00:00:05	And welcome to the Money Mindset Podcast, where you will find the inspiration and the motivation you need to manage your money better so you can stress less and live the life you want. 

00:00:17	It's Ashley with Budgets Made Easy back for another episode. And this one is going to be just a little bit different. I actually haven't done this before on the podcast. So if you love this format that we're going to do today, let me know, screenshot it, tag me on Instagram, send me a message, send me an email, whatever you got to do, let me know if you like this. But today we're going to do an ask me anything. So I have a list of questions that were previously submitted and I'm just going to go through some of them and answer them.

00:00:49	So if you would like to have my answer to some of your questions, send me an email at ashley@budgetsmadeeasy.com and in the subject line, just do like hashtag question and I will add it to the list and maybe I'll do one of these, like once a month. So let me know if you like it. And we will just dive in and these will be anonymous.I won't say who they're from. I'll just kind of go through the question. I'll read it to you and then I'll give you my response. So let's dive in. 

00:01:22	So this person says I don't have a steady job because I'm going to school full time on top of being a full-time mom. Oh, do I understand the struggle? So she works through a temp agency and gets paid weekly.When it comes to credit cards, do you recommend paying the highest balance first or the ones with the highest interest rate? 

00:01:45	She actually has several questions here. So let's dive into the first one. So when it comes to interest rate, I really base it off of what's going to give you the most motivation. So just seeing that higher interest rate debt go down, motivate you to keep going, then do that. If you need to pay off some smaller debt so you have some quick wins, do that. It's really about finding what works for you. There really is not despite what some people may try and tell you a one size fits all to what order to pay off debt. Because guess what? When you pay it off, you've paid it off. It doesn't matter how you got there because you did it. So it truly doesn't matter. If you focus on the highest interest strep first, you'll pay it off a little bit quicker, but you may also lose steam and not actually finish if it's one of your biggest balances. So you really need to sit down and decide what you think will help motivate you the longest.And you know, you're allowed to change your mind. So if you start out with the highest interest rate, but it's like taking forever and you can knock out some smaller ones really quickly, and you're like, okay, I'm going to do that. That's fine too. You don't have to like stick to it never change your mind. Right? 

00:03:05	So she also asked that I'm going to cover some of these because I know you may be thinking the same thing too. She asks will budgeting work for someone who doesn't have a steady income? So like she said, you know, she's working at a temp agency. So her pay rate, she says is $16 an hour, or she may make $20 hour or $17 an hour. And it fluctuates. 

00:03:28	So Kat, that's going to make it a lot harder. But what you can do when you have irregular income like that is you can list out your bills in order of priority.So food, housing, transportation, clothes, if you need them are the highest priority your debt will be last. Okay? And so when money comes in, you're going to pay those important things first. And as you're looking through your bills, when you look at it for a whole month, you should know how much you need. So you need to figure out how much you realistically need for food and gas. And maybe those are some things that you can find ways to cut back on. And if you're not making enough money through those other jobs, you may need to find something else that you can make some more money, a higher income. You know, if you, as a busy mom, like I did a lot of things at night online when my kids were asleep.So, you know, there are lots of ways to make money more than $17 an hour without leaving your house and having to stress about that. But, you know, it may still be inconsistent income, and that's why you have to kind of prioritize. And you know, if you have a small business, so I run into this a lot where, or realtors or commission-based people where like one month is really, really high, but the next month you make nothing. What I advise in those situations is to have all of your income go into one account. And of course, if you have a small business, you need to have a business account, not your personal. But the idea is everything goes into one account and then you are paying yourself whatever amount that you've decided on, on a regular basis into a second personal account. And that's what you can base your pay and your budget and all those things and pay your bills out of. However you want to set that part up out of. So all of your commission and things go in one account, and then you pay yourself the amount that you need each month. So when you have a big month, you're not spending it all in that month. And then the next month it's like feast or famine, right? And so when I've worked with one-on-one clients with this, with this problem, it was really eye opening. So, you know, once they've realized how much money they really needed each month, that gave them a goal to shoot for, especially in your business owner or commission-based like when you know how much you need to make, like that helps motivate you to close the sale and, you know, make some more money. Right? And so it also helped relieve some stress because she wasn't worried about those low months when the commission is expected to be lower because she has the reserve built up from those higher months. So that does take a load off. And you know, it may take you some time to get there, but as long as you have that vision, that goal in mind, you will get there. 

00:06:18	So the next question is I'm struggling with a shopping addiction. The good thing is, is it's a thrift store, shopping addiction. Yeah. That, that is at least a little better, right? And that can be very addicting that she wants to make a budget and stick with it. She just bought my spreadsheet and she is going to work on that. So let's talk about shopping addiction, cause this really is a real issue. 

00:06:46	And what I can recommend for that is to set up some barriers, especially if it's online, thankfully hers is, you know, thrift store shopping. So she actually has to make the effort to leave the house and do that. But think about some barriers that you can set up to stop yourself from deviating from your goals, because your budget is, it's just a goal, right? And so we put all this connotation and all this emotion on just the word budget, but it really is just a goal for your money. And obviously you're setting those goals for a reason, for your bigger vision for your life. Right? And if you're struggling with an addiction, you know, and we're talking about shopping addiction here, but really this goes for any addiction because other, you know, other addictions can cost you a ton of money, but for a shopping addiction, you know, set up some barriers. So what this may look like is setting a rule that you can put things in your shopping cart, like online, speaking of online, like on Amazon. So you're looking for things you're just bored, you're depressed. You're just whatever the emotions are going through your mind right now. And you add the things to cart.

00:07:56	Well, something that you can do is put in a rule that you won't actually check out at that time. You're just going to hit pause. And in, you can set the time limit 24, 48 hours, 72 hours, whatever the case may be. And then you're going to go back to it. And if you still want it, okay. Buy it. But most of the time, you're probably not. You're probably gonna forget about it honestly. Like I can't tell you how many things are in my Amazon cart that are just like save for later. Cause I was like, oh, I want this. And then I got distracted and didn't buy it. And then I never actually wanted it. Right. Or my Amazon wishlist, which I don't even really use anymore. Everything's just in the cart saved for later now. But yeah. So set up some barriers for that. And you know, maybe you need to put a sticky note on your debit card or credit card. Like if you're actually going to the store like she is and remind yourself what your goal is. Like, just put a sticky note on your credit card, put it in your wallet, like have that barrier where you have to take that extra thought to spend the money. And it's like, do I really need this? Another thing you can do that has worked for me is using cash. And so I don't know, it's just different mentally. When you got to hand over the cash, I can't tell you how many things I've just put back right there at the register, because as I'm putting it on there, I'm like, Ugh, I don't really need this. I don't really want to spend my money on this when I have cash. Now, when I'm swiping a card, it's not the same. It's really not like I will buy stuff just because when I'm swiping a card, even if it's a debit card, it's, I don't know. It's really different. And so if you haven't tried cash yet, try it. And if you've tried and didn't like it before, maybe try it again. And don't overwhelm yourself, just do it with one category, just start small. That's what I did. Cause initially I didn't want to use cash and I've really gotten away from it since the pandemic, you know, when like nobody had changed. And so it really threw me off. But when I really stuck to cash, especially when I'm like trying to stick to a specific financial goal, like when I was paying off debt, it really makes you think twice about handing it over at the register. So definitely try and come up with some ways and some barriers that will help you not spend the money at the time.

00:10:14	And you know, what, if you mess up and do it anyway, just forgive yourself and move on. Don't just like, totally give up. Because that's another thing that we do. We're like, oh, I've already failed. Just whatever I'll start next month. No, start the next day. Like, you don't need to wait another month. Like try again tomorrow, not weeks from now or not say, oh, I'll do it next year. You know, those types of things that we say to ourselves, when we make mistakes, just get back to it the next day, it's a mistake. We're all going to make mistakes. I promise you, I still make mistakes. So, you know, if you follow me for a while, you've heard of through the years, like I still do things. And I'm like, what the heck did I do that for? Like, we just, as humans, we're not perfect and that's life. So you got to give yourself some grace. 

00:11:04	All right. The next question. And these that I've kind of picked out is because I got the same question multiple times and some variation, but basically the same question. And this question is really about struggling when you've lost your job, you don't have any income, you can't get assistance anywhere, which is so frustrating, I mean, I know it's frustrating for you, but you know, even as a detective, when I was trying to get people help and there just wasn't help, like it's really, really frustrating, just the way that our systems work. And so, you know, they're saying that they're trying to get places, be understanding that we have no income and it's very difficult and embarrassing. And that is, especially when you're getting turned down for help when you're seeking help and you can't get the help like that is, that can be very frustrating.

00:11:57	And my, you know, encouragement and suggestions would be to try and find something online. And it may still take a little bit of time, but you can find so many things to do online. Even if you don't feel like you have the skills or knowledge to do it, like you can Google anything. There's YouTube videos on how to make extra money, like out the wazoo. Like that is what everybody wants to talk about is how to make extra money. Look on Pinterest, look on YouTube. You can look on my website. I have numerous, I have a whole category about making extra money and almost all of them are online because that's all what I'm all about. Like, I don't want to have to drive to get, you know, do pizzas and all those types of things and leave the, I just don't like to leave the house. I'm such an introvert. So, you know, that's just how I am. And so if I can make money without actually having to leave my house, like that is all for me is, so there are tons and tons of ways to make money online, go to Upwork. That's the most popular one. I use that one a lot. You know, you just kind of have to trust yourself and not sell yourself short. So I have actually interviewed, oh gosh, I forgot her name, but it's in my Money Success Coaching group. I don't think I have it anywhere else for you to listen to it.

00:13:17	I'll have to figure out if I can get them back on. But I think her name was Alicia. Alicia. I believe if I remembering right, I don't have the notes in front of me. Ah, now I wish I did, but she would find jobs on Upwork, even if she didn't know how to do it. And she got the job, she would figure it out. So don't sell yourself short now for almost everything online. Like those types, like assistant type jobs or just random jobs on Upwork. You probably need to know how to use like Google, okay? Google drive, Google sheets, Google docs, all those things, which are very, very easy to learn. And almost everybody knows how to use Microsoft. They work basically the same thing. Now I know some of you don't want to try new things. I get the emails about my spreadsheet because it's Google sheets and they're like, I can't make it work with Excel. Trust me, Google sheets works almost exactly the same as Excel. And if you can't figure out how to do something, there's Google, there's YouTube. And I literally have videos for everything in the spreadsheet that you can do. And so if there's not a video on it, you probably shouldn't be doing it with that spreadsheet. But anyway, you can find lots of things to do on Upwork. There's freelancer.com. There's Fiverr. There are tons of places that you can get jobs as a writer. Now that is where you can make some really good money. And if you type fast, you can make a lot of money per hour because you get paid per word. So I highly recommend that I pay writers now. And I used to do writing for other bloggers when I was building my business and needed extra money. So that is a great way to make money really fast. And literally, I mean, if you're listening to this podcast, like, you know enough to at least use your phone and listen to the podcast that you can figure out how to make some money online, like you can do it. It's just having the confidence to try and step out of your comfort zone and get to it. 

00:15:25	All right. Last question for today is I really need help with a budget plan. I have a five month old son between everything I need for him, debts, groceries. I'm really struggling. I work only part-time as well as my husband works part-time and I can never see, oh, seem to create or stick to a budget and meal plans. 

00:15:47	Okay. So this is a real problem and I know babies can be expensive, but they don't have to be, but creating and sticking to a budget. I actually have a free class that you can go. And it's exactly on that. How to start and stick to your budget. It's free. Go listen to it, go watch it. And it, you can at  budgetsmadeeasy.com/workshop. So there I walk you through getting your budget started and actually sticking to it. Now, meal planning. Okay. We need to be realistic with our meal plans. Okay. Like, and when you're really intentional with your plan, which goes to the same for your budget, it's easier to stick to it. And we got to make sure that it's realistic that you're basing your meal plan on things you already have at home, or like you need the same ingredients. So you're not wasting things. I know spin challenge is really good too. If you have things built up in your freezer and your pantry, that you can kind of use those things up first, I just kind of depends on what kind of stockpile you have and just kind of being creative with the things you want to try in the recipes. 

00:16:55	But if you're both working part-time, you know, go check some ways to make some extra money like at night. Like if you guys can, like somebody needs to work full time and, you know, just get to make it some extra money because most finances, you know, when you really dive deep into finances and really break it down, you either need to save money. As in cut expenses, stop spending frivolously, being intentional with what you've got, those types of things, saving money. That's what it boils down to or make more money. So if you have an income problem, we've got to find ways to make more money. And like I said, there are tons and tons of ways to make money online nowadays. Like you can do practically anything from home now, right? Like, and with the pandemic, we learned that a lot of jobs you can do from home. I mean, obviously we can't do everything from home, but there's a lot of things we can do from home now that people used to think that you couldn't do from home. So go find some ways to make extra money. Go check out the free budgeting class, at budgetsmadeeasy.com/workshop,  for the money, making posts lots and lots of different ideas. And don't sell yourself short. You can make extra money. You just gotta believe that you can do it right. That's like with anything in life, if you don't think that you can do something, you're not really going to put much effort into doing it. Right. Because what's the point. If you don't think you can do it. 

00:18:27	So let me know, leave a review. Let me know if you like these, ask me anything sessions and I will talk to you guys next week.