She Makes Cents 52 Week Money Challenge | Success Story

52 Week BINGO Money Challenge | October Recap & End of the Year Money Goals

Published on November 11, 2017 by Danielle YB VasonLeave a comment

This morning, I took out my shemakescents 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge card to forecast what the next seven weeks of the year will be like, from a money savings goal perspective. Since January, I have saved money every week with the challenge and in doing so; I have cultivated a habit of saving. Financial guru, Dave Ramsey says that “personal finance is 80% behavior and 20″ head knowledge” and I am very inclined to agree. If you are a new reader and have no idea what the 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge is, click here to catch up. After forecasting the rest of the year to see whether I would be able to hit my latest money goal, getting my student loans to $12,500 or under by December 31, 2017, I started doing money projections for 2018.

First, I calculated how much and how quickly my debt would decrease if I made the same amount of money and repeated my most success money moves as I did this year. I then upped the ante to see how adding another $100 per month or $200 per month would get me closer to my goal of eliminating my student loan debt altogether. Finally, I increased my snowball calculations to see how quickly my debt would decrease if my income increased to match what I put on my vision board. Looking at debt from these three different perspectives shows me the true cost of making different and better money moves, as well as, how quickly I can dump my debt.Why do I do this, you ask? Sometimes I need a visual reminder of my goal at hand. I hear so many people say that they will never pay their debt off or that they are so overwhelmed by their debt that they choose not to even think about it, let alone to look at it. Do you remember that time, I broke down the difference between one day versus day one? If I waited years ago to get serious about tackling my debt, especially my student loans, I would never have been projected to hit my goal date by 2020, eleven years ahead of Sallie’s Mae schedule. The visual of saving eleven years of interest is enough to keep me motivated for these next three years. That is because when you visualize something, especially positive associations with money, you give yourselves permission to prepare yourself to receive it.

You don’t have to make a lot of money to get back on course with your money savings goals, nor do you have to be a personal finance guru. In the past two years, I have thrown an extra $5,550.00+ toward this debt (on top of my monthly payment) by chipping away at it piece by piece. In order to crush your savings goals, you first must change your mindset about your ability to succeed. Then you change your bad money habits and replace them with great money habits that honor your money goals. You see, it is not what we do every once in a while that makes us successful. Success is gained in our daily habits.

As we approach the end of one year and the beginning of a new one, I look forward to making new and fresh goals for myself. I look forward to not repeating my mistakes of the past and being willing to step out on faith when it comes to opportunities that come my way. Today, I affirm my success with my money goals for myself and for you too.

Money Affirmations That Work to Bring Wealth & Abundance | From Money Saving Blogger, Danielle YB Vason of She Makes Cents

How to Apply Money Affirmations To Make Your Goals A Reality

Published on July 6, 2017 by Danielle YB Vason3 Comments

An affirmation is a strong, positive statement that something is already so. It is a way of “making firm” that which you are imagining. So I ask you this, when you think about your goals and desires for yourself, is it a negative or positive experience for you? If you visualize your goals in a positive way, you affirm the presence of positivity in that area of your life. For you, that change is already in motion because you are attracting that abundant energy into your life. The same can be said for negative thoughts. According to personal development author, Shakti Gawain, “When we create something, we always create it first in thought form. A thought or idea always precedes manifestation”. Think about what greatness we can bring to our goals and desires if we affirmed them in success. In this post, Money Affirmations to Attract Financial Abundance I shared some techniques that will help you release your negative mindset with money so you can approach your finances from a mental state of confidence, pride, and positivity. Today I am here to share some new financial affirmations that can help you take back control over your financial goals.

Money Affirmations To Attract Wealth

When we form positive associations with money we give ourselves permission to prepare ourselves to receive it. We no longer fear it or fear what it would be like to not have it. I invite you to start in inspiration pinboard and pin the below affirmations them there. Then print them, share them, and/or place them in various places so that you can have reminders of the desires you are affirming for yourself. Add them to your vision board, your bathroom mirror, your refrigerator, your Instagram account (seriously, think about how often you check your IG account in a day), or your desk. Speak them aloud and add your own name to give it more power. Instead of saying, “I attract wealth and abundance” try saying “[Insert your name] attracts wealth and abundance”. Why, you ask? Well studies show that the adult brain activates, when one hears, their own name. Below are some of the newer affirmations I have added to my practice and I hope you add them to yours to attract a more positive experience with money.

Money Affirmations to Manifest Abundance from Personal Finance Blog for Women, She Makes Cents | Law of Attraction

How Lifestyle Inflation Is Keeping You From Getting Rich

Published on March 4, 2017July 2, 2020 by Danielle YB VasonLeave a comment

Rapper Notorious B.I.G. wasn’t lying when he said “mo money, mo problems”. That because of something called Lifestyle Inflation where your “lifestyle” needs increase as your income increases; thus, keeping you in the same financial situation. This reality creeps up when people have debt, don’t save, don’t invest. They don’t keep up with the Joneses, they are the Joneses. By no means do I believe that one doesn’t deserve nice things. In fact, I believe no one should have to sacrifice a quality lifestyle because of lack of resources. A quality lifestyle comes at a price but let’s try to not dig ourselves into a money pit to experience the finer things in life.

CONFESSION OF A LIFESTYLE INFLATING MILLENNIAL

I remember being at my job out of college and making around an entry level salary. I owned my car outright, had my student loans paid a year in advance, and was on my way to buying my first house. Back then, you couldn’t tell me I wasn’t living a rich life. I wasn’t rich from a financial standpoint but it was the first time where I was “adulting” and was able to fund my lifestyle by myself. This was a big deal considering a year and a half before that, I was a senior at Spelman College eating pizza at 1:00 am while pulling all-nighters. As time passed, income changed, and lifestyle needs matured, I found myself “needing” more. I had to get another car after mine was totaled in an accident but I couldn’t bear the idea of not driving a luxury German car (thanks Dad for that addiction). I spent money on home decor so I could have a “magazine ready” home. I upgraded my wardrobe. I was making a little money and working with people whose hourly rate was a luxury car note. I wanted to show my family and friends that I had it all together….that I belonged in my new life. That all changed when I left a promising career in one field to follow other dreams for another field. It was in the transition that I started to place a serious effort in saving money and making smarter financial moves. I had to. It was my new reality, we were in a recession, and I was no longer constantly surrounded by the Joneses. I took the time to invest in my own financial literacy so I could better understand how to stretch my money. This was also around the time she makes cents was born.

BALLIN’ & BROKE

As you vibrate higher so will your expectations of people, experiences, and things around you. The good thing is there are ways around lifestyle inflation where you can enhance your life without feeling broke. Lifestyle inflation keeps you in a constant state of financial paralysis because your need for “things” is keeping pace with your increasing lifestyle. That’s how a millennial couple with no kids can feel financially stretched in a $100,000+ income household. Stay tuned as we dive deeper into the topics of lifestyle inflating from a millennial perspective and explore opportunities to elevate your life without the elevated price tag.

Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps Explained

Published on January 18, 2017February 23, 2017 by Danielle YB Vason9 Comments

Hey #SMCmoneytribe! Yesterday I took a little time out of my day to create an infographic for you that provides a quick overview into Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps. I wanted to do this for you because I reference these steps in a lot of my writing because they have become the meat and potatoes of my financial plan. If you are a long time reader of She Makes Cents, you might remember when I was so excited to get to the second part of Baby Step 2 that I tried a risky financial move of playing financial Russian Roulette. Let’s just say the outcome was not what I expected when my car broke down one week later and I only had half of an emergency fund to help me out. (P.S. According to Ramsey, car maintenance is not an emergency and rather something that should be budgeted for).

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{2016 Money Recap} She Makes Cents Money Challenge Success!!

Published on December 30, 2016May 23, 2017 by Danielle YB VasonLeave a comment

Hello #SMCmoneytribe! It’s the last Friday of the year and I am so happy to hear from you all who are completing the She Makes Cents 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge today and tomorrow. I officially finished mine today! In the past three years I have attempted to complete this challenge, I would accomplish a short term goal and just stop. This year, however, I have made it all the way to the end thanks to my accountability partners in the #SMCmoneytribe, as well as, my will to stay focus on my goals of zero credit card debt (mission accomplished) and snowballing my student loans (current goal in progress). 2016-52-week-money-challenge

She Makes Cents Money Challenge vs. the 52 Week Money Challenge

The She Makes Cents Money Challenge is a variation of the traditional 52 Week Money Challenge. In the traditional version, participants save a specific dollar amount based on the corresponding week. For example on week one you save $1.00 and on week 52 you save $52.00. Doing it this way would have you shelling out the bigger bucks in the weeks leading up to the holidays. No Bueno. Also, doing the traditional version only leaves you with $1378.00, which is not bad for money that you would normally spend unintentionally, but it could be better. With the She Makes Cents BINGO Money Challenge, you have the same time period, 52 weeks, but you empowered to decide how much you save on a weekly basis. You control your own money and have the ability to cross of boxes that correspond to your current financial situation at any given time, which is how is should always be. Plus with the bonus boxes you can save $1900.00+.

The Breakdown of Money

This past year, I found myself keeping track of the weekly and monthly savings and comparing the amounts during my frequent progress reports. I saved the most money in the month of January with $286.00 and the least amount of money during the month of September with $76.00. Below is my breakdown of the monthly savings that reflect my grand total savings for 2016… an even $1900.00!!!! 2016-money-challenge-yearly-report

Join the #SMCmoneytribe

Thank you to everyone who did this challenge this past year. It was so much fun. We all cultivated the habit of saving and you might have made a new friend in the process like I did, hi Alysa! Want to join the #SMCmoneytribe to get access to a tribe of goal minded accountability partners who are invested in your success and your FREE money guide? Click here, fill in your info, and we will do the rest. Mark your calender’s for the next round of the challenge starting January 7th!

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{Week 4 Progress Report} 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge

Published on January 22, 2016May 23, 2017 by Danielle YB Vason10 Comments

It’s the fourth Friday of the year which means it’s time for the 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge. Today I have crossed off $20.00 on my BINGO money sheet. This puts me at a total of $245.00 extra dollars to be applied to my credit card balance. What makes this challenge exciting to me is that fact that I’m saving little chucks of money that I don’t miss in my day to day life. I know with each passing week, those “little chucks of money” will start snowballing into something bigger.

Here is how month has broken down so far:

Week One: $35.00
Week Two: $40.00
Week Three $50.00 + $100.00 (bonus)
Week Four: $20.00

We are lucky enough to have five weeks in January, which is great because you gain an extra opportunity to save a little more while the momentum is good and people are still somewhat on focus with their 2016 resolutions.

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How Much Have You Saved So Far?

{Week 3 Progress Report} 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge

Published on January 15, 2016May 23, 2017 by Danielle YB Vason1 Comment

It’s Friday and week 3 for me for the 52 Week BINGO Challenge. This week I am crossing off $50 and my first bonus box for $100.00 for a combined savings of $150.00 for week 3 and a grand total of $225.00. Every day I receive emails with inspiring stories of people, their financial goals, and their progress of making smarter money moves. It makes me so happy to get check-ins on Fridays, especially from people who have joined the challenge. I hope is it shows readers of shemakescents that you are not on this financial journey alone.

If you would like a personalized check in, please leave your twitter handle below or tweet me at @shemakescents.

How Much Have You Saved So Far? Please Share Below.

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{Week 2 Progress Report} 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge

Published on January 8, 2016May 23, 2017 by Danielle YB Vason15 Comments

It’s the start of the year and people are still very focused with their resolutions. For some, the 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge is another goal on their resolution list. For me, it has to be a lifestyle. For the past few years, I have accepted the challenge to save for a specific amount to help with paying down my credit card, saving for the holidays, or even saving to help out with my wedding to the Mr; however, once I accomplished the goal, I fell off. I was doing well with a zero balance and then I started to swipe my credit card for wedding expenses so now I am back to the beginning of Dave Ramsey’s Baby Step 2. That’s why they call it a challenge because it is challenging.

This year, I am back at the goal of wiping out my $3,886.78 credit card balance completely by or before May 1, 2016. My plan is to pay a set amount every two weeks plus the savings from BINGO money challenge, every Friday. Once the credit card balance is non-existent, I can start snowballing my student loans so I can shorten the length of the term dramatically and reduce the amount of interest I would have to pay back. Today, I marking off number 40 on my Bingo Money Sheet (leave a comment below for your FREE copy of the 2016 BINGO style sheet).

What Are You Using Your BINGO Savings For?

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{Super Charge Your 2016 Savings} 52 Week Money Challenge Like You Have Never Done Before!

Published on January 1, 2016May 23, 2017 by Danielle YB Vason22 Comments

Financial Affirmation: “I am aligned with the energy of wealth and abundance”.

Photo Credit- Colin Anderson (Getty Images)

It’s the first Friday of 2016 which means it is time for the Bingo Style version of the 52 Week Money Challenge. For the past few years, I have used the bingo format to help pay off my credit card debt, save for the holidays, and save for a little extra for a wedding. This year, I plan on using the extra money from this version of the challenge to get my credit card balance back to zero (another story for another day) and start snowballing my student loans.

Here Is How It Works!

I’m sure you have seen the original challenge floating around the internet where you make a weekly deposit that reflects the number of weeks of the year. For example, on week one you deposit $1.00 and on week 52 you deposit $52.00 and so on. However, doing it this way will have you shelling out the big bucks during the holidays when people’s money is the most limited. One year, I even attempted to do the original challenge in reverse by saving more money at the beginning of the year and less the closer we get to the holiday season. The only problem with doing it that way was that I was shelling out a lot of money right after the holidays when… for most people, money is still a little tight. I thought to myself…”Danielle, how can you find a way to honor the challenge in a way that will not hurt you financially”? Then I came up with the idea to create a “bingo” style format. At the end of the year, I would still end up with the same amount of $1378.00 and if I am having a tough financial week, I can pick a lower amount to save. The good thing about the bingo challenge is that you are able to start at any time and if you get off track, it’s easy to see where you need to make it up to get back on track. 52 Week Challenge

What Makes 2016 Different?

The power of choosing how much you want to save is what has always made the Bingo Style different from the original 52 Week Challenge. This year, though, we have upped the ante and included optional bonus+ boxes for those who are able and willing to push themselves further on this challenge. It will take more sacrifice, but it will help you gain more strength and momentum toward your financial goals since you will be saving a minimum of $1928.00 versus $1378.00.

Check Ins

You know goals are more likely to materialize when we share them with others. That being said, check ins will take place on Fridays at noon where I will share my progress on the challenge and its effect on my overall financial goals and I encourage you to do the same. I love hearing your stories of how you are doing in the challenge and the financial milestones you have accomplished by making saving a habit of your daily life. Sometimes doing it with a friend or even a blogger friend like me, keeps you better motivated since you aren’t in it alone. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, shoot me a line below or email me for the latest Bingo Style Money Challenge, free to shemakescents readers!

shemakescents{at}gmail {dot}com | Instagram @shemakescents

{2015 Week 11 Update} 52 Week Money Challenge

Published on March 13, 2015March 9, 2015 by Danielle YB Vason1 Comment

I believe that through knowledge and discipline, financial peace is possible for all of us. -Dave Ramsey

I’ve been contacted by quite a few of you asking for a copy of the 52 Week Money Challenge, which shows me that I am not the only one looking to save money. While you won’t save a MAJOR windfall doing this challenge, you will gain financial discipline. It’s harder than you think to get in the habit of saving but once up pick up the skill, it’s well worth the effort. If you are new to She Makes Cents, I am happy to report that I paid off my credit card doing this challenge as additional payments over the minimum. I am now adding this extra money to my wedding savings account after I see how much I have left from doing a zero based budget…aka, my saving grace!