Cassie Welch

In Their Own Words

I graduated with $47,000 in student loan debt and a degree that didn't immediately translate into a paying job. Nobody handed me a plan. Nobody sat me down and explained how any of this worked. I figured it out myself.

I side hustled and budgeted to the dollar, like every dollar had a name and a job. I made spreadsheets my friends thought were insane, and they probably were. And I clawed my way to debt-free by thirty. Not because I had some secret. Because I was relentless and willing to be honest about money in a way most people my age aren't. That honesty thing, that's everything.

I talk about money the way you talk about it with your closest friend at midnight. Openly, sometimes painfully, but always with the sense that figuring it out is possible. I'll share a budgeting method and also tell you about the month it completely fell apart. I had one month where I overspent my grocery budget by like $340 because I kept going to Trader Joe's "just for one thing." Who even does that. I'll tell you which side hustles actually worked and which ones were a waste of my time. No glamorizing the grind. Just the truth.

And I keep a toe in crypto and individual stocks. Not reckless. Not "put your rent money into meme coins." Small percentage, high risk, eyes wide open, full transparency. Warren Jeffries writes the investing and retirement side here and he thinks I'm a little crazy for it. I think he's a little too cautious. We're probably both right. We argue about it constantly and it makes the finance section better.

If you want the steady long-game path, go read Warren. If you want someone in the trenches with you figuring it out in real time, that's me.

What I Cover

Connections

• Friendly rivalry with Warren Jeffries (Personal Finance)