Making Good Money but Stuck in Credit Card Debt? How This Couple Avoided Debt Consolidation | 568

0:00Want to pay off debt but don't know where to start? Stop making random extra payments and hoping for the best. Let's build a debt payoff strategy that actually works. Join us Thursday, May 28th for our Debt Payoff Workshop so you'll know what you owe so you can pick your debt payoff method and you can start getting out of debt. We'll help you organize your debt, understand your balances, interest rates, and minimum payments and help you choose what to pay first. We'll cover all three payoff methods including the snowball, avalanche, and minimum payments and we'll also tell you what to know before.

0:30for applying for debt consolidation. No shame, no finance bro nonsense, just your next right step. Grab your spot at budgetbesties.com forward slash debt workshop. We didn't really learn about money or spending money. I think when we were growing up, we had put ourselves kind of in a situation with debt that we didn't want to be in and living paycheck to paycheck as most of planet earth lives was just something that sounded not really that appealing anymore. Like, we're in our 30s, so we need to be thinking about these things strategically now because we're paying for mistakes that we made in our 20s.

1:10Before you guys, we didn't have a system. It's just really encouraging to think, like, we haven't used a credit card since last summer. Also being, like, two and a half months ahead presently is really awesome. 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? 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.

1:48We 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.

2:23We 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. Caroline and AJ, thank you so much for coming on Financial Coaching for Women to share your client testimonial story. Of course. We're excited to be here. yep they sound super excited you can tell like yep they're excited but honestly i think they are because i vanessa and i were talking before we came on we think that you guys both scheduled a free call without like without telling each other without knowing or maybe you did know i don't know tell us what happened there what what what led you guys to find us and and and get started we were just definitely in the process of having conversations of trying to figure out how do we essentially learn about money and what feels like a safe space.

3:21And so I think when we were trying to figure out what that looked like, I was just like searching podcasts, like women, finances, but not trying to, you know, figure out how to save a hundred thousand dollars or like, I feel like there were so many niche things that weren't necessarily fitting what I was looking for. And so AJ and I were kind of searching together and then independently. and then I think I just stumbled upon one of your podcasts that was about not consolidating your debt in terms of you know negotiating with your credit card lender or provider and I think we both just got really excited and like I texted it to him and I was like I'm in between calls but look at this and then we both filled out the form yeah yes because I remember I was like oh I have two free calls today and then I got on with you guys and then you're like well that's my husband behind me.

4:10And I'm like, oh, okay. So then you guys both on the call, it was just so funny how, and then you're like, you can cancel that one because we're in. And so anyways, it was just really fun to meet both of you guys and how excited you were, like you said, to get out of debt and just learn something new and be able to start this journey, you know, just the right way. And I think too, like, including a third party, like we are big proponents of counseling and just like seeking guidance. And so I think it's one of those things when you relieve the pressure off of, is he doing it? Am I going to manage this process?

4:37Like, what is that going to look like? Oh, actually this time it'll be a team effort where we're meeting with somebody and inviting someone in to like help us. I think that was a really big key for success when we were thinking about, okay, this is a long-term thing. This isn't just going to be what we want to figure out in the next three months. This is like how we need to start thinking about money. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it was, you don't know what you don't know. Right. So, So, you know, I think that just based, we didn't really learn about money or spending money, I think, when we were growing up.

5:10And, you know, they don't teach this stuff in school, which they should, in my opinion. But, you know, it was just one of those things where we had put ourselves kind of in a situation with debt that we didn't want to be in. And we kind of took a step back and it was just, you know, causing some stress. And we wanted to be able to be a little bit more financially free because we had, we felt like we were doing all the right things in work and, you know, some side hustles and et cetera. And there just wasn't a pile of money there that we felt like there should have been. So kind of through the discovery process, found you guys, and we're super excited to start working on a process and really just learning how to budget appropriately.

5:54We had tried some other things previously that weren't so, you know, I'm blanking on the word, but weren't so accountability wise with you guys. And so, you know, some internet platforms that are super popular and just to be honest. That shall not be named. Neither of us really had the drive to be able to do that on our own. So it was really nice to, you know, kind of have some accountability in it and also just learn a process that worked for us with the format that you guys use. So it's been really lovely. It's dropped a tremendous amount of stress on us, which more than anything has been the biggest positive takeaway, I would personally say.

6:36You know, being in debt isn't fun, but the stress that comes with it is a lot less fun, in my opinion. And so, you know, kind of working on both of those and continuing to be in the process and really kind of make it a fun thing because previously it has not been a fun thing. As fun as it can be, if you will. We fight it then. Well, AJ is also a nerd, so it worked. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, we had a lot of fun time. Like he might have been the quickest study to our spreadsheet ever. It was really good. And I'm really glad to hear that you weren't also searching financial coaching for women. It was the debt that you found.

7:13No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. But you guys did not have a, what did you say? A little side hustle. Okay. How about this enormously successful side hustle that you guys were both working, you know, burning in both ends of the candle or whatever they say. And I know that it was probably a little frustrating to know that you were making so much money and it felt like, like you said, it's not stacking up or we're still in debt or so much in debt. And the debt is seems to just keep taking over more and more of our, of our money and our, and our like bandwidth. Right. Yeah. Yeah. No, I was just going to say it did.

7:46And it felt like when you're working really hard at something, I'm very goal oriented, so I can kind of push through pain or exhaustion or whatever, if it feels like it's serving a purpose. But when, you know, when I'm photographing a wedding or we're photographing a wedding on the weekend and then we're getting back to work Monday morning, nine to five, working our sales roles, and then getting back into a rehearsal dinner that Friday night and then a wedding that sat like it just it was just intense for lack of better word. But it's really fun. Like we love that side business. However, it felt like what are we doing on this for if like we're not seeing the money stack up in a way that we can then throw these piles of debt.

8:25But before you guys, we didn't have a system to kind of like watch buckets or we didn't have a system to be like, OK, this money is going to go here. I mean, we didn't have a business account yet. That's crazy. Like that just is crazy. Like there's just things where I think things in our personal life were growing so fast. Like this business was starting to grow for us. I was not really process minded. I'm very type B. Like if something feels like fun and exciting, we're going to do that, but I'm not going to, like, I'm not super strict with myself. I'm like, Oh, this is exactly how we should do it.

8:57So I I think that's kind of how we got to where we were just like, oh, yeah. And and to, you know, being living paycheck to paycheck, as most of planet Earth lives, was just something that sounded not really of that appealing anymore and didn't want to do it to begin with and didn't need to do it to begin with. But because of the decisions that we had made years ago, the debt was creating this space for us where we were being forced to kind of live in that direction. And, you know, I believe we started last, maybe it was June or July, but just already getting rid of chunks of debt and closing out loan accounts, which we've closed out, I think three thus far with a couple on the horizon, which is super exciting.

9:45and also being like two and a half months ahead presently is really awesome. So like you just not having to worry about, you know, we were, we always made it happen, but that's really where the stress came in of, we were never going to have to, you know, like, especially once we start with you guys, you know, take out another loan or this to cover anything, but it was, how are we going to get there? Which is the, you know, stress level went through the roof to get there. And then you were able to take a half a deep breath. And then it was like, oh, great. Well, in 14 days, you know, there's another X pile of bills due.

10:22How are we going to get there now? And it was just a process that never ended. Yeah, that does not sound fun. No. And I love this. It's winging it, right? Like everyone makes it work. It's like when, you know, people say, can I afford having kids? Well, you just make it work. You just figure it out. But it doesn't, it doesn't mean it has to be that stressful. But I do love, I remember the call you had said like I don't know if I can afford this but we're gonna we're gonna make it work as far as coaching and then when Shana got in there she was like oh my gosh you have so much to work with but again like you said you guys weren't you weren't stewarding your money well because you weren't taught how to and so you didn't see that it was there and then once you saw that it was there the amount of progress you were able to make with all of that I think was mind-blowing to you guys and it was really exciting to be able to see everything that you were do you were able to do with it once it was organized and put where it was supposed to be.

11:09And one more thing, I also love how you said that it wasn't a short-term thing because we tell people like, this isn't a quick fix. Getting your money right and learning how to organize it and manage it on an everyday basis the right way and putting these systems and automations in place will take care of you for years if you just take the time to invest and do it. So I just love how you said that because you came in with the right mindset knowing that this was something you wanted to change for a long time. Yeah. And we were at like this pivotal point in our life where we haven't started a family yet.

11:39And I think that was one of our big, I mean, still is like one of our goals. Like we don't want to do that until we're completely out of debt. And so I think we were looking at this of like, what is the long-term solution for us when we are starting to retire? And like, just thinking about those things, like we're in our thirties. So we need to be thinking about these things strategically now because we're paying for mistakes that we made in our twenties. and so i think that is just you know when i think back to it i'm just so grateful that we found the podcast like through my i mean i just honestly think that was like the lord delivering that to us of like all right we like you're gonna be able to get support and i think it was just such a big stress for me and aj like we were talking about money what felt like all the time when we were also working on multiple times a day yeah yeah but couldn't figure out well how do we figure out how much we're spending how do we and it took so much work but you guys were able to give us like basically the guidelines to play within so then it felt like oh we only have to do half of this because the templates already built the format is already there and then the accountability calls were just huge because then age and i would meet before those like okay are we ready for this call sometimes we weren't ready for the call sometimes we were but that's okay but it was great hopping from calls to calls oh my gosh well you guys yes you guys are like dream clients i mean I don't know if everybody heard when I found out that, you know, the goal was to get debt free before we start a family.

13:05I was like, well, okay, let's all, we're all motivated now. Like this is the best, but also you guys, you know, you guys are in ministry, you do so much. And it was just a pleasure to work with you. And like Vanessa said, there was a lot of money in that budget to work with. Okay. So it's like, okay, we can do this anyway. So it was just a really big, a big pleasure of mine. 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.

13:39It'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. Financial 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.

14:15Six months from now, you'll wish you started today. What I wanted to ask you guys, because you guys are kind of alluding to it, But what did we actually do? What did you set up? What did you do tangibly that made it feel better, more organized, fun? I heard you say that, AJ. I'm with you on that. Like, what actually did you do that really helped you guys out? I think the biggest thing for me, and you might have a different answer, but the biggest thing for me that made the most sense was one, the just like the Excel format or Google Sheets format was huge just because that's something that's a process that I work at every day.

14:50So it made it easier for me to kind of see how everything was laid out with all the different sheets. You know, it took me a short while to kind of figure out what all these different things were doing. But starting really with, you know, our asset tracker today and looking into the debt and where that was and being able to just keep those things updated. It feels so much less stressful, I think, in life in general, but especially with your finances, which is kind of the biggest piece of everyone's life. being afforded, being able to afford to live, to see everything laid out when you're not guessing.

15:26I think beforehand, you know, we were just kind of guessing and especially being on credit cards was like, well, you know, if we just kind of spend, you know, a little bit less than what our paycheck is, we'll always be doing this. When not realizing that really was just, you were kind of living a month behind, not even living paycheck to paycheck. You were kind of living a month behind because you were always paying for, you know, previous things that had been paid for with monopoly money because none of it's real until, you know, it stacks up and then it becomes very real very quickly. So I think that was the biggest thing.

16:03And then separating into different cards, separating in different buckets as you guys call them. And we've started to use that word as well of, you know, we have X amount of money allotted for gas and groceries, X amount of money allotted for restaurants, which, you know, the process works for anything and everything. You know, if you, I'm sure people, some people have a kid bucket or whatever their buckets are. But the dogs. Yeah, the dog bucket. But, you know, that has been super helpful because it just gives you a certain amount of money allotted within your means to be able to, you know, do those things.

16:37Go crazy. We each have a cash account that, you know, when, so our fund money. So previously, you know, when I'd spend something on, you know, buy a new golf club or Carolina would buy whatever, you know, a new dress or something. And I'd be like, well, can we really do this? And it's like, well, now we know we can because but once that money is gone, it's gone until we refill it up on the 1st and 15th. So I think kind of the whole process in general has been super helpful. But definitely the being able to see everything laid out and everything in front of you is was quite literally life changing.

17:11yeah and i think too like being given rules that there is flexibility of like and if there's certain months where you know you have to be bought like for christmas how do we need to plan ahead for that or things like that but the buckets are really helpful i remember even on our call with shana when we were trying to figure out like what do we make those buckets i don't even know because right now if i find something on amazon that i want like add to cart purchase today and so it's just really creative you don't have to add the card you just hit buy now now there's a button that's scary totally but it like i feel like the buckets really create some room for pause and reflection of like okay like let's just see if i want that in two weeks when my buckets refill and then by that point you haven't even thought about that item anymore or whatever because that's definitely probably where i fall in line of like instant gratification spending but it's just really encouraging to think like we haven't used a credit card since last summer.

18:06That's amazing. We've been like paying for our life, like with our own dollars, but I think just being able to look and review it every couple of weeks together. And sometimes, you know, we'll go to a fun brewery as recommended or just, just different fun things of like, how do we make this not be lame? How do we make this be Sunday scaries and stressful, you know, not be lame. I love that. I love it. I think we need to make a clip like the it's like either your brewery and budgets or like beer and budgets bourbon and budgets like we need to find out who is in the bourbon and budgets yeah who's in the beer and budget category yeah wine wine and yes anyway we'll figure it out okay I have a couple things to ask you guys because what you alluded to Caroline about you know add to cart don't buy now right I remember you guys we set your budgets up and you guys or your buckets you're spending buckets up and you guys had eating out your personal spending at gas and groceries.

19:02And remember, I remember specifically, AJ, you saying something about, well, instead of Chipotle or whatever, now I'm getting Costco stuffed peppers or something like, but it just like the accountability or watching the numbers change the way that you guys did. And nobody told you that you had a healthy eating out budget. You guys decided on your own. Like, I don't, that's not where really where I want my money going. Right. Or something, something to that effect. Yeah, absolutely. It was, it was very much so like we we had a certain amount a lot at the beginning especially for restaurants and then it kind of got to the point where you you especially with the buckets like i was saying you you see where the money is going and you're like that seems a little egregious we can dial that back over here and put a little bit more money into here and i can tell i'm straight a bunch of times like the the the budget thing you would never think about it this way but it also made us like a lot healthier people especially with like the restaurant piece just because we just didn't eat out.

19:58Side effects may include. Yeah. So it was just one of those things where, you know, it just made us healthier eaters because we were eating at home a lot more and not eating out. And so absolutely. I just think that like Shana said, you start looking at your budget when you're having accountability. Okay. Let's just go back. When you schedule coffee with yourself, how often are you going to show up? Maybe half the time, Maybe not ever. If you schedule a meeting with somebody to show up, you're going to be there because you know somebody else is going to be there and you don't want to let them down.

20:30So being able to have this time and space where you guys can be devoted all on your finances just for you guys, this time for no work. There's nothing. I know you guys had to reschedule a couple times for appointments and stuff, but you have this time set aside for you to make decisions, to think about things in a way and talk to somebody, an outside person looking in who's not emotionally attached to your finances says, who can, well, we all get vested. You guys all become family to us. And so we're just as vested as you guys. I love it. But you know what I mean? It's just, it's a time for you to do this.

21:01And sometimes you wouldn't have maybe thought about this or made these decisions otherwise. So I think it's so cool that you guys were able to take that time, make these decisions. And again, really look at your numbers and go, is this achieving my goals? Is this really where I want my money to go? And you guys change some of that. Absolutely. And I think the accountability is huge. I think, I mean, we went, we go to orange theory and I don't love the classes there, but I know that if I sign up, I can't cancel or else I'll get a late fee or blah, blah. Like there's accountability there. There's like a reason I go there, not LA fitness.

21:32Cause that's going to be cheaper. And I could just like bail on that. So it's the same thing of when we were trying to figure out, you know, like how age was like, we're going to do whatever it takes to make this work. I think we've respected just the time and the process even more because of the investment on our end, but also just, we could kind of see the vision of like, if we really commit to this now, six months down the line, three years from now, four years from now, if we're just going to be in a healthier place with money, being able to talk about it together. And just before money gets like more complicated, like life is.

22:07Well, that's what I was thinking earlier when you were, when you were talking about being in your thirties and, Oh, we mess up. Then I'm like, girl, y 'all are so young and we're so here for it. You guys are so young. You made a few mistakes, maybe. They're all going to be, I mean, we talked about how quickly you guys. Water under the bridge. Yeah. And then you're so young. And so you have so much time. And you guys are just at the beginning of your amazing careers that you're both very successful. So it's all good and very, very privileged to be able to help you for a little bit of time on the way.

22:33One last thing that I wanted to ask about. I mean, I want to ask and talk to you guys for the rest of the day because I love you so much. But, you know, people have to work to earn money to put in their budgets, you know. but you AJ you guys came because you didn't want to sign up for consolidation loan that was kind of like a big big you didn't want to do that you wanted to take you wanted maybe some accountability for that but you did do all of that work you you called you called and got some deals and talked to people which is not the most fun thing ever but you did it yourself so could you speak to that a little bit what would you you know what you did what you would recommend or your experience or just do it and don't be scared because people don't like to do it, right?

23:10But you might have to and it might help you make good progress. Yeah, I had done quite literally tens of hours of research into consolidation loan. And I believe that was actually how we found you guys was originally, we had mentioned earlier in this of how we found you. It was, you guys did a segment on consolidation loans. and I think that we were looking it up to try and figure it out because, you know, one person's telling you one thing, the other person's telling you something else. And then it really just clicked with us when we heard y 'all's podcast about consolidation loans. And so, like I said, I had done all this research on it and kind of in our initial phone call, I was like, Hey, what do you guys think about this?

23:54You know, is this, is this something intelligent to do? I know that this is going to kill our credit for a short amount of time in the long run, you know, it still would have been a year or two. And then ultimately decided not to do that and found, excuse me, found ways around that, that have really worked for us. You know, I think that kind of did not feel necessarily like a quick fix as far as like things that we had done in the past of getting a personal loan to X out, you know, a credit card, and then it would just continue to compile from there. But it's still in reality was kind of a quick fix because it would, you know, take all of that away and it, there was going to be no accountability one in that, but two, there was going to be no real lesson, I think in moving forward and how to handle that.

24:39And so then when we found you guys, I think the only thing that was kind of the hangup for us in the beginning was price. But what I would say to anybody listening to this or anybody that's interested in budget besties and the program is like, it's the best money we have ever spent personally. and you know it it was one of those things where it we we were like wow this this this feels like a lot of money but at the end of the day if this completely changes the trajectory of us being able to budget and us being able to save and you know just think about money in a completely different fashion like what would you spend on that and the answer was a lot more than what we did because it I mean, it tremendously, you know, just it changes your life.

25:23It really does. Being able to be financially free and think about it in a lot different direction than you did originally before we found you guys. Well, you just feel so stuck when you look at like an interest rate on a credit card. You're like, what am I supposed to do with this? How did this happen? And I feel like partnering with you guys and like enrolling in the program, like just really helped peel away some layers of shame and confusion and just like allowed us to feel like we could get education through you while kind of having our handheld when being in a space where you can ask questions because even like in community and like with friends and stuff it's it's like a hard thing to like talk about because very private yeah it's private yeah yeah and i just think having again that person there and helping you seen in a different way because sometimes we have tunnel vision when it's our own finances, but bringing somebody else in that, you know, Hey, have you thought about this?

26:15Have you looked at this? And then the light bulbs kind of go off. That's our favorite part is when we kind of suggest things and we see you guys going, Oh my gosh, this actually worked. We had a lady and she brought her monthly minimum payments. She cut them by$400 just by picking up and making phone calls right through, and she's in coaching. So it's like, when you talk about the price of coaching and really it's what you can't afford, you can afford not to do this right. When you're looking at what you've paid off, what you're going to pay off versus the investment. Because if you were going to do it on your own, you probably would have already.