All the ways you are leaving money on the table!
During a money crisis like the one we are in with the coronavirus pandemic, it makes you rethink almost everything! Before the pandemic hit home, my husband and I were looking through our monthly expenses to find some breathing room. Oh how I love breathing room, it gives me so much peace and comfort! Breathing room to me is having extra money leftover every month after ALL the expenses are paid for and ALL the savings are put aside, and guess what…you still have more money!
What would you do for some breathing room in your budget?
We decided that even though our income went up in 2019, we didn’t want to spend anything more, in fact, we wanted to spend less! Why did we work so hard if all that extra money was going out the door? We want our money to mean something in our lives, what about you?
We did a few quick things like switch our phones, cable, and negotiated with other bills. We found an extra $300 each month within a day. Next I asked my business website woman, who is fabulous, about services we already use and if there are similar ones that are cheaper. She came up with a few that saved us more money. Yes, I like to spend money on people like Ilissa, who save me time in my business, get things done right, and in return they save me money! I would have no idea about these new services if it wasn’t for her! By cutting our expenses, we basically gave ourselves a raise! Now we aren’t using that raise to spend more money, but to invest it into our future!
Knowing we had daycare costs going up with the addition of our son, this wiggle room in our monthly cash flow was HUGE. It was huge for our sanity, for our financial security, AND for our future. It became addictive, and I started looking everywhere in our lives to save money, time, and sanity. I also looked at the lives of my women and how we all end up leaving our hard earned cash on the table. I put together my TOP 10 list, and am going to share it with you in the hopes that you too will find breathing room.
The most important thing to remember when going through the list is this: just like I use a technology/website expert to help me, you need a money expert to help you work the list. Just reading the list won’t help, setting a million reminders to do it won’t help, but you can hire someone to help you. It might cost you some money upfront, but the goal is they will save you money within months. Now that is a good return on your investment!
The TOP 10 Ways You Are Leaving Money on the TABLE!
- Not doing a cost of life analysis: sit down and record what every month/year costs you. Can you live on 25% less of what you currently are living on? When you cut expenses, you are giving yourself a raise! Use that raise wisely!
- Overpaying for services! Negotiate with your bills, credit card debt!
- Outdated money systems! Usually your money systems aren’t efficient, such as money sitting in a bank account while you try to figure out where to invest it. When you aren’t being efficient with your money, you are hit with opportunity costs.
- Paying too much in taxes! When you don’t work with a professional, you might not know all the ways you can deduct expenses. This is when it pays to pay for their service and why I bonus all my Strong Retirement Club members and Money Empire women with an accountant!
- Not saving enough, not investing enough! If you aren’t saving money for your future, you are missing out on the #1 Money Empire Rule, make sure your money earns its own salary. If you are the only one working for your money, you are putting too much pressure and stress on yourself.
- Not planning! If you don’t have a money plan, you will miss out on opportunities that you don’t know about. You will also not know how much risk or how little risk you are inviting into your home.
- Undervaluing your work! So many women undercharge for their services. My accountant and even babysitter have been caught by me doing this! Stand up for your value, be confident with it, and others will be willing to pay for it.
- Doing your money math! Begin with your goal income amount then subtract your current income amount. What’s the difference? How can you charge more for your services by adding even more value, by partnering with other experts, or by expanding your services.
- Relying on only 1 income! Happy retirees have 3-4 income streams. Why are they happy? Because they aren’t concerned if 1 income stream dries up what they will do! Same method can be applied to the working woman! Add multiple income streams from investments, side hustle, real estate, and ownerships.
- Learning the MONEY GAME and playing it right! The most successful and wealthiest people know exactly how to play the money game which says: the more wealth everyone has, the more wealth YOU will have. It’s a numbers game, and the more people you invite into your wealth, the more wealth you will have. I don’t mean having people spend your money! I mean the more money experts you bring on your team, the more wealth you will have. Surround yourself with people who want what you want or already have it. Hold yourself accountable, ask for help, and embrace support!
There’s a difference between having money AND building wealth! Which side do you want to be on?
