Carly shares how building a budget helped her take control of her finances after having disposable income for the first time. Listen to her story in both English and ASL or read the full transcripts below.
Check out some of our other personal finance stories in a variety of languages here.
English Transcript:
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Hi, my name is Carly, and
this is my credit story.
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(bright music)
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Growing up, my family
didn’t have a lot of money.
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Over the years, it was
for a variety of reasons
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ranging from medical bills
to periods of unemployment.
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But because of this, I
was always aware of money
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and it was usually because
there wasn’t enough of it.
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When I was in college, I had many jobs to help pay my bills.
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But I still didn’t have enough money.
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I remember wondering if it was normal
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to have more than $15 in the bank on a regular basis?
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When I graduated from college and got a full-time job,
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it was my first time
having disposable income.
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My paychecks were more
than my monthly expenses.
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I knew I should be saving,
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but it was so much fun to
be able to go to the store
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and get exactly what I wanted,
not just what I needed.
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I thought I deserved it
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because I worked hard to graduate.
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But I wasn’t paying attention to how much I was spending.
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I still only had $15 in the bank regularly.
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My plan was to always
pay off my credit card
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at the end of every month.
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This way, I kept my credit file active,
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I earned points, and paid no interest.
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But because I wasn’t paying attention
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to how much I was spending,
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the balance became more than I could
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pay back in a single month.
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I was stuck in this regular cycle.
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Then, I decided to make a budget.
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Apps make it easy.
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I wrote down all my bills,
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plus some money for fun things, too.
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My budget helped me focus,
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and pay off my credit cards.
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Now I only use credit cards to earn points,
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and maintain a low credit utilization rate.
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Now I’ve been budgeting for years,
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and I’ve learned that budgets can adjust month-to-month
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If my needs change, my budget changes.
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Now, I pay attention to how much I’m spending.
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While writing a budget made me realize
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that I couldn’t keep
traveling every weekend
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like I had been, I also realized
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that there is some freedom in it.
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I know how much money I have
and I decide how to spend it.
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Now I feel like I’m on the
right path to my financial goals
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while I’m still having
some fun along the way.
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(bright music fades)