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A few weeks ago, I shared with you that I broke up with my financial advisor.

Once I realized how much money it was costing me to have someone else manage my investments, I knew I needed to take money matters into my own hands.

Besides, I’m a do-it-yourself kinda girl…because when I do it myself, I know it’s done right.

And I know it’s done with MY best interests in mind.

But here’s the thing about DIY: you gotta do your research.

MANAGING YOUR FINANCES DIY STYLE

Wanna remodel your bathroom? You gotta watch YouTube videos on how to lay tile and gather color palette ideas from Pinterest before you tackle the job.

Wanna give yourself an at-home hairstyle makeover (because ain’t no way you’re going to risk getting COVID at the salon)? You gotta read the instructions on the hair color box and check out videos on how to trim your own bangs.

I’d researched how to manage my own investments. I read books on the topic…Google searched the financial jargon terms I didn’t understand…examined my current investments to really understand where my money was going and what it was doing.

But even with all that research to help me prepare for DIY-ing my finances…I still felt so scared to take over managing my investments myself.

Just like when you’re about to make that first snip with the scissors and you hesitate as visions of a botched bang job flash before your eyes…

…I starred wide-eyed at my investment accounts, too afraid to do anything with them, as I imagined myself clicking the wrong button and losing thousands of dollars in one hot second.

FEAR & FINANCIAL GRIDLOCK

For weeks, I was too afraid to pull the trigger and actually do anything with my investments.

Every day, I would add “manage investments” to my daily planner to-do list…

…and every day, I would do everything EXCEPT that.

The task got carried over to the next day…and the next day…

…and my overwhelm, anxiety, and financial gridlock grew with each passing day that I didn’t deal with my investments.

I knew the fear of messing up was the thing keeping me from taking control of my investments…

…but I wasn’t sure how to just get the hell over it and deal with it already.

WHY YOU SHOULD MANAGE YOUR FINANCES YOURSELF

To motivate myself, I started thinking about all the reasons why I’d decided to manage my finances myself:

:: Managing your finances yourself can save you hundreds of dollars every month because you’re no longer paying a financial planner or advisor to do it for you. Money management is NOT something to outsource.

:: You know what you want your life to look like, so you should be calling the shots on how your money is used to support that vision.

:: If you want to make sure a job is done right, you have to do it yourself.

:: You have to know and understand what your money is invested in before you can make informed decisions with it. Managing your finances yourself forces you to gain financial literacy and make fact-based decisions.

:: No one is going to take better care of you or your money than YOU.

YESSS! I NEEDED to DIY my finances!

Reminding myself of all the benefits of doing it myself was like a pep talk that gave me the courage to go for it.

DIY STARTS WITH ASKING FOR HELP

It was a Friday morning, and I knew I’d put off managing my investments long enough. I was sick of being stuck in fear and was ready to tackle the job.

I pulled up my new investment accounts and had the list of stocks and bonds I wanted to buy in my hand.

But I didn’t know how to navigate the website…or what buttons to click…or how to sell some of this and buy some of that.

I needed help. I knew I could call Vanguard support…but I worried about sounding stupid.

What if I asked ridiculous questions? Would they laugh at me and tell me I have no business managing my investments myself?

I was about to walk away from my computer AGAIN and put off the task for yet another day, but stopped myself. I gathered up all the courage I had and dialed the number.

Much to my surprise, the Vanguard support team was super helpful…and totally nonjudgmental…and told me exactly what I needed to do to manage my investments myself.

It wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d imagined it would be.

And now that I’ve been DIY-ing my finances for a few weeks, I really love it.

I find it super fun to see what my money is doing from week to week…and it’s interesting to see how the market is changing.

I feel so empowered…and brave…and in control because I took charge of my investments…

…and I feel so much comfort and security knowing that I’m the person caring for my money instead of some guy who’s trying to make money off of my money.

Maybe you’ve got a financial task on your to-do list that you keep avoiding because it feels way too scary and overwhelming…

…like creating a budget…or dealing with the stack of bills that make you cringe every time you walk by them…or creating a debt payoff plan for your student loans.

I know how that feels…and I promise you- the fear about DIY-ing your finances is WAY worse than how it feels to actually do it.

The first step is to ask for help…and that takes courage…but you can do hard things.

Email me and tell me what financial task feels too scary to deal with so I can walk you through it in a super helpful, nonjudgmental way.

I mean it. You deserve to get help so you can get started taking control of your financial life…

…and I absolutely love helping women DIY their finances.

So don’t chicken out or come up with a million excuses to not manage your finances yourself (like I did).

I’ll be waiting to give you a personalized pep talk complete with DIY money tips once I get your email.

Money love & hugs, ($O$O$O)

Nicole