So you read my last blog post. And now you’re hooked. You’re ready to begin your journey to financial independence!

ChooseFI did a great job in their article, The “Baby Steps of FI” , to outline some ways to get started on your journey. Here’s a basic synopsis and how it relates to you as an allied health practitioner

1.Track Your Money

You need to know the who/what/when/where/why/how you’re spending your money to get started. You can create your own spreadsheet, but also you can use budget apps like Mint and Personal Capital, to track your transactions. See what you’re spending the most money on, what are true “necessities” versus “discretionary spending.” I typically tell my clients to look over the course of 3 months to see how they typically spend their money, and go from there.

2. Calculate Your Savings Rate

This is my favorite thing to do at the end of every month! This is the formula I use as a way to calculate basic savings rate:

This makes sense, right? Your income minus your spending what you’re left with at the end of the month. Divide it by your income and multiply by 100 to get a percentage of how much you end up with at the end of the month after all your spending.

If you’re on the path to financial independence, the goal would be to have a 50% savings rate. If you’re not close to this number yet, don’t worry! Remember that financial independence is also about the journey, and I’m here to help get you there.

3. Check Your Fees and Subscriptions

Look at the 3 month spending that you tracked already (see what I did there?). What monthly fees are you paying for? Are these necessary? If you find that you have multiple streaming service fees for Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Disney+, Apple TV+, and ESPN all at the same time, but are struggling to reach that 50% savings rate, maybe this is an area that you can save money on.

You also should keep track of pricing for work related items, such as your licensure, CPR certification, etc.

4. Develop Your Skills

The term “talent stacking” is a concept created by Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic. With talent stacking, you combine multiple normal skills until you create one extraordinary person…and that can be you!

This may be career based – for example, I am a PT, and I have experience in the realms of pediatrics, orthopedics, pelvic floor/women’s health. I also have PT experience in the outpatient, inpatient, home, school, and virtual settings. These multiple PT skills allow me to be more diversified in my skillset and allow me more opportunities to PT jobs.

But I also have another talents that make me side hustle money – I am a financial mentor (duh), I dance hula professionally, and I have delivered for UberEats in the past. While none of these are allied health profession related, you can bet that it helps me to earn extra income to help me reach my savings rate goal! And it also helped me find success in happiness in areas that I did not expect.

5. Stay Motivated

It’s hard to stay motivated, especially when we work such long hours and get burned out so quickly compared to other professions. Which is why I created the FIREd Up For Allied Health Facebook group – to allow allied health professionals from all over to find community in their financial independence journeys.

We are a unique subset of people. We all work hard, care for people, have a good education, and yet we still struggle with finances. My goal is to get allied health professionals to a point in their lives where financial independence is not just a goal, but a reality, where we can focus more on our careers and less on the financial burdens we carry with us.

For the link to ChooseFI’s full article on The “Baby” Steps of FI, click here.

Note: I am not a certified financial advisor/planner or a certified financial analyst or a CPA or an accountant or a lawyer. Remember, I am an allied health professional, just like you! I am a self proclaimed amateur investor, and personal finance enthusiast. I am not affiliated with ChooseFI, and I am not being reimbursed by ChooseFI to promote their website. I am merely a fan of their work, and I want to share it with you all in hopes to help you reach your financial goals.

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