83. Make A Money Plan

So here’s my unpopular opinion: budgets are not always the best.

I mean, they’re not entirely bad. They’re just not my favorite. And here’s why: budgets just feel restricting. When you look at a budget there’s guilt, shame, frustration and desperation. And all those feelings just lead to a bad relationship with money.

So today, I want you to change your mindset and consider using a money plan instead of a budget to reach your life goals.

And right now you’re probably thinking, “But Kylee! Budgeting is the silver bullet of personal finances, you can’t just throw it out the window! And what the heck is a money plan anyway?”

A money plan is just about making extra income to reach your goals, rather than penny pinching and saving up with the leftover money you have in your budget.

With a money plan, there’s empowerment, excitement, hope, action, and inspiration. Good feelings around money.

So what does a money plan look like?

Say, next month I want to buy a hot tub. And the hot tub is like $5,000. So instead of taking the extra $20 I have in my budget at the end of every month and saving it up, I would look at how many more products I need to sell or clients I need to get each week to reach my $5,000.

A money plan is all about letting inspiration flow and brainstorming ideas for more income.

#1: Write down your dream life

So start by writing down what your dream life would look like and all the things you’ve just really been wanting for a long time. Is it dance classes for your kids? More traveling? A kitchen upgrade? Updated wardrobe? Write it all down!

#2: Figure out the cost

Write down how much all those things will cost, and to make the amount less daunting, divide out the cost over a certain number of months. The number of months can be random, whatever amount of time makes it easier for you to achieve your income goal.

So back to my hot tub. If it costs $5,000, I’m going to divide out the cost by like five months. So I now need to bring in an extra $1,000 each month to get my hot tub. And $1,000 a month is much easier than looking at the whole $5,000!

#3: Brainstorm how to increase business

Then you go to your marketing calendar to see how you can increase your clients, sessions or product sales to get that extra $1,000 a month.

It may take more marketing, an email funnel or influencer or two to reach that income goal. But it is a much more fulfilling way to get that dream life when we are working with goals!

Money plans are a lot more empowering than budgets.

When you’ve reached your income goal, you can look back and see that you can actually bring in increased revenue month after month. Then you start growing and increasing your business with that new potential.

You don’t have to penny pinch and restrict yourself to a budget. You do not have to live like that.

So what does that dream life look like? Set a money goal and work backwards. How much do you charge per session or product? What do you have to sell to make that happen per week? And what is your marketing plan to make that happen?

Listen to the full episode here.