Artwork for podcast Money Talk With Tiff
Practical Tips for Financial Stability in Uncertain Times | Ep. 341
Episode 3411st October 2024 • Money Talk With Tiff • Tiffany Grant
00:00:00 00:14:23

Share Episode

Shownotes

In this episode of "Tiffany's Take", Tiffany Grant delves into practical strategies to manage financial goals amidst economic uncertainties. A listener's question sparks an in-depth conversation on balancing budgeting, saving for emergencies, and investing for the future, even when expenses are high.

Check out the full show notes: https://moneytalkwitht.com/financial-planning/get-help/stability-in-economic-uncertainty/

Key Takeaways

Prioritizing Financial Goals

  • List your financial goals according to urgency and importance.
  • Focus on what's critical first—be it building an emergency fund, paying off debt, or investing.
  • Resource: Goal Podcast Series

Creating a Flexible Budget

  • Start with essentials like housing and utilities, then work down to other expenses.
  • Implement the 50/30/20 rule or adjust percentages as needed.
  • Resource: Budget Spreadsheet/Budgeting Blog Post

Automating Savings and Investments

  • Set up automatic transfers to make consistent contributions without temptation.
  • Pay yourself first, a principle even small amounts can embody.

Utilizing Financial Tools and Apps

  • Budgeting apps like Mint, YNAB, or EveryDollar.
  • Investment platforms such as Acorns for incremental investing.
  • Resource: YNAB Affiliate Link

Staying Informed and Educated

  • Stay updated on economic trends to adjust strategies.
  • Example: Impact of changes in the Fed Funds Rate.
  • Resource: Fed Funds Rate Explanation

Building an Emergency Fund

  • Aim for 3-6 months of living expenses, but smaller incremental goals are also beneficial.
  • Understand the peace of mind savings accounts offer.

Diversifying Investments

  • Spread investments across different asset classes for risk mitigation and potential returns.

Staying Motivated

  • Break down goals into manageable tasks and celebrate small victories.
  • Practice mindfulness and stress relief techniques to combat financial anxiety.

Seeking Professional Guidance

  • Consider consulting a financial counselor for personalized advice.
  • Confidentiality in handling financial situations.

Actionable Tips

  • Start listing and prioritizing financial goals today.
  • Use available tools and automation to simplify your financial management.
  • Stay aware of economic changes and adjust your strategies accordingly.

Resources Mentioned

Share this episode with someone who might find it useful.

Subscribe to the podcast and leave a review.

Visit moneytalkwitht.com for more resources and to subscribe to the newsletter.

Connect with Tiffany

Support this Podcast

Copyright 2024 Tiffany Grant



This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Transcripts

Speaker:

You know what it is. That's right. It's time to talk money with your money

Speaker:

nerd and financial coach. Now tighten those purse strings

Speaker:

and open those ears. It's the money talk with Tiff

Speaker:

podcast.

Speaker:

Hey, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Tiffany's Take, where

Speaker:

I answer your money questions right here on the podcast. So if you'd like your

Speaker:

question answered, go to

Speaker:

www.moneytalkwitht.com

Speaker:

askTiffany, and I'll be more than happy to answer. So for today's

Speaker:

episode, I have a question from a listener, and it says, hi,

Speaker:

Tiffany. With the current economic uncertainties, I'm finding it challenging

Speaker:

to stick to my budget while also trying to save for emergencies and

Speaker:

invest for the future. What are some practical strategies I can use

Speaker:

to balance these financial goals without feeling

Speaker:

overwhelmed? Now, you might be thinking, shoot,

Speaker:

that sound like me. Sounds like a lot of people right now,

Speaker:

honestly, even myself. Like, I'm like,

Speaker:

expenses are so high. Trying to get your

Speaker:

savings up, trying to invest for your future self, so much going

Speaker:

on. How can we tackle all of these things? How can we

Speaker:

do. And instead of. Or so, that's what I wanted to talk to you about

Speaker:

today. So, first and foremost, let's hop right in.

Speaker:

Prioritize your financial goals. So if you are listening

Speaker:

and you're a client, if you've ever worked with me, you know that we start

Speaker:

with goals first. Like, that is the first thing we talk about,

Speaker:

because we have to figure out what's important to us and where

Speaker:

we're going. So always, always, always start

Speaker:

by listing your financial goals. Is it savings? Is it emergency fund? Is it

Speaker:

investments? Is it trying to survive? Is it paying off debt?

Speaker:

Whatever it is, list them according to urgency

Speaker:

and importance. For instance, if building an emergency

Speaker:

fund might take precedence over other investments in

Speaker:

unpredictable times. So you want to make sure that when you're

Speaker:

listing out your financial goals, you're listing them out in order

Speaker:

for most important to least important. And that's usually what I do

Speaker:

with my clients. We do our top three. And, you know, it doesn't

Speaker:

matter if it's short, medium, or long term for now, because

Speaker:

you can always dial it in later. So just start writing

Speaker:

down your financial goals. Get a notebook or get a word

Speaker:

document, and just start jotting it down. Then you can start

Speaker:

moving them around to prioritize. So once you have that, then you have

Speaker:

a clear direction. Okay, well, for me, paying off debt is

Speaker:

more important than investing for the future. Cool.

Speaker:

Or maybe you're like, well, I really don't have any savings. So savings is more

Speaker:

important for me right now than paying off debt. That's cool too. There's

Speaker:

really no right or wrong answer or right or wrong way to do this,

Speaker:

but just make sure that you get it down and I'll make sure I'll put

Speaker:

some resources in the show notes where I talked about goals. I did a whole

Speaker:

goal series, I think it was earlier this year or last year,

Speaker:

but I'll make sure I'll link to that in the show notes next. Make sure

Speaker:

you create a flexible budget. And honestly, all budgets are

Speaker:

flexible. And that's one thing that I tell my clients as well. I'm like,

Speaker:

even though we jot this stuff down, we make a budget. It's

Speaker:

all movable. Everything in the budget is changeable,

Speaker:

so make sure you go in and change it if things arise.

Speaker:

But still, you want to start with your essentials first,

Speaker:

such as your housing, your utilities, groceries, etcetera. The things that you need

Speaker:

to live, and then work your way down from there. So the

Speaker:

budget spreadsheet that I have, I'll make sure I put a link in the show

Speaker:

notes for that as well. It actually takes

Speaker:

you from most important to least important for

Speaker:

you. So all you have to do is go through and put in the numbers

Speaker:

of how much you actually spend on these things, but it's already

Speaker:

allocated for that. Then you want to make sure

Speaker:

that if savings or investments is important to

Speaker:

you, treat them as a non negotiable. Like

Speaker:

for instance, with me, I have a certain amount that goes into my

Speaker:

investment account every month on autopilot because that's something

Speaker:

that's important to me. Now, it may not be a ton of money, it's just

Speaker:

a little bit matter of fact. I'll be real with y'all, it's dollar 25,

Speaker:

but it's something that goes towards it every single month

Speaker:

off the top. And I don't have to do any extra to do that because

Speaker:

I want to make sure I'm putting something in while I'm working on these other

Speaker:

goals. So treat it as a non negotiable. My grandpa,

Speaker:

my late grandpa always said, pay yourself first

Speaker:

and putting in investments and doing savings and all that stuff,

Speaker:

that is paying yourself first. So I definitely live by

Speaker:

that. Another thing you can consider is maybe the

Speaker:

50 30 20 budget. So 50% for needs, 30% for

Speaker:

wants, and 20% for savings and debt repayment. I go

Speaker:

into that in my budgeting blog post as well. I'll make sure I'll link to

Speaker:

that, but you can adjust these percentages to better suit your current

Speaker:

financial situation or what's important to you. Maybe you're like,

Speaker:

okay, I need 60 for needs, 20 for

Speaker:

wants, and 20 for savings. That's perfectly okay.

Speaker:

Mind you, like I said, there's no right or wrong. And don't feel

Speaker:

pressured by all these quote unquote financial gurus, even me. If

Speaker:

you consider me a financial guru to

Speaker:

stipulate how your life works, you make these plans

Speaker:

how you want to make them, okay? Number three, automate your

Speaker:

savings and investments. I kind of already touched on this in the previous one.

Speaker:

Use automation to your advantage. Set up automatic transfers to your savings

Speaker:

and investment accounts so that way you ensure consistent contributions

Speaker:

without the temptation to spend. Take it right off the top and then you don't

Speaker:

even have to worry about it. For utilize financial tools and

Speaker:

apps I use a lot of financial tools and

Speaker:

apps, and I'll link to some of my favorites in the show notes as

Speaker:

well. But explore budgeting apps like Mint or Ynab or

Speaker:

every dollar, and that can help you track your spending and adjust

Speaker:

the budget in real time. Personally, I love ynab. I'll make sure I

Speaker:

put my affiliate link in the show notes if you all want to check it

Speaker:

out. That has been my go to

Speaker:

budgeting tool for like two or three years now, and

Speaker:

I love it. Also, you can look at investment platforms like

Speaker:

Acorns, so that allow you to invest spare change from

Speaker:

daily purchases, making it easier to grow your investment portfolio.

Speaker:

I have a few clients that do like those

Speaker:

incremental savings or incremental investing

Speaker:

options. And you look, after a while you're like,

Speaker:

oh shoot, I got $500, or oh shoot, I got $1,000. It

Speaker:

really adds up over time. So if you feel like you're the type

Speaker:

of person where you're like, well, Tiffany, I

Speaker:

can't just do this on my own. I need something to do it for me.

Speaker:

Then check out platforms like that that can help you out.

Speaker:

Use technology to your advantage, y'all. I know I do.

Speaker:

All right, so number five, stay informed and educated. So

Speaker:

keep abreast of economic trends and financial news. This is stuff that

Speaker:

I was thinking about bringing back my finance Friday live. So

Speaker:

that way you all can be abreast of what

Speaker:

economic developments or things are going on to help you

Speaker:

make informed decisions and adjust your strategies as you go.

Speaker:

Because depending on what the situation is like, for instance, not too long

Speaker:

ago, the Fed just decreased

Speaker:

the Fed funds rate by 50 basis points, which is

Speaker:

0.50%. I'll have links to me

Speaker:

explaining all of these concepts I just said, so that way you

Speaker:

can check that out. If what I just said sounds like

Speaker:

gibberish, just check out the show notes. I'll make sure I have some links there

Speaker:

for some resources on going into depth on what those things mean.

Speaker:

But for the purposes of this episode, with that

Speaker:

decrease, that makes savings

Speaker:

a little less attractive because it'll affect the

Speaker:

savings interest rates, but it may make

Speaker:

borrowing more attractive because now interest rates are going to go down

Speaker:

some. So that's why I said, thinking about the whole

Speaker:

economy can really help you. And staying abreast of what's going on

Speaker:

can help you adjust your strategies as you go. Six,

Speaker:

focus on building an emergency fund. So the goal, of course, is to

Speaker:

save three to six months worth of living expenses at the minimum.

Speaker:

But I know it's hard for people, so at least try to get

Speaker:

to 1000 and then you can work your way up from there. I always tell

Speaker:

people, when you're doing your goals, do small goals. That way

Speaker:

you're able to hit it and then go on to the next right. So

Speaker:

if your goal is to save three months, maybe save 1000 for

Speaker:

now, then 2000, then 3000, and the next thing you know,

Speaker:

you'll be like, oh shoot, I'm already at three months. So,

Speaker:

you know, if building an emergency fund is important to you,

Speaker:

then make sure you do that. Now that acts as a financial cushion, so

Speaker:

it provides you peace of mind and stability during unexpected events.

Speaker:

I remember a little bit ago, people were like, why would you put money in

Speaker:

a savings account when you can invest it and get more return? Because of that

Speaker:

peace of mind. That's why. Because with investment

Speaker:

accounts, you know, it does take you a few days or whatever to get your

Speaker:

money. You have to, if you fully invested in stocks and stuff,

Speaker:

you have to sell those stocks. You have to wait till they clear. Then you

Speaker:

can pull your money out with an emergency fund is right there when you

Speaker:

need it. And so that's why I tell people have

Speaker:

investments, but also have that savings just sitting there too. You need

Speaker:

it now. How much you put in that savings is completely up

Speaker:

to you. Some people are like, I'm cool with one

Speaker:

month of emergency fund and I want to invest the rest. That's

Speaker:

fine. Like I said, your journey is your journey. So

Speaker:

even if a financial guru tells you one thing, it doesn't matter.

Speaker:

You have to control what you do with your money.

Speaker:

Number seven, diversify investments. So diversification

Speaker:

is key. Spread your investments across different asset classes to mitigate

Speaker:

that risk. And increase the potential for returns. So, for

Speaker:

instance, some people might have real estate, or

Speaker:

they might invest in real estate on the stock market because you don't

Speaker:

actually have to have physical real estate to invest in real estate. That's another topic

Speaker:

for another day. Anywho, some people may have real estate, some people may

Speaker:

have bonds. Some people may have stocks. Some people may have cds. Some people

Speaker:

may have high yield savings account. Whatever the case may be,

Speaker:

just make sure that you diversify so you have different buckets you can pull from

Speaker:

if the time arises that you need it. Number eight.

Speaker:

Most importantly, stay motivated and avoid being overwhelmed.

Speaker:

So break down your financial goals, like I said, into small manageable

Speaker:

tasks, smaller manageable tasks. And celebrate those small

Speaker:

victories to stay motivated. When I get on a call with my

Speaker:

clients, we always do an update. And if I hear

Speaker:

any small victory, it could be something as simple as, oh,

Speaker:

I looked at my budget before I went to the store

Speaker:

today. Let's celebrate. Let's take a moment and let's celebrate that,

Speaker:

because that's important. It's important to keep you motivated. And

Speaker:

we all know how positive reinforcement really

Speaker:

dictates our behavior. So make sure you keep yourself

Speaker:

positive and avoid that overwhelm. Also,

Speaker:

y'all know me. I'm very woo woo. Practice mindfulness and stress

Speaker:

relief techniques to prevent financial anxiety from overwhelming

Speaker:

you. I love practicing mindfulness. I

Speaker:

love, you know, reading the Bible, looking at

Speaker:

quotes, listening to calming music. So

Speaker:

many things that I do to make sure that I keep my stress levels

Speaker:

low and I'm able to reduce

Speaker:

that anxiety. And number nine, last but not least, seek professional

Speaker:

guidance. You know, if you're feeling uncertain, consider consulting with

Speaker:

someone like me, a financial counselor, and we can offer

Speaker:

personalized advice and help you navigate complex financial decisions.

Speaker:

I like to tell people, look, I've seen some of everything. If

Speaker:

you think you have a lot of debt, I've probably seen somebody with more. If

Speaker:

you think you don't have any savings, I've probably seen somebody with less. So

Speaker:

don't feel bad for reaching out. I can

Speaker:

help you. And everything stays confidential so you don't have to worry

Speaker:

about me telling people your business.

Speaker:

Finances are a very intimate topic for a lot of

Speaker:

people to get into, so we treat it as such. So I'll make sure I

Speaker:

have a link in the show notes for that as well. If you're like Tiffany,

Speaker:

I just need help getting my life in order, getting back on the right track.

Speaker:

I got you. Just check out the show notes and I'll have a link there.

Speaker:

So by implementing these strategies, you can effectively balance your

Speaker:

financial objectives, maintain stability, and work towards financial

Speaker:

growth even amidst economic uncertainties. I

Speaker:

feel like one of the most important things is to just stay in the loop.

Speaker:

That's why you're here, right? The key is to stay flexible

Speaker:

and proactive in managing your finances. So that's what these

Speaker:

nine tips can do for you, and I hope that answered your question and

Speaker:

anybody else listening that had the same question. So thank you so much

Speaker:

listening to the podcast today. If you enjoyed

Speaker:

it, definitely share with someone you know. And don't forget to rate,

Speaker:

subscribe, review all of those good things so that way more

Speaker:

people can find out about us. And until next week, I hope

Speaker:

you all have a wonderful rest of your week. Be sure to subscribe to

Speaker:

the newsletter if you don't already do so. And check out

Speaker:

moneytalkwitht.com where I have blog posts and all types of stuff

Speaker:

I'm releasing. So I hope that

Speaker:

this is calming for you and I gave you some tools that you can

Speaker:

utilize moving forward. And until next time, have a good day.

Speaker:

Bye. Thank you for listening, joining and

Speaker:

being a part of the Money Talk with TIFF podcast this week. You can check

Speaker:

TIFF out every Thursday for a new Money Talk podcast, but if you

Speaker:

just can't wait until next week, you can listen to previous podcast

Speaker:

episodes at Moneytalk with tea or

Speaker:

follow TIFF on all social media platforms at

Speaker:

moneytalkwitht. Until next time, spend wise

Speaker:

by spending less than you make a word to the money wise is

Speaker:

always sufficient.

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube