00:00:02	This episode is brought to you by The Money Plan Bootcamp with Ashley from Budgets Made Easy. During this bootcamp, I will walk you through the five step framework to create a money plan that actually works for you, because it has to be realistic, it has to be something that you can actually follow through with and stick to. And it's not a one size fits all money plan,
00:00:32	right? It's your money plan. So this free bootcamp starts next week, come join me. There's gonna be lots of live training, surprises, giveaways, surprises, and some fun stuff along the way. So you can join us at mu@budgetsmadeeasy.com slash bootcamp. Again, that's budgets made easy.com/bootcamp. Of course, the link will be in the show notes below as well.
00:00:58	But I hope you come and join me. It's gonna be a lot of fun. I'm gonna be teaching live several nights a week, and it's going to be so much fun. Come join a supportive community where you can create a money plan for you that actually works for you, and one that you can actually start to use to save money to pay off debt so you can stop stressing so much about how you're going to do everything.
00:01:27	That mountain feels so big, right? It's hard to imagine that you're gonna be able to climb that mountain, but when you create a simple, easy to follow plan, you can get there. It's just taking one step at a time, right? Welcome to the Money Mindset Podcast, where you'll find a judgment free zone to help you free yourself from overthinking and the fear of doing things the wrong way.
00:01:54	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 turned 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.
00:02:16	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 of 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,
00:02:39	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. In today's episode, we are going to cover stage two in the Money Success Roadmap.
00:03:05	Now, if you are just joining us, go back and watch episode number. Listen to episode 92 where I explain what the Money Success Roadmap is. In stage one today, we are going to talk about stage two. Now remember, you are only focusing on one stage at a time. You are not in more than one stage at a time. You have to finish the first stage before moving on to the next.
00:03:33	And I have divided it up in such a way that you could make progress quickly and you can get those small wins and really start to focus on what you want your future to look like and moving in that direction. Now, keep in mind it can feel overwhelming to go from not knowing what to do to being debt free and saving for retirement and college and all the things,
00:03:57	right? That's where you wanna go, but you're not sure how to get there. And that's what the Money Success Roadmap teaches you and helps you do. So you are going to focus on one thing at a time. You're focusing on one stage at a time, one step at a time. And in stage two, you are capable. So during this stage,
00:04:18	you know you've got your basic budget. You can kind of see how this is going to map out how your basic budget is going to look. But you're not done there yet though, right? And you've got your meal plan down to a reasonable amount for your family, and you are able to start seeing kinda how you're gonna make this happen, at least the start of it,
00:04:50	right? Like you, you may still be like, Okay, I've got the baseline down. I can kind of feel like this is possible. You're starting to feel more confident and capable of getting there, right? You can see that it's possible instead of just wishing for it to be someday, do you feel like you can save money and still have fun without feeling deprived?
00:05:14	And you know you're ready to really start diving in? That spark has been ignited and you are ready to go all in. Now, during this stage, this is where you're gonna start to finish putting together your budget. So you've got your basic outline of your budget. Well, now we're gonna start thinking about identifying sinking funds, which are just savings funds for things that aren't monthly,
00:05:37	regular monthly expenses. So things like this would be birthdays, holidays, vacations, clothes, school supplies, things like that. So what do you still need to work into your monthly budget that is not just a regular monthly bill, right? And in this stage, you're also gonna start identifying beliefs and money myths that are really holding you back because how we think about money,
00:06:02	how we feel about money and our own ability really impacts what we do with our money. And so it's time to start working on how we think about money and that plan and what, you know, we believe about ourselves and what we were taught as children, whether that's good or bad. And how that plays into what you do with your money. You're also gonna start creating a plan for what you're gonna do with your syncing funds.
00:06:30	So are you gonna use cash? Are you gonna use a different bank? Are you gonna use multiple bank accounts? Are you gonna use a combination of all of that? So, you know, it really depends on your situation, where you live, what options you have. If you wanna use the online bank, if you, I do encourage you to use a separate bank than your main bank account because it's too easy to just transfer the money back and forth,
00:06:56	right? And that's what happens. You overspend and then you've got to transfer the money back into your checking account. And that's what we want to avoid. So you're gonna go ahead and get that set up. Set up any auto transfers that you may want to go ahead and do with those syncing funds. You can also set that up through your employer.
00:07:15	Usually you can have a couple accounts that your paycheck can be divided into, and it can be automatic for you. So the more that you can automate things, the more success, more likely you are to be successful because you're not having to remember to do it. It's automatic. You don't even see the money. And in this stage, you're also gonna find some ways to save $200 every month,
00:07:35	which is really pretty simple cuz keep in mind that those that follow my money plan save on average $500 a month. So saving $200 is pretty easy, right? Like that's just not going out to eat once a week. Like you can still go out to eat what you've normally been doing, but if you stop going one time, that's $200 a month.
00:07:55	Fairly easy for most families. So, you know, those are some of the things that you're going to start working on when you're in stage two. Now, when you are ready to move on to stage three, you have created a zero base paycheck budget. So obviously I teach you how to do that. That is planning for every single dollar, but it's also breaking it down to into paychecks because you need to know what you're gonna pay from each paycheck cuz you're not,
00:08:26	unless you get paid once a month, you don't have all the money available to you at once, right? And so you've gotta figure out which bills to pay and when you've identified some of the limiting beliefs that you have about money or about yourself, and you're starting to kinda identify those and work on that. And in this stage, you're also going to create a six month plan using smart goals.
00:08:48	Now remember, smart goals are specific, they're measurable, they're attainable, they're realistic, and they're timely. So the timely part's already taken care of for you because you, because it's the six months. So what are you gonna do in the next six months? What do you wanna do? It needs to be specific. So it could be, I wanna have say $500 in my Christmas fund that's specific and it's measurable and it's timely and it's realistic.
00:09:14	You know, that is an example of a smart goal. So you're gonna kind of create a plan for the next six months and then you gotta move on to stage three. Like that's fairly easy. You can do that relatively quickly, just like stage one. It may take you just a little bit longer than stage one, but stage one and stage two can be moved through in a month.
00:09:37	You know, realistically, if you are going all in, you're doing this a month, let's say, well, I'll even give you two months. It really shouldn't take you more than two months to get this done. And you can move on to stage three. And remember, there's only six stages, okay? So it's stage three, you're already almost there.
00:09:57	Now tomorrow in episode 94, I will be going into detail about stage three. So just to recap what stage one is, creating your basic budget, your basic money plan, creating a realistic meal plan that's around $150 a person. Now that's gonna, you know, kind of depend on where you live and of course inflation and all those things, but it needs to be realistic for your family,
00:10:27	right? And then a one month plan with smart goals. So once you've done those three things, you can move to stage two. Stage two, you've create, you've finished your paycheck budget system. So you have a plan for all of your money, for each paycheck for the month. You've identified some money, beliefs and limiting beliefs that are holding you back.
00:10:47	So an example of that is, when I talked to, did a budget strategy session with Brittany, which is the Treat Yourself episode. She talked about how her mom had always instilled in her to treat herself because nobody else would. And so she realized that that was holding her back because she would spend money on herself to treat herself because nobody else would do that,
00:11:12	right? And so that has caused her to overspend and not save for the bigger goals that she has. And so in that episode, we really talked about how to change that mindset into something positive instead of some, you know, the negative connotation that she has around it right now. And turn it into something positive and call her budget her money, plan her treat yourself plan,
00:11:37	because that's really what it is. So a budget is just a plan for your money. And so if, if it helps you to call it something else, because budgeting feels so restrictive and you feel like, Oh, I have to like, I won't be able to have any fun and I have to give things up, just call it something else that is fun and is personable to you.
00:11:58	And then the next thing in stage two is creating a six month plan. And it's not just, you know, I wanna, in six months I wanna stop living paycheck to paycheck. Remember it's specific. So I am going to do these specific actions that are measurable. So it's, I am going to save this amount of money. I am going to stick to the meal plan this number of times.
00:12:21	And remember, you don't have to be perfect at it, but it is creating a plan cuz we wanna start looking toward the future and mapping out how we're going to get there. And so that is kind of the beginning of this road, is identifying where we wanna go, where we're at, and how we're going to get there. Even if you can't see the whole road,
00:12:43	right, you know where you want to go. And so we've gotta figure out how you're going to get there. And so creating that six month vision, that six month road plan, that roadmap for the next six months helps you get toward and get closer to your end destination, right? So don't forget to come join me inside the Money Plan bootcamp.
00:13:05	We're gonna be working on these things. I'm gonna be teaching them to you live. We are going to walk through step by step how to get started, how to get that framework, that money plan that you can actually stick to and follow through with. And it's realistic and it works for you because it's not a one size fits all thing, right?
00:13:26	I'm gonna give you the framework so that you can create a realistic plan that works for your real life. I hope to see you there. Come join me, budget speed easy.com/bootcamp, and we start in just so few days. So come join me. I hope to see you there.