There are two things in life that people just really don’t want to talk about: Sex & Money. When it comes to these things it feels easier to bury our heads in the sand but today I am going to do the unthinkable and talk about money.

I was talking to a woman in her late 50’s the other day about retirement. She said she doesn’t know where she wants to live when she retires but she can’t afford to live where her family is. She went on to say that she would have to work well into her 70’s before she could retire anyway. UGH. Ya know, its one thing to want to work in your 70’s and another thing to HAVE TO work in your 70’s. My desire for you is to have the financial freedom to be able to make that choice.

I grew up in a house where there was some financial tension. I never really knew exactly what was going on, but I heard things. I knew that money was a tough subject. By the time I was a young adult I had no idea how to handle money. I knew that too much debt wasn’t good but that you needed debt to have a good credit score. I never saved much money - in hindsight I could have saved SO MUCH. I worked a lot through college and lived with my parents so it would have been an amazing opportunity. But I wasn’t looking past dinner with my fiends, getting my nails done and a new Vera Bradley purse whenever I wanted one. Can I be honest with you? My 18-20 year old mindset is the mindset of most Americans today. I want therefore I shall have.

US News recently reported that a May 2022 study found 64% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and I think we could argue that there are even more than that. If this is you, I just want you to know you CAN break the cycle. There is hope and there is help.

I went to college and signed for student loans without having ANY idea how much I would have when I got out. My first job out of college I was making $13 and some change per hour. When I wanted to buy something I just put it on my credit card and figured out how to pay for it later. I was irresponsible. I always needed that next paycheck to pay bills. I could go on and on about all the stupid money mistakes I made - instead I want to tell you how I got away from the paycheck to paycheck cycle.

I was always very good about paying more on my loans than the minimum payment. As I grew professionally, I tried to be more responsible and save up some money. In grad school I had set a goal for myself to save $10,000. The thing is I didn’t know how to do that. I was just trying to out earn my stupidity as Dave Ramsey likes to say. I didn’t know how to do a budget so I never had any idea how much money was coming or going.

I finally got to a breaking point where I knew I could be better but I knew I needed help. I couldn’t do it on my own. So I searched for books about finances on Audible and stumbled across Dave Ramsey’s book “The Total Money Makeover.” I bought and binged listened to it twice. Then I made my husband (who has always been amazing with money) listen to it with me. Yup. I listened 3 times. But it gave me the tools I needed to make a budget. I immediately turned around and paid off my student loans (I had enough saved to do this) and became debt free. It took some time, but Kyle and I got on the same page with money, we met with an investment professional and we are just one step at a time hitting goals that we set for ourselves.

If you need a change when it comes to finances, if you dream of a life where money is a blessing not a stressor, here are my best tips for you to get started:

1. Read the Total Money Makeover. In my opinion, there is no one that has ever made more sense than Dave Ramsey in this book. It is written to be simple and understandable. Dave talks about the 7 baby steps that will get you cruising on your way to being debt free and financially stable. I highly recommend the audio version because he is basically yelling at you and it is amazing!