Recently I was watching Sex and the City and as a thirty-something trying to do her best to run a business, live life and prepare for the future I found myself adding up the outfit changes and designer pieces, the apartment and meals, not to mention the taxis.
Sure, I don’t know much about living in NYC, but I know what everyone knows. Something doesn’t add up here, financially. With all this money was being spent on clothes, what happens next? With her money right where she likes it, in her closet, I couldn’t help but wonder, was Big Carrie’s retirement plan all along?
Was marrying money her only plan to take care of herself in her retirement years? And, after years of working for myself, with very little super to show for it, am I relying on the same plan? Though I’m very happy with the husband I have, so maybe the marry rich ship has sailed. Haha. But I’m talking about the STRIKE IT RICH retirement plan. The one where it doesn’t matter what I do and spend now, one day I’ll be rich (through marriage, inheritance or luck) and it will all be fine. It doesn’t exactly sound like a safe bet, does it?
Women and Superannuation in Australia, let’s talk about that.
It makes you think, right? Especially given that stats say 44% of women rely on their partner’s income as the main source of funds for retirement. (the study does not distinguish the sex of the partner). Half of all women aged 45 to 59 have $8,000 or less in their superannuation funds, compared to $31,000 for men (source articles linked below). Let’s break that down a bit.
This shortfall is due to a number of factors including providing care for children, being paid less for work they do and increased levels of working part-time and therefore being below contribution minimums. An estimated 220,000 women miss out on $125 million of superannuation contributions as they do not meet the requirement to earn $450 per month (before tax) from one employer (as many women work more than one part-time job).
I’m not an expert, by any means.
Living in the regional area that I do, with a mother who sold real estate, buying a house was one of the first things I ever did with my money. Chalk that one up to privilege in so many ways. And during my relationship with Kel, there have been times that we were able to own multiple properties at once.
Ultimately, retirement for me right now looks like paying off my house then trying to save as much as possible when I’m done. That’s not advice, but the way, I’m not in any way a professional or in a position to offer advice to you. It’s the reality of my current position. And I’m one of the lucky ones in the sense that I have a home and I’m in a position where I have the means to pay off that home.
For now anyway. What if the worst happens?
Something that women in my position, myself included, need to consider is what we would do if we lost our partner through death or divorce. Especially if that partner happens to be an income-earning male. What happens then? All the articles I read recommended getting quality advice from an accredited professional that you can trust (my brother is a financial advisor, talk about the best of both worlds).
Next is to start saving super early especially if you are able to co-contribute or increase the standard rate. This is where good advice comes in so handy, take your payslips or latest tax return and get advice on how and where you can increase your superannuation savings. Recent statistics show that the gender pay gap is currently at 17.2%, which means females only earn 83 cents for every dollar earned by males so we need to make what we have stretch longer.
And keep in mind, those statistics are based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Cat. No. 6302.0, Average Weekly Earnings – Trend data, February 2011 (released 19.05.11); there are plenty of women, including black women, women of colour and trans women who these figures are even worse for. Whenever and wherever you can safely ask for that raise, support your fellow workers to do the same and call out these inequalities when you see them.
Lastly, it’s important you choose the right fund for you, your income type and how you plan to contribute to your super. I can give you the right answer here, but again, that’s where good advice can come in. It’s also important to consider the type of places your money will be invested and whether that fits with your principles.
My final thoughts
Phew, that was a big one. This post was rolling around in my head for a while and I needed to share it. Mostly because I know that a lot of you are in the same position as me where you are working for yourself, part-time or are in the position where you are caring for others or yourself and not earning an income outside of the home. We are often overlooked in the conversations around retirement and saving money. I didn’t want this blog to be another place that happened.
So, team, I hope this gives you some food for thought and a kick in the bum if, like me, you need it. So, I’ll end this post there, but remember what my mum used to always say if you marry for money and you’ll earn every cent. We need to be standing on our own feet when it comes to the financial aspects of our lives as much, if not more, than in other areas. Financial security is the ultimate freedom, in my opinion, so let’s work together and develop that muscle together.
Some links to read about women and superannuation in Australia
Facing up to the things you fear, financially, can go a long way towards changing your mindset around making money, saving money and spending money. Before I left my job and started back working for myself full-time, I decided to tackle all the weird feelings I had about money. Why? Because I didn’t want to find myself down the track and dealing with the same problems I’ve always dealt with.
And that’s what I want you to take away from this blog post. After reading this, maybe you’ll be able to see something in your own attitude towards money that you’ve never seen before. Wouldn’t that be great? To make a shift and have some freedom in this area? Maybe you’ll see some new ways to think about managing your money or the ways you have always gotten in your own way.
For me, my fears around money are related to scarcity or not having enough. Even when I’m doing well I worry that it is temporary. What comes from this is a bunch of avoidance, a tendency to overspend and some bad money habits that really haven’t served me. In my experience, I find that most of us fall into this camp in some way or another. Other money fears usually fall into the not worthy or money is evil categories. All of these attitudes to money are fear-based, and they don’t serve you.
A little about my story with managing money
First up for me when it came to managing my money, was ignoring the basics. Things like not spending more than you earn and budgeting systems to automate your spending on the expected bills. It all felt so restrictive and grown-up, which sounds silly to say now, but that’s how I felt. I was plain old, no excuses about it, irresponsible with money. I didn’t want to do better. Like a cat always landing on my feet, I had always found a way to figure it out. So, I spent money without caution and until I’d fulfilled my prophecy of not having enough. I took jobs with poor conditions and hours because it was the least work possible for the money. I never knew how much was in my account, using credit cards I didn’t know the rates or terms of and generally being irresponsible with money.
It wasn’t my fault, I said, I don’t know what I’m doing.
But this type of thinking is just a way to avoid being responsible. There are very few of us out here without a financial education lacking in at least a few of the basics. Maybe you grew up with too much or too little. Maybe your parents thought you were better off figuring it out as you went or they just didn’t have the skills themselves. In the end, we have to do the work to manage money in a way that is healthy and serves us. That’s on us. And, Melissa, ignoring it or pretending it doesn’t exist is not the way.
Then there was scarcity thing that I mentioned above. I’ve always hated saving up to buy something or saving at all. So, credit card debt wasn’t far behind me. Instead of saving, I’d charge it and worry about paying it later. Patience, it seems, comes when you have a sense that there is more coming and you will get the things you want. Not doing that was all part of the story about not having enough, I would resist putting money aside because what if there wasn’t enough!?
It’s a funny thing to consider that my way of coping with not having enough or feeling like what I had wasn’t enough was to spend more. I’m sure I’m not the only one, I think when you feel constrained you want freedom. That’s just the way it goes. When you feel lack, you want to experience (even for a moment) abundance. But in the end, it’s a false economy. Believing that you never have enough, when realistically with some forethought, you do, is a symptom. Think of overdrawn or late fees, the added interest of credit or the pressures of outstanding payments. All symptoms of not facing reality, in my circumstances. A product of bad planning.
Not even multitudes of blog posts on the topic or successes, followed by failures would be enough for me. I wrote about the time we paid off all our credit card debt but followed it shortly after with a post about getting your shit sorted. Why? Because in the short time after paying off those cards, we stopped doing everything we knew worked and went a little rogue. Not ideal. But also, very human. I’m pretty sure that good financial fitness might be a bit like dieting in that it either never ends or if the program is flawed you’ll never succeed.
Needing money is something we can’t avoid. We might as well find a way to get along.
I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned over the years is that sometimes there is genuinely not enough. That making ends meet is difficult if not impossible and the only way out is to earn more. That sort of situation, once lived, makes you realise the conditions in which we expect those living on government pensions to live is far from ideal. Be kind to yourself. Sometimes a story about money is just a story and sometimes it’s not. Sometimes there isn’t enough. And I really wanted to acknowledge that.
In those circumstances, no amount of pay yourself first b.s. will help you. It’s oversimplified to say that people either find a way to earn more or you find a way to spend less. Life is complicated. Pensions, grants and scholarships are complicated. Not everyone earns money like you do, in the way you do, don’t assume you know. That’s why facing your financial fears is so personal. Managing your money in a way that is healthy and sustainable is personal. Don’t let me or anyone else tell you otherwise.
Because, in the end, whatever it is that you’re dealing with there will be patterns. You may be the only person who can see them for what they are. When it comes time to do the work, look for them. Look for the things you’ve done over and over again that keep showing up. For me? It was failing to set aside what I needed to for the big ones. Things like tax, rates, registrations and even electricity. I was avoiding it hard. All fuelled by the same story that there was never enough. It was ignoring incoming bills or avoiding knowing what was in my bank now and coming in the future. For you, it may look different. I’m almost certain of that. But look for those patterns. Find them and
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Heading into this post about how to own your own home sooner I checked in with some of the people around me. Some are homeowners. Some give advice on borrowing money or purchasing property for a living. BUT, you should consider your own personal situation before taking on any of this advice. This is general information at best and does not form any sort of financial plan. Got that? Awesome, let’s talk owning your own home sooner.
There has been a lot of talk in the media in Australia about how hard it is to save for your first home and how it’s an endless struggle. As someone who purchased their first home really young, my personal experience of this is certainly different to those in major cities or without the privileges of being raised by real estate agency owners… I mean, politicians with millions of dollars in family money and pensions telling us to lay off the avocado toast is laughable.
Come oooonnnnn. *facepalm*
This fascination with real estate, the great Australian dream, has pushed prices up and up for decades. My first home was $115,000. You can still buy a generous home in my town for $300,000. But, that’s a long way from where we started, right? Some people pay one hundred thousand dollars for a car. Not me, but some people. Buying your own home, having something to show for your hard work (post-loan payments) is one of those tick the box, living the grown-up life boxes; for most people. And if that’s the case for you, I decided to put together a few ideas for ways to move your savings/deposit amounts forward to get you there sooner.
Simple ways to own your first home sooner.
State-based Grants.
Most states have some incentive to help first home buyers get into the market and being state-based they all differ slightly. The one that catches my eye the most (given I live in the state, relevant) is the Queensland government one.
Currently named Queensland First Home Owners Grant you may be eligible to receive up to $20,000 from the State government towards buying a brand new home or building one. This is particularly interesting to keep in mind if you compare the purchase price of 2 different properties one old and one new for the similar price you would be crazy not to do some extra sums to see if you’re better off with a brand new house potentially you designed yourself to suit your exact needs.
Are you currently renting and struggling to save the deposit you need. Have a happy parent gift you a 5% deposit or use their property as additional security? It may be worth talking to a Mortgage Broker about which banks have a Rental History policy to get around the need to show genuine savings. Just because your bank requires you to save a 5% deposit (or more) before considering you for lending doesn’t mean all bank have the same requirement.
I had a friend recently who was told by their bank a specific “in house” rule was a government rule when clearly to an experienced investor that just wasn’t the case. Remember you are the customer when it comes to loans. YOU are buying their services. Shop around. Don’t give loyalty to your bank for free. Expect more from them.
Consider your options.
For me, owning my first home was possible because I lived in a rural area where my income was pretty in line with what I was going to have to pay for my house repayments. It was also around 2001, grain of salt. When you’re considering your options for buying a property for you to live in, it might require you to downsize your essentials list a little. And I’m not saying you’re unreasonable, there is no millennial bashing here. Take a look at your wish list, are there things there you could live without? Or is there a less ‘trendy/expensive’ area you could live your life in that doesn’t cost as much?
Superannuation savings scheme
This was first flagged in the budget last year, and it has finally come into effect (or at least more info now provided). From the 1st July 2017, You now can add extra to your super (on top of what your employer must put in) as a way to save money for your first home deposit. You can put a maximum of $30,000 (maximum $15,000 per year) into your superannuation towards your first home.
After 1st July 2018 withdraw this money as well as the “shortfall interest” (which is a not too shabby, currently 4.72%) it has earned to put towards the purchase of your first home. Obviously, there are rules around this and best to talk to a financial planner about your specific situation. But this may be a way to save for your first home and lower the amount of tax you pay at the same time. Win-win.What a great place to save your deposit rather than in a bank account. Especially if you’re like me and prone to spending ALL the monies.
Bonus for the kids.
Plus, a person under 18 can start to make the superannuation contributions too. They can’t apply for the money to be released until they are 18 years of age but that works, right? I bought my first home not long after my 18th birthday, with a savings plan and my parent’s connections. Not something that everyone has access to, obviously. But THIS savings scheme is a great way to get your kids interested in saving for their first property, their super and what is happening to it long before they’ll even miss that money.
There you go, team. Obviously, all of this is just to bring you some great options for owning your own home sooner. You should take into account your own personal financial situation before committing to any sort of savings or financial plan. I’m here to direct you towards something you might not know, not provide a one size fits all answer. Got it? Awesome. I’d love to hear from you how you’re going about saving for your first home? Or if you’re in there, what was it like for you? What did it take?
I first heard about Acorns (now Raiz) towards the end of last year. In a conversation about travel, savings and money with my friend, Olivia it came up. Liv is an avid traveler and no year is complete for her until an adventure has been had. To manage this lifestyle with her life and current adult responsibilities, she has become a super-saver.
I am not a super-saver; I am a super-spender.
With her guidance I set up the app and hey presto, I’m making process. I’m on my way to reforming some of my super-spender ways. I at least have some savings. It makes for a nice change. It occurred to me that you could be in the same boat so let’s have a chat, shall we?
{disclaimer: This post is NOT sponsored or in any way affiliated with the app. As far as financial advice goes, I don’t know your situation or your savings goals, so consider this advice of a general nature. Do what works for you and your situation. Results may vary, because that’s a thing they say}.
What is Acorns?
Acorns is an app, but behind that it’s an investment account. Your money is invested in “portfolios constructed using ETFs quoted on the Australian Securities Exchange”. It’s not just a savings account, your Acorns account is an investment account. Meaning there are risks.
And it’s an investment account, some days you are up, some days you are down. At one point my account had generated over $5, a few weeks later it was $2. As with all investments there are risks dependent upon the performance of the markets, interest rates and the economy. I treat it like an easy way to put aside money, any increases from dividends or gains are a bonus.
How does it work?
Predominately I use the app to do automatic ‘Round Ups’ of my spending. It will take transactions on any of my linked accounts and round them up to the nearest dollar, investing the difference into my Acorns account. I love this idea, as Liv said when she first showed me the app, you don’t even miss it.
After using the app for a month, I started a $5 reoccurring investment. That just means that every week it would take $5 from my funding account (you select one account to draw all the funds for Acorns from). Since then I’ve increased it to $10 a week. This has been an easy way to bump up the amount of money going into the account. And I figure, $10 a week for 52 weeks of the year is $520. Not much, but more than I managed to save for no other reason than to save than last year.
Some people have asked me why I didn’t just use a high interest savings account. I get that. For some people, a high interest savings account would absolutely be a better option. {reminder: I don’t know your situation, you have to make up your own mind} I’ve never once successfully saved anything in a high interest saver. It’s not automated in most cases and I find it too easy to withdraw and spend from it like a normal transaction account. That said, guaranteed interest is a win that Acorns doesn’t offer. My money is invested, the return {if any} is not guaranteed.
If you join using this link, we will both get $2.50 when you use my invite code. This is something available to all app users once your account is approved. Not, as I mentioned before by arrangement with Acorns. If you’re not comfortable with that, feel free to just search for the app on iTunes or in the Google Play store.
Today I come to you with a little bit of advice and a wee bit of a cautionary tale, my friends. I want to talk about money and why we as women need to know what’s happening with our money; everything from where it’s going to who has it.
Women end up with less superannuation, fewer leave entitlements and comparatively less overall wealth than their male counterparts, and that is just not good enough. Unless your plan is to become the next Beyonce, you need to consider what you are going to do to make sure YOU have enough to manage your retirement or before then, support your family.
First, I will start with the usual disclosure. You are responsible for the financial decisions you make, I am not a professional financial adviser, nor do I know your personal situation. Please make your own enquiries to see if any of these suggestions will work for you. With that done, let’s start.
I haven’t always managed my money well, sometimes it’s been all kinds of ordinary. Heck, there have been times that I didn’t have any money to manage. I’ve been behind on tax returns, forgotten to pay bills that have led to disconnection and maxed out my credit cards with the best of them. It’s undoubtedly not Scrooge McDuck piles of gold around here.
But I’ve learnt a few things along the way that I thought might help and figured, reminding myself wouldn’t hurt either. These habits aren’t purely related to personal finances; they are related to your business too. So let’s do this together and plan a better future for ourselves, our families and our businesses.
Start to save and be ruthless.
Every time I get myself into some financial difficulty, I make myself promises about saving more for a rainy day. Saving only ever occurs to me as necessary when I am drenched with an umbrella turned inside out and useless. My challenge to us all is to save now and save whenever you have the chance; 5% of what you earn is a modest amount, most guides recommend 10%.
Putting money aside is a practice we all need to get into more, living pay-day to pay-day makes us feel like we have no options, are trapped and smoother whatever creativity we are hoping to have. When you have no savings for a rainy day or to invest in your education and advancement, you are at the control of someone else. Pretty much anyone else. Sound like a good enough reason to stop doing that? Me too.
Don’t touch your savings unless it’s to invest.
If you are one of those people who can always manage to put aside a few hundred dollars, maybe even a few thousand before an emergency happens and wipes it all clean, you need another account. You need a savings account, and another “the sky is falling” account.
The purpose of your savings account is to collect interest, making sound investments or investing in your education. Your “the sky is falling” account is for those rainy days when you need to pay for your dog’s vet bills, replace your refrigerator or pay for half a fence your neighbour is insisting on. It’s a little more loosely qualified what you can spend it on. Anything goes as long as you don’t wipe yourself out.
If you use credit cards, do it properly.
Some of the wealthiest people I know live by swiping their credit cards. They buy everything from groceries to paying their electricity account on their credit card. The difference is that at the end of the month they pay off the balance, IN FULL. How often do you do that?
I’m not sure I’ve EVER done that.
The idea is that you put your weekly, fortnightly, or monthly payments into an account and drawdown what you need to pay back the amount on the credit card at the end of the month. If you’re living within your means, this shouldn’t be a problem, right?
That’s the real issue; most of us are not living within our means, we buy those consumer items we don’t need. Whether we do that to make ourselves feel good or because they’re so pretty, and we can’t wait to save our pennies to have them. It’s not good enough to be blunt about it, and if you feel like you can’t operate in this way with your credit cards, it’s time to cut them up. Check out this post about how we managed to pay down our credit cards that I wrote earlier.
Get advice from someone who knows what they are doing.
My brother is a financial planner and mortgage broker, so when I was writing this article, I spoke with him about a couple of reference points and what I’d planned to discuss. While I knew I’d have the disclosure at the top, I still wanted the information to be as accurate and informative as it could be. So thanks, Dean boy, I appreciate the help.
I went to him because he trains hard, he knows what it is like to raise a young family while continuing to plan for their future and manage their finances but still allowed them to ‘live’ without paying for it later. I trust him to advise me as someone who knows stuff and lives by example. Mostly {I couldn’t resist, big sisters have long memories – HA}. You should do the same.
If you know someone who manages their own money well, ask them for advice. If you don’t know anyone or it turns out the people you know are actually just keeping up with the Jones’, then there are professional out there ready, willing and able to give you advice. For a fee. I am told that the first consultation is often free. You won’t get specific information, but you will be able to discuss your concerns and questions with the financial planner and get an idea for their fees.
It’s important to remember that most financial planners WILL be making a commission from someone, somewhere; banks, superannuation providers and insurance companies. To a good planner, it will take second place to tailor a plan that will work for you and your goals. If you get that sales pitch vibe, get out of there. You must select someone with a good reputation, which can provide quality relatively unbiased advice and someone who you are comfortable with.
Sometimes the best advice you can receive is from people you don’t know personally.
Wealth creation books are everywhere, and there are strategies to suit every person. Why no dip your toe in the water by reading a book or two on the subject and start seeking advice from some of the world’s wealthiest men and women? Consultations with these people may be well out of your price range, but books, second-hand, new or iBooks are relatively cheap, take charge and give yourself the best advice out there.
When looking for great financial advice, ideas to create more money and stop repeating the same mistakes, I like to draw from sources all over the place. But only ever from people who know what it is to have money in the bank, to prepare for your financial future and who are committed to the same end goal as you. Choose wisely, the advice is only as good as the person giving it.
Budget like you’ve never budgeted before
If you are reading all this and thinking that there is not an inch to move. You’re stuck between what you can earn right now and what you spend; your expenses are fixed, and it’s overwhelming. The time has come to start a budget. Knowledge is power, and the sooner you know where your money is coming from and going to the sooner you can make changes.
Open your bank statements and start now by entering everything you have spent for the month there. If you’re like me, most of your spending is via EFTPOS or direct deposit, so this is a great place to get started. Have a column for money in and money out, the date and how much.
Then start collecting your receipts.
Weekly or at the end of the month enter those receipts, finish your bank statement information, and you’ll have a comprehensive snapshot of what you are spending. If you want to get REALLY nerdy (I did, oh my I did) add totals columns to add up categories like phone, electricity, rent/mortgage, spending, clothes, insurances, etc. By doing this, you’ll be able to see the breakdown of your money and the areas it’s being spent.
There’s no use putting all this together if you then don’t make a plan to reduce your spending, increase your savings and know where your money is going. Start to draw out your spending, clothing or entertainment money every month, and once it’s gone, it’s gone.
I’ve successfully budgeted in one period of my life, and it was an empowering feeling.
We did it to reduce our credit card and personal debt as quickly as possible while managing mortgages and other expenses incurred with new businesses. It was hard work to start with but as I got into the swing of thing, set up my regular direct debits and let them go and limited what I spent weekly on ‘other’ items there was money left over. Not much, but a smidgen.
Take a look and see what you can find out for yourself. Make a plan around what you learn that will bring you closer to achieving your savings or investment goals.
Clean up your act.
The thing I struggle with most is knowing what I have coming in and going out, managing payments and keeping on top of my data entry, filing and by extension, my taxes. If you’re like me the time to clean up your act is now. Is your area clean and clear and manageable? If you don’t have a small space to work with to consider things like your budget, your payments and such things, then you need to create one.
Are you having problems managing your paperwork?
My accountant advises that I keep a folder on or near my desk split by dividers into months and a hole punch. As I pay bills, send invoices and collect receipts they go immediately into that folder. Even monthly is way ahead of where I am now. It means all those things are there when it comes time to put my tax together.
Is it time to clear the air?
Have you got a debt hanging over your head or a bill to pay? Maybe you owe the tax department a return or two? Get in and tackle those sooner rather than later. I had a mentor once who told me that money never hangs around people who can’t be trusted for long. Restore your integrity and get your house in order and you will be surprised what will show up.
Did you get all that? It’s about taking the time to clean house; clearing a path to live the sweet life free from worries and stress. Sure it looks impossible now (maybe that’s just me?) but there is room for us to move here. Space to take control of the lives we live. To breath because you don’t have these concerns about money and how to manage it hanging over your head. Start today. I know I am.
I was sitting behind my laptop buying some things, paying some bills and dreaming. Not of a simple life or even simplifying my life. I was dreaming about having the means to be able to buy anything I wanted. Certainly, those boots I was talking about in this post were on the list. I imagined what it would feel like to have no limits when it came to having the ‘things’ you wanted. Ponder that for yourself for a bit, I’ll wait. IT’s a fine old fantasy, right? Delicious.
For most of us buying and having things costs us our time and energy in the form of a job or two. Some find a way to generate income free from work, some win it and other inherit it. It made me wonder though what it is that I needed that would have me work longer, harder, more. Is there any one thing that would make me work longer hours, for more money, than I do?
And I vote no.
Nope.
No way.
No thanks.
A lot of people wonder about us, how we can afford for me to work part-time and blog. How Hubby was able to start a new business after working full full-time hours before that. But mostly they wonder why we don’t want MORE stuff. Bigger better cars, fancier things, maybe a new couch for example. I DO want that. I want that so bad. But I’m getting distracted.
You see we chose life and our lifestyle over having more things, more money and more stress. In a lot of ways, we downsized our life. We cut the fat and made it possible by tightening our belts for a little while to enjoy the freedoms we do now. We simplified our lives. It took us about 12-18 months on two good incomes to get in the position we were in when we took the leap.
But let me help you out and give you a few tips that you can start doing today whether you plan to simplify your life, cut the fat and get on with living sometime soon. Especially if you gave wistfully off into the distance imagining Friday every Monday morning. Start now, take the leap later. Start moving into position like a chess piece. Are you ready? Let’s talk about that.
We cut all unnecessary bills like phone add ons we never used or additional television channels. We cancelled magazine subscriptions {hello internet} and made sure we had the best deals possible on the things we needed to have like insurances and phones etc.
We saved for a rainy day and maintain that account when that rainy day comes. There’s always another rainy day, am I right? We let nothing get in our way and by we I mean Hubby, he’s the super saver. Me? Not so much.
We stopped buying things we didn’t need. That includes food {who else wastes a lot of food throwing it out at the end of the week?}, clothes and all sorts of gadgets and things. You will be surprised how much you MAY be spending on all these extras that are forgotten shortly after. Cut the waste people.
Tracked our spending for a month or two and REALLY learn where you are spending your money and how much of the money you are spending is pointless consuming. Start to cut the fat here by either limiting mindless spending or setting limits to ‘spending’ money.
And finally, we got really clear on how much we would need at a minimum to live our lives comfortably but having the lifestyle we enjoy. This allowed us a target for our business, for my part-time income and consulting. Once we hit that we knew we were doing it and let go of the reins.
And well would you look at that! This whole post started out as pondering of the things I’d love to buy, the beautiful shiny things and we ended up here. Do you know why that is? Because as I look at the most recent Kardashian wedding, when I see extravagance and wistfully sigh at how lovely it must be to have all that and more, I am quick to remember that I crave a simple life really. A new handbag or custom made dress isn’t going to make me happy for long.
Instead, I choose to fill my life up with living. What about you?
And no judgement here. We have been on both sides of the fence and enjoyed both. I’m just curious. Are you working hard for the money and enjoying the spoils of your riches or are you kicking back way out of the fast lane and soaking up the simple things in life?
Today I come to you with a little bit of advice and a wee bit of a cautionary tale, my friends. I want to talk about money and why we as women need to know what’s happening with our money; everything from where it’s going to who has it.
