“You spend less than you earn every month . . . This is the basis of all personal finance.”

–Lori Atwood

Feeling behind with money? Money stuff = anxiety for too many of us. There’s shame and guilt involved, and a sense we don’t know what we should know.

At 50, I have a gazillion questions and it’s time to stop fretting and start learning. Lori Atwood, founder of Fearless Finance, is here to answer questions, no judgement.

First step, stop comparing yourself to others. Start here: spend less than you earn every month. This is the cornerstone to personal finance and Lori talks about how to make sure you are there. Lori tells us about the other four basic building blocks of personal finance.

We talk about:

• How to deal with income fluctuations we often see as entrepreneurs
• Dealing with flux moments, like being between jobs
• Separating personal and business money
• Paying off credit card debt starting with the lowest amount
• Why to merge finances in a family
• Getting past guilt and shame

ABOUT LORI

Lori Atwood is the founder and CEO of Fearless Finance and a CFP® professional. Lori created Fearless Finance to make expert, fiduciary, hourly financial planning accessible to everyone with no sales, no minimums, and no judgement. Lori’s been in finance for over 25 years starting in investment banking, asset management and private equity before starting Fearless Finance in 2016.

LINKS

• fearlessfinance.com
• https://www.instagram.com/fearlessfinance/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/fearless-finance/
• https://www.facebook.com/fearlessfinance
• https://www.tiktok.com/@fearlessfinance

DOABLE CHANGES

At the end of every episode, we share three doable changes, so you can take what you've heard and put it into action. Action is where change happens.

Even though we want big change, it’s really little things done over and over that make the difference. So pick a doable thing. Put it in your calendar. Weave it through your days for a week and then move on to the next one. It will have a snowball effect.

Here are three Doable Changes from this conversation:

• SPEND LESS THAN YOU EARN. Add up all your household income. Add up all expenses. Check your checkbook and credit card statements for things you might have missed. Subtract expenses from income. If you get a negative number, you’re spending too much. Look at where you could cut back to bring spending under earnings.
• CHECK YOUR 5 PILLARS. Spending less than you earn is the most important piece, but there are 4 other pillars to check. Do you pay yourself consistently? Do you have an emergency fund — and is there enough in it? Do you have a rainy day fund? Do you know the difference between the two? Are you saving (enough) for retirement? Do you have debt? If so, do you have a plan to pay it down?
• PAY OFF A DEBT. It’s hard to get in front of debt. Stop using a card with a rotating balance. Try paying off the credit card that has the lowest balance. This gives you a little win that can help you keep going to get debt down. Can’t pay it all off now? Decide how much you will start paying monthly until it is paid off.

“When your business model is really optimized, the money's good. You have the kind of lifestyle you want. You have the kind of income you want. You're working towards your legacy and it meets your why.”

–Carolyn Herfurth

Is a fuzzy business model slowing you down?

Carolyn Herfurth is a strategist and business model geek, and we’re diving into something a lot of us don’t have clear when we start our business or experience growth.

In the simplest language, the business model is all the offers, products and services that you make in order to make money. But you can have low, medium, or high touch offers. It’s not one size fits all—but finding the right fit for you at every stage of your business makes such a difference.

We talk about:

• Variety in filling your funnel
• Having the confidence to charge the right rates and changing rates to allow for the support you need to fill a program
• Getting clear on what we are offering and why and what the price is
• Decluttering your business model
• Why a thought partner is so important
• Quarterly check ins on the five pillars of your business.

ABOUT CAROLYN

Carolyn Herfurth is the strategist expertise-driven founders hire when they’ve built something that works and are ready for what’s next.

With 23+ years in business design, she uncovers the unmined gold in their experience, assets, and ideas, so they can create their next big thing.

LINKS

• Carolyn in Pause Magazine
• https://cherfurth.substack.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolynherfurth/
• https://instagram.com/carolynherfurth

DOABLE CHANGES

At the end of every episode, we share three doable changes, so you can take what you've heard and put it into action. Change comes from action.

Doable changes are things that you can add into your life, one at a time to make micro shifts and really create a ripple effect that will create a big change over time. Choose one that really piques your interest and roll with it.

Here are three Doable Changes from this conversation:

• TRY THE SIMPLIFIER. Try Carolyn’s Simplifier to help you develop your business plan. Ask yourself: What's the thing you're selling? What's the problem it's solving? What's the promise you're making? And what is the purpose of that thing? Why does it exist? And then what's the price?
• DECLUTTER YOUR BUSINESS MODEL. What are you still offering that no longer works for you? It might be something you no longer doing or an opt-in that leads nowhere. Even if people love it, if it doesn’t work for you and the rest of your business, you can move it out.
• DO A QUARTERLY CHECK IN. Check in on each of the five pillars: What is your relationship with your business now? Is your business model clear? How are you regarded as a thought leader? How easy and effective is your marketing? How are sales (is it easy to close)? Rate each of these on a scale of 1–10. Then explain in a sentence why you rated yourself that way. What does it show you about what needs to change.

“I know in advance what my body and soul need in order for me to call it a summer that feels just how I want summer to feel.” – Mia Moran

We think summer will take care of itself. It’s a go with the flow time, a less structured time, a different time — and it really needs a plan. Your summer plan needs to honor the vibe of the season and keep you connected to the things you want in this season.

I’m going to talk to you about Anchoring, but we’re not going to jump into it right away. So often when I see people feeling overwhelmed or struggling with planning, it’s because they’re skipping the first steps in the process: Centering, Visioning, Deciding.

Anchoring is when we make space for the things that really matter. It’s the part when we actually put things on our calendar.

One way to anchor for summer is to start with some key dates. Some things I’m starting with:

• Vacation time (don’t forget to add things you need to do to prepare or re-enter)
• Business events or launches
• Start and end of summer dates (these might be different for different people in your family)
• Key family events — graduations, celebrations, appointments
• Flexible space for things you want to happen

And then there is the restorative summery part … the reading more, the gardening, the moving your body differently, the relaxing. We plan for that too. Join me to plan a summer that turns out just how you want it to feel: https://plansimple.com/summer

LINKS

• A Smarter Way to Plan Your Summer
• https://plansimple.com/summer

DOABLE CHANGES

At the end of every episode, we share three doable changes, so you can take what you've heard and put it into action. Change comes from action.

Doable changes are things that you can add into your life, one at a time to make micro shifts and really create a ripple effect that will create a big change over time. Choose one that really piques your interest and roll with it.

• KNOW HOW YOU WANT SUMMER TO FEEL. Decide how you want this summer to feel. You need to know that before you put anything on the calendar.
• HONOR YOUR BUSINESS. What commitments have you already made for your business this summer? What have you been doing that you don’t want to lose momentum on and have to restart this fall? Make a list. You’ll want to make sure these things are part of your summer plan.
• ANCHOR KEY POINTS. Pull out your calendar and make sure key dates are on there: start and end of summer (this might be determined by when kids are home or when you are at a summer place for example), vacations, business events or standing appointments, family celebrations or other events. You’ll add other things — like the morning swim you want to take daily or the weekly family dinner — but having some of the big rocks as anchors gets you started.

One more doable thing you can do!

SIGN UP TO PLAN SUMMER WITH ME

We’ll look at summer through all the lenses — energy and health, work, family, summer vibes — and come up with a way to hold both spaciousness and momentum this summer. 90 minutes to design a summer that actually feels good... across your work, life, and well-being. Join me:

https://plansimple.com/summer