Excuses, Excuses: 3 Reasons Why Women in Business Are Still Broke

Excuses, excuses.  There are reasons why you're still broke. Do you treat money with the respect it deserves? Perhaps you ignore your money (or should I say the balance in your checking account) except when you need to buy that pair of shoes on sale. Or, you live from pay-check to pay check, hoping you’ll make it to the end of the month, but never quite sure. Anxiety provoking? Yes. On one side of the money coin are those that aren't making enough money and struggle. But, I hear from women all the time on the other side of the NO Respect coin. They make plenty of money, but don’t know where it goes or feel out of control because they're not managing it well.

First Excuse: Not saving enough. This is the #1 suggestion in Money Magazine’s July 2012 article “101 Ways to Build Wealth” – instead of 10% of your pay, start saving 15% - boosts your pre-retirement income from 57% to 69% and that’s huge. Retirement comes faster than you can imagine!

Excuse #2:  Women Spend on Piddly Things: Women spend on beauty products, shoes, purses – things that don’t last and don’t add real value to their wealth. LearnVest says “spending on a vacation or a clothing item that revolutionizes your wardrobe are totally worthwhile and prioritize your spending.”    *hyperlink and hyperlink back to one of my blogs)

Excuse #3:  It's My Parents Fault: Yes, our parents spending, saving or earning habits affect how we feel and think about money. Are you frugal to the point it hurts? Or are you an avoider like your mom was? Or a bit of a tyrant with others as your dad could be around bill paying time?  Becoming aware of how our parents money habits affects ours starts the process of unhooking and reclaiming our own responsible relationship with our money. Are you ready to give up your excuses? Money is not important for the paper or coin it is – it’s important for the choices it gives us. Do you ever look in the mirror and wonder: What are the steps to going from broke to respectful with my money?  

How Much Money Is Enough for Peace?

A friend of mine has a saying, “If you want to know what you believe, look at what you’re experiencing.” So true. But many of us don’t want to look at what we believe or how we behave with money because we’re afraid of what we might find. And, we often don’t have a safe way of doing so. That’s where money coaching is helpful.

What we believe affects how much money we make, manage or or build for the future. For example, the overspender justifies her purchases with excuses - “Well, I’m not spending that much, I only shop at the dollar store.” The avoider doesn’t look at his bank account balance, or save for retirement because it’s too far away to feel real.

Our core money beliefs are ingrained deeply within. We have  we’ve stopped asking WHY we need to work so hard or acquire money.  But what money means to us is a key question to understand. Kansas State University and the Klontz Consulting Group show that How much money is enough for you? That’s a question I ask when giving presentations and the answer tends to be twice what they’re currently earning. When they reach that next goal? The new goal is – you see where we’re going here – twice again.

Take the Quiz by clicking on this link and find out if the beliefs that run your money bus are: Money Worship, Money Vigilance, Money Avoidance, or Money Status and you’ll find there are recommended steps to deal with each type.  Then call or email me and we’ll talk about the results in a 15 minute complimentary conversation.