9 money moves I've made

Am I finally a grown-up?

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Money matters.

Unless you’re filthy rich (seriously good for you) your business needs to make money.

At least enough to pay your bills. Ideally enough to stash away for a rainy day (or a £4.50 latte once in a while if you live in London and god-forbid want oat instead of cow’s milk).

Last year we found ourselves in a fragile situation both emotionally and financially with a kid out of school for pretty much the whole of 2024. A kid out of school means a kid at home. A kid at home means reduced earning power.

We ended up using most of our emergency funds to pay for a private autism assessment and temporary online learning.

Excluding loss of earnings, last year cost us around £10k.

It was a stark reminder that I need and want to get my financial act together. I have had income stability with the same client for nearly four years. But I am not their employee and that revenue stream could vanish theoretically at any point (she writes touching wood).

Over the last six months, I have slowly made some money inroads and I thought I’d share. You never know, it could spur you to make a few money moves too. Even small moves can make a difference five, 10 years on from now.

Oh maybe you’re way ahead and can share some money wisdom with me.

Here are my 9 money moves:

1. Became a limited company. This was stressful but a few months in, it’s the best decision I’ve made. I seem to be managing cash flow a lot better between my new business (Starling) and personal account (First Direct) and have stopped having to dip into savings due to late-paid client invoices etc. There is some additional admin involved and am keeping below the VAT registration threshold for the time being. But that is where point 2 comes in.

2. Hired an accountant. In all transparency I started making some timid money moves about 3 years ago when I met Samantha from Wellesley at a Women in Business event. So technically, I’ve had a financial advisor pretty much since then (it’s a free service with advisors paid commission from financial providers). She introduced me to my accountant Amy Beecroft who sorts out all the HMRC shit I truly can’t be bothered to figure out myself now I’m a limited company, all for under £200 a year.

3. Set up a business savings account. Surprisingly Starling Bank doesn’t offer business savings accounts. This means any money you set aside in a separate pot for tax, well just sits there without accruing any interest. So I opened one with Shawbrook Bank. I can easily move the money back to my business account when the taxman comes knocking.

4. Moved my cash ISA. Always makes me laugh when you read about making the most of your £20k tax-free ISA allowance. I certainly don’t have £20k a year lying around to stuff in ISAs. But I had an old ISA with First Direct that had an embarrassingly low interest rate. After too many years I switched it to Trading 121 (4.5% interest). I haven’t made any payments in yet beyond the initial transfer but have already made £120 in interest alone.

5. Overpaid my mortgage. Ever since the personal finance coach Clare Seal did an Instagram story about the easy mortgage overpay platform Sprive I’ve been putting aside £50 a month. Last month I realised I had clocked up £750. It was painful to press the overpay your mortgage button I have to be honest but with a 4.95% interest rate on our mortgage and with £270k or so left to pay, every little helps.

6. Consolidated pensions. I consolidated all my old employee pensions under Saint James’s Place (SJP) when I started working with my financial advisor Samantha. Alongside this, I’d been putting some personal pension contributions into Penfold. I loved Penfold. The vibe, the user experience but the returns and fees were not as good as on my SJP pensions so I moved it all to one place.

7. Stocks and shares ISA. My latest money move (only last week). I moved £500 I had squirreled away to buy a new laptop (no longer needed because I can pay it from my business account as I seem to be managing cashflow better) to a stocks and shares ISA with Trading 121. This is the biggest risk I am taking. I talked it through endlessly with my new financial assistant (aka ChatGPT) and got my head around the different funds, my risk appetite and how long to just leave it.

8. Monthly savings plan. I have an aspirational savings plan that I haven’t yet fully put into practice. It revolves around building up the emergency fund again (aiming to save £180/month, then create separate saving pots for holidays, kids, house and repairs etc. Just earmarking between £30-60/month for each pot I’m hoping will help.

9. Prioritised low-effort revenue-generating business offers (work in progress). It’s easy to be busy in business but sometimes focusing on the tasks that will make money can’t half help you cut through the crap. Now we are out of crisis mode as a family, I have revived my 60-minute consult with a new page on my website. It’s live but hidden (still need some tweaks but please do have a peek) and managed to set up the whole booking and payment flow this time around. And watch out for a new way to buy my book in next week’s newsletter. No Bezos involved.

So there you have it. Thanks so much for reading my words this week. Feeling inspired to make your own money move this month? Or have a killer move you want to share? I’m turning into a finance geek.