⭐ 3 big money mistakes to avoid in 2026 ⭐

I hope you’re having the best start to the new year, friend! 🥂

I’m starting our new year strong with 3 of the biggest money mistakes to avoid.

From my six years in corporate accounting and my work with creative founders, I’ve noticed something consistent. Every healthy, profitable business manages three core strategies well. In other words, f you got these 3 strategies down, you’re doing something right and you’ll notice it.

Here they are:

• Earning strategy (your cash flow)

• Spending strategy (your expenses)

• Planning Strategy (your taxes)

OK, I know that sounds so simple, but many business owners get at least one of these wrong! Today, I’ll share one common mistake in each area that you can start fixing ASAP.

MISTAKE #1: Paying yourself sporadically or based on gut feelings.

When owner pay changes randomly, it becomes impossible to know what cash is truly available. This leads to overdrafts, missed savings goals, and reliance on debt during low months.

⭐️ Pay yourself a fixed monthly baseline ⭐️

Choose a conservative monthly owner pay you can afford even in your lowest revenue months. This is not your maximum pay. It is your minimum guaranteed pay. When revenue is higher, you can take additional payments intentionally, not emotionally.

Action: Add up your personal must have expenses. That total can be the minimum amount you aim to reserve for yourself each month!

BTW I’m coming out with a free take-home pay calculator in a few weeks. If you want help figuring out a safe monthly owner pay, even with inconsistent income, then this will be oh so beneficial to you. Since you’re on my list, you’re sure to be notified on its arrival first!

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MISTAKE #2: Spending because you’re waiting for that big payday.

This looks like waiting for a new offer, a launch, better marketing, or a viral moment to fix your cash issues. You know, that one big break that’ll cover all your small bank balance or debt. And then you spend more to help you get that big break. When it doesn’t work, spending turns into more pressure, and over time, it becomes something you feel numb to.

⭐️ Only spend on what you need right now ⭐️

Action: No more FOMO spending. No buying tools for problems you don’t currently have. Spend only on things that directly support current cash flow, sales, or systems today and now! Aim to get your expenses to a place where every expense brings a clear return on investment (ROI).

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MISTAKE #3: Saving for taxes only annually or quarterly, or not at all.

When taxes are not saved for consistently, they turn into surprise bills. Those bills drain your reserves or get pushed onto debt! Back taxes become another form of debt too.

⭐️ Save for taxes monthly as income comes in. ⭐️

Don’t wait for your accountant to tell you what to do after the fact. Taxes are part of your planning strategy. When you save as you earn, taxes stop feeling scary and stop competing with everything else. Why this matters: monthly saving keeps taxes predictable and prevents them from becoming emergency debt.

Action: Set aside a percentage of your net profit each month, not revenue. This keeps tax savings aligned with what you truly earned and prevents over or under saving.

Teeny bit of math to get you started

Net profit (sales minus expenses) × 30 percent
(or whatever your true tax rate is)

= How much to save for taxes this month

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If there is one takeaway here, it is this.

Money gets messy when there is no plan.

That is usually when debt shows up!

Random pay creates stress.
Hope based spending creates debt.
Avoided taxes create surprises.

⭐️ The good news is that it’s fixable! ⭐️

This is exactly what I help with inside my strategic advisory. We build a clear plan for cash flow, owner pay, and taxes so you can stop reacting and start making decisions with confidence.

If you want support putting this into action, it’d be my honor to help!

Just click apply below to express your interest in seeing if we’re a good fit.

Cheering you on, always.

xo,

Lika Shim