MAKING YOUR MILES COUNT Robert D. Scheper
Know What Rules Are Available for Your Benefit February is always a tight month for personal finances and sometimes business finances as well. Taking time off during the holidays and having a low cash flow in January will produce sacrifices in February. In the month of “tight-uary”, scrutiny of details is the flavor of the month. Individuals do it and businesses do it too. Living on a thin margin of error creates conflicts. What is helpful to get through the tight times and what is not? Deciding to use your credit card to go on holiday doesn’t help your longer-term goal of debt-free living. That doesn’t mean it’s still not tempting, it certainly is, but that choice is not helpful. Choosing to stay home for an extra day or two will not help your financial margin either. When you are in a situation of “all hands on deck”, it doesn’t help to have a hand voting in favor of going on a ski trip. Managing finances is all about priorities and systems. Even when someone has no wiggle room… it’s always a matter of priorities. I remember a couple of decades ago when I was going through
6 • OVER THE ROAD
a really difficult time financially… not paying the telephone bill so we could pay the hydro… then next month, not paying the hydro so we could keep our phone operating. There are seasons of life when things are tight. The key is to not give up, not lose heart and say, “to hell with it, I’m going to Cancun”, because when you get back, your problem is even worse. A system tells your finances what to do, rather than having your finances tell you what you can and cannot do. One of the greatest advantages incorporation has on financial management is separating personal and business money. Corporations have rules assigned to managing finances. When you are a self-employed operator, the rules are nearly non-existent, but corporations are clearly defined. Following restrictive rules is not in many people’s DNA. We all like to do what we want to do when we want to do it. Following the rules for a corporation allows for a safe and secure method of cash flow management. Following no rules for the self-employed will tend
FEBRUARY 2024
