Today’s show is a follow-up episode to last week’s episode with guest Pam Capalad, who taught us how to take charge of our finances. Pam is a certified financial planner and accredited financial counselor in Brooklyn. She created this cool program called Brunch & Budget, which provides people a more comfortable space to talk about their money—over brunch with Pam. Pam gave so many great tips in that episode—and my interview with her served as a good kick in the pants for me to do a bunch of financial stuff I had been putting off or didn’t think I needed to do. So, in this episode, I’m going to update you on my progress and talk through why I did what I did. Hopefully, that will inspire you to take some needed steps to improve your financial situation. I took three steps after Pam’s episode aired last week: I used Pam’s 12-month cash-flow projection spreadsheet. Here’s how that works: At the beginning of the year, you try to anticipate how much money you will make that year and you determine what your income goals are. You can break this down month to month and client to client. Because we’re nearly finished with this year, I did a retrospective cash flow analysis, filling in how much money I already made this year each month and from each client and then analyzed that. I plan to use this spreadsheet again to plan for 2020.  I separated my personal and business accounts by opening up a second checking account just for business purposes. The plan is that I will deposit my checks into this second “business” account. I will pay all of my expenses out of that account. And then I will pay myself by transferring money from that new account into my old personal checking account to pay personal bills like my mortgage, utilities, groceries, etc. I opened a business-only credit card. Now, as Pam pointed out in the last episode, while having a separate business card will make tracking my expenses easier, credit card receipts DO NOT take place of actual receipts for individual items, especially in an audit. So you still need to keep all your receipts and hang on to them. So, that’s it. I’m on my way with these new financial commitments to myself. I’m going to project out my income by client and by month for 2020 and then track it better to see if I’m hitting my monthly financial goals.  I have a new checking account that will be business only, so I will have separated my personal and business finances. And I have a business-only credit card to help me better keep track of business expenses. I’d love to hear what areas of your finances you’ve made changes to lately or areas you’re struggling with. And feel free to send me questions for future guests. Also, please send me your financial tips—things you’ve done over the years to improve how you handle your money or improve your overall outlook on money. I’d love to hear from you. Email me at melanie@meledits.com or tweet me @MelEdits.   Biz Bite: Schedule a Power Hour   The Bookshelf: “The Lost Man” by Jane Harper   Resources: Episode 28 of Deliberate Freelancer: Take Charge of Your Finances, with Pam Capalad   Brunch & Budget 12-Month Cash Flow Projection Template—Download and use this worksheet.