sincerely budgeting – Sincerely Angie

3rd Quarter Update

September 30, 2026September 30, 2026Sincerely AngieLeave a comment

I thought 2025 was a busy year but I done eff’ed around and did the same thing in 2026. So, in order to keep my word of one blog post a month, here is a quick life update on how and what I’ve been doing.

Spiritually: I am still improving and bettering my relationship with God. In December 2025, I started a quest to read the Bible in its entirety for the first time ever. I was doing really well until March (March Madness being the culprit. IYKYK). Then I fell behind and I haven’t recovered YET. I still read but I am behind on the reading schedule I had, to read the Bible in 365 days. I am still in a quiet/waiting season also, but I love it. Lots of discernment and revelations.

Financially: I haven’t saved anything since May. Crazy right?! It’s painful to witness because busyness shouldn’t get in the way of goals. I WILL straighten up in the fourth quarter. But on a side note, in September, I didn’t do any shopping. Which means I didn’t spend a lot of money outside of traveling. On a better note, I have been cashing out on points left and right. Points for free hotel stays. Points for future travel. Points for Amazon gift cards. Just all of the points! While I may not be saving money in my savings account, I am not spending my own money and saving at the pump getting gas. In essence, I am still saving. (Check the promotions tab if you want to earn points or click the names. —>) Fetch ~ CoinOut ~ Rakuten ~ NCP Online ~ Amazon Storefront ~ Shell Fuel Rewards.

Mentally: I was exhausted in April after 3 trips back to back within a month but after a couple of months, I was having withdrawals. I was overwhelmed with the amount of footage I had from all of the trips that I had to sift through, to edit/post/share. I still haven’t posted anything since the Aruba trip in March. That takes up a lot of my headspace. I am torn between what to share and how to share so much in so little time and space. It’s hard to capture a full 5-7 day trip in 1m 30 secs. I love to share my travels. It’s just the creative in me, on exactly how to share it so that whomever sees it could feel like they were there also.

Personally: I’ve only finished one book so far this year. Last year I read like 6 and listened to like 3 or 4 audio books. I haven’t journaled a lot this year either. I only had a few therapy sessions this year. I have been on 6-1/2 trips with 2-1/2 more to go. It started in March with Savannah, Aruba, Colombia, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., Bali and I leave in tomorrow for another trip (that’s where the 1/2 comes in at. LOL!). I’ve put out 4 podcast episodes despite being busy and I’ve been on two other podcasts as a guest a few times. I’ve put out 8 blog posts and this one keeps me on track for #9 for month 9. And I am barely meeting the deadline for that. October is literally tomorrow.

Physically: I feel great. After 5 years, my cholesterol is at normal levels. Thank God! My teeth and eyes are fine. I am still working on a quick and effective at home workout plan to stick to. I recently, as in two days ago, did a cold plunge for the first time. I lasted 38 seconds the first time and I went back in a few minutes later to do a full minute. I never have to do it again though. I can say that I’ve tried it and next time I get in a pool, I will not complain about the water being cold! Anything above 47 degrees is lukewarm from now on for me.

In all, life is great. God is amazing and I have no complaints, only gratitude.

Sincerely,

Angie

Yes, You Can Save and You Can Save NOW!

September 18, 2025Sincerely AngieLeave a comment

Truth is, it’s 2025, you should already be saving. If Hurricane Katrina didn’t teach us anything twenty years ago, it taught us that we should have a rainy day fund, or in Louisianians case, a hurricane season stash. Everyone doesn’t live in Louisiana, so COVID-19 should’ve taught us that having a savings account with enough in it to get by during a trying time, is necessary. At least six months worth of bills and living expenses.

Don’t believe the lies you’ve been telling yourself. Yes you can save and you can start today. I’m not going to reiterate the millions of ways you can save. I have many posts under the budget tab with tips and tricks on saving. This post is the reality check you need. In the day and time that we’re living in, it may seem hard to save but the reality is, everything is not always what it seems. And our minds are playing tricks on us. We have to have mind control over Deebo! With the state of the world and the economy, having money to spare is paramount.

If you can shop, you can save!

If you can go out to eat, you can save!

If you can go to happy hour, you can save!

If you can buy gifts for yourself and others, you can save!

What you need is discipline and to sacrifice for a few months to a year or more to realize that everything you think you need, is all in your head. You don’t need it, you want it. And everything you really need, is on the other side of your sacrifice. In this season, you’ll have to learn the difference between needs, wants, priorities, your “why” and sacrificing for a bit of time, to get to the future you want. So this blog post isn’t laced with tips or tricks. Just do it. No more excuses, because excuses keep you comfortable. Growth comes when you get out of your comfort zone. Time is not standing still and life can and will life when it wants to. Don’t put off any longer what you CAN actually do today. Save your money now so that your money can save you later, if you need saving. Otherwise, it’ll save you from a lifetime of lack, borrowing and missing out on an abundant life.

Sincerely,

Angie

NBA Angie (Never Broke Again Angie)

March 11, 2025Sincerely Angie2 Comments

Vow to Never be Broke Again

Do you have a “broke” number? If you’re not familiar with what a broke number is, it’s basically a number that you get down to in your finances, where you start to consider yourself broke. It’s a number that should scare you. I also talk about this in a recent podcast episode here.

I found out in 2014 that my broke number was $10,000. In 2011, I left a job that I had been on for 7 years and started a new one 4 months later in 2012. During the 4 months I wasn’t working, I was living off of my savings. The new job paid me significantly less than my previous job, so I was still using my savings to supplement the deficit. After 2 years of living off of my savings, I was approaching a number in my savings account that scared the ish out of me. Before reaching that number, I knew that’s where I was stopping. Because as I was approaching it, I would get nervous thinking about it. That’s when I started to make changes. I downsized as much as possible and I was able to maintain my broke number without touching the savings account for a few years.

Slowly but surely and in very small steps, I started to add money to increase my savings. You can see the growth in my blog posts in the budget tab. I went from saving $2, $5, $15+ dollars at a time, to saving $200, $500, $1,500+ at a time. I went from praying to be able to save $10,000 to saving $10,000 in almost two years, then to saving that in less than one year.

Vowing to never get that close to only having $10,000 in my savings, to being able to save $10,000 in less than a year, only came from the feeling of not having that security. I learned a few things during a span of 5 years that helped me to grow. Since then, my “broke” number has changed and that change came in 2018. That means it took me about 7 years or more to learn my finances, grow my finances and to get comfortable with a much larger “broke number”.

Here’s what I did:

I started paying the full 10% of my tithes.
I wrote down everything and really learned who I was financially.
I elevated each time I reached a goal.
I took a deep dive into my finances and learned them inside out.
I set many goals, big and small.
I pushed myself and always strived for a bigger goal.
I sacrificed and had to practice discipline.
I took advantage of any thing free, points and programs that rewarded me with free money. (Rakuten, surveys, loyalty programs, receipt programs, etc.)
I counted every penny and knew where every penny was supposed to be.

If you’re reading this, it’s my hope that this post inspires change if you need it or motivation. This post is not to brag or boast. We all have a journey, and it took me nearly 10 years to get to this place. I vowed to never get close to my broke number again, and if life did happen and I got close to it, I know exactly how to recover it all again. NBA Angie!!! Happy budgeting!

Sincerely,

Angie