There are many smart, hardworking people in Austin, Texas who have great jobs, live in nice places, drive nice cars (or scooters) and eat in the hippest restaurants on the Eastside.
Yet, they lack financial literacy and live paycheck to paycheck. Why is that?
You don’t need an Austin Financial Coach to tell you no one teaches finanical literacy. Parents will teach you how to drive or play baseball, but not how to balance a checkbook. Teachers will teach you to read and at least try to teach you calculus, but nothing about a household budget.
Seems the most important financial decisions must be learned on your own through trial and (mostly) error. OK, time to be an adult about your finances. Here are the basics of financial literacy.
1. Live below your take home pay. If you bring home $2,500 a month, live as if you brought home $2,400 and put $100 into savings.
2. Use only cash or debit cards. Credit cards allow you to spend money you don’t have and charge you 24% interest to do so. Sounds crazy, no? Most everyone I know owes money on their credit cards. Remember, if you can’t pay cash, you can’t afford it!
3. Create a budget. Not as scary as it sounds. Write down all your “required” monthly expenses such as rent, emergency fund, credit cards, car payment, school loan, gas, food. Then add your “long term” expenses, such real estate taxes, holiday gifts, car repairs. (If you pay $6,000 in real estate taxes annually, put aside $500 a month). Whatever is left you can spend on “non-required” expenses (i.e. Fun).
4. If your monthly expenses are greater than your take home pay, you have two choices: (1) Earn more or (2) Spend less.
Earn more by getting a part-time gig such as delivering pizza, driving for Uber, getting a roommate or having a garage sale. Spend less by cutting back on streaming services, gym memberships and restaurants or becoming a roommate.
Sorry, nothing pretty about getting financially organized.
Remember, it took you many years to get into “this financial situation.” So it will take time and sacrifice to get out of it.
When you are ready to face your finanical truth, Capital Budget Strategies, LLC, Austin’s best Financial Literacy Coach, is here to help!
For only $149, we will help you determine your Net Worth, analyze your spending, set up a monthly Household Budget, an Emergency Fund, a Snowball Debt Repayment Plan and let you know how well you are doing saving for retirement. Finally, we will review your bank accounts and introduce you to on-line banking and automated payments.
Our Austin Financial Literacy Coach can meet at your office, your home or at our home-office. We can meet during the day, in the evening and even on weekends.
Give us approximately 4 hours and start your journey to finanical literacy and get back to enjoying your life in The Live Music Capital of the World!
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