All posts by SeattleMoneyCoach

Ready for more money and meaning in your career?

August 22, 2013UncategorizedSeattleMoneyCoach

Letter from Karen McCall on her upcoming training

Let me ask you… what does your perfect career look like?
If you could design it to be just the way you want it?

I’m asking because almost every day I talk to people who feel frustrated, unhappy, under-appreciated and underpaid in their work. Or their job is “okay,” but they feel called to something greater… something more meaningful, exciting and rewarding.

But they’re not sure what that “something” is.

Recently, I read an article in Forbes magazine that listed The Top Six Reasons People Want Out of Their Careers. I wasn’t surprised to find that the top six included a lack of balance, money, respect, and meaning, as well as the inability to acquire new skills or feel at ease.

It makes sense that people want a career that gives them:

the freedom to balance work with their family life.
the guarantee of a good income in any economy.
the opportunity to hone their skills and abilities.
the respect and appreciation of others.
the feeling of ease and joy in their work.
the joy of knowing their work has a great purpose and meaning.

What about you? Are these some of the qualities you would include in your perfect career?

I remember when I first started out as a Financial Recovery Counselor. I would come home buzzing with excitement. It felt so amazing to help people achieve breakthroughs that radically improved every aspect of their lives.

The fact that my work was in high demand and I could charge fees most professionals would envy didn’t hurt either. It was so liberating to know that, no matter what, I could always make great money and feel great about the work I was doing in the world.

Now, I get that same rush of excitement and gratitude when my counselor trainees begin to sense how profoundly they can improve people’s lives as well as their own by becoming a Financial Recovery Counselor. In a recent training class, for example, one of my trainees blurted out, “This work is changing my life!” And she hadn’t even seen her first client yet!

Starting now, I’m accepting 8 new trainees into the fall Financial Recovery Training.
This training is not for everyone. It requires a level of commitment, desire and willingness to transform your own relationship with money so you can help others do the same.

If you have a genuine desire to help others, and you crave more meaning, freedom and financial compensation from your career, I invite you to apply for the fall training. I’ve redesigned the program so it is more affordable than ever without sacrificing the depth of content, mentorship and supervision. But as I mentioned, I’ll only be accepting 8 trainees.

To give you more information, on Saturday August 24^th, at 10am, I am doing a free webinar. Jump on and listen in: “The First Step to Having the Career and Income You Want. Register here.

You can also head here and fill out this interview form, or give me a call today (415-742-4292) and we’ll set up a time to talk about whether this training is a perfect fit for you.

Warmest regards,

Karen McCallFounder, Financial Recovery Institutewww.FinancialRecovery.com

Karen@FinancialRecovery.com

(415) 742-4292

Want more help transforming your relationship to money? Check out all the eBooks, audios, and more robust products Mikelann has created. Are you ready to break free of the “money fog” and step into earning what you are worth? Are you are ready to get in touch with your emotions so you never feel out of control around money again? Are you ready to love your financial life? Let Mikelann help you get there. Free items are at the top of the page.

A simple and effective way to track your financial goals

August 22, 2013MoneyMinderSeattleMoneyCoach

As co-founder of MoneyMinder (www.moneyminderonline.com ), I could go on and on about the virtues of tracking, or being able to do a simple monthly spending plan and know I’m okay. Yes! But what about pulling back and working on goals like debt reduction? Or building more savings? What is an easy way to do that?

In MoneyMinder, there is a simple net worth tab. I say “simple” because some people get very complicated when they think about net worth. However net worth is “simply” taking everything you owe and subtracting it from everything you own, and seeing the difference.

But there is an even easier way to jump into this subject. Don’t worry about your entire net worth right now. Really!

Simply use the net worth sheet to focus on your current debt and savings goals. Or grab a blank piece of paper and do this–

At the top of a sheet, write down your savings goals: perhaps your current savings goal is to start a safety net so you know you are okay if don’t have any money coming in. (Look here for my article on creating a safety net. I call it a “Freedom Fund”. https://www.seattlemoneycoach.com/how-to-create-your-very-own-freedom-fund-yummy. ) And you want to put $100 into it each month and you want to watch it grow. So write down “Safety Net” or “Freedom Fund”. (I recommend setting up an automatic transfer to savings that is small and sustainable to get this going.) Then make a list of your current debts that you dislike- perhaps it is credit cards. Write out their names (and their interest rates next to their names if you want some great incentive.) Don’t worry right now about big things like mortgages. And you may also want to wait on thinking about student loans.

Now you have a column with savings goals on top and debt goals on the bottom. Once a month, write down their new balances.

Each month, once a month, you simply update this sheet in a new column on the right side – you write in your new savings balances and you write in your new debt balances. You’ll have columns going across your page. Check out the picture I made of what this could look like. (This picture is from MoneyMinder- the spending plan software I use with many clients.)

Seeing debt balances go down and savings go up feels sooo good. Over time you may fill in the other parts of your net worth. But for now, focus on your immediate goals. Make filling this out the first thing you do each month. You’ll immediately see if your debt balances went up, which is great for breaking denial and re-setting your intention. (Take your credit cards out of your wallet?) And you’ll feel good seeing your savings go in the right direction.

Here is a tip: put a reminder in your smart phone on the 30^th of each month- “Grab current debt and savings balances”. You can even put them in a simple note on your smart phone and when you have time, write them in your columns.

With some simple monthly updating, you can make a ton of progress on both your debt and your savings goals. It feels great!

A little anniversary gift for you- conquering underearning!

June 27, 2013MoneyMinderSeattleMoneyCoach

It’s our 6 month Anniversary! And we want to celebrate with you.

That’s right. Just 6 months ago, in January, we launched the new online MoneyMinderOnline spending plan software system. We already have over 400 users, and they are thrilled with how easy it is for them to stay conscious of and connected to their money.

Did you know that with the MoneyMinderOnline system, it only takes about 5 minutes a day to know exactly where your money is going and what you need to earn to not only cover your monthly spending but live your ideal life? And with MoneyMinderOnline, you can customize your own spending categories so they reflect what’s truly important to you.

Plus it is cloud-based, which means you can access MoneyMinderOnline from any computer, any time. Whether you are at work or home, your MoneyMinderOnline is always accessible to you!

Yes, we’re extremely pleased with how the new MoneyMinderOnline is helping so many people transform their financial reality, plan for the future and feel on top of their money… and on top of their world.

So… here’s how we want to celebrate!

Anyone who orders a MoneyMinderOnline subscription before July 31, 2013, will receive the first two chapters of Why Women Earn Less: How to Make What You’re Really Worth a book written by ME- Mikelann Valterra, MoneyMinderOnline co-founder. These two chapters will give you a greater understanding of how you may be underselling yourself and whether hidden feelings of unworthiness are sabotaging your ability to earn more.

Oh, but wait!

Before you sign up, you need to know this:

We offer a business version of MoneyMinderOnline, designed for “solopreneurs” who own and run a small business. And just like the personal MoneyMinderOnline, it is a complete, cloud-based system that is easy to use, understand and customize to fit the needs of your specific business. Now it’s easy (and even kind of fun) to stay on top of your business income and expenses, reduce or eliminate debt, prepare for tax time and plan for the future.

Whether you order a personal or business subscription to MoneyMinderOnline, you get our anniversary special gift, the first two chapters of Why Women Earn Less: How to Make What You’re Really Worth. But you must place your order before July 31st.

Thank you for your well-wishes and support during these first 6 months. We couldn’t be happier about the way MoneyMinderOnline is taking off, and we’re so excited about the months to come.

Best,
Mikelann

P.S. Do you know anyone who could benefit from either the personal or business version of MoneyMinderOnline? Please feel free to pass on this information so your friends, colleagues and family members can discover how liberating it is to stay connected to their money.

Does Money Make Your Happier? The truths from my burglary

May 30, 2013Emotional Money PathSeattleMoneyCoach

One day a few weeks ago, I turned the key in my door with my son beside me, and instantly I knew—something was wrong. (I KNEW I had thrown that deadbolt.) I walked in with my heart pounding, sensing something was amiss. I walked straight to the TV cabinet where the flat screen, Xbox and other entertainment devices lived, and yanked the door open. EMPTY. Only wires and dust greeted me. I stared and stared, and then with a jolt I ran into the kitchen where I had left my (very) old smart phone on the kitchen counter. I upgraded a couple of months ago to an IPhone, and had not taken the pictures off my old phone yet….

It was gone. With all the pictures on it.

I went into the living room and sank onto the floor- and started to cry. After a few minutes, I realized I needed to call the police and see what else was missing….

Time passes. I am okay. But what is clear to me is what I am the saddest about. It is not my stolen STUFF but my lost pictures. They captured a year of experiences- family holiday dinner parties, outings with my son, my first trip to Europe, his 13^th birthday party. So while the insurance company talked dollars, I only thought about those lost pictures.

In a recent blog I wrote about the hotly debated connection between money and happiness. At first, after this burglary, I felt there was no connection between money and happiness. I didn’t care about the expensive stolen TV. But on reflection, I realized that my experiences- some of them- cost money too. And spending money on them had given me a lot of happiness.

The truth is that there IS a connection between money and happiness, if what you spend your money on are experiences. Studies even confirm this truth. And the fact that I spent a week crying about my pictures and not the two stolen laptops and TV, cements this truth forever in my heart.

Researcher Leaf Van Boven, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder has found that we’re happier when we choose experiences over material things. It’s about doing, rather than owning. Whether it’s vacationing on the coast, taking a pottery class, learning to play the guitar or going on a hike to Mt. Rainer, “Experiences contribute to the process of self-actualization,” Van Boven reported. Part of the reason is that experiences translate into memories, while “stuff” quickly loses its luster after the thrill of the purchase. (Read more: Can Money Really Buy Happiness? – Good Housekeeping) Luckily, I do have my memories!!! But pictures help me remember.

Experiences help us become the type of people we want to become. And we enjoy reflecting on our experiences- we like making memories. It’s one reason we take pictures- to re-live the moment. We rarely take pictures of stuff we bought. (Though truth be told, my insurance company wishes I did!!) We become who we want to be and we create memories of where we’ve been and what we’ve done. And in the meantime, we are enjoying living life in the present.

For example we love to travel because it nourishes our sense of adventure, our social nature and meeting the unknown. We enjoy anticipating it- planning it. We love the actual experience. And we like to think about it and remember it when it’s over. I had a million pictures of France….

Buying a new blouse never gives us all that.

Travel costs money. Many experiences cost money. And these experiences bring us far more enjoyment than stuff. It’s really about spending money on what you value.

Of course there are many experiences that are free. As human beings, we thrive on discovering and experiencing new things. Make a list of all the experiences you can take part in that are free. From hikes to connecting with people in new ways to trying out a new hobby. This is where our happiness comes from- not stuff.

What we buy does not make us happy in the long run. It’s who we become that makes us happy.

I think I’ll go take more pictures.

Three Reasons Tracking Your Spending Will Shift Your Relationship to Money

April 30, 2013Emotional Money Path, Metaphysical Money PathSeattleMoneyCoach

Recently, I was interviewed on the psychology and brain science behind the “power of tracking”- why tracking our spending is so powerful. (Link: http://blog.credit.com/2013/04/the-power-of-tracking-your-spending/ )

Tracking is simply recording our income and outgo – it’s about taking the time to “write down” our financial transactions.

What?! Many people think that they don’t need to, since on-line banking shows their transactions, or various software programs do it automatically for them. But I strongly disagree. Here are three benefits to tracking your money yourself.

First of all, the act of tracking will often give you pause and help you think about what you’re doing. You simply become more mindful. That is a huge benefit.

Imagine that you could log in at the calorie bank and see where you “spent” your calories last week. You didn’t have to track what you ate – you could just see it. Well, most of us would not want to look. And besides, what’s the point? We already ate that cheesecake. Now it may be true that in a calm moment, we could rationally analyze the week of food we ate. But the truth is that if you record what you eat yourself, the act of recording makes you more mindful. And it often changes what you eat.

Tracking money can be just like that.

When you track your money, you become more aware of your behavior around money. And people who track their spending are simply less prone to impulse spending. They are connecting to the experience of spending.

This leads me to the second benefit. When people track their spending, they find that when they do spend money, they are more at ease with it.

In fact, people who track what they spend report being happier and calmer about money in their life. Who couldn’t use more financial happiness and calmness?

And tracking spending only takes five minutes a day. Less time than cooking or working out.

Here’s a third benefit of tracking. With the rise of “one stop shopping”, automatic tracking software (for example, mint.com or your own bank) simply cannot know what you bought at Amazon, or at Wal-Mart. You may have one purchase that is part clothes, part food and part gifts. And a part of you may want to forget about some of the items you purchased…. Tracking gives you clarity. When people don’t have clarity, they tend to feel uneasy and anxious about money. The money fog drifts in. So tracking helps you see clearly where you are really spending your money, to help you make powerful decisions about where you’d like future money to go. You simply can’t get to where you want to go financially if you don’t know where you are or where you’ve been.

My money mentor, Karen McCall, taught me the power of tracking when I went to see her about my own money issues many years ago. Karen says, “Tracking may seem like a very simple practice, but it will give you important feedback about your money behaviors as well as the chance to alter them. This is a big part of developing a healthy relationship with money.”

I have found this so true.

So I leave you with two questions that my own money mentor, asked me:

What are you afraid you will discover if you track your money?
Is it worth becoming conscious of your spending and earning in order to have a healthy relationship with money?

I decided creating a healthy relationship with money was definitely worth those five minutes a day. It’s brought me a lot of calmness and peace. And I’ve never looked back.

My 20 minute podcast for you on the fascinating brain science behind tracking your spending

April 30, 2013Metaphysical Money PathSeattleMoneyCoach

Recently, I was interviewed on the psychology and brain science behind “the power of tracking”. Believe it or not, this is a really interesting subject. It touches on psychology, consciousness, brain science, and even how our relationship to money sometimes mirrors our relationship to food. So enjoy my article below. And here is the link to that 20 minute interview- I think you’ll find it fascinating! Download link: http://gdetweiler.audioacrobat.com/download/TCR-power-of-tracking-valterra.mp3

Does More Money Mean More Happiness?

April 23, 2013Emotional Money PathSeattleMoneyCoach

We’ve all heard the heated debate – does having money make you happy? Most of us respond emphatically: No! However, if we are honest, most of us would also add a caveat – money does not bring happiness, assuming you have “enough” money to begin with.

Of course that is where it gets interesting.

How do we define “enough”?

“Enough money” is obviously very personal. But there IS a correlation between money and happiness, if someone’s basic needs are NOT being met. If you don’t have enough money to buy the food you need and pay for decent shelter and clothing, then it‘s true that having more money will indeed make you happier.

Beyond that is where it gets dicey. What is barely enough to one person is considered lavish by another, and one person’s decadence is classified as a basic necessity by someone else.

Most studies do agree, though, that once someone reaches “middle class”, more money does not yield more happiness. Currently, these studies (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2019628,00.html ) say that in the United States, satisfaction rises with income until yearly income reaches $75,000 (or perhaps as high as $120,000 depending on how expensive your area of the country is). After that, researchers have trouble proving that more money makes that much of a difference. Other factors – like the quality of your marriage and your health – become more relatively important than money.

Interestingly, women are more offended then men by the notion that money equals happiness. Why? I’ve noticed that women have a harder time connecting money to things that are really important to them. Women say they don’t need/like money, but they say they need/desire financial security and peace of mind. Women seem to be concerned that people will think they equate happiness with “stuff”. And it’s true that “stuff” costs money. But so does feeling financially secure.

So the question becomes, how much money do you need to feel secure and have peace of mind? What is this number? Because beyond that, most agree that that there are other things in life that are more important than money.

Conflicting money beliefs, anyone?

March 20, 2013UncategorizedSeattleMoneyCoach

If you’ve ever thought about your “money story”, you may have come up against some paradoxes–conflicting messages about money. And when we are confronted with paradoxes, we often react by simply doing nothing…putting our head in the sand.

The first obvious conflict many women deal with is the message from their families that they should somehow know how to handle money, without being given any training. Did your parents teach you how to plan where you wanted to spend your money? And then analyze what was happening? And then figure out creative ways to get your needs met so you didn’t feel deprived if you didn’t have enough? And they taught you about savings and debt?

I hope you had those parents, but I’ve heard countless stories of people who learned nothing beyond a few conflicting financial platitudes.

“Don’t go into debt. Here’s a credit card.”
“You better live within your means (but we won’t teach you how to budget).”
“Don’t talk about money (but make sure it doesn’t mess up your relationships).”
“The rich get richer and the poor get poorer (There’s really nothing you can do. It’s all fate. Give up.)”
“Make sure you can take care of yourself (but we won’t model how to earn your worth).”

Sometimes the opposing messages are stated and sometimes modeled. Sometimes your past messages conflict with your present life. Perhaps, for example, your parents said negative things about wealthy people, so you feel really bad about having wealth, even though you know your parents wanted good things for you.

Maybe they told you to save your money, but spent every dime that came in the door, so you never saw what savings looked like, though you know that somehow you’re supposed to be saving, so you just feel bad that you’re not.

Or maybe a parent never spent on themselves, and you feel bad when you do nice things for yourself, even though you have enough money.

When we are confronted with opposing money beliefs, we often react by cultivating an air of ambivalence around money. We work hard not to care about it and not think about it. We may even secretly feel we should be “above” money. Besides, if we do nothing, then maybe we won’t pick the wrong path.

The key is to begin to name the conflicting money beliefs. Then you can consciously move forward. As long as you are not aware of the conflict, you will likely feel unbalanced about money.

So what are your paradoxes? What conflicting messages have you inherited?

Getting to the Emotional Root of Veronica’s Overspending

February 20, 2013Emotional Money Path, Featured PostSeattleMoneyCoach

Overspending simply means spending more than you have, spending more than you intended, or spending in ways that just don’t feel right for you.

But so often, when we spend excessively, the irony is that we are often spending on surface wants and not attending to our true needs. When clients share a story of overspending, we often take the opportunity to explore it deeply and get to the root cause.

For example, “Veronica” told me the story of buying expensive rhinestone earrings. She was upset at the purchase, which she felt she could not afford. And she was perplexed. She had a well thought out spending plan for the month that included a good plan for buying clothes for a big work party, but had gone far beyond this plan with the jewelry purchase. She was staring at the discrepancy between her plan and the reality of what she spent. When we explored it, we went back to the “scene of the crime”.

“Tell me the story,” I said. “Where were you and what were the circumstances?”

She proceeded to tell me that she had left work late, after talking to her brother on the phone. She had run to Nordstrom to look at clothing, while feeling distracted over her conversation with her brother. I asked her what the surface need was. She said, “Look good for the party!”

I gently inquired about what was important about looking good for the party.

She paused. “I don’t want to feel frumpy. I want to feel attractive.”

“What’s important about feeling attractive?”

She paused thoughtfully and chewed on her lip. I asked her where she was. She replied that she was thinking about her brother. He had briefly shared with her his plans of buying a diamond necklace for his wife’s birthday. I asked my client how this made her feel.

“I don’t want to be alone. I want to have a relationship like theirs!”

As we explored more, she came to realize that she bought the expensive earrings, not to complete the party outfit, but rather to feel attractive. She kept thinking about that diamond necklace her sister-in-law was receiving, and saw that she was equating jewelry with love and relationships. She said she hoped she would feel attractive enough to date again.

As we talked about it, she came to see that the earrings had very little to do with the upcoming work party and more about her feelings on being single and wanting a partner. The truth was that she was lonely.

Karen McCall writes in her book, Financial Recovery, “I’ve observed that chronic overspending comes from a deep internal state of longing. The over-spender keeps trying to fill an emotional void by buying things.”

At first it feels great- in the moment perhaps. But if you come home and feel “not right”, like my client, chances are you were trying to fulfill a deeper, unspoken emotional need. The question is- what is this deeper need? Can you name it? That is the first step to spending your money in a more fulfilling way- spending on your true needs first, before your wants.

Veronica, after exploring this, decided to pay for a nice on-line dating site. “Who knows if it will work,” she told me laughing. “But apparently the deeper issue here isn’t about having the perfect pair of earrings. If I’m going to spend money, it might as well be on something related to what would actually fulfill me!”

Looking at spending is one of the most powerful personal growth techniques there is. Allow yourself to dive deeper and notice what your true needs really are.

Creating Your Personal Money Practice

January 29, 2013UncategorizedSeattleMoneyCoach

Many times my clients come in stressed and dazed about money. They’ve hit their frustration limit. Sometimes they feel out of control around money and sometimes they are simply tired of not knowing if they’ll have enough money- at the end of the month, or the year….

And I hear a lot of “I’m a smart woman- why can’t I figure this out?!”

After hearing their story, one thing I tell them is that they need to create a “Personal Money Practice”, and I will help them develop it. It will change their life. So are they willing to try something different?

And they vigorously shake their heads yes.

Let go of the “B” word!

Now, before you start thinking about that dreaded “B” word– budget, don’t go there! I hate budgets. They tend to sound like “diet”- and many people fear they will feel deprived. Budgeting can make you feel like you’re living on leftovers, after you’ve paid everyone else. Yuck.

A personal money practice is made up of creating a road map for getting where you want to go, and then being able to easily adjust your map as real life happens. It’s about getting your needs and wants met and taking even better care of yourself. It’s about letting go of stress. And it’s a personal growth journey.

Do you mean “practice” like “spiritual practice”?

Kind of.

Like all practices- spiritual practice (meditation), or physical practice (daily walk), a practice is simply the regular performance of some activity, undertaken for the purpose of bringing one greater harmony and peace. A practice can be five minutes a day (such as what I’m advocating you do with your money) or an hour a day, like a vigorous workout.

But all great practices are designed to walk you down a path towards a goal. How about a goal of less stress, more finance peace, more enjoyment of life now and knowing your future is secured? Wow- great goals. Are you willing to develop a new practice to move you down this path?

So why doesn’t everyone have a Personal Money Practice?

The most common reason is that people simply don’t know how. And really, who teaches us this stuff? Raise your hand if your parents taught you, in a loving and sane way, how to feel good and responsible about your finances.

For many of us, the whole notion of managing money is emotionally charged. Money IS very emotional. Why pretend otherwise? And we all have our own money story that impacts us. Often times our story comes from childhood, influencing our adult behavior around money. (For example, people raised with little money may re-create this state as an adult OR they rebel against their deprived childhood and tend to overspend. A situation may trigger them- reminding them of times long ago.) The point is that money can feel very emotional. This is normal. A personal money practice allows you to navigate these emotions.

I also often hear that people are worried about how much time it will take to handle their money. And it is true, it takes time. I won’t lie about this. Worthwhile endeavors take time and energy. However, once people get going with their PMP, they are very pleasantly surprised that they can stay on top of their financial life by putting five minutes a day into their “practice”.

Seriously. In as little as 5 minutes a day, you can take control of your money, design your financial future and put an end to your money worries …. once and for all.

Time to exit the money fog and so much more!

If you engage in a personal money practice you will exit the dreaded money fog and begin to feel in control of your life in a way you never thought possible. Practically speaking, your practice will allow you to see how much money you’ll have at the end of the month. And when “life happens”- car repairs, unexpected travel—you can easily adjust your plan.

But it’s more than this. A money practice keeps you grounded and balanced around money. Your spending triggers subside and the urge to spend to make yourself feel better (retail therapy anyone?) abates.

A personal money practice helps you see how you are taking care of yourself. It helps you get your needs met. And it means that not only are YOU okay, the woman you will be in twenty years is okay too. Wow.

Want to go deeper with this idea? Join me for a 5-week teleclass “Create a Personal Money Practice” starting January 31st. Click here for more details.