ChooseFI

You're in — welcome to ChooseFI!

Keep an eye on your inbox over the next couple of weeks. We're going to send you the best of what we've built over the last 10 years — curated to help you wherever you are on your financial journey. The more you engage, the better we can tailor what we send to exactly what you need.

Getting Started Audit

Podcast

Ep. 358 Getting Started Audit

Complete financial audit of 2022: income evaluation, expense tracking, net worth calculation. Building your FI foundation from ground zero.

Brad Barrett, Jonathan Mendonsa · · 141,400 plays
47m 36s
  1. Introduction
  2. Getting Started Audit
  3. Understanding Income and Take-Home Pay
  4. Identifying Monthly Expenses
  5. Calculating Net Worth

Choose FI has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Choose FI and CardRatings may earn compensation from card issuers when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. American Express is a ChooseFI advertiser.

Most people never truly know what their life costs—which is why they can't design the life they actually want. Starting fresh in 2022, Brad and Jonathan make the case that a proper financial audit isn't just bookkeeping—it's the difference between drifting and steering. By documenting take-home pay, categorizing real expenses, and calculating net worth, listeners can move from reactive money stress to proactive wealth building.

Key Takeaways

  • Conduct a financial audit to establish a solid foundation for your financial independence
  • Recognize the difference between gross income and take-home pay, including tax implications
  • Identify and document monthly expenses to understand your life costs
  • Calculate net worth by subtracting liabilities from assets
  • Complete the financial audit this week to prepare for financial growth

Chapters

  • Introduction
  • Getting Started Audit
  • Understanding Income and Take-Home Pay
  • Identifying Monthly Expenses
  • Calculating Net Worth

Key Quotes

  • "Do you sit and cry or take action?"
  • "Focus on the future, not the past."
  • "Get your foundation right for financial success."
  • "Understand your life costs for financial planning."

Action Items

  • Document your financial position using a spreadsheet
  • Complete a financial audit this week to establish clarity about your financial standing

Terminology

  • Net Worth: The difference between total assets and total liabilities
  • Take-Home Pay: The income remaining after taxes and deductions

Resources

Top Travel Card

Ready to unlock a world of free travel? Start with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

$95 annual fee | Earn 75,000 bonus points

Best Card for Side Hustlers and Business Owners

Side hustlers! With the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card you can earn free travel from your business expenses.

$95 annual fee | Earn 100,000 bonus points

Most Flexible Travel Card

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card can be used to offset almost any travel expense.

$95 annual fee | 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening

ChooseFI has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. ChooseFI and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

Read Transcript

Join the Conversation

Be the first to comment on this episode. Create a free account to share your thoughts.

Comments

Your comment will be posted after signing in
Join the Conversation

Create an account or sign in to post a comment.

Username
Email

No password needed. We'll send a verification email.

Email
Password
Welcome back, !

Enable commenting on this device so you can post without signing in each time.

You can turn this off anytime

Get Brad's weekly FI strategies — free

Join ChooseFI

Start your financial independence journey

  • Access to the ChooseFI community
  • Exclusive FI resources and tools
  • Weekly actionable insights
or

Already have an account? Log in

Try searching for

⌘K to open anytime

Your FI Journey

1/3

Step 1 of 3

How familiar are you with Financial Independence?