More Money Podcast - 102 Listener Series - How to Manage Your Money the Smart Way While Self-Employed

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello, and welcome to Episode 102 of the Mo Money Podcast. I am your host, Jessica Morehouse. Thank you for joining me for another listener series episode. Love these freaking episodes because I get to interview listeners of my podcast who want to share their personal finance journey with me and with you, and they are so freaking cool. So I am excited to interview my next guest, Christina from Toronto. Love Christina. I've actually met her in person. She came to my Millennial Money Meetup back in the fall. And she's awesome. And so I'm so glad that she hit me up to be on my show because I did a call out to get some more guests for my listener series. So also, that's a little plug.

Starting point is 00:00:50 If you're a listener and want to share your personal finance journey with me on the show, just email me at Jessica at JessicaMorehouse.com. Once again, that's Jessica at JessicaMorehouse.com, my direct line, direct email. And pitch me what your story is all about and see if we can get you on the show. It's a lot of fun. 30 minutes talking with me. How cool would that be? So anywho, we talk about Christina's story from how she kind of got into the personal finance world, started educating herself, some of the kind of triumphs she made, some of the mistakes she made, and some tips, especially my favorite tips she has for other people who are self-employed and freelancers. She's been a freelancer for almost 10 years or over 10 years, 10 years, any mahoo. And she has

Starting point is 00:01:37 a lot of advice from some of the things that she's tried and didn't work and tried and then didn't work. So I'm gonna get to that interview right now. Thank you, Christina, for joining me on the show. I'm really excited that you're finally on the show because I feel like we've been communicating through social and you came to my event. I feel like we know each other. Yeah, definitely. Thanks for having me. You are so welcome. So I'm excited for you to share your story because it's great. But I would like to start, I guess, from the point when you really started dealing with money and thinking about money, maybe making some mistakes. But I think from your story, that was kind of like once you were a student in university, this is when you're kind of like, huh, money. Okay,

Starting point is 00:02:23 what do I do with this? Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. I've worked my entire life pretty much and was never in debt, thankfully. And just kind of spent though, like when I was a little kid, I got a job and then started spending money on candy. What kind of job did you have as a little kid? Well, when I was five years old, my brother and sister who were older had a paper route. So I was allowed to do all the houses surrounding my house. Wow. That is young. Yeah, I know. Because, you know, they were working. That's true. And then my brother was very entrepreneurial. So he would sell pop at a golf course that we lived on. And then I would go help. So I kind of helped with different money endeavors when I was very young, just to make candy money, essentially. And I just kind of

Starting point is 00:03:06 kept working through, well, my entire life basically. But I was never great with saving tons of money. But I mean, I had a bank account probably at the age of like six or seven. So little bits at least. So I was never horrible with money, which was good. Yeah. So it seemed like you definitely had a firm grasp on the making of money, which for me, honestly, that didn't come until later in life. I was very, it was the savings. I never got an allowance or really earned money until I got my first job at 15. So that's interesting that you started kind of the reverse where you were making money at five, which is just sounds crazy. I bet it was like a dollar a month or something that they paid me. Still, you were earning money at five years old. And then later you're like, oh, wait,

Starting point is 00:03:53 how do I save and all the other stuff that comes with money? So what was kind of that point in your life and when did it happen that you realized, huh, I think I can't just spend everything I make. I need to figure something out. Well, sadly, it happened a lot later than it probably could have. After high school, I went on to a one-year college program and my parents were really good. They paid for my brother and sister and my schooling, at least for the tuition and books and stuff. So I took one year, and then I took about three years off before I went back for like a regular two year program, or maybe I took two years off. But in that time, I should have been working to save money. But I was just working to basically get by. And so when I went back to school, I didn't have a big cushion like I

Starting point is 00:04:41 probably should have had. So if I could go back in time, I would have done that differently. But at least I always had a grasp on the fact that you could always make money, or at least in my opinion, you always could. And so savings wasn't really a priority until basically around the time of college. And so what kind of shifted in college or how did you start kind of thinking about money differently? Well, I think when I went to college the first time, I just went for one year and didn't really think much about it. And then I got a job in retail for a couple of years and I didn't like retail. So I decided I had to go back to school for something like a career that I could do. So I picked my career and went back to school. And then I worked, I think, three or four jobs at probably at most, maybe four jobs while in college. Oh, wow. school. And then I worked, I think, three or four jobs at probably

Starting point is 00:05:25 at most maybe four jobs while in college. Oh, wow. Yeah, just because I didn't want to go into debt. So I was very debt averse. But I think it was when I was working so much that I kind of was like, wow, if I had just saved money, I wouldn't have to work this much. Maybe I should start being practical and putting money aside. And so I think it was around that time that I realized I should probably save more money. Absolutely. So what did you end up going to school for? I went to school for television production. Very cool. Very cool. So after you graduated university, did you go into that field? Did you kind of continue with your kind of new strategy of saving and earning and all that stuff? Yeah. Yeah. So it was a two-year college program. So when I was in my second year, my dad was selling his car, which was a really good car. So I decided

Starting point is 00:06:18 to buy it. I didn't have the money saved. So I took out a loan for that. So that was kind of my first ever loan. And I graduated school in, I guess, in April or May or whenever you graduate. One of those. I had the loan paid off probably. Yeah, exactly. Sometimes. And I had the loan paid off probably within two or three months. So I put a lot of money towards it just because I didn't want to have any debt. And I was making good money and I got into TV right away and got freelance. So I put a lot of money towards it just because I didn't want to have any debt. And I was making good money and I got into TV right away and got freelance. So I got freelance work right away and was making good money, which really helped. And you didn't take out any student loans? No, I actually at one point I thought because I didn't want to work quite so much.

Starting point is 00:07:01 I thought about trying to get some and it turned out that I was approved for I think it was $500 or $1,000 through OSAP. So it wasn't worth the hassle. No kidding. You're like, what am I going to do with that? Yeah. I was like, great. That pays for a little bit. So thankfully my parents were very helpful and I worked to get by and yeah. So I'm very thankful for that because I see the student loan crisis people have now and thankfully I didn't have that. Yeah. No kidding. It's kind of a blessing in disguise that you probably couldn't have gotten a loan if you want to. And it kind of made you think in a different way, like, okay, how can I go to school and, you know, without a loan? So that's, yeah, it definitely worked out in your favor, I would say. Oh, definitely. So you were able to, you know, graduate debt-free

Starting point is 00:07:44 and pay off your car loan pretty quickly and then start working in the field that you wanted and make good money. It sounds like you definitely, you know, ticked a lot of boxes and done all the right things. During that period of your life where you're kind of, you know, starting your career, and I guess at that time, were you still living at your parents' been going to school or were you living on your own already? Uh, yeah, after school, um, in school, my mom and I rented an apartment. So luckily she paid for that. And then I moved to Toronto. So I was on my own basically as soon as I graduated. So how did that kind of change things for you? Was that a big shift? It probably should have been, but it wasn't really because I was making good money in

Starting point is 00:08:27 my field and working a lot, but I also rented a place that was really affordable. So I was at least practical in what I found. So when I first moved to the city, I got a bachelor place in a basement. So it was very, very affordable at that time. Definitely. Great. So it seems like you've kind of done all the right things. I would love to know if there's anything that you had done kind of in between or leading up to, you know, this moment when you're talking to me now that you've made a couple mistakes along the way that you've learned from and you'd like other people to know about so they can learn from. Well, yeah, I've made a lot. It sounds like explaining, you know, I was making good money, I rented an affordable place, I was being smart. I thought I was. And I was putting aside like my

Starting point is 00:09:16 RRSP contribution at that time. And I was putting aside a good amount because I wanted to use it for a homebuyer plan. So in my opinion, I was like, Oh, I'm doing great. I'm putting aside some money for a down payment. I'm not going into debt. This is great. But when I look back, I was making really good money and basically blowing most of it. Like I put aside a small amount in retrospect, and I wasn't paying much. And then I look back and I was just going out like almost every night. I never cooked at home. So I was always just making or buying food. I was just buying every meal, everything, spending so much money that if I look back, I really shouldn't have been. But yeah, so that was kind of my biggest mistakes were that I thought I was doing all the right things. But

Starting point is 00:09:59 looking back, I was definitely not. Get groceries delivered across the GTA from Real Canadian Superstore with PC Express. Shop online for super prices and super savings. Try it today and get up to $75 in PC Optimum Points. Visit superstore.ca to get started. Absolutely awesome. So, you know, I know you're a fan of the podcast. Yes. Yes. And thank you so much. I would, you know, sometimes I ask people that I have on the show, whether they have any, you know, bits of advice or some tips and tricks that they've used, implemented in their life that has really helped them. And I also ask lots of my listeners these. So I would love to know a couple of things. What are some of the resources you've turned to besides my podcast that

Starting point is 00:10:51 have helped you educate yourself on personal finance more? And then what are some of the core things that you've learned that have really changed the game for your finances so you can continue to build up your net worth? Sure. So when I did buy my house or my condo, I should say, but I bought a condo just over seven years ago now. And that's kind of when I realized that I was not doing as good with money as I thought, because all of a sudden my housing expenses had gone up a lot. And so then I started to get into a bit of debt and it was never anything horrible, but I started to just realize I carried a line of credit and it always had a balance and I always

Starting point is 00:11:30 owed some money. So that's kind of when I decided that I had to get smart about my money. So that lasted probably five years of just kind of, or maybe four years just from debt and thinking I'm doing okay, but I was no longer putting money aside for retirement because I just thought I couldn't afford to. So that's kind of when I had started to, I found your podcast a couple of years ago or when it started and found your blog and I found a couple other blogs. So for me, the main thing was thanks to podcasting, I immersed myself into listening to podcasts about personal finance, which made me realize I was not doing as good as I seemed to have thought.

Starting point is 00:12:11 And reading a ton of blogs and reading a lot of personal finance books and just kind of immersed myself into it. Because even if a lot of the stuff I thought I knew, there's always something that was new information to me or that could stick. And that just helped me. But yeah, my biggest piece of advice is to pay yourself first. So simple, right? Yeah. So simple. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:12:34 Lots of people still, I mean, I guess, yeah, once you kind of immerse yourself in like personal finance books and blogs and podcasts, you'll hear that a ton. But if you don't, it's like a foreign concept to lots of people. Yeah, like I always just thought I had no money. And then all of a sudden, I opened a couple of tangerine accounts and did some savings accounts for different goals. And that money came out of my account before I could touch anything. And yeah, I didn't notice it missing. And all of a sudden, you have a savings, like savings for everything you can need. I would actually, yeah, love to know, because I don't think I've ever really asked too many listeners this. How do you manage like your budget or tracking your spending and just like kind of keeping your finances organized? Like what is your kind of personal strategy and structure for that?

Starting point is 00:13:24 Well, because I freelance, I never know my income. It varies every month. So and I'm financially speaking single. So for me, I kind of I tried every type of budgeting you can imagine. And I've tried the jars that Gail is all about. And I've basically tried everything over the years. And I think finally, what I've learned is to pay myself first. So every goal that I have, so whether it's like I have a fund for a new car, because I'm still driving the car that I bought over 10 years ago in college. So I figured eventually I'll need a new one. So yeah, I've started an account for that for traveling because I do love to travel. My emergency fund as a freelancer, I have to pay my HST and my taxes.

Starting point is 00:14:10 So I've got an account for that. So I've just started everything goes automatic now. And I live off of the rest. And I've just kind of learned to be very frugal about what I spend as well. So if I notice my accounts getting my regular everyday accounts getting lower than I would like, I just have to not spend anything. Absolutely. That's kind of how I do it. It's like, yeah, you know, kind of just a very simple way to not have to think about your money, but your money's working for you. But I am very curious because you are,

Starting point is 00:14:41 how long have you been self-employed since you finished school? Yeah. There was a time when I took a part, like I was a part-time staff at a job. So I kind of had both ends of the coin, but for the most part, because even that was three days a week and I still had to work more just to get by, obviously. So I've kind of always just been freelance with a little bit of like staff work within that time. But yeah, basically over 10 years now. And I'm always so curious for people who have been freelancers for so long. Have you found it and just compared to like, say, having kind of a regular nine to five, do you find it? It is a bit more tricky or it's a little bit more work to deal with your finances and stay on

Starting point is 00:15:25 budget. And do you kind of do the thing where, you know, you've got a cushion and you kind of pay yourself a salary so things are consistent or how does that work for you? Well, that's what I've learned now is to have all my different funds in a cushion, my emergency fund, which is very important as a freelancer, of course, but I never that's what I didn't have for years. Because originally, I was just making so much money that I never needed to worry about it. And then once I bought my home, and my expenses went up a lot, then I just thought I couldn't afford it. And so that's where now though, I've definitely gotten on track with I've like I joined a money group. group about a year ago. Yeah. And it seemed

Starting point is 00:16:07 at the time I was like, oh, I'm trying to get my finances in order. Why am I like, why would I pay for something like that? But it's kind of like the people who go to, whether it's a money coach or a financial planner, it's an expense that in the end really helps. And I found it really helped me with just sorting out my budget. And yeah, so I've kind of, again, I don't technically really call it a budget, but I've definitely used all of the stuff, the tools that I've learned to kind of keep me on track with making sure I know how much I need to have in my accounts at all times to make myself sane. Yeah, I would love to know more about this money group because that sounds amazing. Is it you and a bunch of other people that just kind of like a mastermind where you get together and talk about your money or how does that work? It's an online group done by another

Starting point is 00:16:57 podcaster money coach type person. So she has like a paid group where you pay a monthly fee. And then yeah, it's just basically, it's all women, which is, in my opinion, good as well. Yeah, because we have different money struggles than men generally. And yeah, so it just, we have a small community that we can kind of chat with when we have any issues to talk about. And then also it just, there's resources to help with various things. And yeah. What a cool idea. Yeah, I love it. Yeah. That sounds like a great way to stay accountable. And also, I mean, I think that's the main crux of like personal finance, why people don't want to necessarily talk about it or deal with it is because they feel like they're alone and no one else can relate to their situation.

Starting point is 00:17:42 And, you know, it's better just to ignore and just pretend like it doesn't happen. So that's awesome that there's things like that out there where you can, you know, get together with people, talk online, learn with each other, and motivate each other to, you know, do what I know, you know, there's plenty of groups out there like that for like, you know, fitness or kind of lifestyle stuff like that. But I think personal finance is like still kind of a new concept for kind of things like that. Yeah, there's and I mean, I love like in your group, people talk about it as well. And I've joined just so many different groups that are about money, where basically my Facebook feed now is just all money. But it keeps me always thinking about it,

Starting point is 00:18:26 which I, again, like you said, like you have to keep accountable. And some people just like to sweep it under the rug. And just, I have, you know, the people who have a lot of debt, just kind of ignore it. And I've decided that I can't be that person. So if it's always front and center in my life, I will always be conscious about what I'm doing. Absolutely. Yeah, it's really important as a single person, again, in the financial speaking world, at least. So yeah, I need to always make sure because if I go into debt, I have to find more money somehow. And as a freelancer, it's not always as easy as it sounds to pay that off. Yeah, no, I found Facebook groups have been, and yeah, similar to you, I'm probably in lots of the same groups as you because I find them so fascinating. Just I love knowing what other people are talking about money and maybe they're talking about something that I'm not aware of or something that's

Starting point is 00:19:12 trending. And it is great to kind of see my feed. A lot of it is personal finance related, so it does kind of force you to think about it. So if anyone is just like, I don't know where to start or I feel like, ah, I highly recommend joining some free personal finance Facebook groups. They're a great way to get an introduction into that world. Definitely. And then also you can ask any question. And there's tons of people that have great insight into answering. So people who don't know where to start, it's, yeah, joining a group and just asking, hey,

Starting point is 00:19:41 I have this debt. How do I pay it off? And you'll get probably 50 great answers. Exactly. Cause everyone wants to help each other. I think that's the kind of beauty of personal finance. Once, you know, no matter where you're at in your journey, once you kind of learn an element and a specific thing and you find out someone needs help with that, you almost feel like you should help them or you have to help them because you were in that situation not too long ago and now you know the answer. That's definitely how I feel because I feel like,

Starting point is 00:20:10 I mean, I've been doing this for years now, but even at the beginning when I was starting to learn and some of my friends were like, oh my gosh, I have this huge balance on my credit card, but I don't know what to do. And like, oh my gosh, let's sit down and let's talk about this together. And so, yeah, that's exciting. We're such money nerds. Exactly. I'm the person that now I'm like, anybody who wants, like, I won't just start bugging people, obviously, financial advice, but any of my friends who come to me and ask anything, I'm the resource of trying to pay it forward because all these free resources that have helped me. So now I'm constantly, you know, oh, I'll find you a free budgeting template. Go see Jessica's website, go see this website,

Starting point is 00:20:48 go see this blog, go listen to this podcast. And yeah, I'm just always trying to immerse other people in it if they're interested, of course. Absolutely. So kind of wrapping up, I would love to know, since you've kind of got a handle on your finances, have you like, what does the next like 10 years? Cause I feel like being a freelancer, sometimes it is kind of difficult to really have really long future goals. I find that dealing with my husband, Josh, um, he is very in the moment, whereas I've always been very like looking to the future. Have you kind of figured out what your strategy and what your plan is for the future for your future as a freelancer? Yeah, lately, I have been absolutely obsessed with financial freedom. And

Starting point is 00:21:26 that is my main goal. And I think it's because I do love my job, but the TV world is ever changing. And I'm worried that one day if my job ceases to exist, or even similar jobs or anything changes, I don't want to be forced into something where I'm not happy. So right now is I'm putting basically every cent I can towards some financial freedom so that I eventually and as a freelancer, retirement is all on you. And yeah, I was like I said, I kind of cut off my retirement savings goals for a while. So now I'm trying to get that back on track and pump every extra penny into it. Awesome. That's awesome. Well, thank you so much, Christina, for joining me on the show. It was a pleasure, pleasure, pleasure chatting with you. It was awesome. Thank you so much for having me.

Starting point is 00:22:14 You're welcome. And that was episode 102 with Christina from Toronto for my listener series episode. If you are a listener, which you are because you're listening right now and you have a story that you would like to share on the show, because I think it is so important for us all to share our stories because that's how we all learn from each other. We learn from each other's wins and failures. But all in all, we all learn from each other by how we all handle money. We all handle money differently. And so maybe you've been trying something that's not working and maybe someone shares, oh, I do it this way and it will work for you. Who knows? So if this sounds like something that interests you, something you

Starting point is 00:22:54 might be interested in, please just shoot me an email. Jessica at JessicaMoraz.com is my email. And let's chat, try to get you on the show. One thing that I also wanted to share in case you don't know is a little while ago, just maybe a few weeks, maybe a month, I made this kind of free e-course I call the Get Your Financial Life Right Challenge. It is a 10-day email course that basically helps you get your financial life right, which is why I titled it that. If you kind of want something to help you map out a financial plan to get your life in order, this is what you need in your life. I've gotten some awesome feedback from people who have finished the challenge and say, yes, this is what I needed. I just need a sense of direction. I need someone to tell me what to do

Starting point is 00:23:41 specifically. And that is what it is all about. So if that sounds like you want to do that, because why wouldn't you? You can either check out the show notes, jessicamoros.com slash 102. Or you can go jessicamoros.com slash financial life challenge. Do one of those and you will not be disappointed. And if you are, well, sorry. Sorry, not sorry. I don't know. Anyhows, thanks so much for listening. And I will see you back here next Wednesday for another episode for the Mo Money Podcast. This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network.

Starting point is 00:24:29 Find out more at womeninmedia.network.

More Money Podcast - 102 Listener Series - How to Manage Your Money the Smart Way While Self-Employed

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