I’ve made a lot of money in my lifetime. And I’ve blown a lot of money in my lifetime. From extravagant trips to merely eating fast food daily. And then, there was a shift that occurred for me. I realized that I didn’t want to always live my life feeling like “I’m never in a good money place.” I can recall listening to a sermon series in regards to generosity and tithing and stewardship. After listening to this nearly 7 part series, I decided at that point I’d change how I lived. I got out a legal yellow pad and found the closet pen to me and begin to write ferociously (before my memory and courage gave up on me) an entire list of things I was squandering my money on vowing to not do those things ever again. Here was my list (summarized):

• Wasted gasoline
• Food
• Un-needed clothing
• Home decor
• Make Up
• Hair Products
• Random Target buys

There’s this constant uprising of lifestyle creep – earning more money and hence spending more money. This happens so easily! I can attest first hand… and it’s not always the larger home and newer car. It’s the simplicity of expanding your money spending… for example, when you would normally just get a simple pedicure and now you’re getting the highest packaged pedicure. Or you’d normally go out to dinner and get a simple meal and now your new norm is going out to dinner and ordering a meal in addition to an appetizer and/or dessert. Sounds minuet but happens in many scenarios organically. The path to financial freedom will be full of lessons. One of those lessons for me is telling my money where to go instead of it telling me (and “it” being money is really driven off of my emotions – emotional spending has been the worse kind for me). To get myself together, I started budgeting back in 2019. I went through several iterations of this budget, month after month, year after year – updating and simplifying, re-arranging tables and summaries that made sense for easy visibility and understanding.  This was a true game changer for me. I followed zero based budgeting which essentially means you budget out every penny that comes in to you. This still to this day provides me clarity on how my money is working for me – something I desperately need to reach financial independence. In my attempt to help others in this same way, I made this budget accessible via my Etsy shop: https://yourstrulycrystalfi.etsy.com (even more items to come here for simplified financial tools to aid the journey to financial freedom). I hope these items aid you in your first steps toward financial freedom as well: telling your money where to go. 

Yours Truly,

Crystal