In the past couple of months I’ve really begun to enjoy my Netflix subscription. You see, for the longest time I was a holdout. Why would I pay for Netflix if I had antennae t.v. and Hulu? Well, thank goodness I changed my mind from Sons of Anarchy, Magic Mike, and more, the subscription has more than paid for itself. Then, I got caught up in Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. As a person seeking to change and simplify my life the show was a much appreciated illustration of how I could get rid of stuff mindfully. As I KonMaried my house one room at a time I began to consider how to use this method for finances. Let’s talk about how single ladies can konmari method our finances and live a simpler life.
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The KonMari Method
Is quite straightforward in that it encourages you to dump all of your proverbial stuff into one place and go through it piece by piece. Seriously, if you watch the show you will be amazed by the mounds of clothes, shoes, and miscellaneous accumulated memorabilia from every person’s life.
Every time I watch this part of the show I feel a sense of dread and anticipation. How on earth can these people work through all of that stuff?
But, they do, slowly and steadily. They reflect on each item and thank it for its presence in their life-however long it (or short) it may have been with them.
At the end of the show (many, many weeks later) Marie and her fabulous interpreter, Marie Iida, return to visit the families to see how things have gone. Their homes aren’t looking like the end of a remodeling show. They are looking like homes that have been freed up from years of memories, collections, clothes, and more.
They are looking like real homes and I love it.
And, as a viewer I notice that there is a significant change in the energy of the home at the end of the show. The homes are lighter, brighter, and the residents are as well. It’s as if a weight has lifted off their shoulders. Because, honestly, it has.
Single Ladies It’s Time to KonMari Your Money
As a financially single woman on a financial journey to pay off my debt. I’ve spent a significant amount of time paying off my debts, learning about money, changing my habits, and more. It has been a very intense process but worth every moment. There are a lot of similarities between the KonMari method and debt-repayment.
- Put it all on the table-Basically, before you begin paying off your debt, you will have to collect all of your information and put it in front of you.
- Debts-who do you owe? How much? And how mad are they?
- Cash-Do you have a savings? Random cash coming in?
- Earnings-How much are you earning? Are you earning enough? Too little?
- Expenses-What are you paying for each month? Are you spending more than you earn and don’t realize it? Are you great at keeping expenses reasonable?
- Say “thank you”–To your various debts, expenses, and more. Even though I’m fed up with debt, that debt reflects great trips, groceries, clothing, and fun with friends. My debt also paid for college. While I would never pay as much again for an education-I still received a world class education that I continue to use to this day. It’s too late to give it back. So…”thanks!”
- Eliminate what doesn’t work-Fortunately, I’ve learned how to have fun, buy clothes, and live my life for a lot less and without going into debt to do it. As I slowly worked through paying off my debts I eliminated credit cards as I just didn’t need them in my life. While I still have a love of fashion, I approach it differently and use Rent the Runway as a way to stay “on-trend” while being able to know exactly how much I would spend on clothing each month.
- No more hanging out at the mall…because why is that even a thing anymore? By eliminating the mall from my life I’ve also freed up a lot of time to do other things
- Random grocery store visits-I eliminated multiple grocery store visits during the week. By taking this one simple action I saved a lot of money and freed up a lot of time. Now, I use the specific grocery store’s delivery option or Instacart so that I eliminate impulse shopping and again save my time.
Focus on what Does Work Financially
It may surprise people that I still get a meal box once a month. I love them and alternate between Hello Fresh and Blue Apron depending on the meals that they are offering that week. Typically, I opt to do this either at the beginning or end of the month depending on what’s going on .
I prioritize self-care related spending. After konmaring my life, I discovered that I wasn’t spending enough on wellness, health, and fitness. This was a problem because this type of spending touches on my personal values. Let’s be clear, if I can do things like take yoga for free or a discounted price-I do. But, I increased this part of my budget because I wasn’t feeling good about myself and needed to make sure that I still did the following:
- Got the occasional mani-pedi-My hands shake when I try to give myself a manicure. I do it…but, every once in awhile, I need to bring in a professional so that I don’t have man hands. Especially during the summer.
- Looked nice when I stepped outside the door (I’m dating, I can’t look crazy) and even if I weren’t dating-I want to look great for myself.
- Take fitness classes-Working out is a priority for me. I love getting fit and working out with other people. Whenever possible I go to the free class. But, sometimes I’m going to pay for a class and I’m going to love it.
- Travel while in debt–Now, this doesn’t mean going to the Riviera. But, I still travel. I do it cash only, I work my deals, and I didn’t travel last year. But, I wouldn’t have been able to focus on debt repayment without taking some breaks. And, I don’t regret my trips at all.
Earning More
This has been a very intense part of my financial KonMari process. It has taken me a long time to feel 100% ok with earning more, declaring it, and being upfront about my “why.”
Earning more helps to balance out the financial stresses that I’ve had in my life-especially as a single woman. For this year I’m focused on making money the following ways:
- Selling my “Make Money with Ebooks Course” if you’re looking to write your first book-this course is for you!
- Selling tickets to my “Money on the Mountain” financial retreat for financially single women (check it out below)
- Affiliate income from my blogs (I have two!)
- Podcast sponsors
- My books
- Freelance writing
- Events
- Ads on my Colorado website (one day LOL!)
Discovering that I could create products that people would actually purchase from me was life changing. And, pretty awesome to experience.
How My Finances Feel Now
In complete transparency, my finances aren’t where I would like them to be. BUT, they are so much better than when I started. The feeling of constant anxiety and stress about money has eased up considerably. While there are situations that sometimes trigger my financial PTSD, by eliminated what wasn’t working for me:
- Debts-I owed so many people so much money. Wow. Just eliminating the sheer number of people/entities that I owed was huge way to clean the financial clutter in my life.
- Bad habits-Some habits I knew were bad, other habits I didn’t realize were contributing to financial bad health.
- Impulse shopping-I really don’t do this anymore. Basically, by removing myself from the mall and eliminating shopping as a fun activity-I’ve saved money (and time).
- Not tracking my cash-Not knowing where my money was going was a huge problem. It made it impossible to eliminate bad spending habits or to change expenses that were eating away at my budget.
- Not earning enough-Ongoing focus. You earn more, you have more money to deal with whatever comes up. That simple.
As a financially single woman I have to be on top of my financial situation. And, sometimes that can feel overwhelming. But, by cleaning up my finances, saying thank you, and moving on, I feel so empowered. What about you? Ready to KonMari your Money??
The Book
The Money on the Mountain Financial Retreat
Are you a financially single woman looking to better your finances, talk money from a single woman’s perspective, and do some yoga too? Then, The Money on the Mountain Retreat may be the financial space for you. Held in beautiful Denver, Colorado this October 2019.
Check out the information at the following link: Money on the Mountain
Or
Text: MONEYONTHEMOUNTAIN to 44222 to get on the list to stay in the loop.
Thinking About Starting a Blog?
I love blogging! It has been an incredible experience, transformed my life, and connected me with a ton of amazing people. Blogging is a pretty cheap activity and I recommend hosting your blog with Siteground. Many bloggers have begun leaving HostGator and BlueHost and moving to Siteground. Myself included! Read why I’m leaving HostGator and BlueHost (I have 2 blogs one on each hosting platform) and moving to Siteground. If you’re a new blogger Sitegroundwill cost around $3.95 a month (depending on the size of your audience). They have great customer service and tutorials on how to host your new WordPress blog on Siteground
Online Business Resources
If you’re thinking about starting an online business, the resources below are a great way to get started.
- The Ultimate List of FinCon Community Products
- Courses
- Books
- Swag
- Make Money with Ebooks–There is more than one way to make money with your writing skills. I’ve created this course to help inspire, educate, and support writers who are sitting on a book idea…and are afraid to write it. This is YOUR year.Make Money with Ebooks is offered at three different tiers to meet different student needs.
- Self-Study
- Group Program-Includes access to the closed Facebook Group and twice a month live office hours.
- VIP Program-Includes access to the closed Facebook Group, twice a month live office hours, and 2 meetings with Michelle to work on book related strategies, goals, etc.
- $10KVA–Are you curious about becoming a Virtual Assistant as a side-hustle or a potential full-time gig? My friend Kayla Sloan is killing it as a Virtual Assistant and schooling other entrepreneurs in how to become a VA that earns on average $10KVA. This course is what I recommend as the first part of creating a virtual assistant business.
- Making Sense of Affiliate Income-If you’re looking to make affiliate income with your blog, Michelle Schroeder-Gardner’s course is the course that I recommend. She makes well over a $1 Million a year blogging and the biggest chunk of her income comes from affiliate marketing.
- IMark Interactive–Grayson Bell helps me with all of my website related tech issues and he is THE go to guy for WordPress related tech in the several different blogging niches (all the Personal Finance peeps work with him).
- Elite Blog Academy-Many bloggers have gone through this course and I consider this course the “Granddaddy” of all blogging courses. It’s not cheap, but in additional to getting all of the resources that are key to building an incredible blog, you’re also become a part of an insanely supportive (and huge) community of bloggers. Many of whom are making crazy money.
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