Let’s Talk About Money

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MONEY. It’s a touchy subject. If I’m going to be completely honest with you guys, I haven’t always had the best relationship with my finances. As much as I’d love to blame my parents or teachers (why don’t we learn about saving money in school???), it’s 100000% my fault. Not to bore you with the details but in the spirit of full disclosure, I’ve struggled with everything from embarrassing credit card debt to horrible tracking for my business to complete confusion with taxes to overdraft fees and more. It happens so the best of us but I’m here to tell ya, you can overcome!

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m no money wiz. There are still times that I charge a little extra something to my credit card that I shouldn’t or I spend money that should be going into my savings on a flight to somewhere pretty instead. BUT, 97% of the time I feel like I’m making way better decisions when it comes to my money and I feel like I’ve finally found a good balance between living that YOLO life and that full-on #adulting life.

What I’m about to share is in no way a guide to mastering your finances. It is, however, a list of some of the things that have worked for me. I’ve learned a few things along the way that have helped me build a better relationship with money so why not share with my fellow girl bosses out there.

1. Get Yourself a Money Guy (or girl): Whether it’s someone to help with taxes or bounce questions off of, it’s SO helpful to have an accountant in your back pocket at all times. The girl who does my taxes is a true life saver but I don’t just hit her up during tax season. Now that I run two businesses and get paid a little differently than a salaried employee, I tend to have lots and lots and lots of questions. Let’s be real. Google doesn’t cut it but she totally does. Having someone in your corner to help offer some guidance when it comes to your money is crucial for getting on the right track.
2. Invest, but Not in That Wolf on Street Kind of Way: This is something extremely new to me so I’m definitely still learning. But towards the end of 2017, I started doing more research on investing in stocks and working with a financial planner. We’re still building out my portfolio but it’s been such an interesting experience learning about the right types of risk and investments that make sense for me. I’m also starting to appreciate the whole idea of letting my money make money and that’s something that 100% makes sense.
3. Keep Track of How You Keep Track: This one is more for my business owners and working creatives out there. Every single year tax time rolls around, I get completely flustered because I am horrible at keeping track of receipts and expenses. At the start of 2018, I decided not only to try and use just my business card for blog/business related expenses but to use Wave Apps to keep track of everything digitally. You can sync your bank account and import all charges – and then sort them by category. It’s amazing. You can also use the platform to send and keep track of invoices so having that one platform to do it all is a lifesaver. I am currently looking into Quickbooks as well and will report back once I have some things to share!
4. Your Budget Should Break Down to $0: Wait, what?? My monthly budget for expenses is broken down all the way to $0. This means I build in my general/necessary expenses like rent, utilities, business expenses, etc. but also include how much should go to savings and how much I’d spend on misc things like travel, going out to eat, shopping. This means you should be giving yourself a budget for EVERYTHING. Now, random things might pop up but if it’s recreational, pull that from the MISC pile. Once I started doing this, I was to actually start saving but still fun. It helped me create a balance between my spending and also acquire some better budgeting skills which are definitely needed as I start to save for a future.

Do you guys swear by any tips & tricks to get your money where it needs to be? Sound off below because your girl still needs ALLLL the help.