Money Made Easy

When Hilary was in her 20’s, she was definitely not thriving financially. She was advising multi million dollar clients by day and coming home to a stack of bills she wouldn’t open because she couldn’t pay them.

She was a massive overspender. Hilary was earning 6 figures and spending 6 and a half. She realized she had to repair her relationship with money and wealth.

This was a very emotional time for Hilary. Looking at the numbers and realizing how in debt she was made her feel like a piece of crap. She was lucky enough to go to a great school and smart enough to graduate with honors.

Hilary was determined to figure out how she got so deep in debt. She started reading everything she could on the psychology of money.

Her mother was a budgeter and saver and Hilary was ashamed with the amount of money she could spend on birthday presents for friends. Hilary wanted a pair of Nikes like the other girls on her basketball team but had to get her shoes from Payless.

Hilary felt like there was never enough money for the things she wanted in life. That became her money operating system. It’s a very common money operating system. And there are many others also.

Through the divorce of her parents and her father not wanting to pay her mother, Hilary came to realize that money  is power. So operating with the thoughts ‘there’s never enough money’ and ‘money is power’, Hilary would spend and buy to try to show she was successful, even though she had no money in her bank account.

Luckily, she was able to unravel those behaviors and make a change in her own life. This made Hilary want to teach her framework to others, especially women. Also by doing this, her business took off.

So many entrepreneurs limit money in their life with their thoughts. Even though Hilary has a very traditional background as far as her training, until she changed her mindset, she would spend money as soon as it was in her back account.

For Hilary to make a change, she started doing the opposite of what she had been doing. Where she had hidden her money troubles before, she became super transparent about them. And she also, just wouldn’t do things where she would be spending money. It was super tight and painful for several years.

After Hilary had her condo foreclosed, she turned in her leased BMW and paid off her negotiated credit card debt, she then began rebuilding. She didn’t buy a coffee for 2 years. After she fixed the problem, she has now built up enough wealth to be financially independent. And that’s definitely thriving financially. 

In addition to the traditional financial advising, Hilary has Ignite Investing for people who are just getting started in investing. This program makes financial advice accessible. She also has a coaching program, that teaches exactly what she did to get out of debt and build wealth.

Hilary shares her 7 Steps To Wealth with us. 

1 - Decide. Involve your mindset and how you see your future.

2 - Speak. Look at all your scripts about money. Journal. Write down all the things you think and say about money.

3 - Plan. Most people don’t have a plan. She teaches a multiple account system, not budgeting.

4 - Earn. Raise the ceiling.

5 - Ask. She has a No Challenge. Make so many big requests, your goal is 100 no’s. If you get to 100 no’s, you’ll have so many yeses, you’ll have a different life. People are afraid to ask.

6 - Invest. Compound your wealth.

7 - Protect. Protect your wealth with wise decisions and your identity from theft.

A lot of people, especially women, have this idea that money is a zero sum game, Hilary tells us. Just enough is enough. She wants us to know there is an abundance of money, you can be rich and everyone else can too.

Hilary works with a lot of people in their 60s, 70s and 80s and doesn’t know many that work past 70. You need a stash of money to support your...

In this part two episode, we discuss money practices and money maps. We jump right in to the practical and discuss money dates. For example, mixing in candles and chocolate, music of any kind, whatever will be supportive for you sitting down and taking a look at your money. Whether it’s 5 minutes or 15 minutes, every few days or at least once a week, it’s important to start.

Ask yourself, “What is one step you can take around money today?” It may be just looking at your bank balance. However, you may discover fraud like Bari did and catching it early is important.

Bari shares how just like a daily hike a true money practice is ongoing and consistent. It may be difficult at first and some might want to just get it over with. Start with a little at a time and let it become more often and longer.

There’s a big difference between the way people handle their money and that’s okay. Bari and her husband were supportive of each other but they also were competitive. It was 7 years before they completely combined their accounts.

People spend differently and the main thing is to have a conversation about it. The values for each person are a part of the way they spend and important to be considered.

With couples, Bari recommends starting with story time first. Step one - 30 minutes, 15 minutes each, money healing work, share stories good and bad about what happened in your childhood.

Next you’ll move into values, then who’s on what and lastly, goals and dreams and getting on the same team. It’s so important to do all of this with compassion. 

Values based bookkeeping is so important with the renaming of the different categories. It’s all about where you’re spending your money and where you’re giving your time and attention.

Even just renaming your rent by calling it home or sanctuary or love shack can make a difference. Sometimes this makes people realize where they’re living doesn’t feel good and they decide to do something about that.

By taking a deeper look at your numbers, you can see if your values are reflected in them. If not, then you can make changes so you’re actually living your life in alignment with your values. 

Bari renamed budgets to money maps. The first step is to sit down and create a 3 tier map of the categories and actual numbers. The first tier is basic needs, the second tier is comfortable and lastly, the third tier is ultimate. These will change throughout the years.

On a monthly basis, you need to review the numbers and your intentions. At different phases in life you have to be more rigid than at other times.

Money healing, money practices and money maps all intertwine together. All three phases are the foundation. 

Bari shares about how money legacy for her is past, present and future. She talks about all she learned from her father and all that she had to learn too. She was able to heal before he passed. She talks all the time with her mother and her son about money.

Bari said, “Legacy for all of us, is honoring where we come from, the beauty, the pain, what needs forgiveness. And it really asks us, ‘What do we want to pass on?’”

Bari’s definition of success is having a full life in family, in work, in health and in giving to the larger community. 

The best financial advice Bari was given was learning the body check in. It’s the best life advice. Learn how to listen to your sensations, to your body, learn how to sit and be and feel and understand. Bring it to your relationship to money as well. 

Bari Tessler’s website - 

www.baritessler.com

On her website Bari offers a free 7 day mini course and also a year long evergreen program.

Bari’s Instagram -

www.instagram.com/baritessler/

This week on the Money Made Easy Podcast we have on Bari Tessler, author of the book, “The Art of Money”. We get to find out all about how she went from wanting to be a solid gold dancer to becoming a financial therapist.

Bari started therapy when she was 16 but other than going from wanting to be a dancer to a business woman and being interested in psychology, she started undergrad not really knowing what she wanted to be and do.

While spending a year in Israel, she put dance and psychology together and she briefly thought she made up Dance Movement Therapy. She went to graduate school for somatic psychotherapy.

At the age of 28, her student loan came through and that was a real wake up call. At the time she was making $11 an hour in the mental health field with a masters degree in psychology.

She realized in graduate school, money was never discussed. Nothing was said about how to get clients and run a business. And she also realized money wasn’t the issue, it was not being able to have conversations about money.

She considered running away, but instead decided she would face her student debt by learning everything she could learn about money. She started by learning bookkeeping and starting a bookkeeping business.

Growing up in a middle class family, she received mixed messages about money. There was a spirit of generosity and there was a lot of control around money.

We talk about money stories we get from our family - good and bad. Tetia shares about how her father getting gas for her taught her how to receive. 

Now Bari is 20 years in to starting her practice of financial therapy. And she is still learning new things and she still has emotions around money.

It’s important to Bari that financial literacy and emotional literacy have to be together. There are lots of ways and she thinks it’s important to get creative and find what works for you.

In "The Art of Money", Bari writes about how there are 3 phases - Money Healing, Money Practices and Money Maps. She credits her somatic psychotherapy tools for getting her through her money issues and on to what she’s doing now.

One of the people Bari was doing bookkeeping for encouraged Bari to do a speech about combining her healing and practical aspects of how she handled money. This is what led to the work and the book for Bari.

The way Bari addresses shame around money and healing around that and other emotions is so important. She talks about how most of us didn’t receive any type of education around money. 

One of Bari’s favorite tools she shares in "The Art of Money" is the body check in. Simply stopping for 5 seconds, 30 seconds, a minute, and just checking in with your body on a physical level. Are you standing or sitting? Are your shoulders up?    

The next level is on a sensation level. What sensations are moving or still in your body? The next level is emotions or feelings. What emotions are you feeling around money?

The fourth level is what is going on with your breath? Is it more in your chest or lower? Is it shallow or full? And what adjustments can you make?

This is not a one and done check in. It’s to be done repeatedly - when you’re paying your bills, talking with your partner, shopping, buying a car. This leads to understanding about what comes up for you.

Bari shares how these check ins can lead to understanding and shifts and changes in money patterns. It can help create a relationship with money that is right and feels better and more successful.

After the body check in you go into the practical. The gentleness and the compassionate. Instead of “I’m stupid” or “I should know this” you should try, “None of us learned this” and “I can learn this”. 

Knowing your values and what’s important to you is so important. Bari talks about how much more prepared you are when you’ve done this work.

We love how in the book...

This week we have one of our favorites, Tiffany 'The Budgetnista' Aliche, on to talk about her new book, "Getting Good With Money". This is Tiffany's third time on the podcast because she is that good!

Tiffany was on just a year ago to talk about her children's book, "Happy Birthday Mali More". She is now working on the animated version of Mali and her Youtube channel for those stories.

The subtitle to "Get Good With Money" is '10 Simple Steps To Becoming Financially Whole'. This book gets back to the basics of financial education. Financial education is so important to Tiffany she even helped create a law to get financial education to be a part of Middle Schools in New Jersey.

Tiffany gives some easy tips on improving your credit score. Designate a credit card for one specific small bill every month and pay it off in full. She also explains how to piggy back onto someone else's credit too.

For budgeting, Tiffany shares ways to budget without budgeting. You can set up direct deposits into four separate accounts. Two checking accounts - one for spending and one for bills. Two savings accounts - one for emergencies and one for goals. Split it before you get it.

Tiffany wrote this book thinking of people who are differential learners. Being a teacher, she always thought of all the different ways and levels of knowledge that people reading this will have.

Tiffany also shares all about the different people that might be a part of your financial team. Even if you don't need all the different team members, you should have an accountability partner. Whether it's a spouse or parent or close friend, you need someone who will support you and not shame you.

In addition to questioning to whether or not you need a CPA or an Estate Planner, you also need to see if they will be a good fit. She gives tips and things to look for and ask yourself before hiring someone.

Tiffany attributes her gift of teaching to the 10 years she spent teaching preschool. It was all about teaching those basics and she learned how to best navigate all of their different levels. It makes her very affective now with adults who are at all levels.

We also talked about the gender wealth gap and the racial wealth gap. It's frustrated being underpaid doing the same things as other people doing the same things.

Tiffany shares a little about her financial picture. She also tells us about an experience she went through in possibly taking money out of her home. It's commonly known that black homeowners get appraised at a lower rate.

The appraisal Tiffany got back seemed low. She got another opinion. Someone from the New York Times did a story about it. After getting an independent appraiser to come and give another appraisal, they found that the first appraiser did some things that were definitely not accurate.

Tiffany shares about how because of the bad appraisal and not taking that money and investing into it then it's lost money from lack of investing. Now Tiffany is helping to write a law to make it illegal to appraise someone's house based on their race. Also, the realtor and appraiser will make it clear and known where you can go if you feel like your house was appraised inaccurately.

Hopefully, this law will soon be passed and even get federal attention. Other states have already started adopting laws similar to their financial literacy for children law.

Even though Tiffany was unsure about being on the cover of her book, she's glad her publisher talked her into it. We are so glad too, she's a great example for all women.

One of the reasons we love Tiffany is because of her empathy and kindness. She doesn't believe in bringing shame and blame to people over their financial situations.

You can find her book, "Get Good With Money" at the website for the book - http://www.getgoodwithmoney.com

And you can find her everywhere as "The Budgetnista" -...

On today’s episode of the Money Made Easy Podcast we have Elizabeth of @elizabethsaves on Instagram to talk about how to pay down debt. Her and her husband paid off $227,000 in a couple of years.

After buying a house, things started to spiral for them pretty quickly, Elizabeth explains. Little purchases here and there, started adding up.

When Elizabeth went to make a final payment for their honeymoon, she wasn’t sure if she would have enough credit to pay off the thousand dollars still owed. This was the first wake up call.

Shortly after they were married, Elizabeth’s father died unexpectedly. He had been a big money role model for her and his death motivated her to live a life that reflected their values.

All of these moments, led to the realization that they weren’t living in a way that reflected the people they wanted to be. This led to them taking control of what they wanted their future to look like.

Elizabeth’s husband came home and mentioned that he had heard about a debt snowball payoff method and that led her to start learning more. She quickly went deep in researching all about money and became motivated to pay down debt.

Elizabeth loves a plan. If she can write it down then she is good about putting her head down and accomplishing it.

When Elizabeth and her husband sold their house they made $30,000 in the 3 years they had owned it. This helped them finish paying off his student loan debts.

Then with Elizabeth’s new job in New York City, they live without rent or utility expenses so that is what has definitely helped them pay off the rest of their debt.

Elizabeth became very frugal and shares some of the extreme ways she saved money. She had a big friend group that socialized a lot and not wanting to miss out on this, she would eat before going or even pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and cheese stick and eat in the car and then just order a beverage at dinner.

Elizabeth says, “I’m a big believer that your budget should let you say yes, more than it makes you have to say no.” A lot of the time people don’t start budgeting because they think it’s going to be restrictive and change the way they live their life.

You have to negotiate what’s important to you. Elizabeth would take the money that she would have spent and pay it towards a debt.

One of the things they tried early on was gazelle intent. You cut all expenses you deem unnecessary. They decided that intensity just wasn’t for them. They wanted to not just pay down debt, they wanted to establish long term financial habits.

If marketing does it’s job, we want all the things. I’ll start this when I have that is a way to postpone trying things or spending on things. It’s important to find a way to just start.

For someone in debt, Elizabeth recommends just starting. You don’t have to have all the information before starting. Whether you do the debt snowball or debt avalanche doesn’t matter.

Elizabeth thinks it’s important to know your why. Their why was they wanted to live in alignment with their values. You might need to start with what are your values.

She also added that it’s important to not be afraid to fail. If you’re afraid to fail you never start. You’re going to fail with money and it’s okay. It’s just a moment, not the story.

The three words she thinks of when she thinks about money are alignment, sustainable, and transparency. If you listened to this whole episode with Elizabeth, you know she lives these words.

For the full blog post on this episode and all other episodes, go to 

www.moneymadeeasypodcast.com

Find her on Instagram at -

www.instagram.com/elizabethsaves

And her website is -

www.elizabethscottfrancis.com

We’re welcoming back to the show today one of our favorites - Kate who is @thatdebtfreelife on instagram to talk all about becoming debt free and what’s next.

Of course, we wanted to hear about how if felt to be free of debt. Kate shared that it felt free and made her feel invincible.

First, Kate and her family went on a dream trip to New York at Christmastime. After their trip they then got back into their financial goals pretty quickly.

Saving up a bigger emergency fund was their biggest goal. Kate really hasn’t changed much in the way she manages her finances.

She still creates a zero based budget for every paycheck and she budgets it down to the penny. Kate can’t live without it because she knows exactly where her money is going when she has it done.

Kate is still working overtime to reach her financial goals. Catching up on retirement contributions and funding the 529 for her son are both important and they also made a 6 year plan to pay off the mortgage.

Kate feels the most important things that helped her payoff her debt were the zero based budget and 15 no spend days every month. With 15 no spend days per month that translates into 6 months of not spending but in bite sized chunks. She uses the HabitShare app.

This year, they were able to pay cash for their fence. Kate also opened a Roth IRA for the first time in her life and funded that. They also purchased kitchen appliances and redid their laundry room. Kate also paid cash for Invisalign.

Spending more time at home becomes more enjoyable. Angelica share how another one of our former guests, Lupe Prado, talks about tolerations. Little things that crowd our mind and how getting those small things taken care of make our life more enjoyable.

When first starting to pay off her debt, Kate realized if she spent her money with intention and allocated it properly she would be able to do it. She could meet all the goals she thought were out of reach before.

Starting @thatdebtfreelife on Instagram and making the promise to herself to post something once daily about something finance related made her think about it and focus on it. The accountability of that also helped keep her on track.

Even just checking your bank balance every day can make you more aware and intentional. Starting with the small things and giving yourself grace can really help you not get overwhelmed and make forward progress.

Let yourself be a beginner, resist those impulse purchases, make mistakes and give yourself some grace - you’re not going to be perfect ever. Kate has never written a perfect budget.

To budget on an irregular income, list your expenses from most important to least important and then as your money comes in you pay your bills in that order. Then after paying the things you have to take care of you can make your debt payments and other things.

If you have irregular income, Kate also recommends creating a buffer or a cushion fund. in addition to your emergency fund, set aside some money so if things fall short or you’re hit with an unexpected expense, you have a bit of a buffer or cushion to carry you through.

If you have trouble with impulse shopping, then going through your house and looking for things to sell can help you buy more intentionally. One of Kate’s favorite quotes is, “Look around you, all of that stuff used to be money.”

Kate thinks if you have money, you need a budget. You need to know what can you do with your money. Where some people might feel living with a budget is stressful, she feels it’s freeing and so much less stress.

You can find Kate on Instagram at @thatdebtfreelife -

www.instagram.com/thatdebtfreelife

Kate’s blog -

www.livingthatdebtfreelife.com

Hello friends and welcome to episode 35 of the podcast! We are very excited to announce…(drum roll please…)… our QUARTERLY BOOK CLUB!

Why you may ask? As you know, our sole purpose of this podcast is about educating ourselves and building a community of individuals who feel comfortable with talking about money. What better way to further our education with a book club that keeps us accountable and helps foster these conversations!!

We are excited to announce our very first book, The Art of Money: A Life-Changing Guide to Financial Happiness by Bari Tessler. Bari Tessler does an incredible job of diving deep into our money traumas and finding the root cause of our money struggles. This inner work will then push our motivation and knowledge to make better money decisions. Bari Tessler is a financial therapist, which is so inspiring and something I think we all need in our lives. This book is filled with important questions that will get us to reflect on our money habits and the relationship we have with money.

So follow along and be a part of this community with us! Your knowledge and expertise is valuable and we want to hear from you!

Join our facebook group here:

www.facebook.com/groups/moneymadeeasycommunity/

Today we dive deep into examining our money blocks with Katy Chen Mazzara. She is a certified financial coach who helps creative types make more money, pay off debt, and achieve financial freedom.

Katy started off as a journalist then became a television producer for 15 years, working on shows like The Bachelor/Bachelorette, Real Housewives, Love and Hip Hop. Then she became certified as a financial coach, a life coach and she is a graduate of the UC Berkeley Program in Personal Financial Planning.

Growing up with parents who were at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to money gave Katy an interesting view. Her father did not want to spend money and her mother spent it freely.

For a while, Katy had a few issues of her own with money, spending it on cabs when she should've been walking or taking the subway. Then she became passionate about learning more though, reading books, even stock prospectuses.

After three of her family members felt like they had to stay in abusive relationships for money, one of Katy's missions became to empower people to make decisions in spite of money, not based on money. And this is whether it's staying in a bad relationship or in a job you don't enjoy.

In this episode, Angelica volunteers to be the example for examining our money blocks. Katy asks Angelica about her background with money and they dive deep into childhood experiences with money.

Katy shares how a simple moment isn't wrong or right but it does teach us and it's important to observe that. Does it create abundance or scarcity? It's important to ask yourself - where do these beliefs come from?

Clarity is very important around money. Be clear about what is coming in and out. Our minds like clarity. The more unknown, the more you'll worry.

Work on what you truly want to achieve. Where do you want to go? What does money look like for you in terms of your core values?

Katy suggests tracking down your emotions around your spending like a food diary. How did you feel -before, during and after your purchase?

Every time you get abundance, make a note of it. Either write it down or put it in the notes section on your phone. Some examples Katy gives are time on the parking meter, a friend buys you a cup of coffee or for waiting so long, we're giving you a free muffin. Abundance and gratitude are a powerful duo.

Katy feels it's important to have balance between the spiritual and the earthly, more practical. It's still important to do the work - having savings and paying off your debt. After paying off your debt, it's important to pay attention to where the debt came from.

She explains the snowball effect and why it can be such a powerful way to pay off debts. Katy shares how paying on time is so important for your credit score.

As always, we asked Katy to share her definition of success. She feels success is an inside job and it's so important to do the inner work so we can create outward changes. The more you have self worth, the more you can be successful in the outside world.

And when asked about the 3 words that come to mind when you think about money, she first said, "Freedom, freedom, freedom." Then she went on to add - freedom, energy and values.

But wait...there's more for our listeners...Katy Chen Mazzara has launched her membership course - Financial Freedom for Creatives Club. This is a year long program that will help you build HABITS you need to create the results you want with your money. If our listeners sign up, you will receive some pretty rad bonuses:  1. You will get access into the money block group coaching program on 1/2  2. Access to You Can Negotiate Anything Mini Courses  3. 1 day Retreat on 1/31

If you sign up, let them know you're a MME listener! 

http://katychenmazzara.com

https://www.financialfreedomforcreatives.com/virtual-retreat