From Financial Avoidance to Participation with Courteney

Money Files

I’m too old to not know what I’m doing.

Maybe you can relate and it’s why I’m excited to introduce you to my client Courteney. In the past Courteney tried workbooks, reading financial books, and even worked with a financial advisor but nothing worked. She reached out because she wanted to explore a more hands on approach and some personal shifts made it the  perfect time.  

In our conversation, she jokes that our consult was like a lowkey therapy session.  But as a financial coach, I’d say this is when Courteney experienced her first transformation.  If you ask Courteney (which I did!) why she decided to work with me in my five-month partnership she’ll tell you “Keina said I had to!” But what Courteney didn’t realize at the time is I could see the possibilities she would gain from working with me.  Now, it’s safe to say she sees it too because she’s increased her income by $2,100 a month, built true savings, and has a concrete plan to help her make intentional financial decisions.

Tune in to this conversation to learn:

  • How coaching has improved Courteney’s mental health and help her get rid of her low level anxiety
  • How financial coaching was different than reading another book, buying an app, or working with a financial advisor
  • The shifts Courteney experienced that have helped her gain financial confidence
  • Courteney’s decision making process when she experiences an unexpected expense
  • How Courteney increased her annual salary by $26,000 since working with me

If you feel like you could be doing more with your finances this is the perfect conversation to listen to. Courteney will debunk the myth that getting your finances in order requires sacrifice. Instead she’ll show you how shifting her mindset has helped her achieve true results.

Listen to Courteney’s Money Files Episode

The Transcript

Keina:

[00:00:00] Hello everyone. My name is Keina Newell. I’m a financial coach and I work with professional women and solopreneurs to create new possibilities with their money. If you are tuning in right now, you are joining me for money files. So welcome. Thank you for joining me for another episode of 90 files today.

[00:00:18] I’m here with my client Courteney. Hi Courteney. Hi, are you good?

Courteney:

[00:00:24] I’m hanging in there.

Keina:

[00:00:26] Well, thanks for joining me. If you want to go ahead and introduce

Courteney:

[00:00:29] yourself. Oh gosh. Well, hi, I’m Courteney. Obviously I am a 30 something DMV resident who likes to eat, travel and buy things I don’t necessarily need, but really like, so this is why I’m working with you is to make sure that I can afford to buy the things I like, but don’t necessarily need and not be able to pay.

[00:00:51] Yeah, love

Keina:

[00:00:53] it. Go ahead and dive in. And how did you actually discover me? How long had yeah. How long have you known about me? All those things.

Courteney:

[00:01:01] So as we’ll probably get into later, I am a fairly impulsive person. So I found you through Nicole Crowder’s Instagram. And I was like, oh, this sounds perfect. This is exactly the type of financial coaching I need because I’ve tried other.

[00:01:17] Kind of like methods of doing it on my own or doing it with someone else. And it just, it wasn’t the right fit. But when I saw that, you know, you did personal, you’ve worked with everyone personally to really go through how they spend their money and tailor it to them in their lifestyle. Like, this is what I need and I think.

[00:01:33] I like the alert as you like to call us for maybe two weeks, three weeks. And then I hit the click on the work with me button and it’s been going from there. So what was that in like March, I think. And now it’s October. So yeah, it happened pretty fast. I was just like, we’re doing. Now first

Keina:

[00:01:51] off people call themselves lurkers and I’ve just adopted it, underscored it.

[00:01:58] But I was actually looking through your application when you applied to work with me, which I think a lot of people are going to be able to relate to this. But you talked about, I don’t even know if you remember saying this, but being apprehensive because you had tried budgeting and. Like coaching in the past.

[00:02:12] I think the coaching you may have been referring to is like a workbook that you had. Oh yeah,

Courteney:

[00:02:16] that was, yeah, that was one of my things. So yeah.

Keina:

[00:02:19] Just tell us more about like, where were you when you were thinking about working with me and like, what were you apprehensive about?

Courteney:

[00:02:27] So the first part where I was like mentally, I was just kind of in a space where there was a lot going on, like in my personal life that made it felt as though I needed to really get a handle on my finances sooner, rather than later.

[00:02:40] Like it wasn’t a thing that I could put off any longer. So I was like, I really need to figure out. What I’m doing and how I’m doing it and how I can sustain something so that I’m not just wandering through life, blindly spending money and just kind of making it paycheck to paycheck. So that’s that

Keina:

[00:02:56] part?

[00:02:56] You said you were apprehensive well, yeah,

Courteney:

[00:02:58] because I feel like I’m at a point in my life I’m like too old to not know what I’m doing. I really just felt like I was going to be judged. I really didn’t. I wasn’t in a place to get judged. I was like, oh, I mean like, will she help probably, but like, am I going to feel uncomfortable?

[00:03:15] Not because I’m uncomfortable with money, but because she’s judging me and the way I’m spending my money and that’s just what I. Was afraid of an apprehensive of, cause that’s just, doesn’t make for a conducive environment to learn what

Keina:

[00:03:26] you’re doing in terms of your thought patterns about it being like I might be judged, what was the actual

Courteney:

[00:03:33] experience?

[00:03:34] So that first phone call about like, you want to work with me for your compensation phone call was like low key, like a 30 minute therapy session. So I was like, okay. She might judge me a little bit, but. It’s not going to be to a point where it’s like, like she thinks I’m an idiot. It’s just kind of like my friends would judge me thinking, like, why would you do that?

[00:03:54] Like, you know, that you have other things that you’re trying to do. So like, why did you make that particular decision? And, you know, let’s unpack that. So. It was good, actually. Yeah. I didn’t feel judged in like a negative way so to speak. It was just kinda like, well, you’re going to do it now. Cause you called me.

[00:04:10] So

Keina:

[00:04:12] just tell me how you really feel. Right. Well, let’s talk about that. What made you say yes, because something that I think comes up for people and I openly talk about it. I’m okay. Talking about the elephant in the room, which is okay. I have money issues, but then you’re asking me to invest in coaching.

[00:04:32] Um, and like these two things, like, I don’t have money, so how am I supposed to give you money? Honestly, when you were

Courteney:

[00:04:40] talking to me, I was like, I don’t think she really gets what I’m going through right here. Because you were like, well, I was like, oh, okay. You told me the price. And I was like, I don’t have it.

[00:04:50] Even though like, I look he did, but like, I didn’t really, because I was like, you know, I’m saving, I put that in air quotes, I’m saving. Like, I can’t just give you this much right now, because then I won’t have anything in my savings. And you were just like, wow. You need to do it when you do this now, because I can guarantee you that if you work with me, you’ll have more money when you’re done.

[00:05:07] And I was like, yeah, but I don’t have it now. So like, I was like, oh, well, you know, and I got to say a little bit and you’re like, no. So what made me do it was literally you telling me, no, you need to do it. Now. We really want to get down to like the nitty gritty of it. I was told to do it by the person I was talking on the phone with.

Keina:

[00:05:23] I have the opportunity to say no, but like, when you think back, what would have been at stake? Had you not just chosen to be like, no, this is the thing I’m committed to. Right.

Courteney:

[00:05:32] I think at the end of the day, it’s just like, it was this low level, but constant like anxiety and uncertainty of, well, I mean, I have money.

[00:05:41] I have a steady job, like in steady incomes. So why don’t I have more money? So I think, honestly, what was at stake, it wasn’t anything like big or like life changing, but it ended up being that way because having a low level, constantly running anxiety about something that you have, the ability to fix is at the end of the day, taking a toll on some part of your like mentally.

[00:06:01] Piece in health. And there are just other things that you could then focus on to make better than just worrying about this one constant aspect of your life. Give us, like,

Keina:

[00:06:12] what, what is that like before and after transmit information for you? Like now that you, I assume you don’t have low level anxiety about your finances.

[00:06:22] I know one of the things you actually put in your like profile is like not having to count down to the days until you get paid. Right. Which

Courteney:

[00:06:32] that’s done, which, and, you know, I really noticed that the other, like the other week I was traveling on a quick trip. It was a weekend before I would’ve got paid, which typically would mean that I’m just like, I’m going to go on this trip and we’re going to make it happen.

[00:06:49] I don’t know how, but me and this $150 are going to make this four-day weekend trip happen. And I recognize that as I was on the trip I had, I didn’t even think about it. Like it was never, it never crossed. Oh, what did I just spend on this? I need to check my bank account to make sure that I can pay for this, or I can put it on my credit card.

[00:07:08] Like it was just kinda like it didn’t, it wasn’t a problem. So that’s the after the, before was the complete opposite, like, oh, I want to get some food. Let me check my account. I need to do some money around to get this like $25 meal. That’s a quick snapshot. Before and after.

Keina:

[00:07:25] And what would you say like in, cause we talked about you being apprehensive, right?

[00:07:29] Like you tried budgeting before. What made it different this time

Courteney:

[00:07:33] around it’s? I mean, it’s tailored to me. So I’m appre I was apprehensive because I’ve had like budgeting workbooks that people have used. I’ve had a financial advisor, which was not what I needed. I was. I have a book sitting right next to me, it’s called like the broke millennials, which is like a, not a good book, not to work with necessarily, but a book to try to help you get into the mindset to budget better and to have a better handle on your money.

[00:07:58] And none of it works. So I was apprehensive because I was just like, well, if that’s in it, none of those things work like, is this going to work? And if it does work, am I then just gonna, once I’m done actively spending money on it, am I just gonna forget everything? And then go back to the way it was? That was my main African.

[00:08:15] It was mostly internalized. Like I had done things in the past before where I’ve spent money on them or I’ve invested in them and then I just stopped doing it because I didn’t

Keina:

[00:08:24] need to. Have you stopped doing this

Courteney:

[00:08:26] money date? Well, no, actually I

Keina:

[00:08:28] had one this morning, so. Talk people through the shift, like how has this been different?

[00:08:33] Cause I think a lot of listeners can relate to the fact that I bought a book. I bought a program. I worked with a lot of like type a women as well, where you all are particularly smart and organized in every area of your life when it comes to money. That’s where the challenge is. And so. I don’t. I think all of you are very capable of filling out a spreadsheet.

[00:08:54] You’ve probably done it before and all of those things, but like, what was different this time that has made it? Like you said, you just went on a trip and I’m not thinking about like, okay, I got like two days until I get paid. How am I going to make this work? Like what

Courteney:

[00:09:07] shifted? I think what shifted was my comfort level with what?

[00:09:12] Like, what’s looking what I’m looking at. When I look into my bank accounts. Before, it was just kind of like one of those things where you kind of like peek through your fingers to see what you’re about to like walk into when you open the app on your phone or on your computer. It’s like, oh, I don’t know.

[00:09:27] It’s like those meals where it’s like, I should have like $50 and you have like five you’re just like,

[00:09:34] where did that math messed up? In my head, it was fine. So now that I have like a handle on it and I write down what I’m spending, even, it’s not even like a test to be like this daily thing. It’s like once a week, I just kind of go in, see what’s going on and then write it down and track it. It just, it’s more active, I think is what it is.

[00:09:54] It was before. It was just very avoidant. We’ll see what happens when I, when I go to swipe my card tomorrow, like, I don’t know, but now it’s like, it’s a very active and it’s still constantly running in my mind, but in a more positive light versus this anger, like anxious sense, it’s just kind of like, okay, well let me just make sure that like my budgeting is on track and if it isn’t, how am I gonna like work through it?

Keina:

[00:10:17] What is budgeting allowed you to look forward to that maybe you haven’t looked forward to in the past?

Courteney:

[00:10:23] Well, I mean, I don’t know if me looking forward to things that has changed, but. I look forward to seeing my savings account growing steadily, because before it would be like, oh, I saved this much money.

[00:10:35] And then like something would come up that I didn’t already have the money for something that savings number would drop. And now that’s not a problem. Like the savings is just growing with. It taking these massive hits, like every month or so two months. So that I’m looking forward to, because it’s been working so far,

Keina:

[00:10:56] are you convinced that it’s not going to fall out?

Courteney:

[00:10:58] I mean, I could have been a person that it won’t fall out, but then like my car might have other other plans. So, although I do have a car savings.

Keina:

[00:11:07] Yeah. But let’s think about this because I think that this will be fun to talk about because there’s also people that I’ve worked with and people that I know want to work with me, but they’re like, let me go.

[00:11:17] It’s like binge eating before you started diet. And they’re like, let me go buy all the things before I work with Keina, because I’m not going to be able to have the things.

Courteney:

[00:11:26] Oh yeah. That was part of my initial, like, I really want to work with a budget person because she’s going to tell me that I can’t travel.

[00:11:32] I can’t go. All I can do is sit at home, buy all my groceries and make all my food at home. And like, basically my life has been to end, as I know also that I can have like a home savings or a stable emergency fund or something like that, or like pay down my debt and that hasn’t been the case, you know, like I still go out to eat.

[00:11:53] I have my budget, I’ve gone on trips while working through my budget. Which was an adventure, literally. So I think that’s what it is is that you don’t, I don’t, I didn’t have to sacrifice a lot to continue to improve myself in my financial, like state of being. I just had to kind of shift some things mentally and monetarily to like,

Keina:

[00:12:16] make it all.

[00:12:18] But what are the questions you’re asking yourself when you’re shifting certain things? Cause I think even the reason I was bringing this up, cause you were talking about like, dang, my car could do X, Y, Z, which car, if you can hear us right now, please don’t do those things. Right. But like I imagine, and I know that you can come to that situation with a different lens because now we’re talking about the fact that like, oh, I have $500 in my auto maintenance fund.

[00:12:43] They’re talking about, they want me to pay $800. Now we’re talking about a gap of 300 versus many times we would start at zero. And that thing, like, it’s just a different stressor. So now, how are you thinking about. Spending, whether it’s planned or even unplanned that you weren’t doing before. This has actually happened

Courteney:

[00:13:03] to me since we’ve been working together.

[00:13:05] It’s not as like WTF as it used to be. It’s kind of like, okay, I have a gap. I mean, at least first thought is, well, at least I have some money saved towards this specific purpose, which brings a little sense of relief. And then it’s. So here’s my gap versus here’s what I already have saved for this purpose.

[00:13:23] Where am I getting it from? And it’s, instead of me just like spending blindly, just because it needs to be spent. I actually sit down and I’m looking at like the spreadsheet of what I have and where I have it and where I can pull it from, without it been affecting something else that I have coming up in like a week or so.

[00:13:40] So it’s, I have $200 that I need to spend because I don’t have a choice, but to spend them. Am I going to pull them from my emergency fund, which will then just have to be recouped later. Do I have the space to pull it from like my cosmetic fund or my clothes? You know, stuff that I may not need right now, but I just kinda like have sitting for when I do one thing.

[00:13:59] So it’s not as much of a panic is what it really is. It’s like, okay, it’s not how it’s, what, what and why. And let’s figure it out versus let’s just, again, close our eyes and give them the card and then see what tomorrow looks like.

Keina:

[00:14:16] And, and I would say like, you have a new level of control that you have never had before,

Courteney:

[00:14:21] which is great for a person who has control issues.

[00:14:24] So yes. But that’s not what this conversation is about. That’s for another day.

Keina:

[00:14:30] And how it, how did it feel to go on those trips while we were working together?

Courteney:

[00:14:35] Well, as you know, the first trip I went on while we were working together, I came back and said, we need to start over because there were some unexpected expenses that I had not accounted for as travel happens, but it was the first time I’d ever gone on a trip.

[00:14:54] And. I don’t have the money for it. Even though there have been times where I legitimately did not have the money for it. This time there was money saved. It was just not safe for travel. So when I had to spend it on what it wasn’t budgeted for, it like stressed me out, but it wasn’t stressed like in a bad way.

[00:15:11] It was, I was like, okay, it’s working. Like, things are changing for me positively because never has this been like, even crossing my mind that like, I don’t have the money for this because it wasn’t there. It was there. It just wasn’t for traveling. So I think that was the first time I really recognized that like my mind is like legitimately shifting into one where I’m more money, positive and more focused on getting myself together.

Keina:

[00:15:37] What other shifts.

Courteney:

[00:15:39] So funnily enough, once I started working with you, all these things started lining up in my life. Like I’m making more money in my career. I have a little side hustle, so I have an other flow of income. And I feel like all of like, even just on a personal level, all of my relationships, like my friends, my family, and stuff like that, they’ve all just kind of generally improved.

[00:15:59] And I feel like a lighter, like mentally as like a person, I feel like I’m probably laughing more and easier to go along with because. Low level anxiety as your people. And if it’s just running and humming in the background and affects more than you really think it does.

Keina:

[00:16:14] I just want everybody to pause and listen to what Courteney said, because I say it, I don’t know if y’all hear me, but like getting your finances in order really does touch every other area of your life.

Courteney:

[00:16:25] Yeah, that was unexpected, but I probably should have known because like I said, that first phone call, was it very much like a therapy session that I had not signed up for

Keina:

[00:16:35] you? Did you pressed

Courteney:

[00:16:36] apply to work with, but it didn’t say we’re going to have therapy. It said, I was just like, okay, how much does it cost?

[00:16:42] And like, what do I have to do? So tell me more about this and tell me, I was like, this is not. This is not what she didn’t have, like PhD behind her name, like what’s happening here,

Keina:

[00:16:54] but it’s, but that’s the thing is I love working on the mindset piece because people, I think, think it’s just going to be this like technical, Google or Excel sheet.

[00:17:03] And I want you to change how you think about your finances. Really? I just, yeah, we need to change the things going on in your life. Because that affects the numbers in your bank account.

Courteney:

[00:17:15] Especially for me, since I was doing a lot of math in my head and I’m not good at math.

Keina:

[00:17:20] So it was strange. You’re also not allowed to say that I was a former math

Courteney:

[00:17:24] teacher.

[00:17:25] Well, you told me how to start writing it down as a former math teacher. I did. And I was like, if that does make sense, you were like, that’s not going to work. I was like, no, I did the math. And you’re like, yeah, It’s not going to work.

Keina:

[00:17:37] You did you double counted somewhere, right? And you were, oh, let’s talk about this new job because you sent me a text message.

[00:17:47] Cause we talked about yeah. We’ve we talked about in coaching. One of the things I love too is there’s a couple ways we can think about budgeting. We can talk about all the things we want to take. Or you have to take away as people would probably say. And I think they think of budgeting as like deprivation not living.

[00:18:04] And we can talk about all the things you take away, or are we in talking about increasing your income? And I was like, coordinating you to

Courteney:

[00:18:11] increase your income. Right. And I kept saying, I was like, you’re right. But because of the type of job that I have, it’s not, so I don’t have the option really to just sit there and like go to my supervisor and try to negotiate a higher salary.

[00:18:24] Cause that’s just not how. My particular job works. However, I had been applying for jobs and when I got offered a job, I told them that unless they were planning on getting. A significant promotion. I wasn’t going to take it and I’ll learn. Keina told me to ask for what I need and what I’m worth. And I was like, if they don’t give it to me, then I’m not going to be any worse off than I was before.

[00:18:45] And what didn’t, you know, they sure didn’t come back and offer me the more, more money. And I was like, oh

[00:18:54] yes, I did text you immediately. I was like, oh my God, we are making moves.

Keina:

[00:19:01] I want to say. You were someone when I’m talking about making more money, you were like, that sounds nice in theory. Oh

Courteney:

[00:19:08] yeah, very much. And I was like, I can’t just, like I said, I can’t just walk in and be like, I’ve been working here for X amount of years.

[00:19:15] I need this much look at my resume and look at the work that I’ve done. Pay me my money. That just, that’s just not how my job works. I don’t disagree with you, but right.

Keina:

[00:19:27] That’s yes. Sounds great. Keener moving on. Cause we also, I feel like it took you awhile to do your dream budget to, uh, yeah, cause I haven’t done it yet.

[00:19:41] I

Courteney:

[00:19:41] looked at it. I was like, I need to do that before I meet with her next. And I forgot that I was meeting with you today and I didn’t do it. What’s taking you so long. I don’t know. I just haven’t really thought about it. I thought about it, like when I’m doing other things, not when I’m like sitting down doing stuff like on money dates.

[00:19:57] I see the little tab. I’m just like, oh yeah, I’ll get to that. I’ve thought of like the number I just haven’t thought about the number and then try to like break it down into the actual, like dream

Keina:

[00:20:05] budget. No, you didn’t ask me for any coaching today, but I think that that is also related to the conversation we just had about earning more.

[00:20:13] Maybe, and the belief of like, whether or not what that number comes out to be like, is that possible for me

Courteney:

[00:20:21] probably, but you know, I’ll do that.

Keina:

[00:20:26] And for those of you listening, I think about like when we create a dream budget, something that I like to talk about in financial visioning is just like, knowing, like, what is that number?

[00:20:37] Especially for women because when women have money in the world that can create things. In ways that our male counterparts can not. And just being able to know, like, okay, what is that number? What do I desire to earn per month? What would that look like? Salary wise? Like your brain goes to work to try to figure out what that looks like and the money conversation.

[00:21:02] When we talk about budgeting, I don’t want people to approach that from a place of lack. And I think oftentimes when we talk about budgeting, we’re talking about what we can’t do instead of thinking about like, what are we, what are we capable of? What is this next level attaching purpose to the reason that we have money and want to create more money in the world facts.

[00:21:23] So I’ll do the budget.

Courteney:

[00:21:28] I’ll actually write it down versus thinking about it while I’m.

Keina:

[00:21:31] Well, I’m excited too. I’m excited to see it because on the flip side of that, what also has come out of just us, like talking about earning more money as you have, I wasn’t going to call it a hustle. I was on call a business.

[00:21:43] That’s what it is. Right. But like, you’ve started, you’ve been able to monetize a skillset that you have that is allowing you to also meet some of your financial goals that you set for yourself. Yeah, that’s true. How has that

Courteney:

[00:21:57] felt? It felt good. It’s like. It’s enough that I’m just like, okay, if something goes wrong or like, if I want to do this, like I have just that extra amount of cushion to be able to do it.

[00:22:13] Cause I mean, even though I have like my steady career income coming in and like that’s all budget and like, I can still do what I want to do with it. That extra cushion allows me to. Either do it faster, or I can like get the nicer hotel or cause most of this goes to travel. Let’s be real. I do save some of it, but it’s, this is like my little additional travel funds.

[00:22:37] So it just allows me to kind of like move a little differently as I’m doing the things that I love to do because I have the space to do it.

Keina:

[00:22:45] And one we’re going to make your business even more profitable. Underscoring that for you, but also just thinking about, I think about when we talked about you thinking about even pricing within this business, right?

[00:22:59] Like the work that we’ve done together has given the prices that you tell your clients, like this is how much my services costs. I think it has more meaning because you know, all of your numbers in. So you can value the work that you do, but then also know how that impacts your, your finances.

Courteney:

[00:23:16] True. Cause yeah, finding honestly, try and find out my prices caused me a little bit of stress.

[00:23:20] Like I was like, oh, I don’t know, like what’s going on. I think it was like I had imposter syndrome, but then it was like, but I also know how long I’ve been doing it. I know what I’m worth and I know how much money I extra I would like to make. So even though I haven’t written down my dream budget, I was able to like, kind of work that little extra income into the overall.

[00:23:43] Ideal of what

Keina:

[00:23:44] a budget would look like for me. I love it. I want to shift gears just a little bit, cause I know, cause I let some of your friends and we talked about money, but how has money like impacted relationships with your friends or financial coaching impacted relationships with your friends?

Courteney:

[00:24:00] I think, I mean, it was never really a big conversation before and I think that.

[00:24:09] Us having that conversation with them was good. I think everyone got something out of it. I know that they all follow you now, which is great because now they are part of the lurker team as well. But. I think even though, I mean, we haven’t really had like, in-depth conversations about money since, but I do think that the door now is open for us to have those conversations and not feel uncomfortable about it.

[00:24:33] And I’ve even talked about like money with my friends who weren’t in that room that day. And I haven’t felt weird about it and they haven’t had weird reactions to it. It’s just been this kind of level of ease and like lessening. It feeling so taboo to talk about money with your friends. And especially sometimes I feel like it’s even, you feel like awkward talking about it.

[00:24:52] If like you’re kind of like, know that they may not make as much as you, or like they have other financial obligations going on. You’re just kinda like, like, I don’t want to like talk about it cause it may just be causing them stress that you can think about it much let’s have a conversation about it.

[00:25:06] But I think that talking about it eases that stress and that discomfort. On all levels, no matter what you may be pulling in or your overall view of money. I love

Keina:

[00:25:17] that because I think that oftentimes we think when you’re talking about money being stressful, there’s like two things that come up in terms of how much money do you make, how much debt are you in.

[00:25:26] But I think there are multiple ways to approach financial conversations that allow people to be included and. Even the conversation we had with your girlfriends, it was like, what do you want to be held accountable to? And not accountable in a negative light, but just thinking about like, what’s on the horizon for you that you’re excited about financially and how can we like support you as like your group of girlfriends,

Courteney:

[00:25:49] right?

[00:25:49] Yeah. I just think it kind of being able to talk about that, just kind of adds that extra layer to a relationship in whether it’s platonic or romantic. It’s something that’s going to come up one way or the other, whether it’s. You owe your friend money because she paid for your flight because the deal was good at the time, which is, this is a real life anecdote for me.

[00:26:09] And you’re able to just give them the money or you can talk about it. This is what’s going on with me financially right now. And like, I will get it to you, but it may be like an installment or it may just be a little bit late, but there’s less shame about it in any sense of who you’re talking to.

[00:26:24] There’s just the shame that is reduced. Just makes everything a little bit easier.

Keina:

[00:26:30] What do you believe about you and your relationship with money now that we’ve worked together? I think

Courteney:

[00:26:36] it’s improved significantly. I am still in impulsive. But I’m impulsive. And then I check my accounts and I check them against my spreadsheets for us before I would just spend it and then be like, it’s gone now.

[00:26:54] So it’s improved and I feel more comfortable and confident with my money, which is. What I really wanted to get out of coaching, whether it was with you or if I’d had been on any of the other methods that I had tried, it was just the comfort level that I did not have with money that I was trying to improve.

[00:27:11] Because like I said, I feel like I’m at a point in my life where like, I should not be so uncomfortable with it and it should not be so scary and intimidating. And now it is. Not intimidating or

Keina:

[00:27:23] scary. So I love it. Is there anything I should’ve asked you that I didn’t

Courteney:

[00:27:27] know? Cause you already coached me in this call, which I was not expecting.

[00:27:33] You should not have asked me if I made my dream budget because I did not make

Keina:

[00:27:37] it yet, but now you have accountability

Courteney:

[00:27:40] while I was going to do it. Before I meet with you again, I have like three weeks before that I was going to make sure it was done by then, but called me up sooner than I was anticipating.

[00:27:51] No, I don’t. I mean, I don’t know. Is there anything else you want to ask

Keina:

[00:27:54] me? I don’t think so. So what would you tell to someone who was like in a similar situation issue that’s on the fence about coaching or may have a relationship with clarinet, which I learned about from you.

Courteney:

[00:28:07] I was, I mean, Klarna after pay for it.

[00:28:11] Those are my best friends. Those are not as helpful as you think VR, because the more of them you make, the more money is coming out every two weeks and you are actually not saving. Just putting that out there for that part, I would say so my, my issue when I started was that I need to wait a little bit to save some money so that I can pay for this.

[00:28:31] That is not the tactic, because you’re just going to keep procrastinating and keep saying you’re saving, but you actually don’t know what you’re saving for because you are, you don’t know what you’re doing with your money. So I would kind of just say like, at least make the phone call and take the first step because.

[00:28:49] It is therapy session, which will probably, if you really can’t like pay for it, then you know that it’s in the back of your mind so that you can probably take more directive steps to being able to. Pay for it later versus just being like, oh, I’ll do it. I’ll do it. I’ll do it. Like, just make the phone call,

Keina:

[00:29:07] kicking the can further down the

Courteney:

[00:29:08] road.

[00:29:09] Exactly. Stop kicking the can. I had a call

Keina:

[00:29:12] today where somebody was like, I’m going to figure it out. And I was like, here’s the thing you can decide today that it’s figured out where you can keep trying to figure it out. Yeah, but that’s, I mean, that’s, what’s true because the reason that you have the results that you do is because you can, you’re continuing to try.

[00:29:32] And I say that with air quotes and what I want to have shift for anyone who works with me is like, we’re not going to try, we’re going to figure it out. And your results are going to compound. And even hearing you talk about, right? Like, wow, all these other things are falling into place, but you, you don’t know what else you’re putting off because of the fact that you’re trying.

Courteney:

[00:29:56] Correct. You said it better than I said it. Yeah. That’s, that’s it. I mean, you just have to do it is really what it boils down to like stop thinking about it. Stop reading the Facebook posts and listening to her. I mean, she’s going to yell at you, you guys, you know, like you on Instagram, friendly yelling, it’s friendly yelling, but she’s going to yell at you.

[00:30:13] You just have to do it and it’s it. You’re going to be stressed out at first because Lord knows. I was, I was like, oh my God, this is not, this is not what I signed up for. I’m stressed out about my money situation now, but I can guarantee you that within three months of. Your money situation will be like noticeably improving and you’ll feel so much better about it.

[00:30:31] Because now that at my accounts, I’m just like, well, she wasn’t wrong. Like I do have more money now. So I guess it was worth it.

Keina:

[00:30:42] Well, thanks Courteney for having this conversation and if you’re listening and you’re on the fence or you’re what I call a keynote lurker, go to my website@wealthofgrinnell.com and book a call.

[00:30:51] I can promise you that you are going to get. And this will be one of the best investments that you can make for yourself. And I see you getting your finances together as a form of self care. So I look forward to meeting you. I just love it, that you made it to the end of this episode of money files. I hope some part of today’s story resonated with you and showed you the power of coaching today.

[00:31:17] I’m inviting you to take the first step and book a one-to-one call with me. We’ll discuss what you’re hoping to achieve with your money, where you need support and how I can help you reach your financial goals faster than you ever could alone. Go to www.wealthovernow.com and book. Once again, my name is Keina and thank you again for joining me.

[00:31:39] Also stay tuned for the next episode.

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