Influencer Money Talk - Budgeting, Saving Money, Investing and Building Wealth

GUEST-STARRING Mr. D

We’re back with more influencer finance talk.

In the previous episode, I enlisted Mr. D, my husband, to help walk us through influencer taxes, as well as chasing brands for payments. As I mentioned, Mr. D has worked in finance for over fifteen years and I entrust him with the financial and legal aspects of my businesses. I recently took to instagram to ask my audience what their finance related questions are and we tackle the most frequently asked inquiries in this episode. 

From budgeting to saving to investing in order to build wealth, we break down our most valuable resources, as well as some financial life lessons we learned along the way. Tap into the details below. 

Disclaimer: Please consult a tax specialist for your tax needs - we share as much as we can, but we are not tax experts!

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1. How to budget when your income is so irregular?

This will look different depending on what level of your influencing career you are at. If you're just starting out, I always recommend keeping your 9-5 job until you can comfortably replace that income (or at least 80%) with your profits from social media. 

In order to budget my own influencer and entrepreneur career, I keep a Google spreadsheet so I can keep track of all the income I have coming in and going out. Mr. D also recommends Mint.com, which allows you to link their program to your credit cards so it can automatically track and categorize my expenses. He also recommends limiting the amount of credit cards you accumulate because it can be harder to track your money.

2. Do you need a separate business card for business expenses?

It is best practice to have a separate card. When it comes to tax season, it will make your life a lot easier having all your expenses already separated from your personal spending. However, many small businesses or start-ups will use a personal card in the beginning. 

3. How to budget without feeling restricted?

The key word is ‘feeling’. If you build a strong foundation and create good habits you will have a tendency to ‘feel’ less restricted. In other words, if you find yourself needing to cut back on spending, try to create habits where you are less focused on the actual money coming in to minimize the desire to spend it. Secondly, be sure to surround yourself with the right people who share the same money mindset as you do. 

4. How can I save money as an influencer?

One way is to harness the power of your other influencer friends. If you have plans to go out to eat together, why not try pitching to your desired restaurant of choice by harnessing your collective social media prowess to secure a deal. Another example is to host clothing swaps with friends to cut down on clothing expenditures.

As always, do not be afraid to pitch! When it comes to gifting or freebies, the more you are able to put yourself out there and pitch to brands, you can find more opportunities to save money. However, in this case, you are trading off time because it is tedious to pitch and maybe even shoot content for the giftables. 

5. Does niche matter when it comes to budgeting?

Absolutely. When you are just starting out, it is important to choose a niche that you are not only interested in but it also has to be reasonable. If you want to be a luxury fashion influencer but cannot afford to purchase designer clothing on a consistent basis, this niche might be a lot harder for you to break into.

6. What should we do with our savings?

Mr. D recommends looking into opening a Roth IRA account. It is similar to a savings or investment and you do not have to pay taxes on the money you earn. Once opening a Roth IRA, Mr. D shares that you can invest directly into the S&P 500 (a representation of the top 500 companies in the US) which is great for long-term growth. There is still risk attached to this move so be sure to do a google search to educate yourself! 

7. What do we do with our savings?

Mr. D has managed to save over 90% of his after tax income by living more frugally. So what does he do with this money? He firmly believes money grows and researches stocks so he can essentially invest, sit back, and watch his profits increase over time. 

As a disclaimer, there is no such thing as “getting rich quick”. The stock market is something that takes time, knowledge, patience, and luck. There is no guarantee that you will be able to double your money overnight. 

8.  How do we allocate our money?

Mr. D puts a portion of his hard earned money into real estate, the vast majority into the stock market (20-30 stocks), a portion goes into start-ups, and 1% into crypto. As far as cash, Mr. D always keeps enough liquidity to live a year. 

The way I manage my revenue is by also keeping about a year’s worth of money in liquidity. Additionally, the majority is in stocks (mostly tech), real estate, and about 5% in crypto.  

9. What was my best investment?

In the end, my best investment was myself. When I left my job to pursue social media, no one fully supported my decision. I decided to take that chance on myself and invested my money into equipment and education. This was the best investment I ever made because I am here now. 

If you read these shownotes or listened to the full podcast, I want to congratulate you for going this far. It means you really do have an interest in harnessing the power of free social media so you can build a better future for yourself financially.

THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE

and coming along on this journey with me.

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