BE SAVVY NOT SACRIFICIAL – Principle 2

Hello,

I’m Natasha Boyce, your Money Savvy Sista, helping you have more Fun and Freedom with your Finances and I want to introduce the second principle of my money philosophy which is to BE SAVVY NOT SACRIFICIAL.

And what I mean by BE SAVVY NOT SACRIFICIAL is to live a life without absolutes and holding an “All or nothing” policy with your money. A healthy relationship with money includes balance. So it’s out of balance to think, “I’m on a budget so I can’t do anything.” It is not savvy to save every penny and never splurge or spend money on anything. It’s wise to budget but not savvy to hoard money.Also,I believe it’s not savvy to live for today all the time. There has to be room in your money roadmap for investing for the future.

Being savvy versus sacrificial is to look at your finances and decide what you CAN DO versus focusing on what you can’t do at every income level. I know I Prioritize family,investing, travel, and dance no matter how much money I make. When my coins were low, I traveled to see my parents on Megabus and loved getting those $1 tickets. Then I discovered travel hacking and how to use credit cards responsibly in order to get miles I use for plane tickets around the world. My savings account and 401k maybe only had a few hundred dollars in it. But I was building the habit of saving and investing what I could. Another example is my love of dance.In order to afford dance classes 10 years ago, I volunteered at the front desk in exchange for classes. Later, I would find Groupons for dance. And now I pay full price and donate to art centers because even though I’m a numbers nerd, I can’t imagine a world without dance and art.

So again I say BE SAVVY NOT SACRIFICIAL. Think of all the creative ways you can use your money and create the life that you want, no matter how much money you have. And I’m Natasha Boyce, your Money Savvy Sista, helping you have more fun and freedom with your finances.