Anybody that’s been in the creative world for a few years learns quickly that talent isn’t enough.

Sure, it’s nice.

But as you get older, you see more and more talented people get passed by people who have a host of other skills. Skills that might not have been as sexy as talent, but are helping them do some pretty cool things.

It seems like in the arts, talent should reign supreme, but we all know that the people who work all the time aren’t always the most talented.

They’re the people who have managed to take all the skills they have and leverage the crap out of them.

And we can learn a ton from those people.

‘More’ sounds great, but doesn’t solve anything

“If only I could sing high notes like *fill in the name of tenor A* I would be famous.”

I spent years believing stuff like that.

I wanted more ability, more talent, more skills, and I couldn’t seem to develop the way I wanted to.

What I wasn’t doing was looking at what I could do, and really figuring out the best way to leverage that into getting more work.

I thought there was no way I would be marketable without being ‘more’.

And I’ve fallen into the same trap as a financial planner. There’s so much to learn in this new field that it can be easy to say:

“When I know as much about insurance as *fill in the name of planner B* then I’ll be able to easily find clients.”

Surely more technical skill will solve all my problems.

Except that’s all bullshit, because getting ‘more’ doesn’t help me manage what I have that's better. In fact, it can make the problem worse.

Everyone wants more money

There’s a general understanding that if we had more money things would be better.

That’s what I assumed would solve my financial issues coming out of school.

But it didn’t. When I started to make a steady paycheque, doubling what I had earned previously, my life didn’t change all that much. I ate better and I had more sweaters.
Having more money didn’t make me better at using my money. How could it? It’s a completely different thing.

That’s why this focus we have on ‘more’ is often misguided. It seems like the right thing to want, but the truth is that most of us aren’t ready to use more of anything.

I think it’s time to separate the idea of ‘having a lot of money’ with ‘succeeding with your money’

Having a ton of money or talent can make things easier… you just have more to work with, more of a cushion when things go wrong, but it’s not the same thing as success.

The task we’ve all been given is to take our resources, whether talent or money, and turn them into a life.

That’s the real skill.

And that’s the skill that you can develop and master no matter how much raw material you’ve been gifted.

And that’s the skill that can lead to success however you choose to define it.

(If you’re curious about how to start building those kind of skills, check out the HOW TO GET STARTED section of the site or sign up for an OFFICE HOURS session and we can talk it out.)

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Ah, the first week in November… let the Christmas bombardment BEGIN!

The world has already transformed into December, even though it’s not, and I’m not here to complain about it… it actually isn’t really bothering me right now.

I’m here to say that even though all the rest of Christmas can wait until December 19th (which is when I do my shopping)…. the financial planning part can’t, or at least it shouldn’t.

Fact: Christmas (or any other holiday you celebrate) is gonna cost you money

I was talking to someone this last week, and we named a new financial concept that comes into play every Christmas.

You know that feeling when you’re shopping for a gift for your best friend, and you find the perfect thing… but it’s way to expensive… and then you say: “%$^# it, it’s Christmas”… and you buy it?

It’s called the “&$%# it Principle” of financial planning.

And it’s going to happen this December for me, and it’s going to happen for you.

Christmas costs money, because it’s one of those times when there are way bigger things at play than cash.

It’s about fun and family and joy and expressing love through gifts.

But most of that costs money.

What if you could work now, and give zero $#%@s later?

I want you to have those moments.

I want you to not have to worry about money this December, but in order for that to work you’re going to have to do some planning now.

Here’s my three step program to not having to think about money (much) this Christmas:

1. Figure out how much you want to spend

For step one you’re going to need a pen, a piece of paper, and some brutal honesty. Sketch out how much you want to spend this Christmas. How much on gifts? How much on travel? How much on special drinks with friends? What about decoration? What about food?

This will only work if you try to think of everything, and be as real as possible on the cost. Don’t worry about what you can afford, focus on what you think will actually happen.

2. Figure out how much you can afford to spend

Now that you have that big ole number staring up at you, let’s work on the income side.

How are you going to find that Christmas money?

Let’s go to the ‘back of the napkin’ calculation:

Look at how much money you think you can earn this month, subtract the rent, food, and other normal expenses you need to survive in November - how much is left?

Here’s where you’ve got some problem solving. If there’s a gap between those numbers, it’s up to you to find the money this November. It’s up to you to either cut expenses, or find some extra work.

This is why you have to work on this now, because if you do this math in December, it’s going to be too late to do anything.

Look at the real numbers now, and see what you can do.

3. Buy a prepaid credit card and have yourself a Merry little Christmas

Plans don’t matter if you don’t stick to them, and so I’ve got an idea to help you stick to your Christmas ‘budget’.

What if you spend November saving as much as you could for Christmas this year. At the end of the month, that’s your budget… if it’s less than you’d like, you’ll have to make cuts… if it’s more than it’ll be a fun Christmas.

Put that amount on a prepaid credit card (you can buy them from department stores) and have that be the ONLY thing you use to spend on all Christmas related materials.

Of course you can do this with cash too, but if you’re anything like me… cash tends to disappear.

This credit card is for Christmas only, and it’ll force you to be creative with your spending without touching the money you need for rent.

And hopefully, it’ll also allow you to spend on the things that matter this December, without thinking about your bank account.

A Merry Christmas starts right…. NOW.

Want some help planning out a Christmas strategy? Sign up for OFFICE HOURS, this week on Friday!

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The general attitude around budgeting drives me a little crazy.

It seems to be viewed as the most basic building block of personal finance... which might be true... unless you equate the word 'basic' with the word 'simple'.

It's not simple.

And all the 5 minute budgeting posts and programs on the internet aren't helping (please don't search this site for them... I'm pretty sure I'm part of the problem).

But the more I work with people and help them master their cashflow... the more convinced I am that it takes a heck of a lot longer than 5 minutes.

It takes months to get into the flow.

In fact... there's a pretty standard progression that I walk people through... and I've decided to illustrate it with cute pictures of animals.

If there are three words you remember from briefly skimming this article let be these...

Curiousity. Play. Balance.

Those should be the new budgeting words. They're way better than 'judgement', 'control' and 'self-loathing'.

This is something that all you creatives shuld know well. Stuff that matters takes time, and in order to master anything you have to be willing to experiment.

So this week why not take 5 minutes and start budeting in a whole different way.... start budgeting like a cat...

... and just see what happens.

P.S. There is lots of free stuff in the TOOLS section of R2R to help with tracking, and getting started. You should check it out.

Want to start getting control of your money? How can I help?