Part of why I became a financial coach was to help others avoid the many money mistakes I made through the years. There were many more than five, but here are the 5 WORST money mistakes I’ve made (in no particular order): 1. Early withdrawal from a retirement fund AND a pension fund. At one point in our life, we …
The 1-2-3 Challenge: July 2021
July in Texas. “Mid” summer. The kids are home. Cookouts. Swimming. Vacation. Staycation. Still a few months before the holidays. And it’s hot, y’all. As we’re sweating away the pounds, now can also be a good time to trim excess spending from the budget. So we’re starting a challenge. Here are the rules: Challenge 1: During one week in July, …
Seven (7) Side Hustles I’ve Had
I just called them jobs. But at a time when I wanted to stay home with my children instead of working full time, side hustles became essential for survival. Maybe these will give you some ideas for some of your own! 1. Waiting Tables Who didn’t wait tables in college, right? Here I learned how to do multiple things at …
Coaching Your Financial Habits
Ever wondered why financial habits are sometimes hard to change? Maybe you don’t need convincing, and you understand the mathematical or logical reason behind the need for change. The problem is in the doing it by growing good financial habits. Here’s why: the pain of the problem (i.e. bad habit) has yet to exceed the perceived pain of the solution (i.e. …
Five Financial Planning Practices (You Should Begin Today)
There are certainly a lot of bad habits surrounding money in our culture, as evidenced by the fact that over half of American families live paycheck to paycheck. Perhaps lower salaries or loss of income is to blame, but how much less would the impact be if the American public would adhere to a few financial planning “best practices” surrounding …
Beater Car #2
If you read our previous post about our Beater Car #1, you might be wondering what is a beater? A beater is a paid-for car (no loans currently on it) that is likely older and in running condition, but not showroom floor condition. Case in point…. Before I discuss HOW we got this beauty, I want to relay two separate …
The Beloved Beater: The Paid Off Car
When we first came in for financial coaching in 2013, we had one last remaining debt – our 2007 Honda Odyssey (named Homer) that we had purchased used but with low mileage in 2010. We’d done some things right when we bought it – researched and came up with a model that had a great track record, traded in our …
Are you financially proactive?
Steven Covey, in his best seller 7 Habits of Highly Effective People writes that the in order to be effective, you must “Be Proactive.” Don’t blame others for your behavior. Instead, focus your time and energy on things you can control. PREPARE(proactive) VS RESPOND(reactive) In counseling, the proactive coping approach denotes behaviors in which one will prepare for an event …
Establishing An Annual Expense Fund
Debt is a shackle that prevents its prisoners from moving forward in many areas of life. We’ve seen debt be a barrier to accepting a dream job, to making a future move, to buying a home, and even to getting married. Part of what we do here in our practice is to help people separate themselves from debt. And part …