Once on a mission to achieve financial freedom, now on a mission to bring others along for the journey is Grace Aitchison Anderson, an accountant by day and a business owner by evening, crafting planners, budget books, and money challenges through her company, Walking into Financial Freedom, to help people become financially fit.

“A budget is the foundation. Without one, it’s easy to lose track of where your money is going,” said Aitchison Anderson while speaking with the Jamaica Observer.

Combining her expertise as an accountant with her entrepreneurial drive, Aitchison Anderson first started a stationery business under the name Grace by Faith and Grace, designing and printing notebooks, bookmarks, and stickers in 2022. By 2023, Aitchison Anderson’s business model shifted to include faith-based budget planners and savings challenges.

“Debt was knocking, hence the frustration to get a side hustle. And so in getting that side hustle, I was now able to say, you know what? I’m going to start budgeting. I’m going to now start paying off my debt and now be financially free,” Aitchison Anderson shared as the motivation behind the business.

In a sit-down with the Business Observer, Aitchison Anderson shared the financial challenges that stemmed from poor treatment at her previous job and growing debts. Seeking a way to regain control, she took a leap of faith and resigned, starting a side hustle in stationery printing as an outlet for her frustration. She invested nearly $500,000 in materials and equipment, including a printing machine to make physical copies as well as selling print-on-demand designs online. By 2023, after becoming debt-free and beginning to save and invest, Aitchison Anderson was inspired to create a budget and savings planner to help others establish a strong financial foundation.

“If you don’t know how to save, you won’t know how to invest. You could receive $2 million today and not know what to do with it,” Aitchison Anderson explained.

By 2024, Walking into Financial Freedom launched with a collection of budget planners and savings challenge tools, including the 100-Day Savings Challenge book. The books were designed to simplify financial planning and goal tracking. Once the 100-day challenge is completed, entries can be erased using rubbing alcohol, due to the reusable plastic material enabling users to start the challenge again. The 100-Day Savings Challenge book, however, is its newest addition, which Aitchison Anderson said was inspired by trying to target children, helping them to see it as a fun activity.

“The 100-Day Savings Challenge book isn’t just about saving; it’s about building a habit,” Aitchison Anderson explained.

The 100-Day Savings Challenge book is a reusable financial tool that simplifies saving by allowing users to track daily deposits by writing on a plastic material that allows children to write with a marker and erase entries with rubbing alcohol and restart the challenge. Aitchison Anderson believes that motivating children to save can also influence adult behaviour. She explained that when children complete the 100-Day Savings Challenge, they often approach their parents, asking what’s next.

“This, it forces the parent to go and say, ‘Hey, let’s see what you can do to invest in; let’s see what account we can open; we can go to a bank’, and all I can do that in the child’s name; they don’t have to wait until they’re 18,” she said.

While her personal planners remain bestsellers through her social media pages on Instagram and TikTok, Aitchison Anderson is seeing growing interest in her faith-based budget planners as people seek tools to break down income and track spending. Each planner includes motivational scriptures to inspire users as they take charge of their finances. Aitchison Anderson believes her tools can help people achieve financial independence that extends to future generations.

“Imagine children saving from a young age, opening accounts in their names, and entering adulthood without debt,” she said. “By the time they reach tertiary education, they may not need student loans.”

Aitcheson Anderson shows her Walking into Financial Freedom planner which helps people to budget and organise their finances, help them to reduce or eliminate debt and get back on the path to financial freedom. (Joseph Wellington)

An inside peek of two planners by Walking into Financial Freedom which has new challenges each week/month to encourage the practice of saving. (Joseph Wellington)

Kick those debts to the curb with a plan