Stop Stealing Your Own Spending Money, Storm Mode & Savings Buckets: Lessons From The Sessions | 532

0:00Today, we're bringing you real life stories and lessons from our private coaching sessions. If our clients are dealing with it, chances are you are too. So we're breaking it down to help you avoid the same mistakes, feel less alone, and walk away with some quick wins for your budget. 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.

0:31Hey, 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. 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.

1:07We 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 here and encourage you at the same time. This is the Financial Coaching for Women podcast. I recently had, it's very sad, two clients. One was laid off and one was fired from their job. And they've been coaching.

1:38One of them has only been coaching for a couple of months. The other one's been coaching for a while. They've been on for, I think, almost two years just because she has a business and we're trying to get her business going. And so there's a lot to do there. But this is a really, we've had a lot of this over the years, right? Jane, of people being laid off and in different situations that are happening with their jobs. But all of them say how important it has been for them to get their finances in order, because you absolutely never know when something like this is going to happen and when life is going to throw you a curveball.

2:06And because they've been coaching, they've been able to see what all their money, what's happening with all their money, their bare minimum budget. We were able to make a mock budget to see, okay, what is going to happen in a couple of months when your severance pay stops? What do you absolutely have to make in the new job. And just, we've been able to go over so many scenarios. We have, the one client that I had yesterday, we were able to take some of the money that they have in their savings account and pay off, off all of their debts. So they literally will have over a thousand dollars back in their budget every month.

2:38Right? So one of the things that he was saying was like, why would I pay this off at 0 % interest? And I said, yep, but your minimum payment a month is $200. So you're adding on$200 a month to your budget that you necessarily in a couple months can't afford. So if we can take that money and remove it, and we added up how much that they would be saving in their budget by taking it out, paying those debts off and taking them out, it's over$1 ,000 that they're going to save. And when we've made their budget for the upcoming month with the less income, they're in the black. So it's like instead of being in the red, which is where they were going to be, and his wife said, we are optimistic.

3:13She said, what did she say? Something about being scared and optimistic. And I said, girl, I get it. I understand. And let's figure this out. So that way you can go into the next month knowing that everything is set up and you're prepared. Yeah. I think that's really good to know your numbers. Like we need to be able to know our numbers, guys. We've got to understand how all of this works so that a bad situation isn't made worse, right? By a false panic. Now it might be actual panic. That could be true. But in this case, it's not false, but it wasn't as bad as probably what they were thinking until you look at - The wrecking balls.

3:43Yeah. That when you looked at all the numbers. And FYI, this is the step, the order of events that you would do if you do see that you're going to get laid off or whatever. You're going to make a mock budget. You're going to pull everything from your budget that is necessary, right? Because when we're in storm mode, which is when we don't have a job, we're not doing all the extra fun things necessarily. What is our necessary things? We put that in a mock budget. We see what the actual reality is. And I think it's really important to always be able to see the numbers, very specific. Math doesn't lie.

4:13And it can calm your anxiety. It can give you a goal. Like, hey, worst case scenario, I could actually just go work at AutoZone and I would have enough to get through until something better or whatever it is, something like that. Or a lot of times, worst case scenario, if I pull 500 bucks from savings a month for the next three months, I can make it. So I've just got to get a job in the next three months. So that's what this, what actually looking at your numbers can do for you. Yeah, I think that's really important because knowing what a baseline is, can give you like the knowledge and information you need to when you go to get your next job or the job just to make ends meet, like you said, AutoZone or whatever, you know what you're working with.

4:48But if you don't know your numbers, then you're just freaking out because you have no idea how much you need to be able to make it work. And then you're going to end up relying on a credit card. And they had all these credit cards that were open, but not being used. And so we talked about that. And then they had a couple hundred dollars here. Anyways, it was a mess. So we cleaned all that up, paying off all of their debts, 100%. And like I said, bringing back an extra$1 ,000 or less$1 ,000 that they have to pay next month when they're going to have less income. So I think that's just really good to know your numbers.

5:16And so you just make better decisions. Absolutely. All right. I wanted to talk about this, this client that and this happens a lot where people get confused over what should be a savings bucket versus what should be a spending bucket. And one that really pops up a lot is pet food. Oh, goodness. Because pet food can be a mess. I don't understand. It's so complicated. I remember when now I'm not saying it was about best pet mom. But our first dog, all I had to do was carry a 40 pound bag of food into my house once a month. And then I was good. I never even thought about it. Now my bougier dog that requires grooming gets his his food delivered.

5:52Well, whatever. That's just part of the modern thing. but instead of you getting it monthly especially these people they have very dietary needy cats and dogs oh it's so good so they have this different sort of dog or pet food subscription plan going on love that for them but for them what they have loved is having the money separated so they know right so they were going to buy it whenever they needed now they're setting it up on a subscription and they were confused if it was going to be a spending or if they could keep it in the savings bucket or whatever. And because this particular one comes out every 10 weeks, what is that?

6:31It's very specific. It's stupid. They have it down to the exact time. And I'm like, why can't you have that down, figure that down to every month or every two months? I don't love that. So what they decided to do is not to put it in the spending because then it's just sitting there for a while and it's confusing to them. Or they didn't even necessarily make it a bill because it's every 10 weeks. It's not the same, right? So we still added all of that up a year, put it in their savings bucket. And then they are, they're setting the money aside. They feel really good about that because it's not cheap.

7:01Remember they have special, their special digestive systems. And so what they actually have set up is an automatic transfer to go to their bills account and that amount each 10 weeks billing date that they have looking forward for the year. So it's all still very systemized, but it's, and they feel really good. Cause like I said, they were nervous to not have it set aside like they had before because it was a bill technically. So that's the way that we did that. But just understanding that spending is something that's coming out every month. That's one of the parts too. I think that's great because a lot of people have this when they have like quarterly bills, pest control, or even some people's water bills are quarterly.

7:34Yeah. Don't love any of it. No, I don't love it. I'm sorry. Who invented quarterly bills? Just charge me monthly. I don't understand. It's not that hard. But the same situation, the same thing can happen to you when you're like, okay, just put it in your annual bills. And then every quarter you're having the money transferred over. It's really easy once you get it going. And I actually have a client, Shana, that they have their pet fund as a spending. They actually made it a spending because I think they have four dogs and some of them are specific training dogs. I don't know what's going on. There's a lot.

8:03Yeah. There's a lot happening there. So there's always stuff going on. And so they made it a specific spending bucket and they love it. They love having the debit card for it. It's on its own for all their registrations and certifications and all that. No, I think that's great too. And so either way, whatever works with you for you, if you're spending a lot out of it, you do want to make it spending. But if you're not, then that's when it's gonna be savings. You can't, first of all, you can't spend that or transfer that many times with a lot of traditional savings accounts. So you don't want to ever have to hit that limit.

8:29And you obviously don't have a debit card with a savings account. So just make it a spending if it's something you're doing a lot. I will say the other thing really quick, a lot of people are doing for like annual bills is making or quarterly bills, making that the account it debits out of instead of having to do that extra transfer. That's a development. That's breaking news. Yes. And I'm here for it. I think it's one less thing that you have to do as long as you're saving correctly and you have it all set up. Fine. I need to actually transfer because my annual bills is a savings account. And most of my stuff auto debits obviously out of my bills account.

8:59And I just need to change it to just come out of there just to make it easier because like why not? Yeah. Why not? Because it's a bills account. It's just annual bills. It has bill. It says bills in the name. It does have a bill in the name. Alright, 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.

9:31Everybody 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. 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. So my sweet client was talking about how she never uses her spending money.

10:08She said, we always go over in our budget. I'm always robbing Peter to pay Paul and all the spending accounts. So if we don't have enough for groceries, I'll transfer from spending like the dining out. And then if my kids need more money, I'll transfer my money. Did you hear that? Her spending money into her kids account. She said, I don't ever need it. I don't ever spend it. And then literally a half a breath later, she was saying, what about when I need to buy makeup or I need to take my, I want to take my friend out to lunch or get my hair done or whatever. And I was like, girl, this is why you don't have the money.

10:38And this is why you feel tight. And you're robbing Peter to pay Paul because just because in that moment that you're, you have spending money in your account and your kids don't, doesn't mean you transfer. We have to find the right amount of money. But this is happening to you guys. If you guys are finding that there are some spending accounts that are running out quicker than others, and you're feeling the need, we're not, I'm not going to speak the life over you that you are transferring money, but if you feel the need to want to transfer money from your account to their account or whatever, we want to stop you.

11:07We don't want to do that because perfect example. My birthday was earlier this week and my husband took me shopping. Now I haven't spent any money out of my spending account probably for a month because we just had Christmas and I've been busy and I just, I haven't spent any. I had like over almost like 400 bucks in there. And when I went to buy my stuff, my husband took out his debit card and I was like, no, I got it. And even though we have a gifts account and he said, no, let me do it. And I said, honey, it's all our money anyways, really doesn't matter where it's coming from. And I said, no, I have a lot of money in my spending account.

11:35I want to get this. It's not a big deal because, and it felt good to know that I had the cash in there. So just because I hadn't spent it in a month, I'm not going to say, oh, I'm changing my transfer amount. I'm going to give myself less spending money because I haven't spent it in a while. No, I spent almost all of it on my shopping little trip for myself. Okay. But that's what I was trying to explain to her. Just because you're not spending it then doesn't mean you're not going to spend it. Because in that time when you want to take your friend out for lunch, you want to buy that mascara, you want to get that thing, that hat, the necklace, the bracelet, or whatever, you're not going to have the money in your account because you gave it all to your kids.

12:10Okay? So we're not going to do that. We do not want to give your kids your spending money. I want to talk about the line you said there when she said, when the kids go over or something. And I thought, what lesson are we teaching them with this that they can go over? No, actually, the answer is no. Because we're not teaching them to budget either, which means they're going to go into debt. That's one plus one equals two. If they don't learn how to live on less than they make, or at least the amount that they make with their allowance or whatever it is that you do, then they will eventually, that will turn into going to debt or having to borrow from you when they're adults or whatever.

12:43Let's learn that whatever the amount that you have set aside for them, they've got to learn to manage that. and you don't give them extra because they forgot this or they want to do this or whatever. There is a little bit of time. Maybe you guys can spend tweaking and figuring it out. Vanessa said you have savings buckets for sports, for school, for things that you know are coming. So you don't necessarily have to penalize them for that because you've got a plan for it. But let's teach them to live on a budget as well. It doesn't have to be restrictive. It can be as bougie as you want. But them going over doesn't mean they get more money.

13:13And it certainly doesn't mean they get your money. Nope, that's not correct. Yeah, no, because what are we teaching anyone in this? Even the parents here, because you cannot just continue to fund any account, whether it's your kids, your groceries, your dining out, your personal. We have to set a number that you feel comfortable with that your budget allows, and that's that your income allows. So just because you want to spend$1 ,000 a month on yourself or your kids or going out to eat or whatever, doesn't mean you can necessarily afford it. So you just have to find the right amount. And then you, as the adult, have to do some adulting, and you have to stick to that number.

13:45and you can't just keep pulling from somewhere. I would say that the one way to do that is to be looking at it as often as possible. We're all very visual people, right? So if you're showing the kids, if they have money or they have cash or they have an account or whatever, and you have it, show them like, let's look at it. Let's get into the details here while they are learning so that it can reinforce what everything that you're trying to teach them. Okay. I have a client that we started and she had every, every like grocery subscription that she had listed out. And I was like, like I told you, I had like instant anxiety.

14:20I was like, Oh, there's so many things on your budget. It used to be pretty. And now it's not pretty. No, I'm just kidding. Actually, it wasn't that bad. It was like six things. And it was very good for her to, to know that she had those. I think that's great. But what I want to say is you set a grocery budget based on what you're spending for your groceries. If you're getting some of those through subscription, great pull the put them toward your yeah and your grocery account it's still part of your grocery budget right and so you don't have to list every single one out i have like i've said before i have a lot of things coming from amazon i have different we both have our protein shakes whatever it's still all coming out of my groceries it all still equals the amount that i have set aside for groceries and that amount slowly dwindles until it gets replenished and it's solid and it doesn't i don't have to list everything out and you don't need it that's the beauty of categories you don't have to list everything out that you spent personally.

15:07You don't have to list every time you go to a restaurant for the restaurant category. You don't even have to list out everything your kids spent. You have categories, stick in that budget, put everything, assign everything that is that category to that debit card, to that account. I think that is going to be the most freeing part for people, especially if you're new to this budgeting journey. We know that there's a lot of people coming in and start starting to listen to us in 2026. And listen, this may be the first time you've ever heard. I don't have to track my, all of my expenses throughout the month.

15:34Girl, no. Nobody wants to do that. Nobody has time. And we, our budget absolutely does not make you do that. There are a ton out there that require it or that make you think that you have to be successful. And we're here to tell you that you don't. Okay. Put it into categories, have a blast spending in that category when it's out and it's going to get replenished like eventually. And I think knowing that it's always going to get replenished, Shaina, is what keeps people from quote unquote overspending because there's no, there's not that need to say, oh my gosh, the money's in the account. I'm going to spend it now because I don't know when I'm going to get it again.

16:03Always know how much that's coming. So that keeps it in a rhythm. Yeah. Yeah. And the only other thing to think about this, like for me, I've always had a grocery budget and then slowly a lot of those things, the first subscription I had was my protein, right? And then I slowly added more, but my budget didn't change. So I didn't have to go through every subscription. So if you're here and you're going to make a grocery amount, you're trying to come up with a grocery amount for the first time, you might want to go through and say, okay, between my vitamins and this and that and the other, whatever it is that you do monthly.

16:33What is all of that? How much do I actually spend when I go to the grocery store? How much do I spend on my paper towels and all that? What is the monthly amount? If you need to do that the first time, fine. But then you just put everything coming out of that account and be done with it and say good night and good luck. That's what you can say. I had a client that was trying to put her husband's monthly subscription vitamins in his spending account. I was like, nope, we're not doing that. No, that's not right. So you just, again, reoccurring monthly goes into bills. Your spending is that fun hat that you wanted.

17:02Maybe it's a gun your husband's saving for, whatever. It's fun spending on you that you are going to spend throughout the month, or maybe you know that you want to save for a couple months to get something. That's what it's for. It's not for your health supplements. Don't do that. And I will say, we have several clients. Again, it really is up to you what you want. We have several clients that have health and supplement accounts. And that would be, and I think Vanessa does too, if you're the kind of person that's smart and you buy in bulk, or you go buy stuff, right? Or even if it's like you get every quarter, you get this, maybe you want to have a separate account for that.

17:33And that's fine too. We're not saying you can't do that. What we're saying is we don't need to list every single thing on there because it's a category. So once we set up the budget for the health and supplements category, then that's what we're doing. We're still not having to track every single thing. I still need to get my buy one, get one free account because that's where I live my life in my grocery account. You're right. I need to do that too, because I like it when I do that, but my budget doesn't always like it. Neither does my cabinet. So I've come to the conclusion, Shana, that I'm hiring that professional organizer that we're going to talk about.

18:03And she's going to set up a BOGO rack in my garage that I can freely spend and then freely put in a place so it's not everywhere. Yeah. I can't do that either. My brain can't. Anyways, so that was our rant. Sorry. You're welcome. You're welcome. But listen, we're all for saving money, OK? So I'm all for if I'm going to get a good deal, I'm going to get it. Like my skincare, I'm pretty sure I spent thousands of dollars on my skincare back on Black Friday at 30 % off. Girl, I was there. But now I know I have it for about a year. And I have this nice little space in my bathroom that holds it all.

18:39But I did that for me because I knew that I was going to save money. And like, I was prepared on Black Friday to do that. That's usually when I get all my supplements, my hair care, like all of that. But that is, it's prepared. I've been doing this for years. And maybe that's you. We actually had a guy, Shane, I remember a a couple of years ago, he said, I want a Black Friday account. And I was like, I am for it because I know that life. Okay. So just figure out what works for your life and then just put it in your budget. Yeah. All right. We hope this has helped you. And if these little tweaks that you're hearing us make for our individual clients, I really could use that in my life.

19:10You should consider signing up for a free coaching interest call. Vanessa will be chatting with you. You can do that budgetbesties.com forward slash coaching. We love working with our private clients. Yeah. they're like family. We love them so much. We're so thankful for them. So again, budgetbesties.com forward slash coaching, check it out. And we hope, I hope to see you on a call. 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.

19:41We'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.