How do you handle having more bills than money?
With the prices of everything rising, it can seem like you’re always drowning in bills and barely making it above water to come up for air. I know exactly how you feel. I used to be the leader of the irresponsible homegirls.
As you read this blog post, get prepared to do some necessary investigating. Get ready to take accountability and responsibility for your financial decisions. Always face your finances from a place of power, not victimhood. Nobody cares sis, plus you have the power within to manage your money effectively and create wealth.
Stop lying to yourself.
If you feel like you have more bills than money, there are two things you must do. The first thing you must do is stop lying to yourself. There were plenty of times in my journey when I said: “I don’t spend that much eating out”, “I barely spend money”, and the best one…” I don’t ever treat myself; I need to treat myself”. The problem with these statements is they aren't supported with facts; they are only the stories we tell ourselves. We tell ourselves stories to make ourselves feel good, we want to feel warm and fuzzy, not ashamed or embarrassed because we know better but choose not to do better.
You stop lying to yourself by pulling out your bank statements and going back three months. Get the facts! We lie about how we use our money, but guess who doesn’t...YOUR BANK STATEMENTS. Like T.I. said: bring 'em out, bring 'em out!
When you pull out your bank statements, you are verifying ALL monthly expenses. Write the name of the bill, the due date, and the amount. Go through your statements carefully. Include all bills and subscriptions. Yes, 0.99 cents a month for Apple Storage counts! After you have your monthly bills listed, I want you to go back to your bank statements and search for patterns. What do you typically spend money on? How often? How much money did you spend eating out? Shopping? (insert your thing)? Write it on paper. If you see Target or Chik-fil-A every other day on your bank statements, you need to make a note of it. Recognizing patterns will help us with the second thing, which leads to the most important step of this activity.
Cut back to come up.
The second thing you must do is immediately get rid of the monthly expenses that aren’t a necessity. Go cancel what you don’t need or use! It won’t be for forever, just for a season. You can keep fighting to breathe or you can get everything out of your way that is stopping you from coming up for air. I’m sure after you complete step one, you’ll see opportunities to save money and you’ll finally see where your money is going. So much is revealed when you go through your bank statements. When I did this activity in 2019, I saw vividly how I was living above my means. I was stressed and worried about money because I never ever ever tracked or managed where my money was going. I didn’t plan on payday *if you know you know*.
It is important to cut back to come up, and in that same vein, we must think expansively about how to increase our income. I’ll touch on increasing your income in a later blog post, but I really want you to focus on taking immediate action. No excuses. No procrastination. No feeling sorry for yourself. Remember to face your finances from a place of power and keep believing your financial situation will get better! The fact that you’re reading this blog post tells me you’re ready to get a better handle on your personal finances. You’re tired of working hard just to struggle month after month, and you're ready to do something about it. Read this blog post as much as you need to and execute. After completing the activity shared, I’d love to hear from you about what was revealed to you. Send me an email after you’re done to theresponsiblehomegirl@gmail.com.
