Blog

Hello everyone! This is Clari. Although Brett is the star writer of the blog, do not be surprised to hear from me here and there. The reality is that Brett is the brains behind the whole finance transformation. I thank him so much for taking the lead on this and for teaching me so much. I confess I don’t love to read, so it was a sweet deal to have him read all the books and for me to just learn the main concepts! 🙂

Why necessary?

An important factor to understand is that 50% of the success of this financial transformation would depend on me, and this is why I will be sharing with you my side of the story. So, where do I start?

Hmmm… it has to be with the scary word: BUDGET! By now, you have heard us talking about budgets, and budgets and more budgets! And the reality is that coming up with a budget as a family was one the primary keys to becoming debt free. And, my friends, this was such a DIFFICULT conversation for me to have. I still remember how my heart was racing so much when Brett told me that it would be good for us not to manage our finances separately anymore. Separate finances meant that he had no idea how much I used to spend on skincare, clothing, shoes, home decorations and makeup. Deep down, I knew that my spending behavior had to change. But to be honest, it was embarrassing to have someone else (even worse – my husband!) looking into it.

Because at this point we already have a regular routine of budget conversations, I have a few tips for you to keep in mind when trying this at home. I promise that if you use these tips, the budget conversation will not be that scary.

5 tips on having the budget conversation

• Tip #1: Start with a prayer! The scriptures say “So if any one of you is lacking in wisdom, let him keep asking God, for he gives generously to all and without reproaching …” (James 1:5). When our goals aligned with God’s will he promises us to hear us (1 John 5:14)
• Tip #2: Make sure everyone understands why the change is needed. This means have a goal in mind. That end goal will give you the energy needed to stick with it.
• Tip #3: Avoid making any judgments! Comments like: “what? you spend this much on this!”, are really not necessary and will caused embarrassment. 
• Tip #4: Be open minded, and keep a calm and positive tone. Empowering comments like “We can do this” and “this will be a fresh start” are encouraging.
• Tip #5: Deploy your plan in stages. At times a radical change in spending behavior might be needed. If this is the case for you, then instead of going from 0 to 60, (or 60 to 0!) think about making gradual changes. For example, we ended up “cutting the cord” and getting rid of cable TV, but it wasn’t until after we finished paying our debt off that we did this.

For me, Tip 2 was really important. As all my spenders out there will agree, we love to shop! But like mentioned in the What is Your Why? post, having a goal in mind is what it takes to scale back this habit. I was not completely clueless about finances; the problem was that I was not holding myself accountable for my spending habits, and not thinking twice before buying something. Having my Why helped me think twice.

Now, it has been two years since we, as a family, established a realistic budget and one that we stick to. It’s also been 18 months since we paid the last of our debt. Like mentioned in the A year without credit cards post, an app that has really helped us is called “Spending”. It’s so simple and easy to use! Before falling into buying that cute dress that is finally on sale, I check my app and if I have a room for it then yay! But if my budget is reaching its max then it’s time to “adult” and make the better decision.

The final takeaway

Do not be afraid of the budget conversation. It’s only uncomfortable once, and the benefits of coming up with a realistic but challenging budget are far greater than the anxiety that comes from having the conversation. In fact, you can’t ignore it and hope to succeed.

So, what are you waiting for? Go for it! And if you have already done this, would you mind sharing with us your story? Or perhaps the name of an app or other resource that helps you along the way?