3 Ways to Prep Your Finances for the Holidays

The holiday season is a time of meaning, gathering, and giving. There are a couple key money moves you can make early on to make sure that’s the focus, instead of financial stress. Let’s talk about a couple different financial situations many of us face at this time of year, and how to navigate them peacefully!

What Do You Love Most About the Holidays?

When getting ready to make any financial decision, it’s important to check in with your values. Setting up your holiday spending plan is no exception. Take a moment and ask yourself these questions:

  • What do I love most about the holidays?
  • What are my needs and wants for this holiday season?
  • What do I want to make sure I do to enjoy this time of year?

These questions will help you get clear on your financial priorities for holiday spending. Pick a few special things, like donating to a cause you care about, taking your family for a sleigh ride, or getting a perfect gift for someone you love.

Then orient your spending plan so that those things happen, and don’t worry about missing out on the rest. As long as you get to do what’s meaningful to you, you’ve spent your money wisely, right? Going through this process will lead to more life satisfaction and less financial stress when you find it easy to pay your credit card bill come January.

Intentional Giving

Speaking of donating, at this time of year all of us are getting requests to donate to various causes. Keep in mind that you get to be intentional about how you donate. You don’t have to respond to every single request.

Again, this is a great moment to check in with your values and ask, what causes matter most to me? Where would I like to focus my donations to make an impact?

Then, identify how much money you have available to donate, and divvy it up according to your priorities. You might choose to make one large gift to a single organization, or spread your money around between several.

Use Money Tools

Both of the processes I have outlined above can be streamlined by using money tools and systems. If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend going through a process of figuring out what you value most in life and discerning your needs from your wants. I also recommend checking out my series on creating a spending plan and my article, “How to Make Donating Money Way Easier On Your Finances.”All of these money tools can be a huge help to navigate any financial situation, any time of the year!

If you enjoyed this article and want to go through this process with a guide, I offer personal financial coaching sessions for just this purpose. Click here or below to book a free 15-minute Financial Self Care Consultation to see if we can work together to address your needs.

By |2022-12-06T11:55:26-08:00December 6th, 2022|Categories: Financial Clarity, Personal Spending|Tags: , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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How to Create a Spending and Income Plan, Part Two

Welcome back to our series on creating a spending and income plan! This is part two, you can read part one right here. So far we have gotten clear on how much we’re spending and where the money is going, and we’ve also figured out about how much income we’re bringing in. Today, let’s get deeper into the process:

Create Your Plan

Now that you have a clear understanding of your income and expenses, it’s time to put together a plan. There are all kinds of ways to set up a spending plan. My mentor Karen McCall advocates for creating very specific categories.

In Financial Recovery, she lists categories like home, food, gifts, and business/project expenses, but she also lists categories like spiritual growth and self-care, to get you thinking about prioritizing these in both your spending and your life. With information from the previous step and some careful planning, you can create categories and estimate what your spending will be for each during the month ahead. 

Another approach that I sometimes use with people who are very focused on saving, is a set amount for flexible expenses. This method lumps all expenses that aren’t your fixed necessities (rent/mortgage, etc.) and gives you an amount of money to work with for all of them. I don’t necessarily recommend this as a long-term solution, but it can work when you’re getting started or have a savings goal to meet. 

Analyze Your Plan

With a basic plan in place, now is the time to take a look at your estimated income and make sure your plan will work for you. If there’s a shortfall, it’s time to make adjustments. 

Consider how you can alter your spending. How can you cull your spending and lower your expenses while still getting your needs met? At this step it can be valuable to reflect on your values and distinguish your needs from your wants. 

Similarly, at this stage you can ask yourself if it is possible to increase your income to cover the shortfall. This is something worth brainstorming about! 

Stick to Your Plan

Once you have created your and feel certain it will work for the month ahead, put it into action! The best way to do this is by staying in touch with your money and making sure you’re staying on track. 

I highly recommend beginning to do a weekly money check-in if you don’t already. Just 30 minutes out of your week can make a huge difference and help you stick to your carefully-crafted plan. Check out my article 3 Things to Look For During Your Weekly Money Check-In for ideas on how to stay on top of your money. 

Karen McCall also recommends doing a month-end review. During this step, you compare the spending plan you started with at the beginning of the month, to your actual spending during the entire month. Karen writes, “Comparing your planned to your actual spending and earning helps you gain clarity about how the spending-plan process works. This is an opportunity to get to know yourself better and to gain skills that will help you create your spending plans even more effectively.” 

The process outlined here is one that can be done solo or with an accountability partner. I love to work with clients through this process, and encourage you to reach out if you would like to work together! 

By |2022-08-23T14:55:08-07:00August 23rd, 2022|Categories: Financial Clarity, Personal Savings, Personal Spending|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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3 Things to Look For During Your Weekly Money Check-In

One of the best ways to feel better about your money? It’s to check in with it regularly. In my most recent episode of Financial Self Care Friday, I shared how paying attention to our money, rather than ignoring or avoiding it, helps reduce anxiety and fear. In my e-Book, 9 Secrets to Financial Self Care, I’ve shared the importance of weekly “money time”– time where you sit down and check in with your finances.

Now that we’re clear on how important a weekly money check-in is, what do you actually want to look for when you’re doing it? Here are my top 3 suggestions. You can start with these whether you’re checking in on your personal or business finances.

Review Expenses

First off, review your recent expenses that have unfolded since your last money check-in. You want to make sure that everything looks familiar. Watch out for any surprise fees or other charges. This is a good way to catch subscriptions you need to terminate, identity theft, or other concerns.

It’s also good to make sure your expenses are aligned with your spending plan for the month. You might notice your expenses are a little bit over, or a little bit under. That’s important information that can help you make financial decisions the rest of the month.

Look Forward

Next up, look forward to big expenses coming up. Examples of regularly occurring (and often large) expenses include mortgage/rent or credit card payments. There are also periodic expenses, or expenses that occur less than monthly, but are still expected, such as car maintenance, medical bills, etc. Look ahead for the next month and see when these expenses are coming up. Move cash around to different accounts as needed so that you’ll be able to pay when the time comes.

Quick tip: If you haven’t yet automated your bill payments, set aside some time during your weekly money check-in to do that! As long as you feel confident about having money available for auto-pay, this can be a great option to stay organized and avoid late fees.

If you discover at this stage that you have more than enough cash on hand, take some time to consider what to do with it. For example, this is a great opportunity to donate some money or top up a savings account.

Clear Your IOU’s

This last step is particularly important for business finance weekly check-ins, but can also apply to personal finances. Make sure everyone who owes you money has paid their invoices. If not, send a reminder out! This may seem obvious, but sending invoices and reminders regularly is key to keeping a healthy cash flow in your business. Many business owners don’t get to it as regularly as they’d like. By establishing this step as part of your weekly money check-in, you can make sure you’re getting paid more quickly.

Sending a reminder to anyone who owes you money is also a good weekly practice for personal finance check-ins. During this step you can also consider what other opportunities you have to generate some funds. This can be particularly helpful if you noticed during the second step that you’ll need some more cash on hand soon.

If you liked this article, you’ll probably like my free e-Book, 9 Secrets to Financial Self Care. I talk more about creating regular “money time” and how to develop other good financial habits as part of a self care routine. Click here to download.

By |2022-02-24T14:09:36-08:00February 24th, 2022|Categories: Personal Savings, Personal Spending, Small Business, solopreneurs|Tags: , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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Boost Your Happiness By Clarifying Your Lifestyle Costs

Your business exists to support you; to fulfill your needs. If you don’t have a clear picture of what those needs are, it can be difficult for your business to fill them.

That’s why it’s so important to have a clear idea of your lifestyle costs. This gives you a foundation for your income goals. Here, you can clearly see the relationship between your personal and business finances. Below, let’s talk about a couple reasons why getting clear on your lifestyle costs is key.

Set Clear Goals

When you are clear on your lifestyle costs, you’re able to set income goals in your business that reflect how much money you actually need to live a satisfying life. You can make decisions about how much of your lifestyle costs you want/need your business to cover. As your business grows to support you, you gain a sense of fulfillment from running your business, and living an abundant life.

“Fulfillment” is a great destination – figuring out what income number feels like enough to take you there is the important part. Your income goals provide you with a roadmap for your business, so making sure they’re based on covering your needs and wants is paramount.

Create a Solopreneur Paycheck

Your solopreneur paycheck, or owner’s pay, is the result of a finely-tuned money system that connects your business and personal finances. You can create a regular monthly paycheck for yourself, even if you don’t have a regular income. This can be especially helpful for people who go through feast-or-famine cycles in their finances, like performers or realtors.

Money-mapping is a great visualization tool that can help you build a solopreneur paycheck. Understanding your lifestyle costs and how much you want your business to support you will help you start to fill in the blanks.

How Do I Figure Out My Lifestyle Costs?

Ok, you’re sold. You’re ready to figure out how much your lifestyle costs, so you can start incorporating this figure into your business goals. So, how do you figure them out?

I have a couple resources for you! First off, the process of doing this is outlined in How to Tailor Your Income Goals to Your Lifestyle. This process mostly discusses things from a manual, paper-tracking point of view, but I also recommend using money-tracking software if you’re looking for a digital solution. Lastly, if you’re more of an audio/visual learner, you might like to hear what I had to say about how to define your lifestyle costs in last week’s episode of Financial Self Care Friday.

If you enjoyed reading this, you’d probably enjoy my free eBook, 9 Secrets to Financial Self Care. This 12-page e-Book will give you nine different steps to take towards creating a solid financial self care routine.

☮

Angela

Image: Eye for Ebony 

By |2021-10-01T15:08:59-07:00September 24th, 2021|Categories: Personal Savings, Personal Spending, solopreneurs|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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Working on Your Finances is Self Care

Working on Your Finances Is Self Care: At Peace With Money

It’s that time of year: time to make New Year’s resolutions. Many of us are focused on doing better for ourselves. We often resolve to do things like “exercise more consistently,” or “learn new things.” One habit I’m adopting this year is stretching at the end of my daily walk.

These self care habits and regimens are all well and good, but one area that gets overlooked is your finances. This is an unfortunate oversight. Our money is so connected to our quality of life, so if we really want to treat ourselves well, looking after our finances is one of the best things we can do.

If you’re here reading this blog, then you’ve already begun to take the first steps towards working toward financial organization and freedom. Congratulations! This blog is a great resource, and I suggest clicking around on some things that interest you anytime you need a little financial education. One of my favorite posts, “Money Doesn’t Need to Be Scary,” contains a lot of great resources for financial self-education. Give it a whirl!

Working on Your Finances Is Self Care: At Peace With MoneyAs we go into 2019, I’m focusing on this idea of financial organization as self-care. To kick the new year off, I’m releasing a series detailing my top three money moves for financial success this year. These insights are geared towards solopreneurs and intended to help you get on top of your business finances. [Edit: you can read the full series here.]

In the meantime, reflect on your financial state of affairs. Perhaps you’d like to check out my exercise, “Three Steps to Financial Clarity.” This will give you a good snapshot of where you are in your finances and where you’d like to go. If you’d like to talk to someone more in-depth about your business finances, don’t hesitate to schedule a curiosity call. You can also check out my services packages to see if they might help you get on the right track this year.

☮

Angela

Image Sources: Wolfgang Hasselmann,

By |2019-01-08T01:16:45-08:00January 1st, 2019|Categories: Financial Clarity, Money Mindset|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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Book Review: Your Money or Your Life

If you’re looking for a full financial makeover, you’ve just found your inspiration. Vicki Robin, co-author of Your Money or Your Life, is also known as the mother of the FI (Financial Independence) life. She is a talented writer and a renaissance woman in her own right. I was interested in reading her book after hearing her podcast interview with Paula Pant. Though the book was originally published in the 90’s, a fully revised edition was released earlier this year.

Favorite Points

This is a great book if you’re looking for a guide to help you really examine your life and your finances. The book includes lots of thought provoking exercises and insights around leading an intentional life and being intentional with your money. It prompts you to go through your beliefs around money with a fine-tooth comb, and includes a lot of advice and guidance for doing so. One such nugget of wisdom is the mantra “no shame, no blame.” Vicki brings this up when asking us to examine our financial pasts. This is very important advice for anyone trying to remake their financial life. We can’t change our financial pasts, but Your Money or Your Life Book Review: At Peace With Moneywe don’t need to stew and feel bad about them. The best thing we can do is move on and take action to enhance our financial futures. This mantra helps us remember that instead of being distracted by our past mistakes, we should look forward and act now. 

Included above is another nugget of wisdom. The chart indicates the sweet spot our finances can allow us to live in without letting our jobs and our need for income control us. This is marked by the top of the chart labeled “enough.” The writers explain that to achieve FI, we need to find our own “enough” zone, a place where our financial needs are sustainable and satisfying. In our culture of material excess, this is a very profound point. This insight alone can easily revolutionize your financial outlook!

I definitely recommend taking a good deal of time to read this book and do the steps. It is chock-full of information. Especially if you’re new to the world of FI, each chapter takes a while to absorb. Don’t let that intimidate you! With serious commitment, this book can change your financial life. If it sounds intriguing, please check it out. I also recommend having a look at the book’s website, it includes a lot of other helpful tools and resources if you want to get started!

☮

Angela

Image Sources: Free in Ten Years, Your Money or Your Life

By |2018-10-22T23:56:47-07:00October 22nd, 2018|Categories: Financial Clarity, Money Mindset, Personal Savings, Personal Spending|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |1 Comment
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What’s Your Money Mantra?

What's Your Money Mantra? At Peace With Money

When I see the words “money mantra,” I am instantly a little skeptical.

People often confuse money mantras with affirmations – statements like “money comes easily and abundantly to me.” There is nothing wrong with affirmations, but they are not the same as money mantras.  Affirmations are what you intentionally tell yourself for 5 minutes in the morning as you get ready for your day. You may or may not repeat them for the rest of the day.

In contrast, your money mantra is what your actual belief is throughout the day as you make money and life decisions. Think of it as your guiding principle in financial matters. It is rooted deeply in your belief system and affects all your money decisions, big and small. 

My Money Mantra

I uncovered my mantra almost instantly: “having money in the bank gives me choices.” I think this mantra even helped me come up with my business name; having choices gives me a sense of peace. This statement is a basis for my daily decision making process and in my plans for the future. If I say “no” to one decision I can say “yes” to something else. Being able to choose what to say “yes” to is important to me. I want to able to say “yes” to making charitable donations, to supporting artists, to paying for my daughters college, to my husband retiring early.

DIY Money Mantra

What's Your Money Mantra? At Peace With Money

You can discover your own money mantra by investigating your beliefs around money. Do a little soul searching and ask yourself some questions about your positive and negative thoughts and ideas around finance. This list of 20 questions should help get you started.

This activity can be done solo, or with a money buddy or partner! Once you’ve investigated your beliefs, some positive statements that you can use as your mantra may start to pop up. If you find you don’t have a lot of positive beliefs around money, do some digging to find a mantra that feels true enough for you that you can start operating with it on a daily basis. Incorporate it into your money decisions and see if you can track your progress. Make sure your mantra is guiding you in the financial direction you desire. I desire choices – what do you want from your money?

A money mantra simplifies financial decisions and helps you create a personal financial philosophy. Uncovering one is in itself a helpful process that can help bring financial clarity to your life. Happy soul-searching! May peace be with your money. If you’re finding you need some financial guidance with your business finances, check out my services page or schedule a discover call.

☮

Angela

Image Sources:  Thought Catalog ,  Diego PH

By |2018-11-08T20:11:58-08:00September 17th, 2018|Categories: Financial Clarity, Money Mindset, Personal Savings, Personal Spending|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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