If you're tired of feeling like you're always starting over with your money, even though you know better, that stops right now. Because in this video, I'm going to show you exactly what to do to exit your broke girl era for good. And no, I'm not going to tell you to cancel Netflix or start a budget.
You know all that already. And it probably still isn't getting you the results that you want. And this is because if you're feeling broke all the time and always chasing after your money, the problem isn't necessarily your budget, but it's your habits.
And I'm telling you, once you master these 10 simple mindsets and habit shifts, you are going to start living like that woman who has money instead of that little girl who always just spends it. Starting with habit number one that seems so simple, but is going to make a huge impact. And that is reducing the amount of transactions in your life.
So, this habit isn't necessarily about cutting the things out of your life that you enjoy, but it's more about buying those things more strategically. Basically, what it comes down to is that your nervous system is addicted to swiping. So, if you don't retrain your brain to do it less, then you're always going to be leaking money through your habitual spending.
And the things that you reduce your spending on doesn't have to be really drastic at all. For example, if you are a big fan of Diet Coke and you like to buy yourself one every day at lunch, that means you're training your brain to make a transaction at lunchtime every single day. And no one's telling you to cut out your Diet Coke.
I would not do that to you. But if you want to build better spending habits and just get into the habit of spending fewer times during the week, then buy one case of Diet Coke from the grocery store and bring it to work with you. The point here is to help you get used to spending less and overall tapping less because a lot of the times we're more addicted to the feeling of spending money rather than spending the money on the thing itself.
And I found when I started doing this, I started getting used to spending at a certain frequency in my life and reducing that amount. I used to be the person who would hop over to the grocery store pretty much every single day because one, it was something to do and I like grocery shopping, but two, I kind of got to scratch that spendy little itch even though it felt like I wasn't spending that much money. But the more you tap your card, the more your money just kind of slips away.
So the more you swipe, the more normal it feels to be spending all the time. So with this very minor habit, it's not necessarily about saving a ton of money. It's more about building behaviors that kind of stop the leaking of money.
But even though reducing the amount of transactions that you make in your day-to-day is going to help you save money over time and just change your behavior, that behavior shift isn't going to stick if you don't address your broke girl mindset. I hate to tell you this, but your identity and self-concept around money is going to directly impact your ability to build wealth. If you hold certain beliefs about yourself, whether it be, I'm a spender, I just can't hold on to any money at all, or I'm just bad with money, I don't understand it, or even I'm a shopaholic and he shopping is my cardio.
All those identities are going to influence your beliefs and therefore influence your behavior, which I'm sorry to say is going to have a direct impact on your wallet. If you're serious about building your wealth, changing your spending habits, or even just feeling a little bit more confident and secure about your financial situation, you have to believe that you're the type of person who can do that. Because sometimes it just feels easier and more comfortable to stay stuck and struggling in that identity.
But the other absolutely critical mindset shift here that you need to make is that you need to stop making a joke out of your overspending. So doing things like impulse buying on a two for one deal and then telling yourself that it was basically free or using girl math to tell yourself that you made money because you just bought something on sale. Those are the exact excuses, mental gymnastics, and justifications that will keep you stuck.
And you're going to stay stuck in those habits of overspending just so you can continue to avoid facing reality. And I know that because did it for years. So, if you truly want to exit your broke girl era, you need to stop romanticizing that kind of shopaholic, overspendy girl math identity and start building the identity of the type of person who cares about their money and their financial health.
Because until you truly start believing that you're that type of person, then none of these habits are going to matter. And you know, another identity and belief that I had around my money for years was sheer denial, where I desperately needed a serious dose of reality. And in order to get that, I needed to look at my bank account.
By looking at your transactions, I would say just take a look at the last month. You're going to quickly figure out the story that your money is telling you and the story that you're telling yourself. It's going to tell you in slightly uncomfortable detail the exact moments that you felt lazy, insecure, bored, overstimulated, stressed out.
Like, how many times does Uber Eats show up on your statement? And does it show up on days where you felt particularly stressed at work? or how many times does Target show up on your statement because you were bored and needed something to do?
Because you know what? The math doesn't lie and the statements don't lie. But because I had to start building the belief and the foundation that I was a person who was good with money and finally wanted to stop being broke, it really provided me with the foundation to make changes and showed me the immediate opportunities that I had to start cutting back on my spending and to start improving my financial situation.
And speaking of telling stories, this is where I want to take a moment to thank the sponsor of today's video, Skillshare. Because you know what? In the age of fighting brain rot, AI slop, and just like I feel like there's a general craving for really hands-on and creative hobbies these days, I think Skillshare is the perfect solution for anyone who's looking to learn a new skill or just find ways to be more creative and have fun.
And I've actually learned so much by using Skillshare over the years. Like I learned how to edit videos and learned how to use my editing software, Final Cut Pro. I learned how to take care of my plants using Skillshare, although I think for this one I need to revisit the course.
And I just finished this course, Storytelling Masterclass for Video Creators: How to Make Viewers Care by Eddie Leang. Eddie's breakdown of how to actually tell a story versus just describing a sequence of events, which is a mistake that a lot of us make, I did find particularly useful, and I can't wait to use this technique in my next videos. So whether you want to do something like start your own social media accounts, your own YouTube channel, do it.
Do it. Or you just want to learn something new that's fun and creative, then definitely check out Skillshare. The first 500 people to use my link in the description or scan the QR code on the screen will receive a 1 month free trial of Skillshare.
And let me know in the comments below what class you're thinking about taking. The next habit you can start to exit your broke girl era and enter your rich girl one is one that I think is actually so much fun. And that is taking yourself on a money date.
Because reframing the idea of budgeting, which a lot of people just associate as something that is all about deprivation and makes you feel scarce and restricted. Instead, create an association that makes it fun and makes it something that you actually look forward to doing. And the way I did this was by taking myself on little money dates.
Not only does this help make sure that my budgeting practice is proactive instead of just reactive all the time, but it also just makes it fun. I sit down with a coffee. I take my time and it's something that I actually genuinely look forward to doing rather than something that I dread and just feel bad about.
If you want to get started with the habit of budgeting, I do have my very own budgeting template that I have linked in the description. I think it's really fun and cute, and I designed it to also track your emotions as you spend, as well as your impulsive versus intentional spending. So, you can also start to see the patterns and trends as you spend.
But no pressure, the best budget is the one that you actually stick to. So, pick your method, pick your money date, day, and start building a better relationship with your money. Okay.
So, we've talked about things like tracking your expenses, shifting your identity, and even reducing the amount of transactions in your life. And with those habits, I think it is pretty easy to get caught up in the assumption that you always need to be cutting back your spending. But at the end of the day, I think we all need to address the elephant in the room, and it's that life is simply really expensive.
Because if you're watching this video and you're feeling stretched to even pay for life's necessities, I think money will always feel tight and you'll always feel broke if you don't do something to give yourself more opportunities and increase your income. If you have an overspending problem, I think you can budget yourself out of that. But if you have an income problem, then you can't necessarily.
And that's where the focus needs to be on finding ways to increase it. I know the side hustle of vacation of hobbies can sound really gross, but if you have a skill that you can monetize, I think that is something really important to consider, especially if you want to find ways to increase your income. Because at the end of the day, you can only cut your expenses so much before the thing that will move the needle more is making more money.
Most people when they get paid, they spend first. You cover bills, you cover credit cards and debt, and you cover some spending on fun and treating yourself. And then you usually try to save whatever's left over if there is anything left that is.
And that's when you start feeling broke and you say, "Well, I just don't have any money to save. " And if there is an income problem, then that could be true. But if you make decent money and you're still not saving, then it could just be because you made savings your last priority.
Because if you tell yourself that you're just going to save whatever's left over, one, you're probably not going to do it. But two, I think you're also kind of subconsciously telling yourself that saving is optional or that you just can't do it at all. And that's unfortunately a mindset that is going to keep you feeling stuck.
But the solution is a lot easier than you think. And that is just changing the order. Whenever you get paid, just save a little bit first.
So, for example, if you get paid $1,000 every 2 weeks, if you have your bank automated so that it takes $100 on the day you get paid, it's like you haven't even seen that money at all. Your brain actually gets used to working with what's left over if that money is automatically put into another account. And I also recommend putting it into another account in a separate bank so that you're less likely to feel tempted to touch it.
And I love letting automation take care of this for me because it just takes the mental gymnastics out of it because if it was up to me, then I'd find a way to spend that money. And sometimes all it takes is that one simple shift to start feeling confident with your money because now you're also building up evidence and proof that you're the type of person who can save and you're the type of person who actually does it. Slowly over time once you start seeing that number grow.
And it doesn't have to be a lot. Whether it be $25, $50, $100, just do what you can. It's not about how much money, it's about the fact that you're doing it.
And the fact that you are is going to help you get out of that broke mindset. Once I finally understood this next mindset shift, it really helped supercharge my motivation in changing my habits and staying that way. And it is simply understanding the fact that if you let yourself stay stuck in your broke girl habits, it's going to stay profitable to everyone but you.
Companies spend literally trillions of dollars every year on marketing and advertising that is designed to know you better than you know yourself. They know exactly when to serve you those ads. They know exactly when to send you that email nudge of forgot something.
They know exactly what time you like to order Door Dash or when you open up Amazon scrolling in bed. So, if you keep giving in to satisfying small dopamine hits, instant gratification, and even buying into multiple sources of convenience, then I hate to tell you that you're always going to feel like you're broke and bleeding money. And this is not to say that you can't spend money on those things or that you shouldn't.
But if you are doing things like trying to build savings to get a reign in on your overspending or to even do things like pay off debt and finally stop feeling like you live paycheck to paycheck. If you keep giving in to those impulses every single time that you feel them, then all you're doing is making someone else richer instead of you. And the moment I realized that was the moment that I was able to think twice before giving in to any instant gratification, especially if I couldn't afford it.
It also stops getting you to think about a purchase in such a small narrow window of just needing to feel better in that moment and instead gets you thinking, is this purchase actually going to bring true value into my life? Is this something that I'm actually going to use or is this money that I am genuinely okay to part with because I do value this moment of convenience more? Instead of just blindly giving into every impulse and that feel-good spending in the moment, you start to think a bit more critically about it.
and you start thinking about spending your money in the context of is this bringing me value or is it just bringing them value? If you're truly serious about exiting your broke girl era and entering your rich one, then you need to start teaching yourself about money. Money isn't taught in school.
And if you're lucky, then your parents taught you something about it. But if they didn't, then guess what? You have to do it yourself.
The one thing I learned the hard way when I committed to no longer being broke was that no one was going to do it for me. But the nice thing about living in the era that we do is that things like YouTube and Google are free. Trust me, it is less scary than you think.
And there are so many people out there teaching about money that you're going to find someone that you connect with and that resonates. If you struggle with things like ADHD, then you can find creators that talk about money with ADHD. If you're really into sustainable and frugal living, there's money creators that talk about that, too.
If you still like buying clothes and nice things, but also want to build wealth, then you know, you can watch my channel. But the point is, you start somewhere, and that opens the doors for you to continue to learn about money, refine your knowledge, and refine your skills. And at the end of the day, the more knowledge you have about money, the more confident you're going to be with it.
And I do feel like a lot of broke money habits just come from a lack of confidence with money. This next point is for all of my fellow perfectionists out there, and it is to be reasonable with your money, not rational. Basically, you have to stop creating an ideal money plan that is too perfect.
Because the second that anything changes or you go over budget, you're going to self-sabotage and rebel. And I know this firsthand because I used to do this all the time. I basically just made all the categories in my budget way too low.
And that's because especially when you're motivated to make a change, you start making plans based on logic instead of emotion. When you're really fired up, you're like, "Yeah, you know, I'm going to cut out all of my coffee and I'm going to stop shopping completely and I'm just going to work out at home. " It sounds exciting.
You sound like you can really do it, but then reality sets in. You bought the one croissant and now you feel like you completely failed. So, not only is it a knock to your perfect plan and your perfect budget, but it's a huge knock to your confidence, too, because you couldn't stick to the thing that you set out to do.
And that's when you reinforce the broke girl mindset of just like, okay, see, I'm bad with money. I'm hopeless, so I'm just going to keep on spending the way I want. And I was stuck in that mindset for years before I realized that, hey, why don't I just make my money more realistic?
So, I actually started planning ahead for spending on things like coffee, for shopping, for getting my nails done because I knew I was going to spend that money anyway. When it comes to your money, no, you shouldn't act like a robot and you also shouldn't let your emotions run the show all the time. That's probably why you feel broke in the first place.
But finding some balance in between is what's really going to help you stick to your plan and find that feeling of balance within it. At the end of the day, don't commit to spending that you know you can't stick to because you won't. This next habit and mindset shift will stop you in your tracks before you buy anything and save you so much money in the long run.
And that is thinking about your money in terms of time instead of dollars. The way most of us earn money is by exchanging our time for that dollar. So when you think about spending that money that you work so hard to earn, start thinking about how many hours you had to work in order to buy that thing.
This has stopped me from buying so much crap in my day because then I have to think like, okay, I need to work like 4 hours in order to pay this off. Do I really want to exchange 4 hours of my time for this thing? Sometimes you might want to, like if it's a vacation or something that's really important to you, but other times, you're really just going to be like, uh, hell no.
The cost of that thing just doesn't become worth your time. Let me know in the comments down below some habits that are making you feel more empowered about your money. And don't forget, the first 500 people to check out the link in the description below or scan the QR code will receive a one month free trial to Skillshare.
And if you're truly serious about building good money habits, then watch this video next where I show you the best money habit you can build of all, and that is how to build a budget. I go into all the nitty-gritty details, including numbers from my own bank account. So, go watch that next.
Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next week. Bye.
