budgeting

Yes, You Can Save and You Can Save NOW!

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Truth is, it’s 2025, you should already be saving. If Hurricane Katrina didn’t teach us anything twenty years ago, it taught us that we should have a rainy day fund, or in Louisianians case, a hurricane season stash. Everyone doesn’t live in Louisiana, so COVID-19 should’ve taught us that having a savings account with enough in it to get by during a trying time, is necessary. At least six months worth of bills and living expenses.

Don’t believe the lies you’ve been telling yourself. Yes you can save and you can start today. I’m not going to reiterate the millions of ways you can save. I have many posts under the budget tab with tips and tricks on saving. This post is the reality check you need. In the day and time that we’re living in, it may seem hard to save but the reality is, everything is not always what it seems. And our minds are playing tricks on us. We have to have mind control over Deebo! With the state of the world and the economy, having money to spare is paramount.

If you can shop, you can save!

If you can go out to eat, you can save!

If you can go to happy hour, you can save!

If you can buy gifts for yourself and others, you can save!

What you need is discipline and to sacrifice for a few months to a year or more to realize that everything you think you need, is all in your head. You don’t need it, you want it. And everything you really need, is on the other side of your sacrifice. In this season, you’ll have to learn the difference between needs, wants, priorities, your “why” and sacrificing for a bit of time, to get to the future you want. So this blog post isn’t laced with tips or tricks. Just do it. No more excuses, because excuses keep you comfortable. Growth comes when you get out of your comfort zone. Time is not standing still and life can and will life when it wants to. Don’t put off any longer what you CAN actually do today. Save your money now so that your money can save you later, if you need saving. Otherwise, it’ll save you from a lifetime of lack, borrowing and missing out on an abundant life.

Sincerely,

Angie

NBA Angie (Never Broke Again Angie)

Sincerely Angie2 Comments

Vow to Never be Broke Again

Do you have a “broke” number? If you’re not familiar with what a broke number is, it’s basically a number that you get down to in your finances, where you start to consider yourself broke. It’s a number that should scare you. I also talk about this in a recent podcast episode here.

I found out in 2014 that my broke number was $10,000. In 2011, I left a job that I had been on for 7 years and started a new one 4 months later in 2012. During the 4 months I wasn’t working, I was living off of my savings. The new job paid me significantly less than my previous job, so I was still using my savings to supplement the deficit. After 2 years of living off of my savings, I was approaching a number in my savings account that scared the ish out of me. Before reaching that number, I knew that’s where I was stopping. Because as I was approaching it, I would get nervous thinking about it. That’s when I started to make changes. I downsized as much as possible and I was able to maintain my broke number without touching the savings account for a few years.

Slowly but surely and in very small steps, I started to add money to increase my savings. You can see the growth in my blog posts in the budget tab. I went from saving $2, $5, $15+ dollars at a time, to saving $200, $500, $1,500+ at a time. I went from praying to be able to save $10,000 to saving $10,000 in almost two years, then to saving that in less than one year.

Vowing to never get that close to only having $10,000 in my savings, to being able to save $10,000 in less than a year, only came from the feeling of not having that security. I learned a few things during a span of 5 years that helped me to grow. Since then, my “broke” number has changed and that change came in 2018. That means it took me about 7 years or more to learn my finances, grow my finances and to get comfortable with a much larger “broke number”.

Here’s what I did:

  • I started paying the full 10% of my tithes.
  • I wrote down everything and really learned who I was financially.
  • I elevated each time I reached a goal.
  • I took a deep dive into my finances and learned them inside out.
  • I set many goals, big and small.
  • I pushed myself and always strived for a bigger goal.
  • I sacrificed and had to practice discipline.
  • I took advantage of any thing free, points and programs that rewarded me with free money. (Rakuten, surveys, loyalty programs, receipt programs, etc.)
  • I counted every penny and knew where every penny was supposed to be.

If you’re reading this, it’s my hope that this post inspires change if you need it or motivation. This post is not to brag or boast. We all have a journey, and it took me nearly 10 years to get to this place. I vowed to never get close to my broke number again, and if life did happen and I got close to it, I know exactly how to recover it all again. NBA Angie!!! Happy budgeting!

Sincerely,

Angie

Preparing for the Second Half

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Here we go again! June is here, which means the second half of the year is a few short weeks away. Financially, have you been doing well with your goals? I haven’t, so this post is for both of us.

It’s time to recap your goals, where you fell short and where you excelled. It’s also time to adjust the goals if you haven’t been able to meet them. Maybe you have to scale them back a bit to make them more attainable. The idea isn’t to just make a goal to say you have one, but to set a goal and meet said goal(s). As you meet them, you become more and more motivated so scaling back is really a beneficial and encouraging tactic.

For years I have mentioned to start small and save small. It works so I am not going to deviate away from that. Small goals can and will always get you to bigger goals. I’m not ignoring inflation, recession, hard times, life, etc. We have the power to not allow those things to be a factor if we choose to. We just have to work around those things.

  • Utilize as many cash back, receipt scanning for points, surveys for points or cash and referral programs as you can. I use Rakuten, NCP Online (492F5C), Shell Fuel Rewards & CoinOut to name a few.
  • When using credit cards, utilize those that benefit you with cash back, multiple points for purchases and redeem for cash reward systems.
  • Check the Treasury for your state for unclaimed property and/or check online for Class Action Settlements.
  • Invest in highly sought after items and create a raffle to give the items away. (ex. Purchase a $50.00 item and sell $5.00 raffle tickets for a chance to win the item(s). Selling 50 raffle tickets will get you $200 in profit after taking out the $50 for the item purchased.)
  • Create an online product, course, video, service, worksheet, book, etc. This one time creation can get you years of passive income.
  • Buy bulk items and resell for profit. You can resell the items online or at a flea market or pop-up shop.

Get back on track if you have fallen off. You still have a chance to meet your goals. It’s time to kick it up a notch. If you are meeting your goals and haven’t missed the mark, it is also time to kick it up a notch and challenge yourself by setting your goals higher. Happy saving and budgeting!!!

Sincerely,

Angie