How To Stop Living Paycheck To Paycheck And Get One Paycheck Ahead | 517

0:00Have you ever wondered how to get a paycheck ahead? This is the podcast for you because let's just tell you how amazing and awesome the feedback that we get from our listeners, from our clients, wanting to be a paycheck ahead and then finally getting to that point.

0:16Vanessa:Yeah, most of you feel like even if you make good money, you're living paycheck to paycheck and you would love to just feel like you have breathing room and that's not the case. And so we're going to show you exactly how to get a paycheck ahead today on the podcast. Do you make good money but have nothing to show for it? Are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck? Do 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? Hey, it's okay if you don't already know how to budget or if you're using credit cards to get through the month.

0:46Hey, it's okay 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.

0:54Vanessa: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. We'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.

1:29Vanessa: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. And 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. All right, so let's talk about one of the first steps to getting a paycheck ahead, Shana. Yeah. You know what? Let's back up. We're going to back up to why. Why is living paycheck to paycheck such a thing right now? We hear it all the time. I live paycheck to paycheck.

2:00I make so much money, but I have nothing to show for it. I can't get out of this cycle of these bills are paid by this paycheck and so on and so forth.

2:08Vanessa:I think a lot of people just don't know there's a different way. If you've been taught anything or if you've, you know, what you did is you started off young and you got a paycheck and you found a way to spend it all, right? You found a way to spend it all and you have just been growing that system okay as long as I can pay my rent and my phone bill I'll be good and now you have a rent phone bill and you have groceries and you just keep adding and you've just spent your whole paycheck every time and you've you've divided what you spend by your paycheck because that's how the that's how the system worked but there is a different way well and we find that there's that feast or famine situation going on right so it's okay I have all of my like my mortgage and my auto insurance all these big bills are due at the beginning of the month.

2:46So we can't eat. I have no money for groceries. We're probably using a credit card to get by. And then, or the other half of that is the end of the month, I have no bills due. So I have all this money. So instead of using some of that to help buffer and save up for the upcoming month where you do have a lot of bills, we just end up kind of spending it all because we're excited that we finally have money to spend.

3:05Vanessa:Yeah. And we find that people are like budgeting by paycheck as well. And so there's a different way we want you to budget by month, but we also want you to get it when you're doing that. If you can, we want you to get a paycheck ahead because it's going to help you feel, like we said in the intro, breathing room. And what we want, like Vanessa said, the problem is you have bills due on the first and maybe your first paycheck of the month, theoretically, doesn't come until the third. What, wait, how? What are we doing there? We're missing a couple of days. And so we, instead, if you want to take all the pressure, all of the anxiety, all of the stress out of your budget, you will let it get set up monthly.

3:40Vanessa:Like we said, You will let it be automated like we teach and you will be a paycheck ahead. So all of that can happen. Yeah. When we coach with our clients, one of the questions that we asked them at the very beginning is, okay, when are your paychecks coming in? When do you get paid? When's your first one of the month? And so in the month that we're doing is, I'm just going to say that the Friday, the first Friday of this month is the fifth. Okay. So if you say on this month, I get paid on the fifth, that's my first paycheck of the month. I'm like, you're five days late. Yeah. You got all your bills.

4:08So you have bills due from the first through the fourth. So who's paying for that? And that's where we get stuck in this always being behind on our bills or always putting them on a credit card and feeling like that's the only way that we can pay for them because we're using the wrong paycheck as the first paycheck of the month. That's the true problem.

4:25Vanessa:Yeah. And so the whole system that we teach is what you really need. You need a bills account where all the money is pooled so that it pays all the bills. You need money going into your spending and your groceries so you know you have money. It doesn't matter if it's payday or not. You just know there's money in that account and that's what I have to spend. Like the whole thing is necessary in order for all of everything to work. But getting a paycheck ahead is definitely a part of that. And we want to tell you how to do that today. As in our budget, the first thing that you want to do is list out your income.

4:48Vanessa:And so when you're doing that, you're going to list out the paycheck dates. And actually, Vanessa, what we do when we start a new budget for the new month with our clients is we add the paycheck dates, right? And have changed unless it's February and March and there's no extra date because then they're the same. I love that. They are. You don't have to change anything when we do that very much. But that's it. And yes, we're that nerdy that we know that. But anyway, the point is you're going to list out your paychecks. And so in this case, what we're going to do is their last paycheck, Vanessa, the first step is to put your last paycheck of the month into the next month's budget.

5:22Vanessa:Yep. So whatever current month you're in, let's talk about, so before, let's use the same example. If you had told me that your first paycheck for the upcoming month is the fifth, we're going to back that up. And we're going to say, no, actually your first paycheck of the upcoming month is going to be the 21st. So it's the last paycheck that you have coming in of the current month that you're in. So the two weeks before, if you get paid every two weeks, two weeks before the 5th was the 21st. That is the first paycheck for the next month, right? In this case, we're saying it's going to be the 26th for them.

5:52Vanessa:Because we're visually showing you guys an example as well. So the September 26 paycheck is actually the first paycheck for the month of October in this budget. So what we want to do is take that paycheck and not put it in the month of September like we have listed on the budget. We're putting it in October because we're saying this paycheck is going to go to fund. It's going to sit there and wait and it's going to fund, help me fund October. Yeah. And this is going to, you're going to be fine after this month. You're not going to have to do these next steps. But for now, to get you to a paycheck ahead, what you're going to do is you're going to say, okay, September.

6:23Vanessa:let me go back to my September budget and let me see every bill that didn't get paid or that was going to get paid after the 26th, right? So in this instance, they have a car, a credit card, a student loan payment, their water bill, their gas, Pandora, Amazon Prime. So we go ahead and say, okay, these are all the pay, all the bills that were left for the month. I'm going to go ahead and take that amount and put it into October, into the next month's budget. So this total up to $497. We just buffered it by a little bit. We just said, okay, we're rounding to 500. So we have $500 worth of bills in the current month that still need to be paid for, that we still need that last paycheck of the month to help pay.

7:03But we're going to go ahead and start making our budget that we are a paycheck ahead. So we're going to, like Shana said, put that paycheck in October and we're going to put a line item in our bill section of our budget that says catch up or September's bills or whatever you want to put in there. And you're going to put$500 as a bill line item to show yourself that you're using the money for that paycheck to pay for the previous month's bills. Yeah.

7:26Vanessa:And this is, again, this is not every month, but it is something that we always do in the beginning of coaching because it helps you to set that beautiful new cycle up. So it might be a little bit of a stretch for you one month, but if you can make this happen, then everything going forward is going to feel so much better and easier. And so right now, as soon as you do this, as soon as you put those bills in there as the catch up bills or whatever, you are now a paycheck ahead. And you can start to see now they're going to have, they're going to be able to keep doing their last paycheck of the month as the first paycheck for the new month once they did this one time.

7:56And this is a conservative budget. Like they're bringing in $7 ,600. They have their spending, their debts, they have everything listed. But Shana said, this is one of those situations where it's a one and done, right? So if you can make the sacrifice one month, and maybe this might be hard for you because you have a lot of bills and you have a lot going on. This is the one month where we're going to say, okay, look and see what you can cut back on now. So that way you can get a paycheck ahead because we want that for you. And again, it's a short-term sacrifice for a long-term gain.

8:25Vanessa:Yeah. And so once you're doing this, we have clients and they'll, we'll get to the 26th or the 21st or the 22nd of the month. And they have their whole next paycheck sitting there ready. All of their bills are being taken care of by the previous, but they have a whole paycheck sitting there ready to do their job, do its job for the next month, which does mean you have to get comfortable having money. You have to get comfortable having more than enough and having living beneath your means because you're letting all that money just sit there and be ready for the next month. And it's such a good feeling with us to be ahead, right?

8:55Vanessa:Instead of paycheck to paycheck and instead of behind, which is where most people are. This allows you to feel you're ahead of the game, like you're ready. It also functions as like a mini emergency fund. Not really, but it does. It's a buffer. And that You're ahead instead of behind. Yeah. 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.

9:28And it's going to give you permission to spend. Everybody loves that. Yeah. 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.

9:45Vanessa:If 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 right now. Yeah. So head on over to budgetbesties.com forward slash budget and grab yours. Now back to today's show. And I think it's a great point that you said you have to get comfortable having money. This is really hard for some people because they'll see that money drop from that paycheck. And normally they go and spend it all because they finally have cash. But remember that this is setting you up to be a full paycheck ahead in your budget, always having money before the rent pulls or the mortgage pulls or whatever.

10:24And so you just have to sit with that for a minute. And it may take a month or two. We had a lady, she tried this for the first month, and she went and bought like$700 in concert tickets because she was so excited that she's been wanting to go to this concert forever and she finally had the cash to do. And let me tell you what, she didn't even end up going because she fell asleep and she forgot to wake up and she never went to this concert. No, don't. She bought tickets for her. Okay. I just, I throw that out there because it was - It's just therapy. It was, but it was one of those things where she just swiped a card because she saw cash in the account and it took her a little bit to realize, oh, this is the buffer that I've always wanted, that I've always desired.

10:57and now I have it. She didn't know what to do with it. Yeah.

11:00Vanessa:And speaking of not knowing what to do with you, the whole point of this is so that your budget can be automatic, right? So if your paychecks are going into your bills account and all your bills are getting paid automatically, you're not sitting there like on Saturday morning, spending hours going through your budget and going through your bills and this and that and the other and seeing what you can afford and this paycheck dropped finally so I can pay this bill now. No, all of that's in the past. You're now a paycheck ahead, which means your money is in your bills account early, ready to pay any bills.

11:26Vanessa:And then that just keeps happening. Every time a paycheck drops, money is in there to be able to pay the bills and make the whole system automatic. It's also in there. So when this paycheck drops, it's going to sit in there, but also it will be paying the spending accounts or the savings buckets as well. Doing those transfers, it's ready there to do its job. And the whole system depends on you doing this so that it can do all the things automatically for you. And so this person's paychecks for the month are coming in the 26th of September. And the last paycheck that they need, Shana, to fund everything that they have for the month of October is the 10th.

12:00So when they get paid on October 10th, they no longer need any money for the rest of the month. That's what we want for you. That's that feeling of peace and freedom to spend knowing that you have the cash there.

12:11Vanessa:And so then you might be wondering, they're obviously going to get paid again, right? Yeah. Where does that go? That's going to be in November's budget. And there are two months a year where you will find that you get to actually use all the paycheck or you get to use all the, you get an extra paycheck. We're still going to put in the budget. We're still going to sign a job. But other than that, you're always going to be having that last paycheck of the month go into the next month. If you get paid every other week, this is different than twice a month. But if you're on that every other week paycheck cycle, which is 26 paychecks in a year, you'll have two budgets a year, two months a year where you actually have a six week budget because you will use all three paychecks, but you're still a paycheck ahead.

12:51You're still using the previous month's paycheck or from the last month and then using the upcoming ones as well. But it's just, it really allows you to set your money up for success.

13:00Vanessa:Yeah. And I'm looking here. And so another example of this, this person says, Sarah gets paid on the first. I have a lot of clients that do supposedly get paid on the first, but they actually get paid on the 28th or the 29th or the 30th. And that still functions the same way. That last paycheck now is funding the whole month and you're still a paycheck ahead, which is important because for many of you, your mortgage is due early in the month. So knowing that you have all that money there pooled up is just a great feeling. So it works whether you're every other week and you're once a month, whatever, either way, you still want to make sure your paychecks are sitting in that building before all the bills are due before the first of the month, ready to do their job.

13:36And again, the reason you can make that happen is because your previous budget that you made is setting you up to cover you through up until that point. And this is, again, setting your paycheck up or your budget up one paycheck ahead for the first time is going to set that system up for you automatically for time and time again.

13:54Vanessa:So we hope that you've enjoyed this little lesson on how to get a paycheck ahead. It is definitely a game changer. It's going to make you feel better. It's going to make your budget be able to run on autopilot. It's all the good things, and we hope you enjoyed it. And we would love you to share this episode because, listen, we know getting a paycheck ahead is, I think it's still a new concept. I think it's what people want. It's what they don't know that they need. So if you could share this episode and just say, hey, this is new. Let me know what you think. Like, have you ever tried to do this before?

14:18We would love for you to do that.

14:21Vanessa:If you're tired of feeling like your finances are all over the place and you're ready for a simple set it and forget it way to budget, we have something special for you. Watch our Automate Your Budget Masterclass at budgetbesties.com forward slash automate. We'll show you step-by-step how to finally organize your money, how to set up your accounts and put your budget on autopilot. So your bills, saving, and spending run like clockwork. Imagine less stress, more savings, and the freedom to spend money without having to track every dollar or babysit your bank account. Go to budgetbesties.com forward slash automate to start today.