Stop Stealing From Yourself: Why Fixing Your Personal Finances is the Key to Financial Freedom

In case you missed this memo, your business isn’t your emergency ATM. And your personal bank account? It’s not a slush fund. But if you’re like most entrepreneurs, you’ve probably blurred the lines more than once.

Realizing this was my “ah-ha” moment. I realized that we don’t just need business cash systems. We need personal ones, too. Otherwise, we end up doing what far too many smart business owners do: raiding the business every time our personal finances get messy.

This week’s focus? Protect your profit from… yourself.

Why you need a personal finance system

So many entrepreneurs tell themselves they just need to make a little more money, land a few more clients, and hit one more big launch. Then the chaos will calm down.

Wrong.

Without a personal financial system, more money just means more stress. It gives you more to manage, more to mess up, and more to misallocate.

Let’s break down the common personal finance mistakes I see over and over:

1. Mixing business and personal money

It’s a trust-breaker. It messes with your books, your brain, and the IRS. One of the fastest ways to lose track of what’s working in your business is to let personal spending creep into it.

2. Using your business to patch personal shortfalls

You’re fixing a disorder in your personal life by creating disorder in your business. That’s not strategy. That’s a band-aid with interest.

3. Paying personal bills with credit cards to “save” cash for payroll

That’s not profit. That’s panic, dressed up as planning. And it always catches up with you.

You need to create a structure around your personal finances using the same principles. It gives you clarity, control, and confidence in your day-to-day decisions.

You need a system built on:

• Core accounts that automate saving, spending, and protecting your peace of mind
• Fixed salary for yourself so you live within real limits (not your business’s peaks)
• Quarterly profit distributions that elevate your life, not fund your month-to-month survival

Put simply: you deserve a life of freedom, not financial firefighting.

The reality: Most entrepreneurs are stealing from themselves

If you treat your business like a buddy spotting you lunch money, you’re not only shortchanging your future, you’re sabotaging your stability.

Instead:

• Put yourself on a fixed salary.
• Let your personal lifestyle match your income, not your business bank balance.
• Use profit distributions to elevate your life, not to fund poor planning.

Financial freedom habit, not hope.

Here’s what no one tells you: most people don’t need more money. They need better systems.

Financial freedom isn’t about the amount in your account. It’s about being able to breathe when you check your balance. It’s about making decisions from values, not fear. It’s about knowing your business is solid because you’re not bleeding it dry.

Want to dig deeper? Here’s where I break it all down:

• The Money Habit (Chapter 2): The five accounts that change everything.
• Profit First (Chapter 2): How to treat profit like a habit, not a hope.
• Fix This Next (Chapter 4): Why profit comes first—and what happens when you skip it.

Let me leave you with this, from Warren Buffett: “Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving.”

This is your turning point. Protect your money. Build your peace. And most of all, stop stealing from yourself.

You deserve a financial system that sets you free.

-Mike

Grab your copy of The Money Habit on Bookshop.org