How Two Teachers Paid Off Debt and Cash-Flowed Disney Vacation | 587

0:01There has to be a better way, right? I feel like we're always just behind. I have every dollar gone. We will figure out how to work it in your budget. The accounts just, I feel like that's the game changer. We paid off all the debt and then immediately started spending it all on vacation. That's part of the point. I was able to pay for both of those vacations with cash. I feel like I was always behind and now I feel like I'm ahead of the game. 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?

0:35Or 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. 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.

1:09In 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 a 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. 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.

1:37This is the Financial Coaching for Women podcast. All right, Julie, we are so excited to have you on Financial Coaching for Women. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Well, Julie, you are just one of my most fun clients. And every so you're at the end of the day. And, you know, sometimes after going for seven, eight hours, it can be you know, it's just it can be a lot, especially if you get into really emotional conversations and really deep stuff. And you are just such a joy. And it's such a ray of sunshine. And I just loved having you. And you know, I want if you could just give everyone the background, you and your husband are both teachers, just kind of the lay of the land kind of where you guys were before coaching and what maybe prompted you to to start coaching sure yeah so my husband and i both teach high school i'm a math teacher my husband is a history teacher i'm pretty much the one in charge of all the finances and he's like as long as i have money to do what i want do whatever you need to do which is nice but then also it's i don't know a little bit nerve wracking because I feel like I'm in charge of everything.

2:47So I feel like a little bit of history, you know, we use credit cards and, you know, we'd rack them up and pay them off and rack them up and pay them off. And I'm like, there has to be a better way, right? I feel like we're always just behind, behind, behind. So then I would say last year, I really started kind of like getting into, you know, just paying more attention and being more mindful. And I started working with someone else. And it was kind of going okay for a little bit until it wasn't. And then I was like, oh, now what do I do? So I heard you guys on Katie Wells podcast. And I was like, oh, this sounds amazing.

3:31I love everything that you guys were talking about. And I was like, okay, I'm, you know, I'm just gonna, you know, dive right in. I bought the system right away. I started setting everything up and I went back and listened to all your podcasts from day one. And I was like, yes. And I probably did it in like a month because every, every time I was not doing anything else, I had you guys in my ear and I was listening and I was all in. I went to the bank. I opened up all my, you know, accounts. I was ready to go and it was working and you know it was I feel like it was kind of easy to follow and then I had everything set up where all my money was being spent and I was like man I would love to do private coaching I know it could help but there's no way I could afford it like there's no way I have every dollar gone and then I remember hearing on the podcast like we will figure it out we will figure out how to work it in your budget and I was like all right you know what I'm gonna sign up for the free call.

4:38I knew in the back of my head that I was going to do it. So when I met with Vanessa, she was like, okay, do you have any questions? I was like, nope, let's, let's set it up. She was like, okay. So we met right away, you know, and I, you could probably talk a little bit to this, but because I had everything set up, you know, it was kind of, you know, we kind of jumped through like right in, which was kind of nice. I did have some credit card debt right in the beginning, not a lot, but just, you know, enough that I needed to get rid of that before we can, you know, work with setting up savings buckets and all that stuff.

5:13So that's kind of where, where we were. And then we started working together. Okay. Well, I think it's, well, first of all, I, I understand who you are because we are the same. And so I love that. And how many times have we gone on the 12 and I'm like, I, we're buying this. We're buying, like we're signing up for this right now before we even get on the call i'm like please take my money and she's like maybe you slow down a little bit i'm like don't think so anyway so i get that what i want to know is because you're a math teacher so you're already way smarter than me and then you already set a lot of it up like you did such a good job what made you actually want to do the private coaching what made you decide that you wanted to do coaching too so i you know i was starting to set up my savings buckets and I was starting to pay off debt.

6:04And I just remember like the tagline, like, you know, you can go farther faster. So I was like, you know, I'm one that I just wanted to jump right in, do everything, get it done fast. You know, I didn't want to wait. So, you know, I knew, or I just wanted someone to just come in and look at everything and kind of tell me what to do, you know, have different eyes on it. And I definitely feel like working with Vanessa, I 100 % farther faster. It was so great. Like I have, you know, so much, you know, we got rid of the debt, like immediately, I feel like within like one or two months that was gone.

6:39I did have two vacations that we were planning. One in February, we were going to Disney. And one in March, we were going to Universal. So not cheap vacations. And I really hadn't started saving for them. I had some money. So basically once I paid off the debt, we immediately went into funding those. So I was able to pay for both of those vacations with cash, which was amazing. Like I would never have done that without Vanessa's help. And then as soon as we were finished with that, then we started setting up savings buckets and that's kind of where we are now. I mean, I'm just so excited. I love her wheels turning.

7:16Well, I just love like we paid off all of debt and then immediately started spending it all on vacation. I know. That's part of the point, you know. Well, and your husband also has season, he's a season ticket holder somewhere. And that was like thousands of dollars that also had to be budgeted for right after the trips. And so I just remember there were a lot of big expenses that happened very quickly, but you were able to fund them all in cash and not go into debt. and it was, and I remember, I love you so much. You're such a ball of nerves. So like I would jump on the call and be like, Hey Julie, how's everything going?

7:55And you're like, I'm so stressed out. And I'm like, okay, let's just look at it. And then everything would be fine. I'm like, are you good? And you're like, yeah, I just didn't see it that way. And I think it brings up a good point when you, you know, trying to go further faster. It's like, it was good, but could it go from good to great? Like how much better could it actually be if you had somebody else look at it. And I don't think you knew that. And Shana actually has a new client that has been a longtime listener of ours forever. They have a tree business. And she was the same way. She's like, Oh, I'm good.

8:24You know, I think I'm good. And then she finally said, you know what, I think I do need coaching. And then Shana had her first session with her. And Shana said, you know, it's interesting, because we think we speak clearly on the podcast on how very specifically how to do things. And it was just so different than how we normally say. And so she has benefited from coaching, you know, tremendously from just having that second set of eyes, even though she's been a longtime listener. Well, you have an amazing budget. I, you know, we're not, we're not going to, we already heard Disney universal and season tickets.

8:54Okay. So I'm here for it. Tell us what it was like before with budgeting your money. Like, I just want to get the feeling for what that was like before and what it's like now, because you know, you're obviously very smart. You catch on really quick. So, you know, sometimes people will say, well, this finally clicks for me or whatever. Like this actually made sense. But what is it like? Contrast the before and after of all this stuff happening with your money, all the fun things before us. So, I mean, before it was swipe on a credit card, swipe on a credit card and then pay it off. So I was always reactive.

9:31I never really knew where the money was going. I had my own spreadsheet where I would track everything and, you know, I could tell you what I was spending every month, but I was never, you know, looking at it beforehand. It was always up after we spent this. So let's try not to spend that much. Let's try, you know, not to, you know, have as much, you know, eating out or, you know, doing whatever, but it was always reactive. so then when I got your system and started putting it everything in I knew exactly where all my money was going the accounts just I feel like that's the game changer is having separate accounts for everything I used to have you know one checking one savings and I did budget for Christmas like way back when I would always put money in my savings account every month for Christmas and so that was ready but I never thought to do that with everything else like I never thought oh I can open another checking account I can open another savings account and so when I went to the bank and opened all these accounts they were you know like I was like don't think I'm crazy like these are just you know I'm I'm doing the Dave Ramsey system but all with you know digital now right so it's so nice like I know how much I have for you know gas and groceries I know how much you know, we can use for eating out.

10:51You know, I have two boys, so they don't want to eat at home all the time. You know, they want to go out and do stuff. So I'm like, okay, well, this is, you know, how much we've decided we're going to spend. And when it gets to the end of, you know, that paycheck or that, you know, month, that's it. Like, okay, you know, we're not eating out anymore. We're not, you know, going to do whatever fun thing. Like we have to kind of plan for it while we're in the moment. So it's just so much stress-free because now I could just open my, you know, app on my phone and I know exactly what's in there and what we could spend it for.

11:22You have one of the most detailed budgets I've ever seen. And we've talked about this. And your savings bucket section is, I mean, it's to be desired. Because it's fabulous. We had to add extra lines because, girl, you document. You wanted to put everything in there. And I actually have your budget pulled up now. It's Vanessa's dream come true. I know. Like someone this detail is her dream come true. She's got Al in there. and school pictures and report card stuff you know and she's got hair and then you pay them for report cards yeah i just asked i'm asking her friend i want to have a conversation about that with her and she has it in her savings buckets she has both of her boys separately listed on her savings market trucker and then what they all need because they're into different things and you have sweet ethan he's the one or was it aiden about the hair i talked about it on the podcast remember oh aiden he's the one that she gave him the money for the haircut he never got the haircut and he spent the money and she's like well i'm gonna need that back and he was like oh and he yeah but he paid it back i was like listen because i have one that doesn't want his haircut every month so i put that in the savings account and then you know aiden was like i need my haircut every month you know he's my teenager i'm like okay like that's fine so then the money was gone i'm like no no that money was only for haircuts like if you're not going to spend it on a haircut then that's not just fun money you already got your fun cracking me up i have a client who the amount that that they spend her and her daughter so it's kind of like the opposite right but is a good amount it's a real healthy amount usually amount and which you know you think anyway long story short she said if you go over because they still somehow had her card for the first like month of coaching sometimes things are a little bit more messy you owe me a hundred dollars every time you accidentally used my card.

13:11I was like, well, we went from let's all go out and get our hairs and nails and like spend all the money to you spend an extra dollar, you owe me$100. I'm like, oh, that's great. We just leveled up. That's what we did. But Julie checks off every box, even if there's nothing on the line. See, it's your dream. This was the next level. So when she closes out a month, she closes out the month. And every line is checked It's just she's on it. But I just really loved how detailed you were in here. You took the time. And listen, I say this. No one has to do this. You have to be as. But I think I'm also giving you some freedom to add some wiggle room into your savings buckets and not really feel like it has to be detailed down to the penny.

13:57So we definitely worked through that. You know, I think one of the probably what it is, is if you came from tracking everything. Yes. You have you still it's like you have to like slowly wean yourself off of that level of time commitment and doing things. And so this, this will be that, but really the idea is it can be a little more simple. You know, it can just like Vanessa said, okay, well, we, we, we tracked it down to it's for$417. Ooh, here's a thought. We're just going to bump that up to 450 or we're just going to say 500 bucks. Like we can do that. We have the power we're allowed to, you know, even though you're a math teacher and you could do that math in your head.

14:33I get it. I get it. I get of it. So it's, it's making everything a little more easy, a little more simple, a little less anxiety. And I just want to say you guys are doing a lot on to teacher income. Yeah. I think that's really important to, to point out. Yeah. And that is a conversation that I wanted to have because you know, a lot of people listen, we know that coaching is an investment. We also know where you would be in six months if you didn't have somebody else come look at it. And I think with you, Julie, you and your husband are both teachers and you were like, yep, they're going to find the money.

15:05Like you put that on us and you were like, you said you would figure it out here. You make that work for me. And we did. And it became another bill. And you have more than enough while you are coaching to go to Universal, to go to Disney, to buy your husband, his season ticket holders to, you know, your, your son had a birthday. It's coming in June, right? We were able to say for that, you have the, one of the most bugiiest budgets I've ever seen on two teacher salaries. You're doing fantastic and you're, but you're also very smart with your money, right? So, you know, your version of bougie isn't you have 20 subscriptions and you're blowing all this money wherever.

15:40No, you're very strategic on where it goes and why. And I love that for you. I think that this is like the ultimate dream budget for, you know, for people just to know that you can do it all.

15:55Okay. So we talked about, and I really identified with this because you, you know, you have your husband is a history teacher and you're a math teacher. So somehow all the budgeting fell to you. Nobody can understand why. Tell us a little bit about how it's been with him. And, and you, you did speak to the, about the boys a little bit. Tell us how it's been with changing. I mean, you've changed a little bit up on him, you know, a little bit with this, this new system. And now you guys are doing everything and, you know, we made sure he still had a season tickets. That was good. That's a good job.

16:27How has it been with your marriage and bringing him on board with all of this? So originally I had asked him if he wanted to come on, you know, to the, you know, coaching sessions. And he was like, sure. And then the first one came and he had something else going on. And I was like, okay. And, you know, so I, you know, Vanessa was very good with making sure that I always brought it back to him. Like make sure that, you know, when we talk about our pocket money, does he have enough? So I was really good about like tracking everything before. So I knew kind of what he was spending, what I was spending, and then what we were spending, you know, throughout the year, you know, prior to working with Vanessa.

17:07So I would just show him, you know, the, my savings bucket tracker. And I was like, okay, is there anything on here that you, you know, see that you think I'm missing? And of course he looked at it and he was like, there's so many things on there. I get it. I know. So I was like, all right. And then I was going back and looking and I'm like, wait, I have something on here twice. I'm like, I didn't even look at it. And he's like, you know what? You know, as long as I like, is this going to change what I'm doing or, you know, am I going to have to get rid of anything? And I was like, no, you know, we'll we'll figure it out.

17:40You know, so I just check in with them a little, you know, maybe like once a month or every other month I've been checking in, like, do you have enough money? Do you feel like you have enough, you know, in your spending? And he's like, yeah, I'm good. I'm like, OK. Well, if that changes, you just let me know. And then Vanessa had suggested like, just show them like the totals. Don't show them like the detailed stuff. Show them what we're, you know, spending in bills every month, what we're spending in our, you know, spending, what we're saving every month. So he was pretty excited about that when I showed him like the totals, like, oh, I get it now.

18:11I see what we're doing. So yeah, so that was good. And then the boys, so I had like a savings account for them. They each had their own savings account and that's where like their, you know, birthday money went, Christmas money, that kind of stuff. And then I ended up opening them both up their own like spending accounts. And they both have a card for their spending accounts. And it's linked with mine still. So I started, I used to give them like twice a month. Here's like your allowance. And then I started doing it once a month. So here's your money once a month. This is all your fun money. If you want to go to Starbucks or get ice cream with your friends or, you know, ride to the pizza place.

18:49Like this is all you get. so I remember the one the one day my son got out of school my eighth grader and he was like can I hang out with my friends in the day and a half day I'm like sure so he went to Jot's Pizza then they went and got ice cream and then they wanted to go out to dinner at like one of these little restaurants and so he had called me and he's like hey you know can I go to a restaurant one of his friend's mom's works at. And I'm like, okay. And he's like, well, do I have to pay for it? And I was like, yes, you have to pay for it. And he was like, well, I already paid for, you know, lunch and ice cream.

19:26And I'm like, right. So maybe you should eat at home. And he was like, well, I won't go then. And I was like, okay, well, that's your choice you have to make. Like this money has to get you through, but it's definitely, I love that it's making them think about their spending. Cause I feel like growing up, I didn't really have that, you know, it was kind of like, what do you want? When do you want it? And, you know, and then I feel like, well, you know, it took me a long time to like break that habit of myself. So I don't want them to grow up with that habit as well. So now it's like, you've got to think about it.

19:59And if you want extra money, you know, my older son, he cuts, he cuts grass for, you know, the next, some of the neighbors. So he makes his extra money. And then that kind of lasts throughout the school year. So exactly. Love it. Good. Yeah. Um, it's time to enter your coaching era because making good money should feel like making good money. Yeah. Imagine six months of private coaching where we'll tell you exactly what to do. No guesswork, no confusion, and absolutely no judgment. It's a done for you system that actually works. You don't know what you don't know, and that's not your fault. And that's why we're here.

20:35Financial coaching with us looks like two coaching sessions a month, personalized recaps, and after-hour support, you can text and email so you're never stuck wondering what to do next. Together, we're going to build your budget, set up your system, and tackle any challenges that come up along the way, which, by the way, they always do. If what you're doing isn't working and you're tired of trying to figure it out on your own, sign up for financial coaching at budgetbesties.com forward slash coaching before all of our spots fill up, and we will help you go further faster. Six months from now, you'll wish you started today.

21:08I want to talk really quick about one of the sessions we had recently when you said we were talking about money, like the spending money. Is it enough? Do you have enough? And you said, yeah, well, mine's a little cushioned. You said, but when, when everybody runs out or they need more, I feel like I just, I just pull from mine and I give it to them. And I start very sarcastically joking said, well, yeah, Julie, that's obviously what you're supposed to do. And you're like, oh, okay, great. Yeah. Then that's what I do. And I was like, no, that's not what you're supposed to do. And I remember we laughed for like two straight minutes on the call.

21:41You were hysterical because you thought I was serious. You thought, well, I'm doing it right. Like that I'm just supposed to pull from my pocket money to give to everybody else in the time of need. And I was like, no, that is yours. You've budgeted. You've worked really hard for that. That is yours to keep. Everybody has their own. And I think hopefully we haven't done that anymore since that. It was so funny. I'm like, you know, I want to be the star student. So I was like, yes, I got this. I'm doing it. And she was like, no, that's not right. I was like, what do you mean that's not right? What am I supposed to do?

22:17And I was like, oh, we have to just pay more attention during the, you know, during the month or during the pay period and make sure that we're not spending that or they're not overspending. Well, and it's an adjustment for everybody. You know, I have so many clients that their kids are, this is a shock to me, but their kids are used to just being able to put it on the credit card. Like, I'm not saying we were ever whatever, but no kid of mine ever going to get a credit card. It's not for the credit card, I'm a kid, right? Okay, anyway, long story short, we have to go from we can buy whatever, whenever, however, like nobody's actually thinking about saying yes or no, to now we have, we all have our own budget.

22:56So we have to, that's one step. And then we also have to find the right amount because this is the tricky part for me, Julie. And I wonder if you'll agree with me. You have boys, so it's probably, you know, maybe a little different. I want my girls to be able to do everything they need to do for$50 a month. It doesn't seem like that's as possible as I want. Now to your point, they can also earn more money, but just one or two things and we're done. You know, one birthday party, you know, one whatever. And that's it. So, so, and then, then that's also your, your spouse. You, it's like you, first of all, we have to get used to budgeting on purpose, a certain spending amount.

23:31And then we have to find the right amount like where we are able to hit all of our other goals, but we're not having to pull regardless of where we're pulling. If you're going to pull, then we need to just fix the budget. Right? So either the answer is a hard no, or it's like, okay, maybe we need to up everybody's by 20 bucks so that mom doesn't keep getting stolen or whatever it is. Those are two conversations, and it is a learning curve. Yes, definitely I feel like in the beginning I had to play around with the budget a little bit and make sure everyone was getting, you know, enough without going over.

24:04Like we wanted to make sure, you know, everyone was still able to have fun and do it, but, you know, within reason, which I feel like that was something that we kind of had to learn to do. And even like I kind of map out my month and see like, OK, what big things do we have going on? Do I have enough for that? You know, am I going to have extra? Is there other things that I need? So I feel like even that has been helpful, just kind of like mapping that out and just taking a look like at the month and, you know, what anything extra or, you know, something that's coming up and make sure that we have that, you know, funded for.

24:38Yeah. And you know, you have your savings buckets to where you, I think we came down to two of them that are like flicks, right? Whereas 90 % of your savings buckets are non-negotiable, right? We got Christmas, we have travel, we have the boys, we have all this at home vehicle because you got, you know, cars that you're saving to purchase for your, for the boys as they get older. And, but we have two of them that we know that if something medically, medical were to have, or something came up in the moment, right. that you had to pay for, then those would be the savings buckets that are more voluntary, right?

25:10More just fun versus the other ones that absolutely need to happen. And I look at your budget and I think you're able to do so much and make so much work. And I love it because it just brings that our tagline of being bougie on a budget and how this is what's important to you, right? Like making sure that your boys have everything they need for all the sports that they're part of. Your husband has a season tickets. You guys go to Disney and universal religiously, right? That is a big thing for you guys. And that's not going anywhere. And you were able to make it work and know that it's possible.

25:43And everyone got their spending money. And I just like, I think that this is so good, but compared to what it looked like when we first started coaching, it's so much different now because you had only seen it one way. You're so emotionally attached to it. Like Shayna said, you were so used to tracking stuff for so long. We kind of had to back away from that. So how do you like, I know when I took your budget over, I was like moving stuff and changing stuff. And I was like, look, I know this is how you've been doing it, but this is how we're going to do it now. And I think you were kind of taken back a little bit back then, but how does it feel now looking at your budget, being able to just understand the flow of your money throughout the month?