Cash for Kat (#AwesomeBloggerAward)

Cash for Kat is an Awesome Blogger Award Nominee!

Thanks for reading my Awesome Blogger Award submission! This post is a bit different from my usual content, but I am excited to share more about me! I’m also looking forward to sharing some of the reasons why I started Cash for Kat. 

Before I get started, I would like to thank SDot from Working Towards Financial Freedom (W.T.F.F.) for nominating me earlier this month. Her blog is amazing and you should check out my favorite post from her site, “How I’m Paying-Off $18,000 of Student Loan Debt in 9 months!”

Here are the first 5 questions about Cash for Kat and myself that I will be answering:

1. Why did you start your blog, Cash for Kat?

I started my blog to help others take control of their personal finances. I‘ve always been really into saving and investing money, which is what allowed me to quit my job at 23 to travel the world.

I want others to know that they can put themselves in the financial position to retire early, travel, start their own freelancing business. Financial literacy needs to be easily accessible for everyone!

2. What is your blog, Cash for Kat, about?

My blog is primarily about personal finance and budget travel. As a female and person of color, my goal is to also share how these topics change when it is viewed through the lens of minority groups.

There needs to be more female, people of color, and other minority voices within this community. Visibility is important because it shows that someone who looks like you has already become financially secure and you can too!

I am really excited because I have a bunch of guest posts planned for next month that feature authors of color and women. I also have a few guest posts from people who were able to save up their money to travel long-term! 

If you are new to Cash for Kat then you might want to start with my most popular post, How to Make $100 in a Day!

3. What’s your favorite part of the blogging process at Cash for Kat?

My favorite part of the blogging process is seeing the impact of my writing in the community. Any time someone comments on a post or responds to a tweet, I am so ecstatic because it means I am resonating with someone.

 It is crazy to think that people take the time to read something that I’ve written. I’m already getting stories from people I’ve inspired to take control of their financial future. 

To create one blog post, I spend about 4 hours writing, 1-hour editing, 1-hour creating pictures, and 1-hour formatting the article for SEO/ adding ads. It is a very long process, but it is all worth it once I see the feedback from my readers!

4. What brings you genuine happiness?

The thing that brings me genuine happiness is being in control of my own time.

I like having the freedom to be in any country, spend time with anyone, and eat anything as I please! It sounds simple, but many people spend too much of their day doing things that they don’t want to do.

As the saying goes, “We buy things we don’t need, with money that we don’t have, to impress people we don’t like”.

5. What was your first job?

My first job was working in my parent’s ice cream store! I worked the cash register from the time I was 5 years old and I was very good at it.

Working at my parent’s store gave me early exposure to what it is like to calculate profit margins, upsell a product, and budget for expansion. It’s actually funny how excellent I am at any math that involves money but the second shape, letters, or “imaginary numbers” enter the equation I am lost.

By the time I was 13, my dad was letting me run snack bars at the local high school with a team of 3-4 employees. It is this experience that prepared me for a successful career in sales that eventually lead to the creation of my own sales consulting company at 24.

Here are the next 5 questions about Cash for Kat and myself that I will be answering:

6. What is your go-to breakfast?

It’s bad, but I’m one of those people that tends to skip breakfast. I’m a coffee-only person! I will occasionally pair it with a cream cheese bagel if I’m hungry in the morning.

Warning: unnecessarily detailed coffee order ahead!

My all-time go-to coffee is the Big Bang from Peet’s (hot, with sugar and milk). I actually mention my love of Peet’s coffee in my post on How to Make $100 in a Day. I ended up making extra money by participating in a market research group for them! That’s when you know you have a caffeine problem.

I am also a fan of iced vanilla, and caramel hazelnut lattes if I’m feeling rich.

My broke girl coffee order is an iced caramel coffee with milk, which is basically a watered-down version of the above order but more pocketbook (and waistline!) friendly.

This was my go-to in college after I realized that I was spending way too much everyday on large- iced caramel lattes with whole milk. The only reason I did not gain an insane amount of weight from this was that I was on the track team and worked out 3 hours a day. 

I actually did the math on this one and since I was spending $4.50 on the lattes every single day. If I kept up the habit it would total over $1,500 a year! I was on a college meal plan at the time, so I was paying with a “point” system instead of money. Regardless, I quickly realized that it was not healthy nor financially wise to continue the habit.

7. Are you an early bird or a night owl?

I am firmly an early bird. I used to be a night owl in high school. As soon as I started college, I filled my schedule up to the point where that was no longer an option! One semester I was taking 6 classes, working two jobs, and training for track and field!

Right now, I tend to wake up anywhere between 6 and 7 am… without an alarm. I am also firmly in bed by 10 pm most nights! I think that this helps me take on extra opportunities and it definitely keeps me out of trouble. 

8. How would your friends describe you? Would you agree?

I just asked them and my friends say they would describe me as funny, talkative, and self-less.

I like to think that I am funny, but I think my frequent dad jokes might say otherwise. Self-less was super high praise that I wasn’t expecting to hear, but I know I’m definitely not on the selfish end of the spectrum!

At the end of the day, I just want everyone to be happy and I do not care about material things that much.

I definitely agree that I am quite the chatty Kathy… I can’t help it since my name is Kathryn! If you would like to hear more of my chatter, I recommend following me on Twitter!

9. What’s your favorite scary movie?

My favorite scary movie is Get Out, probably because I had the most interesting experience watching this movie. As a person of color, I found a lot of the scenes hilarious in this film and was genuinely laughing during several parts of the screening.

Occasionally someone would give me a glare, then realize that I was black and that it was “ok”? for me to laugh at certain parts. I.e. the parts about race relations that were supposed to be funny!

I’m not sure how to explain it, but it was like watching the social commentary on race in America play out on the big screen at the same time it was happening to me.

If these kinds of topics interest you, be sure to check out my book of the month review, “Unbound: How Income Inequality Restricts Our Economy“.

10. What type of music do you like?

I like all kinds of music but I prefer to support female artists. Especially those of color! I do not like music that degrades women. Unfortunately, a lot of mainstream rap music does this.

I think that is my way of trying to not list my embarrassing truth. I like Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Cardi B, and Nicki Minaj on the same playlist!

Cash for Kat’s Awesome Blogger Award nominations:

I would like to nominate some more lovely bloggers from the personal finance community:

Kathrin from AChatWithKat Blog

Shon of From Debts to Deposits

Ray from The Ray Journey

Emma from The All-Around Investor

Bella from Bella Wanana

Ladies, let me know when you’ve had a chance to write your post and I will update your links to go directly to it!

Here are the rules:

Here are my questions for you!

Do you have more questions that you’d like to see me answer in another blog post? Be sure to leave them in the comments and subscribe for updates!

Kathryn Rucker is a sales consultant and content writer. With 7+ years of sales experience, she is passionate about helping businesses and individuals grow their sales pipelines by improving their online presence.

She has been traveling full-time since 2018 thanks to the location and financial independence she has gained from her business, Kat Rucker Consulting Group. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.

Kathryn Rucker is a sales consultant and content writer. With 7+ years of sales experience, she is passionate about helping businesses and individuals grow their sales pipelines by improving their online presence.

She has been traveling full-time since 2018 thanks to the location and financial independence she has gained from her business, Kat Rucker Consulting Group. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.