Money Mindset and Pricing That Supports Your Life

If money makes you squirm or you’ve ever avoided checking your bank account even when client work is steady… you’re not alone. This lesson in my Seven Lessons in Seven Years series is one I had to learn the messy way.

Money mindset, pricing, profit, taxes—it all came in fast and loud during both of my maternity leaves. And if you’re a creative business owner or service provider, this might sound familiar.

Let’s talk about what actually changed things for me.

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Charging What You Think People Will Pay Isn’t a Strategy

When I first launched Monarch Design Co., I priced everything based on guesses.
What would someone pay? What felt comfortable? What wouldn’t scare anyone away?

That led to being overworked, underpaid, and constantly worried about whether the next invoice would carry us through another month.

And here’s the part that still makes me cringe:
I was teaching graphic design at the college level, yet I still questioned whether I was “allowed” to raise my rates. Imposter syndrome was living in my head rent-free.

If you’ve ever felt like raising your prices might make people think differently of you, I’ve been there. Truly.

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Raising Your Rates Doesn’t Make You Greedy—it Makes You Responsible

Everything shifted when I finally raised my rates based on the real cost of running my business—time, tools, contractors, taxes, profit, and the support my clients actually needed.

You know what happened?

I didn’t lose clients.
I gained the right ones.

Clients who respected the process.
Clients who paid on time.
Clients who were ready to invest and follow through.

When you price from a place of intention instead of fear, everything becomes clearer. You stop scrambling and start making decisions that support your life, not just your workload.

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The Tax Bill That Took My Breath Away

Here’s the story I wish someone had told me years earlier.

As a self-employed mom, I didn’t qualify for the standard Canadian maternity leave. That meant saving every spare dollar during pregnancy—while my husband was out of work—and planning a three-month leave with a newborn and a toddler.

Then tax season hit.

What I thought was my “worst-case scenario” bill ended up being double what I expected. Overnight, every dollar I saved for maternity leave was gone.

Three months of leave turned into three weeks.

That experience changed everything. Not because of the money itself, but because I realized I had built a business without clear, realistic financial systems. I was working hard but not planning in a way that protected my family.

Now I set aside at least 50% into a separate account and work closely with financial support so I always know what’s coming.

If you run a creative business:
tax planning is not optional. It’s part of being able to rest, plan, and actually trust your numbers.

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Sales Look Good on Instagram—but Profit Is What Pays Your Bills

For years, I celebrated every new booking without asking the real question:
Is this offer profitable?

Shifting out of hourly work and into structured, strategic offers changed everything.
VIP Days. VIP Weeks. Semi-custom websites. Project-based pricing.
Offers that allow me to deliver real results without trading time for dollars.

I also moved my pricing into USD, because almost all of my business expenses and contractor payments happen in USD. It wasn’t sustainable to charge in CAD and constantly lose margin on the exchange rate. Creating consistency here helped me pay myself properly—and support my team better.

For local clients, I sometimes offer a small adjustment, but keeping things in USD has given me clarity, stability, and far less stress.

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What I Want You to Take Away From This

You can love your work, deliver amazing experiences, and still feel stuck financially if your pricing and mindset aren’t supporting your actual life.

You deserve stability.
You deserve breathing room.
You deserve to be paid fairly for the transformation you deliver.

Money doesn’t have to feel uncomfortable.
It becomes a lot less scary when you understand your numbers, price with intention, and build offers that support the real cost of running your business.

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Tune Into the Full Episode

If this lesson hit home, the full podcast episode goes even deeper into the shifts, the real numbers, and the mistakes I’ll never repeat again.

Listen to Lesson 3 on The Self Made Life Podcast.