• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Financial Panther

Financial Independence, Side Hustling, and Ebikes

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Side Hustle Reports
  • Best Credit Card Offers
  • Current Money Bonuses
  • 70+ Side Hustle Apps/Gigs
  • Bank Account Bonuses
  • Ebikes
  • Archives
Financial Panther cover photo

Starting The Financial Panther Blog

Last Updated on September 23, 2016June 28, 2016 9 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. Affiliate Disclosure.This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Most blogs like this start from the same point, the writer is in debt and documents his or her journey out of it.  If I had started this blog two years ago, I’d be starting from the same point.  I graduated law school in May 2013 with $87,000 in student loans.  My net worth at the time was negative $87,000.

2 weeks ago, I paid off my student loans in full.  My net worth today is approximately $50,000.  Going from negative $87k to plus $50k seems pretty good in my book.

Paying off my student loans as quickly as I could was one of the best things I could’ve done.  It gave me the freedom to leave my job at a large law firm, in which I was really struggling – personally and professionally – and to start a new job with the government that is hopefully more rewarding (but at a much lower pay).

So with my student loan debt paid off, why start this blog now?  I have multiple reasons:

  • Reading about other people’s journeys getting out of debt and reaching their financial goals has been a true inspiration for me.  I hope that I can give back to the personal finance community by sharing my own experiences and dreams.
  • I’ve still got a long way to go to reach my financial goals.  I have a significant other from whom I will eventually inherit six figures of student loan debt once we are married next year.  My hope is to continue to document my (our) journey, and hopefully, to be a resource for you, the reader.
  • I’ve learned so much about personal finance in the past year.  I first truly became aware of personal finance in 2015.  During my personal finance journey, I’ve watched many of the young lawyers who worked around me or graduated with me trapped in student loan debt and having no idea what they are doing with their finances.  I hope that this blog can be a resource to teach other young professionals things that I had to learn on my own.

I think those of us interested in personal finance have an innate desire to share our knowledge and experience with others.  I know in my own life, I find myself regularly sharing my thoughts and opinions to my friends and family on all sorts of personal finance related topics.  So I thought it made sense to blog about it.

I plan to cover a number of topics related to debt, investing, side hustling, really anything  personal finance related, from the perspective of a young professional couple.  I really hope that this blog can inspire you and help you in some way.

Thanks for following me on my journey.

[mc4wp_form id=”848″]

This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

More Recommended Ebike/Scooters

Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:

  • Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
  • Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
  • Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
  • Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
  • Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding EBike Review – A Great Value Folding Ebike – The Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding Ebike is an entry-level folding ebike that offers a lot of value for the price point. I’ve been riding the Sohamo S3 for a while now, putting the bike through its paces, and I have to say, this bike has exceeded all of my expectations. Check out my Sohamo Review.
  • KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
  • Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
  • Himiway Escape Ebike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
  • Espin Sport Ebike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
  • Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
  • Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
  • Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
  • Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R Review.
  • Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.

More Recommended Investing App Bonuses

For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:

  • M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
  • SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with just $10 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
  • Webull (20 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 20 free shares valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free shares using Webull.
  • Moomoo (15 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 2 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
  • Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
  • Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.

More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses

If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.

  • Upgrade ($200) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $200 referral bonus if you open an account and complete a direct deposit. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $200 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
  • Ally Bank ($100) – Of all the banks out there, Ally is, without a doubt, my favorite. At the moment, Ally is offering $100 to customers who open an eligible Ally account and meet the requirements. Here are the step-by-step directions to earn your Ally Bank referral bonus.
  • Fairwinds Credit Union ($175) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
  • Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
  • US Bank Business ($900) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
  • GO2Bank ($50) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $50 referral bonus.
  • Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link. Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
  • Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
  • Varo ($25) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $25 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
financial panther

Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.

Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.

Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:

  • SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $300 if you complete a direct deposit.
  • 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.24% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
  • US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $900 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
  • M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
  • Empower. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.

Feel free to send Kevin a message here.

Filed Under: My Story

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Max @ Max Out of Pocket says

    January 25, 2020 at 10:46 am

    87K. Nice work.

    I was lucky enough to graduate without any loans. I opted for community college for my first two years. It sucked at the time since all my friends went “away for school” but I am still reaping the benefits of it financially. It definitely didn’t hold my career in healthcare back at all.

    I agree, it certainly motivated me reading about people’s financial journeys when I stumbled across personal finance blog back in 2013. Thanks for sharing.

    Max

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      January 27, 2020 at 12:31 am

      Thanks!

      Reply
  2. Mr. All Things Money says

    September 1, 2016 at 11:53 pm

    Congrats and great job on getting rid of the student loan so quickly and building positive net worth. I wish I had known how to invest intelligently when I got my first real job, but I had to learn the hard way as we didn’t have any financial blogs. Internet was in it’s primitive days.

    Reply
  3. Dividends Down Under says

    July 29, 2016 at 5:36 am

    Congrats on achieving so much in such a short amount of time, keeping that attitude for the rest of your life will do you wonders 🙂

    Also, congrats on the launch with the blog – good luck, it has a nice layout.

    Tristan

    Reply
    • The Financial Panther says

      July 30, 2016 at 2:21 am

      Thanks Tristan!

      Reply
  4. Dollar Engineer says

    July 13, 2016 at 10:57 pm

    FP pretty amazing recovery on your net worth in such a short amount of time, and looking forward to your future posts as well. The site looks great! Simple and easy to read are always a plus.

    Reply
    • Kevin @ Financial Panther says

      July 14, 2016 at 1:49 am

      Thanks Dollar Engineer! Still figuring out the tech side of things, but happy I at least got myself started.

      Reply
  5. zeejaythorne says

    June 30, 2016 at 11:15 pm

    That is really impressive in two years! Congrats on not being stuck in the golden handcuffs. Definitely looking forward to what you’ll be writing about.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      July 11, 2016 at 5:41 am

      Thanks Zeejay! I’m a newbie in the blogging world but trying to figure things out as I go. Big fan of the PF community and I thank you for stopping by!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Close
Side Hustle Income(View Reports)
chart-icon
$166,465
Get exclusive content delivered right to your inbox.
My Reviews
Bank Signup Bonuses (Step-by-Step)
Upgrade Bank Bonus ($200) Raisin Referral Bonus ($200) Ally Bank Bonus ($100) Fairwinds Credit Union Bonus ($175) Chime Bank Bonus ($100) US Bank Biz ($500/900) GO2Bank ($50) Current Bank Bonus ($50) Novo Business Bank Bonus ($40) Varo Bank Bonus ($25)
Other Signup Bonuses
M1 Finance ($100) Webull (20 shares) Moomoo (15 stock shares) SoFi Invest ($25) Arcadia Power ($25)
Side Hustle Reviews
Doordash Uber Eats Grubhub Rover Pet Sitting Wag Dog Walker Shipt Grocery Shopper Airbnb Lime Scooter Charger Observa IVueIt
Most Commented
Popular
  • Insight Card: A Step-By-Step Guide to 5% Interest(690)
  • Netspend Account: 5% Interest Savings and $20 Signup Bonus(680)
  • The Ultimate Guide to Bank Account Bonuses(142)
  • Bird Charger and Lime Juicer – Side Hustling As An Electric Scooter Charger(125)
  • My Postmates Review: Getting Paid To Bike Around Town(78)
  • I Quit My Job – Rejecting The Clear Career Path And Going Out On My Own(76)
  • Barista FIRE: Not Quite Financial Independence, But Pretty Close
  • The Reverse Latte Factor – How You Can Side Hustle Your Way To Financial Independence
  • Where To Get 5% Interest Savings Accounts Now That Insight Is Gone
  • Monetize Your Life And Get Paid To Live
  • The Ultimate Guide to Bank Account Bonuses
  • Over 600,000 Miles Earned In One Year – A Recap Of My First Year of Travel Hacking
Image of hands holding up phones
Personal Finance Blogs logo

Footer

Financial Independence, Side Hustling, and Ebikes

Company
About
Press
Media Kit
Contact

Resources
All Posts
Financial Independence
Side Hustles
Bank Bonuses
Ebikes
Deliveries
Articles

Legal
Privacy Policy
Disclaimer
Affiliate Policy

  • About
  • Blog
  • Side Hustle Reports
  • Best Credit Card Offers
  • Current Money Bonuses
  • 70+ Side Hustle Apps/Gigs
  • Bank Account Bonuses
  • Ebikes
  • Archives

Copyright © 2025 · Genesis Sample on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Financial Panther © 2024 All rights reserved.