Match Your Financial Profile with Your Shoe Game!!!

I don’t know many Honeeyz that wouldn’t bleed for a great pair of shoes.  Well actually, I’m probably being melodramatic but I can guarantee you that I will bleed all the way out for a great pair of shoes!! And I’ll be the first to admit that my little shoe shopping habit, well my entire shopping habit in general, hasn’t always been the most beneficial thing for me. My feet looked good and I was cute and what not but my savings account was essentially nonexistent.  And after I got divorced and wound up with the majority of the marital debt in my name with a single income,  a new house on my own and two hungry pre-teens, my credit was looking real beat too!  I spent the next few years trying to stay afloat and figuring out how to get back to where I was and belonged!

Once I sort of stabilized somewhat from all the trauma and adjusting, I spent the next couple of years trying my darndest to reign in the bad habits (aka shoes and all that) and devise a plan to reduce my debt, increase my savings and credit score, but do it without totally compromising my love of all the other pretty stuff out there (aka shoes).  Remember, I just want to reign it in and not completely eliminate.  Anywho, this past year, in particular, I’ve made even deeper strides to just do betta and I’ve been on a roll! I’m beginning to really see the fruits of my labor! I've been grinding hard, making some welcoming sacrifices and learning a great deal about how to maximize my income and many other financial resources and tools to better my financial profile.  At the end of the day I had to come to a place and admit that it’s really quite ridiculous when your shoe accumulation totally out values your savings account and college fund for the kids…siggghhh.  But things are looking very nicely balanced these days and I'm loving it.  

Now I know that it’s easier to want better and dream better than it is to actually do better.  I totally appreciate the difficulty in trying to balance out the need to save and maintain your bills with the desire to purchase the things you want, especially when you get up and go to work everyday and stay on your grind (I kinda feel like if I’m gonna be working 70 hours, 7 days per week, and melting my little brain down on a week to week, a sista can get a pair of shoes…I mean darn!).  I can honestly say that I do fairly well career and income wise but even still it can be difficult for me as a single woman with 2 teenage kids (who will milk you dry if you let them) so I can only imagine how difficult it may be for someone who has more children, less income, or an overwhelming amount of expenses. It’s not easy, no matter your status. But it's not impossible either.   

In this day and age and in our current economy, most people live pay check to pay check, no matter what they are bringing home, and they find it difficult to take care of their expenses, household and family needs to the extent that there is extra money to save and invest at the end of the day.  But it can be done if you really take an honest look at your circumstances, devise a reasonable plan, and commit to it.  Below, I’ve listed a few useful tips that have been helpful to me and I’ve shared a few tools that I’ve used and information that I’ve received that has helped me meet my financial goals...and keep the shoes!  

Check out the tips, resources and more pics after the break!! 

And remember, if your shoes are fly and cost you more than you have in your savings account, it’s time to step your game up. I’m not judging, I’ve been in that same boat, but I’m saying it’s time to do something better.  At least give it a real shot because material things are great for now but they wear, tear, go in and out of style, and the electric company and university financial aid office will not take shoes, bags and jewelry for payment!  Let's get it together boys and girl! How about that full glass of Milk with your honeey! 

There's nothing like a fly bootie and money green color shirt to drive home the point!

Shirt: Forever21; Salt and Pepper Skirt: NineWest; Pony Hair Platform Bootie: L.A.M.B; Bag: Louis Vuitton; Jewelry: H&M, Siglo, BCBGeneration, Marc Jacobs

Useful Tips to Upgrade Your Finances:

1)      Devise a plan by taking a hard look at your income. Be honest. People sometimes have the tendency to overestimate what they bring in and while it’s great to be optimistic, this can be extremely detrimental to your success b/c this is generally the root of over spending.  If you think you have it or will have it it’s easier for you to make purchases or to use credit thinking you have the income coming in. So really look at how much income you have after all taxes and deductions to figure out what you have to delegate towards expenses, savings, and debts.

2)      Create a monthly expense sheet and WRITE IT DOWN (get a special notepad, excel spreadsheet, etc).  This is another place to be extremely honest...the recording of expenses.  Think about every single expense that you have, the exact amount it costs you on a month to month basis and the monthly due date.  Recording or writing this information down is extremely important.  It helps to keep you accountable and helps you to see the big picture and progress. It’s also lets you know where you may be messing up (overpaying, underpaying, accruing fees and additional interest, etc) so you can tailor certain behaviors to better benefit you.

 3)      Set reasonable goals.  The key word is reasonable! Yes I’d like to have $0 in debt by next week, but is that reasonable? Is that even possible or attainable? Is that going to really help me or hurt me? Reasonableness is important b/c it is honsestly the difference between being successful and not. If you aren’t seeing your goals being met than the likelihood of you following through and staying committed is slim to none.  If you are entirely stressed and overwhelmed and depressed while pursuing your goals why stay committed to that?? So that’s why reasonableness is important. You want to make sure it’s something you can see happening and stay motivated to keep up with it.  It’s like losing weight. Once you see those first few pounds go away, it’s much more easier to get up and go to the gym and put the Cinnabon down.  But if you set a goal to lose 20lbs before the party on Friday (which is totally unreasonable, unhealthy and quite delusional) than the likelihood of you losing not one pound and instead scarfing down the entire buffet setup as soon as you arrive to the party more than likely! 

4)      As Rick Ross says, hustle, hustle, hustle real hard! I’m the biggest hustler (hard working that is) out there and I’m not above going hard or picking up a side hustle, 2 degrees and all, to make it happen.  Sometimes it is very possible that you are just not bringing in enough income to make all your ends meet AND achieve your goals.  It doesn't have to be a forever thing but maybe just for a few months to meet certain goals.  Consider seasonal work, paid hobbies, summer work, overtime hours, if available, bartering services/products, etc. 

Things I've Done and Learned In My Endeavors to Financial Successful:

1) Higher Interest Savings with bi-weekly auto deposits- I started a higher interest bearing online savings account with INGdirect and declined to have a debit/atm card linked to it. This is perfect for me.  The money is automatically deposited into the account on pay day so I don't even really see it.  I don't have immediate access to the money so it makes it more of a hassle to get the money, and therefore less of a temptation to spend it. ** Consider designating a comfortable portion of your direct deposit to a savings account so it's immediately out of sight and where it should be...saving and earning some interest! (everyone should have direct deposit and everyone should have an account with a financial institution! no live checks in this day and age!!)
2) Paying down revolving debt/outstanding debt- Yes i do fairly well for myself as a young attorney, but yes, I'm single, I have two expensive @ss kids, and live in one of the top 10 expensive areas so despite all that doing well for myself my budget can be as tight as those jeans I had on this weekend so I know how challenging this particular task can be.  What I did to make it easier to swallow and to manage without getting discouraged and giving up is set a reasonable budget of how much of my monthly income would go towards my total debt. You can try to set your goal in terms of percentages of your income (10% of my income is going to go towards debt) or an actual set amount (every pay period I'm going to put $100 in my debt bank).  And you can either wait until you reached a certain amount (let's say every $500 you accumulate) and make a lump sum payment towards a specific debt or what have you, until you have paid everything down. **Consider the months when you get an extra pay check (for those who get paid bi-weekly there are 2 months in a year where you get 3 pay checks instead of 2) and how you want to delegate that "extra" pay. It would be really helpful in cutting a chunk out of a high interest debt!
3) Adjusting my tax deductions so that I get the majority of my income up front rather than trying to get a huge tax check at the end of the tax season. I know a lot of people look forward to the tax season and tax returns to use any monies refunded to them to get ahead and pay off debts and I'm not saying not to do that, but you do need to understand that the money you receive in a tax refund is exactly that... a refund of your money, meaning that the IRS has been holding on to money that is rightfully yours throughout the whole year, interest free, to return to you once your tax return is filed and it's found out that too much of your money has been withheld.  I'd rather get all of MY money up front for me to designate what to do and not to do with MY money! And I rather have the income to take care of what I need to take care of as it becomes due or needed rather than incur additional expenses, fees, and headaches b/c I don't have the income to take care of it until the end of the year.  So, my deductions are set up so that I basically break even. The IRS is happy, I'm happy, my savings are happy and my creditors are happy all year around, not just around tax time. **Consider making any adjustments if you find that during the year you're having a hard time making ends meet and playing catch up during tax time.
4) Flex Spending Account- This has been a complete God send for me. A flex spending account is an account you set up to be managed by your employer or what have you and allows for you to save a designated amount of money, spread out evenly over your pay periods for the year, before taxes, for qualifying health care expenses and dependent care expenses.  I used Flex Spending this year to pay for my Invisalign treatment (oh yea my teeth are about to be perfection again...I got a separate post for that).  You end up saving because you reduced your taxable income, and therefore your tax obligation. It makes it easier for you to pay fixed or known expenses b/c it's automatically deducted from your pay without you ever having to think about it or account for it and you actually end up having more of your money in hand than you would if you paid the same expense out of your net income rather than with a deduction pre tax.  I ended up saving $20 per pay period for a total of $520 this year for my Invisalign treatment! Next year I'll be doing the same for LASIK vision treatment.  If your employer offers flex spending please take advantage of it!
5) 401K or similar retirement savings fund - This too helps to reduce your taxable income and therefore, tax obligation because the designated amount is deducted from your income before taxes are assessed.  Obviously the benefit of saving for your future goes without saying.  Additionally, many employers match the amount you contribute so if your employer agrees to match up to 5% of what you contribute, then if you designate 5% of your income you end up earning/saving 10%! You double your money!
6) 529 College Plan-I haven't started this yet and still have some questions but from what I know, this is a tax beneficial college savings plan that allows you to save money for your children or other qualifying individuals (nieces, nephews, etc) with very generous tax benefits and the amount saved is not counted against the beneficiary when assessing Financial Assistant eligibility.  This is something that all parents should look into and consider opening.

It can be difficult to balance but with time, practice and determination....

... you'll get the hang of it and it'll become easier and more rewarding!

Duhhhhh Winning!!! :-))

The END! I'm fly, happy, and financially savvy!!! Milk and Honeey