Dear Readers, are any of the following scenarios familiar? Can’t fall asleep at night because you’re worried about money? Can’t stop thinking about your bills? Keep putting off significant yet necessary expenses because you seem to run out of money every month? If that’s you, Dear Readers, keep reading to find out the simple monthly money routine you need to get your life back on track and finally have some peace of mind.
Welcome to new and returning readers to the Branding24Seven community!
The JMS team is back with valuable insights that will inspire you to be fearless in the pursuit of your dreams. Dear Readers, if it’s your first time here, welcome, and thanks for stopping by the JMS blog. FYI, JMS is a consulting firm located in Philadelphia that advises people and companies to manage risk and avoid organizational or fiscal paralysis. To that end, the JMS team is in the business of designing recovery plans as robust as possible that avoid behavioral or productivity inertia. Therefore, Dear Readers, this blog will help you make sense of these unprecedented times without feeling devoid of motivation and utterly defeated. You, Dear Readers, can find your groove again as soon as you get a handle on your money management, thanks to a streamlined monthly planning routine.
So, Dear Readers, you’ve waited for the new year and wished it would be better than 2020. Yet, you feel stuck and discourage. Why? Did you think that the bad habits you’ve developed around money would magically disappear in 2021? Not so, Dear Readers! The JMS team believes that money, like anything else, is a skill you can conquer. All you need is a little bit of discipline and a whole lot of organization. In short, Dear Readers, you need a money routine!!!
Money Routine Budget Tip Number One: Create a money routine to ease anxiety.
Dear Readers, this blog gets it! You are tired of hearing about routines. But give us a minute to change your mind. When most people get their paychecks, they cash it and pay whatever bills pop up with no real thought. However, if we are honest with ourselves, we all have short and long-term money goals. Indeed, we all have plans to pay credit card debt, buy a home, repay student loans, or plan a fabulous family vacation as soon as traveling can resume safely). How do you plan on achieving any of these money goals if you do not have a clear strategy and a consistent routine to ensure a successful outcome?
Meet Sarah, a small business owner here in Philadelphia who came to JMS for strategic support. Once it became clear that the state will have to enter another lockdown last fall, she needed help because she wasn’t sure how she would survive another dip in revenue. Because her income varies substantially from month to month, Dear Readers, Sarah desperately needs a routine to ease her anxiety which has been at an all-time high since March 2020 due to coronavirus.
But, Dear Readers, even if you have a steady income from your 9-to-5 job and you know precisely how much hits your bank account every two weeks, this blog recommends creating a money routine that keeps you actively committed to your success. How else can you determine your progress and feel encouraged by the strides you are making, Dear Readers? So, go ahead, make room in your busy life for a monthly money routine; it is the best way to invest in yourself and find inner peace!
Money Routine Budget Tip Number Two: Separate needs from wants to improve your odds to stick to a money routine.
Listen, Dear Readers, it’s good to know when your paychecks are due to come in every month. But, it’s better to know what to spend your paychecks on so that you don’t wake up in the middle of the night hoping that you have enough money to cover the rent this month! So, Dear Readers, you must learn to prioritize your needs first and put them on a specific schedule. If you get two checks a month, decide what bills they’ll cover each time. The more streamlined you make your money routine, Dear Readers, the more at peace you are and free to live your life to the fullest.
For Sarah, it was not as easy. While she seldom can predict her income, going to lockdown 2.0 was especially frightening because it would essentially “put the kibosh on the busiest season of the year”; she tearfully shared with the JMS team. Consequently, the purpose of creating a money routine was to help identify her needs and her wants and develop a strategy to keep her head above water given these tumultuous times!
Like her, Dear Readers, take a moment to list your needs to have a precise picture of what you are working with rather than attempting to guess what you have in your checking account every time you find yourself in front of a cash register! This blog suggests classifying your needs into the following categories: food, housing, utilities, transportation, and savings. Yes, Dear Readers, you must make room in your budget for savings, even if it’s a small amount at the moment. The whole purpose of a routine is to train yourself and develop new reflexes to keep your goals on track. So, start small with the savings and, as your income grows, so will your contributions!
Money Routine Budget Tip Three: Anticipate impulses with a grand design to manage wants efficiently.
Sooooo, news flash Dear Readers, we are all humans. We want things, buy things, and indulge from time to time. And, you know what, that’s part of living. Especially in these trying coronavirus-infested times, when we can all use a bit of joy in our lives! But, Dear Readers, can you do it without breaking the bank?!! That is the question!!!
Do you see why you need a strategy to manage your wants? At a minimum, such a grand design will prevent you from living above your means and overspend willy-nilly. But, in the long run, managing your wants with efficiency will help you live life to the fullest without feeling like you are a prisoner of your money goals!
For Sarah, the grand design had a double purpose. First, it offered a viable financial plan to tackle her holiday shopping amid a downturn thanks to lockdown 2.0. Second, it allowed her to beef up her health care routine as a means to combat the winter blues that could be even more severe this year due to the unprecedented devastation COVID-19 brought to our nation.
Therefore, the JMS team devised a rolling strategy to spread out the expenses for her wants over a few months. And you, Dear Readers, can do the same! You might want to indulge in shopping (for arts and crafts, clothes, candles, or what-have-you) this month, holding all your other expenses steady. But, next month, you can indulge in eating out as restrictions are lifting, and the weather is warming up. And then the following month, you can indulge in entertainment, assuming that bowling alleys, movie theaters, and museums reopen to the public with the required social distancing measure, of course!
Final thoughts.
There you have it! The JMS team thanks you, Dear Readers, for taking the time to read today’s publication. The branding24seven community is here to inspire and encourage as you, Dear Readers, are embarking on the exhilarating journey to design the life of your dreams. This blog wants you to have the confidence to chase your dreams with reckless abandon!
The JMS team thanks Sarah for allowing this blog to create a money routine entry for you, Dear Readers. As a small consulting firm, the JMS team feels lucky to have the ability to support clients across industries through any given crisis that rocks their daily operations. Though the work JMS accomplishes mostly revolves around team dynamics, many mastermind participants require more individualized support. Indeed, many clients ask the JMS team for extra support to improve their productivity to be even more efficient at work.
Dear Readers, we want to hear from you! Do you have a money routine? What are your best budget tips? Did we miss? What else can this blog cover that will motivate you and help you be as successful as possible in 2021, Dear Readers?
Let us know by email at jms@branding24seven.com or by mail at JMStrategy LLC
21 S. 11th Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19107.
Dear Readers here is more content from the JMS team to help you get your lives on track and reach all your dreams:
The Best Resilience Framework To Crush Any Crisis.
Mind Reset To Attract Success In 2021.
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