“3 Simple Tips on Tracking Your Money”

I will start with a confession. Even though I had a career as a Business Systems Analyst in the corporate world for many years, my personal money tracking and management left a lot to be desired. I did what was absolutely necessary, and I always paid my taxes on time, but beyond that, it was a mess. Phew…alright…so now you know. Can some of you relate?

However, when I started my own coaching business, it all had to change, or I knew I wouldn’t stay in business for long. The breakthrough moment was when I did my work with the Sacred Money Archetypes, and then became a certified coach in it. There was a lot of mindset and subconscious blocks I had to blow through, before I could make peace with it all. By the way, you can too, and I will tell you how.

I’m telling you all this to let you know that, first of all, it’s not just about knowing what to do to manage your money (although that’s obviously very important), but there is an emotional component to it, as well, and sometimes quite a subconscious one. Secondly, if you haven’t been tracking your money, you’re not alone AND you can decide to change that! Thirdly, you can learn simple procedures to track your money, without having to become a bookkeeper or an accountant (believe me, I’m neither…).

So here are three simple tips on what to do to start managing your money, and start feeling in control, rather than letting your fear run your business and your life. 

Tip#1: Start by getting some coaching on your relationship with money, and release the blocks that are holding you back.

Our relationship with money is quite complex, just like we are. It gets formulated over the course of our entire life (or perhaps even that of our ancestors), and is modelled by our family, our friends, the society at large. It holds within a lot more than meets the eye, including our sense of self-worth, deservability, and so on. You need a really great system to help you unravel all of this complexity, and to help you move forward. For example, the Sacred Money Archetypes is one such system, which works amazingly well.

Tip#2: Create a simple system for collecting your receipts, and tracking your expenses.

You’re perhaps familiar with the scenario, where your receipts are stuffed into your wallet, until it doesn’t close any more, all over the kitchen counter, or in a shoe box. Believe me, been there done that. What you can do instead (and it’s like a breath of fresh air once you do it!), is to create one folder for all your business receipts. As they come in, you mark the category on it, let’s say ‘office supplies’, ‘printing’, etc., and put them into the folder. Then have one day a week when you deal with them. That could be the day your bookkeeper comes in, and enters all the receipts into your Quick Books, or if you don’t have a bookkeeper yet, you enter them yourself. Then the receipts get filed into appropriate files for your records. Stick to the same day each week, and make it a habit.

Note that this is going to feel easier for some of you than others. If you already know your Sacred Money Archetypes, then you know that for some archetypes, this is like second nature, as for others it is like trying to learn a foreign language. The important thing is to start doing it, even if it feels mechanical at first.

Tip#3: Hire the ‘right’ bookkeeper and stay in control.

The important thing here is to stay in control of your money, whether you have a bookkeeper or not. If you’re hiring someone to do this for you, make sure, first of all, that they’re good at what they do (of course!), and that they like their job, and therefore will take care of your money tracking joyously. That part is really important, and the same goes for you doing it yourself. The energy that you surround your money with makes a huge difference, either positive or negative. It’s like anything else in life, when you feel positive and open about something, you invite more of it, and the opposite is also true.

Money loves attention, and it’ll get it somehow. If you’re not paying positive attention to it, it’ll get your attention like a two year old…perhaps by throwing a tantrum, or two 🙂

Please, leave your comments below. I’d love to read your thoughts and experiences on the subject.

With Love and Bliss,

Julia