Overcoming Financial Stress With The Saver And The Spender

Adoption can be one of the most loving and selfless things someone can do. It's fair to say that the foster care system for each state is extremely underfunded and overfilled with children that need loving homes. Michael and Kelsa made the decision to adopt through the Arizona foster care system almost three years ago and were lucky enough to adopt their son, Alex, on June 14th of 2019. Many people have asked them about the process as well as the financials for adopting Alex. While each state is different in regards to the foster to adopt programs available, Kelsa and Michael have put together some great talking points about their experience so you can do some initial leg work for your state.   

It’s one of our favorite times of the month! It is time for the FC Beat. That’s the Financial Coaches Beat, in case you didn’t know, where Jaclyn and Jill are giving you the inside scoop on what’s happening, all things in the Fiscal Fitness world. And of course our favorite part which is tooting the horns of our amazing clients, sharing the great work that they are doing and celebrating their accomplishments. You’ve got to tune in for this one!

Meet our newest financial coach at Fiscal Fitness Phoenix, Jaclyn Wise!!! She wasn't always this awesome at budgeting though. It took some determination to look inside herself to be able to ask for help from a financial coach. And she hasn't looked back. Today, Jaclyn is sharing the top 5 money mistakes that she has made in the past and provides some strategies and action steps to help you avoid those same mistakes. Here are Jaclyn's top 5 money mistakes: Money Mistake #1: I blew through my grad party money. Money Mistake #2: I misused my student loans. Money Mistake #3: I struggled in silence (for six years!) Money Mistake #4: We bought way too much house Money Mistake #5: I overspent for the wrong reasons You can find Coach Jill's Top 5 Money Mistakes here. And you can find Coach Kelsa's Top 5 Money Mistakes here.  www.fiscalfitnessphx.com/episode92

What does it mean to be interested vs. invested and how is this showing up for you in your life? The energy behind these two words and the actions we take are entirely different and in this episode, Coach Jill dives into how being “interested” in something is showing up for you in life and how it is holding you back from creating the life you want. Notes from episode:  Think about something you have been “interested” in. What does this look like for you? What results are you getting in your life?  Think about something you have “invested” in. How did you show up differently? What was the result of being invested?  How were your actions different between being interested or being invested?  What area of your life are you currently interested in and how can you invest to get the results you are seeking? Related links: Join us in our private Facebook group: Fiscal Fitness Money

It’s one of our favorite times of the month! It is time for the FC Beat. That’s the Financial Coaches Beat, in case you didn’t know, where Kelsa and Jill are giving you the inside scoop on what’s happening, all things in the Fiscal Fitness world. And of course our favorite part which is tooting the horns of our amazing clients, sharing the great work that they are doing and celebrating their accomplishments. You’ve got to tune in for this one!

Meet our newest Financial Coach - Jaclyn Wise! As a former math teacher you might expect budgeting would come easily, but Jaclyn shares she was a mess when it came to budgeting and balancing her own checkbook. Once she started making “real” money, she thought her finance worries would be solved. She was wrong. Six years after graduating college, she found she was still living paycheck-to-paycheck and feeling extremely jealous whenever her friends posted pictures on Facebook of themselves enjoying vacations in exotic places. She scrutinized and antagonized every purchase she made, big and small. Money made her feel all the wrong feelings.  That was years ago. Today, her life looks a lot different.  Since investing in financial coaching in 2015, Jaclyn and her husband have made a remarkable amount of progress in five short years.  Jaclyn shares her story of how she became a financial coach and some of the challenges she has overcome along the way. Jaclyn has a heart for financial coaching and wants you to se

Knowing your income and expenses are important. But just as important are numbers that show you the bigger picture of your financial situation and that’s where your Net Worth & Savings Rate come into play. Kelsa will walk you through how to calculate these, provide some insights as to why you might want to care about them, and even provide some tools for you to use! Notes from episode: Why your savings rate & Net Worth are important numbers to know How to calculate both of these figures Pros & cons of using these numbers Next steps once you’ve gained awareness of these figures How to improve & strengthen your net worth & savings rate   Resources:  https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PSAVERT Click here to get the downloads to calculate your net worth and savings rate. www.fiscalfitnessphx.com/episode88  

As we start the slow return to normalcy following the COVID19 quarantine, it's time to consider what our spending habits will be. Companies will more than likely start to market towards our need for normalcy and the things we have been missing out on the past few months.  Jill and Kelsa talk about some strategies to make sure that your climb out of quarantine will be well within your budget!   Tips from Jill and Kelsa: Some expenses you may see a quick spike in  eating out travel entertainment What else do you expect? Don't forget to add back into your budget childcare gas expense for traveling to work kids activities if they were cancelled for a while Grooming hair nails facials waxing etc Be honest and realistic with yourself on what you may need to add If you lost your job, now is the time to get your resume updated and maybe learn a new skill that makes you more marketable Resources: Gaslighting article mentioned Join our free awesome Facebook group here

Amazon has made it so easy and convenient to have all of your purchases on your doorstep within a matter of days (or sometimes hours!). The convenience is great, but how is this impacting your finances? The convenience of being able to order anything we want in the click of a button, may be holding you back from reaching your financial goals. In this episode, Coach Jill gives some quick and simple tips to help you gain control of your Amazon spending habits in this episode of The Fiscal Fitness Podcast. Coach Jill's Amazon best practices to stop overspending: The convenience of instant gratification may be sabotaging your financial goals. Practice strengthening your delayed gratification muscle by adding items to your cart, but waiting to click “buy” until a set day each week. (**Hint - choose a day at the beginning of the week - try Tuesday or Wednesday) Review your cart each week and determine if you still want each item and if the total amount of items in the cart are in line with your spending goa

We were in a total funk for meals and found ourselves spending way too much on both groceries AND eating out! Here’s how we fixed it! Notes from episode/ summary of major points/ etc:  What being in a rut with food spending can look like  Various strategies for getting a handle on your food spending  One out-of-the-book solution you may want to consider Additional tips/ strategies/ other things to consider/ etc: This wasn’t always a problem - it just sort of becomes a problem suddenly. In fact, we used to be really good at cooking, eating at home, etc. Practical tips for meal prepping and planning  Resources/ links related to topic/ mentioned in podcast:  Episode 49 - Financial New Year's Resolutions Super Episode  Episode 24 - Meal Prepping w/ Dr Mike Simon  Korean Sloppy Joes recipe: https://whatgreatgrandmaate.com/paleo-whole30-korean-sloppy-joes/

It’s one of our favorite times of the month! It is time for the FC Beat. That’s the Financial Coaches Beat, in case you didn’t know, where Kelsa and Jill are giving you the inside scoop on what’s happening, all things in the Fiscal Fitness world. And of course our favorite part which is tooting the horns of our amazing clients, sharing the great work that they are doing and celebrating their accomplishments. You’ve got to tune in for this one! Related Links: The Fiscal Fitness Podcast Special Episode:  Keeping Morale Up During Covid-19. https://fiscalfitnessphx.com/covid-19/ Why It's Important to Know Your Net Worth and Savings Rate.  https://fiscalfitnessphx.com/why-its-important-to-know-your-net-worth-and-savings-rate/ Learn more about our Eureka Session! https://fiscalfitnessphx.com/services/individuals/

What are some simple activities that you can do that can have a quick yet significant impact on your budget? Kelsa is going to share 5 of those actions! Notes from episode: 5 Quick money-saving and confidence-boosting actions you can take today Why these things are more impactful than they seem on the surface 5 actions: Review your pay stub Is there anything you’re paying for that is optional that you’re not using?  Is there anything you’re paying for that you can take advantage of - such as an Accident policy or Aflac type. Or a prepaid legal service where you can get a free will for you and your family?  Does your pay look correct?  Call to get a CC interest rate lowered Call in the morning when customer call reps haven’t been answering the phone all day and getting yelled at by cranky customers all day Use first names, thank them for their help The first couple times, you might hear no. Thank them for their consideration and hang up. Wait a week or a few days and keep calling back. Tell them

When there is so much uncertainty and things feel out of our control, it’s very easy to get sucked up in the worry and feel as if everything is “on hold” until this all blows over. In this episode, Coach Jill talks about how important it is to keep morale high while living through this very uncertain time. We have the opportunity to choose or DECIDE what we really want to get out of this time, so let’s choose to make it a time that we can be proud of. Notes from episode/ summary of major points/ etc: Ask yourself: “What would make me really proud to say I did during the Covid-19 quarantine?” Our level of productivity will translate to our mental health. Take care of yourself by finding a way to be productive. Declutter, find a fitness or nutrition challenge to participate in, learn something new, put your spending in check with a financial challenge, volunteer or donate your time, money or talents. All of these things will help you to feel productive and proud of yourself at the end of this. Resources/ l

You can be really disciplined and still fall for temptations so today we’ll be covering 3 steps to conquering temptations once and for all. Kelsa will be covering: How to identify when triggers happen for you - this awareness is key!  Then Kelsa will discuss 13 ways you can reduce the chance of temptations tripping you up and essentially ways to prevent facing temptations to begin with. And then... How to have a backup plan of free activities so that when temptation strikes, you are prepared! CLICK HERE to receive the 50 Free Activities handout! Notes from episode: Identify your spending triggers that are pulling you off track Pick 2-3 changes you can make right away to curb your temptations Pick a minimum of 5 free activities you can do instead of spending money Resources/ links related to topic/ mentioned in podcast: The Fiscal Fitness Podcast Episode 76 - Top 3 "No Brainer" Ways to Save Money Shopping Online The Fiscal Fitness Podcast Episode 50 - Cognitive Biases and How They Affect our Spending

Thinking about buying a house?  Listen to what mortgage lender Jeff Quincey shares with Jill. Coach Jill interviews mortgage lender Jeff Quincey of Fairway Independent Mortgage and they give you the scoop on everything you need to know about mortgages, refinancing and what to expect in the process.  This podcast is the perfect prep for our 4-week “Home Buyers” course that is about to kick off on Monday March 23rd, 2020 (postponed and new dates TBD). This live & interactive course is led by our own financial coaching experts Jill Emanuel and Kelsa Dickey. This course will help you feel more well-prepared and confident as you make the big decision to buy a home, which may very well be the single largest purchase of your lifetime. It only makes sense to invest a bit of time, effort and money to learn how to ensure your home is a blessing and not a curse! Click THIS LINK to find out more and get enrolled!. The Home Buyers mini course is postponed and new dates TBD. Episode notes: Jeff tells us what you nee

What are 5 quick activities you can do that will make an impact on your finances? We get asked all the time “what are some things I can do to quickly make an impact”, so we’ve put together 5 things you can do right now to start to see a quick improvement in your finances! You don’t have to do all 5, pick one or two that make sense to try and give them a whirl. Of course, bonus points if you do them all! Some takeaways from this episode: Try a spending elimination diet Get locked in on your day to day spending Plan your meals and groceries Organize your debt payoff plan Get help from a financial coach (Book your Eureka session!) Resources/Related Topics: Book a Eureka Book a Q&A w/Jill Learn How to Budget The Fiscal Fitness Podcast Episode 24:  Talking Meal Prepping with Dr. Mike Simon

It’s one of our favorite times of the year! It is time to chat about the New Year Money 21-Day Challenge. The 21 Day Challenges are designed to help participants with saving money, gaining clarity, having fun, making progress, fine-tuning expenses and gaining insights surrounding their finances.  The best part is the potential to even WIN money! And of course our favorite part which is tooting the horns of our amazing participants and having them share the great work and celebrating their accomplishments along the way. You’ve got to tune in for this one!

Oftentimes the initial thought when we learn we are getting a return is that it’s time to celebrate! We want to do something big with it - like book the vacation we’ve want to go on, make the big purchase we’ve been putting off, do some home renovations, or even pay off debt - unfortunately, even though these are done with the thought that this is all “extra money” to do it with, we can often regret our choices when a whammy hits us on the back side. In this episode, Coach Jill gives you a few things to think about to make sure you are using your tax return in the best way possible. Reminders of what to consider with your return: Resist temptation to do something “fun” with all of the refund. Think about using the 10/90% rule.  First ask yourself what your initial plans with this money is - get clear on the various options. Consider whether a whammy, or a large unexpected expense, will derail this plan.  Evaluate your current emergency fund and make sure you have a minimum of $1,000 saved for a true emerg

It’s one of our favorite times of the month! It is time for the FC Beat. That’s the Financial Coaches Beat, in case you didn’t know, where Kelsa and Jill are giving you the inside scoop on what’s happening, all things in the Fiscal Fitness world. And of course our favorite part which is tooting the horns of our amazing clients, sharing the great work that they are doing and celebrating their accomplishments. You’ve got to tune in for this one!

You might be thinking all those emails with sales and discount codes are doing you a favor. I promise - they’re not! These emails are tempting you to spend on items that would not have even been on your radar, if not for the enticing sale that just landed in your inbox. One of the ways I save hundreds every year and minimize my temptations is to get off those mailing list and use three browser extensions that help me find the best prices and deals when I shop online. In this episode I share with you my 3 favorite tools for saving money while shopping online: Rakuten, Honey and CamelCamelCamel. Be smart with your online shopping with these sites: Use the app Unroll.me to easily unroll from email lists that are bombarding your inbox (and your mind!) with shopping temptations.  You can still take advantage of the sales and discounts, but do it on your own terms, when you are actively looking for something and not when you have been targeted thru marketing.  Rakuten (formerly Ebates) gives you discounts and c