How to smooth cash flow – stop tracking expenses & track THIS instead!

How to smooth cash flow – stop tracking expenses & track THIS instead!

If you’re an entrepreneur with a regular income, you’ve probably noticed… budgets don’t work!

There’s a simple reason for that: They weren’t designed for us!

Budgets are designed for people with regular income. But when you’re running a business, your income can be unpredictable and irregular. So budgets simply don’t work.

In this episode, you’ll discover 2 simple steps on how to smooth cash flow when you have irregular income.

This will help you take control of your finances and manage your money so much better.

Plus, I’ll share an important THIRD step that will help you reach your financial goals so much faster.

 

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But first – a quick story:

When I was running my finance business, my clients mostly had regular income and salaries. So helping them organize their money was relatively simple. But for myself as a business owner, it was a different story!

So I needed to implement some different strategies for myself to help me smooth that cash flow so my money could go to work for me – and so my bills would be paid on time!

This was the birth of the Magnetic Money™️ System and it’s infused with principles that help you smooth your cash flow and create more wealth and financial stability as a business owner with irregular income.

In this episode, I’m going to share one of those principles of Magnetic Money™️, which is TRACKING.

But I’m NOT talking about tracking expenditure and micromanaging your money! (yuk….)
I’m simply talking about tracking 2 things – surplus and shortfall. Because they’re the only things you need to track to smooth your cash flow.

Let’s go back to talking about budgets for a moment.

They don’t work for entrepreneurs for a number of reasons. The main one being that we have irregular income. So what we need instead, is a mechanism to help us smooth that cash flow so we can achieve our financial goals AND meet our financial obligations.

That’s why as a business owner, you DO NOT NEED A BUDGET!
What you need is you need a MONEY PLAN and a SYSTEM to help you implement it.

And smoothing your cash flow is the key to making it work.

So this Magnetic Money™️ principle of tracking allows us to use surplus and shortfall to balance each other out and smooth our cash flow.

It only takes the simple 2 steps below!

But there’s a THIRD, very powerful step (that I’ll also share) which then ensures you use that surplus to achieve your financial goals so much faster.

I’d love to hear from you! Do you have irregular income and how do you try to manage it?

OK, here’s those steps:

NUMBER 1: Pay back shortfall FIRST!
Whenever you have surplus income, the very first thing is to check if you’re carrying any shortfall.
Were you unable to put enough tax money aside last time? Did you short-change your bills or business account? Leave your holiday fund short?

You need to make that up FIRST. That’s step one.

NUMBER 2: Track your shortfall!
You need to track any shortfall so when it comes time to pay it back, you know what you owe and where.
Just write it down. It’s that easy.

Okay. Now onto the very exciting third step, which will help you tick off those financial goals FAST.

NUMBER 3: \All remaining surplus goes to your No.1 priority
Once you’ve paid back any shortfall, all remaining surplus goes to your current Number 1 financial priority. In Magnetic Money™️, we call this your ‘Magic Number’.

This is how you use every dollar wisely and give every dollar a job to do (which is another principle of Magnetic Money™️ – just check out the episodes linked below to learn more).

By giving all remaining surplus the job of helping you achieve that number 1 priority, you create a laser focus effect. And that makes you more magnetic which means you’ll get to achieve that goal even faster!

And once you tick that goal off, you can move onto the next one. 😊

So it’s not a matter of tightening your belt and counting your pennies. It’s a matter of being focused and having a plan and system to implement it. 

What’s your current Number 1 financial priority? Is it clearing a debt… accumulating a buffer of living expenses to fall back on…  saving a deposit to buy a house? Be clear! It will make a huge difference and allow you to achieve it so much faster.

You can also check out the episodes linked below where you’ll learn more about how to effectively use your money to create more wealth and financial stability as a business owner with irregular income.

And if you’d love my help to get started, join my FREE ‘Organize & Tidy Your Banking’ workshop at www.miriamcastilla.com/freeworkshop

It’s punchy and super practical and will ensure you get the foundation pieces right – so the structure of your banking allows your money to flow more effectively.

Remember – abundance is an inside job, but there are practical things that really help it flow!

See you soon & have a beautiful day! 

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Can’t save money even though you try? Here’s why … & how to change it!

Can’t save money even though you try? Here’s why … & how to change it!

If you find that you can’t save money – even though you’re budgeting and trying your best, then this one’s for you!

Everybody tells us to tighten our belts and save our pennies so we can save money.

But the reason most people who do this don’t seem to be getting anywhere, is that it ignores one of the key principles of Magnetic Money.

 

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I actually developed this principle during my own journey from being a broke single mom after going through a divorce to then rebuilding my business and life.

At first I was budgeting like everyone else. I was stressed about paying the bills and putting food on the table. But as I started making good money in my business, I realized I still wasn’t really moving forward financially. It felt like I was stuck in the same old place and I noticed my savings and my wealth weren’t actually growing!

That’s when I realized that having a goal of having ‘spare money’ was actually keeping me stuck!

That’s when I developed & started applying the simple principle that “Every Dollar Needs A Job To Do”.
And it changed everything!

Now, when I say ‘a job’, it needs to be a  clearly defined job. Because just aiming to ‘have savings’ is way too vague. It’s like employing somebody and telling them you want ‘help in your business’.

You’ll need to be a lot more specific if you really want that person to make a difference!

Your  money is the same. Every dollar needs a clearly defined job to do.
Without that, surplus income tends to be squandered on things that aren’t necessarily in alignment with your top financial priority.

Most people will save some money, spend some money and maybe invest some. So the money kind of just gets diluted and can’t really make an effective difference.


But when we apply the principle that ‘every dollar needs a job to do’, we get a plan in advance that will ensure your money doesn’t get wasted and that it’s put to work as effectively as possible.

When your money comes in, you’ll know exactly what to do with every single dollar. Some will have the job of paying your bills, some will have the job of keeping your business running and some will have the job of paying your tax bill. And some of your money is dedicated ‘Fun Money’. That means you’ll get to spend that money, knowing everything else is taken care of and you can enjoy spending that money guilt free.

So when you use an arbitrary term like ‘savings’, your money doesn’t really know exactly what to do.

So you need to know what the savings are for and how much you’re aiming to have. You want to have a really specific goal in mind. So once you have enough to cover the basics and your fun money, the rest goes towards your very SPECIFIC savings goal. For example, you may have a goal of saving 3 or 6 months worth of living expenses to keep as an emergency buffer. That is a very specific job for that money.

Once that’s been achieved, you can aim for something else, such as accumulating money to invest, buy property or other. But each goal needs to be very specific so when the money comes in, you know exactly where it’s going and what for – and when you can tick the box to know that goal has been achieved.

This is how you actually move forward financially and achieve your goals!

And this is why “Every dollar needs a job to do” is one of the key principles of Magnetic Money.

So if right now you have some arbitrary goals of ‘saving money’, I invite you to sit down and get much clearer. Ask yourself, “What specific job do I want this money to do? How will this money best serve me? And what does it need to do that? Do I need a special bank account or set up some banking transfers? What infrastructure do I need to make sure the money goes to the right place to effectively do that job? And is that job clearly defined?”

Every dollar needs a job to do that’s clearly defined – and a place to do it.

If you bear this one simple principle in mind, things will shift for you from having a budget and wanting to ‘save some money’ to having clearly defined, exciting goals that move you forward financially so you’re creating financial stability and security for yourself.

Check out the episodes linked below if you’d like to learn more about how to manage your money more wisely.

And if you’d like to do it with me and get started right now, then join me for the free ‘Organized & Tidy Your Banking’ workshop, where we start laying that foundation for all your money to do its job for you.

You’ll find the link for instant access below. I’d love to see you there and help you start transforming your relationship with money, both inside and out, so you can experience the abundance that’s waiting for you.

Have a beautiful day & see you next time!

 

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3 Money Management Secrets For Entrepreneurs

3 Money Management Secrets For Entrepreneurs

Except, if you’re like most of us, you went into business all excited about your offering and expected the money to just start flowing.

Maybe you injected some personal cash and had savings to live off while you built your business.

The plan was to then have your business start making lots of money and fund a lifestyle that’s so much more ABUNDANT lifestyle than the one you had before, right?

But the thing is… Without any real plan of what that transition is going to look like, you can get yourself stuck in no man’s land.

A place where it feels like you’re constantly throwing money at your business and not being able to pay yourself – let alone enjoy that abundant lifestyle.

It’s stressful and frustrating and it sucks.. and I’ve been there too.

So in this episode, I’ll share 3 things every business owner really needs to know – ideally BEFORE they start – to ensure your business starts paying you as quickly as possible.
(so you can enjoy that abundant lifestyle & sing the song of sweet freedom ASAP)

 

 

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A quick personal story:
When I first started my finance business, I was a broke single mom. So the pressure to succeed was on!

But I wanted more than to just put ‘food on the table. I wanted to create a really beautiful, abundant lifestyle. But I didn’t know what I didn’t know. 

And so before long, I felt like I was working really hard but getting absolutely nowhere.
I felt like my business was a black hole I couldn’t seem to extract enough money out of  for myself to enjoy a comfortable life.

But once I deeply understood and applied the things we’re about to cover, everything shifted. I realized I’d had completely the wrong attitude. It wasn’t a bad attitude.

It’s just that when you go into business, things are different.
And the sooner you realise that, the easier your life will be.

Here we go:

Number 1: Money mindset trumps strategy every time.

You really have to sort out your money mindset as soon as humanly possible – ideally BEFORE you start your business. 

Because in business, you can only succeed to the level of your self belief, your self worth and your self image. So the sooner you start expanding those things, the better.

Otherwise they act like an invisible barrier you can’t seem to move past.
And when you don’t realise the problem is your mindset, you start thinking it’s your strategy – and that can keep you stuck & broke for years!

For most entrepreneurs, this shows up as imposter syndrome – thinking we still don’t know enough. So we take another course, work with another coach, implement a new strategy, try yet another approach.  EX-HAUS-TING!!!

We keep throwing money, hard work and time at the problem, when the problem is really just up here <taps head>

You can have the best business strategy in the world, but if your head’s not in the right space, you’re going to unconsciously do all these weird things to undermine that amazing strategy. You’re going to be repelling opportunities, abundance & clients as if by magic.

Some become course junkies, always thinking, “I don’t know enough”.
Others will miss opportunities – not reaching out to people can help or might be interested in what we offer, not getting in touch with that person you met, etc. By NOT doing these things, they stay small.

If you don’t do the mindset work, your patterns will keep you stuck in the same old place. 

But as you expand your self belief, self worth and self image, the abundance flowing into your business will expand to match.

So the very first thing every business owner needs to embrace is that your money mindset trumps your business strategy – every single time.

So get your mindset right FIRST. Then get the right strategy in place.


I’d love to hear from you in the comments below:
When did you realise that your mindset is your most important business asset?


Number 2: Your business pays YOU

When you’re in business, you need to start managing your money differently.

That’s because your business pays you.
On one hand, there’s your business and its finances.
And on the other hand, there’s you and your personal finances.
The two should be separate.

And your business needs to generate enough income to pay you AND pay its bills.

That’s a very different mindset to the mindset of an employee.

Number 3: In business, Cash is King!

When you’re in business, the golden rule is that ‘Cash is King’.

Your cash flow is the most critical factor in making sure your business can keep growing and flowing. It needs to be able to pay its expenses and continue to expand – and it needs to be able to pay you as it grows.

Learning how to manage that cash flow and smooth it out, is critical.

See, as employees, it’s easy for us to ignore our finances. We get a regular paycheck and it’s easy to work out how to make it last.

But when you’re in business, we need to ensure the cash keeps flowing into & THROUGH your business – and that’s all on you!

Because business income is usually irregular, you’ll also need to learn how to smooth that cash flow.

And then, once your business has paid you, you also want to be really smart with that money so you can create financial stability and grow your wealth.

It all comes back to knowing that ‘Cash is King’ – then smoothing and managing that cash flow as well as possible.

I recently uploaded some 2-minute ‘Quick Tip’ videos on my YouTube channel, including one on how to smooth that cash flow. You can watch it here.

To manage your money well, it’s critical to have it well organized.

So if you haven’t yet taken my free ‘Organize and Tidy Your Banking’ workshop, then I recommend you jump on that next. The link is both here & below for you.

The workshop is designed especially for entrepreneurs and leads you through a simple 3-step process to organize and tidy your banking so you have the essential foundations and structure in place to help your money flow – and grow.

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Bargain shopping with an abundance mindset

Bargain shopping with an abundance mindset

Can you bargain shop with an abundance mindset? Or is shopping in thrift stores and op shops a sign of a poverty mindset?

People often worry that buying second-hand means you may be inadvertently repelling abundance.

In this episode we’re going to talk about how bargain shopping can help you cultivate an abundance mindset and make you more magnetic.

PLUS, I’m going to share some of my favorite recent bargains with you that make me feel utterly abundant and actually help make me magnetic to more. 

See, I’m a huge fan of thrift store shopping and where and how you shop actually has little to do with whether you have a poverty mindset vs an abundance mindset.

So let’s talk about what really makes the difference.

 

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In the Magnetic Money program, we talk about doing little things that stretch your abundance mindset. Little upgrades, token gestures and generally acting like the more abundant version of you.

That includes going into stores that you wouldn’t normally go into, trying things on, maybe even buying something. But there’s a BIG difference between stretching your comfort zone around money to expand your capacity to receive and plain old retail therapy that gives you a short-lived high with a credit card hangover the next day.

See, where and how you shop doesn’t make that much difference. That’s because your mindset has everything to do with how you think and feel and little to do with what you’re actually doing.

Let me give you an example. Say you decide to buy yourself a new Prada handbag. And you do it from a place where you’re sick of feeling and not having enough. So you spot an opportunity where there’s room and your credit card, think ‘To hell with it’, but the bag and vow to figure it out later.

In this case, you’re actually coming from a place of lack and scarcity. It’s a  demonstration of a poverty mindset because you’re grabbing what you can while you can, convinced that it’s not really natural and normal for you.

Let’s say that, say that instead, you decide to just go to Target and buy a nice little everyday handbag that looks good and does the job. And you find a handbag that looks amazing and feels really beautiful too. It’s just the right color and size & does everything you need. Plus, it’s incredibly cheap. So you get all excited because you just scored a great bargain, you really like it and nobody can even tell it’s just a cheapie. And you’re so excited that you saved all that money and can put it towards paying off a debt or some investment funds instead. You feel really proud of your decision.

In this case, you’re demonstrating a powerful abundance mindset because you’re feeling empowered about your finances. goals.

Can you see that where and how you shopped doesn’t really matter so much? It’s how you THINK about what you’re doing that matters. You could have gone to Target and felt awful about only being able to buy a cheap bag because that’s all you think you can afford. Or you could have bought the Prada bag thinking ‘I’m celebrating a great month in business and this will be my constant reminder’ And each of those attitudes would have completely switched up your mindset.

Which store you bought your bag from really didn’t matter. What matters most is how you think about it. 

So the big takeaway for you today is that feeling more abundant can come from spending less!

You don’t have to spend lots of money to feel rich and abundant. Sometimes it’s choosing NOT to spend money that makes you feel more abundant. It’s really empowering to make great financial choices that help you reach your financial goals faster.

When you’re spending less by choice, then you are an abundant person who has their priorities straight and makes great decisions.

If you’d like to see some of my recent bargain buys that make me feel utterly abundant, be sure to watch the video! I start sharing them at the 8 minutes and 15 seconds mark

I’d also love to know what bargains you’ve scored recently that make you feel utterly abundant. Let me know about them in the comments!

What I love about bargain shopping is that you get to spoil yourself with some really cool stuff that you maybe don’t really need, but that you’d really like. It allows you to feel that beautiful, luxurious sense of abundance without blowing the budget and derailing all the good work you’re doing by managing your money wisely. And when you do that, it actually makes you feel a whole lot more abundant.

Bargain shopping can make you magnetic much faster than buying the equivalent full price items – and it definitely helps you reach your financial goals faster too!

Some practical notes:

I don’t just randomly buy things. I usually have a list and know what I’m looking for. 

I’ll always take some time out and go through my favorite thrift stores, op shops and designer recycle stores to see what’s thereI don’t just randomly look for things and come out with a whole bunch of stuff I didn’t really want or need. I go in with a purpose.

And second hand shopping is not just about not wanting to spend too much money. I also love that it’s ecologically and socially more responsible.

It’s less wasteful, better for the environment, I’m spending less money and getting cool stuff I love and we have more money available for things that are much more important to us – like traveling, securing our financial future and having more choices in life.

(Plus, it feels like hunting for treasure and I get really, really excited when I come home with a bargain 😊)

In terms of your money plan, you do need to have an allocation for that kind of fun money. Part of my personal fun money allocation every single month goes towards clothing and accessories. And sometimes I’ll save up for something a little more special over a few months. And if in the meantime, I happen to find it cheaper in a second-hand store, then I celebrate my abundance!

I did recently record some 2-minute quick tips and I definitely recommend you check out the one on how to use FUN  MONEY to become more magnetic.

You can watch it here.

And if your money could use some organizing, then join me for the free ‘Organize and Tidy Your Banking’ workshop. The link is below.

What did you learn from this episode? Let me know in the comments below.

And if there’s anything else you’d love me to cover in a future episode, please let me know!

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Can you manifest without taking any action?

Can you manifest without taking any action?

Law of Attraction critics will say, “You can’t just sit on a mountaintop and meditate and wait for it to rain money”

But can you manifest with action?

Or at least, without action that feels like work?

You absolutely can!
Because yes, you need to take action, but the right KIND of action. And when you take the right kind of action – it does not feel at all like hard – let alone like hard work!

 

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So in this episode, we’ll answer the questions “Can you manifest without action?” but even better than that:

We’ll talk about what kind of action you SHOULD be taking – and what kind of action is a total waste of your time and energy.

Like me, you’ve probably been applying Law of Attraction and doing all the things.

I know I did everything – all the Law of Attraction things and (just to be on the safe side) –  all the work things as well.

I worked hard and long hours. It all got really exhausting and disheartening because I was doing all this Law of Attraction stuff, but I was still burning myself out!

It wasn’t until much further down the track when I figured it out that, yes, there’s some action you need to take, but you’ve gotta be smart enough to know what kind of action is productive and what kind of action is counterproductive. Because most of the actions we take are a total waste of time and energy.

And when I figured out this seemingly fine – but actually massive difference between the different types of action, everything changed. Yes, I was still DOING things, but it didn’t feel like I was working. And it certainly didn’t feel like I was working hard! My income really took off and I would have my biggest income days & months when I wasn’t working AT ALL.

I still remember having a record $31,500 week without looking at my business at all. I wasn’t thinking about it and I didn’t even check my phone. In fact, I had my feet dangling in a pool in Bali at the time!

If this sounds like a plan you’d like to get in on, then let’s break this down for you. Let’s talk about the difference between the kind of action that leverages Law of Attraction versus the kind of action that’s counterproductive and a total waste of time and energy.

First, let’s talk about the innate problem people have trying to figure this out:

And that is that we equate ‘taking action’ with ‘working’. We take certain actions to achieve a direct desired result.

Cause and Effect.

But when you’re working with Law of Attraction, it’s different, right!
You’re actually looking to leverage the magic of the Universe, tap into synchronicities. And yes, you need to be a cooperative component to that, but the moment you get too involved and try to micromanage and force the process, you’re actually getting in the way and are stopping that effortless flow of manifestation.

Because you always get what you EXPECT. And when you get too involved and take all this action, it shows that you only expect to get things that are a direct line of sight to your actions.

You’re cutting the Universe out of the equation and taking over – shutting yourself off from the magic.

The other issue with getting way too involved and taking action that is more ‘work’ oriented is that you’re bringing an energy of fear and worry to what you’re doing.

“Ooh, I just better do this ONE extra thing to make sure it all works out.” Sound familiar?

And when you bring that energy of fear and worry, you’re sending out a vibrational message of, “I’m not really expecting this to be easy or to even work out at all.”

So in fact, you’re manifesting it NOT happening or manifesting it being WAy TOO HARD.

So we definitely don’t want to be doing that, but we do need to be taking SOME action because we need to put ourselves into the play, right? We need the Universe to be able to throw us those opportunities, nudges & great timing. So there is action to be taken.

(In a previous episode I covered the 6 steps to attracting a consistent 6-figure income. It’ll help you get a better understanding of where the actions you take fit into the overall process and you can find that at the link below.)

Before I share the kinds of actions that absolutely help manifestation happen, I’d love to know:

Have you ever taken just some small little action that has resulted in some awesome manifestation?
What are your manifesting stories? Type me a comment below and let me know!

So what kind of action do you need to take? 

Well, you need to put yourself into the play, put yourself where the Universe can find you. So when you take action, take it with that spirit of “I’m putting myself in the play. I don’t know exactly how this is all going to work out. I’m going to – as my mentor, Mike Dooley says – knock on lots of doors without knowing which one will open. But if I keep knocking, I know that one, two or more of them will open.”

The other reason you need to take action and get some motion going is because that is how the Universe can guide you. Think of it like the GPS system in your car. It can’t really do much for you if you’re just sitting in your driveway. Until you get moving, it can’t guide your next step, telling you whether to turn left or right. Your inner guidance that’s always there for you is much the same.

As you move forward and then pay attention to the guidance – those intuitive nudges, instincts & hunches – you will be guided step by step towards your goal.

And the action that you THEN take as a result of that, is INSPIRED ACTION.

And that’s going to feel totally different from the action of ‘hard work to try and get what you want’

It’s going to feel like fun, like child’s play. That inspired action has a whole different energy. When you‘re taking inspired action, just knocking on doors to open possibilities and putting yourself into the play of life, it feels like fun. It feels easy. It feels effortless. It feels like exploration and an adventure, rather than working hard to force an outcome.

Now, a great way to get yourself into the right frame of mind for this is through regular meditation. And if you don’t yet have it, I’d love to gift you one of mine. It’s a hypnotic meditation called ‘The Vibration of Abundance’.

You’ll find the link in the ‘Today’s Freebie’ section below.

Remember, gorgeous. It’s time to embrace your unlimited potential and you are so ready to take that next step.

See you in the next episode!

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