So in Part 1 of 3, we started to dig in to better Understand our money.
To do this, you actually start by first understanding your own reactions to money by looking at your emotional triggers (you know, when something doesn’t go your way with money and you have a 4-year-old reaction like someone took away your favorite toy) AND then second, what not taking action is really costing you.
I started here because that is what most people want:
To better manage their money so that money can stop feeling like a burden and start feeling easier. (Literally, I have a whole program on this called Making Money Easy.)
And often, people are making this whole money thing more complicated than it needs to be.
But before we go any further, I need to be sure of one important thing…
You can identify what about money you are avoiding.
When I started helping people with their personal finances back in 2007, people thought I was out of my mind.
(A few friends and colleagues basically had an intervention for me 6 months into officially starting my business to voice their skepticism. It was rough!)
The savings rate was negative and the economy was going strong — which meant spending was up and paying attention to their money wasn’t happening.
But when it all came crashing down, guess who was on the 5:00pm news here in Boston on October 3, 2008 (the day of the $700 billion federal bailout)?
Yes that was me on interview day — the TV crew came to my home office!
Part of why I enjoyed teaching about personal finance was my complete empathy for all those who would rather do just about anything else besides look at their money, yes even deep clean the house for example…
Whether you are an avoider, have trouble believing in your own worth, or just never learned how to get a real handle on your money, I get it.
I know what it’s like to feel alone because of money. Like I must be the only one putting off my money and everyone else must know what they’re doing.
Feeling so successful in other areas, and yet each bill and pile that went ignored was one more reminder that I was failing and my money chaos was running the show. I was a closet avoider and a real money mess.
I finally broke free of the patterns and took control over my money – and it’s possible for you too.
No one really wants to look at their money — in their business or personally.
But what do they want…?
What looking at their money will give them.
Things like…
* Your marriage stays together because money is no longer a source of frustration and fighting. * Or on the flip side, you have the freedom to get out of a relationship that wasn’t working because of your own “F-you” money * You bought — or are building — that dream house, or can refinance the one you have * You have the cash to buy that new car the moment you need to * You can take that bucket list vacation when the world fully opens up again * You opened up that savings account and love the automatic deposits you’re making every month * Your family is happy and healthy while money is helping to fund your goals and the lifestyle you want.
Dreams are happening right before my eyes. (It gives me goose-bumps.)
But what so many miss is that it simply starts with really, truly understanding your money.
If money feels like a riddle you just can’t solve.
Or too daunting to take on.
Or if you want to be more confident but you don’t know where to start (so you keep avoiding your money and putting off your goals), then you know exactly how important this step is.
Some of you said you opened your bank account for the first time in months without needing to pay a credit card bill and some of you already found money just from looking closer at your accounts! Like Cheryl who messaged me:
The next habit I want you to start doing every week/ month is tracking your money.
Before you worry this is going to be a cumbersome task — it’s okay, we’re going to split it up!
Today, I want you to do these 3 quick things.
Decide where you are going to track your money. This is going to be something like Quickbooks, Wave, or even a robust spreadsheet. (If you already have an accounting platform set up, you’ve got this step handled!)
Put a time block for 15-30 minutes in your calendar every week. You can call it something like “Money Date” and plan to sit down every week with a warm beverage and get on top of your income and expenses, or even just review the categories from your bookkeeper.
Gather all your invoices + receipts from the past month into 1 spot for faster input/ review during your first calendar time block.
Helpful tip — if you get most of your invoices/receipts emailed to you, create a specific folder in your email inbox to store everything until you can go in once a week and add it to your tracker.
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