Practical Tips for Financial Stability in Uncertain Times | Ep. 341

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You know what it is. That's right. It's time to talk money with your money

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nerd and financial coach. Now tighten those purse strings

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and open those ears. It's the money talk with Tiff

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podcast.

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Hey, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Tiffany's Take, where

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I answer your money questions right here on the podcast. So if you'd like your

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question answered, go to

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www.moneytalkwitht.com

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askTiffany, and I'll be more than happy to answer. So for today's

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episode, I have a question from a listener, and it says, hi,

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Tiffany. With the current economic uncertainties, I'm finding it challenging

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to stick to my budget while also trying to save for emergencies and

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invest for the future. What are some practical strategies I can use

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to balance these financial goals without feeling

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overwhelmed? Now, you might be thinking, shoot,

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that sound like me. Sounds like a lot of people right now,

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honestly, even myself. Like, I'm like,

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expenses are so high. Trying to get your

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savings up, trying to invest for your future self, so much going

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on. How can we tackle all of these things? How can we

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do. And instead of. Or so, that's what I wanted to talk to you about

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today. So, first and foremost, let's hop right in.

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Prioritize your financial goals. So if you are listening

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and you're a client, if you've ever worked with me, you know that we start

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with goals first. Like, that is the first thing we talk about,

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because we have to figure out what's important to us and where

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we're going. So always, always, always start

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by listing your financial goals. Is it savings? Is it emergency fund? Is it

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investments? Is it trying to survive? Is it paying off debt?

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Whatever it is, list them according to urgency

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and importance. For instance, if building an emergency

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fund might take precedence over other investments in

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unpredictable times. So you want to make sure that when you're

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listing out your financial goals, you're listing them out in order

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for most important to least important. And that's usually what I do

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with my clients. We do our top three. And, you know, it doesn't

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matter if it's short, medium, or long term for now, because

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you can always dial it in later. So just start writing

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down your financial goals. Get a notebook or get a word

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document, and just start jotting it down. Then you can start

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moving them around to prioritize. So once you have that, then you have

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a clear direction. Okay, well, for me, paying off debt is

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more important than investing for the future. Cool.

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Or maybe you're like, well, I really don't have any savings. So savings is more

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important for me right now than paying off debt. That's cool too. There's

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really no right or wrong answer or right or wrong way to do this,

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but just make sure that you get it down and I'll make sure I'll put

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some resources in the show notes where I talked about goals. I did a whole

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goal series, I think it was earlier this year or last year,

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but I'll make sure I'll link to that in the show notes next. Make sure

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you create a flexible budget. And honestly, all budgets are

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flexible. And that's one thing that I tell my clients as well. I'm like,

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even though we jot this stuff down, we make a budget. It's

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all movable. Everything in the budget is changeable,

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so make sure you go in and change it if things arise.

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But still, you want to start with your essentials first,

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such as your housing, your utilities, groceries, etcetera. The things that you need

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to live, and then work your way down from there. So the

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budget spreadsheet that I have, I'll make sure I put a link in the show

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notes for that as well. It actually takes

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you from most important to least important for

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you. So all you have to do is go through and put in the numbers

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of how much you actually spend on these things, but it's already

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allocated for that. Then you want to make sure

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that if savings or investments is important to

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you, treat them as a non negotiable. Like

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for instance, with me, I have a certain amount that goes into my

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investment account every month on autopilot because that's something

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that's important to me. Now, it may not be a ton of money, it's just

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a little bit matter of fact. I'll be real with y'all, it's dollar 25,

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but it's something that goes towards it every single month

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off the top. And I don't have to do any extra to do that because

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I want to make sure I'm putting something in while I'm working on these other

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goals. So treat it as a non negotiable. My grandpa,

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my late grandpa always said, pay yourself first

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and putting in investments and doing savings and all that stuff,

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that is paying yourself first. So I definitely live by

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that. Another thing you can consider is maybe the

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50 30 20 budget. So 50% for needs, 30% for

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wants, and 20% for savings and debt repayment. I go

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into that in my budgeting blog post as well. I'll make sure I'll link to

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that, but you can adjust these percentages to better suit your current

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financial situation or what's important to you. Maybe you're like,

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okay, I need 60 for needs, 20 for

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wants, and 20 for savings. That's perfectly okay.

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Mind you, like I said, there's no right or wrong. And don't feel

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pressured by all these quote unquote financial gurus, even me. If

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you consider me a financial guru to

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stipulate how your life works, you make these plans

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how you want to make them, okay? Number three, automate your

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savings and investments. I kind of already touched on this in the previous one.

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Use automation to your advantage. Set up automatic transfers to your savings

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and investment accounts so that way you ensure consistent contributions

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without the temptation to spend. Take it right off the top and then you don't

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even have to worry about it. For utilize financial tools and

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apps I use a lot of financial tools and

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apps, and I'll link to some of my favorites in the show notes as

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well. But explore budgeting apps like Mint or Ynab or

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every dollar, and that can help you track your spending and adjust

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the budget in real time. Personally, I love ynab. I'll make sure I

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put my affiliate link in the show notes if you all want to check it

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out. That has been my go to

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budgeting tool for like two or three years now, and

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I love it. Also, you can look at investment platforms like

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Acorns, so that allow you to invest spare change from

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daily purchases, making it easier to grow your investment portfolio.

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I have a few clients that do like those

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incremental savings or incremental investing

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options. And you look, after a while you're like,

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oh shoot, I got $500, or oh shoot, I got $1,000. It

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really adds up over time. So if you feel like you're the type

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of person where you're like, well, Tiffany, I

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can't just do this on my own. I need something to do it for me.

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Then check out platforms like that that can help you out.

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Use technology to your advantage, y'all. I know I do.

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All right, so number five, stay informed and educated. So

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keep abreast of economic trends and financial news. This is stuff that

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I was thinking about bringing back my finance Friday live. So

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that way you all can be abreast of what

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economic developments or things are going on to help you

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make informed decisions and adjust your strategies as you go.

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Because depending on what the situation is like, for instance, not too long

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ago, the Fed just decreased

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the Fed funds rate by 50 basis points, which is

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0.50%. I'll have links to me

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explaining all of these concepts I just said, so that way you

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can check that out. If what I just said sounds like

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gibberish, just check out the show notes. I'll make sure I have some links there

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for some resources on going into depth on what those things mean.

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But for the purposes of this episode, with that

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decrease, that makes savings

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a little less attractive because it'll affect the

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savings interest rates, but it may make

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borrowing more attractive because now interest rates are going to go down

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some. So that's why I said, thinking about the whole

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economy can really help you. And staying abreast of what's going on

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can help you adjust your strategies as you go. Six,

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focus on building an emergency fund. So the goal, of course, is to

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save three to six months worth of living expenses at the minimum.

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But I know it's hard for people, so at least try to get

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to 1000 and then you can work your way up from there. I always tell

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people, when you're doing your goals, do small goals. That way

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you're able to hit it and then go on to the next right. So

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if your goal is to save three months, maybe save 1000 for

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now, then 2000, then 3000, and the next thing you know,

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you'll be like, oh shoot, I'm already at three months. So,

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you know, if building an emergency fund is important to you,

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then make sure you do that. Now that acts as a financial cushion, so

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it provides you peace of mind and stability during unexpected events.

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I remember a little bit ago, people were like, why would you put money in

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a savings account when you can invest it and get more return? Because of that

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peace of mind. That's why. Because with investment

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accounts, you know, it does take you a few days or whatever to get your

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money. You have to, if you fully invested in stocks and stuff,

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you have to sell those stocks. You have to wait till they clear. Then you

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can pull your money out with an emergency fund is right there when you

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need it. And so that's why I tell people have

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investments, but also have that savings just sitting there too. You need

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it now. How much you put in that savings is completely up

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to you. Some people are like, I'm cool with one

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month of emergency fund and I want to invest the rest. That's

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fine. Like I said, your journey is your journey. So

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even if a financial guru tells you one thing, it doesn't matter.

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You have to control what you do with your money.

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Number seven, diversify investments. So diversification

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is key. Spread your investments across different asset classes to mitigate

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that risk. And increase the potential for returns. So, for

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instance, some people might have real estate, or

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they might invest in real estate on the stock market because you don't

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actually have to have physical real estate to invest in real estate. That's another topic

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for another day. Anywho, some people may have real estate, some people may

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have bonds. Some people may have stocks. Some people may have cds. Some people

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may have high yield savings account. Whatever the case may be,

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just make sure that you diversify so you have different buckets you can pull from

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if the time arises that you need it. Number eight.

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Most importantly, stay motivated and avoid being overwhelmed.

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So break down your financial goals, like I said, into small manageable

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tasks, smaller manageable tasks. And celebrate those small

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victories to stay motivated. When I get on a call with my

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clients, we always do an update. And if I hear

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any small victory, it could be something as simple as, oh,

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I looked at my budget before I went to the store

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today. Let's celebrate. Let's take a moment and let's celebrate that,

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because that's important. It's important to keep you motivated. And

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we all know how positive reinforcement really

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dictates our behavior. So make sure you keep yourself

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positive and avoid that overwhelm. Also,

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y'all know me. I'm very woo woo. Practice mindfulness and stress

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relief techniques to prevent financial anxiety from overwhelming

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you. I love practicing mindfulness. I

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love, you know, reading the Bible, looking at

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quotes, listening to calming music. So

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many things that I do to make sure that I keep my stress levels

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low and I'm able to reduce

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that anxiety. And number nine, last but not least, seek professional

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guidance. You know, if you're feeling uncertain, consider consulting with

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someone like me, a financial counselor, and we can offer

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personalized advice and help you navigate complex financial decisions.

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I like to tell people, look, I've seen some of everything. If

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you think you have a lot of debt, I've probably seen somebody with more. If

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you think you don't have any savings, I've probably seen somebody with less. So

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don't feel bad for reaching out. I can

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help you. And everything stays confidential so you don't have to worry

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about me telling people your business.

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Finances are a very intimate topic for a lot of

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people to get into, so we treat it as such. So I'll make sure I

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have a link in the show notes for that as well. If you're like Tiffany,

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I just need help getting my life in order, getting back on the right track.

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I got you. Just check out the show notes and I'll have a link there.

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So by implementing these strategies, you can effectively balance your

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financial objectives, maintain stability, and work towards financial

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growth even amidst economic uncertainties. I

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feel like one of the most important things is to just stay in the loop.

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That's why you're here, right? The key is to stay flexible

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and proactive in managing your finances. So that's what these

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nine tips can do for you, and I hope that answered your question and

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anybody else listening that had the same question. So thank you so much

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listening to the podcast today. If you enjoyed

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it, definitely share with someone you know. And don't forget to rate,

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subscribe, review all of those good things so that way more

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people can find out about us. And until next week, I hope

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you all have a wonderful rest of your week. Be sure to subscribe to

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the newsletter if you don't already do so. And check out

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moneytalkwitht.com where I have blog posts and all types of stuff

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I'm releasing. So I hope that

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this is calming for you and I gave you some tools that you can

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utilize moving forward. And until next time, have a good day.

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Bye. Thank you for listening, joining and

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being a part of the Money Talk with TIFF podcast this week. You can check

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TIFF out every Thursday for a new Money Talk podcast, but if you

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just can't wait until next week, you can listen to previous podcast

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episodes at Moneytalk with tea or

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follow TIFF on all social media platforms at

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moneytalkwitht. Until next time, spend wise

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by spending less than you make a word to the money wise is

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always sufficient.