How to Fix Your Broken Bank Account

Does your bank account swing up and down on a regular basis? 

Are you tired of checking your account and finding there is barely any money there?

The good news is that if you invest 15 minutes upfront and then 10 minutes a week, you can fix that broken bank account. 

How do you fix a broken bank account you ask? Be a better money manager!

Even in the best of times, it is important to be conscious of your spending, create a budget, and use your resources to give you the biggest bang for your buck. When times get tough, it is even more of a moment to step up and be more concise with your spending.

Here are simple steps to become a better money manager!  

Week 1:  Build a Budget

A simple budget seems so daunting, but it is much easier to reach your goals when you use one and they are simpler to build than most think.   

Step 1: Spend 15 minutes and start a fresh budget.  Just start thinking about all the places you spend money and create a list of the expenses and the amount, guesstimates work! It won’t be perfect at first, but you will start to remember other costs and add them to the list.  

Step 2: Create a “budget amount” next to each entry. For some entries, it will be the same amount. For some, you might try to budget to spend less money, or for things like savings, you may decide to plan to put more money aside.  

Step 3: Try it out for a week and be more aware of where you are spending your money. 

Week 2: Evaluate Your Dynamic and Static Expenses

First, it is crucial to understand the difference between dynamic and static expenses. Second, spend at least 10 minutes on this vital component in Week 2 to evaluate. 

Static expenses are those that stay the same month over month and don’t change or make your life better. These are things like rent, utilities, etc. 

Dynamic expenses are things like paying for courses, coaching, or other pieces of trainings that will directly help you make more money. Saving up and buying a new laptop might be another dynamic expense as it could give you the tools to build your side hustle. 🙂

You will want to trim static expenses by negotiating with vendors or re-evaluating if the fee still serves you. Often as you look at your spending, you will identify ways in which you can trim down. 

On dynamic expenses, it is critical to recognize that when you cut some of these expenses, it can reduce your opportunity to make more money. 

Spend 10 minutes reviewing your list and making adjustments as necessary to reach your personal goals, like a holiday fund, a vacation fund, or general savings.  

Week 3:  Be Brutally Honest About Your Spending 

Spend 10 minutes evaluating what “extras” you purchased in the last two weeks that were above the budget.

Be brutally honest and answer these questions: Were they necessary? Could you have gone with a lower cost solution? Could you have purchased less quantity? 

Week 4:  Increase Your Income

While one way to increase your bank account is to reduce spending, another way is to increase your income. How would you like to increase your account by several hundred dollars a month? How would you like to increase your account by several thousand dollars a month?

Great! Go find some people to help!!

For families, do some housesitting, dog walking, pet sitting, landscaping, or just general handy work and get paid. 

For individuals, you could become a virtual assistant, proofreader, secretary, travel planner, transcriptionist, virtual organizer, or personal stylist.

For businesses, you could be a mystery shopper, product reviewer, a social media manager, graphic designer, salesperson, affiliate marketer, ghostwriter, podcast editor, or even an online event planner.

For yourself, you could start your own business and sell online goods or services such as sell clothing, resale operator, project manager, online courses, author, coach, trainer, instructor, YouTuber, or Instagrammer.  

The point is, if you want to make more money, find more ways to help other people.

So now that you know HOW to fix your broken bank account, the real test is what action you will take to fix it. Grab an accountability partner and make this the year to increase cash flow!

Kristen David, a former trial lawyer and partner who went from working 85 hours a week and being a slave to her law firm, built it up to a million-dollar-plus business, then sold her shares and pivoted into a business coach guru. She is now an international speaker, author, and operates a successful business, empowering business owners to build thriving, profitable businesses that are self-managed with systems.