The journey to financial freedom can be confusing and lonely, especially if you don’t have people ‘in real life’ that support you. But, please know that you are not alone! I love to share what I know with you. Your questions also help me to grow as a coach and will help to shape the content that I create.
Here are a few of the topics you may want to know more about:
- My life
- Budgeting
- Travel
- Investing
- Saving
- Retirement
- Starting an Online Business
- Side hustling
- Ways to earn extra money
- Random questions…
- Whatever!
Got a burning question? Drop it below! I’ll answer your questions here. But the most common questions may be featured in an upcoming Live or recorded Q&A!
How do i start a journal for budgeting and savings
Hey Cierra! I would just start with a blank journal and start writing down the financial goals that you want to accomplish. We are much more likely to accomplish our goals if we have them written out. Also journal about your feeling about money and how you handle it.
Hi Nicole, I’m 47 and I decided I should either do an aggressive retirement plan (79% stocks, 21% fixed income, real estate and guaranteed) or a very aggressive plan (91% stocks, 9% real estate). Any thoughts on these plans and if there is a recommended time or age to switch to a more conservative portfolio? Thanks.
Hey Dorothy! They both sound like good options. It depends on a few factors like: 1). your comfort level with risk 2). if you are currently on track or behind with your retirement savings based on current age (you may want to be more aggressive if you need to catch up), and 3). the age at which you plan to retire. I like using target date funds for my retirement accounts because they will automatically rebalance the closer I get to my ideal retirement age/target date. I’m currently 38 and traditional retirement is a ways away for me. Personally I’m a bit more comfortable with risk but I am working on building up an even stronger cash reserve so that I can ride out any significant drops in the market without resorting to selling off my assets.
I’m currently shaving all expenses as much as possible to get out of debt. I want to start using a prepay wireless provider (Mint Mobile) since I will save $250 a year on my phone bill. Where can I get decent phones cheaply if something happens to this one. My husband won’t get on board until he can be assured that getting a phone for less than $150 is even possible, while I was just thinking about creating a sinking fund for a new phone every once in a while.
Thanks a good question Grace. I usually buy a fairly decent phone and use it until it dies. I’m currently using Tello Mobile and they do offer decent phones for good prices. If you’re interested check them out here: https://bit.ly/2BS4Qcv This is also a link for a review that I did of their service on my YT channel: https://youtu.be/kilYghK63Q4
Hello Nicole! Thank you for this platform! My employer is rolling out an employee stock purchase plan discounted @ $1.50/share (maximum to buy 30,000 shares). The company is looking to go public (IPO) in 2022. Should I risk joining the plan now even though the IPO hasn’t gone through? Background: as of 2018 final audit the company was @ a loss of $847k; with the parent company financially backing them up. What are your thoughts? Thank you.
Hi Jacqueline. My initial thoughts are that if you have a chance to grab some discounted stock then definitely consider it. If you believe in the company that you work for and you think they have the potential for growth then it may be a good idea. But with any stock purchase be sure that you protect yourself by diversifying your portfolio so that all of your eggs aren’t in one basket. I’m primarily an index fund investor so individual stocks make up a small percentage of my portfolio.
When will your next investing class be?
Hi Ang. The next investing class will probably be in June or July.
Do you invest in a Roth IRA? Is it managed by you or your investing company? What funds are you currently investing in?
Hi Louise. Yes, I invest my money in a Roth IRA during years that I am eligible. The account is held at a brokerage firm but I decide how I want to invest in the money within the fund. I currently invest the bulk in ETFs that track the S&P 500.
I have a question about starting a side hustle. When you began FrugalChicLife LLC did you have outside help from a coach or anything? How do you manage the money and keep track of the money coming in to your business?
Hi Latoya. At the beginning I did everything on my own, including starting the LLC. After I started making a little money I invested in a couple of online business programs and some coaching. I use an app to manage all of the business finances- expenses and revenue. I opened up a business bank account shortly after establishing the LLC.
Do you have tips on traveling on a budget? My bf and I love to travel, but we also love to save money! Tips such as saving on flights, accommodations and things like that. Thank you!!
Hi Shannon. I’m a very lazy travel planner lol. I usually just decide how much money I want to spend on travel for the year and then consider how much time I have available to actually travel. Then I try to make the money stretch as far as possible. I usually just book my trips on an online travel site like Expedia. I do some light travel hacking to get free flights but otherwise I don’t do anything fancy.
I am trying to figure out how to budget my side hustle money. The amount fluctuates and when I combine it will all my other money I tend to spend more.. should I budget it separately and if so how to decide what it will be spent on?
Hi Reba. Yes, I would probably budget for the money separately. And also have an idea of what you want to accomplish with the side hustle money even before you earn it. How you decide to spend it or save it will totally depend on your current personal financial goals. For example, if your current goal is to pay off debt, then use a portion of the side hustle money for that. If you are saving for your first home down payment then allocate the bulk of the money there.
My husband and I both just retired early. We are 62. He left a very physically demanding job, that was taking it’s toll. I left a stressful job, mainly to enjoy life since adults in my family haven’t historically lived very long. We are both drawing social security, plus, I have a pension with reasonable insurance coverage. We both have small IRAs. We have a joint investment account, no debt, no mortgage, a fully funded emergency fund, plus various sinking funds. I am still putting money in savings and sinking funds. My question is, at what point can we save less, so we can travel and just have more fun, without watching our money so closely?
Hi Cindy. Great question! But it’s only a question that you and your hubby can answer. Only you know your priorities- for example, if you plan to leave money to children/grandchildren or if you plan to leave money to charity, or spend it all. It sounds like you are very financially secure and are spending less than your current income in retirement which is awesome! The question is, will the money that you have accrued be enough to last you for years to come so that you don’t run out of money in retirement. I can’t really answer that without knowing details about your actual numbers. To be more certain you can use a retirement calculator and input all of your actual numbers. Or you can do a consultation with a financial planner who can run the numbers for you.
Greetings Nicole,
I know you said that when you are working on the snowball effect that you should start with paying off the lowest debt first. What would you suggest if the lowest debt payment if being covered by a third party? For instance, I was in an accident and my disability insurance is paying my payments. Would you recommend to move to the next debt or continue to pay on the lower one?
Hi Leona. If someone else were paying for my lowest debt I would probably just move on to the next lowest one in the snowball.
Hey Nicole!
I am in the process of paying off my remaining student loans of $30k. I am having trouble deciding if I should go back to school for a better paying job, a RN degree, now or wait til bills are paid off. It’ll only 20 months left it I go back to school.
Hey Tonesha! It totally depends on you. If you think that by delaying resuming school that there may be a chance that you won’t do it, then consider going now and pausing the debt payoff. Also be strategic about how you plan to pay for nursing school. Then, once you complete school and are earning more money, make a commitment to continue living like a student (below you means) and use the new income to pay off the debt.
Hi Nicole! I have outstanding medical debt. I had zero luck negotiating the bill with the hospital but they said that I can pay it in installments. My savings can cover the bill. Should I make monthly payments or cut my already small savings in half to pay it off? If it helps, I am employed full-time, single, no children. I look forward to hearing your opinion. Thank you!
It really depends on your comfort level with the debt and how comfortable you are with having a smaller emergency fund. If the hospital debt isn’t accruing interest it may be more comfortable to pay off the debt according to the schedule and keep the emergency fund in place.
In interested in starting an online business, but not sure where to begin. Is there a specific process I need to follow to get started?
What type of online business? Would you sell physical products or services?
Hi, I am a college student entering my last year in August. I have a problem trying to juggle everything together: work, school stuff, trying to begin a side hustle, trying to save money for the last year of school, trying to pay off debt, revitalize my health, spiritual being, etc.
My question is how should I divide everything in a way that I do not feel overwhelmed? Also, should I only focus on saving for the last year now and go into conquering debt while in school at that time? How do you time manage your time so you do not feel burned out and/or health deteriorating?
Hi Clonia. It sounds like you have a lot on your plate! My recommendation would be to prioritize and focus on one or two things at a time. Yes, it may make more sense to focus on accelerated debt pay off after you have finished school and obtain a full-time job in your field. Of course, optimize your spending now so that you don’t incur additional debt unnecessarily. It’s impossible to do everything at once.