Squirrel!

Blah Blah Blah, write your budget budget down, blah blah blah.

Have you ever seen the movie "Up"?  Doug the talking Golden Retriever is my spirit animal as I walk though trade shows or even when I'm at my local Target.  Shiny-object syndrome is a real thing and can cause groomers to overspend on tools and items they don’t need and won’t use.  How many times have you picked something up you had never heard of until that moment and now could not live without it?  

What would happen if you forced yourself to not buy that item for 24 hours, would you come back to buy it?  By creating a decision-making system ahead of time, you’ll be less likely to waste money on things you don’t need.

Take a quick look through your grooming drawers. How many clippers, scissors and extra blades did you buy over the years but have never used?  How about that hand stripping knife you bought but never got around to going to a class to learn to actually hand strip?  Do you even remember the last time you had a your hands on wire coated terrier?  How about in your personal life, how many online paid memberships do you have that you aren’t using?  That gym membership you swear at some point you'll use, after "the busy season" but when slow season comes you're too burnt out...

The first step in creating a decision making system is to understand the difference between WANT and NEED. Yes, we probably all had this talk with our parents as teens but it's different as an adult.  You will convince yourself something is a NEED because, well, you're human (mostly).  No one wants to spend their hard earned money on something frivolous and so the mind creates a need to help you make a decision... Even if it's the wrong one.  Your brain is wired for survival, when you see that donut in the bakery window your brain comes up with reasons why you would NEED it, at the same time your brain is trying to convince you that you don't want to drink water, which I need to live. A need is something that is vital to your survival, or in this case, vital to how you make money.  A want, on the other hand, is something nice to have that is useful and pretty but can probably wait.

While none of this is particularly sexy (like my budget is!) it's important to remind yourself.  When you find yourself chasing squirrels it's impossible to keep yourself on the right path!

Let me introduce Savvy Groomer's newest webinar:

How often do we look down at our bank balance to see a number less than what we thought it was?  You KNOW you had more, but where did it go? What have you been holding off on or giving up because of your money running off on you?  Savvy Groomer’s River Lee walks you through 3 secrets to figure out where your money is going and take back control to start living the life you want.

Want more? 

Enjoyed this blog?  Watch a further talk on this subject from my live show:
Grow Wealthy Grooming