Financial Tips for Roofers

By Amie L. Grant, Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc.

These roofing industry veterans share tips on making the most of finances in a cyclical industry where pay might not be steady all year long.

In the roofing industry, hours can fluctuate greatly depending on the time of year, the weather, and other factors.  For some, that can make managing finances a real challenge.  According to CareerBuilder, 78% of U.S. workers are living paycheck to paycheck and nearly 3 out of every 4 workers say they are in debt.  It probably comes as no surprise that financial stress is the top cause of stress for Americans.

To gather some financial tips, I turned to some experts at WTI:  Russell Wilbanks, Regional Business Manager from Florida, Joe Lee, Regional Manager from Florida, and Paul Trujillo, Field Resources Supervisor from Wisconsin.  These gentlemen have a combined 80 years in the industry and invaluable insight on this topic.

Decrease Your Spending and Increase Your Savings

Most Americans do not have the recommended six months of emergency savings put away.  An estimated 56% of U.S. workers are saving less than $100 per month.  Are there some areas where you can cut costs?  Small savings across a few areas can add up. 

Paul:  One way to save is to buy your work clothes at a second-hand shop to save money on clothing that will likely get ruined on the job anyway. 

Joe: Take a look at your energy costs at home.  If you can get on a budget plan with your utility companies, you’ll have the same payment each month instead of one that fluctuates with use. 

Where else can you save?  Can you cut back on entertainment (going out to eat, cable, subscription services) or adjust your heating/cooling by a few degrees?  Use those extra dollars towards something else, like paying down a debt or contributing to a savings or investment account. 

Many studies show that shopping and spending money actually release dopamine in your brain.  Overspending feels good (at least in the moment)!  It can be helpful to examine areas where you tend to overspend to get at the reason(s) behind your habits.  Are you trying to keep up with someone else’s lifestyle?  Are you buying yourself something (clothing, electronics, food) to improve your mood?  Are there certain friends you are with when you typically overdo it?  Can you unsubscribe from those marketing emails in your inbox, or do you find yourself justifying unnecessary shopping because “it was on sale?”  If you can identify underlying causes or patterns in your spending, you might be able to change some of those habits.

An easy way to painlessly start saving more is to use an app.  Acorns rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar and invests the difference for you.  For example, if you charge something that is $4.25, it would round the amount up to $5.00 and put the $0.75 to work for you.  TipYourself does just what it sounds like – allows you to tip yourself.  You can use this as an incentive for something you want to reward yourself for (ex. If you are trying to work out more, tip yourself $5 every time you do).

Managing Expense Reimbursements and Extra Cash

Many roofing professionals receive reimbursement checks for mileage, meals, and other costs. 

Russell:  Have a separate account for reimbursement checks and resist the urge to use that money for other expenses.  If you receive reimbursements for using your personal vehicle, put that money aside for when routine (or not so routine) maintenance is needed.  You’ll be glad you did when it is time for insurance payments or new tires.

Joe:  This topic also provides an opportunity if you are in a leadership position.  No one intends to be bad with managing their money, so if you have the chance to reinforce good habits on a toolbox talk or during the hiring process, do it!  You might also choose to check in frequently on how your team is doing – that accountability factor can go a long way.

Paul:  Don’t base your life and your future spending on prevailing wages.  When you do have that extra money in hand from a prevailing wage job, overtime, or even a bonus, it can be tempting to blow through it.  Try to balance enjoying life with your family and staying disciplined.  Put extra money to work – add to your emergency savings or make an extra payment on a loan.

Investing and Retirement

Does your company offer retirement, stock, or other financial investment benefits?  Are you taking advantage of employer-matching to its fullest?

Russell:  If your company allows it, have money for retirement, savings, stocks, etc. automatically taken out of your check every pay.  After a while, you won’t miss it – and not having the money in your hand eliminates the temptation to spend it.

You can never start too early when it comes to saving for retirement, but don’t be discouraged if you are starting late!  Retirement calculators can help you see where you are at and give you individualized suggestions on what you can do to meet your goals.

Paying Off Debt

Joe:  Review the different loan balances you have, and while you continue to make the minimum payment on all of them, work to make extra payments to the one with the lowest balance.  Getting one loan paid off (even if it is the smallest one) will help you stay motivated to keep going.  From there move to the next smallest balance, and so on.

It can be bad for your credit to revolve your credit card balances on a regular basis, but often you can find credit cards with balance transfer offers as low as 0%.  If you have credit card balances with high interest rates, transferring balances to a no-interest (or lower interest) card can give you a little bit of breathing room, as well as make a big difference in how much you pay in the long run. 

Joe:  There are great free resources out there to help you monitor your credit score, manage your budget, and get suggestions on products (like those low or no interest balance transfer offers) that might work for you.  Credit Karma allows you to check your credit score any time, without harming your credit.  Mint allows you to keep tabs on your credit, too, as well as link your various accounts to help you create and monitor a budget.

Budgeting Plans to Fit Your Real Life

Lastly, we wanted to leave you with some budgeting tools.  Traditional budgets are hard to stick to, especially if you don’t have the same amount of income and expenses each month.  Budget plans often lack flexibility when, in reality, no two months are the same for any of us.  Would an unexpected car repair, medical bill, or home maintenance emergency throw your household into financial chaos?

Below are two alternative, easy-to-follow budget plans that are designed for people whose income is not always predictable.

Zero-Based Budgeting

Instead of living paycheck to paycheck, zero-based budgeting urges you to use last month’s income to pay this month’s bills.  To start this budget plan, track all of your expenses for a few months so you can see exactly where your money is going. 

Next, create budget categories based on what your individual needs are.  Any leftover dollars after your monthly bills are paid are also assigned to categories – every single dollar has a job.  For example, if you typically have $500 leftover after your monthly bills are paid, you might plan for $200 to an emergency savings or retirement account, $200 for restaurants and entertainment, and $100 to save for an upcoming vacation.  If you have a month with less income than usual, you can adjust that $500 (you might choose not to go to restaurants or contribute to your vacation fund that month).  And since you are using last month’s earnings to pay your bills, you have a built-in buffer.

If this budget sounds like one that might work for you, there is a great article on Moneycrashers.com that lays out the process in easy to follow steps. 

50-20-30 Budgeting

This budgeting strategy splits your take-home pay into just three categories.  50% should go to needs: your housing expenses (rent/mortgage, utilities), food, minimum payments, and other monthly essentials.  20% goes to savings and investments, and the remaining 30% is for wants: dining, entertainment, cable and subscription services, etc.  One nice thing about this plan is that the three categories are flexible.  Maybe you’d like to focus more on paying down debts – you can easily adjust this to a 70%, 20%, 10% plan.

NerdWallet has more information about this budget type and a budget calculator you can plug your income into to find out how much you should spend in each category.

WTI leads with safety and we care about the whole technician.  If you are interested in checking out our employment opportunities and competitive benefits, click here to see our active job postings.