Ask Patrice – How can I improve my finances to make a career move, when I don’t make lots of money?

Now that Tax Day has come and gone you may be more focused on your finances. Enhancing your financial picture is difficult but possible if you simply change your approach to “saving.” Aside from taking on a side hustle or new job with a better salary, the best way to put more money in your pocket is not to make more but rather to reduce your expenses. Here are seven easy things that you can do to instantly shave hundreds off your monthly bills.

1. Select a more cost effective phone and Internet service provider: Years ago when I worked at AT&T I learned that customer service reps are required to tell you about ways to reduce your bill – but only if you ask. It’s still something that very few people take advantage of. Call your service provider and ask, “what is the best (i.e., most cost effective) plan based on my calling and data usage habits?”

2. Request a lower interest rate on credit card debt: Again, this is something that can be done – IF you ask. This courtesy can be extended to anyone, not only the “best customers” with perfect credit. Call your credit card company and explain that you saw another credit card with a much lower interest rate and are thinking of transferring your current balance to another company. Many financial institutions will offer you a lower rate on the spot. If they don’t, ask to speak to a supervisor in the “loyalty” department. Remember, saving even 2% off your current interest rate can translate into more than a hundred dollars over the course of the year.

3. Tap into employee or association discounts: Did you know that working for local, state, or federal government agencies (including College’s and Universities) or select private sector companies qualifies you for government and reduced rates at hotels? These rates are sometimes as much as 25% cheaper than what you can find online. You also may be eligible to receive discounted prices at stores, restaurants or transportation providers like Amtrak for being a member/alumni of a college/university, professional association, or organizations like AAA. Before booking that summer vacation, research your eligibility for discounts offers and rates.

4. Return or sell new and unused items for cash or store credit: Take those unused clothes with the tags still on back to the store. Many companies will offer you a store credit for things you don’t want or can’t use. Look into stores that will buy your items outfight or on a consignment basis (i.e., they keep 60% and you get 40% of whatever sells). Use the newly found money/credit for something you really need.

5. Swap cable for a streaming service: If you are still paying for cable tv - STOP! Changing to a service such as Sling, Hulu or Netflix can quickly save you money.

6. Change your withholdings on your W-2 income: Increasing the number of withholdings on your W-2 income can mean less of a tax return at the end of the year but more money in your pocket each month. Even if you are single with 0 dependents, you can claim multiple withholdings. Check with your HR department for more information.

7. Reduce your personal expenses: We’ve all heard of the “latte” factor – being able to save hundreds of dollars a year by cutting out daily and weekly trips to Starbucks and other expensive coffee shops. Similarly, you can cut back on entertaining – a primary contributor of long-term financial problems. Make it cool and fun to be thrifty by going “all you can eat”or bringing your lunch and eating with co-workers who are doing the same. On the weekends, invite friends over instead of the expensive night out. Do whatever you can to minimize what you spend. Encourage your friends and family to do take the savings challenge with you and together find and share creative ways to cut costs.

Financing a career change at any age or stage is doable with a little creativity and effort. Even if you are living paycheck to paycheck, everyone can make little changes to create big savings. This week stop your financial grind and start working smarter not harder when it comes to “saving” by reducing your expenses.

January 18, 2017 ASK PATRICE . . . When It Comes to Negotiating a Higher Salary, Even with Less Than 5-7 Years of Experience.

Each month we are going to feature a question from a Living on Purpose Project (LOPP) fan or follower and provide “straight no chaser” career advice from our CEO and Founder, Patrice Anderson. If you have a career-related question you’d like to ask, please comment on social media or directly email us atlivingonpurposeproject@gmail.com

“I have almost five years of experience, and less than two in my desired field. I have been offered a position at a mid-size company doing what I like but the salary is the same as my current position at a larger firm. How can I negotiate a higher salary?”

Negotiating is something I am lucky to have learned, literally from some of the best in the business. Here are secrets to asking for a higher salary and other forms of compensation. Following them will take your negotiation skills from shaky to successful in no time:

1. Wear your poker face: Letting others know what you’re thinking is the kiss of death when it comes to any negotiation. So don’t do it. Play it cool, and act as if you have MANY options and have done this before. Even if this is your first job offer in 2 years or you don’t have a clue about negotiation – act as if.

2. Six degrees of separation: Gather as much intelligence on the key players as you can. Who are the decision makers? How long have they been with the organization?
Know their successes and weaknesses, as well as who they have worked and gone to school with. Effective name dropping is effective. Create and start to cultivate a connection through shared associates and experiences. Your ultimate goal is to motivate them to believing that you are the candidate they MUST have.

3. Charm to disarm: My grandmother always told me – “you catch more bees with honey than you do with _ _ _ _.” Be pleasant and honest. People will know when you are overdoing it – so start with basic niceties like their appearance or a good point they made. Then move up to say and show the appropriate amount of deference and your respect. You can kill any deal simply by rude behavior and poor business etiquette

4. Demonstrate and prove others are being paid more: Talk in a non-threatening way about how the position you are considering is extremely similar or exact to another in the company/field/industry. A position that is paid at a higher salary. Something like “the positon you describe sounds more like (INSERT ONE LEVEL HIGHER) and detail all that you are being expected to do. Pay note to supervising even an intern. If it’s an assistant positon say it sounds like a “coordinator.” If they call it a manager say it sounds like a senior manager or director.

Your goal is to point to other people doing the same job for more money. If you need to build a better case – highlight that you know the previous person to hold that position had fewer responsibilities. And, to seal the deal offer to take on another project, area or department to clearly demonstrate the significant increase in job responsibilities – and to give them leeway to adjust the salary.

5. Highlight your negatives: After explaining your sincere interest and aptitude to do the job at hand – mention the “down side” for you. Will your commute time/expense double? Are you leaving a more well-known or prestigious brand or company? Share as they say, the “facts.”

Then remind them of what impressed them about you in the interview or prior meeting and share three (3) strong industry and/or career accomplishments. Reinforce this “negative” message with your desire to be a part of their team.

6. Ask rhetorical questions: People are more likely to be flexible and concede when they don’t feel confronted. Making your comments (and even reservations) into rhetorical questions is a great way to prevent things from going “left” (at best) or contentious (at worst).

Saying something like, “I really want the positon but I wish that there was some way I could not have the added expense of commuting?” or “The position is great but it really sounds much like an Account Executive, not a Coordinator, which I know has a much higher salary?

7. Be direct about the extras: Depending on the company, you should ask about signing bonus, performance based stock options, assistance with relocation or moving costs, and increased transportation. These pay outs may not come in lump sum, one-time payment but – money is money.

Everything in life is negotiable and everything in life requires some form of negotiation. Stop limiting your career options by lacking knowledge and experience in negotiating with people at all levels.

This week start by practicing some of these tips, reading more about the topic, and enlisting a friend to role-play the part of your future employer.

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November 23, 2016 Seven Things to Think About When It Comes to . . . The Biggest Work-Related Money Mistakes People Make

As we enter the season of spending, socializing with family and friends, and giving thanks and gifts, we often feel a huge drain on our bank accounts. However, personal finances are not the only ways that people develop money problems. This week we are looking at seven of the biggest money problems people face in their professional lives. Avoiding these common pitfalls can actually free extra cash for you to use this holiday season

1. Failing to negotiate your starting salary or a salary increase when you accept a new position or promotion: The best time to talk about increasing your salary is before you start a new job. However, many people fail to optimize this opportunity to get the extra money they deserve. Even if you’ve been unemployed for a while or are desperate to get any kind of work there are a few things that you should do before you accept the new position. 1. Brush up on your negotiating skills to secure an extra few thousand dollars. 2. Justify the increase by explaining the expenses associated with moving to a new city or increased transportation costs. 3. Explain that the longer hours/travel associated with your new gig will require you to quit your part-time job and/or give up a consulting job. 4. Prepare a great argument by doing your research, including checking out the Living on Purpose Project archives for our August 6, 2016 post on how to ask for a raise or promotion!

2. Not understanding that the only way you will ever be paid what you deserve/are worth is by working for yourself: Stop giving 110% and expecting to be paid what you’re worth. Truth is, people who have great wealth and bank accounts usually work for themselves. You might not be ready, willing or able to launch your own business, however, start exploring ways that you can also work as a paid consultant/freelancer to even out your salary deficit.

3. Trying to keeping up with the Kardashians: Don’t feel pressured to have to keep up with colleagues. Dress, hang out, and eat lunch, where you can afford to do so. Even in your professional life, find ways to live within your means such as buying a suit or dress from a high-end consignment store, bringing lunch at least three times week, and doing what you can to pay down your student loans.

4. Giving the milk away for free: Although this saying often applies to something else, it also relates to your work life. If you’re a consultant who has been asked to develop a proposal – only give a high level overview. When I first started working as a consultant, I developed a 10-page proposal that virtually gave the prospective client both the strategy and the detailed tactics to execute the project.) When I followed up a week later, I was told that, “I’m going to go in another direction and would no longer need my services.” Instantly I realized that I had given away the milk for free, and that he had never planned on hiring me. If someone asks for a comprehensive proposal or plan, charge them for it.

5. Not putting everything in writing: Whether you are working for or with a family member, or involved in a six figure venture or pro-bono project, outline your working arrangement in writing. I have seen many people of all ages and stages of their career not sign contracts or agreements, “because they were family or a close friend and I trusted them.” You can trust people but what you should trust even more is a contract or piece of paper that spells out how and when you’ll be compensated. Download a general contract from the Internet and make sure that you include major contingencies such as the client canceling the job or project. For example, I once worked on an event that the client canceled seven weeks into the project. Luckily, I had a clause in my contract that stated the client still had to pay me a certain amount per hour for all of the time I worked up until that point.

6. Lacking a clear focus about money, success, and youth: Defining success by how much money you make is a slippery slope to unhappiness. Sure you should work towards goals, but you need to first remind yourself that youth fades and there will always be someone who has/makes more money than you. Build your financial goals on talent and things that truly matter and have personal meaning. Letting a dollar figure represent your happiness or success is a sure way to fail.

7. Not knowing when to “fold ‘em:” Statistics show that regardless of industry, a majority of new businesses don’t make a profit in the first five years, and almost half go out of business in less than three years. Since almost every small business owner invests personal savings into their business, you may lose more than just your business when your venture fails. If your business is clearly sinking with no way of saving it, don’t let your pride cloud your business judgement. Filing a business bankruptcy can sometimes prevent vendors, subcontractors, and creditors from seizing your current assets.

Money doesn’t make you happy but it sure gives you better choices, and not having money can make you miserable. Be aware of how you approach and manage money not just in your personal life but when it comes to your professional affairs. This week take a look at how you can prevent making these and similar career-related money mistakes.