31 Days Project // Day 5 // Personal Finance Tips

Welcome to 31 Days to an Organized Life & Business! For the month of October I will be a participant in The Nester’s 31 days Writing Challenge. Taking some of my own advice and taking you along on my journey to a life reset. I’ll be sharing (and practicing) some tips on everything from bookkeeping, shopping, managing kids, intentional parenting, work from home mom syndrome, work/life balance, spiritual reset and more. Not because I am the expert in these fields, but because they have worked for me in the past, and I so badly need them to work again for me now.

When I say I need this reset I’m not even kidding. When I say I’ll be writing about it, I don’t mean, I’m going to talk about past advice or something that worked once for me 3 years ago. I mean I’m going to hit publish on this blog post, and then go and do what I am writing about today.  That is all I can commit to for today. Which means, if you can relate to any of this, I invite you along on this 31 day journey. Watch me triumph or fail, but I’ll be here daily to give you updates. I’d love if you joined me, and keep me posted on your progress as well. There’s hope and support in community here. 

If you missed Day 1, or would like to catch up on any other day, click the link on the right hand side or right here.

Be sure to also follow along on Instagram as I post updates throughout the day. #31daystoreset @Angelsea Urban

Thanks for visiting!

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WELCOME TO DAY 5: Personal Finance Tips // Part ONE

I say part one because I could probably write 31 days on just finances alone but in this series it’s just a small part of my overall 31 day series to an Organized Life & Business. I’ll revisit some more personal finance tips later on in my 31 days series.

I wear a few professional hats, one of my favorite hats is being a photographer who currently specializes in Fine Art Family Portraiture. You can see more of my photography work in the category links above, or on my website.

My other favorite hat is as a Professional Business consultant. I own a consulting firm, Urban Resource Group, which helps entrepreneurs on the road to business success. Some get lost along the way and call me in to help get them back on track. Some are just starting off and need us to draw them a roadmap. Some are Creative Professionals who are amazing at their craft, but struggle on the business end and so I help them set up a manageable plan that will actually work for a non-business-y person. Others still would rather just not be bothered on the business end at all, so in that case we totally manage their company’s management and finances. I offer private coaching and teach at various workshops or other events.

All that to say, managing business finances is almost identical with working with personal home finances. And I can most simply sum it up in one magic sentence that will change your financial situation forever:

 

Spend less than you earn.

 

I know it seems too simple to be true, but it is. I have seen it dozens and dozens of time and the problem always comes back to that one sentence.

This is not talking about building wealth, investments, poverty levels or average salaries. It’s about one thing first and foremost: being good stewards of the resources you have. 

 

Proverbs 31 one of my favorite passages on stewardship. It talks about a woman, “The Proverbs 31 Woman”. Men see her as an ideal lady. Women often see her as an unattainable version of an impossible life they could never measure up to. Personally, I hover between the two at times. Some days I am so inspired by the idea of her and all that she could do. All that she could accomplish, and I want to cast my net farther and do all I can do in the life I’ve been given.

Some days I’m just exhausted and I want to give up and think there’s no way I could ever measure up.

And then I remember a key phrase that rings in my head in times like that, “But what is the TRUTH?”

Is the truth that I am not enough? That this example is meant for every other woman in the world BUT me? That I am not worthy to be called “blessed” by my family? That I’m not meant to have a full life?

No, that is not the truth.

The truth is that we are all equal in the eyes of God.

And if I am a good steward of the resources that have been given to me, I will be trusted with greater resources.

The only thing standing in the way of spending less than you earn?

 

Discipline

 

And before your mind wanders into a list of objections, let me provide some popular ones:

• Objection: “My bills are more than I make”.   Answer: Spend Less.
• Objection: “I work a low income job.”  Answer: Earn More. 
• Objection: “I can’t find any work.” Answer: Spend less. Even if that means nothing.

I understand that often our circumstances are beyond our control and that prohibits us from living in the ideal scenario. Illnesses, disabilities, opportunities, timing, childcare…. the list goes on and on and on. There are others that will have to sacrifice a great deal to make ends meet, such as living with family members, or working 3 jobs at minimum wage just to make rent and put food on the table. Students who are juggling a rigorous schedule while trying to earn enough money to rent a room and buy food + books.

I get it. It’s exhausting. I have been the 18 year old living on my own wondering how I was going to both pay the rent and keep the lights on in my apartment, while going to school and working. It. is. hard. There is no doubt.

But at the end of the day, the answer remains the same. Being a good steward of the resources you have been given. And that means, spending less than you earn. 

Some seasons the harvest is plentiful, and some seasons it is not. 

The moment you start to spend more than you earn, you become a slave to your lender. Whether it be credit cards, bank loans, family, friends…. the government. The cash comes from somewhere. There is always a lender.

The budget has to work on paper if it has a chance to work in real life. I could talk for days about budgeting, because half of you may already be thinking about other objections such as, “I can’t budget with an irregular income.” I am here to tell you yes you can. And it all points back to that one word = discipline.

It’s not easy. And I fail often as well. But when I am disciplined with managing my resources properly, budgeting does work. Spending your money on paper before you spend it in real life.

 

3 Things you can do right away that will make a HUGE impact on the success of budgeting.

 

If you have never used a budget before, start small. There is no need to jump in with both feet into a scary system that you are planning to fail because it’s overwhelming. You can start here, get your feet wet and see how it feels. Once you feel that sense of accomplishment, you’ll be begging to add other items to your budget. You’ll sleep better, the anxiety will lighten. And you will be trusted with greater resources. 

1. Plan your meals. 

This simple step will not only help your budget, but will help your stress level throughout the week when dinnertime comes and you are about to spend $50 on take out for your family. I like to plan 5 dinners per week. Leaving 1 night for a swing night (as in grab leftovers, a sandwich or whatever because I just can’t deal with dinner tonight). And I leave another night for when we will inevitably just not be home for dinner. At an event, birthday party, with friends, family or other unexpected things that are at least once per week.

2. Set a grocery budget. 

Since you have planned your meals it will make creating a shopping list loads easier. Just think of the ingredients you’ll need for your 5 dinners, then some items for breakfast and lunch, and what ever personal supplies you’ll need for the week. You should be able to set a predictable budget on this figure. I shop once per week for my family of 4 and usually spend around $125-$150. And yes that includes organic meats, produce, and dairy whenever possible. And yes that also includes cookies and the occasional peanut butter cap’n crunch. Because we are well balanced up in here and my kids love kale smoothies as much as cookies so who cares.

3. Give yourself a personal budget for spending.

Nothing will cause you to blow your budget faster than feeling like there is no hope, you are drowning, and life sucks, so I’m-going-to-Starbucks-and-spending-$17-on-a-coffee-so-I-can-feel-like-a-normal-human-being-again- even-if-just-for-a moment. I believe anyone can do anything for 7 days. If you give yourself a realistic, but attainable personal budget it will help when you have to tighten up the belt on the groceries or in other areas you may add later. And let’s not go crazy, someone who is up to their eyeballs in debt and doesn’t make a lot of money shouldn’t be allotting a $100/week allowance to themselves in “fun money”. Instead, try $20 a week. Use that for a movie rental at Redbox, splurge on a Starbucks that week, go out to lunch with a friend. But if you gave yourself the $20 on Friday, and it’s gone by Monday, then you are going to have to be sucking it up for the rest of the week. Discipline. Hold out on the Starbucks, the Redbox, and the lunch dates until next Friday when your fun money gets replenished. You can wait 7 days.

 

If you can be a good steward of these 3 things, then when your incomes goes down, or your expenses go up, (or your income in unpredictable)  you will stand a better chance of adjusting to the change because you have disciplined yourself with these small budgeting tips.

I believe the Proverbs 31 women was disciplined. I believe she carefully stewarded her resources one at a time until she was trusted with greater responsibility. Verse 16 says she “considers” a field and buys it. She didn’t impulse buy it. She carefully looked at her situation and make the decision of the investment. Not only that, but it was successful in that endeavor. She managed that field and it yielded something. She received a profit from her project. AND THEN…. (my favorite part) she didn’t go and spend that money on the latest and greatest to keep up with the Joneses…. “out of her earnings, she plants a vineyard“. She reinvested it. She was disciplined enough to squash the inner need to spend it or hoard it, and she reinvested it!

 

I’ve been doing these steps for years, but I have been allowing the busyness of life to take my 1 night of “whatever” meals to 3 times a week at least. Also I have been allowing my “fun money” to increase on a whim because of birthdays, anniversaries, sudden bouts of “I need this” and “whoops we should probably buy our children some school things”, and before we knew it, we are taking out of our savings account to fund our overspending on a consistent basis.  I’ve lost my own discipline and I have not “considered” much in a while. We have been spending more than we earn and we have a dwindling savings account to prove it. And… it needs to stop.

I like to use my phone to remind me of things I need to chew on throughout the week, and so I frequently make myself a lock screen graphic so I get an encouraging message in front of my face several times a day. I want to share this one with my blog readers today, so if you’d like to chew on this with me, click on this link to download the FREE file here.

So today I am setting this on my phone. And this week I am committing to “considering” my budget with intention. To stop spending more than I earn and to reset my budget accordingly.

If this was helpful to you, let me know! If you try this system, tell me how it works for you or if you have any ideas to make it better!

Thanks for visiting today!
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Be sure to check the blog every day during the Month of October for new content. Or sign up for the VIP Newsletter for important updates.

East Coast Fine Art Lifestyle Family Portrait Photographer Angelsea Urban

Angelsea Urban is a photographer and entrepreneur helping women use their creative gifts to nourish their homes and cultivate their businesses through practical stewardship. Her unique photography work focuses on Redefining the Family Portrait Experience by telling the story of  family through personalized foundations while creating a space to strengthen family bonds throughout the experience. As a certified tax professional and seasoned business consultant, Angelsea has helped the careers of photographers, restaurateurs, musicians and general small business owners through teaching, workshops, coaching, and hands on consulting. Her ministry work focuses on fostering creative gifts in women entrepreneurs to prioritize family and discipleship. She has photographed for families, brides, Bravo TV, NFL Films, and more and has been featured on multiple blogs and magazine print for her work in photography and in business. Angelsea teaches and photographs throughout the United States, and resides with her husband of 17 years, their two children, and their barely 3 pound Yorkie near Long Beach Island, New Jersey.  

To book your session with Angelsea Urban, please visit www.angelseaurban.com

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