How did we get here and how do we get out? (an excerpt from “Bank to Bark” ebook)
As a pet groomer, you may be making bank. You see the transaction amount of each client, the amount of tips you are receiving, and how much its adding up day-to-day, but by the time your paycheck hits and you have all these bills to pay, you likely feel left with crumbs. You are making an income that rivals college educated professionals in fields such as accounting and engineering... but why are you broke?!
"Hi, my name is _____ and I am addicted to spending." So, how did you get here? Are you addicted to spending? Did you find yourself in an unfortunate situation that you never recovered from? Did something life altering happen? What has brought you to the point that you're reading an e-book on transforming your finances? Maybe you're doing okay and just browsing for suggestions on how you can enhance your situation. Maybe you're just seeking some motivation. Whatever the situation is and regardless as to how you got here, let's go and ahead and agree that none of that matters anymore - like, obviously I don't want you to lose sight of what caused this situation but let's make the decision to not go back and look at what really matters now: where you're going. So, where is it that you want to go?
First things first: put yourself in check. Assessing your current financial situation is the first crucial step when looking to change your financial situation - the situation of living paycheck-to-paycheck, feeling stuck in a rut, and honestly, maybe even hopeless. Are you tired of feeling that way? Good.
It's not confirmed if Einstein was the one who actually said it or not, but one of my favorite quotes is as follows: "The definition of 'insanity' is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results." Maybe you're insane, maybe you're just in a tough spot and trying to figure out how to dig yourself out. One thing I do know is if you're a pet groomer reading this (likely guess, right?), you're more than likely a very resilient person who has the rare virtue of patience which means you CAN dig yourself out of this! Now, I can tell you what shovel you need, how much you need to dig, and depending on the pace of your digging, I can possibly determine how long it's going to take for you to dig your way out - BUT I can't get in the hole and dig it out for you. That's your hole and your problem. I can sit at the top of the hole and tell you you're doing a really good job digging, though! Jokes aside, my goal for you is to come away from reading this with a revamped mindset, a hunger and a drive to change your life with your NEW roadmap to financial independence laid out, with the final destination being financial freedom.
The assessment process involves taking an honest look into your overall financial picture by examining your income, expenses, and liabilities…aka those monthly payments you are slave to. I think the majority of us seem to think we have a rough idea of where our money goes but when it comes to daily swipes/taps/dips, a month is actually a long time to keep track of them all. Just $7 here, $12 here, $25 there, $40 on this, just $9 on that, all scattered throughout 30 days. So once you hit the end of that 30 day period and you see HOW much those transactions accumulated to, I think you're going to be really shocked. Like, really shocked.