Dr. Meredith Jones and Joe Warner share a practical look at financial resolutions veterinarians can focus on in the new year, with an emphasis on clarity, strategy, and aligning money decisions with what matters most.

Topics covered:

1. Building a realistic budget and understanding cash flow
2. Optimizing student loan strategies, including what SAVE borrowers should know
3. Increasing retirement contributions sustainably
4. Using money intentionally to support the life you want
5. What veterinarian-specific financial planning actually looks like

Episodes Mentioned:

1. 73: Five Steps to Prepare for the Jump in Student Loan Payments
2. 74: How a Sabbatical Can Reset Your Life - Dr. Anna Foster
3. 77: What Happens in a Student Loan Consult

Interested in vet-specific financial planning?

1. Schedule a free intro call or check out allvetfinancial.com

Veterinary medicine is demanding in ways most financial advice ignores. Schedules change, cases run long, and emotional fatigue is common. Financial plans that assume unlimited energy and perfect follow-through often don’t hold up.

In this episode, we talk about how to burnout-proof your finances so your money supports you through real life, not just on good weeks.

Key Topics:

1. Why emergency funds function as mental health tools, not just savings
2. How automation reduces financial decision fatigue
3. Designing your finances around sustainability, not hustle
4. Flexibility and optionality as financial goals
5. Giving yourself permission to choose stability over optimization

Your financial plan should make your life easier, not heavier.

Interested in vet-specific financial planning?

1. Schedule a free intro call or check out allvetfinancial.com

The Dept of Ed has announced an agreement to officially end the SAVE plan. If you’re in the SAVE forbearance, this episode walks through planning your next move.

Key Topics:

1. What the end of the SAVE plan means and what we know so far
2. What happens if you’re currently on the SAVE forbearance
3. Which repayment plans borrowers are likely to switch to
4. Why planning now matters, even without set deadlines
5. How income recertification and tax filing status can impact your payment
6. Common planning opportunities we’re seeing for veterinarians right now

Interested in vet-specific financial planning?

1. Schedule a free intro call or check out allvetfinancial.com

Dr. Meredith Jones and Joe Warner, both Certified Student Loan Professionals, talk about what actually happens during a student loan consult for veterinarians. If you’ve ever wondered how we sort through repayment rules, forgiveness options, and tax implications, this episode walks you through it step by step.

Highlights:

1. Why veterinarians seek student loan guidance: overwhelm, confusing regulations, major life changes, and uncertainty about which plan is best
2. What you share beforehand (your student loan file, plus your spouse’s if they have federal loans) so we can prepare
3. How the consult starts with your goals and your student loan story, which helps shape the conversation
4. How we compare repayment plans, estimate long-term costs, check progress toward forgiveness, and decide whether you’ll need to save for a future tax bill
5. Why your tax filing status can change your payment far more than you’d expect if you’re married
6. What you walk away with: clear action steps and follow-up email support if questions come up afterward

Interested in vet-specific financial planning?

1. Schedule a free intro call or check out allvetfinancial.com

Meredith sits down with Dr. Marie Holowaychuk, emergency and critical care specialist veterinarian and mental health advocate, to talk about her new book A Compassionate Calling: What It Really Means to Be a Veterinarian.

Key Topics:

1. Marie’s path through specialty training, academia, burnout, and wellbeing advocacy
2. What inspired A Compassionate Calling and the misconceptions it aims to clear up
3. Real stories that show both the fulfillment and emotional complexity of veterinary medicine
4. How emergency and critical care shaped her perspective on moral stress and client communication
5. Practical wellbeing resources available through RevivingVetMed.com and her advice on prioritizing mental health

Connect with Marie Holowaychuk:

Marieholowaychuk.com

RevivingVetMed.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmarieholowaychuk/

Instagram: @marieholowaychuk

Interested in vet-specific financial planning?

1. Schedule a free intro call or check out allvetfinancial.com

Meredith shares practical grocery hacks that make life easier, save money, and help you waste less. Inspired by conversations at home and with clients, she walks through simple strategies to plan smarter, shop intentionally, and enjoy cooking again - without feeling deprived.

If you’ve ever stood in front of your fridge wondering how you spent $150 and still don’t have a dinner plan, this one’s for you.

Highlights:

1. Plan ahead: Use a dry-erase board for meal planning, and check your pantry before shopping
2. Shop smart: Do the math on price per ounce, and test one store-brand swap each week
3. Invest wisely: A good chef’s knife and quality pan make cooking faster and more enjoyable
4. Cook once, eat twice: Bulk cook, freeze extras, and make “leftovers night” a ritual
5. Splurge intentionally: Great coffee or olive oil can be worth it - just spend with purpose

Interested in vet-specific financial planning?

1. Schedule a free intro call or check out allvetfinancial.com

Dr. Anna Foster is an emergency veterinarian and co-founder of The Evolved Vets, which helps veterinarians grow personally and professionally through coaching, education, and community. She also writes Dr. Anna Foster – Travel Vet on Substack, where she shares reflections on self-development, travel, and her recent three-month sabbatical. Anna joins Meredith to talk about what inspired her career break and the lessons she learned along the way.

Highlights:

1. Why Anna decided to take a three-month sabbatical after years in ER medicine and leadership roles
2. How she planned ahead - financially, professionally, and emotionally - to make it possible
3. The emotional toll of emergency medicine
4. How the Shift Shedding meditation helps veterinarians decompress after difficult shifts
5. What she learned from a three-day phone-free reset and how it changed her relationship with technology
6. Why the antidote to rushing isn’t slowing down, but being present

Resources:

1. Dr. Anna Foster – Travel Vet: https://substack.com/@drannafoster
2. The Evolved Vets: evolvedvets.com
3. Dr. Anna Foster on Instagram: @drannafoster

Interested in vet-specific financial planning?

1. Schedule a free intro call or check out allvetfinancial.com

With the recent student loan repayment changes, many veterinarians are facing a much bigger bill than before.

Whether you’re moving from SAVE to PAYE, preparing for Old IBR in a couple of years, or switching plans and suddenly seeing your payment double, the jump can feel overwhelming. You’re not alone in this — and you can prepare.

In this episode, I’ll walk you through five key steps to help you get ready for higher student loan payments:

1. Know your next steps: Which plan are you eligible for, and what payment can you expect? If you’re married, could you save money by switching your tax filing status?
2. Get clear on your budget: Use Monarch Money, a spreadsheet, or whatever works - awareness is key.
3. Build breathing room: Practice your higher payment now to avoid a cash-flow shock later.
4. Be intentional with your compensation: Negotiate for higher pay, stronger production, or better benefits. And if you’re picking up extra shifts, make sure they’re in alignment with your goals — not just a reaction to student loan stress.
5. Shift your perspective: Remember, the COVID pause was unusual — higher payments are tough, but you can adapt.

If you’ve been feeling stressed or blindsided by your new payment, this episode will give you both the tools and perspective to move forward.

Mentioned in this episode:

1. Episode 67: What the new Student Loan Bill Means for Veterinarians
2. Debt-Free Vets Facebook Group

Interested in vet-specific financial planning?

1. Schedule a free intro call or check out allvetfinancial.com

Christine Staten, DVM, MBA has been a veterinary practice owner for over 20 years, and in that time, has made lots of great decisions (and some she wouldn’t make again!) while growing her practice and her team. Dr. Christine joins Meredith to share her story and why she’s so passionate about helping other vets build veterinary practices that succeed so they can keep doing the work they love.

Key Topics:

• Christine shares how she started on the path to becoming a vet practice owner
• Christine gives practical advice for how to manage a team and utilize data and strategic team retreats to accelerate business growth
• The value of community for practice owners to combat isolation and being overburdened by your responsibilities
• How going back to school to get an MBA in her 50s further improved her veterinary practice
• Why work life balance is impossible, and what you should aim for instead
• Christine’s personal framework for managing stress, burnout, and day-to-day worries

Links and resources:

• Connect with Christine on Instagram @veterinary_mba 
• Find Christine Staten and her community of veterinary practice owners at veterinary-mba.com as well! 

Interested in vet-specific financial planning?

1. Schedule a free intro call or check out allvetfinancial.com

Veterinary medicine and financial planning share a common framework: history-taking, diagnostics, treatment or action plans, and progress exams. Recognizing these parallels can help make money conversations less intimidating and much more familiar for veterinarians.

Key Topics:

1. How financial planning and veterinary medicine share the same step-by-step process
2. Working up a case in vet med mirrors working up a case in financial planning
3. The role of history-taking and information gathering in both fields
4. How treatment plans compare to financial action plans
5. Why progress exams and financial check-ins serve the same purpose
6. How my clinical background shapes my financial advice

Interested in vet-specific financial planning?

1. Schedule a free intro call or check out allvetfinancial.com