Money – Bri Alys, LLC
Personal Finances and COVID-19 (1 of 2)
Coronavirus has changed everything for everybody. There is no doubt about it. Everyone’s personal finances are or will (or should be) be impacted – whether you keep your job, lose your job or never had one to begin with (already unemployed, retired, etc.) SAVING AS MUCH MONEY AS YOU CAN IS PARAMOUNT. Beyond, that simple imperative, my strategy is simple and two-fold: cash is KING and bring RECEIPTS.
Today I will tackle the first statement: CASH IS KING:
Spend little, very little. Re-evaluate everything based on your current situation or what may become your situation. If you are paying for subscriptions and are in a financial situation where spending $9.99 a month can make or break you, cancel it asap. (I told you before that I hate paying for subscriptions… NO RECURRING BILLS!).
Budgeting / expense tracking goes without saying but, I recently read a new way to categorize and keep track of EACH AND EVERY purchase you make. The new categories are: Fixed, Discretionary, Reduceable, or Forbearance Eligible. (Frugal Woods) I am definitely doing this!
Here’s the deal… I am delaying everything I can, even it if means a large lump sum payment at the end of the forbearance period. Why? Because we don’t know what we don’t know – this is true for income, expenses and what the federal, state or local government may or may not due over the next 6-9 months. If you are already financially responsible, making a payment equaling to x number of months you are in forbearance for your mortgage should not scare you (required with the new bill – READ!!!) If you are not financially astute or able to save large sums of money and can afford to pay your mortgage each month, continue to pay. If you cannot pay and need to prioritize eating over paying your mortgage, I think you know what to do – just be sure call your mortgage company (or landlord) and ask for help. More likely than not, they will oblige.
As it relates to (government) student loans, we all get 6-months no payments / no interest / no lump sum due at the end. I will not be paying my normal $200 month during this automatic forebarance period. What I AM going to do is pay my loan completely off on September 29th (the day the forbearance period is up) – pending no drastic changes in my financial position. There is no financial gain or benefit or negative impact to me paying today vs 6 months from now, except that my CASH will continue to sit in my savings account, earning a very small amount of interest; but, I will take that thank you very much! The beautiful thing is that I was planning to pay my student loans off this year anyway and my payment will go 100% towards my principle. WIN!
I also refinanced our mortgage at exactly the right time. Saves $250/month AND because it’s a new loan, we get to skip 2 months of our mortgage payments (just like when you initially close on a house). WIN!
I have been an avid user of my rewards credit cards, most recently the Delta American Express since I already have Lifetime Titanium status with Marriott. Last week I switched from using my AMEX (reward credit card) to my debit card. Why? First, ain’t nobody going anywhere anytime soon and Secondly, I know that I will evaluate expenses much more carefully when I use my debit card. I changed the default payment method on my normal accounts such as Target. DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU.
Finally, I organized my pantry. Going out for groceries is essential; but, not it you have things at home you can eat. Seeing all of your items helps greatly and can reduce your spending! Check out my recent post on how I did this – now, it’s true I didn’t have to buy those baskets, especially in this uncertain time; but, I did. And I will continue to check daily for price reductions for the items I purchased to try and save a few more coins by asking for a price match (over the phone).
I am reading a lot more these days – mostly online – because there is a lot I don’t know. Things are constantly changing. Blogs, news, you name it! READ THE FINE PRINT to make sure you understand EXACTLY what is or is not. None of our opinions matter, only the facts. And certainly not #FAKENEWS. Treat what people tell you about your finances just like you do sayings for the bible – READ IT FOR YOURSELF FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE, not a third party! Context is almost always required. There is no single answer / approach that can or should be applied to your unique circumstance.
Now, my last question is how much cash do you actually have? As in assets? Can you prove it? We will discuss in my next post, stay tuned!
Categories Money•Tags cares, cash, coronavirus, fakenews, finances, forbearance, frugal, money, mortgage, pandemic, personal finances, saving, stimulus, studentloan	
A Random Wednesday Morning
It’s a random Wednesday morning. I am sitting in the concierge lounge of a Marriott Hotel in Detroit, Michigan. On this morning I had a random thought … spend less.
To be honest it’s not so random. Before I left Atlanta, my garage looked like a warehouse (from all the shipments I have received this week). So much so that hubby had to “organize” all the boxes. Additionally, I analyzed my last Amex statement by category (by hand) last night to see where my money went and how many times I made purchases in each category. As an example, I have two (2) charges for gas, totaling $76.93 (not so bad). By stark contrast, I had thirty one (yes, 31) charges at Target totaling $1,771.37 with $428.11 in returns, bringing the total to $1,343,26. Yes, I know that when you order stuff online they sometimes will charge you multiple times for a single order (depending on where your items are shipping from). Also, most of those expenses are Christmas Decorating (mostly one-time in a new house); but, in my humble opinion that’s still WAAAYYY too much! 🤦🏽‍♀️
Side note: Not to go off of a tangent; but, I do use my American Express card for everything. I also pay it off every month so interest is not a concern.
So my general goal is to spend less. PeriodT! It’s way too easy for me to click a button and order something from Amazon and Target. That will stop. If I can just get a couple of categories under control my monthly financial analysis (that I often do not do) would look so much different! I have three (3) goals:
Limit Target/Amazon purchases to one time a week (maximum). Ideally I should be able to get by with one or two times a month; but, baby steps… Fridays are the only day I will shop in Target. I am ditching Amazon for a while. I also deleted both apps from my phone.
Spend $0 on paper and planning supplies. I have enough paper. I don’t need anymore.
Actually pay attention to what I am being charged at the checkout counter (in any store) and review my bill! I cannot tell you how many times I walk out of a store with a basket full of goodies and have no idea what I paid. #smh
We Don’t Buy Things with Money, We Buy Them with Hours from our Life. read this
So that’s it for me! When is the last time you analyzed your spending? For me, it’s super easy because I put all my charges on one card. As we go into the holiday/shopping season (when I tend to view so many buying guides online), I highly encourage you to do a similar exercise on your most used account (if you have more than one). When you do so, set realistic goals for yourself. Your eyes will truly be opened for the better and your wallet/bank account will thank you!
Categories Money, Shopping, Tech•Tags holiday, less, minimalism, save, savemoney, shopaholic, shopping, spend	
Friends & Family Purchasing Strategy
I’m going to make this short and sweet. Let’s start with a couple of facts:
Bloomingdale’s is having a Friends & Family Sale, 25% off.
I prefer to shop online at Nordstrom.
The strategy I will explain below only works if Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s have the exact same product available at time of purchase (includes sizes, colors, etc.).
Find an item you want to purchase (DUH!).
Add the item to your cart on Bloomingdale’s website and apply the promotion code to be sure it’s applicable.
Purchase the item from Nordstrom online and note your order #.
Call Nordstrom customer service, give them your order # and ask for a price match. Tell them the competitor and promotion code you used.
The customer service rep will confirm the promotion on the competitor’s website.
Your order total will be adjusted/reduced.
Wait for your credit to appear on your statement (usually 2-3 business days).
So what does this mean? When it’s Friends & Family at Bloomingdale’s or Macy’s or Lord & Taylor or Dillard’s, it’s also Friends & Family at Nordstrom! Use this approach with ALL competitors, large and small! #shoppingqueen #winning #thatisall
Categories Money, Shopping•Tags compare, competitors, dillards, family, friends, leverage, lordandtaylor, macy, macys, neiman, neimanmarcus, nordstrom, pricematch, prices, pricing, promitions, saks, saksfifthavenue, shop, shopping, strategy	
This morning I read an interesting article from Seth Godin’s blog. The subject, though not expressed in this way, is essentially was price vs. cost. Price as in the monetary commitment required to buy-in and cost as in the resources expended over time to maintain said item. Sure, it’s not a revolutionary concept; but, it can always be helpful to reflect on concepts in a different light or hear someone else’s perspective. The same thing is supposed to happen when you read scripture, right? 🤔
Here is Seth’s thought-provoking question: I know what the price tag says. But what does it cost?
Don’t just think of cost in terms of money. Cost can also be your time, stress, not doing something else (also known as opportunity cost). Lifehacker says, “More often than not, figuring out something’s cost is more important than figuring out its price.”
You buy a dog that costs $500. The $500 price tag is a one-time expense, what it takes to buy-in. The cost, however is: dog food + doctor visits + dog-sitters + 15-minute walks each day over years, many years. The cost is on-going and can be more than 10 times the price.
You buy a luxury handbag that costs $500. The price tag is the same as the example above; however, the cost, in this case is nominal – maybe you need to clean it, have a few repairs, etc. but not very much in the grand scheme of things. The cost of the luxury handbag is less than the price.
Here’s the thing: as I am typing this post I am learning / acknowledging my own personal buying behavior and preference. I prefer high price, low-cost items. 💡 Meaning, I’d rather spend money up front (higher price) and have minimal cost. Some people prefer the opposite approach. Or maybe more correctly stated, our attitudes are different depending on what the “thing” in question is: a house, a trip to Paris, a steak dinner, a vintage car, a membership in a club or group, golf lessons. I do think most people have a pattern. Sure, you can bring value into this discussion but that’s subjective. Cost and price are quantifiable, very easy to measure.
So what’s the takeaway? The next time you consider the pice tag (“buying in”), take 30-seconds and think about what type of price-cost arrangement you are getting yourself into. Whatever your choice is, enjoy!
Categories Money•Tags cost, money, price, time	