If I said the name Gail Vaz Oxlade, would you know who I was talking about? I hope so, because in my opinion she literally changed the landscape of family budgeting. I, among many, was sad when she retired.

I remember looking forward to Thursday mornings because that was the day she released her “This and That ” FAQs on her website. I was like a kid in a candy store, I couldn’t wait for the coffee to perk so I could sit down and read that week’s instalment of questions.

This was my fun. I know I know, I’m a nerd. 🤓

BUT she made sense of money in a way that was simple and easy. It changed everything for me.

Put your money in specific envelopes for which it is meant to be spent.

Hmmmmm…sounds easy? 🧐

My current budgeting system wasn’t working so figured I had nothing to lose so why not try this?

So, I went to the dollar store and bought some cute, but cheap, jars (because envelopes are boring-HA!).

I decorated them with labels and listed each jar as follows:

👉 Groceries,

👉 Kids Sports,

👉 Kids Clothes,

👉 Movies and Entertainment

👉 Dogs (because they need treats too)

My husband thought I was nuts, and maybe I was a little, but he let me do my thing. So our very next payday I took money out of the ATM and separated it into the jars.

I told him my new money system that each pay cheque we put XX amount of dollars in each jar.  And when he’d ask if we had money for kids’ clothes all he had to do was look in the jars. The amount in it was what we had to spend.

I decided to try this new system of money management for a month to see if it had any effect on our family finances. Well, I can tell you 1 month turned into 2, then 3 and so on. I was flabbergasted, no really I was, I couldn’t believe how effective it was.

I realized looking back:

1️⃣ We hadn’t fought about money,

2️⃣ We hadn’t used a credit card in 3 months,

AND

3️⃣ I had $1000 cash to pay for my daughter to play ringette that year.

First time in her 5 years of playing the sport, I didn’t have to charge a card and worry about paying it off for the next year. Heck Ya! 👊

Since then I’ve upgraded from the jars to bank accounts, the concept is exactly the same and I still do it to this day.

The jars have been repurposed somewhere in the house, and this is the only one I have left.

It has some coins left in it, because nowadays who spends cash? 😂

Fast forward a few years. I read a book called Profit First by Mike Michalowicz.

And I realized he was touting the exact same money management system BUT for businesses.

From my own experience, I knew this worked personally but to use it for my business OMG!

Mind blowing. 🤯 I knew I had to implement it with my business finances, so I did.

And guess what?

I’ve had the same successes! I never have to think about how I’m going to pay myself, or my taxes, or my monthly business bills.

I met my mentor Lisa Campbell a couple years ago, she is the head of Profit First Professionals Canada. Our very first conversation I told her I wanted to be the next Gail Vaz Oxlade.

BUT since there can only be one Gail, I decided the only way to be as close to being Gail was to earn my Advanced Certification as a Profit First Professional.

So that’s what I did. And now I help business owners do the same thing I’ve been doing for years.

So when people ask me what I do for a living I simply tell them..

I empower business owners in the creative space to implement a money management system so simple that all they have to do is look at the dollar amount in their jars (bank accounts) before making a purchase.

Every Dollar you Earn has a Purpose! Learn it’s Purpose! Live your Dreams! JKMSTRATEGIES

 

#cashflow #moneymanagement #moneytips #profitfirst profitfirstprofessional