Money Musings 💭 Has your budget already failed?
We’re midway through February and while many of us might have had some big dreams for our 2023 budgets, it’s COMPLETELY typical (and ok!) if you already feel off track.
I got you.
First, an important reminder: Financial well-being is not an arrival point (is anything?). It’s a journey. Things change, our priorities change, our goals change, and we’ll always be learning and growing.
The good news is that this takes a lot of the pressure off.
The bad news is that we're never done. 🤣
I personally love a detailed budget and am weirdly fond of the grind of entering in my expenses but just because you’re not into the details, doesn’t mean you have to forgo budgeting altogether.
Here are some ideas:
💡 If tracking every area of your spending is a hard NO for you, start with one.
Choose the one area you think you overspend or are the most curious about. For me, this is definitely food - groceries and dining out. This can provide a ton of insight and might inspire you to expand your tracking.
💡 You can set up an account system that eliminates the need to track your spending.
Okay, here’s a reeeaaaallll goodie. Set up a separate bank account (and associated card) just for spending. I find a debit card works best unless you commit to paying down the credit card frequently.
Transfer a certain amount of money into your spending account each week (better yet, make it automatic). If $500 per week goes in there and you have $150 left, you now know you’ve spent $350 so far this week. Voila!
It’s important to be clear about what type of spending will happen in there so you can account for it accordingly. I like using this for variable spending vs bills.
💡💡💡 Become an actor and play detective.
Things will inevitably not work or be a bit wonky with our budgets. This is why I’m adjusting my plan every single month. Instead of punishing ourselves, let go of the shame and play detective. Get curious. What happened here?
How did I end up spending $100 more than planned in this category? Brainstorm ways you can set yourself up for success for next time.
Maybe it’s going into the store with a plan, making it more fun to take public transit 🚌 (vs an Uber or Lyft), or keeping a money journal. Then you can check in on those strategies next week or month and see how they went.
How’s your budgeting going so far in 2023? Hit reply and let me know!
MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK
PAY YOURSELF FIRST.
How we traditionally save money doesn’t work. We earn money, pay everyone else first (our bills, 💡live our life 🍽, even get gifts 📦) and then we hope there will be money left to save (aka pay ourselves). There’s typically not.
We earn more and think we’ll finally start saving. Still no. What gives?
To pay ourselves first, we want to treat saving like any other expense. Set up an automatic transfer to your online savings account where it’s out of sight, out of mind.
If you’re thinking, "Ashley, there’s no way I can save… I’m living paycheck to paycheck," start with as little as $5 per paycheck. Check in regularly and up the ante when you don’t miss it.
This same strategy applies to investing and giving. How will you start to pay yourself first? Or if you already are, can you increase the amount?
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING.
Here are some of the gems I’ve been reading lately. I’d love to hear what you’re reading and / or are excited to read! 📚📚
Fair Play by Eve Rodsky. A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (and More Life to Live). I’m obsessed with this one. It provides a step-by-step system 🪜 for better distributing the unpaid labor at home. You can see how I’m implementing it all here.
Parent Nation by Dana Suskind, MD. Parent Nation offers a powerful blueprint for a society that helps all families meet the developmental needs of their children. This book tackles the policy and societal issues along with the proposed solutions we need to support kids from ages 0-5 (and their families!).
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson. A counterintuitive approach to living a good life. One of my biggest takeaways from this book was that so often our goals are external (and out of our control) - i.e. book sales, revenue growth, etc. when what really matters are our internal values. Plus, those are better north stars for how we structure our lives. Sounds simple but it’s a reframe I need about once per quarter. 😆
War Against All Puerto Ricans by Nelson A. Denis. The powerful, untold story of the 1950 revolution in Puerto Rico and the long history of U.S. intervention on the island, that the New York Times says could not be more timely. If you don’t know much about Puerto Rican history (that was me), this book is a crash course. Almost 10% of the U.S. Hispanic population is Puerto Rican. The book tells a bigger story but within it you can see countless ways the Puerto Rican population was stripped of their wealth throughout history.
What’s up next for me? I’m going to reread Four Thousand Weeks, read When Women Lead (finally! I’m so excited) and Stolen Focus (I’m hoping to get some attention back!).