Unlock your Financial Freedom 💸
Move from chaos to control
“Financial freedom is empowering.
It allows you to be yourself and live life on your own terms.”
- Sophia Amoruso
W: Welcome Story
A year ago, best friends Lucy and Sarah moved to New York City for their new jobs. They stayed together and earned the same salary.
Lucy is a practical woman. She was careful about her money and made sure she managed it consciously. She used an app to track her spending, saved for a rainy day, and indulged in experiences she truly valued.
Sarah, on the other hand, was carefree, living life as it came, never bothering about her expenses. She bought designer shoes she didn’t need, dined at expensive restaurants daily, and never saved a dime.
Soon, a music festival both dreamed of attending announced a surprise, expensive tour in New York.
Thanks to her smart money management, Lucy had the money set aside for situations like these. She bought the tickets without a second thought, still maintaining her financial stability.
Meanwhile, Sarah scrambled to gather the funds, ultimately missing out on the experience. (Ah, it was sad to see her disappointed. It was a dream for her, after all.)
Both lived under the same circumstances, but what made Lucy experience the concert and Sarah miss out on it?
Budgeting.
E: Education
The roadmap to your financial freedom: Budgeting
It all starts here. Budgeting is the first step you take on your way to financial independence. It is the road to awareness of your status, goals, and spending patterns.
“Only when you are aware of your actions with money,
you will get a direction to execute plans.”
Budgeting primarily involves creating a plan that outlines how much you earn and how you will spend it. It allows you to take control of your money, prioritize your expenses, and make conscious spending (and of course, saving) decisions.
How to create a budget that fits your lifestyle?
Understand your cash flow
In other words, list down all your sources of income. It includes your monthly salary, freelance gigs, passive income, etc.If your income fluctuates because you earn in commissions or run a business, then make an average of the last 3-6 months’ income.
What are your monthly expenses?
Grab a cup of chai and take a closer look at where your money is going.
Categorize your expenses into fixed (rent, loan payments, insurance premiums) and variable (electricity/water, repairs, eating out.)You can even go a step further and categorize variable expenses into needs vs. wants. This will help you identify areas where you can cut back and save.
Compare Income and Expenses
Of course, your income has to be greater than your expenses to have a budget surplus. The surplus (money left after meeting requirements) indicates how much you can afford to save for a vacation, car, education, retirement, etc.Set Goals
Dreams make life exciting!
Be it buying your own home, travelling the world, or starting a business, set specific and achievable financial goals. Break them down into smaller milestones and allocate funds in your budget.
But But…
Before you work on your goals, begin savings with an Emergency Fund. We know it feels unnecessary, but you will appreciate your decision if the need arises.
The thumb rule is 3-6 months of emergency funds will do the job. If you want to have an emergency fund for three months,
Emergency Fund = (Monthly Income) x 3Make a plan and Stick to it
Once everything is set, plan how much you want to save and invest; and on what.Even more importantly:
It is easier to think, “Oh, let me go a little overboard with my budget this time.” But it’s hard to stick to the budget you have planned.
Making a plan is just the first step. The real deal is sticking to it.
A: Actionable Steps
Three little hacks to ace your budgeting game:
Embrace the 50/30/20 Rule
If budgeting gets overwhelming, you can go by the book and keep things simple:
50% of your income to essentials
30% to discretionary spending
20% to savings and investments
Understand the WHY
It is easier to allocate funds when you know why you’re saving or investing.
Let’s say you plan to buy a house or car in a year, you will have more clarity on how much to manage your budget vs. saving for the sake of saving.
Reflect and Review midway
Instead of reflecting on your budget every month, you can do it midway to check if you’re on track. If you’re moving on a tangent, you will still have half the month to correct your money management.
Plus, it is wise to review your budget every month to check if it is still relevant to your goals.
A little about Moolah
Moolah is a financial literacy and empowerment platform specially designed for women. We make finance simple, fun, and jargon-free so women can gently get introduced to the world of finance and start taking charge of their finances from a position of knowledge.
Moolah’s Flagship Program is a three-month Finance Essentials Course that delivers bite-sized content over WhatsApp and has 16 hours of Live interaction with Financial Coach, Meeta Gupta.
Moolah also curates customized content on financial literacy for corporates, institutions, and forums.
To know more about Moolah’s various activities, check out this brochure:
L: Learning
Podcasts
Our Founder and Financial Life Coach, Meeta Gupta, speaks about:
Who is budgeting for?
Why don’t we budget?
How to go about it?
How to effectively save money?
Listen to the 15-minute podcast here 👇
Moolah’s Course on Budgeting
If you want to take a more comprehensive course on budgeting, where you can systematically learn methods and techniques of budgeting, we got the right fit for you!
Moolah’s Masterclass on Budgeting takes you from having no knowledge about it to being able to prepare your own budget.
Trending news across the globe
Here are a couple of articles that present recent developments in women’s economic status!
T: Thought Leadership
“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”
- Warren Buffett
Buffett, one of the most successful investors in the world, highlights the distinction between the price of an investment and its intrinsic value.
He advises investors to focus on the underlying value of an asset rather than its short-term price fluctuations.
H: Happenings
Here are a few upcoming events from Moolah:
For all our newsletter readers:
Monthly Q&A session: Meeta answers all your finance questions on the third Friday of every month. Use this link to join the session and get your queries cleared!
Venue: Zoom
Date: 16th June 2023, 6:30-7:30 pm ISTMoolah Webinar: We invited Dr. Rakshit Tandon, a National Cyber Security Expert, to share his views on cyber security’s role and importance in the digital age.
Register for the Free webinar here.
Venue: Zoom
Date: 18th June 2023, 6:30-7:30 pm IST
Exclusive for our tribe members:
We are hosting a Moolah Tribe Meet in Dubai on 16th June, Friday. If you are a Tribe member and happen to be in or around Dubai, do join us for coffee and conversations!
Contact us, and we will share the venue details.
We’ll see you again in two weeks.
Until then, keep crushing your financial goals!!
