Veterinary Financial Podcast

By Meredith Jones DVM, CSLP®, AFC®Business Education Investing

Veterinary Financial Podcast episodes

January 01079: Burnout-Proofing Your Finances
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:
Why emergency funds function as mental health tools, not just savings
How automation reduces financial decision fatigue
Designing your finances around sustainability, not hustle
Flexibility and optionality as financial goals
Giving yourself permission to choose stability over optimization

Your financial plan should make your life easier, not heavier.
Interested in financial planning built for veterinarians?
Learn more or book a free intro call at allvetfinancial.com
11 min
December 18, 2025078: The End of the SAVE Plan: Next Steps for Your Student Loans
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:
What the end of the SAVE plan means and what we know so far
What happens if you’re currently on the SAVE forbearance
Which repayment plans borrowers are likely to switch to
Why planning now matters, even without set deadlines
How income recertification and tax filing status can impact your payment
Common planning opportunities we’re seeing for veterinarians right now

Interested in financial planning built for veterinarians?
Learn more or book a free intro call at allvetfinancial.com
12 min
December 04, 2025077: What Happens in a Student Loan Consult
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:
Why veterinarians seek student loan guidance: overwhelm, confusing regulations, major life changes, and uncertainty about which plan is best
What you share beforehand (your student loan file, plus your spouse’s if they have federal loans) so we can prepare
How the consult starts with your goals and your student loan story, which helps shape the conversation
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
Why your tax filing status can change your payment far more than you’d expect if you’re married
What you walk away with: clear action steps and follow-up email support if questions come up afterward

Interested in financial planning built for veterinarians?
Learn more or book a free intro call at allvetfinancial.com
16 min
November 20, 2025076: Inside the Realities of Vet Med - Dr. Marie Holowaychuk
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:
Marie’s path through specialty training, academia, burnout, and wellbeing advocacy
What inspired A Compassionate Calling and the misconceptions it aims to clear up
Real stories that show both the fulfillment and emotional complexity of veterinary medicine
How emergency and critical care shaped her perspective on moral stress and client communication
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 financial planning built for veterinarians?
Learn more or book a free intro call at allvetfinancial.com
30 min
November 06, 2025075: Grocery Hacks That Actually Work
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:
Plan ahead: Use a dry-erase board for meal planning, and check your pantry before shopping
Shop smart: Do the math on price per ounce, and test one store-brand swap each week
Invest wisely: A good chef’s knife and quality pan make cooking faster and more enjoyable
Cook once, eat twice: Bulk cook, freeze extras, and make “leftovers night” a ritual
Splurge intentionally: Great coffee or olive oil can be worth it - just spend with purpose

Interested in financial planning built for veterinarians?
Learn more or book a free intro call at allvetfinancial.com
13 min
October 23, 2025074: How a Sabbatical Can Reset Your Life – Dr. Anna Foster
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:
Why Anna decided to take a three-month sabbatical after years in ER medicine and leadership roles
How she planned ahead - financially, professionally, and emotionally - to make it possible
The emotional toll of emergency medicine
How the Shift Shedding meditation helps veterinarians decompress after difficult shifts
What she learned from a three-day phone-free reset and how it changed her relationship with technology
Why the antidote to rushing isn’t slowing down, but being present

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

Interested in financial planning built for veterinarians?
Learn more or book a free intro call at allvetfinancial.com
45 min
October 09, 2025073: Five Steps to Prepare for the Jump in Student Loan Payments
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:
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?
Get clear on your budget: Use Monarch Money, a spreadsheet, or whatever works - awareness is key.
Build breathing room: Practice your higher payment now to avoid a cash-flow shock later.
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.
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:
Episode 67: What the new Student Loan Bill Means for Veterinarians
Debt-Free Vets Facebook Group

Interested in financial planning built for veterinarians?
Learn more or book a free intro call at allvetfinancial.com
14 min
September 25, 2025072: How Vet Practice Owners can Thrive in Life and Business - Dr. Christine Staten
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 financial planning built for veterinarians?
Learn more or book a free intro call at allvetfinancial.com
36 min
September 11, 2025071: Financial Planning Parallels Every Vet Will Recognize
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:
How financial planning and veterinary medicine share the same step-by-step process
Working up a case in vet med mirrors working up a case in financial planning
The role of history-taking and information gathering in both fields
How treatment plans compare to financial action plans
Why progress exams and financial check-ins serve the same purpose
How my clinical background shapes my financial advice

Interested in financial planning built for veterinarians?
Learn more or book a free intro call at allvetfinancial.com
9 min
August 28, 2025070: AI Scribes - Saving Time and Sanity in Veterinary Practice
Medical records have historically been one of the biggest time drains and stressors in veterinary practice. AI notetakers, also called scribes or transcription tools, are changing that.
I share stories from my ER career and financial planning work, along with insights from veterinarians in the Debt-Free Vets Facebook group, on how these tools save time, improve accuracy, and reduce late-night record writing. You’ll also hear strategies that can help when AI isn’t an option.
Veterinarians describe how AI notetakers have transformed their daily workflow—helping them juggle multiple cases, keep up with busy shifts, and finally stop staying late just to finish records.
Highlights include:
The challenges of managing medical records in busy clinical settings
How AI notetakers can save time, reduce errors, and boost efficiency
What veterinarians are saying about their favorite tools
The cost of an AI notetaker - and why it may be worth paying for yourself if your hospital won’t
Other efficiency tools, including human scribes and TextExpander

Whether you’re curious about AI notetakers, overwhelmed by incomplete records, or just looking for ways to reclaim your time, this conversation offers real-world insights into how these tools are changing veterinary practice.
Links and Resources:
Debt-Free Vets Facebook group
Thread in Debt-Free Vets on AI notetakers

Interested in financial planning built for veterinarians?
Learn more or book a free intro call at allvetfinancial.com
17 min