Finances — The Life She Wanders — Motivation & Success

Finding Balance Between Spending vs Investing on Yourself

This topic has been one I’ve wanted to write about for quite some time now and something I’ve really valued more and more recently. In the world of personal finances, so many times the topics of discussion are don’t spend money, cut these things to save, how to be a better saver, and so on. These are all highly important topics but there is also the reality that we all spend money and we all need to treat ourselves from time to time. Today for Money Monday, we’re taking a look at the difference between and finding balance between spending vs investing on yourself. Both are forms of spending money but one has a bit more depth and meaning to it.

Finances, Money Monday, motivation & success, selfStepfanie McCaffreyFebruary 10, 2020money monday, spending vs investing, finding balanceComment

3 Steps to Easily Improve Your Savings Strategy

Another installment of Money Monday is here and today we’re diving into one of my favorite financial topics…savings! I don’t know about you but I have some major life goals and the reality of it is that without a substantial savings strategy in place, those goals truly will not be attainable. As growing my savings substantially becomes more and more of a priority, I’ve really dived into ways that help make the process not only more meaningful, but successful. This 3-step process is easy for anyone to implement no matter their financial situation or what their goals are.

How I Plan My Monthly Budget and Track Expenses

Recently for Money Monday we talked about detoxing your finances in the New Year and I received some follow-up questions from you guys after that post. It makes my heart happy to see that so many of you are focused on your personal finances just like me! Money and budgeting has become such a priority in my life over the past year and even more so since starting this Money Monday series. So today I thought it would be beneficial to share with y’all just exactly how I plan my monthly budget and track my expenses.

Why I Budget For a Weekly Coffee Shop Visit

Today’s Money Monday post is a little different from topics we’ve previously discussed. From starting a budget to detoxing your finances, money saving challenges, paying off college loans and more, we’ve focused on a lot of the basics. Now don’t get me wrong, all of these topics we’ve covered are extremely important but today we’re taking a different perspective. If you’ve noticed recently from my Instagram stories each week, I typically go to my favorite coffee shop in Denver, Aviano Coffee, on Sundays. There is something about spending Sundays at Aviano that I love so much, and because of that, I now budget for that weekly coffee shop visit. Let me explain.

How To Detox Your Life in the New Year: Finances

Money Monday and my mini series on how to detox your life in the New Year collide today as we take a look at detoxing your personal finances. The beginning of the year is a great time to re-evaluate your expenses, budget, income and beyond in order to set yourself up for financial success this year. I’ve put together 6 simple steps that you can easily implement whether you are a budgeting vet or newbie that will help get your personal finances in tip top shape!

5 Money Saving Challenges to Try in the New Year

Money Monday is back my friends! Y’all loved this series last fall and it took a bit of a back seat during the winter holiday season and I am beyond excited to be starting it back up. Money and personal finances are one of those extremely important life things that unfortunately becomes this taboo topic nobody talks about. I’m here to break down that barrier and make it an accessible topic to help you feel comfortable and be successful with your finances. With it being the start of a new year and a new decade, I wanted to kick off Money Monday with some fun ways you can challenge yourself to save money all year long. Because who doesn’t love a good challenge AND saving money?!

How to Recover After a Month of Overspending

After a few weeks hiatus and a social detox to be in the moment, we are back with another post in the Money Monday series! This week’s topic is one that all of us have dealt with at some point in our lives. Sometimes emergency situations come up, our social calendar is more full than normal, or we just unintentionally go over budget for the month. Thankfully there are a few key steps that can easily get your monthly budget back on track.

Money Monday, motivation & success, Finances, budgetStepfanie McCaffreyOctober 14, 2019overspending, money monday, finance tipsComment

How To Financially Prep for the Holidays

I can’t believe I’m saying this but the holidays are going to be here before we know it! The holiday season brings about joyous celebrations and making memories with friends & family. Unfortunately, it can also be quite an expensive time of year that often many off us fail to prep for. In order to give you a head start on your prep and savings strategy, I’m diving into a few key ways you can begin to financially prep for the holidays.

Money Monday, motivation & success, holidays, Finances, budgetStepfanie McCaffreySeptember 23, 2019money monday, financial prep, holidaysComment

Tips & Tricks for Buying a New Car

There is nothing quite like that new car smell! ICYMI, I recently bought a new Jeep and to say I’m obsessed would be an understatement. This truly was my first “big girl purchase” and yes, it got stressful at times but it was one of the most rewarding experiences to finally OWN something. Everyone’s car buying experience is unique but there are some general rules of thumb that everyone should follow.

budget, Finances, Money MondayStepfanie McCaffreySeptember 16, 2019money monday, budget, car buying, buying first vehicleComment

6 Things You Might Not Be Budgeting For

Can you believe we are on week 4 of our Money Monday series?! Y’all are absolutely loving the series as much as I am which makes me incredibly happy. I’ve mentioned a few times how I think it is important to budget and account for every single dollar of income you have in order to maximize your efforts. We’ve taken a look at accounting for fixed and variable expenses to account for but there may be a few things you might not be including in your budget.

budget, Finances, Money MondayStepfanie McCaffreySeptember 9, 2019money monday, budget, monthly budget, forgetting to budgetComment

I Paid Off $40,000 in College Loans - Here's How

My first ever college loan payments were due on Christmas Day in 2012. I most certainly was not so holly jolly about that! Fast forward to October 2018 and I was as jolly as can be as I made my last payments on those loans! I truly cannot describe the feeling of paying off such a HUGE chunk of money, it’s like a outer-body experience. The world of college loans can be a dark, depressing thing but if you work smarter instead of harder at paying them off, the reward is that much sweeter in the end.

motivation & success, Money Monday, Finances, budgetStepfanie McCaffreySeptember 3, 2019money monday, college loans, budget, budget basicsComment

Evaluating Your Monthly Budget: 5 Things to Cut to Save Money

Last week in our Money Monday series opener, we talked about the basics of starting a monthly budget. One of the points discussed was evaluating your budget to figure out where you stand from an income and expenses standpoint. So lets dive into this in a little bit more detail and figure out the most efficient ways for you to evaluate your monthly budget, with 5 things you can cut to save money.

The Basics of Starting a Monthly Budget

Money and finances can be a bit of a taboo conversation topic, but I’m here to break down those barriers with a new weekly series, Money Mondays. From the basics of budgeting, to starting a savings, to paying off loans, to buying a car, to the value of a dollar and beyond, I’ll be sharing tips and tricks from my own personal experience to help you improve your finances in an easy, realistic way. So as the first post in this Money Mondays series, we’re starting with the very basics of starting a monthly budget.