Episode 206: Stop Worrying About the $5 Latte with Nechelle Bartley

Most of us have financial goals that involve making more money. But what if in the pursuit of making more money, we’re focused on the wrong things? I know I definitely have been there, so in this week’s episode guest Nechelle Bartley talks about how cutting costs may be the wrong thing to focus on, money mindset and more.

If you’ve heard me talk about money, you know I’m all about the budget. And that’s not just in business, I’m the same in my personal life, and I’ve used those budgets as a way to help get what I want. But here’s the thing with my budgets — it’s a double-edged sword, as on one hand I need to know how much money I need to make and I have a clear goal. But on the flip side, I have a tendency to focus on how to save money, not spend money and cut those costs.

And I’m sure many of you can identify with channeling more energy into saving or cutting than into making more money. So a few weeks ago when Nechelle talked about this on Instagram, I knew I had to have her on the show to talk more about this.

Here’s what we discussed in this interview:

• What Nechelle does and how she makes money. 
• Why we chase saving $3 or $5 lattes, but we don’t figure out how to save $30k in interest on our mortgage or how to make $30k more a year. 
• How money mindset factors into how we make, save and manage our money in our business and life. And how our money mindset isn’t all about the woo, but really our thoughts around money. 
• Why money is neutral and we need to stop assigning it value as “good” or “bad”. 
• Ways to balance the practical need to not be ridiculously spendy with actions that move us ahead business-wise.
  

Lessons from Nechelle

1. Have a plan for your money and spending that aligns with your goals. As we discussed in the interview, I’m always more motivated to increase revenue when I have a clear goal. Without concrete goals in place, it’s easy to just float along and focus on the wrong things. 
2. Money mindset isn’t woo. It’s about thought patterns, and you don’t need to do anything fancy or have a certain crystal to make it happen. The key is understanding your beliefs around money, and changing how you think about it day in, day out. 
3. From a business point of view, making more money should really be where our energy goes. While our expenses should be well-managed and within budget, we need to not be what Nechelle calls penny wise and pound foolish. When we’re chasing pennies, we’re expending energy that could be used to make more pounds. (That said, I do love a good quarterly expense review so you’re not paying for things you don’t need!) 

Nechelle’s Bio

Nechelle Bartley is the Founder and CEO of Money Basics. As a Financial Strategist, she works with small business owners to become true CEO’s of their money.

She does this by creating financial action plans to help them to navigate all the math and money mindset drama that comes along with running a business and managing their personal finances, so they can earn the necessary profits and cash flow to fund their vision board dreams and increase their net worth.

Nechelle is a self-proclaimed cake connoisseur and believes that all money problems can be explained with a cake analogy or two while having said cake and eating it too…with champagne, of course! 

Links for this Episode

Revenue Calculator

Nechelle on IG

Nechelle’s Website