Creating a Life You Love

Oh my goodness, the sun IS OUT this morning. Soak it in, people! We get about 4 days of nice spring weather around these parts.

I was recently a guest on Raya Reaves’ City Girl Savings podcast where we discussed crafting a life you love and using money to do just that. If you haven’t heard of Raya, she is an absolute sweetheart of a human being and runs an incredibly popular and successful money coaching program. Any chance I get to collaborate with her is a real blessing.

Our discussion kept replaying in my head - how do we as people/parents/professionals create a life we love? How do you do that when money and time feel in short supply?

I have a few ideas I like to practice in my own life. Take them or leave them! How do create a life you love?

1. Give yourself grace - you can have it all, just not all at once. If you aren’t exactly where you want to be, don’t be so hard on yourself. We’re all constantly figuring it out. Be willing to try new things, to pivot, to forgive yourself when certain areas of your life aren’t perfect. The more grace you give yourself, the better you’ll feel.

2. Buy back your time and use that time wisely - Our most precious asset is not our stock portfolio or real estate, it’s the time we have on Earth with our loved ones. It’s finite and we don’t know how much or little we have left. My advice is to buy back as much time as you possibly can. For me, that’s using Instacart to order groceries and having someone clean my house twice a month. It saves me HOURS that I then use to play with my kids, write, or whatever it is that can add a bit of joy to my life. Buying back time looks a little different for everyone so write down ways in which you’d like to use money to do this!

3. You need more clarity - if you don’t know what you want your best life to look like, it is pertinent you really think about it. On the podcast I told Raya how important it is for people to take a moment to think about life if money was of absolutely no issue. How would you spend your day? What would your morning look like? Your afternoon? Your evening? Be as detailed as possible about crafting your ideal day. Now how can you move closer to this? How can you use money to move the needle? This is part of financial planning and isn’t as woo-woo fairy tale as it seems. You need clarity about what you’re working toward, otherwise you’ll just be a hamster in the wheel forever.

Okay, me and this little baby laying next to me need to get outside. We haven’t seen the sun in days and she is looking at me like “girl, I need some fresh air - and you need a shower.” She’s not wrong.

This newsletter has been growing recently! Welcome to our new subscribers! It’s cool to see folks other than my family and friends join in on the fun!! Please continue to share this newsletter if you find it useful or mildly entertaining. It pays exactly zero bills, I only do this for fun and due to my constant need for attention. Thanks for your help!

-Catie