Nasty Gal didn’t have a budget until 2010 because we didn’t need one. I always knew how much cash was in the bank, and designated chunks to spend on buying trips, ensuring there was always a healthy cushion for the business. As uneducated buyers, we bought much the same as anyone who had a small business would. “Okay, so we bought twelve of that dress last week and it sold out, so maybe this week, we’ll buy twenty-four?” We trusted our instincts, and stuck to the two tenets of my philosophy: Sell things for more than you pay for them, and save more than you spend. Simple, yes, but that is the philosophy that ultimately led to a really big business.
One of the best books I’ve read was George S. Clason’s The Richest Man in Babylon, which offers financial advice in a collection of parables. My ex-boyfriend read it, and it kicked him in the butt enough that he got himself out of debt and went on to save thousands of dollars. The average American only saves 6.5 percent of his or her income, which is barely keeping up with inflation. But you, dear #GIRLBOSS, should save 10 percent at the bare minimum. I know it’s a lot easier to talk about saving money than it is to actually save it. Here’s a tip: Treat your savings account like just another bill. It has to be paid every month, or there are consequences. If you have direct deposit, have a portion of your paycheck automatically diverted into a savings account. Once it’s in there, forget about it. You never saw it anyway. It’s an emergency fund only (and vacations are not emergencies).
If you’re tempted to buy something, just imagine that those new shoes were actually made out of crisp $20 bills. Do those $20 bills look good getting dirty on the sidewalk? No, they do not. That’s because money looks better in the bank than on your feet.
The Art of the Ask
To many people, talking about money is awkward. They think they have either too little or too much. As you now know, I’m pretty shameless, so from haggling the price of a sweater to negotiating with investors, talking about money doesn’t bother me. Once, when looking for an apartment, a landlord insisted on keeping my nonrefundable credit-check fee even after I’d told him not to run my credit. I had called him five minutes after submitting my application to make sure of that. So I fought. On the phone, something came over me. My voice got low and threatening and I growled, “Fifty dollars means a lot more to me than it does to you, and I have alllll the time in the world to get it back.” I meant it and he knew it, seeing that I was unemployed. And guess what? I got my money back.
A friend and I once stuck our thumbs out in a half-serious attempt to hitchhike on a Greyhound bus. Lo and behold, the bus stopped, the door opened, and we climbed on. Wet with rain, we were met with faces of equal disbelief among our fellow passengers. You don’t get what you don’t ask for.
You’re in luck, #GIRLBOSS, as this mantra applies even better to money than it does to Greyhound buses. Some people may say that I was a horrible person for haggling at a thrift store, but I was just another person trying to get by. By the end of the week, those seemingly insignificant tiny discounts had made a material difference, and I could put the money I’d saved toward something else in the business.
If you’re frustrated because you’re not getting what you want, stop for a second: Have you actually flat-out asked for it? If you haven’t, stop complaining. You can’t expect the world to read your mind. You have to put it out there, and sometimes putting it out there is as simple as just saying, “Hey, can I have that?”
That being said, if you don’t like talking about money, I get it. There are ways to make the whole thing less traumatic. The first piece of advice I can give you is to learn to separate your money from your emotions as much as you possibly can. Whether someone is asking you for money, you’re asking someone else, or you’re contemplating a significant purchase, approaching financial decisions as calmly and as rationally as possible will make everything a whole lot easier.
It also quite literally pays to be as unemotional as possible when you’re asking for a raise. First, be really honest with yourself and make sure that you deserve the raise that you’re asking for. You do not automatically deserve a raise just because you’ve been somewhere for a certain amount of time. But if you can articulate the reasons why you deserve a pay increase, then schedule time to meet with your boss and let her know in advance what you want to talk about. This can be as simple as “I’d like to schedule some time with you to talk about my salary. Is it okay if we put something on the calendar?” Talk to your boss about this in person. Hitting him up on Gchat is not appropriate. If your company does regular yearly reviews, that can also be your chance to talk about money.
When you do meet to discuss it, skip the personal sob stories. The only factor that affects your chance of getting a raise is whether or not you’ve earned it. It doesn’t matter if your car broke down or that your landlord’s raising your rent. Those facts are not your boss’s problem. All she needs to know is that you’re kicking ass, like a #GIRLBOSS should.
Put That Money to Work
While I still don’t blow my money, I am now comfortable with buying expensive stuff. It is natural, at some point, to realize that it’s worth it to spend a little extra (if you can afford it) to get something that’s just right. This is true when it comes to buying clothes and it is true when hiring employees—sometimes it pays to spend a little more than you bargained for on real quality.
Spend money because it’s an investment in your own well-being, not because you’re bored and have nothing else to do. Don’t get all Versace-Versace-Versace and buy things just because you can. Luxury can be a great experience, and the things around you should represent the life that you’ve made for yourself, as long as you are taking the time to appreciate those items. I bought silverware recently, and when I was eating my yogurt this morning, I couldn’t help but think, This spoon is serious!
Don’t live like a CEO when you’re still a sandwich artist. The first car I bought after the Volvo wasn’t a Porsche—it was a used Nissan Murano. I loved this car. I put half down (around $10,000), financed the rest with an 11 percent interest rate (my first loan!), and was so excited about the horrible deal I had just gotten that I hugged the car salesman when he handed me the keys. I paid it off in full within the next year.
Last year I decided it was time to upgrade. One great thing about Los Angeles is that you can get away with being flamboyant with little consequence. It’s a car-centric city, where driving can be rush-hour hell or a hedonistic romp. Cruising down Sunset Boulevard with the Cramps blasting and palm trees silhouetted by the neon signs of strip clubs can sometimes repair the worst of my moods. When I went to buy the Porsche, I was ready to splurge. But me being me, I wanted to again put half down.
The dealership, however, put a kink in my well-laid plans for a financially responsible splurge. They wouldn’t give me a loan or a lease. Who would have guessed that Porsche had stingier financing than Nissan? And, as it turned out, even though I was now running my own company and had enough money to put down a hefty deposit, my credit was still only mediocre. It was a WTF moment that drove home to me how screwy the credit system is. I was reminded again that the common way is not always the best way. Therefore, I paid cash for that Porsche. A #GIRLBOSS has gotta do what a #GIRLBOSS has gotta do.
This time, when I got my keys, nobody got a hug. And no, it wasn’t because I was bitter about the financing. It’s that buying the Porsche, in all of its German-engineered perfection, just wasn’t as special. Nothing will ever compare to the first time I bought myself a car, because it simply can’t be done again.