October 2023

On to our 9th financial challenge. This week the challenge is to think about our money behavior compared to our money philosophy.
Money is emotional whether we like it or not. There is no right way of being a spender or saver as long as you are not at the extremes. It’s finding the right balance between them just like everything else in life.

Easy challenge:
Determine whether you are naturally a spender or saver. We all have a natural tendency to lean one way based on how we grew up, our values, and mindset.

Medium challenge:
Determine what philosophy do you fall under. There are 4 philosophies or scripts about money: avoid it out of anxiety/fear/lack of understanding, believe it is the key to happiness, try to keep up with others, or you act cautiously. Which one do you naturally tend towards.

Note: I keep including naturally because we can be aware of our tendencies and intentionally go another route.

Hard: Compare your behavior to your philosophy. Do they align?
Ask yourself: When I save/spend money, I feel….
When I save/spend money, I want to feel….
If they are not aligned. How can you align them better?

Our next financial challenge may be an eye opener to some of you. We have so many conveniences, but with those usually comes a reoccurring subscription. These may not feel too bad when you think of them individually, but they can add up quickly. We have streaming services, Amazon, meal prep, pet treats, YouTube, websites, apps, etc… The list is endless for what is available to us today.

This week our challenges stack on top of each other so start with easy and work your way to hard.

Easy:
Go through your bank accounts and credit card statements for the past 6 months or year (since some are yearly) and just write down a list of those subscriptions. That’s it. Just write down the list and how much each one is. If you want to be shocked…add them up.

Medium:
Go through the list you just made and flag the ones you don’t really use. Plus I want you to number them from 1 to ? with 1 being must have, use all the time.

Hard:
Now it’s time to get real with yourself. Look at your budget and come up with realistic number you can afford. Start at the top of your list and check mark until you run out of budget money. Your challenge is to cancel anything that isn’t checked.

Want more of a challenge: Go through your checked items. Is there anything that you really don’t need. You can save that money for a vacation or something else you have been saving for.

I didn’t forget the “un” for this week’s challenge. This week is about planning for our expected expenses that are not every month. These expenses are birthdays, holidays, insurance, car registration, hair appointments, and…. It’s the things we don’t think about until that month and then struggle to come up with the money without using the credit cards. How many times has this happened to you?

So here’s your challenge:
Easy:
Pinpoint your budget weaknesses. Yes I made that plural for a reason. What expenses do you tend to forget until they are due?

Medium:
Make a list when before you go to the store and stick to the list. It could also be going into the store for shampoo and coming out with shampoo, conditioner, face wash, toilet paper, etc because you are “almost out..”

Hard:
Time to get intentional. Come up with how much you need for your expected expenses for the year. Divide that number by 12 and set up an automatic transfer into a savings account. This way you have the money when you need it.