Are you a saver or a spender?

Have you ever thought about which money personality you have?

I know some people have mentioned it is genetic, which may be possible but I always felt it was interesting that two people can grow up in the same household with the same parents and one be a spender and the other a saver. 

But when you think about it opposites attract so I’m sure one parent was a spender and the other was a saver.

In last week’s post, I talked about the 9 Signs That You’re Overspending. If you haven’t read it yet, check it out here. 

I didn’t want to give you the signs without giving you tips on how to stop overspending.

Taking the steps to get in control of your spending will help you achieve the money goals you didn’t think were possible. 

Do you ever feel like you are spending too much money?  It’s not always easy to determine if you are overspending but if you are constantly on the go, don’t review your finances on a regular, feel guilty when you spend money or you’re praying that your card is going to be approved while in the store, there is possibility that you may be overspending.

You typically go to the doctor's office at least once a year for a physical and the dentist every six months for a dental check-up but how often do you check on your money.  It’s just as important as your health.

If you think about it, money affects every area of your life, for example,  transportation whether you ride public transportation, take an uber or drive your own car, you pay in some way for all of these options, (unless you’re walking).

Most of the time conversations around net worth are preceded by a certain celebrity’s name.  I, myself, just engaged in a debate discussion about Shawn Carter’s (Jay-Z) net worth and whether or not he is truly a billionaire.

After I told you how I complete my monthly Financial Checkup, I received a question about how I complete my budget on a monthly basis, so I thought it would be a great topic to bring here. 

My process may seem like it takes a while, and it did when I first started, but now that I have a process it only takes me about 15-20 minutes.

This is what I do at the end of the month after I complete my Finacial Checkup.

I love reading and one of my favorite topics is of course Personal Finance.  One of the first Personal Finance books I read was Total Money Makeover. That book helped me learn how to create a budget.  If you are looking to increase your personal finance IQ here are a few books you should check out.

Are you looking for a better way to get on the same page with your spouse when it comes to managing your money?

Have you heard of Zeta? Well if you haven’t and you're looking for a better way to manage money as a team with your partner then continue reading.

Once you say the word budget it seems like the energy in the room disappears, but a budget is not a bad thing it gives you the ability to pay for everything you need and everything you want.

Having a budget helped me pay off over $50K in debt and fund my emergency fund, but it has also allowed me to do things I love like travel.

Do you know where you stand financially?  At the end of every month I sit down for 30 mins and complete a financial checkup.  A financial checkup is a layout of all my income and expenses for the month along with an analysis of how I spent my money in the previous month along with any outstanding debt balances and a status update of where I stand when it comes to my financial goals, so the balance in my savings, sinking funds and investment accounts (including retirement).

I saw a post on Instagram that said it is the last quarter in this decade.  That definitely made me evaluate where I am compared to where I want to be. If one of your goals this year was to save more money and you feel like you are behind on your goal or you just don’t want to start the new decade in the same position. Charles Schwab’s Modern Wealth Survey showed that Americans are still struggling to save with 59% living paycheck to paycheck.

So if this is the first post you have ever read from me,  I am a spender and I got it honestly from one of my parents who will not call out in this post.  The interesting thing about it was I always felt guilty because my other parent a saver. Interesting combination right.  Yeah, I know, and just for the record, my brother is naturally a saver like the other parent.  

Emergencies, they happen but they don’t sting as bad when you’re able to pull the money from your savings to cover it.  According to Bankrate.com only 40 percent of Americans would pay an unexpected expense of $1,000 from savings, 1/3 would borrow the money by using a credit card, personal loan, or by asking a family friend.  If you have to borrow it then that’s what you have to do but here’s the thing about borrowing money you borrow the money, you still have to pay it back so you now have another bill to pay each month.

Unfortunately, many women defer investing to their husband or never invest at all.

I’ve seen the scary results of women not taking an active role in the family finances.

When I worked at a financial planning firm, we had a client pass away.

His wife came into the office for a meeting so she could be caught up on their accounts.

This was the first time we were ever meeting her. Up until now, she simply let her husband handle the investing.

Now she was alone and completely clueless as to their investment plan, her investments, and even account balances.

Do you know where you stand financially?  At the end of every month I sit down for 30 mins and complete a financial checkup.  A financial checkup is a layout of all my income and expenses for the month along with an analysis of how I spent my money in the previous month along with any outstanding debt balances and a status update of where I stand when it comes to my financial goals, so the balance in my savings, sinking funds and investment accounts (including retirement).

Whenever I’m shopping whether online or in-store I like to get a deal, who doesn’t, and sometimes it takes me a little longer to make a purchase because I am looking for a coupon code.

Now I don’t have that issue because I use the tools below to help me save money while shopping.

For a few years, I helped investors with their retirement savings and no matter what industry the client worked in most of them didn't understand how their retirement plan works.  

I have an older car that I have owned for about 9 years and I have committed to driving this car until the wheels fall off. I'm blessed that it still runs smoothly but last year I thought I was going to have to get another car.

Due to a reoccurring issue that no one including dealership could figure out what was going on. 

Most of the time conversations around net worth are preceded by a certain celebrity’s name.  I, myself, just engaged in a debate discussion about Shawn Carter’s (Jay-Z) net worth and whether or not he is truly a billionaire.

Are you looking for additional ways to pay off debt?  I know an app that can help.

A couple of years ago while attending FINCON, I found out about this app that helps you make extra payments towards your debt through the snowflaking method.    Well I have been using this app for a while now to make additional payments to my student loan and I really like this app so of course, I had to come and tell you.

Making payments on your student loans is the worst. Unfortunately, there’s no getting around it: You have to pay them back. But how do you know if you’re doing it the “right” way?

Obviously, you want to pay them off as fast as you can. That way, you can spend that money on something more fun. But should you consolidate your loans or refinance them? It can feel overwhelming when trying to make this decision, especially when new offers are constantly arriving in your mailbox.

But don’t sweat it!

Do you know where you stand financially?  At the end of every month I sit down for 30 mins and complete a financial checkup.  A financial checkup is a layout of all my income and expenses for the month along with an analysis of how I spent my money in the previous month along with any outstanding debt balances and a status update of where I stand when it comes to my financial goals, so the balance in my savings, sinking funds and investment accounts (including retirement).

It’s been on your mind all weekend.  You know it’s due today and you’re going to do it as soon as you get home but something comes up and you completely forget.  The next day you wake up to an alert on your phone that you were assessed a late fee on your credit card.

Every year two of my closest friends and I use to exchange Christmas gifts.  We normally have stipulations that we could not spend more than $25 on each person. 

We are some savvy shoppers so we normally would have three gifts for each person.

I just came back from my third Fincon and this year, my favorite city in the US, Washing DC at the Washington Hilton.  I really enjoyed myself this year but I was exhausted the entire time because I made the mistake of going on vacation before Fincon.  We went on what I call a Southern Tour where we visited friends and family and dropped our kid off at college so we hit eight cities and three weeks and I was home for less than a week and then went to Fincon where you don’t get much sleep. Because money nerds like to network, handle business and have fun all at the same tim

I attended Fincon (Financial Bloggers Conference) again this year.  What is Fincon? Fincon is the Financial Bloggers Conference and it’s “Where Money & Media Meet”.  This is my 2nd year attending and I enjoyed the opportunity to learn more to expand my business, engage in opportunities to collaborate with others, and meet your social media friends in person.  

In honor of Life Insurance Awareness month I wanted to bring you additional options for covering funeral costs outside of Life Insurance.  

So just to be clear I believe that life insurance is important to help cover funeral cost (if the funds will not be accessible when you pass but it is also important to have so your family’s (children, spouse or anyone you financially support) will be able to keep the same quality of life after you pass away.