I know I just posted about Zoho software not long ago, but while bookkeeping might not be the most exciting part of running a business, it may be the most important part. So let's talk about the boring-but-necessary stuff. 🧾 Bookkeeping isn't glamorous, but it's the difference between a calm tax season and a panicked one. And you shouldn't have to pay another monthly subscription just to track your own money. So I did the homework! I looked at five free bookkeeping tools and dug into the fine print so you don't have to: ✅ Which ones are really free (and for who) ✅ Where the sneaky limits and paid upgrades hide ✅ Which one fits the way YOU run your business You'll find the whole breakdown, with links to every tool, in the classroom here: 👉 Bootstrapping Biz Classroom Quick question for the comments: What are you using to track your business finances right now? A fancy program, a spreadsheet, or a shoebox of receipts? 😅 No judgment. We've all been there! 💜☮️💰

In In Debt: Part 1, I shared my simple two-step debt payoff plan. Step one is automating the minimum payment on your credit cards. But what if you can’t make the minimum payment? Well then my friend, you are in debt crisis mode and you need to make some dramatic changes. But the basics remain the same. You need to make the minimum payment, AND you need to not charge any more or add to the debt. But not adding to your debt gets more difficult when the credit card company is adding late fees and raising your interest rate, so the first step is to call the credit card company. Let them know you are committed to paying your debt, but you’re experiencing financial hardship. Then ask, politely and persistently, for the following (they may say no, but if they say yes, it helps a lot): 🔹Ask for late fees to be waived 🔹Ask for your interest rate to be lowered 🔹 Ask if you can make interest-only payments for a period of time Stay calm. Stay respectful. But don’t accept the first no without a little pushback. Keep going until you get a minimum payment you can actually manage. Once you have that: ➡️ Pay only the minimum payment. You will be tempted to pay extra when you have extra cash, but we have other plans for that money. Trust me. 😉 We will cover that in Debt Part 2. 🔥 Crisis Mode Means Cutting Back (Temporarily) I’m going to assume you’ve already done some expense trimming. But in crisis mode, anything that isn’t necessary, or doesn’t help you earn money, needs to go. Not forever. Just until you can: ✔️ Cover your expenses ✔️ Make the minimum payments ✔️ Have a little breathing room 💰 Now the Big One: You Need More Money At the end of the day, you need to make more money, and you need it sooner rather than later. Often it is easier to make more money than it is to cut expenses from an allready bare bones budget! Do this: 💵 Ask for a raise at your current job 💵 Ask for more hours 💵 Look for a higher-paying job 💵 Sell things you don’t need (yard sale, Marketplace, get creative)

Warren Buffett has money problems. A homeless guy has money problems. Buffett’s money problems are way more desirable than the homeless guy’s. But problems don’t just disappear, they get exchanged and upgraded for better problems as you grow and evolve. The solution to today’s problem will be the seed of tomorrow’s. Set your expectations accordingly.

It has been awhile since I welcomed new members, and I am excited to say we are growing! @Dr. Bryan Raya , @Rose Colbourne , @George Watton, @Hope Stephens , @Jarly Dodd, @Rahf Finance, @Brandon Badger I am happy you are here! Let us know a little something about you. Would you rather:💸

And why it keeps your credit card balance from ever going down The holidays are over… and now the credit card bills are rolling in. 😬 So let’s start the New Year by learning how to actually manage credit card debt. But first, a little story. There was a time when I had a ridiculous amount of credit card debt. And by ridiculous, I mean well over my annual income. I was desperate to get it paid off. I read the books, studied the methods, and every month I threw every extra dollar I had at the credit card with the highest interest rate (hello, debt avalanche). And almost every month, Something. Would. Come. Up. The car I needed to get to work needed repairs. My child needed to see the doctor. Once, the only toilet in the house broke and required an emergency plumber. 🚽 I had no savings, so I did what I had to do, I pulled out the credit card. And every month, my balance went up, not down. It was incredibly frustrating. (Side note: credit card companies LOVE people who carry high balances and pay more than the minimum. My credit score was excellent, and they were always happy to offer me a new card or raise my limit so I could pile on even more debt! 🙃) Eventually, I realized I was focusing on the wrong thing. I was obsessed with paying off my credit cards, when what I really needed to focus on was not adding to the debt. (Yes, I can hear the trolls: “Well, duh.” Go ahead. This shift was huge for me.) And that’s how I came up with my very simple two-step debt payoff plan: Step 1: Set all your credit cards to auto-pay the minimum payment. Step 2: Do not charge anything to your credit cards. Nothing. Nada. Zip.Want, need, doesn’t matter. Figure it out. Pay cash. 💳🚫 That’s it. No spreadsheets. No complicated math. Depending on how many cards you have, this could take as little as 10 minutes to set up. If you do nothing else—and you stick to the plan—your credit cards will get paid off. I didn’t say it was easy.I said it was simple. Every time I share this, I hear the same pushback: