The One With Creep
TL;DR
You probably thought the title to this edition of the newsletter meant I was going to talk about scope creep. After all, it is a huge topic in our industry. We have to have a plan for how to handle it when a client slowly starts to ask you to do just a liiiitttle bit more than you remember agreeing to do for them.
But that is not what we’re going to talk about today.
I’ve got lifestyle creep on the brain.
I started my bookkeeping business as a SAHM and my goal was to make $10,000 per year. Catch that? Per year! I actually still have the sticky note I had put up on my wall with that goal written on it. We were hustling towards a goal of paying off our house, and I wanted to help even more than I already was (by managing the family finances).
But I surpassed that $10,000 annual goal by leaps and bounds, from actual client work and also income from my Bookkeeping Side Hustle Community activity.
And if I’m honest, our lifestyle has slowly crept upward (in $$) to where we depend on my income. Not all of my income, but definitely a good bit of it. If I stopped working tomorrow, we’d feel it big time.
Now there is nothing wrong with spending hard earned money to upgrade your life and do things that bring you joy. I’m not saying that. But I know that we’ve personally not been as intentional with our money as we were when I wasn’t working. And that is not wise.
Intentionality is the opposite of creep.
And now that I’m in the middle of moving to an entirely new state, the potential for lifestyle creep is even stronger. And unfortunately, I’m approaching it from a position of being pretty lazy about it for the last few years. I’m hoping I have it within myself to exercise wisdom and use this time of transition to reset myself back to being someone who is more intentional.
But it sure is tempting to keep increasing that price range on Zillow. Academically, I know that more square footage means more stuff. Every bit of stuff was once dollar bills.
Nicer neighborhoods mean pressure for nicer yards and nicer furniture and nicer cars and nicer schools and nicer vacations. It is just how life works. But I want to be a conscious consumer. I want to teach my kids to be conscious consumers and intentional with their money.
If we apply accounting concepts to this idea of lifestyle creep, we see this as a slow increase in fixed costs and those are a lot harder to cut than variable costs. I don’t want the amount of required revenue (our family income) to be any higher than it has to be. I certainly don’t want it to be what a neighbor might think it needs to be.
Because my business becomes not very different from a job if I can’t leave it. Or if I find myself having to do a lot of work that I don’t really want to do just to pay for the lifestyle I’ve crept into.
So this season of relocating has been a reminder that I want to be very deliberate in my choices I’m making for my family. And I want to keep MY goals and MY personal values at the forefront of our decisions and not accidentally let anyone else’s goals and values creep into my life.
I’m writing it here so I don’t forget it and for accountability. We will pay off our next house before my husband retires from the Navy in 4 years so he can feel free to hike the Appalachian Trail. We will not be a victim of unintentional lifestyle creep that doesn’t contribute to our personal goals and values!
You know, businesses are susceptible to that same kind of “business lifestyle creep”. We see it happen with our clients, spending money on things they don’t need or that aren’t going to solve their problems or “for the tax deduction”. And we are not above letting it happen to us in our businesses. We have to be intentional if we want to combat that creep, y’all!
Be sure to check out the free resource from our sponsor Ambitious Bookkeeper. Her material will help you with scope creep AND that business lifestyle creep, too. 👇
Deals Deals Deals
💰 If you live anywhere close to Austin, Atlanta, or Los Angeles, have you gotten your ticket to Xero Roadshow this summer? Remember, this community has a Buy One, Get One deal. All details here. Since I’m going to be so close to Austin, I treated myself to a ticket. I need to find someone to give my BOGO ticket to. Anyone interested?
💰 QuickBooks Connect tickets are 40% off. Also, I’ve also read the compensation package for speakers and it is gen-er-ous. My mind is churning about applying to speak. I know it is really tough to get in. I might give it a shot. Nothing to lose. You should give it a shot, too!
💰 I want to put out a reminder that the cost of joining Breakaway Advisors is increasing in September. If you aren’t familiar with Breakaway Advisors, you can learn all about it in this interview. It is a franchise model where you run your own business, but part of a larger umbrella organization. They support their franchisees in so many ways. You don’t have to be very large to be a part of it. It is a great option for people who want their own business but also don’t want that alone-ness that can come with entrepreneurship.
Please always send me any news of deals that you hear of that others might benefit from.
Be There or Be Square
Items with a “+” are hosted by me. All these events can be viewed and registered for in the DESCRIPTIONS of each event on the Bookkeeping Side Hustle Calendar.
📅 +Mondays in June: Bookkeeping Side Hustle Community QBO RECERT STUDY GROUP to pass our QBO ProAdvisor Recertification tests that are due on June 30. Join me on on Zoom Mondays at 11am EST. Zoom link (password: HUSTLE). This will replace our normal “co-working hours”. No cheating. Just accountability to get the tests completed.
📅 June 12: The Roadmap to Solid Books with Mariette Martinez will cover the main difference between bookkeeping and accounting. Register HERE. This webinar is free, but if you ever end up purchasing any of her material, you can ask me for an affiliate link, FYI.
📅 June 13-15: Value Pricing Masterclass with Mark Wickersham. Get your free ticket HERE*.
📅 +June 20: How to Work with a Bookkeeping Mentor. A panel interview with several experts who provide technical bookkeeping help when you are in over your head. RSVP for the live panel HERE. This will be a big one.
📅 June 25-28: Scaling New Heights in St. Louis, Missouri. You can actually still get tickets. Save $50 with code SNHSPECIAL50. I will be there and would love to meet you! I’m leading a session on Monday afternoon.
Featured Posts
🌶️ John C. asked about using a Mac for business - lots of thoughts on this one. Are you team Mac or not?
🌶️ Wendi T. asked how to deal with a client who is tardy in giving her payroll info and causing her to scramble.
Help You Hustle
💪 Have you watched the replay of my video about volunteering with VITA? This is a great way to get learn about taxes, serve in your local community and build your confidence.
💪 QuickBooks users: Hands down one of the most helpful things I’ve seen lately is Matthew Fulton’s activity in his Facebook Group called QB Community Live. He is answering people’s QB questions with video replies and saving them in a library. These are not softball questions, y’all. I have a lot of respect for people with online communities who have technical chops. Hat’s off to Mr. Fulton.
💪 If you are looking for another industry podcast, be sure to check out Accounting Influencers Podcast. You can start with my recent episode called How Accountants Can Grow with Video.
For Fun
😹 Anyone hide the fact they are an Excel expert? You can share this meme (and others like it) on your own socials to ring that bell that you do this kind of work.
Jobs
💼 Be sure to check out the Jobs Guide in the Facebook Group. More jobs have been added!
💼 Did you see the post about asking members NOT to post about being available for work? My advice is to keep checking out the guide and stay active in the group!
Don’t forget the standing opps on my Find A Freelance Job article. 1099 and W-2 opps.
Kate Builds In Public
🎢 I’m composing this newsletter from the lobby of the Navy Lodge that has been my home since we arrived in Texas. No shortage of tears as we left Virginia, yet thankfully all 5 of us seem to be pretty optimistic about our new life ahead in Fort Worth.
🎢 My lack of routine and nomadic life has mentally and emotionally been hard for me to manage. I’m not thriving with this uncertainty. Folks say that one benefit of a virtual bookkeeping business is supposed to be that you can do it from anywhere in the world and at any hour of the day. Yet, I am feeling quite listless and disorganized. I can’t even really manage my calendar because we don’t have a routine. I’ve basically blocked off my calendar and am starting to ask clients and prospects for their calendar/availability since I don’t feel like I can even set up Calendly app to have my availability for clients to pick from. Any other nomads have a good way of dealing with this?
🎢 I’ve had a couple of client trainings and my regular weekly office hours that I’ve done while the movers were in my house and also from the hotel room. I’ve just sort of trusted my kids (11, 9, & 9) to take care of themselves in the hotel lobby and out on the playground outside. 🙃 Thankfully the Navy base is a somewhat safe place. Overall, a super uncomfortable work environment that myself and my family are not “trained” for.
🎢 I have managed to sign one new Paid Diagnostic Review client that will hopefully turn into a clean-up client. 🙌 She was a lead I had been slightly working on prior to this time of relocation chaos. I was hoping to find a good, quick project to do next week once we are at my parent’s house because my kids have a Vacation Bible School next week.
🎢 I put the final touches on my presentation for Scaling New Heights entitled “Let’s Hit Record: Why and How to Leverage Video in You Business. It is not too late to come to the conference and join me*!
🎢 I took my QBO ProAdvisor Recertification and passed both tests with a 100% and learned a ton. I utilized the $50 resource from Margie Remmers-Davis’ Fast and Easy QBO*. I did this while the packers were in my house packing up all my stuff!
Letters To The Editor
✉️ Thank you to everyone who shared Bible verses, expereinces and encouragement about my family’s move. I appreciate this community for so many reasons, but many of them go beyond the bookkeeping.
Classifieds (Clickable)
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Keep hustling!
Kate
-Chief Hustler-
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I am down right rabid about transparency and full disclosure. If a link has a * beside it, it means it is either an affiliate link where I might receive compensation if you make a purchase, at no additional charge to you. Or it could be a tracking link that another business provided me to see how many readers click on that link.