5 Financial Tips for the New Year

If there is one thing that all horse people need but most hate to deal with, it’s money.  Making money in horses is hard work, but spending money on horses is not only easy but necessary.  We have all heard the phrase: “a penny saved is a penny earned.”  In that sense, finding a way to be smart and save $30 is in some sense the same as spending an hour teaching a lesson for $30.  Rebecca Gershowitz, who is a certified financial specialist from Richmond, Virginia was kind enough to write an article about a few tips that she gives her horse inclined clients.  You can find more information about Rebecca and her company, Clear Point, at their website.   As always, talk to a financial professional before making big financial decisions–this is just a list of a few things to think about.  Thanks for writing this Rebecca and thank you for reading.

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From Rebecca:

(1)    Share and Share Alike

If you board your horse or take lessons at a farm with a bunch of other people, then chances are that others have some of the same items that you may want or need and vice-versa. Find a buddy and share whatcha got! If you can come to an agreement on everything, then you may be able to get by with borrowing until it becomes absolutely necessary to buy. My friend and I both have skinny, high-withered OTTB’s, so we share my narrow County dressage saddle, and that has worked out great so far! She and I showed together all season long at the same level and luckily never ran into an issue of overlapping dressage times. And she is always kind enough to share bits/studs/grooming supplies/etc, so it’s a great symbiotic relationship! Just be sure that you always treat others’ items with respect: clean any tack after you’ve used it, put everything back where you found it, only use it when you know the owner won’t need it, and always repair or replace if you’ve damaged it.

 

(2)    You Scratch My Back . . .

So, even if you don’t have a lot of “stuff” to share, what about sharing your talents? Maybe you really want your horse to be body-clipped but don’t own the clippers or have the confidence to take on that task yourself. Perhaps a friend would be willing to help you or do it for you if you agree to braid her horse for the next (several) shows. Or maybe with the time change, you aren’t able to get out to the barn on week nights after work before it gets too dark/too dang cold to ride. So you now have a horse who is getting 5-day vacations each week and you still have to pay full board and lessons on the weekends. Ask your trainer if he or she would be willing to use your horse in the lessons program in trade-out for credit towards your board or free or discounted lessons for you on the weekends. Or maybe on your weekends, you can pitch in on farm chores for credit towards board. Time is money, so see if you can use your time to help pay for some of the things that you need!

 

(3)    You Better Shop Around Part I

Sadly, all tack shops are not created equally. There is something to be said for loyalty, but loyalty doesn’t necessarily help the ol’ bank account! When you need something, check all the regular online tack shops in addition to calling your local store to see where you can get the best price. And sometimes you can save big bucks by obsessively stalking perusing Ebay and other used tack resources. Remember my County dressage saddle? It was in great shape when I got it, just a couple of years old, and had the special panels I was looking for. And even after adjustments were done by my lovely saddle-fitter, I had spent less than $1000. Brand new would have been around $2500 if not more.  Also, try looking in unconventional places for some of the things you need. Sometimes you can find supplements cheaper through amazon.com than you could by looking to traditional resources. There are deals out there; you just have to be patient, persistent, and resourceful. And if you don’t have time to search the ‘net for deals, maybe you have a friend who has a boring office job. She may be happy to help you search in between her regular daily tasks and continual checks of EN (but be sure that your friend isn’t putting her job at risk in the process!!!).

 

(4)    You Better Shop Around Part II

We all know that there’s tons of liability when it comes to owning and operating a horse farm especially if you care for others’ horses, allow other people to ride on your farm, and either teach lessons yourself or have someone else teach lessons there, too. So even though insurance is super expensive, going without just isn’t an option. But when’s the last time you reviewed your policies and rates? Have you compared your premiums to other companies’? Do you have several different companies insuring different aspects of your business (one company for your truck, another for your farm, another for liability)? If it’s been a few years since you’ve looked at it, it may be time to check into it all again, and see if you can get one company to cover everything- they will often give discounts if you hold multiple policies. Don’t cut back on your coverage any more than necessary just to save on monthly premiums. The worst time to find out that you don’t have enough insurance is when it comes time to file a claim. Even if you don’t have your own horse farm, look into your personal insurance plans. You may be able to save money on those policies and put that money into something much more fun!

 

(5)    Lean on me!

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is ask for help when you find yourself in a tough spot. As a horse person, I know I am often guilty of trying to do it all and fix it all myself rather than ask for help, and I know many others that are exactly like me. But you can easily start to feel overwhelmed and think you might have gotten yourself in over your head by trying to juggle board, the truck payment, the trailer payment, vet and farrier bills, feed, supplements, new tack, show fees, training, schooling, clinics . . . the list goes on and on, and sometimes we feel like it’s easier to just not think about it. Especially when you couple horse-related expenses with your everyday life expenses! And if it’s spending outside of the barn that is causing you to run short, look for credible resources to help you. Companies like mine (http://www.clearpointcreditcounselingsolutions.org/) can help you reassess your existing budget (or help you create one!) for free, and if you are having problems with credit cards or your mortgage, we may be able to help you there, too. Just be sure that any source you look to has your best interest in mind. Check them out through the Better Business Bureau (http://www.bbb.org/), and ask lots of questions before entering into any sort of agreement. We all love Sport Horse Nation, but the last thing you want to do is post a For Sale ad because you can’t afford to keep your beloved equine partner. So stay on top of your finances, and if you see a problem coming, address it and ask for help if you need it before that problem becomes too big to manage.

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