DAFINA

"It takes a long time to become young"

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November 20, 2018

Money. All I really wanna see is the…

Filed in: Personal Finance

I love talking about personal finance and financial responsibility and it meant the world to me to speak about it on a show produced and hosted by my true friend for over two decades Africa Miranda.

There are so many things I wanted to expand on but I didn’t have the chance. But one nugget I did drop is how I’m a huge fan of Vanguard’s Index Fund’s. My personal fave is the S&P 500 Admiral Index Fund.

I’m by no means giving financial advice, but I personally have found this to be a sound investment that is so passive and low-cost that I sing its praises. You can learn more about Vanguard’s funds at Vanguard.com

By Dafina • Leave a Comment

September 22, 2018

Financial Guides & Guideposts For The New Year

Filed in: Personal Finance

This is one of my favorite blog posts I ever wrote for an ambitious mom blog I had the first year of being a mom. It was a labour of love that has now fallen defunct, but there are a few articles that I wanted to share here to live on.

This one is about my favorite subject: practical financial advice for the everyday girl.

After the financial debauchery known as the Holidays are over many of us are left feeling that sense of regret now that the toys have been opened, played with and set aside for the old faithfuls and you’ve tipped everyone and their grandma, you are left wondering WTF?  Compounded with that is the heightened expectations of unrealistic New Year’s Resolutions and a general feeling of not setting yourself up for success.

As new moms, I know we are busy but I’ll put it to you this way: it’s either now or never. It’s just that simple.  There is never a right time to make a financial plan for yourself and if you keep waiting for that moment it simply won’t happen.

So here’s how I have approached my Financial Plan every year.

  1. Create a Mission Statement for the year chocked full with action verbs.  This is my mission statement for 2015: To continue to save and diversify income and investment sources while rededicating myself to gaining new skills to continue to keep myself marketable and relevant.
  2. I divide the year into 4 Quarters and Make One Overarching Goal for Each Quarter that is measurable in a quantifiable way. For instance,  2 years ago it was pay 10K towards my principle balance reduction on my car in order to pay off my car sooner.
  3. Then for each Quarter, I have 3-4 actionable behavior modifications or income generating ideas I will explore.  I stick to 3-4 for each quarter because I was once told that anything more than 3 goals sets you up for failure.  For example, last year my one actionable goal for 3rd Quarter was to put a security freeze on all of my credit after we had a horrific incident of Identity Theft.

That is my overall Financial Plan.  I tend to keep it simple, realistic and optimistic at the same time.

The financial plan is just the tip of the iceberg for me.  Over the years I have become very financially diligent after a few years of sticking my head in the sand.

As Moms it’s easy to just keep coasting along without a plan but when you realize how draining that is on your energy and robbing your kids of a financial future you do better.

For many of us we want to get our act together because we are too overwhelmed to and sick of paying late fees or hating opening the mail because we don’t want to see another bill but we just don’t know where to begin.

So if you are at a loss for the 3-4 actionable plans for your Financial Plan here are some of my suggestions:

  1. Open a 529 Fund for each of your children by Jan 15.  Set up an ACH with a $25 a month contribution and then invite friends & family to contribute to these funds en lieu of gifts or presents for this next year.
  2. Register for Mint.com, LearnVest.com or Mvelopes.com.  These online budgeting tools will help you track expenses and your budget and you should begin to look at them daily.  I highly recommend Mvelopes.com for those of you who have a lot of debt and need helpful and encouraging tools to pay down the debt.
  3. Take off any account that is on auto-pay.  I know this sounds counter intuitive but do not automate things that debit from your account ever. This forces you to be less mindful of your spending and usually allows for errors to go unchecked. It also allows for reoccurring charges from subscription boxes you no longer receive or Care.com accounts that you no longer use to keep on debiting resulting in over $1K a year in waste. (Last March I gave a fine tooth comb to our bank statement and found over $4500 in annual expenses that were on auto-pay for services we weren’t using or didn’t need anymore!)
  4. Get a savings account that is not tied to your checking account. Look up American Express or Capital One 360.  This will force you to really think before making a transfer to your checking account as it requires 3 days notice for a transfer to complete to your checking account. This forces you to get inventive with ways to come up for money when things are tight other than raiding your savings.  Hello used toys…sell on Ebay or used electronic devices etc.
  5. Research your fees on any investments accounts.  Not your return on investment, your earnings returns but the expense ratios and fees accessed for any actively managed funds.  If you have no idea what I am talking about watch this:
  6. If you don’t know what an Index Fund is research them and consider moving 10-15% of your investment portfolio to one to compare.  I am Boglehead… which means I love Vanguard Admiral Index Fund where you can get expense ratios of less than .017% and expose yourself to a diverse selection of the stock market.
  7. Learn one marketable skill that would make you more valuable in the workplace.
  8. Look at your bills and bank statements and try to identify 3-4 monthly costs you could cut:  Showtime after Homeland goes off air, Subscription Box, Manicures etc
  9. Take any unexpected money you come into and place in savings or investment vehicles once you have at least 4-5 months of liquid savings.  This means the larger than expected tax refund, a fee that you were able to have refunded or time when you DIY’d your way out of a regularly occurring expense. ( I used to go get my hair done 2x’s a month for about $200 a month I taught myself how to do my own hair after countless hours on YouTube and now I use that money towards my an auto-investment for a Vanguard Fund I love so much)
  10. Automate your savings no matter how small.  If you can begin setting aside $5 a month that is something.  Especially compounded with any unexpected money you might come across.

I hope this helps!!! Happy New Year!

By Dafina • Leave a Comment

May 9, 2017

Shopify Masters Podcast Interview: 10 Years Of Consistency

Filed in: Beauty, The 2%

This was so much fun!  I love being a guest on podcasts, especially ones that I listen to almost every episode.

This was a really personal and honest interview with me about how I struggled with motherhood, moving and running a business 4 years ago.

Consistency approached from if I only do one thing… what is it and that really helped save my business until I was ready to re-emerge.

Listen to the Podcast Episode:

By Dafina • Leave a Comment

October 18, 2016

How To Run A Business While Working With Babies:

Filed in: The 2%

7 Essential Shopify Tools I Use To Operate A Six Figure Business As A Stay At Home Mom

It’s truly amazing if you stop and think about the power of eCommerce. In the comfort of your own home you can shop for products around the world. Or, as the owner of an eCommerce store you are no longer bound by store hours or physical location to sell. I’ve owned and operated a beauty eCommerce store for ten years, and to this day I’m still amazed by the freedom, flexibility and opportunity it creates.

My eCommerce journey

In the early days of eCommerce, I began with a Yahoo Store, which was clunky and time consuming. In 2007, it was all I knew and I couldn’t even imagine the crazy journey that owning this online store would take me on.  Read More

Source: https://www.tradegecko.com/blog/7-essentia…

By Dafina • Leave a Comment

A Little About Me

A Little About Me

I love to write and wanted to create an outlet of content that reflects my passion outside of the beauty industry. I'm a Beautyprenuer by day a vegan mom of twin boys living in Montclair, NJ by night. Oh yeah and sometimes I remember to be a wife to my husband, journalist Ryan Smith.

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Money. All I really wanna see is the…

Financial Guides & Guideposts For The New Year

Shopify Masters Podcast Interview: 10 Years Of Consistency

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The Gram

xodafina

It takes a long time to become young-Pablo Picasso | Beauty-Preneur @covetandmane

Happy Birthday Blake & Cole. It’s been a gift to Happy Birthday Blake & Cole. It’s been a gift to have unexpected bonus time with you. Right when I sent you off to kindergarten you boomeranged back home. From precious little preemies to precocious little boys,  your baseline of joy is astronomical and I strive to be as fun & kind and loving as you are every day 😘😘
Birthday mood: “ I can’t talk right now, I’m Birthday mood: “ I can’t talk right now, I’m doing hot girl sh*t”
My favorite time of year 🍁 My favorite time of year 🍁
They are safe, they are loved and they are mine ❤️
When I sent them off to their 1st day of kindergar When I sent them off to their 1st day of kindergarten my biggest fear was someone might be mean to them on the bus or they wouldn’t like their teacher had no idea that I should have feared a pandemic, heart wrenching discussions on race & brutality  and being locked in their house with a mom who refused to wear a bra for 4 months but... in all of this we found room for joy, long family bike rides, crafting projects. I am so thankful for the new insight i have into these tiny minds filled with so much wonder and joy.
A sanctuary of 💕 Happy Father’s Day A sanctuary of 💕 Happy Father’s Day
I am a BLACK WOMAN! 👑 I build, I don’t tear d I am a BLACK WOMAN! 👑
I build, I don’t tear down other BLACK WOMEN. I have felt the pain of being torn down and I have decided I will be deliberate about building others! If I didn’t tag you please don’t be offended. I tried to pick people I thought would do this challenge!! All too often we WOMEN find it easier to criticize each other instead of building each other up. With all the negativity going around let’s do something positive!!! 🌹 Upload 1 picture of yourself, ONLY you. Then tag as many SISTERS to do the same. Let’s build ourselves up, instead of tearing ourselves down.
Monday Motivation with @cupofambitionpodcast Monday Motivation with @cupofambitionpodcast
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