Hi, my name is Keina and I am a financial coach with Wealth Over Now. I’m going to share three tips with you for managing your finances during uncertainty.
1. Get Clarity on Your Business Expenses
The first tip I have for you is to get clarity on your business expenses. So this may seem like a basic step but I want you to take the time to write down. What are your essential expenses as a business owner and what are your non-essential expenses as a business owner?
I can guarantee that all of us have experienced some shift in our expenses the during this season, so things have probably changed from the start of the year. So you’ll want to take this time to adjust and reflect.
If you’re in a position where you’re going to apply for a grant or a loan, you’ll also want to take this step because most of our programs that are out there that are offering support to small business owners, they want to know your full financial picture.So you want to know— how much money do I actually need? What can I do with the income that will come into me to make sure that I can stay afloat as a business owner?
2. Get Clarity on Your Personal Expenses
Tip number two. I want you to get clarity with your personal expenses during this season.
So similar to your business expenses, I want you to take a look at your personal expenses and identify: What are the expenses that are essential for living? So those may be things like your mortgage, your rent, your utilities, your car payment. And then I want you to also identify: what are my lifestyle expenses? What are the expenses that I don’t necessarily need to live day to day or month to month. Maybe that’s getting your hair done or a gym membership but things that are lifestyle expenses.
And lastly ask yourself a question of what debt am I carrying? Knowing what debt you’re caring will know will help you know. What can I ask to be deferred? Especially if you’re in a situation where you’ve lost all of your income. So gaining clarity on your personal expenses will allow you to think about how much does my business actually need to be paying me during this season? So you can understand what trade-offs do you need to make, but it will also open the door where you know here’s who I need to call in the event that I need to ask for something to be deferred. Right now there’s a lot of personal advantages that you can take care of— everything from deferring mortgage payments, there’s student loan interest that’s being deferred right now. You’ll be in a position to make a better informed decision when you have all of your expenses written down on paper so you can take a holistic view of your finances.
3. Start Increasing Your Savings
And lastly my third tip is to start increasing your savings. I know that this may seem incredibly unconventional during this season, but now that you’ve looked at your expenses, if there’s an opportunity for you to divert savings or divert expenses… So say that in your business you were getting ready to make a big investment. Maybe you’re going to hold off on that and put that money into savings. So your business can make it another month or two. Maybe in your personal life you’re going to put a subscription on hold for three to six months until we pass this season. Those are simple ways and simple steps that you can take to increase savings in your own life and build some assurance for yourself.
My name is Keina. Feel free to connect with me on Instagram if you want to continue the conversation, or you can also contact me on my website at www.wealthovernow.com. Thanks guys. Bye.
Want more content like this? Join the watch parties on The Rising Tide Facebook page and check our Coronavirus Resource Hub for Small Businesses.
