In this episode, I discuss the importance of automating your finances to save more effectively, particularly during busy work seasons. I share my personal strategy of splitting direct deposits between checking and savings accounts to ensure forced savings.
Additionally, I provide tips on automating regular transactions and how scheduling such transfers can help build financial security without the temptation to overspend. Automations and scheduled transactions can change your approach to saving, making it easier to build a financial cushion.
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Hey, everyone.
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:It has been a while since
I've been on the mic.
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:I have been in one of the
busiest seasons of my life.
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:, Every year at work from end of
July, beginning of August through
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:November, we are hammered down
with forecasts and budget season.
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:So it's been a lot.
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:I spend a lot on my plate, working late
hours, working long hours, , 16, 18 hour
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:days, preparing for presentations, getting
all the numbers crunched, all that.
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:So I have not been here recording
an episode for a little bit
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:now, and I'm happy to be back.
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:This Next season is going to be short,
quick, less than 15 minute episodes
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:because of the season that I'm in.
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:, things have slowed down a little bit,
but we're still in the thick of it.
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:And so I want to be able to get
you content, but also respect
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:my time and respect my mental
health, because it can be a lot.
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:With that being said, today's episode I
want to talk about, because I actually
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:have gotten a couple of questions
from people regarding this, and that
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:is how do you essentially hide your
money which is a funny way to put it.
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:Think about things because if
we know about it, we're going
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:to want to spend our money.
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:But one of the best things that I've
done for myself and that I think is super
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:easy, which you might not be aware that
you can do, but I split my direct deposit
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:up between bank accounts and that way.
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:What it does is it ensures that I have
part of my paycheck going directly into
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:a savings account that I don't touch, and
then the rest of it goes into a check in
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:account that covers my bills and covers
You know any like fun things that I want
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:to do going out with friends enjoying
a nice dinner here and there paying
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:for groceries all that kind of stuff.
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:And so that is Honestly, one of the
easiest things that you can do for
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:yourself to set yourself up for financial
success Is having separate bank accounts.
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:I know sometimes we sit here and we go
Let's just have all the money go in to
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:the one bank account and then Once I
get my paycheck or at the end of the
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:month, once I've gone through all my
bills, I'm going to transfer X amount
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:of dollars over to my savings account.
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:And maybe that does work for you, but I
don't know if you're like me or like other
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:people that I talk to where they get to
the end of the month and they're like, you
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:know what, I should have 500 left over.
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:And so at the end of every single
month, I'm going to transfer 500 over.
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:And then you get to the end of the
month and you're like, crap, I only have
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:100 or I overspent in this category.
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:And then it feels
overwhelming that you're not
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:building up the savings that you
want, or you're not putting the money
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:towards your goals that you want.
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:Because say you wanted that 500 a
month, because you want to go on
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:a vacation at the end of the year.
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:And then you're like, oh, I only have 100
this month, which means that next month
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:I have to make up that 400 difference.
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:So next month I have to save 900.
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:But then you get to the end of
next month and you only have 300.
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:So then you're on a deficit now
of 600 for the past two months.
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:And, Then you have to tack
that on to the next month.
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:And so it just keeps adding
and perpetuating the cycle.
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:Whereas the best thing that you can
do for yourself is automatically have
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:that 500 go directly into your bank
account and say it is 500 and you
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:get paid twice a month, split that.
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:So you put two 50 on the first paycheck
and two 50 on the second paycheck.
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:So then you're not feeling
restricted from one, one paycheck.
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:And.
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:It coming in 500 shorter, but you're
also not waiting until the end of the
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:month to potentially have that 500.
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:Now, obviously, if you have to dip
into that 500 that you put in, you can
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:transfer it from that savings account
that you put it in safely and secure, but.
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:What happens when you change your mindset
from, oh, I have that 500 here in the
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:bank account, I can just spend it because
I see it, to, I'm hiding that money.
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:That 500 is going directly
into my savings account.
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:It's going directly into a
high yield savings account,
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:and therefore you don't see it.
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:So then when you're constantly
looking in, your checking
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:account or your banking account.
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:And you're like, Hey, I have 300 left.
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:I've paid all my bills for the month.
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:I can enjoy 300 worth
of dinner or something.
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:Versus if you had that 500 in there and
you're like, I have 800 more to spend.
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:So you're essentially hiding
the money from yourself.
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:Another thing that you can do that can
be beneficial as far as like Hiding
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:is Automate certain transactions
that you have occurring monthly.
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:And obviously, automating
bills that get paid is great.
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:I suggest only automating bills
that you know have a consistent
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:value every single month.
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:Don't automate credit card balances.
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:Or If you have something that's got like a
basically a dollar amount that fluctuates,
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:my brain is not thinking right now.
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:If you have something that is a fixed
rate, so 400 a month, 25 a month, whatever
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:it is, have that automatically withdraw.
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:But if you have something that, like
your main credit card, or maybe a
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:credit card, like I have a credit card
for Victoria's Secret, I don't shop at
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:Victoria's Secret every single month,
and so there's no point in me having
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:that set up for automation, because, it
wouldn't take the money, but the last
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:thing I want to do is go and spend the
money on Victoria's Secret, And then
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:not actively think, oh, I have this
payment coming up and forget about
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:it because I'm not used to it pulling
automatically from my bank account.
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:So I'd rather that be something that
I go in and physically pay separately.
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:I don't set it up for automation.
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:But one of the example that I have
is I obviously have A recurring
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:phone bill for my internet.
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:And I guess it's not, but AT& T
in my brain is a phone company
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:from way back in the day.
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:So my internet bill it's recurring.
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:It's the same dollar
amount every single month.
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:And so I have that set up for automation.
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:The other thing that I have set up for
automation is I want to Send a hundred
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:dollars a month to my investment account
And so I automatically As soon as my
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:paycheck comes in I put a hundred dollars
into my savings account and then It pulls
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:a hundred from that through automation,
and then that way I automatically know
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:that hundred dollars can't be touched.
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:That's sitting in my savings account
until it gets pulled over to my investment
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:account, and whatever is left in my
checking account, Is what I can spend.
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:So there are these little automations
that you can set up, or if you're not
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:necessarily trusting of automations,
schedule a time on your calendar.
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:Say I get my paycheck on the 15th
of every single month, I'm going to
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:go in on the 15th and I'm going to
automatically transfer the 250 from my
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:checking account, where I have my direct
deposit going into my savings account.
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:Instead of waiting until the end of
the month, instead of waiting until
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:you've done your checking and balancing,
instead of waiting to see what you have
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:left over, the day that you get your
paycheck, automatically go in and move it.
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:So if that's something that you
want 100 to go into investments and
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:then 250 per paycheck to go into
savings, schedule it on your calendar.
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:I highly recommend using the system
automations because it's nice, you don't
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:have to think about and then Mentally,
that money gets to stay hidden from
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:you, and you get to keep building up
your buffers and your cushions to be
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:able to have that savings account , be
your, like your safety blanket.
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:They always suggest having
six months of expenses.
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:That's so hard to do
in today's day and age.
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:But if you hide this money from you,
you're going to get closer to it.
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:And you start small, maybe it's 50.
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:I don't know how every single direct
deposit choice is set up, but some
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:of them you can choose a percentage.
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:Some of them you can
choose a dollar amount.
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:I always suggest doing a dollar amount.
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:But if you're a percentages person
and you want 10 percent of your
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:paycheck to go directly into your
savings account, then do that.
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:So that is today's quick tip of how to
financially hide your money from yourself.
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:It's not necessarily hidden.
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:I want you to still be aware of it.
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:Please be aware of it because the
last thing you want to do is be
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:like, where did all my money go?
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:And then not know.
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:Make sure you have your logins
to your accounts, et cetera.
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:But the beautiful thing about Pseudo
hiding things from yourself is that
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:you're not going to spend the money
because most often people look at what's
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:in their checking account Because it's
also a pain in the ass to have to do
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:transfers back and forth Because you
have to log in and you have to make the
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:transfer And you have to wait till the
money actually transfers depending upon
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:if it's within the same bank or across
banks So yeah, that's my quick tip.
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:I hope that it helps you Think about
what things you could automate To save
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:yourself time and to essentially start
saving more instead of spending as much.
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:Have a wonderful day.