In Episode 003, Jeff and Sabrina dive deeper into the first two things they don't want to go back to normal on from our Pre-COVID world; financial health and physical health.  If you missed part one of this four-part series in Episode 002, please go back and listen to that. Episode 002 In Episode 002, we introduced six things from our Pre-COVID world that we don't want to go back to normal on. Financial health, physical health, emotional/mental health, spiritual health, relational health, and speed of life...health. (Inside joke from this episode) In the final three episodes of this series, we'll do a deeper dive into each subject, looking at solutions and practical next steps.  In the content, we answered two listener questions: Cynthia asked, "Where do you suggest starting when your debt is out of control?  What tips do you have to budget together as a couple?" Jenni asked, "How do you motivate yourself to stay disciplined, especially when it comes to physical fitness? I see your posts about running and staying active...just wondering what gets you motivated to keep it up.  Looking for some inspiration!"  1. How do we not go back to normal financially?  "Saving is not a dollar amount you have, it's a discipline in which you live." - Jeff A. Choose no more debt "You have to make the decision 'we will not have debt again.' From here on out, we're not adding any more debt. You have to start there."  "The average car payment in America is $471.50. At an average of $471.50 a month for a car payment, in 6 years, which is the common length of a loan, that would be $33,948 I could save. That's not counting the residual costs of a newer car loan like full coverage insurance and higher tax and registration costs. Even if I spent $15,000 on repairs for my paid for cars, I still would save $18,948 in six years. You can't beat that math." B. Live on a budget  As Joe Sangl says, "Income - outgo = Exactly Zero (TM)" I Was Broke, Now I'm Not "(Jeff) We budget to zero. We tell every dollar where to go. We make savings an expense in our budget. (Sabrina) Hey, if you want to be in control of something, be in control of telling your money where to go."  "I actually believe that discretionary income is just as valuable as cash in the bank. It’s one thing to have a savings account. It’s another thing to have expenses that are far less than what you make. That way if you have to change jobs, or your income changes, you aren’t spending everything you bring in." "I'd rather have financial freedom than a new car with a recurring payment."  "If you don't tell your money where to go it will find a place to go, and it's usually not into savings or to pay off debt."  C. Make savings a priority  "We live on the 10-10-80 model. We give at least the first 10% of our gross income to God through our church as a tithe. We've always tithed." Malachi 3:8-10 “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. 9 You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! www.allybank.com  "When you save money you are literally paying yourself. You're paying yourself for a future need that you can't see yet. But when it happens, you'll have the money for it."  "An initial emergency savings account is more important than paying off debt. Here's why. If you don't have savings but you have an emergency, what will you do? Put it on your credit card."  D. Get out of debt Use the debt snowball. www.daveramsey.com www.iwbnin.com www.josephsangl.com  Sell crap. Downsize.  Do a spending fast.  E. Continue to be educated  "You have to have financial mentors in your life."

In Episode #002 we start a four-part series of podcasts called "I don't want to go back to normal, because normal wasn't working."Today we’re going to highlight six things total that we don’t want to go back to normal on, then in the next three podcasts, we’re going to cover two of the six things each time and offer some practical next steps and solutions that can help us all not go back to what was normal in these areas. All six of these I think were exposed either during this pandemic or by this pandemic.   I think we both agree that we understand the statement, “I want to go back to normal." Our world was flipped upside down very rapidly. It’s not like we had time to prepare for a pandemic, so, at least for us in America, we went from a pretty stable normal, to chaos in a NY minute. Pun intended since NY was the original hotspot in America. But while we get it, both of us think we should stop saying it. There’s nothing inherently wrong with saying it. But here’s why we think we should stop saying it.First, we aren’t going back to the way things were. Not for a long long time. If we keep holding out hope that things will just go back to the way things were then we’re going to be holding out for a long time. It’s not going back. The second reason I think we should stop saying it is in the title of this episode, normal wasn’t working. At least not for some very specific and very important parts of our lives. These are not in order of importance or anything, but I will say, I think the first three were the first things exposed by the pandemic. We want to make it clear, in every single one of these, we have made massive failures in our own life. We’ll share some with you over the course of the podcast. We have been unhealthy in every one of these areas at some point and are still learning and growing in all of them today. And we are still making mistakes.And please understand. We aren’t trying to cast judgment on anyone who might be struggling in one of these areas or disagree with us on something. We just want to see everyone thrive in every part of their life, and these are some things that we see that we don’t think we are thriving on in America. We’re not offering a lot of answers today, just pointing out what we don’t want to go back to. We’ll get into some solutions in the following podcasts.The six things we don't want to go back to normal on:1. The way things were financiallyPre-COVID statistics showed that at least 75% of Americans lived paycheck to paycheck.  68% of Americans don’t live on a budget.56% save less than $100 a month, which leads to 25% of Americans have no savings at all. And another 23% have less than 2 weeks of expenses in savings.    I’ll tell you this, you won’t find one place in the Bible where debt is spoken of positively. It’s always spoken of in a negative light. Always. The average American household has $38,000 in consumer debt, not counting their mortgage. The average car payment is $471.50.  2. The way things were with mental health  Before COVID 19, 40 million Americans, or roughly 19% of our population had a diagnosed anxiety disorder. That is only the diagnosed cases.  3. The way things were physically  Pre-COVID numbers showed that 36.5% of Americans were considered overweight. Another 32.5% were considered obese. And 1 in 13 was extremely obese. Over 2/3 of our population is overweight. 4. The way things were spirituallyLifeway research showed that only 32% of Protestant Churchgoers, so non-Catholic Christian churchgoers, only 32% personally read their Bible every day. That means 68% of churchgoers aren’t reading their Bible regularly. 12% said they read it rarely if ever. That’s from churchgoers. In the vast majority of churches, no more than 35% of people engage in a small group. 63% of church attenders go once or twice a month at most. 30% go seldom or never. 62 percent of Americans polled said they considered themselves “deeply spiritual.” These same people were then asked how this af

In this podcast, Sabrina and I talk about How we can come out of this season even stronger.

In this episode, Jeff and Sabrina share the reveal of their podcast with some background information to who they are, the name of the podcast, and what they hope to accomplish with the podcast. They also answer some listener questions.