Month: May 2024

Financial Coaching. And the roll it can play…

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What IS financial coaching, you may ask? These days our lives are much more complicated than decades ago. In the “good old days” there was maybe a list of  6-10 ESSENCIAL monthly bills most people probably had.

Mortgage or rent, utility bill, homeowners’ insurance & car insurance. Maybe a car payment, property tax bill if it was not part of the mortgage payment.

Not much else, for EVERY Month bills. It seemed much easier to keep track of your monthly spending. Even credit cards were just used for “emergencies.”

These days, EVERYTHING is on “credit” or is a must Have! We borrow for college, we HAVE a cable bill, wi-fi bill, streaming services, cell phone bills to cover EVERYONE in the family. Maybe you have water delivered to the house vs drinking it from the tap. We eat more takeout food; we go out to eat more than years ago. We pay to have food delivered. We pay random people to pick us up and drive us places, we MUST have a credit card for MOST if not all of these things! Hey, I just switched my cell carrier, and to get the “deal”. Which did save me $100.00 a month, 😊You need to allow automatic payments on your credit card. They do not tell you that till the very end of the transaction, and it took 2 hours to get it set up! Long story, but at that point I was like, I just want out of here!

The point here is as a society we seem to “need” all this stuff.  Can you really survive without a cell phone? You need an App. for everything! I digress…

So, what does a Financial Coach have to do with all this? The world is busier, and we can easily go down a rabbit hole and overspend, which can lead to more debt than in the old days. A “Coach” is the person that helps you get your arms around your personal finance lifer. The “Coach” helps you face your fears, vs putting your head in the sand, thinking this will pass. It does not pass; it usually gets worse.  The “Coach” is that person that’s right by your side helping you make better decisions one step at as time. Money can be stressful when there is not enough, or when you are having a hard time changing your habits. People have life coaches, why not a  coach that helps people make changes in their financial life? People pay a coach to “force” them to work out or get on track with better eating habits. It makes sense, right?

It’s a thing! And I think it would be a cool gig to be part of! Talking to people about how to help them de-stress over money and help them create a feeling of being in control. I think I may do this!

Do you spend more on vacations than most?

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Do most Americans take vacation each year? Not just take vacation days from work, but an actual vacation.  Seems like it’s important to most people.  I get that, life these days is demanding and fast paced. Work stress is higher than it’s ever been and the cost of some of our necessities, like insurance, food and taxes has certainly gone up.  Yet a vacation is something most people put on their must have list.

According to Forbes. 40% of Americans plan to travel in 2024. 40% of Americans Plan to Travel More In 2024 Vs. 2023 – Forbes Advisor. The younger generation will travel more than others.  Is that a good thing? Probably… It’s a catch 22. Travel more when your young and healthy. Or older when it might not be as easy to travel? Maybe it’s something we just need to balance better. Balance as in the time and the cost. Real vacations build memories, and great experiences. It’s a way to spend time with family or friends and experience new things, or just unplug and relax with no schedule.

The average American will spend about $4.000 in 2024 on vacations. Maybe that’s one trip or two small trips. But its important to take some time away from the day to day grind and get away.

Maybe you drive to your destination vs fly, whatever works for you….

So where do we get the money for a vacation?  Maybe we plan ahead and squirrel some money into the savings account over a few months to get a chunk of the money set aside BEFORE you book the trip. The scary part is IF you put it all on a credit card and you do not ALLREADY have the money to pay that card off ASAP.  Booking a vacation usually requires you to pay with a credit card and that starts to add up quickly! It’s like doing all your Christmas shopping with a credit card. Then you wake up when you get home from that trip stressed, when you see your statement!  According to JD Powell, 51% of Americans carry a credit card balance. Survey: Many Americans aren’t paying their credit cards in full (yahoo.com)

So, while a vacation is well needed by most and let’s face it life is short, so lets do fun things and work that into our lives!  We also need to work it into our budgets. So, we make some cuts here and there or pick up extra hours with a side hustle, or something. Let’s find some extra coin in the budget to do fun things! But let’s book it when we know we have the cash to pay for it with no regrets!