So we just talked about managing
stress and one major contributor
to stress can be money no matter
where you're at with your finances.
It's always the right time to start planning.
I spoke with Attorney Darcel Lobo for her
top five financial tips on self care.
What does self
care through a financial lens mean
to you? Financial self care really
means developing habits that work for
you and reflect what you're trying
to do with your money and also to
make it even Sembler is really being
in control of your money and your
money not being in control of you.
So do you have specific
steps to help us get there?
Yeah, so I would have kind of outline
from my five top tips as far as
developing your financial, self care and.
Implementing processes to help
you achieve your financial goals.
So number one, you say, understand
your current spending habits
correct? So I think that one of the
biggest things that gets my clients
way when it comes to their financial
self care is having bad spending
habits and not identifying them.
So this could be things like shopping
when you're bored and pulse purchases.
It. Am I speaking to you at all?
I feel you right now. I'm feeling this
and I'm like thinking about my
Starbucks that I was gonna get
later today that maybe I shouldn't.
Well, you know, I think a lot of
it comes from a lack of planning,
which is also lack of budgeting.
So if you have planned for the Starbucks,
if you have planned for things,
then by all means you've already
thought about it beforehand.
But when it comes to not
thinking about it beforehand,
the impulse purchases
the board and purchases.
I think that's more what I see as
being the issue for some clients. And
I get that, but I think where
I struggled the most is finding
a budget method that works for
me and there's so many budgeting
methods and just the notion or the
thought of budgeting can just be
overwhelming for people so many times
and not knowing where to start.
You know, for me personally I like
a pen and paper, like as much as I
love my technology, I'm, you know.
And there's so many apps out there
for people, whether it's mentor.
You need a budget or a dollar bird.
I really like just pen and paper or word.
You know document I like to keep it
simple and keep it easy for myself
to kind of know what the goals are
and what the spending should be up.
So there's so many different methods,
but I think the key is to finding not
just what works for you but sticking to it.
Yeah, I think that is key.
I do like the pen and paper method.
I feel more comfortable with that
as well, but I also sometimes.
Forget about certain purchases,
so how important is it to, say,
review your bank statements?
That is one of the biggest things that
we should do when we're looking to
to budget is to look at your spending
because it's so easy to use a debit card
or a credit card and to pay for things
and not realize where that money is
going and where it's all being spent.
So I highly recommend that my clients
new sit down and look over the past two
or three months and just look at all the
spending and sometimes that could be quite.
A wake up call
so Darcel you are also a really big
proponent of setting up automatic
payments and automatic contributions
to the health savings accounts, right?
Yes, that's correct.
So we want to set up automatic payments
for things that are necessities.
So your rent your mortgage or car loan,
all your necessities should be
set up an automatic payment.
But just as important is reviewing
your paychecks and all of your
deductions and your withholdings,
and you want to make sure you're
maximizing those, especially.
The ones that your employer
matches like a 401K,
but your health savings account is such a
great way to not just have a tax savings,
but to save for health expenses.
I seen many health expenses for my clients.
I see how much that they're spending,
whether it's vision or dental for
themselves or their children.
So contributing to your health savings
account to save for those expenses
to pre plan for them and to reduce
tax liability is a great benefit.
Finally,
you suggest that we set financial
goals. What do you mean by that?
Well, setting financial goals is a really
great way for you to not just get motivated,
but to stay on track as you go through
your financial self care and that journey.
But they should be small, doable goals.
And when setting financial goals,
I think the smaller the better
because it gives you that momentum
to continue to build and continue on
your journey for financial self care.
So maybe it's you know paying off.
One credit card by the end of the year.
Maybe it's starting at an emergency fund.
Maybe it's developing a small savings,
whatever it may be.
Having these small goals and things
they can actually check off your list
as you hit those goals is a great way
to keep the momentum going and continue
on your financial self care journey.
Such great advice from Darcell.