Tackling Inflation Defensive Strategies for Financial & Business Success

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Ep. 176 Tackling Inflation Defensive Strategies for Financial & Business Success

In this episode of Your Money Your Life, I dive into the economic challenges we’re facing, focusing on inflation and what you can do to manage it effectively. We’ll explore the defensive side of finances, including budgeting, managing inconsistent income, and tracking expenses.

I’ll share practical tips on evaluating necessities, cutting discretionary spending, and smart grocery shopping. Plus, learn why it’s crucial to remove consumer debt and prioritize paying off high-interest obligations. This episode is about equipping you with strategies to confidently navigate your finances, even amidst today’s economic uncertainties. Join me for actionable insights and peace of mind!

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Resources:

Execution Lab: https://aimeecerka.com/executionlab
Work With Aimee: https://workwithaimee.com
Grocery Shopping Episode – Start Saving Money On Groceries With These 6 Simple Hacks: https://aimeecerka.com/05
The Unstoppable Experience: https://aimeecerka.com/unstoppable
Budgeting Simplified: https://aimeecerka.com/budget
Money Mastery Academy: https://aimeecerka.com/academy

Podcast Key Points

0:00 – Episode Overview
1:31 – Managing What You Can Control
4:08 – Bank Account Balance Budgeting No Longer Works
8:28 – Groceries and being prepared
11:44 – Not about being a doomsday prepper
13:54 – Evaluating your budgeting priorities
16:00 – Being Smart With What You’re Paying Off

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Understanding the Economy and Inflation

We’re back talking about the economy, inflation, and what you need to do to prepare to handle things, the parts that you can control, and how to move forward with that confidence, certainty, and peace that you’re looking for. And this part is going to be about the defense.

Introduction to Your Money Your Life Podcast

This is the Your Money Your Life Podcast. I’m your host, Aimee Cerka, a money confidence coach for female entrepreneurs on the path to six figures. After over ten years in the personal finance industry and multiple personal, financial, and medical crises, I was fed up with the lies that are being shouted from the rooftops by the gurus and the media.

Simplifying Finances with Aimee Cerka

So now I help you simplify, solidify, and scale your money. By blending tactile money strategies with mindset work, you can create unstoppable finances. Together, you’ll finally figure out the money thing so you can make more money in less time without living off of beans and rice or sacrificing your lifestyle.

Short and Sweet Episodes

The episodes here on the podcast are short and sweet. Being married, having four kids at home, homeschooling, being a CEO, running the household. I’m kind of busy, and I know you are, too. So let’s keep it simple and get to the point. Welcome. I’m so glad you’re here.

Inflation and the Things We Can Control

Welcome back to another episode of the Your Money Your Life Podcast. I’m your host, Aimee Cerka. We are talking again about inflation and the things that we can control and what we need to focus on getting your finances in order type thing when it comes to the defense.

Managing Money with the Unstoppable Finances Framework

Now, if you’re not familiar with my unstoppable finances framework, the defensive part is where we are managing our money. So, you know, this is where the budget comes in, and we’re going to talk a little bit about that here in a minute. But managing what you do have and also like credit card usage, the people that you hang out around with, association, all of those things are all the defensive aspect of your finances, and debt payoff strategy is also going to be included in there.

Basics of the US Dollar and Inflation

Thinking about what we’re going to cover specifically today. Oops, there’s minutes. Last time we talked about, you know, kind of why inflation happens a little bit about the US dollar, so that you can be aware of the really the manipulation that occurs with that, and that way you are not fearful of it.

Handling Money Emotions with Logic

Also, some things that we need to do to take care of yourself, really protecting your mindset, your mental space, and understanding that when the emotions, the fears and those things come up around money, it’s not always logical. Well, it’s not logical most of the time and some tools to handle that.

Taking Tactical Steps for Financial Defense

So then today we’re going to get tactical, right? We’re going to talk about the defensive side. What you need to be doing to make sure that you are prepared. You’re taking care of your house, you’re doing what you can to move forward with the economy that we have because you can’t just ignore it.

Facing Financial Realities

When we pretend we’re an ostrich and stick our head in the sand, which is really funny that we had that saying because ostriches really don’t do that. They just lay their head close to the ground. But hey, that’s Wild Kratts for you. Got kids who are into Wild Kratts? But when we do that and we just ignore it and pretend like it’s there or even from a, like I can’t do anything about it to change it, so I’m just gonna ignore it. That’s not entirely accurate as well.

Active Financial Management

We have to be taking the steps, the strategies and doing those things that we can to control it. But then beyond that, not letting it bother you. Okay. So the days where you can just kind of ignore everything coast by are gone. Okay.

Importance of Budgeting

With really everything that’s going on with the economy and everything that’s going to continue to go on, you have to be mindful with where you’re at. So when it comes to the defense, we’re going to start with the budgeting portion. So you have to know what you’re actually spending.

Tracking and Managing Expenses

This cannot just be bank account balance budgeting like looking to see what’s in your bank account. Okay. We can pay the bills. We’re good. Things are getting paid. We don’t need to worry about that. That does, no, that no longer works. No longer serves you. You’re not getting ahead when you’re doing that.

Implementing Tracking Systems

Okay. You have to have tracking systems in place. This does not have to be done manually. You have to have, I would recommend this system, but you have to be mindful of what you’re spending because we’re, I think we’re going to do a bonus episode on like identity theft and freezing your credit credit some of those things because that’s so prevalent right now.

Being Mindful of Spending

But you have to be mindful of what you’re spending not just from a, we don’t need to overspend but from what subscriptions are you still paying for that you’re not aware of, that you’re not utilizing anymore? What are you double paying for? What if there was fraud? Would you catch it or you’re just looking at the bank account, and we’re going to miss it.

Three Rules for a Successful Budget

So with your budget, let’s say there’s three rules that we need to follow to have a what we would deem successful budget. The first of those is, or the first rule is it has to be able to handle inconsistent income because your income is not going to be the exact same every single week. Right. Or every single month. It has to be able to handle the inconsistent income. Again, taking that stress off of you.

Scalable Budgeting Methods

The second part is it has to be able to scale with you. This is why percentage based budgeting is the solution for this type of budget because it handles the inconsistent income and it scales with you.

Systematizing Your Finances

So you don’t have to worry about how you’re going to have more money to have fun or how you’re going to have more money to save, how you’re going to have more money to take care of responsibilities as your income continues to grow. You’ve already got that taken care of. And the third one is it has to be systematized because we need less work on your plate.

Difference Between Tracking Expenses and Budgeting

Okay. So we have to be tracking our expenses. That’s like the first part. And tracking your expenses is not a budget. Tracking your expenses is done reactionary after the fact. A budget is setting the intention beforehand of where you want the money to go.

Monthly Tracking and Expense Management

So at a minimum, bear bare, bare minimum. You have to be tracking your expenses. Set the system up, do a month in process. Join us inside Execution Lab. So it’s on your calendar every month. Track what you spent, both personal side and business side.

Importance of Tracking Personal and Business Finances

Because if you are focused on the personal side and you’re really on top of the personal finances, maybe you’ve got it really dialed in. You’re not spending a lot or you’re just tracking, you know, you feel very confident in that, but you are completely ignoring the business side. That’s not going to serve you in your business. You are wasting cash flow.

Making Money and Managing Money

You’re losing it because you’re not being intentional with it. And we have to be intentional right now because there are so many things that are vying for that dollar. We’re going to talk next week about the offensive side and like increasing your income and those things as the economy shifts and what you need to be aware of there. But you have to do this part.

Skills in Financial Management

There are two different skills, making money and managing your money. But when you manage your money more efficiently, you end up that you make more. And really they go both ways. Like when you make more money, then you can manage it.

Prioritizing Financial Management

But that’s the side that we don’t always do, because if there’s enough money in the bank account, it doesn’t hurt. Right? And there are so many things calling for your attention. If you don’t make it a priority, it falls to the back burner and then we have to, or you choose to push it aside, reschedule it, whatever it might be, because it wasn’t the urgent thing.

Getting Support for Financial Management

But we have to get your finances in order. And if it’s not something that you can do, get support. Have somebody to help you do it. Team member, whatever, spouse, somebody. We have to get our finances in order.

Services and Support Available

And of course, you know, if we need, you’re ready to get support around this. We’ll put links in the show notes because we can do some of that. I do some done for you work. I also have, like, a team that would help support me as well for the done for you. But you have to be on top of it.

Managing Household and Groceries

Okay. You have to be managing your money. Another thing that you can be doing to help, making help make sure that you are prepared, taking care of your household when it comes to the defense and managing what you have would be with groceries and kitchen.

Story about Water Usage Issue

So other story, this one’s recent. So I think a couple weeks ago now it’s a Tuesday night, like 9:00 p.m. all of a sudden I get a message that says, like, don’t use your water. There is a shoot, what was it called? A foaming agent found in your water.

Dealing with Water Shortage

Like, don’t use it. Okay. Can’t use it for anything. Like, you can flush the toilet, but that’s it. Don’t wash your hands, don’t do the dishes. Of course, you know, I had a sink full of dishes that had to be done because I had been working on other things throughout the day, was getting ready to knock them out, and we got the notice that we couldn’t use our water.

Staying Prepared for Emergencies

Okay. And it was, at first it was a very big chunk of the city. And then they ended up, they narrowed it down, figured out where the actual problem was, and of course, we were still in that. So we were unable to use our water for Tuesday night to Wednesday night. 48 hours, just over 48 hours.

Importance of Food Storage

But because I have been somebody that is on top of things and prepared so we have enough food to feed. It used to be about a month or six weeks. A month, at least a couple weeks now. Like, we have enough food on hand that I can take care of my kids that they can eat.

Keeping a Backup of Food

I mean, they might not be eating the things that they would love. And obviously, we’re going to run out of fresh fruit and whatever else in that timeframe, but that is in place because definitely don’t want it to happen. But if something happened and, like, we couldn’t get to the grocery store, there was a run on the grocery store. There was. I don’t know what, but we’re taken care of.

Avoiding Panic Buying

It also solves the problem of, you know, when you have. Because essentially I keep a backup of things on hand. Okay. So like, when I’m making spaghetti noodles, we’ve got the spaghetti noodles and it goes on the shopping list again so that we have the new package, but there’s already, I don’t know, two packages of noodles in there.

Managing Household Needs

So I’ve got, like, three servings worth of spaghetti that I can make. Right. But you’re taken care of. You’re not worried about it. So when the water was not turned off, but we couldn’t use it anymore, the fact that we keep three days worth of water on hand, we weren’t part of the craziness of everybody sitting in line for hours to try and get water bottles because, you know, Walmart and everywhere else, all the stores around me ran out that night because everybody freaked out and had to go buy water. But we keep water on hand.

Benefits of Being Prepared

It’s not a crazy amount. No, but we were taken care of and it was something that I didn’t have to worry about. And again, this is just about removing the stress and the fear for you. So maybe it’s just 24 hours. Maybe it’s just a little bit.

Smart Prepping Tips

It doesn’t have to be this over the top amount. I varied on how much I have on hand over time, just when. And it’s really based off of feeling like, okay, where am I at? Where am I feeling confident that peace, that comfort that’s there. So this is not about going to, like, go stash six months worth of food somewhere.

Smart Prepping Practices

This is about just creating that confidence in yourself that. That you can take care of yourself and your family if something crazy happens tomorrow. Because, hey, we’ve had something crazy happen tomorrow, right? We’ve all been around those types of smart choices. I call it smart prepping because we’re prepared, but we’re not, like, into the world prepping.

Optimizing Grocery Shopping

Okay. Other things that you can do that would be really smart right now when it comes to groceries would be to inventory what you have, what has gotten lost to the back of the freezer and needs to be used up or lost to the back of the pantry. Google is great for figuring out what recipes you can make with those random items that you have.

Discovering New Recipes

And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done that. And then I find a recipe that like I love and ends up becoming part of my rotation. Buying in bulk, but doing this smartly. So Sam’s Club is the one that I or the bulk store that I utilize. I know a lot of people love Costco as well.

Bulk Buying Tips

So being smart with the buying in bulk, okay. Buying in bulk, things that you’ll actually use and that it’s an investment. Don’t let yourself impulse spend. We can link to the episode in the show notes that we did a while back talking about, like, shopping for groceries and some of those tactics to help make sure you’re not impulse spending in the grocery store.

Cooking from Scratch

Also buying raw ingredients and learning to cook more from scratch. I know it’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but if you haven’t tried it, there’s a couple things like you could start and you might love, you might not. But raw ingredients are going to be cheaper than processed, so that helps save money.

Long-term Investments in Kitchen Essentials

You can also invest in long term things. So maybe it’s like an air fryer or a better slow cooker, something like that, that helps you save money long run. In the long run it’s a good thing. Smart decisions to make when it comes to taking care of what you can with the inflation now.

Reducing Discretionary Spending

Okay, I’ve got two other things that I want to leave you with. This is also a good time because hopefully you’ve got that budget in place. You’re evaluating your expenses, what is still a necessity? Are there things that you have in place that are really discretionary spending? And maybe you want to cut back and be a little more intentional.

Managing Debt and Cutting Costs

We have seen with the manipulation of the US dollar and the economy that they’ve risen interest rates on credit cards and some of those varied interest rates. So maybe you want to be a little more intentional with your debt payoff plan right now and you’re going to cut some spending. This isn’t done, again out of a place of fear or lack, but it’s being intentional and making those logical decisions that evaluating this logically instead of making the emotional decision.

Support in Handling Money Emotions

Because again, we’ve talked about the emotions and if you missed that, make sure to go back and listen to last week’s episode. Because we talk about how to handle some of the emotions. And if you are looking for support, like this is what we do inside my programs when we work together. It’s understanding, doing the tactical strategy, but understanding the mindset, understanding the emotions behind it so that you can own your unstoppability.

Evaluating and Reducing Budget Costs

Okay. So evaluating the budget might need to move to discretionary spending. What might need to be cut, just being open to. Being open to ways to reduce your cost. Because if we feel like it’s just not going to happen and we have that locked mindset, we’re going to talk a lot about this next week, actually, with the offense.

Open-Mindedness Towards Lowering Expenses

But if you’re like, I just, I can’t cut costs. This is what it is. Whether it’s your electricity bill, utilities, groceries, doesn’t matter. If you’re so set and this is just the way that it has to be, you’re not going to be open to the possibility in seeing how that can happen and receive whatever that lowered expense might be.

Prioritizing High-Interest Debt

Okay, last thing that I’ll leave you with is just being smart with the obligations that you’re paying off. So if you were focused on paying off debt, which again, we should all be working to remove the consumer debt, not stressed about it, but it’s a smart strategy that we are applying. I wouldn’t be focused on paying off like a low rate mortgage or even a car loan that has a lower interest rate. I would be prioritizing some of the ones that have the varied interest rates because those are going to be the most affected.

Credit Card Debt Management

So for most of us, that is credit card debt. And making sure that you’re intentional with how you’re paying that off, okay. Doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be utilizing credit cards because of the rewards points, but there are ways to make it work for you and to maximize the benefit there and pay it off faster. Lower interest rates or not pay interest, all those things.

Wrapping Up Defensive Financial Strategies

Okay. That’s what we’ve got today. There’s a lot included in this one, and this is probably why this series was like an hour long workshop that we work through. So there are quite a few resources that we could recommend, especially with the budgeting. You know, budgeting simplified money mastery Academy has all of the foundational pieces in it.

Getting Unstoppable Financial Support

And then of course, the Unstoppable Experience is the twelve-month like immersive group mentorship program. At a minimum, though, if you’re feeling stuck, send me a message on Instagram. Let’s figure out what the next step is to get you into momentum because that stuck, stressed, frustrated feeling is the one that’s not going to serve you. And I don’t want you to stay there.

Gaining Momentum in Financial Management

I want you to see that progress, that momentum, to feel that freedom. Because a I’ve been there. Like we’ve had those things going on. I felt that pressure is just like crushing you, right? And I don’t want you to stay in there any longer. You’ve got this.

Next Week: Offensive Financial Strategies

Next week we’re going to talk about offense, making money, what you need to do to make sure that you are set up for success with the economy, the election