The FB Story
I’m “Fabulously Broke” better known as “FB“.
In a nutshell:
I got out of $60,000 of debt in 18 months, earning $65,000 a year while blogging through it all.
When I work, I now earn about $17,000 – $21,000 a month on average, and my personal spending budget is around $1000 a month for rent, food and life. That budget doesn’t include traveling (about $5000 – $10,000 a year depending on where we go and for how long).
I also have a business spending budget for when I am working which is around $500 – $3000 a month, but when I don’t work, that budget is generally $0.
Note: I was down to my last $15,000 in my debt when I quit my job and became a freelancer.
I got a contract immediately after I quit and earned $85,000 gross from a 3.5 month contract. I used that money to clear the rest of my $15,000 debt, a mere 5-6 months ahead of schedule.
I was inevitably on track to clear my debt by the middle of the following year (which instead of having cleared it in 18 months, would have been 23-24 months or 2 years), and it was just a matter of time, seeing as I had already cleared $45,000.
I want to clarify that I didn’t suddenly get $85,000 from a contract and used it to clear my $60,000 debt in 18 months.
I actually worked to get my debt down to those levels, living and spending on very little each month, seeing as I was fortunate enough to have my company cover my basic needs (shelter, food) for part of that time, but not all of it.
I didn’t go out to party, I didn’t spend on anything except train tickets back and forth to visit my BF, and in the last year of my debt repayment, I moved back in with my parents, paid rent, paid for my own food and incidentals, and kept living on as little as possible, while channeling every last penny to debt.
So yes, I earned a lot of money near the end of my debt, but my debt was almost gone by then. I would have cleared the rest of it in half a year.
I also have another blog I started near the end of 2009 called The Everyday Minimalist, and here’s a preview of what the blog is about:
A Minimalist’s Train of Thought
Less money spent means more money saved
More money saved means the longer you can live in financial peace and security
Financial peace and security comes from owning less
Less stuff owned means less to carry around, move or have to travel with
Less responsibility for your stuff also means less maintenance and more time
The more time you have, the more relaxed you will feel
The more relaxed you are, the less you will care about stuff
If you care less about stuff, it means you’ll care less about image
If you care less about image, you will care more about experiences and memories
If you care more about experiences and memories, you will be happier with less
If you are happier with less, you’ll never want or need for more
The less you want or need for more, the more you will feel free
I am not “BROKE” any longer! 
As of 2008, I am not “broke” any longer, but I can’t give up the moniker. It’s just too much of who I was before, and it makes me remember what I went through and where I came from.
So in case you were confused, it’s just a nickname. I really prefer to go by “FB“.
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