How She Budgeted for a Cross-Country Move Without Using Credit Cards And Paid Off Debt | 601

0:01Coach Michelle:Probably I would say 90 % of people the first thing they think about is, oh my gosh, how is this going to affect me financially? She knew she needed a system. She knew she needed some simplification and she needed some automation that places like Target would end up owing her a refund. She got like an$800 overage check back. Like that is, that's huge. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. I got it covered because I've got the budget because I set this money aside. and you could just pull from that fund and it was done and it was not stressful. Do you make good money but have nothing to show for it? Are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck?

0:36Do you have big dreams for your financial future? Do you want to get debt free but you don't want to live on beans and rice? Or you don't want to give up those pumpkin spice lattes? If you don't already know how to budget or if you're using credit cards to get through the month. If you want to seem like you have your finances all together or you're not on the same page with your spouse when it comes to finances. We know what you're doing probably isn't working, but guess what? You're in the right place. We're Shana and Vanessa. We're best friends, business partners, and master financial coaches trained by Dave Ramsey.

1:06We've been in business since 2019, helping hundreds of amazing people like you create budgets, get out of debt, stop living paycheck to paycheck, and know exactly what to do with their money. In this podcast, we'll share with you everything we know, plus everything we're working on with our clients so that you have the best chance at reaching your financial goals. We want to help you take the guesswork out of your budget, improve your marriages, and even bring your kids in on the conversation. We can help you no matter where you're at, whether you're the single mom who's never had$500 in her savings account or the millionaire who's paid off four real estate mortgages.

1:38And we're not going to shy away from the tough love. We'll tell you what you need to hear and encourage you at the same time. This is the Financial Coaching for Women podcast. Michelle, thank you for coming back on the podcast. This is Coach Michelle from Office Hours. We are so excited to have her. She is there every single week answering your questions inside Office Hours on Wednesdays. We do have one evening session out a month that you can come attend, but welcome. Thank you. Thanks for having me. All right, Michelle, let's jump in and talk about some of your fun friends. They're the best.

2:13Yeah, they are the best. They're so sweet. But let's talk about one of the big wins maybe that you've seen recently. oh oh there is a really fun one and you know we've we've got some families there that are

2:27Coach Michelle:military families right so this gal is is getting the middle of her pcs right from from hawaii to to pennsylvania okay literally across the world basically across the world as those military families do. And it's a big deal, right? Big deal. And she found us at a great time when she was really working on putting budget together and setting stuff aside for that moving budget and getting ready to move from one place to another and all the things that go with that. And when she found us, she just jumped in, right? She knew she needed a system. She knew she needed some simplification and she needed some automation.

3:14Coach Michelle:That was really the big key was to be able to get things set up so that they happen in the background so she could do different things with her time, right? Because all of a sudden she has no time because she's moving, right? And she has little kids. So that's a big one. That's a big one. So she found us and, you know, she celebrated with us one of her big wins recently. She was using what she called the service member credit relief act with her husband's realistment. And she explained in full detail about what that was and working with creditors and getting, getting some refunds back on that.

3:51Coach Michelle:And so if you're a military family and you're in active duty, I think there's some extra perks out there for you to take advantage of. So make sure you, she encouraged that if anybody was like in her situation to make sure you look at that. And I think that also transfers to anybody, whether you're military or not, look at your employer's benefits. There might be something there that can help you, whether it's to get a better discount on insurance, or if it's to, I know some companies now offer legal counsel as far as a benefit. So if they've got some benefits out there that can help you in helping you straighten out your finances besides using the system, then take advantage of that.

4:39Coach Michelle:Find out what you have. Well, and I remember her coming in. She just wanted to be such a good steward of her finances. She wanted to make sure she was using it the right way that was going to benefit her family, not just in this moment right now, but for months and years to come. And it looks like she took that money and was able to pay off some credit cards entirely. She got like an$800 overage check back. Like that is, that's huge. Yeah. Tell us about, tell us about that. Well, you know, she, she knew this stuff was out there and she just had to dive in and find out, you know, how it was going to benefit.

5:14Coach Michelle:Right. Right. And so she said that when she started putting all the pieces together, she didn't realize that, that places like Target would end up owing her a refund. I want to know more about that. right I know I'm like I want one of those let me go see somebody at Target so I can get a refund now yeah exactly exactly so that was such a big deal to her because this is as she's putting together this is why this ties in is as she's putting it together that moving budget and you know it's going to cost them a lot of money to to move from one place to the other and there's that interim period between when they come and pack up your stuff and then you actually get on the plane so she's going to be in a hotel for a bit and you know feeding kids and and doing all those things for a little while it's that mini self-imposed vacation that you have to have right so so having that extra money come in this refund was helping to fund some of those other things that they would have typically put on a credit card and she said she's not using a credit card in fact she she's reported that not only she's not using a credit card, but when the military said, we're not quite ready with a reimbursement for you, her husband was like, oh, but here's our credit card.

6:27Coach Michelle:We're going to use it. She said, nope, nope, nope. I got it covered because I've got the budget because I set this money aside. And so she was very intentional about these refunds that she got from this program. And she didn't just go blow it. It didn't just kind of leak out, right? which sometimes tends to happen oh yeah for sure especially very specifically went to these upcoming moving expenses and so she's she yeah has reported back to us how how amazing that feels because moving is stressful yes right she's done it way more i think i've done it like twice right yeah well and i've i've moved from alaska to florida so i understand because that's a little ways, right?

7:11Well, it's similar to her for her. The opposite direction. Right. I think that one thing I wanted to, I wanted to ask about the overage check because that's very interesting, but I also do want to say like, I have a lot of clients that work with Target. Target is actually one of the creditors that will sort of work with you in their way. They get a little strict about how they're going to work with you, but if that's one of the ones that you have, it's worth giving them a call for sure because I've had multiple people get a lower interest rate and a lower payment for for a time which to be fair like and I know that this person would have done this but she paid it off anyway what you want to do in that time is not just continue to pay the minimum that they've given you now that you have an option let's try to to use that time to get ahead and maybe pay it off or whatever but I did think that that was interesting that she got an overage check which is then not ever not always happened but hey who knows the sky's the limit and as Vanessa So we'll always say all you can do is ask.

8:09We can only say no. Like, don't be afraid. Yeah.

8:12Coach Michelle:That's great. All right, budget besties. It's time for some Real Talk. You don't need another budget. You need a budget system. Our simplified budget system is what you've been looking for. It's going to allow you to be bougie on a budget. You'll be able to easily set up a system that runs automatically and shows you exactly where your money is going. And it's going to give you permission to spend. Everybody loves that. It's straightforward, pretty, and packed with walkthrough videos that break down the exact methods we use with our clients to get out of debt, set up a bills account, separate spending, build savings buckets, and end the paycheck to paycheck feel.

8:48If you're new to budgeting, this is the perfect way to jump in. And if you're already a budget nerd like us, you're about to meet your new obsession. This is the upgrade to your finances that you need. Now back to today's show. Well, you have another awesome win. And I see that this lovely lady, she paid off a car, filled some savings buckets with a tax return, and then paid off a credit card. So we're just coming off of some people are filing late and some people are getting late refunds. That is still happening. That's still the season that we're in. And I love how they're using it intentionally.

9:22They're being mindful. And they're making sure that this money is working in their favor. So could you tell us a little about her story?

9:28Coach Michelle:Yeah. Oh, she's been working the system for a while now. I want to say at least six months. And so she's making some progress and the progress starts slow sometimes. And it did start a little bit slow and getting those systems up and running. But now she's she's making such big leaps that I think she surprised herself and how how well she's doing. Right. And so I'm so happy when they come back to office hours. Right. And to share those wins and just say, hey, you know what? It's working. I trusted the process. I trusted the system. I set it up. I, you know, the numbers really are working because I put in the realistic numbers.

10:08And, you know, I set up the automations, how I was supposed to.

10:11Coach Michelle:And so she, yeah, she's coming back and she's making really good progress. And she, you know, it's a big deal. Part of what makes that work is just like, you know, you guys said about how the, when they got the refund check for, or the over check, and that could just dwindle, it helps to put it on purpose or give it a purpose but also a name so sometimes you know people have a savings account and they just put it in there what and you know we're talking about tax refunds it could be a bonus a commission any like you sold a car who knows what it is this this big lump sum and you just put it in an account and then i'll just take 100 here and 50 there and like not before you know it's gone but what she did is she already had no she already knew that she had certain savings buckets that were important.

10:55And then she divvied that money up into those, which by knowing what they were and how much they needed, she also was able to figure out she had enough to pay off a credit card too. But also, but just putting that money into those separate accounts that were savings buckets that have a name. So now I funded Christmas and I funded my vehicle maintenance and I've done that. Like that is such a different feeling than just putting it in one account and it's just, who knows what it's for. I don't really know what it's for, but I might steal from it, but maybe not. I don't know. Yeah, exactly.

11:24Coach Michelle:And you know, there are folks that will come to office hours and it'll say, what do I do with this commission check? What do I do with my tax refund? What do I do? And so we do walk through some of those ideas. I'm like, well, what do you want to do? What is the thing that you're working on? Is it debt? Is it a savings bucket? Where, where is it? And then, you know, can you, can you do more than one thing? And sometimes they don't even realize that they can do more than one thing and it can put them a step ahead on their goals. Yeah. I remember when my husband got quarterly bonuses and I mean, he was at the same company for 27 years, right?

11:59So it happened a lot. In the very beginning of our marriage, we were not good stewards of that money. It was helping us survive. It was helping us live. He would get it and then it would last us the three months of all the extra stuff. But we never specifically designated it for anything and it would just dwindle away. And we would always ask the question, where the heck did all that money go? And for a very long time now, probably for the last 10 years, before the bonus check even comes, it's already designated to where it goes. It fills our savings buckets. And so the day that it happened at like 5 a.m., I would go and transfer everything.

12:32And my husband would be like, hey, what was my bonus? I'm like, it was this, but it's gone. And he's like, what do you mean it's gone? Now, he would get, like, he would always get a special amount. Actual bonus? Extra, yeah, for him, right? He would get a percent for him to go have fun and play with. But the rest of it, we divvied out because I knew us. Like I knew we were not going to be good if we didn't go ahead and give it a job after our tithe and everything was organized. And that, to me, has funded our life in a more purposeful way for the last probably 10, 15 years since we've done it.

13:01And just so, so very thankful for having the vision of setting up these savings buckets to be able to enjoy life better. Yeah. Yeah. And that intentionality. really changes everything. Yeah. Yeah. And speaking of savings buckets, Michelle, you had, and this is one of our favorite things is when, when the unexpected expense happens, you know where the money is coming from. So you had a fun friend who had her car maintenance fund started and going, and then she was able to use it in the way in which it was attended. So tell us a little bit about that. So that our listeners can do it.

13:40Coach Michelle:She, she is so sweet and she is, she has been working very, very hard. Right. And, you know, making, making the ends meet as we're all are doing. Right. And she knew that she's doing a lot of traveling. Right. And she's helping with the family. She is another one of those with a big old heart, but she's, she's taking care of some things, but she has to travel a lot. So that car maintenance fund, when we first started talking, I, I, you know, when we're talking about what are the most important saving buckets. I said, well, what is most important for you? Tackled those, that emergency fund and those annual bills.

14:14Coach Michelle:And what's the next one? Well, for her, really, it was that vehicle maintenance fund. And lo and behold, got that flat tire, you know, and guess what? She could just pull from that fund and it was done and it was not stressful. And she said it was, it was a very, very peaceful feeling to walk into that tire shop, get it taken care of, and not have to worry about juggling anything around because it was already there. Yeah, that's a completely different feeling than having the tire go flat or having a medical situation or anything that may happen to you. And probably I would say 90 % of people, the first thing they think about is, oh my gosh, how is this going to affect me financially?

14:55Like what is the burden that this is going to put on me financially? But having those savings buckets set aside to just go to the car maintenance place, say, hey, I need my tire fixed. And know that you've been saving for a situation like this, knowing that you've been putting a small amount of money aside a month, which made it possible for you to eventually have the amount of money you needed for a new tire.

15:19Coach Michelle:right and even if it feels like you don't have a lot to save just saving a little bit at a time helps with that you know learning a new habit you know if you haven't been doing that and she that's exactly what she did she'd been saving a little bit at a time and it was enough it was exactly what she needed yeah that's awesome yeah I remember talking to her and I think that I think that that's you know she's been working really hard and and not everybody has all of the super fast quick wins but those little moments is why you're doing it you know why you're why you're setting it all up and i really agree with you michelle so i want to repeat it i think even if you can only do ten dollars i think it's so important to start those savings buckets you know once you really figure once you get figured out like organized right you want to get organized first and then if you can just start those with ten dollars if you can't do any more it's such a good feeling and like you said it builds the habit it builds the identity it starts the process and then every hopefully it you'll get to make those more and more as you continue either paying off debt or making more money or whatever.

16:21But I think it's really important just to start. So just start and understand, you don't have to do them all, but do the ones that are going to derail your budget later for sure. I even think there are some people that I've heard, I've heard them say, what's the point? Because I won't have all the money in there that I need when something bad happens. Like for this situation, if she only had half the cost of the tire in the savings bucket, when something like that happened. It's still half the cost of the tire that you no longer have to pull from your monthly regular budget to make, you know, to finish.

16:53You were able to use that. And I think that just understanding that anything in those savings buckets is better than having nothing. So start small, start where you are. Eventually you will be able to fill those savings buckets the way that you want. We have a lot of people that come to us and say, I want to do the savings bucket thing now. And then we look at their budget and we're like, we get it, we're with you, but you can't do it right all right now. Let's do the ones like Shana said, what are the ones that are absolutely going to derail you? Unfortunately, we have Christmas coming up. We know that's coming.

17:22You know, that's a big thing. If you have annual bills, those big ones, things, if you already have a Disney trip plan that you already put a deposit down, that's not going away. These things that you absolutely know that are coming, let's start there. And then we can slowly add the rest in as your budget allows. Absolutely. Well, Michelle, thank you so much for coming on this show and again sharing all of the wins sharing all the inspiration from office hours we really appreciate you sharing everyone's story with us and i

17:50Coach Michelle:appreciate them coming to office hours and sharing their story because it's a great group and they really are helping each other oh and they have the best coach ever they do all there so go to budgetbesties.com forward slash office hours and you can find out the times and the link to click and go check and join them out and check them out and join them If you make good money, but have nothing to show for it, this quiz will help you figure out what's really going on with your money and what your next step should be. You'll get a personalized result and a simple action step to help you feel more organized and less stressed.

18:23Go to budgetbesties.com forward slash quiz and take the free quiz today. That's budgetbesties.com forward slash quiz to find out what's really going on with your money.