launchyourdream

I’ve worked really hard the past few years to get to where I am as a writer.  And I bet you have too.  My long-standing dream is to be self employed- a free agent, a freelancer, a solopreneur. The most important skill I ever learned- more than writing skills or marketing skills - is how to manage my money.  It was a long time coming, though. It took three times to learn the lesson. Each time I dug myself out of deep debt. Then I learned how to save.

The goal of successful personal finance is freedom; to have the chance to follow your passions without being concerned if you can pay the mortgage or put food on the table. And, the key to successful personal finance is to live on less than you make. Far less (if you want to do it before you’re too old and withered.)  Great resources are available at the library or online. 

My all-time favorite personal finance book is Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robins.  It has recently been updated for the 21st century. The incredible education this book gives you about your relationship to money is what makes it worth every dime you spend to get a copy.  I read that book probably 15 times then gave it away. I missed it so much I bought another copy. Then I gave it away to another friend who needed its teachings. I’m very excited to get a copy of the newly updated version.

Second in line for books or curriculum that changed my life was Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey. Not the biggest fan of his radio show, but the “baby steps” did give me exactly what he promised. Financial Peace.

The thing is, if you want to make it in your own business, especially as a creative or any kind of artist then you are going to have to get control over both your spending and saving habits.  I watched my parents go through the same up and down financial cycles every year in their business. It was always feast or famine, but never save for a rainy day. And the rainy day always came. 

There are many ways to trick yourself into good financial behaviors until they  become a habit.

1. Set up a savings account with an online bank like ING or HSBC where it takes a little longer to get the money out of. My ING account can take about 3 days if I transfer it to my regular bank. Those 3 days have saved me from impulse buys more times than I want to admit.
2. Pay off all of your debt. I learned how to do this from Dave Ramsey.
3. Understand what your relationship to money is. I learned this from Your Money or Your Life.
4. Figure out what your bills actually are while at the same time write down every cent you spend for a week or a month to see how much you are wasting.
5. Write down your list of dreams, a.k.a. the reasons why you need to live below your means- put your goals in front of you and in your wallet.  Wrap it around your credit card, stick it on the computer if you shop online. Look at it, make friends with it, and remember you are only letting yourself down when you go overboard.

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