how to make a budget – shemakescents

Mint Interviews Danielle Y. Boler of She Makes Cents

Published on July 30, 2014June 29, 2017 by Danielle YB Vason5 Comments

Back in March, I was contacted by an Editorial Assistant for Mint asking if I would be interested in doing an interview. I interview people all the time, but rarely am I on the other side of questions. Excited and a little nervous, I agreed. Yesterday, they contacted me to let me know that the interview was published.

Danielle Boler hopes to start a conversation about how women can make smarter financial decisions and live a fabulous life on her blog She Makes Cents. When it comes to how women view money compared to men, Danielle says she believes women are more cautious – which can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, saving more creates a good cushion for emergencies and other unforeseen events, but it can also prevent big financial gain. “Some believe it’s because women are not confident in making big financial decisions. I’m inclined to disagree,” she says. “When armed with the proper tools to make sound financial choices, women prove to be confident, powerful and commanding in their financial choices.” In the end, diversifying your financial portfolio (no matter what your gender) is important on every income level to make your money work for you, she says.

We recently checked out with the sassy blogger to learn more about her site and get her take on personal finance. Here’s what she had to say:

Click here to read the full interview and find out financial freedom is important!

Budgeting 102- Spending Diet

Published on April 13, 2011April 19, 2013 by Danielle YB Vason3 Comments

I saw the movie Eat Pray Love not too long ago. In it, is a reference to an old Catholic joke that I have become very fond of. In a voice-over, Liz, played by Julia Roberts, recalls the following:

I remember an Old Catholic joke about a man who spent his whole life going to a church every day and prayed to the statue of a great saint begging, “please, please, please, let me win the lottery.” Finally the exasperated statue comes to life and looks down at the begging man and says “my son, please, please, please, buy a ticket”.

Sometimes I find myself in situations where I am the one begging and sometimes I am the statue. Today, I come to you as the statue. I once heard it said that we buy what we want and beg for what we need. Is this you? Have you put you financial security at risk with things you wanted and now you are begging for a financial miracle? Be a part of your own miracle…buy a ticket. I am taking the points mentioned in Budgeting 101 step by step. Like dieting and working out, budgeting takes time, restraint, and accountability. I invite you to join me on my Spending Diet.

Write Down Everything You Spend Your Money On. Since April 1, 2011, I have been writing down EVERYTHING I have spent money on. I included this advice in Budgeting 101 with the suggestion to do this for two weeks. I would now like to retract that advice and tell you to extend it for an entire month. Every financial and money management writer will tell you to do this. Honestly, it wasn’t until the beginning of April that I actually did this myself. I thought between my memory and online banking statements, that I had an accurate grasp on how, when, where, and with whom I spent my money. SMC readers, I couldn’t have been more wrong. My spending chart has revealed that I am an emotional spender who blows a great deal of my food budget on eating out with my sister because I believe we don’t see, talk, or interact as frequently as we once did. My spending chart personified aspects by my sometimes-narcissistic personality. I made a donation to my alma mater that I really couldn’t afford, because I didn’t want to be the 5,999 person who comes shy of the 6,000 donor goal for the Founder’s Day scholarship fundraiser. I also learned that while there are aspects of my personality where I am admittedly spoiled, I also spend and give the a great deal of my money to others to make them happy. Hi, my name is Danielle and I am an emotional spender. Buy the ticket. I am putting myself in financial rehab to get back on track like my Rah Tiffany did years ago. I have locked my credit card away and most importantly, I am learning to say no to others. Catey Hill, the author of Shoo Jimmy Choo created a Day to Day Spending Chart that I particularly like. I used Hill’s chart as an example and made one that fits my own financial goals and spending style. Buy what you need and you will not have anything left to beg for. Buy a ticket and let’s start our financial journey together.

If you are interested in my own Spending Chart, please email me at shemakescent@gmail.com
subject: Spending Chart

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Budgeting 101- How to Make a Budget

Published on March 23, 2011April 19, 2013 by Danielle YB Vason3 Comments

Today I will be visiting my alma mater, Spelman College, to sit in on a class taught by the smartest woman I have ever met, Dr. Michelle S. Hite (seriously, she is probably one of the top ten people who have significantly impacted my life). Just thinking about Spelman puts me back in an academic frame of mind, so for today class, I will be teaching Budgeting 101. In my opinion, budgeting is like using common sense, everyone should do it but not everyone does. The importance of making and sticking to a budget is the freedom of knowing exactly how you spend, what money can be spent elsewhere, and where you overspend. So grab a pen and paper and let’s get started:

LIST YOUR SOURCES OF INCOME
CREATE A LIST OF YOUR MONTHLY EXPENSES

Fixed (Mortgage/Rent, Car Payments, Insurance, Emergency Fund)
Variable (Utilities, Groceries, Gas, Food, Entertainment)

REARRANGE YOUR LIST IN ORDER OF PRIORITIES

This is the time for you to really think about what’s important. Shelter, Food, Utilities, and Gas are at the top of my list. Although I hate to do it, I can live without costly entertainment.
ASSIGN A BUDGET TO EACH EXPENSE
WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING YOU SPEND YOUR MONEY ON (for 2 weeks)

Do not leave anything out in this step. If you spend $1.00 at the vending machine, $3.00 for Girl Scout cookies, and $7.00 for parking downtown when meeting friends for drinks, you already splurged $11.00 on random spending that you probably don’t even consider when mentally reviewing your spending for the day. Writing EVERYTHING out will help you see exactly what, where, and how you spend your dineros.
CUT OUT IMPULSE SPENDING

My friend and Rah Tiffany (hey girl) put herself in a mental shopping rehab back when we were in college. At first, my friends and I thought she was crazy, but in fact she was making the best financial decision as a then single black female addicted to retail (thanks Kanye). She went almost 40 days without random impulse shopping. Following suit, I did the same. I reviewed my spending habits from the previous step that revealed my mindless exhaustion of funds at the mall. I would get up, go to the mall, see something I thought I couldn’t live without, buy it, then after working so hard at shopping I would go for lunch, go back to shopping and finally come home. Now looking back, I have to ask myself, did I really need those shoes, that purse, that book, that phone case, or that expensive lunch….NOPE, I did not. Then I thought to myself, wow, I could have taken that money and put it in my bucket list fund. Trust…skydiving will be more memorable than that cute shirt I purchased sometime last season.
PAY FOR EVERYTHING IN CASH

This tip makes its way into almost every post I write. This is a must for financial empowerment!!!
REVIEW YOUR BUDGET MONTHLY

Things change. Financial situations change. Keeping your list up to date is the only way to ensure that your budget is working for you.

Good Luck and Enjoy!

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR BUDGET WORKSHEET

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