If you are someone who wants to make a change in your finances as a goal for the New Year but are unsure where to start, I want to show you that your goals are possible.
I am sharing a recent client panel from my most recent webinar of women who started their financial coaching journey with me in the last two years. Before working with me, they were experiencing the same fear and hesitation around managing money that you are right now.
These women all started with me unsure of whether or not they could be helped. They went from being stressed and ashamed of their financial situations to confidently saving and reaching financial goals like home ownership, starting a business, and paying off credit card debt.
If you are on the fence about asking for help with your finances, listen to their experiences. You will certainly borrow inspiration from my client’s stories. Just like you, they started their coaching journeys unsure of what the outcome would be. How was coaching going to be different than any other way they have tried before? Now, they are empowered to take control of their futures and confident about their financial security.
I hope their stories give you the confidence to make a decision about working with me in 2023 even if you don’t feel ready. You can change how you relate to money and make a path forward to achieving money wins.
In this episode, you’ll hear thoughts from the client panel on…
[00:3:07] How you can shift your thoughts and feelings about finances
[00:6:07] How coaching is different than any other system that you’ve tried before
[00:10:12] Money shifts that you can experience
[00:31:52] The results that are possible when you move towards achieving your money goals
[00:19:21] What else can be uncovered because you engaged in this work
If you’re ready to change how you relate to money and make a path forward to achieving money wins, tune in for this week’s episode.
Are you ready to shift your relationship with money? Apply to work with me, and let’s start working towards your financial goals.
IF YOU LOVED THIS PANEL DISCUSSION ON HOW YOU CAN GAIN THE CONFIDENCE TO MAKE MONEY SHIFTS AND REALIZE YOUR FINANCIAL GOALS, CHECK OUT MY EPISODE ON HOW JACKIE TURNED HER DREAMS INTO ACTIONS WITH A FINANCIAL COACH!
Transcript for “Life After Coaching: Three Women Share Their Financial Transformations”
Keina: Hi and welcome to Money Files. I’m Keina Newell from Wealth Over Now. I work every day with professional women and solopreneurs to help them get out of financial overwhelm and shame, so they can experience more flexibility and ease with their finances. Are you ready to gain confidence and learn to manage your finances intentionally? Tune in and grab financial tips that will help you master the way you think about and manage your finances.
Keina: Hello and welcome back to another episode of Money Files. I am excited to share with you today a client panel that I did a few weeks ago with my three keys to drama-free spending masterclass. If you weren’t on the masterclass, you missed an amazing masterclass as well as an amazing client panel. So this is why I want to bring this to you. I enjoy interviewing my clients, one because it’s an opportunity for them to celebrate the work that they’ve done. I don’t know if you know this or not, but most of my clients would not get on before working with me and tell you about their finances. That is not something they were trying to air out and now they want to basically tell everyone like, hey, this is possible, this is what can be done. So I want you as someone who is in a position to say like, hey, I do want something to change about my finances, especially as we end 2022 and we come into 2023 and you’re thinking about like, oh yeah, this is the year that I want to make sure that I shift something with my finances.
I want to be able to spend money, I want to be able to pay down debt, I want to be able to save money. I want to just stop spending my wheels. I want a different relationship with money. Whatever that is. I want you to be able to hear from my clients and borrow thoughts from them, borrow bits and pieces of what they’re saying and realize this is possible for me. Like I want to engage in this journey, a journey that’s focused on self-care because I care to improve my relationship with money and I care to change and make generational shifts so that, whether it’s my kids or it’s my siblings or it’s just those people that are in my sphere of influence, that I can be the person that changes how we talk about money within those circles, that could be something that you change.
And you can heal your overall story, whatever story that is that you’ve told yourself about money. Maybe it’s a story that you have from when you were younger and you experience not having enough and so you relate to not having enough even though you make more than enough and you’re making six figures, but you’re just worried about whether or not that money is going to disappear. Or maybe you’ve always had money because you come from a family where you were entrusted to a trust fund and that’s been something that’s been a privilege that you’ve had. But then you have thoughts about whether or not you should have money. And so whatever your starting point is, like my clients have something to share with you and I want you to be able to listen to the fact that you can shift how you think and feel about finances and whatever result you desire to create that that result is possible for you.
I also want you to know that when you work with a coach, it’s not like an app, it’s not just a spreadsheet. You have me living breathing me, Keina, but you have me to be able to hold you accountable, to provide you with support, to let you know that what you’re feeling is totally normal to feel and helping you figure out like Keina, how do I make sure that I can manage my money in a way that feels intentional? In a way that makes me feel empowered, in a way that makes me feel powerful? That’s what you gain from working with a coach. The reason I love doing a five month coaching partnership is because we get to spend five months together, five whole months. We just spend five months together. We talk almost every week for 45 minutes and we just talk about your relationship with money.
We talk about the tools that you need, we talk about the goals that you have and we start making a pathway for you to move forward and for you to change how you relate to money overall. This is not, like I said, another app. It is not another spreadsheet and so just listen to my clients today. I think that you’ll really enjoy the conversations that we have. I’m always laughing with them and just love to hear their stories, especially thinking about how they started and where they are now. So the three clients that I’ve worked with, we’ve worked together in the last one to two years. So they are still clients that are like maintaining the progress that they had and they’ve exceeded the results that they desire to create by working with me. So you hear from my client Martha. Martha is married, she has two girls, she has a husband.
You’ll also hear from my client Lynae. Lynae at the time had just kind of started to side hustle and she had a full-time job but she’s been able to make a transition to working for herself more permanently. And then you’ll hear from Tavianna. Tavianna was recently engaged when we started working together. Now she is happily married and so we’ve been able to bring her husband into the work and really just shift, I mean their whole marriage and their whole trajectory for how they will talk about money and their relationships. So I hope you enjoy this episode and if you are someone who’s like, Keina, I think I want to do this. No girl, you want to do this. And you can come and apply to me scared. You don’t need to have anything figured out, you don’t need to binge shop. You can just show up as you are and I promise you I’ve got the rest of it. So you can go to my website, www.wealthovernow.com/appointment and apply. I am here waiting for you and I want to help you shift what you believe to be true about money. Enjoy.
Keina: Thank you guys for joining me. So I’m going to start with this question. And anybody can come off mute and answer it. So how is coaching different than any other system that you tried before?
Lynae: So I tried, I can’t even remember. I tried different apps and I just felt for me, Keina was very individualized and personalized and I think even some of the exercises or activities you had us do, even had me do at the very beginning I just felt more in control. I had input into what was driving my financial plan versus an algorithm telling me what I need to do.
Tavianna: Yeah, I would say similarly, I think having the accountability was really helpful. I felt like it was something. I had committed to all sorts of different things in the past. Like having someone that I knew I had to talk to every couple of weeks and we had our Trello board and so you were asking questions and I felt like if I didn’t answer the questions I wasn’t doing my part. So I think the accountability piece was really important for helping me stay on track. And also, it was the first time that I had been asked to believe in myself financially. I don’t think the apps or the books or the other things I tried did that. So having the conversations with Keina about the why and what matters and encouraging me to believe in myself I think really kept me in line with the program, if you will, program. It’s way more than that but yes.
Keina: I’m so curious. No, like believing in yourself financially, what did that mean for you?
Tavianna: It meant, because I had tried to save and like pay off debt and do all of these things before and really felt like I knew what I was doing because we started the conversation with aligning my values with my spending and connecting some of the habits I had around money, like being able to connect those dots. It wasn’t just like, I’m doing this because it’s what people say I should do, it was like I’m doing this because it means something to me. I’m doing this because of what I value and what I believe in. And so having the encouragement, it meant a lot but really like forced me to think about who I am and how I spend and to really craft my own personal statements like this is who you are with money and it’s good, you’re going to mess up but it’s okay, you’re going to try again, you’re going to be back on track. So I think that was the first time I’d ever thought about money in that way.
Martha: Yeah, similarly with the starting with the why and values was very different for me because I also remember going through an exercise of thinking about now goals and then 5 to 10 years from now goals and then me when I’m 75 years old goals, which I couldn’t think about financial me in 5 years before and no other system or program or coach, nothing else that I had tried even began to touch on that. It was either paycheck to paycheck systems or this huge complex retirement plan. And I was like there needs to be something in between where I can look at both simultaneously. And I also just remember it being like so not what I expected. I remember printing out all these things, I was like probably she’s going to want to see my bank statements and my mortgage and you were like what are you doing?
Are you trying to overwhelm yourself? And you said it in a way where I didn’t feel foolish but it was nice for you then to bring us back and be like what’s the result we’re going for here? It’s not to overwhelm you. And I think that just goes to say how much I didn’t know I needed it and I didn’t know what I was getting into. And then once you walked me through things I was like oh this is so well thought out. This is so purposeful. We’re not just doing an activity to do an activity. This is all part of a scope and sequence that makes so much sense and for me has been something that I’ve been able to sustain. We work together years ago and I don’t keep things up for multiple years. So the fact that I have says a lot about the power of your work.
Keina: I love how you say that quietly. Okay. Another question for you guys. How long does it take for people to feel drama free when they work with you? Or I think another way you could think about that is like when did things start to change for you?
Martha: I’m happy to start with that one. I saw some results right away so I can honestly say just making the investment to work with you was scary for me because there was a little bit of like where am I getting this money? So when I saw us basically find that money in the first two meetings, the money that I had invested in this, we kind of found in the first two sessions, it was like oh my god, why didn’t I do this years ago? And then from there it just kind of snowballed. So then I remember a couple months in being, I don’t know if it was living paycheck to paycheck but like always checking my account. I was still in a space of overdraft was a real thing. And I can honestly say that I haven’t thought about that in years. So then it snowballed, like a couple months later it was like I have this sense of where things are. I already know I have money set aside for something that’s months down the line and there was some lightness that came with that. And then I also think each year I see big returns as well when I think about, I don’t know if tax time comes and we owe instead of get, there’s not like a panic or I think I’ve shared the example before.
When my clutch went on my car. For 35 years of my life I would’ve had to put it on a credit card. I would’ve had no other option. And since working with you, the clutch went on my car and I was like, this comes out of where I set aside car money. And so there are little moments where I saw an impact but then also when things happen or when covid hit and like job security. Bigger things happen too. And I’m just reminded this doesn’t feel scary and dramatic. I have a plan and I have money in places for these reasons because life keeps lifeing.
Keina: Yeah and I would add, I mean I know your personal situation. So Martha’s married and I only worked with Martha so I didn’t work with her and her husband but her husband is in the hospitality restaurant industry. And when Covid hit, I mean we all know what happened with restaurants like that, income was very questionable. And I remember checking in with you to be like, hey, is everything good? And you’re like yep, we can figure it out, which wouldn’t have been the case I know had that work not have started.
Martha: Yeah, having that security was huge and it was truly like we’ll be okay even if I had to pull money from here or pull money from there. There was money first of all without me making anymore. These were adjustments I made without my salary changing. And also I was so much more aware of my numbers that I also knew if we needed to constrict a little bit, where could we constrict from? Where could I still spend right? Could I still get my nails done? Cool, yes. But then I couldn’t do that and just like kind of moving things around in a way that didn’t feel like oh my god we can’t do anything. It didn’t feel super, super taxing, which is helpful for our stress level too.
Lynae: I think for me, I started working, I remember the month, it was May, I think when I noticed that drama free spending was actually just being an educator. And then we came up with a plan on how to pay myself over the summer. So come August 15th, I wasn’t like where did all my money go? How am I paying for my bills? I had a plan which allowed me to still have fun and enjoy my summer and not be worried until when my next paycheck was going to come. So I think that’s definitely when I first noticed those results. But I also feel like it’s been snowballing. I think you had mentioned it Martha, like over time, so like what I was putting into a fun money account, like yes I could do this amount now when I first started but then it wasn’t going to be like this $30 a month forever. Once I was able to increment or adjust my budget, I just like that I didn’t have to stick to my drama-free spending. I was able to grow it over time, if that makes sense.
Keina: You’re being like really modest right now. But yes.
Tavianna: I was just going to say I think we started working together in October, November, so it had to be sometime a little bit after holiday season. I know exactly when it was, it was when I got my third check. So December on the, what’s that? The biweekly cycle. Typically old Tavianna would’ve been like great, extra money, I’ve gotta go on vacation, I’m going to Miami, first class, I’m staying in the finest hotel and doing whatever I want and I would’ve come back in January completely broken, poor and sad and devastated. And so when that did not happen because we had been talking about what does that third check mean, how does that help you get ahead? How do you use that to prepare for future expenses? And I felt my desire to like impulsively spend my money kind of disappear.
I mean it pops up every now and then, but at that time, like it disappeared and I had a sense of why and it felt good to put that money away and see my account grow. I think that was the moment where I was like okay, yes I can do this. And because I made that choice then I was able to do the things I wanted to in January and February and March. So I think that helped. The mindset change really was like, okay, yeah we can do this. You can swipe your card and not feel stressed or overwhelmed or like you’re about to overdraft because you have a plan and you know where your money is at. So I’m grateful for that.
Keina: Somebody asked in a financial plan, how can I put in a fun item when I’m so close to the bone with my money?
Martha: I’ll share that no matter what I’m making, I feel like I have to put something in there that’s kind of fun because if I don’t then I get in this binge purge spending where like I’ll scrim, scrim and then be like I deserve and go blow a couple hundred dollars that I don’t actually have. So if I keep, whatever it is, whether it’s a self-care thing or a fun thing or whatever, I do clothing rental right now because I don’t want to buy clothes but I want to rent. It’s certainly not a necessity. I don’t need to do it but there’s a lot of reasons why it is nice for me. There’s a dopamine hit and there are a lot of other reasons that I could go in it. It also could easily be cut if it needed to be. Right away I could get that 90 bucks back in a month if I had to.
But I keep it in there because then I don’t go through six months of not buying any clothes and then like I deserve blah blah blah. And going like I said and dropping, doing some crazy shopping spree that I really shouldn’t. For me it actually keeps me more even to keep something like that in there. I have like an item in mind that just says like M and M fun, like my husband and I. So that’s like date, right? Sometimes it’s because we’re going to a concert, sometimes it’s just to grab dinner, sometimes it’s whatever. But even when money is tight, I’m going to keep that in there because I know there are benefits to that, that are connection building with us and that it’s routine and again that I don’t feel this desperation to spend because I am [inaudible]. So that amount might go down. I might contribute 10 bucks one month and 100 bucks another month, but it’s still in there and I’m always contributing to that. Like I said, just for me having it be more even is actually I think the only reason that this is really sustainable for me. That’s like why I can keep it going.
Tavianna: Yeah, I agree completely. It was very important for me. I call mine my treat yourself fund and so right now I’m currently saving for whatever Beyonce decides she’s going to go on tour and I know the experience I want to have once she does. And so there’s a number I’ve set for myself and as Martha said, it’s fluctuated a bit. So a couple of months ago before holiday season and a whole sort of other things popped up, I was putting 150 or even 200 depending on what we had going on. But now we’re closer to holiday season so I’ve decreased how much I’m putting in there and I’m getting closer to my goal. So I feel good about that. It’ll feel even better once she decides to do whatever she is doing and I don’t have to put it on my credit card, I can like, I have that cash I’ve been saving.
And so I think to me it’s like knowing the reward that I’ll be able to use all cash to pay for this experience I want and not have to worry about it and how to plan what’s beneficial. So I think it fluctuates like Martha shared, it could be $10 one check, it could be $150 the next depending on what you have going on. But I think you have to always commit to putting some money aside for yourself because if not you may make some poor choices because you’re missing out on that fun or that excitement.
Lynae: Yeah, I also want to share something a little different, I feel like at the beginning of when we started working, I felt like I didn’t have a lot of money for fun money. So I remember like a strategy, at that time I started doing more evaluations to my income. I know that I always like used 80% was to like expenses and then 20% was for fun, like whatever it is that I wanted to do. So at first it was just like when I had extra income it went towards fun or it funded fun at some point until like later I was able to build up for it.
Keina: I think a lot of people when we think about budgeting, it’s all about saving money and paying up debt. I think that’s the narrative specifically by old white men and that’s what is talked about. But I’m curious for you like what coaching has opened your eyes to, how you experience even setting financial goals for yourself? Has it shifted for you when you’re thinking about saving money, paying off debt? Like what else has been uncovered because you’ve engaged in this work?
Tavianna: I can share mostly to the last part of your question, what else has been uncovered and that is my desire to be there for friends and family. So one of the first conversations or earlier conversation we had was about like again your values. And so for me it was very much wanting to, I’m my mom’s only child and she’s a single woman and so wanting to be able to take care of her and support her should she need that. But even with friends, I think when Keina and I were working together, I had a friend who was releasing a mixtape and at the time I was like, do I want to spend this money on this mixtape? But because I had an account set aside, there was a family giving account and a charity account. I considered that my charity and had the money to contribute towards my friend’s budding music career.
And so I think that’s really what it uncovered for me. Just how much I value giving. That sounds strange, like pat myself on the back but truly how much I value and not a weird way treating people, being there for people, being able to support my friends and family if I have it. And so that means I have to prepare, I have to set aside, I have to make sure I’m taken care of so that I can also do that too because I love that, I love being able to do that. And so I don’t think I answered the first two questions or the first part, but really the latter half is like that’s been uncovered for me based on the work that we did together.
Lynae: I would agree that was one of my big things that came out of this is like I think I always knew and wanted when I envisioned myself younger, like when I’m older I’m going to help my family and friends and I’m going to take on trips and do all these. But as I got older that wasn’t really what’s happening, so I think what coaching really helped me was like to put things in motion like all right so you’re going to be able to do this, you want to save this and like prioritize that. Another thing that opened up for me was knowing that one I wanted to leave my job and like work for myself. So it’s just created space to do that and like what that looks like and how am I going to pay myself and what do I need to pay myself and how long do I need to keep working for someone until I can work on my own?
It allowed me to have all those questions but then also coming up with a plan. And then lastly I think it also helped me come up with in my own way create more financial opportunities for myself. Keina would always ask me like, so that dream budget, when are you going to get it done? And then I just stalled so much for it because it was so hard for me. But once I did it, it did allow for me to, like I said, just create other financial opportunities and own property. I had my house but I wanted to buy an investment property so how do we get there? Coaching really helped me think, it can happen for you now and you can start working towards that now instead of always saying, oh yeah, that’s something that is way down the road. And so now I’m like renovating a building, an investment property and I left my full-time job. If it wasn’t for coaching, I don’t think I would be doing any of this stuff.
Keina: And also, I mean you guys don’t follow Lynae but if you follow her I feel like Lynae is always traveling which was very important to you.
Lynae: Yes, that was, it still is. Definitely, where are we going? This is actually the first winter I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying here just because I have renovations stuff to take care of.
Keina: I’m surprised that you’re not like and anyways you’ll see me skiing.
Lynae: I would be gone.
Martha: Some of that resonates with me Lynae around, I also left my full-time job so that was a step that I don’t think I would’ve taken or certainly not nearly as early as I did and am now working for myself. And there was a lot of coaching I needed around one even thinking that was possible. But then also, I mean Keina worked with me on my relationship with money and my emotions around money. But there was also some very practical logistical pieces too. Both when I had a salary and had this predictable paycheck coming in but now also with this transition to my income is not fixed anymore and I’m paying myself and I need to figure out health insurance for the family. So the practical pieces too of like what does that shift look like? How do I make sure I’m not putting myself really in a risky situation while taking this plunge? So that was a big piece for me. And then another one is just I am a parent so I have two young children and I think sometimes there can be a narrative where parents are like, I do everything for my children and my kids are great, I do a lot for them. But the reality is like if I’m not taking care of me first, I don’t think that supports them and that applies with money as well, right?
I could put all my money into them and like only worry about their college savings but if I’m 70 and have no money, they’re going to have to take care of me. So I had to think about that too, how can I do both? How can I really set them up for success both financially and also with their feelings and thoughts and understanding of money in a way that maybe I didn’t have as young of an age. But then also my husband and I set ourselves up so that we have stability as we age. So that my financial freedom is also like their financial freedom in some ways, which I think is responsible if you’re a caretaker for anyone, whether it’s children or not, that taking care piece, I think can look different for different people. And for me that was another piece that I knew I had to figure out and have in the last few years, which has felt really good.
Keina: What was your special circumstance that kept you from starting coaching sooner?
Lynae: I think for me it was always thinking how to figure it out. I think it was like, okay let me try again. Like I got this, I should be able to figure this out because I don’t even think it was the financial aspect when I first looked into it but it was that I just felt like I could figure it out and do it on my own. And then two, I remember when I first looked at your application it said like are you really committed or something? I was like nah, I don’t think so. Wait a couple months but I really like that question because it was like no, are you really ready? And I was like probably just being honest with myself.
Keina: Yeah. What was it for you that shifted you into commitment?
Lynae: I think I just got tired, like okay, you can’t figure this out on your own. And I think also being the oldest and at least in my culture, you figure things out. Being the oldest, I’m not used to asking for help. It was like, but if I get coaching am I asking for help? Am I okay with this or I had to feel okay with asking for help?
Tavianna: I had for the first time in my life finally saved $10,000. I was like, I’m going to save all of my money. And I had my lump sum, I felt good. I was thinking about buying a house, I had just gotten engaged and I had talked to Keina and she shared how much coaching costs and I was like, no, I’m not doing that. I’m not spending my money no way. I can just keep Googling and watching YouTube videos and downloading apps and putting my money in shoe boxes, like I’m going to make this work myself. But we had a second follow up conversation and I can’t even remember exactly which questions you asked me, but I remember leaving feeling like I could put my trust in this person. I had already done my better business bureau research. I had asked a couple of folks who this lady is, what’s going on.
And the second conversation like really solidified it for me just that I had been trying to do it myself this long and it wasn’t working. Keina shared with me like I promise you we will find. I don’t remember if you said promise. I think you did say promise.
Keina: I promise.
Tavianna: Okay. Yes. So she was like, she was all in. And so I was like okay, if she’s all in, I’m all in but I promise you we’ll make this money back, we’ll find it. I can assure you. And we did times a whole lot more. So I think that for me it was the fear of spending this money I had just finally saved and realizing though that I wasn’t going to be able to do it on my own and the $10,000 I had saved would’ve been who knows what I would’ve done with it had I not had coaching. So I’ve been able to build and grow and continue to save and do way more than I ever could have possibly imagined. So it was absolutely worth it. Absolutely.
Lynae: I was scared to spend money. I was super scared. I had some shame around it too, like some embarrassment where I was like how can I spend this money on me if I’m trying to figure out how not to spend money? Because that’s what I thought it was before coaching. Like how do I not spend money? And I knew you Keina before. So we actually already had a trusting relationship so it wasn’t about that. I was just like I can’t spend this money and what I know now. So this wouldn’t have been helpful then because I just wouldn’t have believed it. But what I know now is I couldn’t see where you were going to be able to get me. That was my biggest reluctance. Like I was like what am I really paying for? I couldn’t see it until we did it.
And now if you told me you can have your money back but you got to give back all the knowledge too. I wouldn’t even consider that because it was almost unbelievable for me. I was like is this really going to make that big of a difference? Is it really going to have an impact? Is it really going to work for me? Like those kinds of thoughts and now knowing what I’ve gotten out of it and how much of my life it’s impacted, I mean yeah there’s no doubt at all. But that’s where the reluctance was back then.
Keina: I just always, I mean I really loved Tavianna’s story because she was telling me about her money in the bank and she wanted to buy a house. And I was like, alright, but she don’t even know how to pay the bills on the house.
Tavianna: And let me tell you, had I bought a house because I had finally saved that amount, had I bought a house, then I would be in a box right now. I’d be on the streets. There’s no way. I did not have the skills, I was not equipped. So yes, it’s been a journey.
Keina: Know that for some people it’s like, Martha as you’re talking about. It’s hard to see, especially when something isn’t super tangible and you’re like, I just told you that I have thoughts about money. You want me to give you money to help with my thoughts about money.
Martha: I think there was also a part of that thought I had to make more money to get to what you were talking about. So I think that’s important for anyone that’s hesitating in that regard. Like I don’t make that much more now than when we first started working together. And yet I spend so much more freely, I just have more money and I’ve paid off my student loan debt and I did the $3,000 yoga training and we’re planning a family trip for Florida Costa Rica, like all these other things I could go on and on and on. Things that I was just like, I’ll never get to do that until I make X amount and I don’t make that much more, like little raises here and there. But I think that’s really important to know too. It wasn’t like I had to hit this certain amount and be like now I can live this kind of lifestyle, which I think growing up that’s what I thought.
Tavianna: Can I just add too that I had a similar thought but I thought I had to save. So I was like, okay, if I could save this amount, I could save another amount to finally work with you. But thinking about if I tried that route, how I probably would’ve set myself back in other ways, where would I have been? So you have to really challenge yourself to think about your why and to invest in you. Like that’s the best way to look at it. You’re investing in yourself. I looked at it as a class, I was going to come away with skills and tools and resources and that made it easier to process and even to share with my husband, like here’s why I’m going to do this and here’s where this money is going. And he was like, alright, cool. Invest in yourself if it’s going to be great for you and for us, let’s do it. So think about it. And you have to change your mindset a bit in order to wrap your head around it.
Lynae: I agree. I wasn’t on the saving route because I was still paycheck to paycheck and then covering it with credit card like, ooh I didn’t make it but like let’s use my credit card to cover it. I think that was just helpful for me. And even having conversations with Keina like, alright you have credit card debt and you don’t have an emergency fund. It wasn’t like I had to pick one and then the other, it’s like we’re going to chip at both. So even like that because my mindset was like nope, I just can’t get out of this cycle. I don’t know how to do it. And it was just super, super helpful.
Keina: I love it. I’m going to give you one more chance to brag on yourself because I like it when you guys brag on yourselves because I think it’s warming to my heart because I love knowing that people are spending money in ways that they desire. What is the result that you’re most proud of and what’s the next result you’re working towards?
Lynae: Okay, like I mentioned earlier, it’s just like I had a credit card debt and just being able to one, not only paying it off but not having it or not having revolving credit card debt anymore and having been able to do that for more than a year now. So I think that’s definitely something I’m able to sustain, a result I’ve been able to sustain. Also, like I said, shifting and leaving my full-time position, buying a building, rehabbing it, fixing it up, expanding my business. And then another one is just like debt free vacations because I know I have [32:33 inaudible] I’ll be like I’ll figure it out later. I have to go have some fun in the sun. But now that I’m like, what I’m looking forward to, is like I have a one-year-old nephew and it’s things like, ooh, I get to set up a college savings fund for him.
And we’re thinking, again, going back to values, like helping family and friends is important and knowing if I do this for one of my nephews I’m going to have to do it for the other ones. So keep this in mind Lynae. but just different ways to support family in that way. But then also just thinking like, I’ve always wanted a home outside of Chicago because it’s getting cold now and like how can I make that happen in Mexico where my family’s from? That’s like the next thing I have in mind. Like how do I make a second home happen?
Tavianna: I can go. One of the biggest things I think was deciding not to have a big 150 person wedding at the beginning of this year. Just thinking about our finances and what our goals were. So we had just like a small intimate like $2,000 wedding, which was great that we paid cash for. So that was also great. And I probably should have mentioned my husband wasn’t really looped in at first, so Keina allowed him to join in maybe one or two conversations toward the end. And it took a bit of work for me to like help him get there. But he’s completely on board now. So that I think is another major win. But we’ve collectively had roughly like $32,000 worth of debt, credit card debt. And we’ve paid off 17 k since February, which did not feel possible, but just we’re continuing to chip away at it.
And then between August, September, October, we had several unforeseen things happen. Our dog got attacked and had a $3,000 bill. Car things, several things that happened back to back to back. And we had cash for all those things. So it felt great to not have to put it on a credit card and to swipe our card and know we were good. That was the first time I think either of us had ever felt that way, but there was no stress. We swiped our card and we moved on and thought about how we were going to pay ourselves back. So lots of great wins over here.
Keina: So what are you looking forward to? Your next result?
Tavianna: Yep. It’s time for our house. So we have a plan for how much we want to save and just working towards the goal. And we’ve been having lots and lots of conversations. Like I was doing my own money homework, but now that I’ve looped him in, it’s been a collective thing. So continuing our conversations, continuing to be open about our finances and eventually having a home.
Martha: The risk of being like kind of boring. I feel like just my biggest celebration is broad. Like I just appreciate so much that money is not a source of stress and worry in my life anymore. That is huge because for most of my life it was. So even if it’s an unexpected expense, even if I do have to put something on a credit card now. Like there’s not that feeling in the pit of my stomach because I know there’s a plan. I’m like, okay, we can swing this or we’ll move this or I can do this. I am so confident that nothing could destroy us right now. I shouldn’t be like tempting faith but but like anything that comes at us, we could figure it out and l some things could really suck totally and we could really have to shift things.
But I am capable of figuring out those shifts now. And if I did have those skills before, I didn’t know that I did. I just feel like I am so much more capable no matter what money I’m making, no matter what gets thrown at us. And quite frankly, I just don’t have a stomach ache about money anymore. And like I said, I did for many, many, many years. And with that, I think the next chapter is I’m hoping to double my income with my new business. I’m only a year in, so next year I’d like to double that income and having a plan for that money too. Not just being like, now that I’m making this, I’m going to go crazy. But knowing like, because I’m working a lot in percentages, I’m like visually picturing how I need to spend money now.
So I’m thinking about my little cells and whatever. Just knowing, what’s going to still, things that aren’t so sexy, like retirement and health insurance, but then what’s also going to the next vacation and what’s going to treat yourself money and what’s going to my kids? The number that I’m bringing in actually doesn’t have to impact that much. Somethings like that money’s still being allocated no matter what. So the things that I get to look forward to as I grow my business and double my income and I’m still really responsible with things and money can just be like such a sense of joy and empowerment now instead of stress, which like I said, years ago I didn’t think I could get there or I thought I was really far away from getting there. So I would not have gotten there without coaching even if I had made more money.
Keina: Thank you guys for being on my client panel and hanging out with me on a Wednesday night. If you are listening to the replay of this or you’re still on and you’re like, yes, I want to work with you Keina, you can go to www.wealthovernow.com/appointment. If you signed up for the masterclass, that emails already in your inbox and we can work together for five months and create amazing financial results.
Lynae: I say do it.
Keina: Alright, everyone, have a good night.
Tavianna: You too. Thank you Keina.
Martha: Bye Keina
Lynae: Bye all. Thank you.
Keina: Thank you so much for listening to Money Files. If you’re ready to take the next step to reach your financial goals, head to www.wealthovernow.com/appointment and let’s get started.
