Today’s task:
Calculate your monthly cash flow and identify where you’re going next (+ practice embodied knowing).
In categorizing my expenses today, I realized that it’s already the end of December!
This is where I ended up:
Income: $2600 (what I paid myself from my entire business income, $3631, + Xmas money)
Expenses: $5115
Savings: $185
Percent of income spent: 196%
Percent of income saved: .02%
Numbers don’t lie. There’s several factors that made both my expenses and income wonky this month that make it a bit of an outlier in comparison to the norm of my cash flow. This includes:
- A check for 6600 from my insurance company that came from my claim when hitting a deer (not accounted for in ‘income’, but still worth noting that I used some of that to pay for parts on my car)
- Moving expenses (packing supplies, storage unit rental, locks, renting a U-Haul)
- Cash from family for Christmas
- Higher transportation expenses (gas to travel down to visit my family, paying for the parts needed to repair my vehicle)
I think what’s important for people to recognize is that while yes, having a monthly budget that you stick to matters, so too does planning ahead for expenses you know are coming, or holidays that you’re planning around. For example, when I was in college I would always plan around when the semester started and when I needed to pay for tuition. I almost always forget about car insurance, so January was always a rough month for me.
This year, I did most of my Christmas shopping throughout the year and didn’t ask anyone for a list, which helped me reduce any anxiety around having to spend additional money during December on gifts. I also put in a fair amount of hours during the month of December, so my income should be higher in January.
Another thing people often forget to plan for is the deterioration of their technology. Are you putting away monthly towards a new phone? A laptop? If not, you probably should be, even if it’s just $10/mo. Over time, that will add up, and when an emergency happens, or you crack your screen, or whatever, you’ve already got something set aside to handle it in the moment instead of being so concerned about how you’re going to pay your bills that month. I say this from personal experience and personal failure in not having done this.
It’s also critical to recognize what expenses related to technology can be written off for your business. If you use your cell phone for work, you can write off a percentage of your cell phone bill. Same for your internet bill. Ask your CPA and they’ll give you more information.
Where I’m going next:
- Narrowing down opportunities and focusing my energy on one or two things this year as it relates to my business. At the moment, I’m thinking it’s 1) The Transcendent Farmer Podcast and 2) Launching an online offering/course.
- Recharging my creative spirits by immersing myself in nature and leaning into the curiosity of what doors will open this year that allow money to flow to me as opposed to being so concerned about the ‘how’
- Thinking bigger about contracts and not playing so small.
Today’s more philosophical part of my post was inspired by a talk that was recorded by Sam Grant, a rather famous agroecologist in Minnesota. He spoke during one of my classes in grad school about concepts related to agroecology, leadership, deep democracy, healing, intersectional work, and more. There were so many standout lines from his presentation, but the one I wanted to focus on today is related to this idea of embodiment.
To practice embodied knowing means to listen to your own body.
I’ll be the first to admit that I suck at this. It’s taken a long time for me to even recognize the moments when my body is telling me something, let alone follow the guidance of it. What this feels like is seeing something in someone else’s eyes (a darkness, if you will, that comes from a place of fear, anxiety, trauma), or feeling a tightness in my stomach or in my chest, for example.
There are definitely some things related to this trip that I feel I didn’t listen to my body when I should have been. It’s interesting because I feel like I had set up a number of intentions of how I wanted this trip to make me feel, but then when I thought about my lodging/work situation, the two weren’t in alignment with each other. I wonder if the Universe knew that, and is gently (or not-so-gently) guiding me in the right direction?
Anyways, your task for today, aside from taking stock of your finances for the month of December and thinking about what adjustments you’ll need to make in January, is to practice embodied knowing, even if it’s jut once a day that you check in with yourself. Are you breathing deeply? Did you make decisions from your head or from your heart? What’s giving you a reason to get excited about the future? Where do you feel like maybe you’re playing small? Where do you have opportunities to make this part of your daily habits and workflow?
Do some journaling, go for a walk, and breathe deep. I’ll see you tomorrow!
Today’s resource to keep you inspired:
