Tag: Budgeting

Mastering Your Income: Strategies for Living Below Your Means

Welcome back to Part II of Your Guide to Facing Financial Reality. In case you missed the first post you can find it here. Picking right back up from where we left off means looking at your total. What is it? Is it more than you thought? Less than you thought? Or have you actively not thought about it?

The number isn’t something to tie emotion to. You need to come at this from a place of logic. Remember if you made it you can unmake it. You have the power. 

Now we need to know what you have coming in. If you have a consistent income, this should be fairly easy. This applies if you work for someone. 

Figuring out your income

Step 1. If you have a salary or an hourly wage, first look at your check stub or direct deposit slips. Next, do the math that helps you figure out your monthly wages. Then, calculate your weekly wages. Remember there are 12 months in a year and 52 weeks in a year. 

Step 1: If you are self employed or your income is inconsistent this can be harder. Go back through your records that could be your book keeping software, your taxes, or your checking account deposits. Anywhere you’ve received money for your business or services you want to get totals for each year. You want totals for at least 2 years 5 if you have them. 

Step 2: Review the information you’ve gathered. Find out the smallest amount of money per month you’ve ever brought in. This will be the monthly income we build your budget around. 

Step 3. This monthly total you need to break down into 4-week intervals so you understand what your weekly income is. So you’d take this total and divide it by Step 4. Figuring out what your least income is imperative to learning how to live below your means. If you can develop the lifestyle to live below your means, you can use the excess income to tackle debt. You can also build retirement, invest in your business or health, or even travel. Living intentional has to start with strategy and strategy can’t be achieved if you don’t have a plan. And a plan can’t be built if you keep ignoring your spending habits. 

You can’t create a relationship with a new life if you are still living the lifestyle of your past self. 

Come back tomorrow when we put part I and II together. 

Intentional Spending: Rules for a 90 Day Fast

Hi My name is Bri and I’m an intentionalist. That means I live life with intentional attention to how I make my choices. For example how I spend money or don’t spend money.  Which is the inspiration for my challenge of 90 Day Spend Fast. From January 1st to March 31st  I won’t be shopping beyond the necessities of living. In April I can buy all the things I needed or wanted to get during the prior three months. 

Here are my rules. You can take and apply whatever resonates with you.

90 Spend Fast Rules (My ultimate Goal is to do it in 90 Day increments. If you start in January then you can buy in April, August, and December)

Allowables

-Groceries and basic kitchen supplies

-Monthly Bills and necessities like Gas for cars

-Cosmetics and Toiletries (Only when I run out or am about to)

-Cleaning Products (only when I run out or am about to)

-Gifts for others (Try and repurposed first)

-Material for work projects

Opt Outs

-Take out food and coffee (Unless with someone else like Date night with your spouse)

-Clothes, Shoes, Accessories

-Home Décor and Household Items

-Books, Magazines, Notebooks

-Electronics (unless replacing something necessary)

Tools for Success

Erase all shopping apps from my phone. 

Prepare:

I’m taking this week to get situated. Anything that I’m out of I am ordering now. The toothpaste that I need I’m ordering now. Anything I’ve been putting off like bras and underwear I’m getting now. I’m erasing all ordering apps from my phone. Which is inconvenient but forces me to be intentional with my purchases. Especially with my business. I’ll create shopping lists for my products then sit down to buy them at the computer. Instead of doing it while I’m thinking about it off my phone randomly. If I can only shop weekly at the store, I make lists. This allows me to better plan my meals and shopping. 

The Goal

I applied this same method and adopted minimalism in 2024. I was able to pay off all my debt and bring my credit score up to 800. Then, I saved even more money by redoing my car insurance because of my higher credit score. I also built a savings to fall back on when needed. My goal for 2025 is to pay off all my husband’s debt. I also want to build the savings account and go on six camp outs. Finally, I plan to take a trip to Europe. 

How to Spend Your Time Wisely

While I am in a spend fast I find that I have more time on my hands you will too. This is a perfect opportunity to declutter, donate, or sell anything you don’t need. I make it a point to read all the books on my kindle. These are books I’ve been putting off or books that are on my bookshelves. Unfinished projects are getting finished or they are getting retired. When you are fasting it’s a perfect opportunity to spend your time more intentionally. I’m working on writing on this blog and on books I’ve had in mind to write. I also find more time to focus on my health. I adopt a sleep routine and aim for 10,000 steps a day. 

I’ll keep checking back in over the course of the Spend Fast and report how it’s going. If you’re thinking of joining me please leave a Y in the comments of the blog.