I’m gonna learn to be more financially responsible tomorrow 😏
Does that sound familiar or like some version of a story you’ve told yourself again (and again and again)?
Let me be honest.
1. You’re procrastinating.
2. I totally get why you’re procrastinating.
I procrastinated writing this post. I was nervous! Nervous I wouldn’t have anything good to say. Nervous nobody would read it. Nervous it wouldn’t matter. That’s what humans do — we procrastinate out of fear. If you’re procrastinating getting your financial shit together, it’s probably because you’re scared and if you’re scared you really gotta know that it is so not your fault that you’re scared. As women, we’re raised inside of a society that primes us to feel fear around money and to think that if we don’t have our PhD in finance or econ, we’re screwed.
While feeling scared is totally valid, it’s also an excuse that I’m not willing to let you all make because you’re too smart, too thoughtful, and too badass to not be on top of your financial shit.
Here are 3 things you can do with your money starting TODAY (and you don’t even need a little bit of a PhD to do them!!)
Track your spending. Not sure how? Do a spending staredown. Want more help? I got you. Doing a spending staredown is not a punishment. And it’s not a way of policing yourself. It’s simply an exercise in noticing. We can’t be on top of our finances if we don’t even know how or where we spend money. No judgment, just awareness (do I sound like Andy from Headspace yet?).
Check your interest account savings rate. If it’s below 1%, you can definitely do better. The money in your savings account is basically just sitting around so you want to put those lil dollars to work (money at work = money making money). Savings accounts earn interest (this is the good kind of interest, not the kind you owe). If you’re banking somewhere with a shit interest rate, time to switch it up! Nobody has time for a .05% interest rate (*cough TD bank*).
3. Pay yourself *FIRST* every month. If you have less than 3–6 months of take home pay in your savings account, pay yourself into your savings account until you get there. Once you have 3–6 months or more of take home pay in your savings account, pay your retirement account. Paying yourself first means that putting money directly into your OWN pocket (aka savings or retirement account) gets prioritized just as highly as paying your rent or other non-negotiable bills. Your savings is non-negotiable, so start treating it that way!
If you’ve been avoiding making some financial changes that will really set you up to have a healthier relationship to your money, please please don’t beat yourself up over it. Just start small and start here. I’m rooting for you!
