In my first year of business, I had an intense hunger for money.
No, it’s wasn’t greed.
I was hungry to survive.
At the time, I still wasn’t making quite enough money to live a comfortable life. I was investing in an education to learn about marketing and business growth, but would skimp on clothes, food, and housewares.
That deep hunger led to spending binges when I did have extra cash. Whenever I signed on a new client, I would take their check, deposit it into my bank account, and immediately find something to spend the money on. I told myself that these splurges were just to celebrate a new client. Actually, I spent money as quickly as I made it because I was scared that money would not be there for me later later. I was also hungry for clothes and the little pleasures in my life that I always told myself I “couldn’t afford.”
With these spending patterns, I could never seem to build up a savings account. It’s ideal that entrepreneurs have some kind of savings to support themselves in the ups and downs of business, but it took me a little while to figure out how to stop draining my potential savings through spending. If you tend to spend money as quickly as you make it, I have a simple saving trick that should help.
The saving trick:
In all of my savings accounts, I keep as many of my bank balances at a number that is a multiple of 10 or 100, so that there are a lot of zeroes in the image of the number.
For example, if I have an account balance at $1480, I will add another $520 to it just to even up the number to $2000. If I have an account that is at $47.65, I would add $52.35, simply to bring the balance up to an even $100.
So, for example, instead of having a series of bank accounts that have these chaotic looking bank balances…..
$1480
$47.65
$2389.77
$5,062.02
……You have a beautiful, tidy string of balances, most of which have lots of zeroes in them:
$2000
$100
$2500
$5100
Why do I do this?
Because when I see a row of bank balances with a bunch of zeroes in them, and not a bunch of “leftover change,” it actually tricks my brain into not noticing the money in those accounts, and then I tend not to think about spending that money. This trick has made saving much easier, and within the first 2 months that I used this trick, I built a savings of nearly $8,000.
On top of using this little trick, I have also done a lot of emotional work around money. After years of study, I no longer worry that money will abandon me, and I have faith that I’ll always create more of it. When I erased my money fears, I also found that my hunger for spending finally felt satisfied. I am still quick to invest money in my business and continued growth, but I no longer recklessly send out money as quickly as I make it.
© 2015 Ava Waits
Ava Waits is an inspirational speaker, business mentor, and forthcoming author. She believes that making money should feel like bliss, and through her work, she helps innovative women build service-based businesses that richly fund their lives.
Clients worldwide have used Ava’s processes to release financial constriction and bring more business opportunities and income into their lives. For more information, to view article archives, and to schedule a Strategy Session to discuss your business visions, please visit www.AvaWaits.com.
