Honor Your Labor
By having something left at the end of the year to show for it
This is the time of new beginnings, and while learning a new language or losing weight are really good for the mind and body, I want to suggest something completely different.
Make a savings goal.
This can be done personally, in your brewery, or both.
For your brewery, I will suggest you go to the bank and through your business start a savings account. Next commit to an amount of money that on a certain date each month - say the 20th - money automatically transfers out of your business checking account over to a savings account. It’s up to you of course how much, but I would try to do at least $200. Maybe you can swing more. $2,000 would be better, and it might be painful for the first month or two, but by the third or fourth month, you will forget about it. In fact you may hardly notice it gone from your account. Of course it’s not gone, and you have access to it for emergencies, if you need it.
What’s so cool about this simple gimmick is that no matter what you do this year, that money is going to accumulate. If you hadn’t done this, at the end of the year you might not show any difference from where you began today. I know, math is math, but trust me on this one. If you could swing the $2,000 you would have a cool $24,000 next December that you are free to do something with. How about a corporate meeting on the Big Island? How about a new piece of equipment you want to use expand your sales. Or how about a really good bonus for you and your employees. You see, what you do now will have an outsized effect on your company at the end of 2022. You really have nothing to lose.
What about you as an individual? Do the same thing. If not a savings account, then how about an index fund? Or did you know Series I Savings bonds are paying over 7%? The key is to make the automatic withdrawals well, automatic. If you just try to pay an extra $100 on your car payment every month, in no time something will come up and you will skip the extra payment. However if you sucked $100 out of every paycheck, at the end of the year you would have a pretty good chunk you could use to pay off debt, or go on a really great road trip.
Let’s continue this theme. You say to me, “Mr. Frankenbrew, that all sounds fine but I need every penny I earn and then some.” I was hoping you would say that. Continuing with the simple math concept, you either need to increase your money coming in or decrease your money going out. Let’s talk about the money going out.
We are a society dying of a thousand cuts and the razor blade is called subscriptions. Go ahead, it’s the beginning of the year, so take out a #2 pencil and a simple piece of paper and start writing down all the things your are subscribed to.
Apps are the first place I would look. You may be paying $35 a year for something you don’t use. Next look at your TV. All those TV stations that require a monthly subscription. Who has time to watch all that crap anyway. Cancel them and subscribe to Kanopy, which links to your library card and allows you to watch movies and shows for free. Just keep the subscriptions that you absolutely must have. Do you pay for a gym membership that you don’t use? I think you get the drift. For more savings ideas (like cell phones) check out Mr. Money Mustache. Personally my favorite deep dive would be to read the book Your Money or Your Life, to get a better perspective.
The point I’m trying to make is it’s a new year and most of the media focuses on diet and exercise as New Year’s resolutions. Brewery business is really hard work and work that we love. But life is more than work, and while diet and exercise is vital, getting ahead financially deserves equal standing in regard to quality of life. Set up an account and make it automatic. Then, let me know this time next year how it worked out.
Cheers,
Tom