Welcome back to another episode of the Money Mindset Podcast, where I am going to answer your questions. This is part three of the q and a for From the Money Plan Bootcamp. Now, I will be doing the Money Plan Bootcamp again in January, 2023, so you can submit your questions and join that support group as well where we make a money plan in five steps so that you can be really successful in the new year.

Now I know it's the end of the year, and so you may be ready to go ahead and dive in and get started. So right now, I do have the Kickstart bundle for 2023. So if you are ready to jumpstart the new year and get rid of some bills and stop wondering where all your money is going, be sure to check that out and start working on it Before the Money Plan Bootcamp.

You can check out the kickstart bundle@budgetsmadeeasy.com slash kickstart. Now in today's episode, I'm going to answer four more questions. So four questions per these q and A seem to be working out pretty well, and you will find that even though the questions are a little different in how they word them or maybe their circumstances, so they're looking for a more specific answer for them.

A lot of these questions are the same underlying issue, how to make time, how to stay motivated, how to budget when you're already behind. And so I cover a lot of this just in the free content that I offer. So the podcasts and the free group and the Money Playing bootcamp and all of those things because you are not the only one struggling with these issues.

So the questions that I'm gonna answer today is how does stay motivated? You know, and how, how to get ahead when you're already behind and how to stay on track and stick to the budget when you have little kids at home and questions like that because hey, we all struggle with this and you know how to make the time, like you know,

you need to sit down and make the budget and make the time, but oh my gosh, your kids have a million activities and you're driving all over the place and you just are wore out. So how do you make the time? And this is actually something that we cover in the steps, the five steps of the Money Plan bootcamp. I go into depth in on this topic,

so be sure to sign up for that when it is open in January, because I dive into all of these a lot deeper inside of the bootcamp. So let's dive into the q and a and get these questions answered for you. Now remember, this is part three, so if you have other questions, go back and listen to part one and part two as well.

Welcome to the Money Mindset Podcast. Well, you'll find a judgment free zone to help you free yourself from overthinking and the fear of doing things the wrong way. It's time to shed yourself of the mom, guilt, procrastination, and perfectionism so you can start doing the things that you really want to do with your money instead of just working to pay bills.

I'm Ashley Patrick, ex detective Turn debt-free CEO of my very own business and stay-at-home mom of three. Not too long ago, my dreams of staying at home with my kids seemed impossible. I thought I'd have to stay miserable in a high stress and demanding job just so I could retire someday. After gaining the confidence in my own ability to manage my family's finances and a simple step-by-step plan to make it happen,

I was able to pay off $45,000 in just 17 months, which then allowed me to finally quit my job, stay at home with my kids, and build a debt-free business. Now, my mission is to help moms like you conquer debt and free themselves from the mental load of handling their family's finances. If you're ready to shed the guilt and shame surrounding your past money mistakes and tackle your debt,

this is the place for you. Let's get started. Hi Ashley, this is Jody Curry. I would say the question that I would have is how did you or what worked for you with making sure to sit down and set aside that time to work on the budget, keeping track of everything with your busy schedule, with your kids, especially, you know,

with sports going on and going all over the place, I at least that's what I struggle with and when I fall off the bandwagon is when we're super busy and then I just lose track of the time. I try and set aside time, but it doesn't always happen. So I, I love your group. I don't always post things, I'm kind of a silent watcher,

but I do love the positiveness and everything you teach and just keeping at it and starting over and even with, you know, little hiccups that arrive. Thank you for all that you do. All right, so how do you make the time as a busy parent? Well, I actually have kinda two variations of answers for this depending on if you're at home,

if you're a stay-at-home parent or if you're a working parent, cuz I have done both. So when I was working and paying off debt, I would come in, in the morning that we got paid, which was every Friday. So in Friday mornings I would get there a little early and I would kind of go over what the plan was for that day and just double check,

you know, my amounts and were, was the paycheck more or less than I had expected and kind of make those minor adjustments. Now then on my lunch break I would go to the bank and get cash. I did forget to mention Thursday night I would kind of, before payday I would just kind of review everything because keep in mind when you're making your budget,

once you have it down on paper, the basic stuff is gonna be the same month to month. Now you do need to make adjustments for that month for different events in that month, holidays, birthdays, you know, do you have something else that you need to pay for in that month? But the basic stuff, the bills in the paychecks are gonna be relatively the same month to month.

So it's not like you're having to recreate it from scratch every single month, right? So that makes it a lot easier. Once you get in that routine and those habits and you're making the budget and then copying it month to month, it makes it a whole lot easier. So that Thursday night I will review, make sure I don't need to make any adjustments.

Now I may make adjustments if I know there's overtime or something like that so that I gotta have a plan depending on how much it is. Of course this, I don't know how much it'll be until you get the paycheck because of taxes and all of that. So I'll just kind of make a guess and, and make a plan for it because if you don't then it just disappears,

right? So you still had to make a plan for overtime and bonuses and things like that. So then Friday morning, you know, 10 minutes before work I just kinda see what the paychecks were, what the actual amounts were and make sure everything's covered. And I have a plan and then I'll double check what I need in denominations. So sometimes I would do that like Thursday night,

okay, I need this cash for haircuts and what denominations do I need so that I'm already ready to go during my lunch break. And so I would go to the bank and that, you know, Friday afternoon it can be busy. Sometimes I could time it where it wasn't as busy and that that was my routine and then I would divide up the money into actual cash envelopes.

Don't just put the money in your pockets and it will just all disappear like it needs to be for something specific so that you don't spend it on something else. So learn from my mistake on that. So you know, it's really about when can you find these little pockets of time. Now I do things in the car rider line, so I'm picking up my kids from school,

I'm, I get there a little early, I've usually have about 20 or so minutes and I'll do it in the line when they're at sports practice. You don't have to watch everything they're doing just cuz they're practicing. And I let my kids know, Hey, I've gotta do this while you're at practice. I won't be watching you, you know, the entire time because you know,

they're constantly looking at me like, did you, are you watching? Are you watching? And so I will warn them ahead of time so they don't get upset that, Hey, I've got a few things I've gotta do while you practice and so I won't be watching you a hundred percent of the time. And so I do a lot of things during their practices and you know,

if your kids are in sports, even when they're playing games that you are watching a hundred percent, they still have practices. So take that practice time. You could also do it at night, you know, like I did on Thursday nights before payday, I would just kind of review things. So I would do that before I went to bed. It doesn't take much time.

Once you get it set up and you have your pet paycheck set, it doesn't take much time. You just have to make a few adjustments here and there. And so you have the time, you just have to make yourself do it even when you're like tired and you're like, Ugh, I just don't wanna do it. I'd rather sit here and watch Netflix.

Sometimes you just have to get up and do it and do it while you're watching tv. Like I, I do that too. I'll get my laptop out or my notebook and I'll just do it while we're watching tv. So it doesn't have to be this whole big deal. You can work on things while you're doing other things. So to me this is a little bit of an excuse because you have the time,

you can find 15 minutes a week to do this. Like you don't need hours and hours to work on your budget. Like nobody has time for that. So get your, the main framework of your budget done and each paycheck because they're gonna be the same, right? If you get paid weekly, it's every week. If it's biweekly, it's every two weeks.

If you get paid the first of the month, it's always the first of the month. If you get paid, you know, the 15th and the 30th, it stays the same, right? So once you figure out what bills to pay from each paycheck, you just duplicate that to the next month. It does not take that much time. Now when it comes to checking in with your spending,

I do the same thing. I'll do that at the same times and maybe I'll do that, you know, at the same time or a different day. So like one day I may do that in the car rider line and then I'm actually looking at the budget and you know, reviewing it, descending on cash a different day. You could do it all at once,

it'll just take a little bit more time. But 15 minutes, twice a week, we'll say twice a week, 30 minutes a week total, you can do this. Like you can find the time, you just have to make yourself do it. And that is kind of, it's just like with anything you don't wanna do. Like for me, I hate hand washing dishes and my dishwasher has been broke for like two weeks and it's like I've had the time to do some dishes here and there,

but I ignore it and I procrastinate and I avoid it because I hate doing the dishes. But once you get in a routine, it makes it easier, right? Because it becomes a habit and you just, you just do things out of habit. And that's what you've gotta do with your budget. If you just like really don't wanna deal with it,

make it a habit and a routine. Like every Thursday night I'm doing this. Every Monday in the car rider line, I'm doing this. Like you just have to tell yourself that's when you're gonna do it and follow through with the promises that you make for yourself, okay? It's gonna take practice, it's gonna take time to build it as a routine.

But you'll find that when if you get off of that routine, you feel lost. So make it a habit repeatedly. Do the same thing over and over on the same day, the same time and it'll get easier and easier for you to follow through with doing it. Hi, I just wanted to let you know that I've enjoyed this, the Budget link easy website and enjoy listening to your podcast.

I just need to know and to understand how to stay more motivated and to keep pushing myself forward and not, I know I'm gonna get off track, but I need to just have the motivation back on track. So this question reminds me of the Mel Robbins podcast called Motivation is Garbage. Listen to that podcast when you're done here because motivation is garbage, it is temporary.

And you really have to figure out what is going to keep you going when you're not motivated. And guess what that is? Habits and routines. So what I just talked about, habits and routines will keep you doing what you need to do when you don't feel like it. You know, motivation is great when you need that extra little push or you just wanna turn your attitude around and you help you stay focused on your big goal for when you just really get into a season where nothing seems to be going right and everything's going wrong and you're just like,

ugh, I suck that big motivation, that big goal will help you during certain times, but it's not the end all be all and gonna be your saving grace. And the day-to-day, the day to day is habits and routines. And so, you know, make sure that you have your big why. Like why, why do you need to do this?

And it can't be, well just because I want to be a responsible adult and I know I should do it, that's, that's not a good enough reason to do anything or that's gonna gonna keep you doing anything. But you know, is it you wanna buy a house? Maybe you want to go back to school and not have a bunch of debt.

Maybe you wanna switch careers, maybe you wanna have a child and you can't, you know, you have to pay for treatments or you need to be able to afford childcare and things like that. And you can't do that with the debt that you have. So what is like the big reason that you need to get your stuff together and stay on track then that will help pull you through at certain times.

But motivation is not going to be the end all be all right? So we gotta build those habits and routines and we do dive into that more in the Money plan bootcamp, which is coming up for you. So find something that is your big overall goal. It needs to be specific, it needs to be timely, it needs to be a smart goal.

If you haven't heard me talk about that before, a smart goal and you know, those habits and routines are what's gonna keep you going in the day-to-day when you just like, you're not like, oh yay, I wanna pay off debt because that's, that's not gonna be an every day thing, right? Like that's gonna be here and there when you get like super excited or you,

you have a big win or you know, you make some major progress and you're like, oh yeah, you're so excited. And then you know, a week, two weeks later, three weeks later, you're just kind of in that lull again, motivation's temporary. So you really have to build those habits and those routines that are gonna pull you through.

And I just talked about that, so I'm not going to go into that even more on this episode. What is the best advice you can provide for sticking to your budget as best as possible when you have two small children, one of whom is in five day week daycare? All right, sticking to your budget. So you had to have a budget first.

You know, she, she asked about, especially when you have two kids, one in daycare, when they're little they're not spending the money. So throwing in the kids I feel like is kind of an excuse because we're spending money on the kids now if the kid is in daycare, that is just a regular expense you have to put into your budget,

which I totally understand how expensive that is. So if it's something that you can't afford and that's the problem with sticking to your budget, then we need to talk about other things. So increasing your income and maybe you would actually save money, staying at home, home, not having them in daycare, things like that. Like you have to weigh all your options,

right? But you know, putting that in the question of how to stick to your budget I feel like is a little bit of an excuse of what you're telling yourself why you can't stick to your budget. And so sticking to your budget, some tips that I have for that is of course making your budget, writing it down. When you're new to budgeting and managing your money,

I encourage you to carry around a small notebook. It doesn't need to be like an eight and a half by 11 like notebook, like a big notebook. Just find a small notebook, the relatively cheap, you can probably find one at the dollar store and write down your transactions on a daily basis as you're getting in this habit and routine. And then as you go you can do it less and less.

But definitely when you're starting and you feel like you can't stick to your budget, do it daily so you can actually see where your money is going because it's probably not going where you think it is. And that's part of the problem. And why you think it's the children? Because young children, they're not out shopping on Amazon, right? They're not the ones out now.

Maybe us as moms and our guilt and our feel like they're missing out on things, that's what we're spending money on. But that's us, that's not the children, right? So think about what you can do those habits and those routines to help you stick to your budget. Meal planning is a big one and that's a habit in a routine to do it every week or every month.

Those types of things that will help you stick to your budget. Shopping with a calculator key. Huge, huge deal. I know people and I was the same way, like I hate taking the time in the aisle, people are like trying to get around me and I feel guilty and like people are staring at me like, what are you, what's this lady doing?

Who cares? You gotta get over that. Use your calculator. Just stand out of the way they can go around you. People are gonna be rude any either way. So it doesn't really matter. Like just stay out of the way a little bit. Use your calculator as you're shopping, that will help you stick to your food budget and making the meal plan and only shopping for what you need,

right? So that all kind of goes together, which is a whole other episode, which actually I have done an episode on that topic, of course I'd have to find it cuz it's one of the earlier episodes. But yeah, so you just have to figure out what's gonna work for you, making a plan and then following through with the plan. So you're checking in on the plan at a minimum every week.

It's not, you set your budget at the beginning of the month and then at the end of the month you look at it, no you're not gonna stick to your budget that way. So you've gotta figure out, okay, what day and time works well for me to check in on my budget and do the tracking daily in the beginning and then at a minimum,

you know, three times a week and then at least weekly. And I would do it at once you get in a really good routine, you still need to do it like twice a month so that you're not getting to the end of the month and you're like way off. So there you go. Those are my best tips. Hey Ashley, it's Melanie Graves and I don't remember if I asked these questions.

The first one is, how far Vance should you plan your next month's budget? And also since I haven't really been tracking expenses except for September and October, I don't really know what to do with the category amounts, the variable expenses, the only thing I know to do is I guess average the amounts. And then also should I pay the sinking funds first since I haven't been saving?

Oh well I wanted to have was like my bank account has like it's high five digits actually. And if you total all my bank accounts including savings, it says six figure amounts. So really money isn't the issue, it's just actually budgeting and figuring out the categories. Thank you. What a great question because this goes to show you that it's not all about how much money you have.

Of course it is very helpful, right? But you still have to manage the day-to-day even when you have a lot of money in savings. Because what will happen is if you're constantly overspending, then you're gonna start using your savings, then it will just go down and down and down, right? So you still have to manage the day-to-day and especially if you wanna keep growing that savings,

you need to know like how much can I put into savings and how much do I actually need to save and things like that. So great question Melanie, thank you so much for asking it and bringing this up, but sharing, you know how much you actually have. So a couple things, how far to budget ahead on your next month's budget? So remember that the main budget,

the framework is gonna be the same month to month. Now you do have those variable expenses and things. So what you could do is the month really you can do the whole year at once, like if you wanna us, you're just copying the one month to the next. And so when you go to like finalize, so let's say I'm recording this in December,

so let's say we're just gonna copy over December's like regular monthly bills because December has extra expenses like Christmas, right? So we're just doing the overall the framework, right? And so we're gonna copy that over to January and then then I would do it, you know, oh you can do it like a week before your next, your first January paycheck.

So remember I teach to budget by paycheck. So the month does not start until the first paycheck. So it may not be the very beginning of the month. So you know, you can finalize the January budget in December, you could finalize it at the end of December, beginning of January. But you do wanna get an idea of, okay, what do I have coming up this month and maybe even into February and March that I need to go ahead and plan for and save for.

So you're kind of looking, you know, the whole year at once, I do encourage you to kind of sit down and kind of plan out the full year, especially in December, like look at the next year that will really help you. But if that feels very intimidating, look at a quarter at a time. So January, February, March,

what can you get done? What do you need to kind of plan for? Keep in mind what do you need to go ahead and save for in those three months? What's coming up? How much time do you actually have to save for those things? So that's just kind of the start to kind of, that will help you stick to your budget as well when you can think of head and not just paycheck to paycheck,

you have to expand your thinking and your mindset in order to expand your money too. So, and not get so frustrated and give up because if things are constantly popping up that are like ruining your plans, you're gonna get frustrated, you're gonna get discouraged and you're most likely going to quit. And so when you can think ahead and plan ahead, that's gonna become less and less of an issue.

Of course things are still gonna pop up, but the more you can plan for and the more that you can save for the better off you're going to be. But I realize like if you're already behind or you're just starting and you have a big expense in March and you haven't had time to save for it, now you have to come up with a,

like how are you gonna pay it? Are you gonna put it on a credit card? Are you able to save the money in January and February and you know, your first paycheck in March? Or you know, how many paydays do you have left until that bill is due that you have to pay for like car insurance and property taxes? That comes up a lot.

So what kind of, what you have to do now in her situation, she can just take the money outta savings, which is probably what she'll need to do as she's getting in this routine. And if she has some big expenses early in the year, she'll have to just take it outta savings and then she can start planning in the MO on a monthly basis to set money aside and sinking puts it in a different bank account,

right? So she could have it labeled property taxes, she could have it labeled vehicle taxes or vehicle maintenance and registration and stuff. You know, I'm trying to think of what other yearly expenses people have. So then you can take that amount that you need to save and divide it by the number of months that you have to say it that save it.

That would be your monthly goal amount for those things. But I do understand is if you're behind and you're constantly scrambling trying to get ahead, it gets a lot harder. So if you have a big savings like that, that will help you get caught up. So you can just go ahead and make a plan for some of that money and put it in a separate account and label what it's for so that you know that it has a specific per purpose.

And it's not just a general savings account because when we have just a general savings account and we have to take money out of it for things that aren't an emergency, we feel like we failed and we feel discouraged and that's just a mindset issue and that will help. So just put it into a bank account that's labeled for that specific thing and that'll then you're not getting frustrated cuz you're taking money outta savings.

You're excited because you have the money set aside for that expense, right? It's the exact same money, but totally different mindsets and totally different reactions to using that money, right? So that is what I would encourage you to do. And you know, planning those variable expenses, just like I said, looking at either a quarter at a time, maybe even you know,

January 3rd, June or the entire year. But you do wanna start thinking a little bit ahead, not just the paycheck that you're in and not just the month that you are in because it's a continuous process, right? Each month is not completely contained on its own. You're not starting at some zero on the next month, it's carrying over. And so you do have to think a little bit ahead.

And I would encourage you, at a minimum, if you're just starting think about a quarter at a time and think about what is coming up. You know, summertime, you got summer expenses, you got summer camps, all of those types of things in quarter fours, all the holidays. So how can you kind of front load some of those goals earlier in the year?

Things like that. School supplies, school clothes. So can you start saving for that in April and May? You've got sports seasons, so when are you gonna have to pay for the registration fees and get uniforms and any equipment that you, you need, you know, you can start saving for those things when you can or early in the year. Just make sure it's labeled that so you don't forget.

I've made that mistake so many times that I don't even know where to start with that. Like I, I have to be very specific on what it is for, because even if I just label it kids, I'll be like, oh they, let's go get some toys, let's go have some fun. And then I'm like, oh, that was for sports registration fees or the yearbook or you know,

that's happened to me numerous times. And then I finally like, hey, need to be a bit more specific in my labels when it's for something specific instead of just a general, Hey, go spend this on the kids. So it takes practice, it takes learning, but you can do it. So try to think about three months ahead would be my suggestion on that question.

So if you have questions for me as well, make sure you come join the Money Plan bootcamp in January. It's coming up because I will ha give you another opportunity to ask questions that I can answer here on the podcast. And of course I also have the budget strategy sessions, which are free, where you can come on the podcast with me, we can dive into your biggest money struggle and give you some clear actionable steps to overcome that.

And so I just love doing those episodes. You can sign up for yours@budgetsmadeeasy.com slash strategy. Now just keep in mind, be mindful, be respectful. If you sign up for a time, please show up at your time or cancel ahead of time so I'm not sitting here waiting on you because I've got three kids that I'm busy too and I love to do these sessions,

but just be mindful that I have things I have to do too. So if you for some reason can't show up at your time, reschedule, cancel, just let me know. I'm very understanding and flexible about that. Just don't leave me hanging, don't let me, don't let me sit in here. Wait, none. Yeah cuz I wanna talk to you,

I wanna help you. And if you are avoiding showing up for your session, let's dive into that because you're probably avoiding with your money, right? And so that is a struggle for you and I totally get that because I do the same thing, but things I don't wanna deal with. So I get it. So let's work through it. So remember you can sign up for that again@budgetspeedeasy.com

slash strategy and I will see you guys soon.