It’s Christmas time! So we cut loose in this episode and talk about our favorite gifts/traditions, how to overcome the pressures of overspending on Christmas gifts, and our strategy on balancing giving gifts for kids and teaching them about money. From our family to yours, we want to wish you a safe and very Merry Christmas!

We’re back with a heavy hitter, one that if we don’t get under control can decimate our plans to build wealth – dealing with YOLO (You Only Live Once) and FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).  In this episode we talk about: 

• How feeling jealous can actually be a good thing 
• The best way to ensure we spend on things we love without guilt 
• Why J eats on good china everyday  :)

While 2020 has certainly proven to be an unprecedented year of uncertainty, the truth is that every year, every day is filled with uncertainty. As we always say, life is what’s happening while you're making plans and setting goals – but how do you actually make decisions and have confidence and excitement for the future when anything can happen at any time? So, in this episode we take about how to cope with uncertainty, so that we can manage our money better, make goals for the future, and not just survive but get excited about the unknown future. 

Whew! With less than 90 days left of the year, it’s time to call 2020 a wrap, right? Hold on there! Don’t phone in 2020 just yet. If you started 2020 planning on doing epic stuff but had to change course, know there is still time to finish strong. So, in this episode, we talk about doing a ‘physical’ on the 5 areas of your life that impact your wealth and well-being – finances, career, relationships, physical & emotional health and spirituality; and then  some moves you can make now to finish the year with a bang. 

All of us come into relationships with some financial baggage – debt, low credit scores, negative money beliefs/stories - but the important thing is that we lay it all out to our partners so we can move forward towards building wealth. In this episode, we talk about bringing up the topic of finances whether you are just dating, or been married for years. We also touch on handling expenses and debts as a couple, and having money dates to keep in sync with each other. Truth is, no matter what the situation, you will always move faster towards building wealth when you are working together as a team.  

Self-care. It’s a buzz word you hear a lot, along with ‘treat yo self’. And it can be easily overlooked as being synonymous with facials, pedicures and lavish luxury spa days. But self-care is so much more than a one day of pampering with temporary results.  

 
In episode 6, we talk about how self-care can take different forms. As financial self-care for example – how self-care (or lack thereof) can impact our finances, and why it’s important to not just build wealth for the future, but to also think of yourself today. 

Key Takeaways: 

• Self-care looks like different things to different people and can take many forms – sometimes it’s lighting a candle, sometimes it’s in the form of doing the ‘hard’ things we’ve been avoiding or finishing something on our to do list. 
• A key component of self-care is being in tune with yourself, how you feel, and what helps you decompress, destress 
• Now more than ever we need to form regular habits of self-care and not bottle up how we feel  
• Own your experience. If things are going great for you, then that’s great! If things aren’t going well and you need more support, then that’s fine too, get the support you need. 

Things We Talked About: 

• Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done by John Acuff. In the book, the author offers strategies for why we can’t seem to get things done, and how to turn it around. 
• When thinking about your self-care  
• Be in tune with yourself to know your stressors  
• Acknowledge how you feel  
• Address the root of the issue and avoid using external things to cover/temporarily mask the problem. 
• Think of things that enjoy doing with your time, improve your mental, physical and emotional health and which people adds to your energy, life and well-being. 
• Know when you need more than DIY help or if you are having trouble dealing with your emotions. And don’t be afraid or ashamed to ask for it. 

We can’t expect to acquire wealth if we have no idea of what we’re actually working towards. So in this episode we discuss some of the common ways to define wealth, why thinking about wealth only in terms of money doesn’t work well, and why even when we’re talking about money, it’s never just about the money. 

Key takeaways:

• Income and wealth are not at all synonymous.
• No one really want to collect dirty little pieces of paper. We want money because of what we can use it to do. 
• Some people are so poor all they have is their money – Bob Marley. We’re looking for more than just ‘being rich’ or having an abundance of things or money.

Items mentioned in the podcast:

• Learn more about The Debt S-L-A-Y-E-R System and get first access and insider offers at  https://thedebtslayersystem.com.
• Book discussed 'The 5 Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me' by Richard Evans.

In this episode we talk about why we do what we do when it comes to our money, bridging the gap when your partner’s way of handling money is opposite from yours, and how a personality test can change the way you handle your money. 

Key Takeaways: 

• Your money story is formed when you are young, sometimes without you even knowing it 
• Your money story is a part of how you build wealth because it impacts your present money habits 
• We’re all spenders AND savers – just on different things so no point in pointing fingers. Accepting your partner’s money story as neither right nor wrong -but as their perspective - is key to joining forces with your partner 
• If you’re finding it hard to push past your money story then a financial therapist can help 

The American Dream is a trap! There’s nothing wrong with wanting a house, car etc – if that’s what you really value. In this episode we share how chasing a life defined by others instead of yourself can have you feeling like a prisoner.  

We’ll share the truth that you shouldn’t expect folks around you to be excited for you when you decide to deviate from that expectation.  

And the frustrations that can come from you and your partner being on different pages when it comes to handling your debt, wealth and everything in between. 

Key Takeaways:  

1. We’re all sold the idea of what it means to be successful and happy, but blindly following that path is doing the opposite.  
2. Deciding to deviate from the ‘norm’ has its own challenges.  
3. Building wealth as a couple doesn’t start with the numbers or the financial plan, it starts with being vulnerable about your fear, dreams and goals. 

They say money is the leading cause of relationships breaking up and it was true for us. In this episode we share how finances impacted our relationship, how we found out our money styles and money stories caused intense friction in our marriage and being distracted with ‘adulting’ and getting the American Dream made us realize we had to do something different.