Money, Money, Money

To spend or not to spend those stimulus checks

I continually talk about the power of knowledge and encourage you to take a pulse on your current spending plans as we start to navigate out of the year of Covid. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but being prepared for the path that lies ahead starts with knowing where things are now.

Before spending that stimulus, that tax return, or anticipating that child tax credit, we really encourage you to take an assessment of your current debts, and what deferments you have that will be terminating, and when. As the saying goes, "If the plan doesn't work, change the plan but never the goal." Many of our plans have changed, but before jumping to put out the immediate fires, make a solid plan of action to reach those goals you had set out for yourself before the detour of 2020. In some cases, you could only be putting a bandaid on septic wounds and not really getting at the root of the infection. And in some cases costing you more in the end. Laying it all out first to really examine the bigger picture then make a solid plan will really help make sound money solutions for now and later.

Quick tips:

- If you haven't already started a money journal, do so. Get all those money worries out of your head on paper so you can clear brain space for executing the answers and not focusing on the worry.

- Our mindset matters; change the narrative from "I'll never's" to "When I do's."

- Stay organized and departmentalize. Keep folders one for each money issue as in credit cards, medical, student loans, utilities. Take on one issue at a time and pace yourself. Set a timer if you have to keep the mental boundaries clear.

- Set up a calendar with due dates, so you have a clear visual of when you need to address any one issue or follow up on. Again, save the brain for solving not all the remembering.

- Sleep! Sleep allows the brain to process and organize, get plenty so your brain can clean up and organize those mental file cabinets.

When in doubt, call us...

"...because it's never JUST about the money."