Has This Impacted Your Financial Wellness?
In this week’s blog post, we touch on the 5th of 6 components of wellness, financial wellness. There are many directions one can move with this topic, and I am certainly NOT a financial planner, so I share two coaching-based themes that I have been hearing (and experiencing some of myself!) time and again this last year.
(And of course, I’ll offer a few action items to help move towards those financial goals you’re after!)
Are you feeling either of these:
1) You have lost track of your budget this last year. It’s been a tough year, and many folks have been turning to spending as a coping strategy. There is no judgement here, friends. We all have our “thing” at times. Some folks turn to alcohol, others to video games, others to Netflix, and so on. And some people spend as a stress reliever (NOTE: if you are turning to coping strategies that are negatively impacting you and your family, please reach out for some assistance)
We know that our emotional resilience has been tested, and tested AND tested this last year which can leave us short of the energy it takes to create, maintain and stick to a budget. It can feel like “one-more-thing” to add to the pile of what you’re dealing with.
AND….
2) We have absolutely been seeing the cost of nearly everything rising around us. Have you taken some time to re-adjust your budget with the change in costs? When prices of products and services are increasing, it can really throw our budget off track.
So, what to do?
1) If spending has been a coping strategy for you, look at that with interest and not judgement. Forgive yourself first. This year has been hard. Now, dig into what you’re REALLY after when you’re spending. Are you overwhelmed with work and turning to Amazon for pleasure? Are you bored? Lonely? In need of some physical activity? Once some time is spent in this reflection and we discover what we’re really after, we can start to take steps towards fulfiling what’s been missing and driving the spending.
And, I also invite you to review your overall financial wellness. Are you in a place where you have this extra income to spend? If not, it is time to get real about what you can actually spend and how urgent it may be that you stop this extra spending. After all, if you’re to dig yourself further into debt, that is definitely one more thing to manage that comes along with a heck of a lot of stress!
2) Do you know your numbers? That is, do you know exactly what comes into your household after taxes? And if you’re an entrepreneur, are you putting away money for taxes, setting that chunk aside as your revenue arrives?
I encourage people, at least once per year, to do a household budget review. What is all of the household income, and what are all of the household expenses? If these do not line up, either more income is needed or expenses need to be trimmed. And often the combination of those is best.
If you’re an entrepreneur or solopreneur, you MUST know your numbers. I have spoken with so many business owners that state things such as “I’m not a numbers person.” or “I hate the finance part of my business”. Pardon the strong coach moment…..but as a business owner, you MUST know your numbers! Statements like this are usually code for “I don’t understand my numbers” or “I am scared of what the numbers say so I don’t want to look at them.” I encourage my clients to look at their business numbers AT LEAST monthly, and reset/review the year’s goals after each quarter.
And that said, we ALL need to know our numbers so we can be financially well.
As always, feel free to reach out if you have any follow up questions to this article. Always happy to chat!
https://www.deannalangfordcoaching.com/booking
-Deanna