Ep. 49 Creating Financial Success at Any Wage with Damari Gold
Financial success doesn’t happen when you hit a certain figure according to today’s guest expert. In fact, Damari Gold has a unique perspective on money and Personal Finances.
Damari, who states she is “not your daddy’s accountant” gets real and touches on topics from debt to money shame, and even the excuses we use with money to keep us from going after our goals.
Damari is passionate about helping small business owners, more specifically women-owned businesses, in understanding their money. As a first-generation American and an entrepreneur herself, she understands the difficulties that are faced. Money goes beyond business; that is why she is determined to help others Be Confident Money Women.
She holds a Master’s Degree in Accounting and Finance, has been a practicing tax accountant for over ten years, and owns a firm, The Gold Standard Accounting & Tax Inc in Huntington Beach, CA.
What you will learn:
- Finances can be a very difficult, vulnerable part of their life for many online entrepreneurs, especially women
- Changing the debt burden story
- Three things to do starting today to create financial freedom
- Why financial freedom can’t be somebody else’s definition.
- The calendar approach to managing your money
- Our relationship with money is a very important aspect
- The importance of understanding the root of your uncomfortable feelings about money
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Full Transcript
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Damari Gold 0:00
empowering yourself and you’re saying, You know what I’m going to put on my big girl panties. I’m gonna look at these numbers and regardless of what it is whether I like it or not. Now I see what I did. Now I know what I spent on last month. I know what I spent on this week. And now I can make adjustments in my life. The truth is that people get uncomfortable with that because they don’t want to change. And that’s just the truth. People don’t want they want to stay stuck in the in the feeling of I don’t have enough money
Loren Runion 0:36
you’re listening to the Align and expand podcast. Join your host, Loren Runyon in conversations that will inspire you to intentionally create a life you love. Hi, tamari. Welcome to the show.
Damari Gold 0:49
No, thanks for having me.
Loren Runion 0:51
I am very excited to be talking about money with you today. And I must first say and I’m probably everyone says it to you, I love that your last name is gold and you talk.
Damari Gold 1:02
Okay, I’m gonna have to, I’m gonna have to give you the so this is my artist name. A given artist name that I gave myself. Gold is my favorite color. And so then it evolved into my company, the gold standard accounting and tags. And then I was just like, You know what, it just flows Tamari gold.
Loren Runion 1:22
I love it. I kind of wondered it. I’m like, maybe not. But it’s so perfect. It’s almost like you created your own alter ego to step into it.
Damari Gold 1:32
I definitely did.
Loren Runion 1:34
I love that. Alright, so I would love for you just to introduce yourself to the audience. Tell us a little bit about who you are, what you do. And kind of I love to hear how people got into it. I know you have a little bit of a story as to why you do what you do. So if you could share that with us, I would love to hear it.
Damari Gold 1:49
Yeah, definitely, I’m gonna give you the fast rundown. So my name is Mari I am the owner of the gold standard accounting and tax. Most of my career has been spent in accounting. And probably about over now 12 years I’ve been in taxation specific. And then I started my career long ago, some of your listeners might might not remember 2008 2009 When the big crisis hit, I was in an accounting department left that and then took an internship to learn taxation. And so that’s really how my journey began. As far as my history is concerned, I am a first generation American. So definitely learning about taxation was something that was challenging. And but I appreciated it. And I think I enjoyed it because I like problem solving. And I’m really great about connecting the dots. And so I think the appeal for me is that not one scenario is ever the same zone, there’s definitely always a lot of change a lot to learn room for expansion and growth every time. So I say that I’m like a baby Yoda. Because in my industry, it’s like, you could have years I’m over 15 years, and you’re still kind of a baby. So it’s it’s been a it’s been an interesting journey. But I appreciate the work. And I love educating people. Because I myself know how difficult it is to understand taxation.
Loren Runion 3:25
Definitely. And as a lot of entrepreneurs listen to the show, and we are recording March 2, so I’m sure this is a very busy time for you dive in and total meltdown, you know, just like even thinking about my second year of going into taxes. And so I know that everyone definitely appreciates the work that you do.
Unknown Speaker 3:45
Yeah, I know. And that’s what you know, that’s what I’m so passionate about helping people in this industry in this part of their business and in their life. Because it is something that can make you feel very, you know, overwhelmed. It can, you know, bring out the hand sweats. So it’s something that a lot of people resist, you know, especially even talking about money is one of those things. And so I like to ease people into the process, just helping giving them a space where you’re not going to feel dumb, because to me, I don’t think there’s a dumb question. I just think that we’re all trying to find out more, and really educate ourselves and help us prepare for this process so that it becomes easier for us as well.
Loren Runion 4:29
Yeah, I love that you said that because in creating an an AI in an environment without judgment because I was just having conversation with my friend the other day and she’s like, you really should probably get you know, an accountant or a bookkeeper this year. I’m like that even that feels yucky to me like that feels scary. That feels like I’m giving you my diet or something. Money but I feel like you’re gonna be like okay, we’re in that’s enough courses this month. Like what are you doing over there or that’s right off?
Damari Gold 4:57
Yeah, no. Well, I you know, and you’re not alone in that I work with so many online entrepreneurs, a lot of different entrepreneurs, especially women I’m very passionate about especially women, because I know that sometimes this can be a very difficult vulnerable part of their life. There’s a lot of feelings that come up, which is can be embarrassment, right? A lot of times we feel that, oh, the person’s going to judge us like where we’re at in life based on the money value. And that’s just, it’s just not the case, at least not for us. Because I know what messy beginnings look like I was that I was part of that when I started my business or when I started doing contracted work. And this was early on in my career. I didn’t know like, Okay, what am I supposed to keep track of, you know, you guys, maybe now you now you see me as I’m the expert, or I’m the professional. But when I started out, I didn’t know this stuff. I didn’t, I was like you I didn’t know. So I had to learn and I have to, you know, make myself open to educating myself and in absorbing and understanding and doing research so that I can make myself be in a better position or understand more align myself and my money. Because the truth of the matter is that your business and the way you spend is a direct reflection of you. And in that can be daunting and embarrassing for people. Because it’s like, you see everything I say sometimes like a little funny that I’m like the guy No, for accounting. Like, everything you’re gonna show me? Yeah, like, there’s nothing that you’re gonna show me that all of a sudden, I’m gonna be like, Oh, shocker. You know? Like, I’m, like, it’s my like, I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it all. So don’t worry, like, there’s nothing that’s going to surprise me. Yes, you might need some guidance, yes, you might need adjustments. But as long as you’re open to that, then I’m always here to guide people and give them that that safe space, right. So that they do, they don’t feel judged, and they feel okay to ask the questions, they feel okay to share the information and know that it’s not going to go anywhere, it’s not going to leave anything. I’m like a human vault. Like, I don’t share your information with anybody. So you don’t have to be embarrassed. And, you know, I tell people I share this often is, I don’t own a home, I, for me, my success, or what I’ve wanted out of life was my business. And this is what I have, I owe 110,000 in student loans. Okay, I don’t know when those are gonna get paid. And maybe when I don’t know, I really don’t care. But But I tell those things to people. Because when you can make yourself vulnerable, and so that you understand that there is no judgment here, because I myself feel my own personal, what my idea of success is, is mine. And that needs to be the same for you. So I’m not going to judge you based on your credit score, how much money you make, what you spend on, I might guide you to spend a little bit better. But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to judge you for it. So. So yes, it’s time for all of us women, especially to really remove those outer layers of protection, and allow ourselves to be real about our money, our money, situation, the things that we want, and know that, you know, every time we’re gonna get better, and so as long as you keep pulling them back on that, then then you know that every time it will get better, and you won’t feel as scared or embarrassed.
Loren Runion 8:45
So we may eventually get to the topic of the show. But I have more questions just because I know so many people struggle with something that you said, and you said something about having the student loan debt and the $110,000. And I, every client I work with almost every client I work with has either some kind of student loan debt, or this, this whole that the the money that they put into their education. If they don’t continue down that path, they can’t let it go. And they can’t like it’s just as this hold on them. And they can’t expand into what they want to be because of this. Either they the debt they still have or the money that they spent, and they feel like they’re locked into that for life. I would just love your take on that or your experience even though that’s not what you’re on the show for like, oh, that takes obviously healed that for you to be like yeah, I have $110,000 with a student. You know, if you didn’t kill that, you’d be like,
Damari Gold 9:38
yeah, exactly. You because You get embarrassed. But yes, you touched on a very, very good subject there because I also deal with a lot of people that that is such a huge burden in their life. Debt is such a huge burden. I’m not going to tell you that. I don’t think about it. Sure I do but it’s not something that is stopping me from living my Life and from doing the things that I want, because here’s really the bottom line is that we can all make excuses for why we’re not doing something why we’re not living a certain way, why wouldn’t we haven’t opened our business or why we haven’t done this or taking a vacation or so on, we could all because money, because we’re so restricted on where we are in money that I owe this debt. But here’s the thing, that if that debt isn’t going to go anywhere, you’re just throwing pebbles at big problems, and you’re not doing anything about it, you’re still not living your life, but you’re not paying off the debt. Right. So at some point, you have to make a choice and say, I am choosing to understand that the debt is there, it’ll get paid when it gets paid, hey, nobody’s knocking down your door asking for the money, then it’ll get paid when it gets paid. And now you choose what you want to do with your life and how you want to live your life and what things you want to allow in your life, not focusing on the debt, you focus on the debt, that means that you’re living for the debt. That’s what you’re looking for. And therefore your mind is probably clouded with, I have all this debt I like all I can think about is this, all this is hurting me that so that cycle will continue on in your life. And you’ll you literally won’t do anything, you won’t take action in any kind of direction, because all you’re focusing in on is having that debt. And so it is definitely things that I’ve had to work on myself, and I still continue to work on it. Like I mentioned to you, I’m a first generation American. So there’s a lot of survival. There’s a lot of survival ingrained in me, right. So a lot of whatever our first experiences with money have been if our parents were always stressed out about paying debt, and so on. And chances are, you’re still behaving that same way. So there is a lot of things that we as people have to work through when it comes to debt. But to put it in a way where I know this might sound like cliche or a little bit extreme, but honestly, like, if you only had a year to live, like, would you care about your debt? Right? I mean, there is no guarantee we really literally are not guaranteed to live another day, another hour, like you’re just not. So is that going to be the last of your thoughts is your debt. Right? Not to say that not to say like, don’t worry about it, don’t pay them, of course, create a plan, stick to it, create something that is doable for you that that you know that you’re going to chip at it, stay consistent with it, because that’s another thing people fall off the consistency wagon. And this is why it creates more chaos in their mind about debt. But make a plan, stick to it stay consistent. And little by little you’ll you’ll do away with your debt. It’s gonna happen. It’s just that you just have to take the time to but understand what do you want to be doing with your life? Because literally, if you’re gone tomorrow, that’s that’s what you’ve been living for. So yeah, that’s a bit extreme. But maybe maybe that might help some people think through that.
Loren Runion 13:18
Yeah. And you kind of mentioned this, in the very beginning is is what’s behind that layer, when you don’t have that as an excuse anymore. Like what’s really hiding behind that. That why that you’re not going after the goal. So I really liked that. You mentioned that in the very beginning.
Damari Gold 13:34
Yeah, yeah, it’s true. Because a lot of us, I think, hide behind that. There’s always excuses. We always have reasons.
Loren Runion 13:40
Yeah. So you believe that we can have and create freedom at any wage? By I’m guessing, starting to create financial priorities. So how do we start doing that? And before we start talking about that, what does financial freedom mean? Does that is that different? Just like you define success is different for everyone. Do you believe that financial freedom is different for everyone?
Damari Gold 14:04
100% financial freedom, you have to define what the freedom means to you. Because you can’t it can’t be somebody else’s definition. It just can’t. Because then you’re always striving for something that is somebody else’s idea of what freedom looks like, you know, people sometimes will say like, freedom to me means that I can buy whatever I want, whenever I want. Here’s the problem with that with that mindset is that even people that are with very, very wealthy that could buy whatever they want. They don’t. I mean, maybe they can waste the money, but they know in business, especially that you have to track what you’re spending because you’re not in a bottomless pit. You’re not in like a bottomless well of money that’s just gonna keep producing. Why do you think millionaires are people that win the lottery go broke. Why do you think famous people go broke, because they’re continuously spending without really tracking without really paying attention, and allowing other people maybe to, or not listening to their accountant or just kind of allowing other people to take care of something for them without really having, you know, paying attention to it? So I think really bottom line is, what is freedom to you? What What would that look like for you? Is it a vacation? Is it spending more time with your kids? Is it living in a different place? What what would that actually look like for you? For me, I have a very in my, my characteristics, I have very deep need for autonomy. So for me, Freedom is the freedom of decisions and choices. And one day I can come into work if I want at six in the morning, or I can come in at one o’clock, chances are most of the time I’m coming in late. But I can drop off my kids in the morning, I get to, you know, go to yoga, what I want or workout when I want or, you know, have my lunch whenever I wanted, go golfing when I want. So those are the freedoms I’m choosing, but here’s the thing that I had to make a choice. It’s like, I’m choosing to do this, which the other half of that is I don’t have I don’t own home, you know, and at some point I do, but I live in California, and so most events
Damari Gold 16:28
you know, so there, it’s, it’s a sacrifice, it’s kind of like a sacrifice or a give and take, right? So it’s a give and take, but my freedom to me means more to me than actually, you know, feeling like I own a home because technically, you still pay a mortgage. So unless you buy it outright, right? So freedom to me is that is being able to make those choices, not not feeling restraint, or like I have to be at a certain place at a certain time and so on. But that’s not for everyone. Not everybody feels like they can do that, you know, some people will start a business and then they realize they don’t like it or how difficult it is and all that stuff. And they go back to working a nine to five, and that’s perfectly fine. You know, you just have to find what in that scenario works for you what in that scenario is helping you feel good about yourself? And honestly, if it is feeling the security of having a nine to five, right? It’s a security sense, right? Then that’s what it is. And that’s okay, and you can change your mind. So, so really, it’s all a matter of what is it fundamentally to you that freedom, what does that look like for you? And then the next part, right, which you asked was, how do we implement that? The number one thing that everybody? And nobody does is they nobody wants to look at their numbers. Nobody wants to pay attention to how they’re spending their money. I know I get it, it can be annoying, it could probably be frustrating, or it could create certain sense of feelings in within you. Trust me, I go through them all the time. And here’s the thing that it’s it’s kind of like, what do they say about ripping the band aid, you know, like, every time you force yourself to face the numbers, regardless of what it causes inside of you, regardless of what it makes you feel you will get you will become more strong or stronger every single time. Because you’re allowing yourself to look at the numbers for what they are, make adjustments, and then decide what you’re going to do different how you’re empowering yourself by doing it. Right? Because you try to ignore it. Are you saying I don’t want to know what it is? I don’t want to see it? Is you crippling yourself? Because then you’re kind of thinking, I don’t know if I could make this decision. I don’t know if I could, so on right, like make decisions for life. But if you’re empowering yourself and you’re saying, You know what I’m going to put on my big girl panties. I’m gonna look at these numbers and regardless of what it is whether I like it or not. Now I see what I did. Now I know what I spent on last month. I know what I spent on this week. And now I can make adjustments in my life. The truth is that people get uncomfortable with that because they don’t want to change and that’s just the truth. People don’t want they want to stay stuck in the in the feeling of I don’t have enough money. But they don’t want to take a look at how much they spent let’s say on food. Like a tidbit I can give you is. Food is one of the biggest things that we spend a lot of money on people most people do, right? So I tell people okay, if you’re the type of person that’s going to constantly eat out stop buying someone groceries, easy as that. Because chances are you’re probably wasting money on groceries and not you know not eating both places. Or if you feel like you can sacrifice paper bag it for a month. Just see how that feels. See how that feels. See how if you like it, see if you don’t see if you can stay consistent with it. You know, it’s as minor adjustments, it doesn’t have to be this whole life crisis. Like, oh my gosh, I can’t eat out. This whole week I have to eat. You know, like, I think we we ourselves work that up in our brains like, I’m so restricted I can only afford? No like, what’s the big deal? Like paper bag it if you have to or don’t and in there, you know make adjustments elsewhere.
Loren Runion 20:25
Yeah probably like just when you said that about having to paper bag it what came to mind is when someone is on a diet or something and then they mess up a day and they’re like, Oh, hi, you know, Everything’s ruined, you know? It’s really like, it’s not an all or nothing approach. It’s like, okay, well, today, I don’t get to eat out maybe Friday. View it as us you can, you can do a smaller approach to making changes with your lifestyle. So when you when someone does that, when someone is tracking their spending habits, do you suggest that they go back and like look back at bank statements? Or do you suggest they just you know, take the next two months, and they start writing everything down.
Damari Gold 21:06
So what I normally suggest is a calendar approach. This is what I did when I was younger, and I continued to do it until my adult life now I have QuickBooks. And you know, I mean, I’m very in tune with my numbers and what I’m doing but what i But fundamentally, the calendar approach is very helpful. Because if you take a look at an entire month, right, and you write in all of your bills, when things are coming out of your account, let’s say you know, on the first your rent, or mortgage or whatever, you know, what you write in all the stuff when everything’s due. If you take a look at that week, just do it week by week, you see how much money you need for bills. So now you already know you already can shave that right off the top of your paycheck, or however much money you have, and so on. And then when you start keeping track of how much above and beyond that you spent, that’s where you can make adjustments, because we all have nominate throw us some accounting terms, but we have what’s called fixed costs and variable costs, right? Our fixed costs are things that unfortunately, we really can’t change, which is our rent or home utilities or vehicle, right, things like that. Then we have our variable cost, which is all the stuff that the extracurriculars if we spend on food going out, you know, whatever, whatever people do. So supplies Amazon, we all love Amazon, target and don’t go to Target. So all the extracurriculars that we have, right? So at that point, once you’re keeping track of those extracurriculars, now you have the power to make a decision, say, Okay, last week, I went to Target way too many times. I need to, you know, kind of ease up that’s my cap, or this is, I’m good with where I spent and next week, I won’t do it, right? If we take it week by week, it takes away from this whole, like, if I told you, if I told you, Lauren, you need to save $30,000 Or let’s say I said, Lauren, you need to save $3,600 The in the year. What’s your first thought? Like? How am I going to do that? Right? Like, that’s a big number, right? You know, for people, it’s different numbers. But if I, if I already say that, did you know that if you only save $10 a day, and that’s what normally people will spend on eating out, it’s probably more now. In 365 days, you have $3,650. And guess what, it just starts by $10 a day. Easy as, right in a month you have $300. But if we can, if we can make those smaller increments smaller adjustments into our lives, and we can implement those things into our lives, you’ll see big results. You just have to focus on the smaller picture and what you’re doing day in and day out, not what’s going to happen in a year, what’s going to happen six months. This is why the same thing with debt. If you know you owe $10,000, split it up, say okay, how long do I realistically want to pay this down or pay this off? If it’s three years, great, schedule something for three years, if it’s five years, schedule something for five years, don’t think about the time because the time is gonna pass no matter what. So just stay consistent, stay focused. And so that’s why I like the calendar approach because it kind of takes away from you looking ahead or looking behind. It’s this week. This is what I’m doing this week. This is what I did this week, what can I change? There’s nothing I could change. Okay, next week, how does next week look? Right? So it gives us a little bit of a look back look forward, but not in a way that’s overwhelming and just overdone.
Loren Runion 24:48
And this is a non negotiable step like you can’t create financial freedom without doing this.
Damari Gold 24:54
I believe you can’t. Yeah, because then you’re still sort of guessing Right. It’s like, how do you suppose you’re gonna pay something off if you don’t have a plan? And then how do you create a plan if you don’t even know what you’re spending on?
Loren Runion 25:07
Right? Right, creating clarity. And you talking? Like I always talk to people about having like a relationship with money. And if you’re just ignoring it, it’s not really
Damari Gold 25:17
100% Yeah, really, our relationship to money is probably another very important aspect to all of this. Because I know sometimes I’ve worked with people where they say, like, looking at the numbers really upsets me, or it makes me uncomfortable. And I understand that I completely understand that I have to look at my p&l, I have to look at my profit and loss. And I have to be like, Damn, we spent way too much on this or like, okay, you know, what changes can I make? Right? So I get it, I get that it makes you feel uncomfortable. The thing is that, even with that, why does it make you uncomfortable? What what are the feelings that it’s causing inside of you? For me, I’ll give you an example of my life. It is the sense of security. It didn’t grow up with a dad, I grew up as a first generation American I grew up poor, my mom constant survival working. So does that create those types of feelings inside of me? 100% 100%, but I can identify them. So I know that it’s creating that inside of me, how do I work through it? Well, you know, you have to take breath work, I don’t know saved yourself breath work, write it out journal, but a relationship with money that I have. So what is your relationship with money that you have? When you’re looking at your numbers? What does it create inside of you? Does it create the fact that you don’t have enough that, well, you know, what feelings come up and write your feelings, because they’re valid? You know, they are, and it’s just a matter of working through them. And relationship with money is one of the biggest ones, because that’ll trigger a lot of different other parts of your life.
Loren Runion 26:54
Yeah, and so many people don’t even people who don’t have as, like, significant of a history, you know, like you went you growing up with a mom, the single single mom, a lot of my clients, you know, single parent household or friends, or there is, you know, that’s really obvious to identify that your parents struggled to make ends meet. And that creates a lot of stress and, you know, an unsafe feeling. But people who grew up in, you know, a home that didn’t necessarily have as much of that still have these things that they accumulated that relationship with money.
Damari Gold 27:28
So that’s why I say like, if if, let’s say, You did grow up with a mom and a dad, and let’s say, middle class, or whatever, or maybe you were well off, what, what was your first interaction with money that causes the same feelings are that you’re feeling the same feelings in your career, because one of the biggest things is always like success, right? We were talking about success and what financial freedom is. So a lot of what I find is people with that have had like, a dad and mom and have had this, you know, like a good upbringing, per se, right? Like middle class, upper class, upper middle class, a lot of things is almost like, I don’t meet the expectations of where I should be, because my parents are here, or because my parents went from this to this, and I’m not meeting that expectation. In a retreat that I spoke at a girl said, in you know, it was it was very touching, because she said, My parents always taught me you can always make more. And I feel like such a weak person, because I feel like I can’t make more, I don’t know how to make more. And, again, unfortunately, these are just things that we’re taught that are ingrained in our being. So you discovering what those things are to you, it doesn’t mean that they’re gonna be the same, like they are for me. But they’re, they’re there. Because of the way you grew up the things that you saw the people, things people said to you. So understand, like, who you’re hanging out with, right? So like, if I hang out with a bunch of wealthy people, do you think I’m gonna feel like crap because I don’t have their wealth? Probably. It’s not, it’s not a bad thing, right? But it’s just again, a self reflection. So if you’re, if you’re finding yourself regardless of your upbringing, they’re stirring emotions. When it comes to money. There’s something deeper there. That’s why we do have to pull that layer back and find out what that is. And I always say take it back to like your first experience with money, your relationship with your parents and like their relationship with money, what did you see in the household? And and once you start identifying that, you’ll see that that you’re kind of mimicking those same things. Mm hmm.
Loren Runion 29:44
And to go back a little bit on the spending habits, so if you were you know, you talked about identifying your spending habits and then making small changes, more from like a non like business perspective, but from a business perspective, so say you have Have a new business, like a lot of the listeners are building their business. So it’s not like they are in this spot where they’ve been doing it for 10 years, and their business is really thriving. It’s the building stage. And so you’re not making a ton and feels like more is going out then then you want to be how do you if someone was to do that with their business, and they’re looking at like, for me, I look at all these $10 purchases so that I can have Canva and $10 purchase, like all these little easy to know, things are like, crap, do I keep these? Like, are they? Are they really necessary? How do you decide when it’s like your business? What should be cut? Or how much you should be?
Damari Gold 30:37
I don’t know losing or, yeah, I think I know what you mean, sometimes in business, it can be a little bit difficult, because, I mean, this goes personal too. But in business, sometimes you make investments that might pan out or might not. And that’s just the risk we have to take, it’s you know, I can tell you how many times I’ve invested in like marketing or master classes or this that the other right, and they might have not returned the best, you know, rate of investment, like I might have not seen something like super, you know, grandiose out of it. But even still, you take what you can from it, or the education that you can’t from it, especially in business. So like you’re saying some of the smaller stuff like the apps, those are so easy for us to get carried away with having abs. So I would always say reevaluate, always take a look at what you’re paying for, like I said, when I look at my p&l, I literally look at line by line category by category. How much should I spend last month? How much should I spend this month? There’s like I said, fixed expenses and variable expenses, know what your fixed expenses are, that is something that is going to help you because from there now you know whether you can make a decision to invest in something or pay a little extra in something or, you know, do away with something, right? Because like you said, Canva, chances are, you’re probably using it quite often. I know I use it quite often, right? So there, then there’s like what we call opportunity costs and accounting, it’s like, the opportunity to use it or what it’s costing us versus the value that it’s giving us or what we outweigh, as far as is it a good cost to have, even if you’re losing a little bit, or even if you’re not getting as much right. So something that I do believe a lot of us invest in, in this personal or business is we get excited about buying, you know, some that like some manual or something someone’s selling, right, like, of course that we’re gonna go through, then, but we don’t commit to actually following through with the course. Or we don’t complete the course just we I’m guilty of it as well, right? Because at the time we’re like, Oh, yes, I you know, this is exactly what I need. So just knowing that if you’re not going to commit to actually like doing something or using something else stuff, like you need to, you know, do away with it, or cancel it or move it out of your way. So that’s why I tell you that for me, even though I’m looking at my p&l, and there’s times where I’m just like, damn, like, I should have just not bought that. Or, like, you know, that wasn’t the best investment or, you know, whatever. Sometimes it can be down on myself, but then I just think, Okay, well, I learned, right, something else I learned and, and now I know next time slow down and my purchasing, you know, think through before before I get happy and buy something. So I think from a business standpoint, always be clear about what is a fixed expense for you. And what is a variable expense, because cash flow is how much money in and how much money out is what’s important to us as business owners. Because if we’re not if you don’t have the cash flow to pay yourself or to pay for your personal side and your business side, that can definitely affect and have a big weigh on you as a business owner. Hmm.
Loren Runion 34:00
Yeah. Those were great tips. And I bet you because all of those things, because when you’re starting isn’t like, especially with what a lot of the people I work with, you know, they’re either food bloggers or they’re like photographers, and it’s just these little things, that if you’re not paying attention to how many you’ve signed up for a month, added up, you’re like, there’s $500 going on every month. Exactly, no,
Damari Gold 34:21
it doesn’t add up. That’s why we’re saying about like small increments, because that’s what happens is like sometimes we think because when we focus on the big number, then we think smaller things don’t matter. And then but we don’t realize that the smaller things just turn into those incremental larger numbers. And so the same thing in business, you have to pay attention to what you’re spending, you’d be surprised like, for my tax clients, I have them fill out I have a tax prep tool sheet, and I tell them like you have to fill it out. And then they’ll be like, Oh, well, I don’t think I spent that much as fill it out. Go through your statements. I tell you to be surprised. They’re like, Oh my gosh, I didn’t realize how much I spent. Yep, that’s exact If we right, you don’t realize because you just think, oh, and amount here and amount there and amount, whatever. But once you add it all up, well guess what you’re like over 10 grand in, you know, investments in your business or starting a business or doing whatever. So don’t yeah, don’t don’t think that it doesn’t count. It definitely does.
Loren Runion 35:18
Right? Yeah. So what would be next? What would be the next step in making like to creating this freedom, no matter what somebody’s making now that we’ve done the spending habits and the tracking, what would be the next step for them?
Damari Gold 35:31
I think, you know, for me, I would just say, honestly, just don’t know, get real with yourself about what you want out of this life. I know, it sounds a little like, you’re like, oh, my gosh, you’re an accountant. How are you? But it’s, you know, it’s just get real.
Loren Runion 35:50
Don’t be an accountant. Like, this is a real answer.
Damari Gold 35:57
No, the real about what you want out of life, because the truth of the matter is, is that you only get this one, you only get this shot. So it’s like, you know, money, of course, is a big aspect of how we’re we’re able to live. But, you know, you can only get stuck on one thing for so long. Like, what else? What other excuses are you going to use for not going after what you truly desire or your dreams, because I do find that people will get like, oh, once I make this amount, or once I pay this off. Or once i If you find yourself constantly saying once I get to this part, then I will. Chances are you’re just lying to yourself, and you’re holding yourself back. Because the truth of what you want seems either so big or so different, or so like, just out of norm that you’re afraid to say what I really want is this. And that’s it’s just unfortunately, as as simple and as complex as get real with yourself about what you truly want out of your life. And what does that mean, as far as freedom as far as success? What does that really look like for you? Nobody else? For you, not your parents, not what your spouse says not? Even though of course, you know, respect your spouse, but what does it look like for you?
Loren Runion 37:27
That’s it. Do you think there are any other priority financial goals someone should have? Or do you think it’s all very, it should be very specific to
Damari Gold 37:36
it has to be very specific to you. Because you know, you hear I hear this all the time, you should invest in real estate stuff. Okay, or you should have assets, you should have this or that, yes, I think you should have a retirement account, or you should plan for something like you know, invest in something like that. But having a real estate asset isn’t for everyone, not everybody wants to have a track in have a an additional mortgage and have renters and have an Airbnb and figure out if something breaks that they have to fix it. Because all of that takes capital, all of that takes money. All of that takes time. Not everybody is in that space to be able to do it is can it be a great investment? Sure it can. My mom owns a lot of properties. And trust me, I’ve seen her stressed out up the ying with it, but that’s what she enjoys. That’s what she wanted. And that’s what she invested her money in and it grew. And it’s been great. But, but she’s also had a lot of situations that have been very difficult, like you have to replace the whole roof, you have to replace the whole plumbing. That’s like $10,000. Not everybody is equipped for that. You know, the other thing I hear is don’t buy new cars, because that’s the worst investment. Is it the worst investment though? Because most people most Americans don’t have $5,000. So if their car breaks down, they can get it fixed. So is the new car a bad investment? No, not if it’s keeping you safe and not if it’s taking you to work and not if it’s saving you on gas or potentially saving you on repairs. So who you know what I mean? Whose mindset is that or you shouldn’t have any debt you should have be debt free. Why? Like having debt can be leveraged having debt sometimes means that you get to fix your car or do whatever, like there’s an exchange there. So to me, I’m not one sided on anything. I think it’s all just what is your goal? What do you want? What does it look like for you because if you’re living for somebody else’s thoughts, or understanding or goals or what they say to you like that you should be debt free, then you’re stressing yourself out because you’re not debt free. You’re upset because you’re not debt free. And that’s what somebody told you and that’s what you should be and you’re not there and that’s why you’re stressed out. If you Got a new car? And everybody’s saying like, why would you do that? Or this stuff? Why are you you’re upset because somebody else is telling you like that you made a bad investment? Why is that a bad investment if it makes you happy, or if it helps, if it serves its purpose, it’s taking you from point A to point B, it’s keeping you safe. You’re saving, but what you don’t I mean, like, that’s what I mean, it’s like, there’s no unfortunately, there, it’s not this or that, it’s this and that. And you can make whatever decision that you want in your life, whether it be wrong, whether it be good, whether it be bad if you make bad financial decisions, all right, well learn and move on, and make better decisions next time. And then at some point, you, you know, again, you’re just going to live your life the way you want to live it versus how somebody else is telling you, because if what you want to hear from me is that you should be debt free. Why do you want to hear that? Is that because that’s what you believe? Right? So that’s what we listen to the people that we agree with. So that’s why I always say like, it has to be it has to be personal, it has to be up to you, you have to decide, ask yourself that question. What is going to make you truly be an appreciation happy? You know, in a good spot, what is that going to look like?
Loren Runion 41:16
Yeah, and empowered. And I think because money you know, you said it earlier in it is money is such a taboo subject. Even my listeners, and we talk about mindset, and we talk about limiting beliefs. So we talked about how you’ve accumulated all these beliefs from crap that happened to you. We just don’t think that
Damari Gold 41:35
even if you’re even if you’re familiar with money,
Loren Runion 41:37
like myths, or money, beliefs that you may be holding on to you don’t think about things like, Oh, you shouldn’t have that being something that that’s put onto you. Like, that’s another thing that may not belong to you. Why do you believe that? Because everyone says, Oh, why did they say it? Like, is it just been passed down from like, the, you know, 1900s? Like, is that why we’re saying that, like, there could be a reason you should have it or so I love that you have that approach and everything that applies, like, and I just keep doing this with my arms, but like break free from everything. That includes money and includes like all the shit that you have in your brain, all the beliefs any thought that like, I can’t do that, well, why can’t you do that is because you think you can, someone else that you can’t exactly know
Damari Gold 42:23
in, I’m not going to tell you that it’s not difficult, it is difficult to retrain your brain, retrain your mind, retrain your body, your beliefs, your your self, because we carry a lot of it in, in, in ourselves within ourselves. And I you know, if you see, I don’t know, if you guys see will see my hand motions, but I always say, you know, we carry it in a certain spot in our body because you feel it you feel that uncomfortableness, like I said when I take a look at my financials. And sometimes it’s like not, it does make me feel a certain way. But I forced myself to work through it. Because of the fact that I just know that it’s like, if it’s still there, if I’m still feeling these things, is because that still exist within me. And that’s still a thing within me. So I have to work through these things. And allowing myself you know, not always going to the deep end and forcing myself but sometimes I do have to force myself and like you said, it’s we don’t realize how much. So how much there’s such outer influence in our behaviors and the way we identify with money or identify ourselves with either success, or the way people see us, right. And we do care about what people think about us. And this is, you know, times that I’ve shared with people, I just say like, Look, you could see a home you right, like people say, Oh, why are you renting? That’s such a worst investment. Okay, again, if I were to buy a home in California, it costs like a million dollars, number one. So am I going to be stressed out about not being able to make my mortgage payment and constantly trying to make as much money as possible in order to pay that mortgage? Which I didn’t have enough of a downpayment to have it be a lower amount, you get what I’m saying people get themselves in these debt, like big debt situations, because because someone taught because having a home is the thing that you’re supposed to do. Oh, who the hell told me that’s the thing that you’re supposed to do. Right? I know that. Yes. The American dream is owning a home. Right? I know that because that’s what I was taught. But that’s not my necessary it’s not that it’s not my dream. I want to own a home but I also don’t want to be stressed out about how much my mortgage is. And that’s that and if my home if something breaks in my home, I also don’t want to be stressed out about fixing a roof or fixing a plumbing or all that stuff. Right? So there’s that right and that’s But I’m saying like, if but if you own your home and you bought one and you’re happy with it, and it’s not causing you all of this excess stress, then that’s great. Like, that’s great. You invested in your first home and now you’re paying, you know, but people that maybe rent they can go wherever the heck they want. And maybe that’s what they prefer. Right? So again, no, right? No wrong. It’s just what is the what is it to you? What, what is it doing for you?
Loren Runion 45:29
I have absolutely loved everything that you’ve had to say. And this has been a fantastic conversation. I feel like we could go on for hours. But is there anything else that you feel like, before we wrap up that anyone should know, as far as creating freedom and knowing that they can have freedom at any doesn’t matter how much they’re making?
Damari Gold 45:47
No other than just, you know, again, no, no? What What freedom and success means to you personally, not anybody else’s opinion, just yourself, because that’s the really the importance and this is, you know, your human experience is going to be based on that. And so if you’re having a hard time and if you’re feeling like you’re not doing something right, or things aren’t going the right way, just know that you know, there’s sometimes there’s a reason behind it either to change your course or to do something different or to cause you to to expand, right align and expand. But really, that’s what it comes down to. You have to you have to look within yourself because the answer is there. So it’s not a county,
Damari Gold 46:33
but but me as an accountant, and then also if you’re gonna go do your taxes, you know, be sure if you’re especially if you just started a business, track your stuff, please.
Loren Runion 46:48
Where can everyone find you if they would like to like learn more about what you offer or just hanging out with you a little bit more?
Damari Gold 46:54
Yeah, they can find me on Instagram under D’Amore gold or our account TGS accounting, also at our website, TGS accounting.com or Damara gold.com.
Loren Runion 47:06
Okay, thank you so much for your time. It was fantastic. Appreciate. Thank you so much for listening to another episode of The Align and expand podcast. If you’re an iTunes listener, and you loved this episode, please leave a review. And if you leave a review, send me a screenshot and then I will be sending you a special exclusive meditation made only for my listeners who are so kind enough to take time out of their day to leave a review of the podcast.
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