2020 Review: 40% Savings Rate and Launching A Business
As I close this 2020 chapter, all I can think is “wow that was a long year”. I started 2020 in FiDi with Hamilton and some new friends, traveled to India for my cousin’s wedding, scored my perfect yoga class times, and got placed at my dream account in NYC. Then, Covid hit.
We said good bye to our friends who promised to come back in 2021. I was laid off from Corepower Yoga and Hamilton moved in as we cancelled our future travel plans. We decided to stay in New York City. I still went to work at the hospital during the shutdown which gave me purpose working along inspiring essential workers. So far, we have not gotten sick and neither have our families. I registered Megna.Photo as an LLC and started a print shop. We also watched a-lot of Netflix and cooked more at home. In the end of the year, I can look back and say “I did what I could with 2020”.
I wanted to emphasize that I am thankful for where I’m at, alas there is always room for improvement. This year I’ve decided to put out a detailed and personal reflection, heavily influenced by Hamilton’s 2020 review. I hope this allows me to track my progress and have concrete benchmarks to measure success next year. I had three major goals for 2020 that I boiled down into 4 words; Save, Expand, and Drink Less (see my 2019 review here). Let’s see what I accomplished in 2020.
SAVE. My goal was to reach a 40% savings rate including my retirement savings. I achieved a 42% savings rate this year so goal accomplished! I chalk this up to less travel and social outings. Nonetheless this helped me train my budgeting muscles and build habits to FIRE, track my net worth, and not lie to myself on how much I’m spending. My calculation for savings rate is:
“Money I Saved + Pretax Savings(401K) / Money I earned(minus taxes and deductions) + Pretax Savings(401K)”
I tracked all of my spending this year on a manual excel spreadsheet. Though, I think this helped me feel the pain as I bought clothes or a 20 dollar cocktail; it was extremely inefficient and inacurate. I was having trouble figuring out how much money I could invest every month while also saving for future purchases. An example is I want to travel to Japan in 2021. How much do I save every month for this trip and where is that tracked? How do I make sure I’m not over-investing? Time in the market allows for the money to compound and I don’t plan on taking out any money in my savings for many years.
Therfore, I switched over to YNAB(You Need A Budget) in December. At first, I thought it was really frustrating. But, I’ve fallen in love with the software after watching their online courses. I can trust my numbers and they make the savings process fun by “giving every dollar a job”. I’m excited to see how my savings rate grows next year. I have a new goal of saving 45%. I’ve included a chart below on how I allocated my earnings this year.
EXPAND: This goal was harder to track because the main point was to get out of my comfort zone and experience new things. As I couldn’t travel, I tried to expand my interests. I read 7 books, my favorite being Atomic Habits and Red at the Bone. I took a finance course on Khan Academy . I learned Photo-editing skills through my subscription to SkillShare. Skill share is a community of creators who make short to-the-point teaching videos about a variety of creative skills. And, finally I let go of learning to code. I did the Harvard CS 50 course. This is a real intro to Computer Science college course; it’s all online and even has homework! I realized that though I find the topics interesting, there are so many other things I’m passionate about instead of coding. This was a feeling of relief as I could finally shut the door on programming with no regrets. I am glad I took a year to explore what I really like. I fully expect things to change, but excited about creative directions for 2021.
DRINK LESS: This goal was to limit myself to no more than 2 drinks except on Saturday. This goal started off strong, but quickly degraded as the pandemic hit. We found ourselves watching Netflix with wine on Fridays. But, slowly as the pandemic months went by, I saw less desire in drinking. I just got bored of it. I am not sober by any means, but happy with how at the end of the year this goal manifested itself. It is also very expensive to drink in nyc, so I am saving money therefore helping my first goal of saving!
Ok so that wraps up 2020, now let’s talk about 2021 plans.
Something I’ve been thinking about is that even though I thought I was doing so well in 2019, maybe I was barely holding myself together.
In 2019, I was practicing yoga 6x, teaching 3x classes, going to Equinox 3x, and working 60 hours a week. I went to sleep at 1 am, and woke up at 6 am every day. I was exhausted, but maybe I was just barley swimming above the surface.
2020 let me see that my lifestyle wasn’t as amazing as I thought. I did let my habits slip, but maybe because they were built in a way where I had to give 100% or nothing. My systems were broken, and 2021 will be spent rebuilding stronger and more robust ones. I have 3 new themes for 2021: Heal, Monetize, and Reuse.
HEAL: My preventative health has never been a huge priority. With moving around so much, it’s been hard to keep up with doctor’s appointments. I decided with everything that happened with Covid, my negligence had to stop. I also paid a whopping $1100 in medical expenses that could have been avoided if I had a primary care physician. I will focus on building four lifestyle habits which will set a strong foundation for my overall health.
Build a New Fitness Routine
Develop a Morning / Night Routine
Schedule My Routine Care in January
Fix My Teeth (for the second time)
Let’s start with the first habit, a new fitness routine. My previous routine consisted of Yoga Sculpt, heated yoga, classes at Equinox, and Soul Cycle. I was seeing results, but I was spending over 10 hours a week working out. Even-though I love classes, I became dependent on studios to provide me with motivation. My new fitness routine doesn’t depend on studios or classes. This year, my plan is simple.
3 Weight Training Days (focused on different muscle groups)
2 Yoga Sessions
1 outdoor Run.
Ab Training every day
When I start teaching yoga again (hopefully 2021), this should allow me to not exhaust myself. I can also do this routine from anywhere, no matter if there are gym closures or not.
My next habits are simple. I got the idea from Atomic Habits. James Clear talks about habit stacking where you associate a new habit to a foundational habit you’ve already been doing to maximize profit. I struggled to find what my foundation habits were though! I wake up at different times every day and I’ve been going to sleep late. I want to develop and stick to a morning/sleep routine. This will allow me to stack other habits in the future. I will track this in my bullet journal in the habit tracking section , so I can provide concrete data for this goal.
My next goal is to schedule my medical routine care for January. My health insurance is a high deductible HSA plan. This means I have money invested for healthcare expenses that are tax-free but I also have to reach my deductible before the healthcare plan kicks in to cover costs. Preventive care is free. My plan is to get all of my annual check ups in early so I will have the rest of the year to cover or plan unexpected medical costs or follow ups. My list includes:
Primary Care Doctor Check Up
Gynecologist Check up
Dermatologist Annual Exam
Dentist Routine Cleaning(repeat in 6 months)
I have scheduled these on the same day so I can take only one day off from work. I use the same healthcare system, NYU Langone. They have an app that allows me to manage all my appointments, results, and scheduling. For my dentist, I absolutely LOVE Tend. They have multiple offices in NYC and they make the experience feel very luxurious. If you want to check them out, here is my referral link and we both get a gift card.
My last point is to (re)fix my teeth. I’ve been holding this goal off for awhile, but I finally found an option called inline braces . They are wires that go behind the teeth and can not be seen from the front. My orthodontist said my treatment plan would be 6-8 months. I’m getting them on in January, so if I have a lisp then don’t make fun of me! The lesson is wear your retainer after you get your braces off in middle school. The cost for my inline braces was $4750. I know it’s a-lot of money but I wanted to be transparent about the cost for those interested. I am getting them done at Tend.
Thats a wrap on my HEAL goals, it’s going to be a major focus this year!
Monetize: This year I am monetizing Megna.Photo LLC. I will measure my success by my income exceeding my business expenses. I am expecting my expenses for next year to total about $900. I am working on a social media strategy, partnering with brands, freelance work, and print sales. I will also post on a YouTube channel to share my journey.
Megna.Photo’s mission is to inspire and influence people to live their most authentic life. My skills with digital content creation empowers brands to share their authentic self on social media.
Check out my Q4 gallery and Print shop to see what I’ve been up to!
Reuse: I am committing to one year of second-hand shopping. The only exception is for small ethical businesses. This means every piece of clothing I buy will be thrifted. I’ve wanted to do this for awhile to get out of the fast fashion rut. I want to give my resources to local businesses. A-lot of large fast-fashion companies have a negative impact on the environment and use slave-labor in third world countries. I will be mindful of where I’m buying clothes as I think it matters in the long run for our planet. If you know any great vintage stores or want to shop with me, let me know!!
If you’ve made it this far, I sincerely thank you for reading. I am always welcome for feedback, and most importantly; I wish you a happy, healthy, and successful new year! May this year be even better than the last!
-Megna