Finally!
I’m finally starting to turn small profit from my side hustle and I can’t help but do a little jig from seeing the tiny fruits of my labor! Last year I made just enough to break even but this year I’ve been able to put a put some money aside for savings and draw a small income. But with making a bit more money in my business, comes great responsibility and I’ll be honest, I was utterly clueless on how I should be allocating my side hustle $$$ so there began my quest on how to better manage this newly acquired bounty.
I knew at the onset that I wanted to have accounts that covered my expenses, saving for a business rainy day, paying Uncle Sam and my personal payday but was lost on what percentage each account should get and Google was failing me big time! The advice was all over the place, made no sense and catered to business owners that were making BIG bucks; I’m still in the baby stage of my income folks so those tips just would not work. I was at the end of my rope when I heard another blogger talk about a book she just read detailing in her opinion a game changing way of dividing her business income. Now she’s a bigger blogger who is making those bigger blogger bucks, so I just assumed this was going to be a way of managing money that would not apply but after doing a bit of research, I was sold!
“Profits First” is method of managing side hustle $$$ that has giving me a very clear blueprint on how to divvy up my funds. I’ve linked a video that goes in to more detail of how this method works but in short you take certain percentages of your income and put that money into separate accounts BUT you pay yourself the profits your business makes first! It’s a great way of showing you how much money you need to make to achieve the type of income you want to have in your business as it turns how you look at your money upside down. It’s recommended that you have a few different accounts to keep money separate and instead of opening a ton of traditional bank accounts, I use an app called Qapital.
Qapital is an app that allows you to save for goals without having to think about it! Link your primary bank account to your Qapital app, set up an amount you want taken from your primary account in the frequency you want and save without having to think twice for that summer vacation, Christmas gifts or that pair of shoes you’ve been dying for! You can also invest money through with them, setting this savings app apart from all others out there. And what makes this app even better, you can request a debit card that links to your Qapital spending account and easily transfer the money you’ve saved in your account to directly spend from the app…mind blown!
Here is how I have my accounts set up in my Qapital account for my business and the percentage that goes into each.
Profits: I take 2 percent off the top and when I hit my goal amount, I’ll be taking a portion of this money and investing it with Qapital to help my business income grow!
For the TAX MAN: I still have a fulltime job and lucky ducky for me that offsets my tax responsibilities but I don’t want to be caught with my pants down, so I earmark 10 percent of all freelance checks to this account.
Save, save, save: Just like I save a portion of my full time income, I make it a point to save 10 percent of my freelance checks for business rainy day.
Payday Bitches: Well this account is pretty self explanatory lol! I take 30 percent of my freelance checks and put it into this account and use it for most recently repairs to my car but in the future a trip to Cuba!
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Now I’ve had my Quaptial account for about two years now but never really used it until now and I have to tell you, it’s been a huge help in helping me to seperate my business funds. Yesterday I paid for car repairs with my spending card after a quick transfer from my “Payday Bitches” account with not a single issue! I’ve recommended this account to just about everyone I know and for a limited time if you open up a Qaptial account using my referral code you’ll earn $20 and who doesn’t want $20??
That’s TWO trips to Chipotle! A weeks work of Starbucks! A pair of shoes from DSW with a good sale and coupon! A few goodies from your fave secondhand shop! Or the start to an even bigger goal! So you really have nothing to lose and everything to gain plus $20!
Drop me a line and let me know if you sign up and if you have a side hustle let me know how you manage that $$$!
XOXO,
Shanna
Photos by Sandy Swagger Jones
this post is NOT in collaboration with Qapital, I just wanted to share!