As certified financial coaches, we teach folks to a budget and then use cash with certain purchases like food, gas and spending money. That cash is taken out of their accounts on payday and put in envelopes according to the budget.
For example, you might get out $400 for groceries, $200 for gas and $100 for spending money. We’d put $400 in the grocery envelope, $200 in the gas envelop and whatever portion of the $100 you want to keep in your wallet in your wallet!
Digital Envelope System
Once those habits are established, we like to help our clients set up a digital envelope system for the other important money categories they have. These accounts act just like the envelopes do at home, but they are storing large amounts of money that are usable when the situation arises. This stage of financial coaching can’t really be adopted until clients are really good at budgeting and telling their money where to go.
Emergency Fund
The first “digital” envelope we set up is the emergency fund. This particular account is one that we like to keep far away, hidden and hard to get to. That being said, by the time we get clients along to a 3-6 month emergency fund, they can usually trust themselves with that large amount of money. That’s because they’ve really seen the fruits of their labor, they’ve had a lot of success and they want to see their savings grow because it just excites them THAT much. *Bonus is to name this account something fun. Our clients have chosen names like *My Name Is No* and *O-S&!% fund.
Auto-Bills
Next, we help our clients set up a bills-only digital envelope so that they can put the money in there and then bills are drafted automatically. This is the best, most amazing digital envelope account. That’s because once we’ve gone through the five steps to do this, the bills are paid automatically and all you have to do is watch your money work for you. No more stressing about due dates, amounts or anything!
Sinking Funds
Finally, we have clients set up accounts for every sinking fund we’ve established. Most often, they set them set up for Christmas, for a travel fund, a pet fund, a home repair fund, a car repair fund and/or whatever other category they are saving for sinking funds. Within a clients’ budget, we establish the type of sinking funds they’ll need and how much they can afford to put toward them each month. By the time they need the money, they’ve set aside just what they’ll need and it’s right there, available for them, to use as necessary!
Ideal Balance is The Life Coaching Facility in Navarre, Florida focused on Fitness, Family and Finance. They offer 1-on-1 coaching sessions in person and virtually as well as group coaching, small group personal training and workshops each month. We exist to inject hope and empower people to live the life God created them to live. If you’d like to find out more about working with us, please fill out the contact form below!
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