Lori Paid Off 6 Debts in 1 Month Using a Simple Budget System | 456

0:00Lori:Right now we're trying to pay off debt. Maybe our spending will go up later, but like, that's our goal. And, and, you know, even if they're small debts, it still feels good. And also it's like less clutter, less things happening in your bills account, less things in your mind, like out in the world. Flash forward to like September. I'm like, Oh wow. Look at my credit card line. Like, or my debt line. They was like, it's smaller. It's a lot smaller. Six lines, smaller girl. Yeah. So it's exciting. And did you say that's going to put$300 back in your pocket? Yes. Oh my gosh. So now you have an extra$300 a month.

0:33And if your goal is to continue to pay off debt, you can put that towards more debt. Or if your goal is to start your savings buckets, you can start filling up Christmas or birthdays or whatever annual bills. Like you have options to be able to do stuff with your money. And maybe if eventually that, that 75 turns into a hundred, you know, he'll be excited. I don't know, but you know, but you have options. 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?

1:07Lori: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. Hey, 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. 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.

1:43Lori: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. 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.

2:11Lori:This is the Financial Coaching for Women podcast. All right. Thank you so much for coming on Financial Coaching for Women to talk about your experience with our Simplify Budget System. How are you guys? Good. How are you? Good. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. So we're excited to have you on. So tell us a little bit about where you were when you found us and like what led you to, you know, want to budget and start using our system. Okay. So yeah, like I've always kind of budgeted, but I knew it probably wasn't working and I knew there was probably better options out there. Like every Friday that I would get paid, like I would just back up my husband's paycheck, my paycheck with the notebook and put everything together and then do a whole math problem and it was like this long of a math problem every week like what bills get paid this week and what get paid that next week or whatever but it was more like week by week and i was like i don't know there's gotta be something else better and honestly i've never listened to a podcast before and you guys were my first podcast we're so honored that's so cool i never really i was like i was like there would be something else out there so i was like let me just like cool things i weren't i think i listened to like one i'm like yeah this one's like kind of boring and then i listened to you guys i was like wow these ladies really know what they're talking about and they're not boring for the most part kind of loud they're kind of loud they don't know what's happening there's two of them yeah i love it you love it no i love it too all right so you You found our podcast and you were listening.

3:47So what did you hear that you were like, okay, this is, I'm going to try this because I, and it's funny, you said that this long math problem that you guys had, I have an idea of like building a wall collage of all the budgets people send us. So we're like, these are not budgets. They're not cute. This is why it wasn't working. This is why you didn't want to do it. Right. And then they transfer to ours and they're like, oh my God, this brings us so much peace. So kind of walk us through the difference on how, what were you guys doing and then how you're doing it now so just like listening to your podcast probably for about over a month or so just listening to like daily listen to people's stories i'm like wow like one bills account and just keep everything in one account like that sounds crazy but it sounds like it would work like why wouldn't that work so just listening to you guys over and over again and just getting your concepts and ideas in my head so i'm like all right let me kind of dive into this and see what'll happen so i did it and i didn't start with your simplified system at first i just started with the freebie online perfect and i was like all right this seems like it could work and then i was like but listening to your podcast more and more i'm like why wouldn't i get the system like why wouldn't i make my life easier like yeah this is great but i'm still doing all the handwriting all the math in my head and stuff all the math yourself yeah like why do i like why would i want to do that like okay they obviously came out with a

5:15Lori:system for a reason and because we also didn't want to do the math see yeah exactly and you guys do it for me well the system does it for me so it's perfect so yeah just seeing that and diving into i was like just like week by week the few weeks that i've been into it now there's like no stress like it's just like oh wow like i don't have to worry about like what's in my account right now and things are doing its job and things are getting paid automatically i'm like i was always scared of auto pay so i'm scared of it i was like i don't know like is that gonna be okay but so far month one everything's been smooth that's amazing so you got your bills account set up then sounds like yeah and set and and you were brave yeah like vanessa will say you know some people are scared to start the automatic payment so you're not alone there that's like definitely a thing.

6:08Lori:So doing that though, it means there's less that you have to do. And like having the bills account separate, obviously make sure that there's enough money in there. There's nothing else, nothing else interfering. So your bills account, you got set up. What about, do you have any of the other accounts going? How's that going? So we have like our gas and groceries bills set up. We also have our, his spending, my spending set up. And then we have like a vacation bucket, a house budget um and then i have like a buffer account just in case so like in case of that automatic bills for whatever reason gets too low it shouldn't but if it did i have that buffer account as well it's gonna help out yeah that's awesome how has he enjoyed having his own account with like no judgment no you know just like the freedom to do what he wants with it it was funny at first like so like we started off small like each week we're getting set it up for like 75 dollars or something like that for the week just to get started and he's like that's it i was like yeah that's that's it and you're gonna be okay we're gonna make it and then it was funny because then i was like calculating like all of our like debt and the debt tracker and i saw like i was like oh what's your balance on your amazon card and like i noticed the amount went up a little of it i was like wait did you use it and he's like yeah i was like no we're not supposed to be using those anymore he's like well what was i supposed to do i was like we'll wait till next week till you get made again and receive it for the next weird concept and he's like oh okay i was like i just wanted to make sure i'm not i was like am i communicating correctly like did you understand like what the process was he's like yeah he's like but i just thought i could use no no no yeah well i mean there's there's a lot you know like you said you're a month in or you're in month one there's a lot of habits to change and and so that one is maybe was intentional but a lot of times other other things are like you have certain things set up to go to those cards automatically or it's a default card or whatever so you might you know there's little things that you have to like adjust as you go yeah so did you up his spending from 75 or you guys are still at 75?

8:23We're at 75 or a half, but we're paying off our debt. We just picked off this past month. Oh my God. So hold on. We're still on. You started month one. You have your account set up. You have your bills account set up. You have your automatic payments set up. Your transfers are happening. You are paying off six cards and you're getting spending money. I just want people to hear it is 1000 % possible. You are showing people that it does not take very long to get this done you were serious and you made it happen like that's huge yeah yeah really excited about it i mean they want like crazy amounts but those cards and that gave us 330 back into our budget every month now yeah well laura you're a rock star because

9:08Lori:what what you did is exactly what we would do in a session we'd be like oh i noticed this debt tracker this card went up huh what happened yeah and then it's like about that let's talk about that and you did the whole thing on your own with him and um and i love what you said like right now we're trying to pay off debt maybe our spending will go up later but like that's our goal and and you know even if they're small debts it still feels good and also it's like less clutter less things happening in your bills account less things in your mind like out in the world flash forward to like september i'm like oh wow look at my credit card line like or my debt line they was like it's smaller.

9:42It's a lot smaller. Six lines, smaller girl. So it's exciting. And did you say that's going to put$300 back in your pocket? Yeah. Oh my gosh. So now you have an extra$300 a month. And if your goal is to continue to pay off debt, you can put that towards more debt. Or if your goal is to start your savings buckets, you can start filling up Christmas or birthdays or whatever annual bills. Like you have options to be able to do stuff with your money. And maybe if eventually that that 75 turns into 100 you know he'll be excited I don't know but you know but you have options exactly yep and I told him like our goal like he has a truck that he financed and it's a six-year loan and I think we're not even a full year in yet I was like I'm like inspired to get it paid off in three years and he's like you really think so I'm like yeah like I'm ambitious he's like that's a little too ambitious I'm like no it's not mark my words The budget says we can do it.

10:42Exactly. We can do it. If we're on the same chart right now, we can do it.

10:46Lori:Yeah, and that's with you. You have some of those savings buckets going, yeah? Yeah. 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. And 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.

11:28Lori: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 budgetbestc.com forward slash budget and grab yours. Now back to today's show. So Lori, are you like, are you like a genius? How did you just figure this out? Well, it's so fast because we, huh? Because of you guys. Oh, that's so sweet. But like figuring out the savings buckets and it sounds like you obviously, you probably know which ones you needed to do and how much you needed to do to make it to make it work to where you could still pay off debt and like so tell us about that yeah i mean so it wasn't like much that i put in the savings buckets but i was like you know what this is what i'm saying i have left over for this month so like let's put some i put some towards annual bills i actually forgot to mention that before i do have an annual bills account so i put some in that account and then vacation in our buffer account.

12:29So yeah, it's just a little bit extra that I was able to save away. I love how you went from annual bills, which is non-negotiable required to vacation. Like that's really important. Most of the important ones. Yeah. Love that. I think that that's great. Okay. So talk to us about when you use the budget, when you bought it, did you just watch like the quick start video to get going? Or did you go through and watch the deep dive videos to really understand every tab and how to use it to its fullest no i went through everything everything okay watch the videos everything i feel like i've studied you guys straight for a month like i feel like repetition is best way like for me sometimes it's hard to concept everything or to always not like comprehend it all at once um so i think repetition for me is a great way to get it like first week, I'm like, what are they talking about?

13:21But then all the repetition and listening to you guys and watching the video really helped.

13:26Lori:Well, that's helpful to us too, because we feel like we repeat ourselves a lot, but, but, you know, I, we know exactly what you're saying. And every time you hear it, you hear it a different way. And hopefully it just gives you a little bit, you know, a little more nugget and a little more clarity, but also, you know, I just think you're such a good testament because we do love our coaching clients. We do love working with them. But if you're the kind of person that is a DIYer that will take the ball and ambitious, as you put it, and just go for it. Like month one, we've paid off six debts. We've got our savings bucket started.

13:57Lori:We're talking to our husband about not using the Amazon card because we have spending money. Like these are all good things. And then, you know, and then we're going to pay. Spending is being funded. Like there's just so much happening. The bills are being paid automatically. What? So did you set up your automatic spending transfers or are you doing those manually? I did that too. yeah so she's on it every Friday they're going in I'm like what is this this is crazy so you also watched I'm assuming I'm just gonna assume the bonus videos that we had on the the course as well right so yeah see she's just one the one percent that is just going all in and you did it that's so awesome so you have your transfers going in there every Friday so that feels probably good like you get money in your grass and groceries you're spending what else do you have any other spendings or are those the main nope those are my main ones so his and hers and then got some groceries and the yeah the spending accounts yeah yeah and is it nice like knowing that that's set aside in a separate account and it's not messing with your bills and you know what's you know what's gonna happen like it's so easy just to keep track of things now like when i like go like to my bank account and i'm going to my bills account i'm going to your tracker i'm like all right that was pete that was me like i'm just checking right off the list i'm like all right that's done that's done like i used to fit with like a little calendar and have all my bills and i said you're not alone you're not alone we hear that a lot you know and now so like this friday i'm like what do i do with myself like everything's done already like i don't have to sit here and do all these bills all day you better go spend that 75 dollars girl Go for a walk.

15:40You can do so many things.

15:42Lori:Yeah, you can. Go ahead. Well, and I love how, you know, before I'm sure you were stressed out about your spending and how much you were spending and everything. And now that is no longer, you no longer have to track anything, right? So the only thing you're really checking off is your bills and when they're coming out because your automatic transfers are happening. So you're checking that box to show that that money went there. But after it transfers out, nobody cares that you spent$70 at the grocery store this time and$60 another time and what you bought. Like, I don't care. It went to the grocery account.

16:12That's good enough. Like, that's fine. Right. And there's so much freedom there. Yeah. There's a lot of freedom. So it's really, really nice. It's just the freedom part in the time saving is so different. I'm like, I don't know what to do with myself now. Time saver. So we just need to partner with all these time management people to help them. Save you time.

16:34Lori:Yeah. But honestly, Lori, that was one of Vanessa's first clients. She was like, what are you going to do with your Saturday mornings now? Like, you don't have like this big stressful ball to unravel and untangle to figure out what happened with your money. And, you know, you're not alone. Like, Vanessa, we could have a wall with all of the calendar or like the lists or like sometimes we'll still have clients show up with their little notebooks. I'm like, no, none of that. We're not going to do that. Let's look at this pretty budget. I mean, and can you speak to, you know, going from doing it the way that you did to using our system?

17:07Lori:It's digital. It's on, it's on Google drive. I know that blows people's minds sometimes. It's one page. Like it's one page. Like, what do you think of the actual, like using of the system? Like the, the budget system itself. It's so simple to use. Like, it's almost like dummy proof. Like you're just literally putting in all your numbers and basically it's doing everything else for you. Like there's really no mistakes to be happening. Like you said, like if you're doing it manually, you're going to mess it up all this way at all. Yeah. So what would you say your favorite tab or favorite feature of the entire system?

17:45Because listen, it's a big, it's a big system and we don't talk about all of it because you don't want to, you know, overwhelm people, but mostly they, they love the budget, the asset tracker, the debt tracker, those, those things, but there are a lot of other things there available for people who may want to use them. Like we have the retirement section for those that are in that stage of life. We have the mock budget in case somebody is moving and they want to or changing jobs and they want to figure out, you know, what their new situation is going to look like. What would you say like your favorite feature is on the budget system?

18:11For me right now, it's the debt tracker. Just seeing those numbers change as things are dwindling down. That's the most exciting part for me right now. And then just the monthly part, too, is nice. Just seeing like what you have left every month. that everything's just laid out perfect for you. There's no, it's a dummy proof. Like it makes it so very easy to follow.

18:37Lori:So have you done the debt-free budget yet? Have you looked at it? Have you done it? No, that's okay. That's okay. Because I was just wondering, because you're paying off debt and you have this three-year plan that your husband's like super for, what do you think you're going to do with your life when you get out of debt? I'm looking to invest definitely more. getting those high yield savings and other A's and stuff like that. So definitely more planned for the future of retiring. Because who wants to retire at 65? Why can't we do it earlier? Yes. And knowing that you are in charge of that, I think I remember when I left my teaching job, I was like five years in and a teacher said, well, what about all the money you've put in retirement?

19:19And how are you going to be able to do this? And I thought, I'm going to do it on my own. I'm going to figure out how to do it on my own. I'm not going to be relying on any pension or social security or whatever somebody is going to put aside for me. I want to do that. I want to be in charge of it. So I love what you're saying. I love how you're, you're taking the wheel and you're paving the way for your family and showing that it's possible. Like month one, girl, you are already crushing it. And we're so excited. We would love for you to come back. What did you say, April? There was something, a deadline you had, right?

19:47Coming up? No, no, no. Okay. Sorry. I I thought you said there's something in the spring. But we would love like six months later or a year later, we would love for you to come back and check in and see. You're already doing this much on month one. I'm so excited to see what you're going to accomplish in six months to a year. Yeah, me too. I'm very excited. And also like my son, like he's 17, going to be 18 this year. So I can't wait to really dive in with this with him and really show him how things should be and not to fall in the same patterns that we fell into. So yeah, we stay tuned girl.

20:21We're looking at a kid slash young adult version of this. We're very excited. It's coming someday.

20:26Lori:Yeah. But it's lovely that you're including it so that he doesn't have to wait till later to figure it out. And I was just, was it a free call or a client? I can't remember, but they were just saying how much, Oh, it was our friend Carrie. Yeah. She said her daughter is loving. She's in college now. She's loving knowing that she's funding her different things that she wants to do. her it's very simple for her to understand what's actually happening with her money so i think that's gonna be great for him once you dive into it with him and then you know it's just gonna pay off dividends in the future so yeah and then i was talking to my parents they live in florida like you guys do too and i talk to them every sunday and i started telling them about this past sunday and they're like oh it's just like what my mom had like she had all the envelopes i'm like yeah it's just like envelopes but it's digital now and i'm like yeah it worked like you went to the grocery store that's the money that you had and that was it like i was like yeah i had 35 i couldn't buy something extra if i didn't have 37 because it wasn't there i was like that's exactly what this is yeah it is and just trying to take advantage of some of the modern tools that we have because things are different now i was just talking to another client about whether or not her 11 year old should get a debit card and i said you know in the past i would have said absolutely not.

21:40Lori:But now, I mean, we can't send our kids to half the places with cash. They won't take it. So, you know, so we just, we have to lean into that, some of that modern stuff, the digital stuff, but we want to use the same concepts, concepts, like you said, your mom said her grandma used. Yep. And, and it, and it applies to hubs too. And we love him, but like, if we didn't have the money to buy the thing on Amazon, that means we didn't buy it. Like that's, it's like, we're bringing this back around. We're bringing it back to this generation. Yep. And I think that's a great thing because people are just beyond their means and buying stuff just because it's so easy to swipe a card yeah yeah for sure and it stresses them out and then we go back in this whole cycle so instead what you have laura you guys are living on less than you make and you're paying off your debt and you're going to be you know getting debt free you have less stress you have more time like all good things and you know what maybe you're going to have less stuff coming from amazon because let's be honest it's not a bad thing not yes nobody needs to order it'd be ordering something every single day like that's just ridiculous yeah no great we're all reigning it in a little bit we can actually let it sit in the cart for a couple days and think about the order the purchase my husband's like babe you have like 958 items in the cart and i was like yes so like i don't i mean i wait for things purchase yeah i'm like i wait for things to go on sale i mean and i'm just i don't want to lose sight of it because it gets lost in my list so leave me alone i'm fine i'm not buying it exactly it's just sitting there for right now Yep.

23:04All right, Lori, thank you so much for coming on. We really appreciate you sharing your story and just explaining how you're using it. And we're just so proud of all the progress that you've made in such a short amount of time. Thank you ladies. Thank you.

23:17Lori:And thank, and make sure you tell your phone workers, we said thank you for the text. We appreciate that.

23:24If 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.

23:47Lori: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.