Epi 71 - Ashley Patrick
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[00:00:00] Ashley: Welcome to the Money Mindset Podcast, where you will find the inspiration and motivation you need to manage your money better so you can stress less and live the life you want. It's Ashley with Budgets Made Easy and the Money Mindset Podcast. Today is going to be another listener's question. So reminder that you can send me an email at ashley@budgetsmadeeasy.com and just in the sub subject line use hashtag question, and maybe I will answer your question on the podcast and I will do my best to reply to you in an email as well.

[00:00:42] But you know, if you have this question. I promise you, somebody else does. And the question that I get got, or that I am answering today is a question that I get all time, like literally all the time. Uh, there are variations to it based on everybody's different situations, but it's basically the same question. And that is how to budget when I'm already behind. Or I stick to it for a little bit and then things come up, then I get behind and I need to get back on track or, you know, I make too much money, why am I, uh, still over spending? So it's really about how to budget when you always feel behind. So you make enough money but things just keep coming up and they ruin your plans. Or maybe you're just not that great at sticking to it. Like, it looks great on paper and you say, you're gonna do it. And then, you know, the next you go to bed and you wake up the next day and magically, you're not a completely different person the next day. I know that's shocking, but we're not. It's all about changing our behavior over time with consistency, with setting systems and processes to make it easier to stick to. 

[00:02:01] So today's question is from Morgan and she says, excuse, I'm at a loss because I'm unsure of how to correctly budget my bills. So they are paid and I want to get ahead. I'm not sure what will help. I've got templates and pages for templates I've made to help, but I'm still kind of at a loss. I've been budgeting for years, but every time we seem to get ahead, we always fall behind again. I want to be able to save and not just help with time management, but also with schooling. I homeschool. So I'm having to buy supplies, which I'm able to claim on taxes , but I am not so sure how to go about any of this to help along the way now I feel as if I'm at a loss due to our budget, but my kids are learning with the very little we have and it, and is it bad to take advantage of all the free school bags as possible before school starts? 

[00:03:01] Uh, to answer the last question? No, it's not bad to you know, advantage of free resources, especially when you homeschool. Cuz I know that can be tough and I am schooled for a year and that shit's expensive. So if you can save some money by taking advantage of free resources that are offered to you, then take advantage if you need it. 

[00:03:25] And you know, to get down to the root of the question though, how to really stick to the budget and how to budget so that you're not falling behind again. Right. So I do cover this in the Free, uh, Budgeting Workshop, which is budgetsmadeeasy.com/workshop. I actually go through how to set up your budget that you'll and actually stick to it. 

[00:03:48] But the important thing is to make it realistic. So I want you to think about those things that are always coming up like homeschool. Or regular school supplies like that comes up at the same time every year. I know it's shocking. It surprises us every time. It's just like Christmas. I promise you it's at the same time every year, they haven't changed it. Your birthday. Your kids' birthdays are at the same time every year. Right? So the important thing is to figure out those things that are setting you behind.

[00:04:22] Is it birthdays? Is it, uh, school supplies? Is it, um, traveling or, you know, fun things that just come up, you know, your friends ask you for a cookout and then you gotta bring a side dish and all the things. Is it, um, you know, uh, vehicle maintenance? Is it just mindless shopping? Cuz you know, I get that question a lot where, you know, I'm compulsively spending things like that. So figure out kinda what is the trigger that is setting you behind. And then we need to plan for how to mitigate that. So four things besides just, you know, the overspending aspect of it, cuz that's a whole, the's a whole other podcast episode, to be honest with you, but all these other things that just keep coming up, like your car needs, new tires, you need to oil change. You have to renew your vehicle tags. Your kids are starting school. Hey, there's Christmas. Hey, there's fall. And all the fall stuff that everybody likes to do and all the, the pumpkin patches and all the things, all the sports, all the sports equipment, all that stuff that's not in your budget is what is keeping you from sticking to it and putting you further and further behind. 

[00:05:36] So, uh, most likely what you are doing is either not creating a budget at all, but if you are creating a budget it's not realistic. And so you're not including those things that are coming up that you still need to plan for and pay for. So those things can go into things called sinking funds, which is just a fancy accounting word for savings funds. Okay. So, you know, if you know Christmas and you're gonna celebrate Christmas or maybe Hanukah or some other holiday where you gotta spend money, give gifts, travel, all the things, you know, when that is. Uh, you can figure out how much you need to save per month. Put it in a separate bank. Like not even the same bank that is your primary bank, put it in a separate bank. So you're not tempted to just pull up the app and transfer the money. Like, make it difficult for yourself to get the money until you really need it. Like it doesn't take that long to get the money.

[00:06:31] And you could do a, a, uh, checking account where you just have a debit card anyway. But if you do like a savings account, you may have to wait a little bit to transfer the money, but, like, you know, when those expenses are coming, so you can save for them ahead of time. If you're not able to stick to your budget, then your budget's not realistic. Or you may, like I said earlier, you may have another issue with overspending and, you know, spending. uh, when we're depressed and anxious, you know, all those emotions because personal finance is emotional. What we do with our money is emotional. Uh, but if you are creating the plan and you just can't seem to stick to it, because all these things come up, not necessarily like a shopping addiction or compulsive spending, things like that, then you need to plan for those things that keep ruining your budget, in your budget and you wanna really plan for every dollar. Now you can include and should include a buffer. So you can call it a, uh, your checking account, buffer your miscellaneous fund, because there will be little things that still come up until you get in a good, consistent routine. Uh, but, but what you will find is it's very freeing because once you set that money aside for a specific purpose, when it comes up, you huh, I can just pay that. Like, I don't have to figure out how I'm gonna pay for it. I don't have to add it to a credit card. Like it's really, huh mentally freeing I don't know another I'm sure there's probably a better word to describe it, but it is. Like once you start to get in that routine of setting money aside for those things, when they come up, it's not stressful because you've planned for it.

[00:08:12] And so I really wanna stress to you to. Plan for those things. And I even have a monthly list of things that people typically forget in their budget for literally every month. So it's a different list every month. Of course, some of the things are the same. It's almost kind of really seasonal I guess. But you know, there's different holidays. There's, uh, different things like landscaping, maybe pool supplies if you have a pool, like all those things that people don't typical think about putting in their budget, uh, that you do need to plan for, like, if you're gonna spend the money on those things, then you've gotta think about how you're going to pay for that. Right. 

[00:08:46] And that list is inside of the Budget Starter Kit. So you can get that for free, just go to budgetsmadeeasy.com/start. I also cover this pretty extensively in the Basic Budget Bootcamp, which you get when you become a member of Money Success Coaching, which will be open for a quick flash sale this week. It actually opens on Thursday. It will close on, uh, Sunday night. Uh, but I, it teach this extensively and even greater detail, uh, and of course visual. So sometimes we just need to see it to, for it, to like really click, uh, and you know, I can't do that on a podcast, obviously. So, uh, that is inside the Money Success Coaching Group.

[00:09:31] So if you're interested in that, uh, go to budgetsmadeeasy.com/msc. So if you go to it today, the day that this podcast drops, it'll put you, you can sign up for the wait list, but it will be open Thursday through Sunday. That link is also valid whenever we have the full opening in October. So it only opens a couple times a year. But if you're ready to get started, you're like, you're tired of being behind on your bills. You're ready for a change. I highly encourage you to come try out Money Success Coaching. It's all about putting this stuff into action. So if you've been listening to the podcast for a while, but you still haven't done the things you know, that you need to do because I've been talking about it for so long. Come join us in the coaching group, because it's all about accountability and implementation. Okay. So a lot of times I do teach you how to do the things, uh, for those that need it. But you know, a lot of you and, you know, you may know. okay. I know I need to do this, but I'm just not doing it. I struggle with that a lot. Like I need I actually, I pay people to hold me accountable to what I need to get done because I, for whatever reason, I just get behind. If it's just myself holding me accountable. And that's what the coaching group is all about is accountability and taking action. Like, I want you to take action, actually, do your budget actually pay off debt, save money, make a meal plan, stick to it. You know, all the things that we know we probably should be doing, or at least have an idea, even if we're not sure on all the details, all that's covered in Money Success Coaching, with the added benefit of the coaching aspect of it for accountability, and to actually implement. Like I've even implemented this year, uh, doing quarterly implementation workshops. Like we literally sit down for four hours a half a day. I tell you what to do, give you time to do it step by step. It's date time and place to be to finally get it done.

[00:11:39] Like I know that's what I need. I know that's what you need. And so we're doing it. If you're ready to finally take action, get your shit together. Let's do it inside Money Success Coaching again, that's budgetsmadeeasy.com/msc which stands for Money Success Coaching. So, you know, got that. I abbreviate it MSC to make it a little bit easier. So go join the wait list or sign up, uh, while this is live. So if you're watching it, you know, in the future, You'll be able to sign up for the wait list as well, but the live, um, for this podcast, the live opening, the flash sale is July 14th, 2022 until July 17th, 2022 at 11:59 PM Eastern time. So go check that out while it's open it won't open again until October 20, 22. And I'm most likely only gonna open it, you know, a couple times a year from here on out, unless I do, you know, another, just quick sale. 

[00:12:39] I don't want you to put this off for another day, like think about the time and the money and the energy wasted every single month that you say that you're going to finally do your budget, or you're finally gonna stick to it and you don't. Okay. Now is the time to get it done. Now is the perfect time to get it done. Like you still have plenty of time in this year to get it together and make this one of the best years yet, financially. Which will set you up for so much success next year and the year after that and so forth. Because it's really all about changing your behavior for the long term. 

[00:13:21] Like, I want you to be successful in everything that you do and. This program is for you to do that. So come join us. Uh, it's fun. It's a great community of busy moms. You know, we're busy moms trying to make it all work and manage our family's finances. Even when we have just like this mental load of the stress of the finances and you know, everything that runs the family, right? Like we do all of the things and we mentally have to deal with all the things. I just like, my husband just doesn't get it. Like the, just the mental load of having to do all of the things. I mean, he's helpful, don't get me wrong. But. He doesn't worry about the birthdays. He doesn't worry about if the kids brush their teeth. Like he doesn't even think about those things. So it's just mentally a lot to handle. And so those of you busy moms that are trying to handle your family's finances, you're overwhelmed. 

[00:14:21] Come join this supportive community to finally take action and get your shit together. So that. You can do what you want. You can travel more. I mean, just imagine what you could do in life. If you didn't have so many bills. Like if you just had to pay your rent or mortgage, what could you do with all that extra money that, you know, right now you're sending to debt. So, you know, really dream big because you are worth so much more, you are capable of so much more.

[00:14:51] And I want that for you. I want that for your family. And I know you do too. So come join us in Money Success Coaching at budgetsmadeeasy.com/msc, and I'll see you there.