Money Management Made Simple | Budget Besties | Work Like A Mother Podcast, Episode 33

In Episode 33 of the Work Like a Mother Podcast, listeners are in for a treat as Marina sits down with two savvy moms, Shana and Vanessa, who are experts in working within your financial situation to plan for the future without sacrificing quality. Dubbed the "Budget Besties," these resourceful ladies share their top tips, tricks, and strategies for managing family finances, finding the best deals, and making the most of a budget. From high-level financial planning to managing buckets for daily spending, this episode is packed with practical advice and inspirational stories that prove you don't need to fear managing your money. Tune in to discover how you can become a budget bestie, too!

Mentioned in this episode:

The Influential Personal Brand Podcast

Procrastinate on Purpose

Budget Besties

https://budgetbesties.com/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/financialcoachingforwomen

Financial Coaching for Women Podcast

Marina Tolentino
https://www.marinatolentino.com/
Instagram
YouTube
Get Work Like A Mother delivered directly to your inbox! Click here.

Listen to Work Like A Mother
Apple
Spotify
Or any of your favorite platforms!


Affiliate Links to Save You $$$
Moo
Nuuly
CE Shop
Flodesk
Amazon Storefront
Castmagic
OpusClip
Oura

Transcript

0:00

We need to take your total amount of annual bills, divide that by twelve and put it in your budget. So you're consistently budgeting for them and it's still part of your monthly expenses because you're going to need that money regardless. And so then when you're at the grocery store, you're getting groceries for the week, you have your grocery bank account, you know exactly how much you have. And the other thing is, you know, it's going to get refunded on that next paycheck, but it's going to take you a minute to set up the system to train the assistant on what to do, and then it's all done for you. So right now, if you want to invest, you, you know, a couple hours to set this up, you're gonna save weeks, basically, over the next few years, you know, it's gonna pay off. You don't have time not to. You don't have brain calories not to. You don't have, like, the stress that having to transfer in the moment, having to do math in the moment. Hey, we ain't got time or brain calories for that. And I can say from experience as being the spender in my relationship, not the saver, that if I just print out my bank statements and take 15 minutes to get organized before I go to my husband, I'm already a teacher's pet. So wherever you wanna be. Bougie. And you just have to get it on paper. All right. Today I have some very special guests. Not one, but two, some dear ladies, and they are Vanessa and Shawna from ideal balance. So they're co CEO's, master financial coaches, co hosts of the top 1.5% globally ranked podcast called Financial Coaching for women. Amazing. You guys are on episode 250 plus. It's incredible. So we're going to talk about that, too. And you have five children between the two of you, so welcome to the show. How are you guys? Oh, thank you. We're so good. Yeah, thanks for having us. Awesome. Okay, so let's kind of dive right into, like, we're going to talk finances, but I want to talk podcast show real quick. So you're on episode 200, 5251. How long have you been doing that? Hey, you're just as frightened as we are. Okay, so there's. So we do try to take time off. Okay. And we usually, our kids, the way that their schedules work, they have two weeks at a time off. And so she'll take one week and I'll take the next. That's a. What it used to be. And one week when she was off, I started a podcast for us. So that was fine. She was really excited about that, but it was just too easy to push that button to start a podcast. And so that was three years ago, I think. Right, because I think you were blogging, right. And it said, do you want to turn this into a podcast? And she was like, why? So she pressed the button, and then. It was a podcast that I told her. I was like, hey, I accidentally started as a podcast. Bright, shiny object. Yeah. And so then fast forward to two years of not really doing it very well. And then last year, we got super serious in April. Started recording three episodes or publishing, I should say three episodes a week. And it exploded. Exploded. And we're very grateful, but, yeah, yeah. We went through a program, and it just really taught us, you know, we. We kept saying, if we can just get in front of people, if we can just talk to them, if we can just. If we can just. We just, you know, and then finally, like, what is that funnel? How do we. How do we get in front of people and talk to them? And our community, we live in a very small town, and they didn't love us as much as we love them, so it's fine. So we didn't really have a funnel there, so we thought, well, we need to move online. And the podcast just kind of seemed like the right thing to do, and it really did. Like Shannon said, it exploded. Amazing. Yeah. I'm kind of in the same phase where I'm like, I feel like I've talked my local area's ear off, and they're just not getting it. And so I'm like, I need to expand myself, but I'm going on month five of the podcast, and so it's still in the baby phase. And, like, insecurity is constantly telling you, like, this is a waste of time, waste of money. Oh, yeah, I. Yeah, our coach that we sort of got connected through, I just heard him say recently, do it for a year without any expectation, and then it will accidentally take off. So just to put that bug in your ear, but to Vanessa's point, we did have this saying we wanted to level up Navarre because we live in a beach town, you know, sort of like you, a little different. And we wanted to level them up, but they did not want to be leveled up. They were like, no, thank you kindly. No, we'll leave. And so when we went global national, whatever you want to call it, a, um, then that's when people, the right people, started hearing the right. Our message. So that's really encouraging. Okay, now I'm excited. Um, so let's roll into money talk. Like, it's. It's a buzz. It's 2024. Like, crap is more expensive than ever. They just came out saying, like, buying a house or buying a house is the most expensive it's ever been in a really, really long time. So everyone's feeling the squeeze for me on the real estate side and then on the business owner side, too. I just feel like. Like we just got through tax season, and everyone's still hurting. Like, that is the talk around. So I want to kind of dive into this in a variety of ways, but let's kind of start off with marriage advice, because I think it's one of the biggest things that are. It's a constant friction, and especially when you have two different mindsets, a saver and a spender. So, what is your advice for couples, and how do they navigate their finances together? We actually just did a podcast on it. Yeah. Well, where do you want to start a couple? So there is. To your point, there's a lot of problems that we have. One, we have different money baggage that maybe couples are coming to the table with. We have different. What we were just talking about people hiding different things. So it's kind of not just, like, what my habits are with. With money, but then what I've accidentally done and forgot to tell you about. And then there is really the big problem, we think, is that they stop dreaming. So when you get married, when you're gonna get married, you have all these big, exciting dreams and hopes and visions for your future, and then, boom, life. You have kids, you have jobs, you have moves, you have, you know, you know, all of these different things, medical things. And then you stop dreaming, and therefore, your. Your money kind of takes the back burner. Yeah, you just forget your. Why? You know, like Shana said, you get so excited when you get married and you have all this vision, and then life happens, and then you forget, what? Why are we doing this? Why are we in this job? Why are we in this house? Why are we. When was the last time we went on vacation? Why do we want to go on vacation? You know, just all of that. And, you know, one time I asked the client this question, or I was actually a lead at that time, and she became a client, and I said, you know, what are your goals? What is your vision? What do you guys want to accomplish? And she started crying, and she said, nobody ever asked me that before. You know, so we would say, get back into that giddy mode of, you know, dreaming again with yourself. Start there. Yeah. And then, of course, you know, some basics are have a meeting together. So when you say there's one spending and one, one saver, there's somebody who's a nerd and somebody who's not, that's really. We are all nerds, so it's fine. But what we want to make sure that we do is we set aside time to talk about money, because believe it or not, if you're the nerd, the other person does not want to talk about budgets and spreadsheets and money as much as you do. Right. And so we want to set that time aside so that it does get done, but that we don't muddy the rest of the relationship and all of the things that are going on with money talk as well. Yeah. And also, you know, you come from completely different backgrounds, so nobody taught you how to manage your money, first of all. And then you get married and it's like, okay, not only do you have to manage yourself that you've not been taught, now you have to marriage, both of you, you know, you and your spouse's income, um, and your expenses and all that. Come bring it all together, and it's just all convoluted. Yeah. And like you said, people have different thoughts on it and different ways and how they were brought up, how they see money. And so we like to say we are unofficial marriage counselors. Whoops. Um, and also, you know, I had two sessions this week. Literally, I think we talked about money for five minutes. And mostly it was, they were crying. I was, you know, basically a therapist. It was fine. But that's what it's about so much. Our sessions are so much more than just money. Yeah, yeah. And it's such a life skill that we don't get taught as adults, you know, and it's, like, incredible and so impactful. Like, all of us get into credit card debt as soon as we go to college, and then we're screwed for the next ten years, and we just, like, constantly sabotage ourselves. But one of the things I'm finding, and we've been married on year eleven or twelve now, is we'll still get into, like, these phases of finger pointing, and I don't know where it comes from, but then we'll be, like, really good again, and then we'll go back to finger pointing and then be really good. What advice do you have when it starts to get there? Is there, like, scripts you can use to, like, snap us out of it or anything like that. When it starts to get real bickery. Oh, when it gets real bickery. I love that word. So again, we want to tie it back to the why. And I know that that sounds like woo woo or whatever, like random, but it really is. When you're sitting down again for that monthly and you, that that's probably the first step, is you have to sit down every month that if you notice that you're getting bickery, it's because you're not sitting down and being intentional. And so when you sit down, you still have to bring it back to the why. Okay. Are we still excited about our goals that we have, and then that puts you in the right mindset and that we're on a team. That's the thing we're on. This is our money. This is our goals. These are our bills. These are all the debts that we have created. It is us. There is zero pointing because it's us. Yeah. We like to tell people, like, there's so much power in the we and the hour, right, versus the you and the his and the her. Like, it doesn't matter who's working, who's not working, right. You are still putting as much time in and earning as much money as the other one. If they're not the same, or if one is earning all of it and you're earning zero of it, it's all ours. And what can we do together as a team to make this successful? Yeah, that's true. And I think that's probably where I slip out of it is, because we'll be, like, really good. And we have our monthly meeting, and then I'll go into business mode where the real estate business is my business. He's part. He's married to it, but, like, I run it. Right? And so I'm like, okay, this is my business money. And then I'm delegating those funds out without, like, he doesn't need to be consulted on every decision. But at the end of the day, I do have to report to him and say, this is where the money's going. This is what I'm spending. And so there's a big clash sometimes because I have all these goals that he's not necessarily on track with because I'm a million miles ahead. Right. Well, let me just also throw in there another way to kind of maybe resolve some of the. The not business stuff is we do recommend you each have your own spending money that, uh, and that's in the budget. Therefore, there is zero you don't have to be accountable for that at all. Like, you can spend that on whatever silly thing or awesome thing that you want. And then the, the reason that we want to talk about goals and actually get, we'll talk about our budget system. If you have savings buckets, I think that might also, we think that that might also help because if we're, if we know our goal is to save for this vacation, then we're both contributing to it, right? Versus I'm saving. Like you said, this is my goal and this is my goal over here. Now let's, let's put both of those. So we were just talking about a set of clients that are a couple that we have. They, he really wanted a big old chunk of money in savings and she really want to pay off the credit cards. And so we both have goals. We're going to put them in priority order. We know that no one's goal is, uh, is not going to happen. We're going to do them both. But we, we have to have that conversation. Hey, I'm sorry to interrupt and I hope you're enjoying this episode of the work like a mother podcast real quick. I just want to remind you guys, if you are worried about missing an episode, you don't have to worry anymore because we are creating a weekly email that's going to go out automatically every single time there's a brand new episode. And this email is going to have everything you need to know about this week's featured guests. It's going to have all of the links and the resources that we're going to talk about in this episode. So you don't have to go around and fumble through the show notes, but it's going to be served in your inbox every single week. So if you guys want that access, be sure to click below one time in the show notes today. Sign up for that email and then you'll never have to worry about it in the future. And bonus, if you really love this, we'd love it if you share this with a friend, give us a review on whatever platform you're listening to and we'll continue to bring new episodes and new information that's going to help you level up your life every single week. Well, and I think that, you know, to both of y'all's point, the one thing that we would say also to add along with the dreaming is to put everything on paper. So we have like a free one page budget template and you can go to budgetbesties.com budgettemplate to get that? And it shows all of your money for the month in one place. And you can even use it for business if you want. But it allows both of you all to see where everything is going. And, you know, to Shana's point, that spending money, we like to tell people that's a non negotiable. You have to have it in there, because if you don't, you're going to pull from somewhere to spend it anyways. Like, let's just be real. It happens. And just even for your business, you need to have some money set aside that you can just, you know, like, we call it petty cash. Right? Yeah. That way you can just spend so the other. So you each feel like you have a little bit that no judgment space and area to just blow money. And then one more thing real quick, Marina, before we move on about business finances. So you want your business finances to be the. Be the same every month so that you don't have to. So what I can imagine is you have, maybe you have some big goal that needs some money for, in your business to put money into it. So that's why, you know, we do the profit first system. So we're always setting aside 5%, and once we get to a. To a number, then we can. We can reinvest that into the business. Right. Um, and we're always paying ourself a certain percentage. So then there's no, like, well, you kept more money for your business than. Than we talked about, or we need more money on the personal. You're working all this time, but we're not seeing the money or whatever. If you make that super systematic, then you can still have your goals over here that he doesn't really need to know all the things about the in and out of your business, necessarily, but you have the money set aside, and it's very consistent, and you don't feel like, you know, I'm. I'm pulling in from here and there without. Without, quote, unquote, approval. Yeah. And I think that's probably one of the biggest challenges for realtors, is we'll have, like, a dud month, and then we'll have, you know, a $50,000 month. And so we're constantly on this roller coaster. Um, but it's just about having reserves. Like, that's the biggest advice I have for agents, is, like, you have to have three months reserve so that there's no hiccups and you have that predictability, and then you're just refilling that bucket every month. Yeah, we call it, we call it. A holding account for our clients. Like when they, you know, we have clients that own lawn care companies and chiropractors and things like that, that have inconsistent income. So you have to have some type of reserve and also if your bills are consistent and even if you include in your annual bills. So we like to tell people, like, I had a client, I said, these are all your monthly bills. And she said, yeah. And she's like, oh, but over here, these are all my annual bills. And I said, okay, well, we need to take your total amount of annual bills, divide that by twelve and put it in your budget. So you're consistently budgeting for them and it's still part of your monthly expenses because you're going to need that money regardless. So that way you're budgeting for them in the reserve. Amount of money that you have is included. Like what you need to keep is included with that annual expenses. So that way you always have the money. That's so smart because there's so many of those subscriptions, like your squarespace renew and it's $250 and you're like, wait, what did that come from? Like, it popping up randomly so good. Well, you kind of mentioned it with your reference to the couple that one wanted to save one and wanted to pay off debt. I, so how do we do Bougie on a budget when we have two different goals and we're like, I want to do this vacation and I want to have all these things, but I also have this credit card load. What do I do? What's your advice? So one of the things that we'll say is being bougie on a budget means something different for everyone. Right? So what you think is Bougie on a budget and what I think could be totally different. However, we still need a budget for those things because they are important to us and we want to make sure that we're all accounting for it. Yeah. And so the reason that we came up with Bougie on a budget is we really, we realized that a lot of the talk out there in finances is you have to do it this way in this order because of this big. Yeah. And what we find with our clients is we have people coming in that debt is not a goal for them, it's not a priority. I should say that they might pay it off, they might not. Right. So we want to make sure that we're balancing what's important to you in your circumstances, your spouse, what you guys have goals set for. So, but, but when you actually put the numbers on paper. Very often there is room to make progress on debt, to make progress on saving, and set aside a certain amount for, for a family vacation, if that's what you want to be bougie. So we have people quote unquote bougie. Well, I mean, we are bougie. Let's just talk about it. We're the bougie ones. Okay? We have kids, kids tuition in private school. That's where we're choosing to put all of our money. Sometimes it feels like. Right. We are taking vacations. We love to take vacations. Um, you know, maybe you want to get your hair done or you get your nails done. Hired a life coach for my son. Yeah. So wherever you want to be bougie. And you just have to get it on paper. And that is how you know. And then you could, how you know what you can afford, where. But you. We're still having clients that do all of that and pay off debt or are doing all of that and they're investing. So you can do it. You just. But you can't be bougie in everything. Listen, you can't be bougie in every category, most likely, at least the income ranges we're talking about. Yeah. So we like to say, find the areas that aren't important to you, like your subscriptions. You really only need a couple, right? Table. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe you don't really like going out to eat, so you're conservative in those areas, but that allows you to be more spendable in other areas, like vacations. Or maybe you like to buy high end groceries. Right. Good quality food. So instead of going out to eat and spending money on high quality food at restaurants, you're taking that money, buying it at home, you know, at the grocery store and making it at home. Yeah, no, that's so true. I also just saw something that said groceries are the new splurge for this generation. Like, how is that in America that we're like, oh, my gosh, our grocery bill is one of the highest. And I can say for Hawaii, it definitely is. Like, oh, yeah, and not more than 1000 a month. Like, it's just, is what it is. It's impossible. It is impossible. So I love that you kind of gave context to what bougie means for every person because it is so different for everybody. How can someone prioritize spending like an, enjoying a life without totally going off the rails when we're like, okay, the fair is in town. We're gonna drop $200 at the fair and then blah, blah, blah. Like, is it just having those buckets and you're pre filling the buckets every month? That's the strategy, yes. So we recommend having savings buckets. I know. I think Dave Ramsey calls them sinking funds. Right. So we've leveled up the name a little bit. So the idea here is to kind of look at the year as a whole and go, okay, what are the big things that we spend money on? People always come at us and say, oh, what about all these unexpected expenses like Christmas? And we're like, well, it's not really unexpected. I mean, it's December 25 every year, right? Weird birthdays and holidays and, you know, summer camps, summer camps, fairs, like, you know, when all of those things are happening. Right. The idea here is, and listen, we're not telling you to get every single one on paper because you're going to miss them. But if you can just start with the big ones and go, okay, this is about how much money that we need for those things, okay? And then you're going to take that number, divide it by twelve, and in your savings buckets you're going to be saving for those things monthly so you have the money to spend when they come up. Well, and this is why your why is important because your why is going to help you. Originally, whatever we said, if you're, you guys are trying to be retired in ten years or you're trying to save money for your daughter's wedding or whatever, this why is important because it will, it will set up your budget. So what else you need besides saving the bucket is spending categories, right? We talked about you're going to have personal spending. You're going to have a budget for groceries. You're going to have a budget specifically for gas. And then you're also going to have a budget maybe for your kids or maybe you do have a restaurant or a lot of our clients call it family fun, you know, something like that. Which is what the fair that you're talking about have a monthly budget for that. So never are we going to say, we can't, we can't. We can't. That's not correct. We're going to say, look, guys, we have $200 set aside this month. What fun thing do we want to do? Because don't forget, we're saving for Christmas this trip. We're going to take or whatever. Don't forget. And it's a conversation. It's a very positive conversation, a very money, financial literacy type conversation. And so then you have this ability, we're going to blow everybody's mind that they can say no. It's amazing. You can say the word no and then just be done talking. If they say, we want to do this and this and this, and you say, actually, we have this budget, kindly choose which thing you want to do. I'll love to do that. And then it's no after that. Yeah. I think that's one of the biggest things that we try to tell our clients is to have these healthy conversations with their family and their kids about money. And it's not about, we can't afford it, we're broke. We have no money. Like, those are all negative terms. Instead, we're saying, we have this amount of money. How do you, how do we want to use it? We're deciding. We're making the decision. Right. You can use all of that and there's no money baggage wrapped around that. Yeah. And I like for sure our generation is also dealing with the instant gratification. And everything's so easy at the touch of a button. Like the TikTok shop. Oh, my God, it's so dangerous. Like, I cannot even. It's too close. We are so lucky. We don't know what that is. I know somebody good. No, we have a client who? Or, no, a friend, I guess, that she's got on that or something, and she was really excited. We're like, what are you talking about? We're excited for you. I mean, it's really good for businesses, really bad for consumers. Same thing with Amazon. Pre saved, like our apple wallets, whatever. You don't have to have a physical card anymore. Everything's pre saved. So how do you help someone go from the mindless to the mindful spending? Like, do you have tricks or, like, bookmarks they can have in their brain? How are we helping them? Well, based on what you just said. I know our brains went to the exact same place. So the first thing that you can do is delete your access to all of that, because here's the thing. You don't want to have to think in the moment. You don't. Your, your discipline and willpower. Not going to happen in a moment. So right now, while we're listening, while we're talking to, let's think, hey, I would rather save money for Christmas and be able to pay for Christmas in cash this year. That will feel like a million bucks. Then I would rather be able to buy whatever I want on the drop of the habit. Amazon and our client, she just recently put, I think, in our group coaching session. She said, I am so or my habit now is I add to cart. I add to cart. And then next month, I look at what's in there. If I want to budget for it, I do. Because sometimes stuff on Amazon might be a quote unquote need versus just a mindless thing. But you can wait for next month. It actually is possible. You can. And then you can get the gratification, quote unquote window shopping by, you know, saving it for later or adding it to a wish list or whatever. And you don't lose it. And you've got to look at it, but you don't have to buy it right now. Yeah, it's like my husband, he's like, do you know you have 200 things sitting in your cart, or first save to later? And I said, don't judge me. Like, I don't need your shame here, you know? But like Shana said, it allows you to go find the item, put it away, save it for later, and then you sleep on it. Sleep on it. Then you can come back and go, okay, was I just in the moment wanting to buy this, or was it something that I actually needed? So, you know, when she's saying, delete the temptation. We are not going to be good in the moment making those decisions about whether or not I want to buy something. So deleting and removing your account from those platforms is probably the best thing you can do. Hey, ladies, real quick, if you are looking for a mentor, I just wanted to remind you that I offer mentorship to entrepreneurs. So if you're someone who has a never ending to do list and you're smiling out of control and feel like your business doesn't have a track plan, I want to work with you every single week for a month at a time. It's super simple, but I come from over ten years of experience doing this myself, and now I'm willing to give that information back to people. So I've mentored real estate agents, I've mentored wedding photographers, I've mentored other business owners, and they've come from a place of overwhelm most, and they really just needed clarity and a couple of action steps to move the needle. And we've seen gigantom leaps and bounds in their business. Like, I can't even tell you. So if you're interested and you want to know what that looks like, I want you to go to marinatolentino.com and there's a calendly link there to do a 15 Minutes discovery call with me just to see if we're a good vibe check to make sure we're on the same page. And I would love to work with you one on one to really boost your business to the next level. Let's dive back in. The second best thing is we talk about opening up a separate checking account specifically for spending. Right. So like when you have your pocket money, that is now the account that you're going to go attached to all those platforms. And if you have the money in there to spend and it's been budgeted, then by all means buy it. Right. But if you don't, then we're going to hold off. Yeah. We literally want you, Marina, to have a separate account for your personal spending. So let's say you do $50 a paycheck in there, or whatever it might be. You can look in your little account and say, oh, whoopsies, I only have $10 left. I can't get it. Or you can say, wow, I've been good all month. I'm going to go ahead and grab this because I've been thinking about it. I really do want it. And, and so we find when we make sure that you set aside a you, like Vanessa said earlier, non negotiable, you have to have personal spending in your budget. We find people actually spend less. They actually feel more freedom. It's not, it's, it's, instead of swiping and hoping that I had money in there, now I know exactly what I have. And I, I know, okay, I have about $50 every two weeks or whatever, whatever your amount is, I can start to budget that small amount. That's actually my spending. That's actually what I need to, you know, think and prioritize budgeting. It's really going to make it so much more clear and easy for you. Oh, that's so good. And I think one of the big things is just like this is credit card 101. But we have to say it again. We have to preach to the masses. If it's not in your bank account, you cannot swipe it. Oh, my gosh. The trouble that I see people getting in and again, it's like they see, oh, I have 3000 in my joint checking. So it must be fine not realizing that 29 99 is already pretty set aside for the bills. And they just see cash and they're like, oh, I have it, I have it. So let's, let's dive into that because we have a lot to say about that. Really quick, just to reiterate and double down on what you said, if you can't pay for something in cash, you can't afford it, period. If you have to use a credit card that actually, what that means is you don't have the money, you can't afford it. However, what we do, our system is we have a set, you have a separate account for your bills that is completely only bills. The right amount of income goes in there or bills that way. Uh, and then over here, we have different accounts for your groceries with different accounts. Like we just talked about this personal spending and then obviously your savings buckets, so that when you have, see that thing for $3,000, you know, the bills, money is already taken care of. I don't even look at that account. I never have money. That's never a place I'm spending from. I can look in these other things and see if I can afford it. Yeah, that bills account isn't an option. And so, like, the before method is all your money is in one place. Like Shannon said, you're swiping, hoping it's going to go through, and then maybe you pull up your bank account app and you're going, okay, but what bill already came out. We ain't got time for that. Still coming to come out. Do I have enough money to go grocery shopping? I mean, there's a lot of questions. And so you're, you're already bank account trying to balance right in the moment. But what we're trying to do is take a certain amount of money for every paycheck, put it over here into your spending accounts. And so that bills account is kind of doing its thing over here. And you don't even have to think about it because you know the right amount of money is there. Right. And you don't carry that debit card on you. That is the big thing. That bill's debit card is at home. Yeah, well, and like, and so then when you're at the grocery store, you're getting groceries for the week, you have your grocery bank account, you know exactly how much you have. And, and the other thing is, you know it's going to get refunded on that next paycheck. So the way the basic overview of our system is your income comes into the bills account, exactly how much needs to be kept for bills, stays there. You don't even have to worry. They're all auto. And then you have a certain amount, each paycheck that gets transferred to your groceries, your personal spending, whatever other things that you have in the budget, so that every paycheck you get refunded. So instead of, you know, having to just scrape by, you know, every two weeks for groceries, I get $500 and I know I can make that last for two, two weeks because the budget that I. That I set and then I know it's going to get refunded and I always know exactly with one glance how much I have to spend. Cool. So I'm already hearing, like, the objections happening in people's minds of, like, I don't have time for that. Like, it's for them, not for me. So how do we get them over? Like, the automation from their paycheck? How does that even happen for someone who hasn't done it yet, or an entrepreneur who is doing the transfer themselves? How long should they set aside? You don't have time for that. Well, that's what I was going to say. It's like you actually need to make time for it. And it's actually the. The hardest part about the whole thing is setting it up, is literally opening up. Maybe the two extra checking accounts, one for gas and groceries and one for personal spending money. That's really all you have to do when you get the debit cards and then you're having your money transferred from the bills account because that's where your income comes in, into those accounts and then you're done. So the idea is set everything up as automated as possible. We like to make the whole thing as hands off because we tell our clients, we know the more your hands are in it, the more it's going to get messed up. Yes. So all of our finances, everything is automatic. And our clients, like, I had a lady, she's in California, her husband's a doctor, and she says, why doesn't everyone know about this? She said, you have no idea the amount of stress that has been lifted off of my shoulders by implementing this system and making it all automated. So what we want you to think about is your bank account is now your personal assistant. Right? It is doing. It's paying all your bills for you. It's transferring and it's saving money for you. It's setting aside the money that you have to spend, exactly how much you have to spend. All of it is happening for you without you having to do anything. Now, imagine if you have a personal assistant, which many people are familiar with. It takes you a little bit of time to train them. They have to be onboarded. Right? It's the same thing here. It's going to take you. I mean, literally, Marina, it might take you a day. Okay. I think you can invest in a day, but it's going to take you a minute to set up the system, to train the assistant on what to do, and then it's all done for you. So right now, if you want to invest, you know, a couple hours to set this up, you're going to save weeks, basically, over the next few years, you know, it's going to pay off. You don't have time not to. You don't have brain calories not to. You don't have, like, the stress that having to transfer in the moment, having to do math in the moment. Hey, we ain't got time or brain calories for that. So that would be our objection to your objection. Our coach likes to say, what can you do today that's going to save time tomorrow? And this is one of those things. If you can set up the systems and get it going, make it automated. So, for instance, my husband gets paid every Wednesday. Thursday morning is when my transfers happen. I don't do anything. It's all set up. It's all done. My grocery accounts get funded. My kids education account gets funded. Everything is funded. And I do nothing except know that it's Thursday morning. And now we. We are replenished on groceries. That's it. Amazing. Yeah, I think that was the quote right there is, like, you can't afford not to do this. Like, it literally is costing you money by not doing it. And so I think people are going to be overwhelmed. They're going to feel like, okay, we got you. Like, we're going to do this thing. How do we get them through the overwhelm? Is there just, like, a perspective shift we can do? Is it going back to values and why? Like, what do we say? Yeah, we think that overwhelm is happening already. You're already got wrecking balls in your head and you're already a mess. Maybe you're not. That's not. I don't want to speak that life over anybody or it's actually death. Right. You're already, like, the unknown, right? It's already stressing you out. You may just not be like, you got your head in the sand. So just understand it's already overwhelming. The reason it's overwhelming is because you're not facing it head on. You're not just taking it, putting on a paper, and then owning it. Right? So we're. Now that we talk to people and you're talking to people, it's not like you're 19. Okay? So you're. Now you have some money. Now you actually have money to budget. Right. And it's time to take ownership of it and be the boss. The CFO of your own finances. Yeah. And you may say, like, okay, well, you know, our finances are fine. I don't have any debt, and I just spend all through the month, and I'm good. Okay, great. But what if it could be better? What if you're saving? You could save$2,000 a month. I have a client right now. She just started two months ago. They've paid. They've paid off $23,000 in debt in two months just by me making a plan. She had no idea that that money was there and available to pay off debt. Yeah, but, like, that's what we're saying, where you may be fine and thinking that you're good, but what if it could be better? What does 1% better look like to you? And then to get rid of the overwhelm, we have a one page budget template. And so in our minds, it's like, if it's on one piece of paper, it can't be that hard. Okay. It's only one piece of paper I have to do. And we like to separate what we've been talking about. We separate your budget into your income. You can do that. Just go ahead and write that out. Right. Your debts. So that's different than your bills. So you go ahead and think about which credit cards and vehicle appointments and then your bills. And so. And then you do spending, and then you figure out what you want to save on, and the savings can kind of wait right as you're getting started, but you might have something you need to save for. And then we like to put it in those categories because to us, it simplifies it. It's like, what do I need to spend money on every month? What do I save? And it puts it. It makes it a little easier. So when we get overwhelmed is when we look at some of these budgets that are, like, fixed, fixed, and variable, and there are, like, so many fancy financial words, it's like, look, what is. That's too much. I don't want to do that. I just want to make it simple. I want to get it done as quickly as possible with it as simply as possible. And so, you know, your listeners, budgetbesties.com budgettemplate is a one page printable. And just, like, talk yourself out of the fact that it's overwhelming. It's going to be, you're overwhelmed now, but, you know, 30 minutes from now, you'll be. You'll be better. Feeling better. Mm hmm. And I can say from experience as being the spender in my relationship, not the saver that if I just print out my bank statements and take 15 minutes to get organized before I go to my husband, I'm already a teacher's pet. And so if that's the wife in the relationship or whoever, that's, like, always the one feeling the anxiety of, like, I know I got to do this, but it's just over here right now, and I'll deal with it later. Just deal with it today. And it takes 15 minutes to just get, like, recognize what's going on in your bank account so that you can have clarity moving forward. I think so often feel like, oh, later, later, later. Realizing that's adding to all the anxiety you're feeling. Just rip it off. Yeah, no, for sure. And we actually call that our 90 day review. So we tell people, you know, go print out 90 days worth of bank statements and get a couple highlighters and go, okay, pink is for restaurants, and yellow is for gas and whatever, and just categorize what you're spending your money on. Where's it all going? And so that way, you can add it all up and you can see. And with that information, then you have a chance to make an actual, realistic budget for the upcoming month. With tangible numbers. Yeah. And it's freedom. Knowing is freedom. So it's exciting. Okay. I want to jump to. For someone who's got this all under wraps, they're like, I'm a budget pro. I've been doing this. Like, my finances are great. I got savings, but I'm not investing in my retirement or I feel behind. I think a lot of millennials are facing this right now, where we're hitting our mid thirties and we started when we hit 30 instead of in our twenties. It's catching up to us. What advice do you have for us? Well, if you're in a situation where you can invest now, we will say, if you do have debt, you're never going to make more interest than you're paying on interest on your debt. Right. So let's just think about that for a minute, because some people say, well, I'm fine, I'm good. We get that. But you still could be investing more money if you had more money in your, like, more wiggle room in your budget. Right? So. And then when you are able to invest, what we want you to do is start with 10%. Like, let's see, how much money can you actually put aside, then go up to 15%. Can you actually invest 15% of your income to your investments? Yeah. And another thing to think about. So you're not as behind as you think. I don't think any generation, there's people that were saving when they're twenties there, you know, people start to wise up and start to get it together when they're 30. But really retirement is, you know, kind of a number. It's, so you want to start just like we talked about, having a vision and goals with your, your day to day budget. This is what we're talking about. Like when we get to this quote unquote retirement zone of our life, what does that look like? Because that is going to really give us a picture of what we need to do for, for investing. So if maybe, I know I'm still going to work. Like we're currently don't really see a quitting this job but, or just going riding off in the sunset, but we might do less hours or something like that. So think about will I still be working? Will I still have income? And then also what kind of bills? Well, I probably will have my mortgage paid off by then. Right. Or I'm definitely going to be debt free by then. My goodness gracious. Or maybe I'm going to be traveling more. And so that will need to be. So what would my budget kind of theoretically, not that you have to have a perfect or correct. What would that theoretically look like in retirement? Once we have those numbers, then we can see what number do I need to feel that? And retirement age, like Shannon says, is different for everyone. We have some people now, especially the people that are coming up, they're wanting to retire in their forties and fifties and trying to figure out what does that look like? Can I actually achieve that? And I will tell you, you can, you just have to put it on paper. You know, if somebody had told me ten years ago this is where your finances would be, I probably would have laughed. But compound interest is amazing, right? So as long as you can, but again, you have to be in the right headspace. You have to know your numbers. You have to have all that available to make a plan for yourself. Right. So, and it doesn't take as long as you think. Okay. Because of compound interest. I think as long as you can start at some point when it's the right time for you and you know your numbers, it'll all work out in your favor. And I tell people, like, what if you could be a millionaire in your forties? Do you think that that's possible? Or your fifties? It's all, it's just all about putting it on paper. Yeah. It's so true. And then just kind of rolling into parenting stuff. So one of the things my husband and I have kind of been, like, panicking anxiety about the last five years. Like, we have a nine year old and a four year old, and so we're always like, we want to have x amount of dollars for our kids by the time they graduate. Like, there's this big goal, or, like, what are they going to do with their lives? How do we help them? I have wedding to plan. Like, oh, my gosh, you know, we're 15 years out, but I'm already thinking of the wedding costs. Like, this is just the reality. But we keep going back to, we have to put the oxygen mask on ourselves first before we can help our kids. And I think so often, we get caught up in the hype of, we got to have the 529 plan, and we got to have this. We got to have that Roth for the kids, too. And it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa. If we're not even doing, like, what we need for ourselves and going above and beyond that and maxing our Roth every day or every month, like, there is no point in saving for the kids. Now, I will say our kids get a lot of financial gifts. Like, whatever reason, filipino culture, I don't know what it is. They get a $100 here, $100 there, and so before we know it, this kid has $500 cash. We will put most of that, like, 90% into their Roth IRa and then just watch it grow, which is pretty cool, but I don't think a lot of parents are doing that. Do you guys have any insight or, like, ways that you guys are helping your kids save? We do, but real quick, to address your oxygen mask comment, you got, you have to think about if your kids have to help you in the future because you didn't take care of your financial picture. That that's what we're talking about. That's why it's important to get it in order, because you don't want to be the parent that can't afford a nursing home. Not that you kids would ever put you in one. But whatever. You know what I mean? Or gets. Doesn't have savings for whatever emergency comes up or whatever. So you've got to get your financial. To your point, get your financial house in order before you start really thinking about these big things. Because, by the way, just the little things for the kids are expensive every day. Like, and just providing for them right now probably takes up a lot of your budget. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, I'll say even if your kids start in their twenties, right? So because you're focused on your finances, you're going to inevitably teach your kids and show them the importance of getting on a budget, starting them sooner. And we always want them to be better than we were, right? So with that said, they're probably going to get it quicker than we did, though. My kids probably. I'm going to have them start earlier in their twenties. I really didn't get serious until probably my late twenties, my early thirties, about everything. But they have time on their side and just know that that is enough time. Starting in their twenties is enough time. So these people that think that they need to start when their kids are teens and twelve and ten, I get that. I know that you're going to have compound interest and I understand all that that still, like, I just think that you don't have to. The thought that you have to start early. Like I said, 910. Eleven. Whatever. I think you could back up a little bit, take care of yourself, make sure you're fully funded, know what your numbers are going to look like in retirement, and then you can feel good about saving money. You know, you mentioned 529 plans. I'm not a huge fan of that because I don't love when an account tells me how I can and can't spend my money. Same with Roth. Yeah, same with Roth. Especially for your kids. Like you think of it, you're putting money in a Roth for your kids right now. They can't touch it until who knows what the age is going to be. Then there's other accounts that you could use to benefit them in the future. But, you know, just knowing that you're saving something aside for whatever goal is important to you, whether that's college, whether that's wedding, or things like that, that you can help pay for, you know, help them in the future, but necessarily saving for their retirement, I don't know. I think that. I think they're still too young. Okay. I have a lot of things to say. Okay, so let's get ready. I'm going to try to go lightning round here. So the most important thing you can do for your child when it comes to money is teach them financial literacy. They are not going to be poor. If you teach them the lessons that we're talking about right now. If you gave them $0, but you educated them on how to save, how to not use credit, all of that, they're going to be way better off than you were ever. Sorry. Love you. Love us. Love all of us. We want that for our kids, right? But the literacy, the knowledge, the wisdom that you give them is way more important than money. We know that from all of these families that have inherited wealth that the kid loses it because they don't get the wisdom along with the wealth. Right? So that's thing one. The thing. The other thing is, when you're talking about Roth and 529, think about what you're going to use that money for. So we're not necessarily all about college. You know, every kid is different. Depends on what they want to do. So we like to think about keeping the money somewhere that's making you money, but that you can use it. So let's say neutral, right? It's neutral. So let's say instead of paying for your kids college, you want to help them with their house, or you want to help them with their marriage. With their marriage. With their wedding, or maybe they're going to start a business, but, you know, they're. They're. They've done the work and you're like. And they're just. They're like, you know, whatever. And you're like, hey, I have $10,000 that I want to. I want to help you get. Keep going or grow more or whatever. Like, you don't know what you might want to use that money for, to Vanessa's point. So just keep that in mind. There's other vehicles that you can put that money in so that you can bless your kids the way that you see fit, based on that kid. And the last. The last thing that I wanted to leave with. With that was. I know, it's overwhelming. I know we said, put your oxygen mask on. We have one really cute trick that our client brought in that might make it more feasible for your audience, which was that she wanted to have $18,000 in the bank for her kidde, by the time they were 18, which makes it $1,000 a year, which makes it divided by twelve per month, which is much more thought attainable. And it's a very simple way to get started. And then while you're cleaning up your mess and you still feel like you're doing something, and then you get your stuff, and then maybe you obviously can do more if you want, but that's a very simple way to get started. And if you take that money and put it in a high yield savings account that's making four to 5% interest, you're going to get that compound interest over the next 18 years, right? No. Or, I mean, you can put in an investment account if you want. Also, you have to pay capital gains on that per year on taxes. It's fine either way works. Like, we pay my kids as capital gains. We have their money in a brokerage account with an investment firm, and so we pay that, those taxes every year for them and that's fine. But their money is growing at a good rate. Right. So it's really, it just depends on what you want and what your goals are. Yeah. I hope everyone just felt like a weight lifted off their shoulders that we don't have to take care of our kids for their entire life. Like, oh, my gosh, I, we get so stuck in it and like, I think there's fear of the future with America and like, all these things going on, you're like, I have to have this safety yield for them, but they're going to be adults and they're going to be making their own money and they have, they have time, which is very exciting. Yes. That's so good. When would you advise teaching kids about money? And especially in a digital world where I don't even use dollars and coins anymore, like, how do you teach them today? What does that look like? Okay, well, I'm going to just, the first question is, when should they know is yesterday? Just, we just recommend. It doesn't matter what age they are. You can have those healthy conversations and have that healthy vocabulary with them. And, you know, we had a lady, she said her daughter was in high school or in, I think maybe college, and she said she was afraid to talk to her about it. It was just them. She was a single mom. And I said, no, she knows how hard you are working. And if you show her what your goals are, you sit down and make a budget together. And she's aware of what's going on. She's going to appreciate that. And like Shayna said, when you have those conversations with your kids, you are not just teaching them what to do with the money, but you're teaching them in the financial literacy along with it because they need, that is the part that they need from a young age. And we don't want them, you know, we had money baggage growing up. What we don't want is them to grow up having money baggage. We want them to have a really good relationship with money. And in order to do that, you have to talk about it. So I think we started this podcast saying, well, we weren't taught. We weren't taught. We weren't taught. So it's your job to teach them. And I think a lot of, you know, a lot of the previous generation, I don't know, maybe they were the parent this, the children of the silent generation, I don't know. But a lot of the hard conversations did not happen. So either they didn't know or they didn't want to talk about it. And so, you know, I was just like, you know, we have. We have girls in puberty. Let's just put it there. Like, you have to have that card. Hard conversation, even though you maybe don't want to. And it's the same with. With money, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a hard conversation. But it is hard, and that it's not necessarily something you would naturally talk to your child about. But we're going to. We're going to undo that. Our kids learned as soon as they ever got allowance or got not allowance, like birthday money or whatever they need to learn. You know, this money is not just to spend immediately, like, what other things. Give, save, spend, whatever version of that you want from. From when they first get that first birthday, $5 or whatever, start having the. When they ask you for another toy, and you say, no, actually, we're not. Our budget for. For toys is all spent this month, maybe next month or whatever. So as soon as they start, just naturally, you can work it in the conversation. I think, to Vanessa's point is, don't just stiff arm that. Don't say, well, it's none of your business, or, you know, we don't need to talk about it with the kids. We don't want to burden them. You're not burdening them. You're teaching them financial literacy and habits that they are going to then be able to use as adults. And we put the kids in the budget. So, you know, like Shana's said, that toy allowance is spent for the month. So if you have a kid, a line item that says kids, and it's $100 a month or $100 per kid or whatever it is, maybe you put it back on them and go, okay, listen, we have budgeted$100 for each of you this month. You get to decide how you want that spent, and that allows them to gain the responsibility of learning how to spend that money properly. Mm hmm. That's so good. Yeah, I just think today it's so crazy, the things you see kids buying and stuff, and I'm like, they are just fuck wild. Like, it's a crazy time. And so it's so easy also as a parent to feel like you're constantly telling them no, but switching that from instead of saying, no, we're saying, wait, when? Like, not now. When. That's that delayed graphic. Yeah, well, we definitely, just, as much as they get older, just definitely put it back on them. And it's not an negative way. So, you know, right now we're getting ready for summer camps. And I don't know if. If you guys do a lot of summer camps yet with the ages of your kids, but what you might say is, here's your budget for summer camps of the month or the year. You pick, you decide these. This is all we're spending on it. Unless you go on your own money and you put it back on them. It's the same for the young kid. Okay, here's your $10 a month that we give you. You know, where do you want to spend it? Do you want to buy a toy or whatever? Put it back on them, let them decide how to manage the money so they get that skill early. And to your point about saying no, my friend yesterday was telling me, she said, you know, my mother's day card. My daughter said to me, thank you for saying no to me when I couldn't see, like, why it was important in the moment or why I couldn't see why you were saying it then. I understand, and I appreciate you saying no when I couldn't is basically what she said. And I thought, I think that's really what it is. Our kids don't know, just, like, electronics and things like that. They have no idea. We are the ones that are supposed to stand in and say no for them when we know that it's the right thing to do and they'll be mad at us, they'll throw a temper tantrum just like we do. And sometimes in our mind, we tell ourselves no for stuff, but it is for their own, their own good. And it's going to teach them these lifelong habits that they're not only going to be able to instill now, but, like, with their family someday. So good. And I think that's a great way to wrap it up, is like, we are in a position of amazing blessing to be able to teach our kids for the next generation. For parents who are watching this or listening to this, what do you want them to do from this call? Like, what's the action step you want them to take? Well, you can come over and find us on our podcast, which is financial coaching for women. Yeah. What you said that you're going to do before so you can be the teacher's pet for your husband. That's another really great step. Do a 90 day review. Print out all of your statements and go through and actually look at the numbers. It may be a little scary, but it's. But you'll get over that immediately, right? It's better to just rip the band aid. It's a little scary. And then we're going to make a plan. From that, you can see all of. Like Vanessa said, financial coaching for women is our podcast. Our website is budget besties.com. the number one thing that they can do, especially if they're feeling overwhelmed, like you mentioned, is book a free call. We have a free call, 20 minutes. We'll talk about your specific financial situation, any questions that you specifically have, because everybody's budget is crazy and different. Right? So you can do that. Budget besties.com, freecall and book that. Okay, awesome. So let's wrap this up with some rapid fire. We do it every single show, and it's real fun. What is your go to Starbucks, order? You go to snacks? Oh, we do. We do. Well, I used to like the salted caramel something, and then they don't have it anymore. So now I just say, what can you make that's like that? My go to order is I order cake pops for my kids. Nothing for you. Good job. What do you make for dinner? If it's last minute and you're in a bind. Breakfast for dinner is a great one. Salads are in there, whatever's left over. And then I, you know, I have an instant pot. Y'all, let's go so I can. There's no more emergencies. My son is a hunter, so we usually pull something out of the freezer and throw it on the girl because you can do that. Amazing. Yeah, that's awesome. What's your favorite? Go to department of target. And do you have a favorite designer? Oh, you have that magnolia girl. Is she in target? Joanna games. Yeah, mine is definitely going to be the kitchen. Like the kitchen area. Yeah, mine's not closed. Mine's. Oh, my gosh. So good. Name a book or a podcast do you recommend and why? And it can be your own. Right now we've just been listening to our coaches podcast, which is. Influential brand. Influential brand podcast. Yep. Yes. Procrastinate on purpose. We love it. Yeah. Amazing. And that's a good little drop there. We're all brand builders, group members, and we love it. And it's a great network of people just like this that have similar mindsets, and we're super passionate. So love that. TikTok or Instagram. I think I know this one. But go ahead. Facebook. We're so old. We're so old. Oh, gosh. It's okay. It's okay. And then where can people find you online? You prefer Facebook? Well, they can find us anywhere. At Mybudget besties. Yeah, we're on. We are on, technically, Instagram, we're on YouTube. We're, you know, we're on Facebook, LinkedIn, all the things. But we have a Facebook group, so if they go into Facebook and coach or search financial coaching for women, that's where we're probably the most active. Yeah. Amazing. I think everyone should book the free call because you're going to drop much personal advice. And I think that's what's so hard about this financial advice world is like, like you said, everyone's like, this is the way. This is the way, but it's not the way. Everyone has a different family, different income sources, different savings. And so sometimes you need that personal consultation to say, help me, help me. Yes. One thing we like to do, like they. You need a tailored, customized budget specifically for what you have going on. And that's what all of our clients. Yeah. Yes. So good. Well, thank you so much for your time. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I think it's so good. Like, I'm gonna go home and just take it. Let's re listen and take notes because it was that good. Thank you for having us. Yes. I'm excited. So I'll drop this episode soon and we'll go from there. Thank you. Thank you.