Episode 3: Get to know YOUR Finances

Brief Summary of objectives: • Helping you to get clear on your financial goals and where to start • Helping you launch or re-evaluate your spending plan • Helping set your financial goals • Help think in advance to recover from holiday spending Topic 1: Get clear on your finances o Are you confused where to start? Look at how your money panned out for you this past year in 2022 and look at how you can adjust for 2023! To start building a more intentional future for your finances: • Grab your bank statements or credit card statements… look at what has been credited from your account this year. • Did you find anything you didn’t remember was a subscription? Take notes because we are going to talk about how you create a spending plan. o Are you clear on the pathway you want your finances to be on? Whether you are single or in a relationship where you share finances it is important for you to know where you would like to be on your financial pathway. What do you want in a savings account, how do you want to make sure bills are paid, do you use a credit card, & how do you plan your finances? Topic 2: Create a spending plan o Have you ever looked at your paycheck stub? If you have great or if you haven’t now might be the time for you to grab that paycheck stub and peek at your gross and net income. We aren’t going to dive into those deeper here, but check-out www.stackedintent.com for blog post. o Determine your income – you are going to be peaking at your net income. This is your check after taxes, medical insurance, and more has already automatically been withdrawn from your paycheck. o List all monthly expenses: rent/mortgage payments, loans, insurance, utilities, phone, internet, cable, streaming subscriptions, groceries, transportation, gym memberships, travel, dining, and anything that you use money monthly to pay. o Track both your expenses and your spending (ever felt like just $5 - $10 just vanished?) You must track those fixed expenses, but the stop at the convenience store or coffee shop. Those can add up to $100’s of dollars over the month. o It is important to label your expenses as fixed (these are things you must pay monthly and cannot avoid) and variable (these are sometimes more flexible expenses). o Make sure to account for student loan payments and that they are being made… you can always make these automatic o Create that budget and stick to it Topic 3: Set your financial goals o Write your financial goals down. Something happens when we put a pen to the paper and write down the goals we have. o Make your goals specific and they must be measurable o Set a deadline for yourself o Your goals need to be your own (and your partner if you share your finances) Topic 4: Creating a plan for how you’ll recover from holiday spending o The National Retail Federation says that Americans may expect to spend an average of $998 on their holiday shopping, food, & decoration. It is so easy to swipe your credit cards without a spending plan, I would challenge you this holiday season to think about your financial goals and spending plan as you are holiday shopping. o Create yourself a gift spending limit on gifts. o This isn’t a tip to help you for this year, but for next year begin to plan for your gifts. Purchase throughout the year to help with your spending plan. Call to action: I dare you this week to set a tea date with yourself and spend 2 hours really evaluating your financial goals and where you would like to see yourself in the next year! Join my conversation about this on Instagram or Tik Tok @stacked_intent or send me an email to share the steps you have taken at [email protected]