A budget is important. But it is not the MOST important thing.

If I could only recommend you do one thing in preparation for the holidays, it’s to declutter one room. Because even just a pile of stuff in the corner that you see as clutter can heighten cortisol levels that are already rising as we balance the demands of the holiday season in the middle of record inflation rates, an ongoing global pandemic, and increasingly extreme weather events, among other things. Let’s start by focusing on what we can control, and that is your immediate surroundings.it to function for you and your loved ones.

Since we can’t all expand our budgets to cover all the presents, consider who in your life has provided this type of essential support to you, your family, or others that could use extra attention this year.

Y’all, I swear, I have become such a rebel. I am questioning everything these days. I am especially questioning why we continue to celebrate the millionaire-at-25, I-built-this-business-using-just-my-phone lifestyle that is essentially just another get rich quick, pyramid scheme that requires someone (usually MANY someone’s) be at the bottom.

There is a theme I see over and over on #smallbizIG. A small business owner will share the story of when they told their friends and family that they were starting [insert online/small business], and the response was overwhelming unsupportive. People said, “that will never work”, “you should get a real job”, and “you’ll never be able to do it”. And now, their business is wildly successful, and they are living the dream others said was impossible.

As we head into the end of the month, and you are noticing that, once again, you have exceeded your grocery budget, I have a method for you to implement starting next month that will make it so much easier to know exactly how much you should be spending on each grocery trip and how to prioritize purchases to hit your goal.

One of the hardest parts of making big changes in your life, of being unequivocally who you are, is the people you leave behind in the process. Between the acquaintances that never blossomed into anything deeper or the long-term friendships that slowly burned out, there is a graveyard of relationships in our past, present, and future when we are 100% ourselves.

Don’t be afraid to give your life some constraints. A budget to work within. A space to live within. A specific, focused time to work on a project. These smaller spaces are where your absolute best lives. Constraints are your friend.

Why is my first reaction to seeing something I like to possess it? To have 24/7 access to it. Is it the thing you want to own or is it the feeling? As if owning the item now means you will hold on to the joy you felt upon encountering said item permanently? We can teach ourselves to enjoy something, comment on how beautiful or inventive it is, but not feel the urge to make it our own.

When we get used to clicking “add to cart” every time we sense something isn’t perfect, then the times when we can’t as easily buy our way out of problem result in us blaming our lack of money, when it is our lack of ingenuity that is at fault.

Budgets are like fingerprints; no two are the same.

I sit here now on the other side of debt repayment, still so glad to owe a single cent to anyone. But also recognizing that there is so much more to life than paying off debt.