How It Started & How It’s Going
Hey! I’m Denae. I am an Occupational Therapist, side hustler, and blogger behind The Common Cents.
Born and raised in the Midwest, I graduated with my master’s degree in Occupational Therapy in 2016. I could not wait to finally start my career in healthcare. What I quickly realized was that full-time positions in my geographical location were hard to come by. So, like most of my colleagues, my career started by juggling multiple PRN, or as needed, jobs. This meant that I was never guaranteed shifts or hours – I never knew what my paychecks would look like.
My first full year of working as an OT I earned approximately $40k working 3 PRN positions. I was living with four roommates to keep living expenses low, had a car lease, and $30k in student loans. Being a PRN employee, I also had no benefits (no healthcare, retirement plan options, PTO, etc.). I started to question why I chose this profession in the first place. It was when I began to look in to how I could supplement my income that I discovered the personal finance and side hustle world.
I began researching anything regarding personal finance that I could – books, podcasts, articles, you name it. In 2018 I ended up getting a full-time position and kept one of my PRN roles for extra income. Two years after that I accepted a non-clinical role in medical device sales where I am still able to use my OT degree. With each transition came an increase in salary. To date I have more than tripled my initial salary as a PRN OT.
I met my now husband in 2014 while we were both working at the same restaurant and going through school. We bought our first home in 2019 and got married in 2020. I knew that he had his own students loans and credit card debt of approximately $15k. Once we combined our finances we laid out a plan to pay off our debt, start investing, and really working toward our goal of financial freedom.
Fast forward to today, we are debt free (aside from our mortgage), investing aggressively, and exploring a variety of ways to reach our personal finance goals. Personal finance aside, I love spending time with our family & friends, traveling, snuggling with our Goldendoodle, home projects, cooking, country music, wine & coffee.
What You Will Find Here
Over the last few years I have learned a lot about personal finance and wanted to be able to share my thoughts, tips & tricks on a larger platform. I think financial literacy is so important and it is not something that is talked about enough. Here are a few topics you can expect to find here:
- Easy Side Hustles
- Travel Hacking
- Debt Payoff
- Investment Accounts
- Books, Podcasts & Blog Recommendations
- Bill Negotiation
Money is more often than not a taboo topic, but a common stressor for so many. My hope is that you leave here feeling empowered and inspired about your personal finance journey. I am so glad you are here!