My husband is on night shift, I’m feeling stressed and a tad exhausted from taking care of work and the kids. One night I found The Home Edit on Netflix, and began a love affair with these two organizing gurus, Clea and Joanna! If you haven’t seen their series, I strongly recommend you check it out or follow them on Instagram @thehomeedit. I realized after my 5th episode in a row, after feeling horrible about the state of my office, I then got extremely overwhelmed because I want them to do my entire house and office, and maybe even car! But I then decided to get excited because I also know that everyone could use the same type of organization with their money.
Every time the two gurus meet with a client, they talk about purpose and systems! Yes, if you know me, you know how I LOVE a good system. Probably why I have 5 go to money systems for women. It keeps it clean, efficient, and organized. I also love purpose, every dollar that comes into your world needs a purpose and a home just like every dress, t shirt, and pair of shoe needs a home in your closet or you run the risk of losing the shoe, it clutters your space, or you trip over it (this is me every morning tripping over kid toys!). What are you risking when you don’t give your dollars a home or a purpose in your overall plan?
And what I love even more about these fabulous women is they talk about maintenance! They got called back to redo Rachel Zoe’s closet for the second time. It’s no wonder she needed additional help since she is a fashion stylist with a clothing line so she has A LOT OF CLOTHES! They make a point with her that you need to maintain your systems! No matter how organized you get in one session with your money, it will always become your junk drawer if you don’t maintain it! Women come in and out of my life for help with their money. The most successful ones just stay with me as a partner. That helps ensure they don’t backtrack, make a wrong turn, or lose their footing. What will be your system when you need to review your investments, how much you are saving versus spending, your estate documents, your goals? What is your system to get rid of financial documents you no longer need? Do you even know which documents you need to keep or how to get rid of them?
Just like the people in the show who get their services, they have re-fallen in love with their homes, closets, and even garages! Yes, on the show one family cried over their garage makeoverI bet you will re-fall in love with your money once it is organized, you have a system with it, and you know how to maintain that system!
Behind the scenes, when I work with women, I have an ongoing checklist, notes taken, tasks for me, for them, and for other professionals such as estate attorneys, accountants, and such. But I’m thinking I should bring you or the women I work with into the organization of what we accomplish together. There is a system behind how I build your plan, the flow of the plan, the execution of it! Then bring it to the next level with how to organize your financial documents, how to understand your financial documents, how to track your money from them, and how to stay on top of your monthly/annual to dos!
With Clea and Joanna, you have a few steps:
- Edit
- Contain
- Build zones for your stuff that makes sense with your lifestyle.
- Maintain
With your money, it is so similar! Edit all the things you do with your money, all your emotions, and weed out the waste! Get rid of the expenses you don’t need, get rid of the investments that aren’t doing anything for you, and get rid of the negative emotions and beliefs around your money situation.
Next up contain! Group your money into categories, which accounts can be combined, which accounts do you need to open. Do you have multiple retirement accounts that are getting harder and harder to manage and stay on track of? Do you have checking accounts or credit cards at multiple locations for no real reason? Contain!
Build zones with your accounts with these new categories, then you can create your “zones” or savings plan. Which kind of accounts do you want to prioritize: emergency fund, retirement, new house? Then filter your money into the various accounts you are prioritizing!
Lastly, maintain! Maintain your system with monthly and annual check ins. Is too much money being spent and not saved? Is too much money being saved for 1 year goals and not enough for your retirement? One thing I keep repeating in my head when I’m in my closet is to not let one “zone” expand into another “zone.” Don’t let your dress zone overload and interfere with your sweaters zone! Just like with your money don’t rob yourself of one goal for another goal. Find the healthy balance of both!
