As a business owner, I have expenses the non-business owner doesn't have: rent, payroll, benefits, insurances, etc. However, being an entrepreneur and balancing the budget is not too much different than those of you who do not own a business... I just have more checks to write! A business owner's bottom line is not much different from a W-2 employee. At the end of the month or whenever you find the time you sit down, see how much you have accumulated in your checkbook, balance it against the bills, pay the bills and hope there's some left for you to put in savings and other places of choice. It seems in today's society and lifestyle, the "having some left at the end" seems to be coming fewer and far between. With expenses continually going up and salaries being frozen or experiencing ultra-small raises, having much left at the end of the month to put into savings seems to be a rarity as opposed to a normal function of budgeting. But, what if you turned the whole model upside down?
At this time, you pay the bills, and hope there will be something left for you. What if you did the opposite... put away a portion of your income FIRST INSTEAD OF LAST, and then fit your expenses into what's left? The result is that you would be saving on a regular basis, even though you were convinced you couldn't. Not so you say. Let me explain.
We live in a box designed by non-other than ourselves. We live to the max of our means, and saving is at the bottom, instead of the top of the list. So, we settle for what's left after everybody else is paid. If we turn the model upside down, and consider ourselves first, we then are tasked with fitting the monthly bills into the allotted amount left over. Trust me- it works. It takes a little adjusting and cutting but you can make it work. The end-result is that in the years to come you will see your savings and investments grow at a much faster rate than if you left your savings for last. You have to be willing to be open minded and be willing to adjust, but the crucial thing is that if you don't do it now and continually you will find yourself constantly behind and we all know what that feels like. So, next month before you pay the bills, put a little away for starters and work with what's left. There's no better feeling financially than watching your account balances go up every month!
