In Pokémon, a trainer travels collecting and training pokémon to battle other trainers.  In most of the regions, trainers compete in a league of eight gyms to receive badges.  Each badge grants the trainer a new license for using moves outside of battle and encourages their high-level pokémon to listen to them.  Once they have all eight badges, they can then battle the Elite Four for a chance to enter the hall of fame.  After earning their spot in the hall of fame, the league registers the trainer and their Pokémon and the credits begin.

In order to complete this journey, trainers must build a pokémon team of six pokémon.  The strategy of building a pokémon team becomes important to the team’s success.  The possibilities seem endless with over 800 known pokémon species and numerous differences between individuals within each species.   Trainers develop their teams in different ways, but all of them do so to win.
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The same is true for personal finances.  We use a financial management structure made of tools to help us manage our money.  I call this structure our Financial Pokémon Team.  We build our financial pokémon teams with a strategy that allows us to pay our bills, make purchases, afford trips and save for the future.  Having a financial management structure is as important to our personal finances as having a pokémon team is to playing Pokémon.

My first introduction to the modern smartphone was the pokégear when I was traveling in Johto as a schoolboy.  It gave me access to the time, a map, music and the ability to call mom and other trainers, like Youngster Joey.
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Now, it’s 17 years later and my smartphone can do much more than that original pokégear.  My phone is my notebook, dictionary, email inbox, news source, trainer, and entertainment.  There are countless ways to use a smartphone, and today I want to share with you all the few ways I use mine for my personal finances.

June is Pride Month and to celebrate that I wanted to write about Pride.  To me, every event during Pride is about celebrating our authentic selves and knowing who we are.  Finding and maintaining my authentic self has been a little bit of a struggle at times, but I am happiest when I am true to me and life is the most rewarding.

Finding My Authentic Self
I was a weird kid growing up, like espurr weird, and I knew I was different.  My father made it easier to be unapologetically me.  When I would get down about being different, he would always tell me the same thing.  “Look at the great artists of the world’s history.  What made them so great was that they were different.  They saw the world differently and brought that beauty to the rest of the world.  They didn’t become great by being the same.”  This always picked me back up and strengthened my determination to just be me.

Welcome to June!  The first week in June means that it’s time for May’s Review and Net Worth Update.

For those who are new to The Grown-Up Pkmn Trainer, each month I write a financial review to xatu my net worth by writing down my thoughts on the previous and following months.  I share these summaries so everyone can gain insight into my personal finances and my thoughts behind them.

I started tracking my net worth to measure my progress, inspired by Budgets Are Sexy, which has helped me pay closer attention to my personal finances.  I have been tracking my net worth since January 2015 and writing monthly financial reviews for myself since 2016.  I recommend tracking net worth because it has been such a helpful tool to see my personal finances stat changes all in one place.