income) - 1800 (expenses) = 200 (to be saved).

If you have no money to save, you either want to increase your income, decrease your expenses, or both.

Budgeting isn't sexy, but it's necessary if you want to take control of the quality of your life.