Hi, I’m Alix! Living in North Vancouver, British Columbia, I am a west coast outdoors gal who loves hiking, biking and of course, skiing and snowboarding.
After completing a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Chemistry at Queen’s University, I started my first job as a scientific research and development company. I moved back home in North Vancouver completely debt free and really did not have any expenses. Within the first few months of my steady paycheque, and after buying a bike and some new clothes, I started to realize I had a bunch of money sitting in a crappy low interest savings account. I knew I could be putting my money to better use but I didn’t really know where to start.
The truth is, I have always been a great saver. In high school I worked as a barista in a local coffee shop and as a lifeguard for different recreation centers. I would calculate 75% of my paycheque and transfer that amount into a savings account. At 16, my mom helped me set up a GIC (guaranteed investment certificate – and if you don’t know what that is yet, don’t worry!). I think I made a whopping $14 over that year but this experience helped me dip my toes into the investment world.
Starting university, I had over $15,000 saved, which allowed me to pay fully for my first year of school. I worked part-time throughout university to help pay for groceries and worked every summer to pay for tuition and rent for the following year. With all of this saving, I still was not perfect and my parents had to bail me out many times to cover groceries, rent or tuition. They allowed me to graduate with a university degree completely debt free and I am extremely grateful for that privilege.
However, now that I am an “adult”, I am on my own financial journey. A lot of the information on this site is simply not taught in schools and we as individuals really need to put the time in to educate ourselves on these important topics. I am happy to do some of the research for you and fill you in on the good stuff.
Over the past two years in the work force I have built up my net worth to over $40,000, never making more than $50,000 annually. As of September 2020, I went back to school to complete a professional degree so you can expect there to be lots of student loans in my future. I don’t believe that spending money is bad, it’s when we spend money mindlessly that we unconsciously start steering ourselves away from our dream life. Let’s not let that happen!
With this platform, I hope to share my experiences in managing money, building wealth, and everything in between. I am a student by day, finance nerd by night. Please keep in mind that I am not a certified financial planner or investment adviser and all of the content on my page should not be considered financial advice. In many cases, the information on this blog is simply my opinion and you should consult with a professional before making any financial decisions of your own.
All in all, I started this blog to share my opinions and experiences with my own personal finance and hopefully inspire others along the way to start investing in themselves.
I really hope you enjoy the blog!
Alix
