As 2025 approaches, it’s time to toast your hard-earned financial wins—without sending your budget into cardiac arrest. In this episode of Budgets for Badges, we’re diving into how first responders and their partners can celebrate their money milestones without undoing all their hard work.

We’ll cover:

🎉 Why celebrating financial wins matters (hint: it’s about more than just the money).

💡 Creative and budget-friendly ways to mark your achievements as a couple.

🚨 Common celebration pitfalls (looking at you, spontaneous big-ticket splurges) and how to avoid them.

🎯 Setting new financial goals to keep the momentum going into the new year.

Whether you’ve paid off a big debt, hit a savings target, or simply survived another year of chaotic schedules, this episode is your guide to celebrating with purpose—and just the right amount of sparkle.

So grab your favorite budget-friendly bubbly and tune in to learn how to end the year on a high note, both financially and as a team. Cheers to making 2025 your best year yet!

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Rebecca Jameson: https://www.instagram.com/bluelinemoneycoach

Chris Harksen-Lucero: https://www.instagram.com/beyondthenumbersbn

Sure, you’re great at saving lives, but what about saving money? In this episode of Budgets for Badges, we’re talking all things savings—because your wallet deserves a hero, too.

From building an emergency fund (no, not for your next coffee run) to figuring out what you should actually be saving for (hint: it’s not that boat just yet), we’ve got strategies that even the busiest first responders can handle.

We’ll cover:
💰 Why saving isn’t just for "later" (a.k.a. your retirement)
🚨 How to tackle unexpected expenses without working double shifts
🎯 The top savings goals every first responder should have (yes, you need one of these)

So grab your shift partner—or just your headphones—and tune in to learn how to save smarter, not harder. Because let’s be honest: cats aren’t the only ones worth rescuing.

1. Evaluate if you're saving enough already. Your goal should be to save up to 10%-15% of your income until your emergency fund and other sinking funds are funded.

2. Set up an auto transfer to your savings account for each pay period based on the percentage your comfortable with.

3. If you're not comfortable with 10%-15%, start small and build your way up. Re-evaluate every 3 months.

Don't forget...

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Rebecca Jameson: https://www.instagram.com/bluelinemoneycoach

Chris Harksen-Lucero: https://www.instagram.com/beyondthenumbersbn

In today's episode, Chris and Rebecca recount their debt origin stories as well as the ebb and flow of their relationships with debt over the years.

As a listener, you'll also get some insight into two different debt payoff strategies to help jumpstart your debt payoff journey as well.

For the action steps:

Follow one of the two debt payoff strategies and make a list of your current debt accounts and start working the strategy.

Also, think about the stories you told yourself that result in accumulating that debt.

Can you point out the fallacies of those stories?

What can you do to help prevent debt moving forward?

As always, share this episode with your spouse or significant other to start the conversation about debt and how it may or may not be holding you back financially.

Don't forget...

Follow us on IG:

Budgets for Badges: https://www.instagram.com/budgetsforbadges

Rebecca Jameson: https://www.instagram.com/bluelinemoneycoach

Chris Harlan-Lucero: https://www.instagram.com/beyondthenumbersbn

In todays episode we're diving into budgets (or spending plans if the word budget makes your eye twitch).

While budgeting is not everyone's favorite thing to do, it is a crucial step in cultivating financial resilience.

You need to understand where you money is going to know where you need to direct it to achieve your money goals.

Action steps for this week:

1. Take your previous months bank statements and highlight any payments made towards debt accounts.

2. Take your previous months bank AND credit card statements and (with another color) highlight any purchases made at restaurants, coffee shops, convenience stores, etc.

3. Decide if what you're spending towards debt and/or what your spending on eating out each month is how you WANT to be spending your money.

4. What are some other things you could do with that money if it wasn't being used in this way?

Don't forget...

Follow us on IG:

Budgets for Badges: https://www.instagram.com/budgetsforbadges

Rebecca Jameson: https://www.instagram.com/bluelinemoneycoach

Chris Harlan-Lucero: https://www.instagram.com/beyondthenumbersbn

The holiday season can be challenging for first responders. There is always going to be first responders on shift during Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, etc.

In this episode, Chris and Rebecca talk about the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to holidays for first responders. We'll get real about our own experiences and what we've done to release some of those expectations of ourselves so we can be present and enjoy the time we do have with our families.

Action Steps for today:

Talk with your spouse about what holiday traditions you want to keep and what expectations you're letting go of. You deserve to enjoy this season, however it shows up for you.

Follow us on IG:

Budgets for Badges: https://www.instagram.com/budgetsforbadges

Rebecca Jameson: https://www.instagram.com/bluelinemoneycoach

Chris Harlan-Lucero: https://www.instagram.com/beyondthenumbersbn

In this weeks episode, Chris & Rebecca dive into the intricacies of talking about money as a first responder couple.

Money is a difficult topic for so many and more times than not leads to an argument. Chris and Rebecca will provide tips and tricks on how to have an effective money conversation with your spouse without leading to a fight.

Action Steps:

Coming out of the conversation from last episode, think about what went right and what went wrong and make adjustments going into your next conversation.

Choose a topic from todays episode to talk about, pick a date/time to have the conversation with your spouse and clue them in to the conversation ahead of time to allow them the time to think about their contribution to the conversation.

In the culminating episode of Budgets for Badges, Chris & Rebecca dive into what financial resiliency means for first responder families. Resiliency is a huge topic in first responder culture, but rarely do we think about resiliency with our money.

So what does financial resiliency mean? In short, your level of financial resiliency is determined by how quickly you can recover from a money emergency.

Chris and Rebecca will discuss varying levels of what it means to be financially resilient and how you can start building resiliency as a first responder couple.

Action Step for this week: Start that money conversation with your spouse. Schedule a time, make them aware of what you want to discuss, come with your solutions and open the conversation for their input.

Prompt Question: What would financial resiliency look like for you?

Follow us on IG:

Budgets for Badges: https://www.instagram.com/budgetsforbadges

Rebecca Jameson: https://www.instagram.com/bluelinemoneycoach

Chris Harlan-Lucero: https://www.instagram.com/beyondthenumbersbn