Prefer to listen? Press play above and come hang with me while we talk about the surprising reason “saving more” might be keeping you stuck.
You clicked this post and you might be a little mad at me right now.
Because “you should save less” sounds… illegal? Like something a financial advisor would never say out loud. And if you grew up on Dave Ramsey-style money advice, your nervous system is probably doing that thing where it tries to climb out of your body.
So let me start with a very important disclaimer:
I’m not saying you shouldn’t have savings.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t have an emergency fund.
I love an emergency fund.
What I am talking about is over-saving — the kind of saving that stops being security and starts becoming a hiding place.
The kind of “saving” that looks responsible… but feels like a clenched fist
If you’re a creative entrepreneur, there’s a good chance your income is inconsistent. You have high months and low months. Busy seasons and quiet seasons. Launch months and “why is no one buying anything?” months.
So it makes total sense to want a cushion.
But sometimes saving becomes less about preparing for reality… and more about trying to protect yourself from an imagined worst-case scenario that your brain keeps replaying.
Over-saving often shows up when:
- you don’t fully trust your income yet
- you don’t trust yourself to figure it out if things change
- you’re afraid a big money emergency is always around the corner
- you don’t know what to do with your money besides “put it in savings”
- money felt unsafe earlier in life, so now you default to hyper-vigilance
And I want to be really clear: if this is you, I’m not here to shame you.
A lot of our behaviors around money are tied to needs, wounds, and survival patterns. You didn’t “make this up.” You adapted.
But you also deserve to feel safe without building a wall of cash to hide behind.
Step one: get realistic about what your emergency fund actually is
For most small business owners, a healthy emergency fund is usually 6–12 months of expenses.
And notice the word I just used: expenses — not income.
Expenses includes everything it takes to keep your life and business running:
- paying yourself
- paying your team / contractors
- software + subscriptions
- insurance
- client delivery costs (editing tools, gallery fees, etc.)
- equipment maintenance
- any recurring business overhead
Because if you’re going to build safety, you want it based on what you truly need — not vibes.
A quick story: when the emergency fund goalpost keeps moving
Here’s what I see all the time (and maybe you’ll recognize yourself):
You start saving and you’re like, “Okay, I want 3 months.”
Then: “Actually, 6 months would feel better.”
Then: “Let’s do 12.”
And then the goalpost quietly shifts again, because saving is the one money move that always feels “safe.”
You hit $44,000 and think, “$50,000 is such a nice round number.”
You hit $50,000 and think, “$75,000 was my old salary… that would feel safer.”
You hit $75,000 and think, “Well… what if something really bad happens?”
And suddenly you’re not saving for an emergency fund anymore. You’re saving to soothe anxiety.
The “months of expenses” test (this changes everything)
If you think you might be an over-saver, try this:
- Look at how much you have in savings
- Look at your monthly expenses
- Divide savings by expenses = how many months you could survive
Let’s use the example from the episode:
- Savings: $100,000
- Monthly expenses: $5,000
That’s 20 months of expenses.
Meaning: if nothing changed and you didn’t make a single dollar, you could still pay your bills, pay yourself, and keep your business running for almost two years.
First of all: wow. That’s impressive. That’s leadership. That’s safety-building.
And also…
Let’s be for real.
You can figure it out in a year.
You can probably figure it out in six months.
It’s very unlikely that you’ll make zero dollars for the next 20 months. And if you ever were headed toward that, you wouldn’t just sit there and watch the ship go down.
You would pivot. You’d market. You’d sell. You’d pitch new clients. You’d adjust your offers. You’d get a part-time job. You’d change your strategy.
Over-saving often assumes you’ll become powerless in a crisis — and that’s rarely true.
So yes: keep 6–12 months of expenses accessible.
But beyond that? That extra cash can do so much more for you.
If you’re going to save, at least let your savings work a little
One easy upgrade: put your emergency fund in a high-yield savings account.
A traditional savings account might earn basically nothing. A high-yield savings account usually earns meaningfully more, while still being accessible when you need it.
The point isn’t to turn your emergency fund into a risky investment. The point is to stop letting your money sit in the corner like it’s in timeout.
Why over-saving happens (especially for creatives)
Over-saving is often a substitute for clarity.
If you don’t know what’s coming in next month…
If you don’t know what you’ll owe in taxes…
If you don’t know whether your cash flow will cover your quiet season…
If you don’t know what your profit margins actually are…
Then saving becomes the easiest “solution.” You build a cash castle and tell yourself, “I’m safe.”
But you don’t actually feel safe — you just feel temporarily relieved.
This is where money coaching for creative entrepreneurs can be a complete game-changer, because instead of relying on fear-based saving, you start relying on skills.
What to do instead of over-saving
If you’re sitting on more than 12 months of expenses, here are three places to look — and the order matters.
1) Cash flow clarity (so you trust your income)
When you can map your cash flow across the year, you stop needing “just in case” savings for everything.
You can look at your calendar and say:
- These are my high months
- These are my booked projects
- These are my planned expenses + vacations
- These are the gaps I need to fill
- This is where I might need to lean on savings a little
And once you can do that consistently? Trust grows.
Not because nothing ever goes wrong — but because you’ve proven you know how to respond when it does.
2) Tax strategy (so you stop panic-saving 30%)
A lot of creatives default to saving a huge percentage “for taxes” because they don’t know what they’ll actually owe.
But when you understand your tax strategy (and yes, that includes knowing your entity type, what you’re writing off, and having an actual plan), you can check in mid-year and say:
- this is my projected tax bill
- this is what I’ve already saved
- am I pacing to cover it? yes/no
- what do I change if I’m not?
And if you are pacing? You get to take your foot off the brakes.
3) Investment strategy (so your extra cash builds your future)
Some people over-save because they genuinely don’t know what else to do.
And this is where your long-term strategy comes in — retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, and the different “pockets” available to business owners.
Because money sitting in a regular savings account can feel safe… but it’s often not doing much for your future.
Even investing $100/month (at an average 8% return) can grow meaningfully over time — not because you’re doing anything fancy, but because compound growth is real.
The real takeaway
Saving is a skill. It’s served you. It matters.
But if your savings is keeping you from:
- investing in your business
- paying yourself more
- making decisions from clarity instead of fear
- building long-term wealth
- taking care of yourself like a whole human
…then it’s not protection anymore. It’s a ceiling.
And the cure for money anxiety usually isn’t “save more.”
It’s: learn your numbers, build your systems, and trust yourself again.
You have what it takes to run a money-confident business.
And if you want support building the skills (cash flow, taxes, investing, paying yourself), I’d love to support you inside Breadwinner.
