Hiring a Personal CFO

TLDR; I want to hire someone to help me with family budgeting and finances.

Personal finances are a touchy subject and this is no exception to that rule.

I need someone to help me with my family's personal finances.

It's embarrassing for me to admit that, honestly. Maybe it shouldn't be, but it is! As a 32-year-old, I feel like I should have my finances completely under control and know where every single dollar currently is or where it's going. There aren't even that many dollars! But still, I don't know where they're going. So, I'm looking to hire a bookkeeper / "Personal CFO" / budgeting expert for my family and me.

I know a lot of people struggle with personal finances, but hardly no one ever talks about it.

There has been a sense of guilt or shame around it for me. Like everyone else is on top of all of their stuff, but I'm a unique failure. I know that that isn't true, but it sure feels true. Especially when you go look at the /r/FIRE subreddit and people are saying stuff like "just got my first job, planning to retire in 6 months."

In the past I've tried all kinds of things. I've tried Mint, YNAB, EveryDollar, Tiller, my own spreadsheets... everything. But it only takes missing a couple of days to miss a few weeks, and then a few weeks turn into months, and then the burden to dig out becomes too much and I just decide to ignore it for a while.

A couple of months later the whole cycle starts over (but with a new tool this time!)

About Us

My wife and I recently had twins, and she quit her job to stay at home with them. Before we had kids and she quit, it was moderately important that we be on top of our finances. Now that we have two (!) kids and one (!) income, it's way more important.

In the past I've felt I can't outsource getting help on this because that means I'm a failure. But now I care more about getting it all under control than I car about a sense of pride or self-sufficiency. So what if I need help? People hire coaches for all kinds of things!

What I'm Looking For

I'm looking for someone with a keen interest in personal finances.

Not a CPA or a CFA, but someone to work with me on a much more granular level. If you're super into YNAB or frequent the FIRE subreddit, you're perfect.

This is definitely not a full time position, so I'm very cool with a nights and weekends deal, or if you're a stay-at-home parent and want just a bit of work, this may be perfect for you. I imagine it will be a handful of hours a week. Let me know what your hourly rate is.

It will mostly consist of working in YNAB, categorizing transactions, and having a call once a week with me to go over the past week and make suggestions or ask questions.

If you're really into personal finance, I'm all ears. What do you think I should be doing? I'll run it by my accountant and see what happens! Don't worry, I won't ever take Financial Advice from you, that's probably illegal or something. Who knows.

Couldn't You Just?

Yeah, I could. And trust me I've tried! I've tried all sorts of budgeting tools, reminders, spreadsheets. Everything you can think of, but nothing has stuck.

Maybe one day I won't need a buddy to help, but for now I still do.

This Will Never Work

Ok so here's the thing though, nothing else has worked either. So it's worth a shot.

Getting in Touch

You can email me at aarondfrancis@gmail.com if you think you're a fit. Please share this around to your circle of friends if you think someone might be interested!