One of the biggest challenges I think I will face if I start my own business is the financial side of it. I have all the knowledge of what I SHOULD do, but I just don't do it. It's another one of those times when my emotions get in the way and so I avoid the activity. There was a time in my life when I got into a lot of debt. I had university debt and then moved to a very expensive part of the US and had accumulated credit card debt as well. I hated the stress of balancing my accounts every month and things spiralled out of control to the point that I couldn’t' actually afford to pay all my bills each month. I took some drastic action, put on my big girls pants, and started adulting and managed to dig myself out of all the debt by the time I got married two years later.
I married an accountant. Perfect for me. I am completely content for him to do everything with our money and he takes care of the finances in our house. That's what works for us and I love it. I do however find myself not keeping good records of what I spend money on and I know if I want to run a successful business the numbers are going to be so important and I'm going to have to up my game in this area. I refuse to be controlled by my disorganisation in this area.
I'm not sure why I avoid tracking everything so much. It might be the mundane boredom of entering numbers on a spreadsheet, perhaps its fear that I won't have enough money left for what I need that month, maybe it's just plain laziness. As part of my 90 day super plan, I am going to record every day for 90 days any money that I spend and categorise it. I realise this is something most normal people do already, but I'm putting it out there in black and white to hold myself accountable to doing it, as this normal person doesn't do it consistently. I feel like I overcomplicate it, or maybe haven't found the right system yet, but that's probably just an excuse my brain is using. I've tried doing it on paper, spreadsheets, apps and software programmes but can't seem to find a system that works for my brain. I think I just need to suck it up and pick a system and stick to it. If anyone has any suggestions on how to make this activity fun and more alluring, I'd appreciate them.
I'm going to adult myself into keeping accurate records of everything. I'm going to budget beautifully and tell my money where it is going rather than it sneaking out of my account surreptitiously when I'm not paying attention. I'm sure my dad would be horrified if he saw my lack of monetary documentation. He is a man of immense files and spends a considerable amount of time recording his pennies. I know how to do what I need to do, I just need to take the emotion out of this too and get it done.
My quote for today is "Obsess over your numbers." -Brendan Burchard
My photo for today is me studiously trying to obsess over the numbers.
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