Being cheap can cost you a lot of time & money
I grew up in an upper middle class family. I always thought we were filthy rich. Funny thing though, my dad is ridiculously cheap. I mean like drove past 6 gas stations pushing E until we get to where he swore the gas was the cheapest and drive back to third gas station cheap. This was before gas apps. Do you how much time was wasted?
A-L-O-T!
Not to mention the gas of driving around to save pennies.
Do you remember the marketing days when companies would send discounts for leaving a particular company and joining their company? Usually cable companies or telephone companies. The catch was, you had to call your company and cancel. Daddy would switch ALL the time for a measly gift card or some savings.
Again time wasted on the phone cancelling with one company to get on the phone with the other phone to register and get your FREE gift.
The prehistoric days before the internet, just seem like time sucks.
Thank God for technology and smart people.
I probably could tell you a story every day until mid 2016 about how cheap my daddy is. He truly acted as if he had no money. And that’s the funny thing, he has money, lots of it. I mean serious #moneygoals when I look at him minus his cheapness.
When I first started in business, I fell in love with the free tools. Even now some of my faves are freemiums [Trello, Asana and Evernote]. I started out with Evernote’s free option and quickly upgraded to the premium version. I didn’t have time to wait for my storage quota to reset each month. $4.15 was holding me back. Sounds so silly, but I did not want to pay $5 (monthly fee) since the service was free. I had the $5 but I just did not want to pay.
What do you need, that you just don’t want to pay for?
In the initial assessment session, I have with my lady friends [clients], we always discuss what can push their businesses forward. Whether that be a tool or a service they need to invest in. Leadpages and Clickfunnels are amazing tools that save time & automate marketing for many entrepreneurs. Yet the monthly/yearly fee holds people back. Of course they can create the landing page in Mailchimp, but it takes more time to set up.
How much is your success worth to you?
Think about all the things that you buy and all of the things you don’t buy. Think hard. Starbucks or coffee is always an example given. If you can pay $5 for Starbucks then you should be able to pay for XYZ. You pay for Starbucks because you want to and you enjoy the benefit. Starbucks has proven to you time and time again that the latte is worth it. XYZ just hasn’t quite done it for you yet. That’s fine.
You need to create a ‘throw away money’ budget. Which simply is- at this price I’m okay if the investment does not yield me immediate results/gratification. You aren’t throwing away money, because you make amazing choices, but shifting how you view investments.
My throw away budget is usually under $100. I used to pay $20 a month to get my eyebrows waxed.
Never trust anyone with bad eyebrows.
I love a beautifully framed face with nice eyebrows. About two months ago, I went to a new guy. I never asked his rates, just hopped on the table and let him do his magic. He took his time and there was no pain involved. The room smelled sweet like vanilla and jasmine. He gave me the mirror and I was in love. My eyebrows were amazing! The usual lady did okay, but I was always correcting her work with my Anastasia of Beverly Hills Brow Whiz. Went to the register and my eyebrows were $80. I hesitated giving him my card, but I paid. I walked out like a BOSS! Yes, I spent $60 more than I typically did, but I felt amazing. My eyebrows lasted for two months versus one and I didn’t even need my daily eyebrow prep that usually took a few minutes each morning. [I told you I love eyebrows.] He leveled me up. The experience was worth the price and the results.
I’m just going to be real. If he had told me the price initially, I would not have let him do my eyebrows. The time he spent doing his speciality saved me time in the long run. That extra $60 saved me an extra 70 minutes across two months of prepping my eyebrows.
Even with a ‘throw away budget,’ watch for money leaks in your personal and business budgets. you know those things that you pay for and NEVER use or don’t even need. For many people, gym memberships are money leaks. Starbucks may be your money leak, if you never drink the whole latte.
Evaluate what you spend money on that you aren’t using.
This way you can cancel those things and use that money towards your greatness.
Chic tips to Mastery:
Set a real budget for your business.
How much money are you willing to invest each month and year?
Include tools, coaching and services into this budget. All of these things will push you towards your desired success.
How much time are you willing to invest?
Include the time in there too. If something takes me an hour and I can pay someone under $100 to complete, I will pay it. My time is valuable and so is yours.
