All right, Lisa, we’re so excited to have you. You are you’re our big finale of the day. Like we’re here to talk to you, to learn about you, to help you if we can. And we’re very blessed to be able to do it. Yes, we are. Lisa, thank you so much for taking time out of your Friday to come chat with us on our podcast, but tell us.

What brings you to the show today?

I am happy to be here with you on this Friday. I am here to set up a budget to help me retire and live my best life in the future.

Yeah, we’re here for that. Love that. All right. So tell us, what do you have going? So we have more context on what’s going on. Tell us what’s worked, what hasn’t worked. What do you have going on in your day to day?

I, we are just in the process. We sold our home and we are moving up to a lake home and we are going to build. We have just a small spot that we’re living in right now. I’m in between the cities and this northern currently as I’m finishing up my business over the next handful of years, and just, we’re going to start building a home in March.

So what I am looking at is I’m in a unique spot not to have debt currently. And My husband and I are both, he, we opened a bank at our new location, so he’s managing that and managing certain things. I’m managing my income and a few of our expenses that we have. So I wanted to use this opportunity over the next year, years to really get disciplined in budgeting in order to save for whatever we want to do in the future.

Love it. Yes. We want to help you do that. So do you have so the place you’re in is a transition, right? So you’ve obviously been good, a good steward. You’re not in debt. You’re, you’ve been doing good, but now we know things are going to look a little different within the next couple of years, like you said.

So do you have a mock budget? Let’s say, let’s call it for when, okay, yeah. So have you done a budget at all ever?

No,

Okay. Okay. Hey,

have let me just tell you, we have financial planners retirements, invest, all of that. I’ve not really followed a budget in my life and I want to. And if somebody else was telling me to do it, I would say hell no, but because I want to do it, I want to learn it. I want to, I know I spend money that I don’t need to spend.

And I have listened to some of your podcasts and it’s time for me to put some discipline in place for myself.

Love that. Yeah, I do love that and we totally get what you’re saying. We’re rebels as well, but what we want you to think about with this budget as we get into it is it’s not, discipline is one word to use, but we don’t, we, it doesn’t have to be restrictive, right? We’re going to put math on paper, but that doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to live your life and have a good time.

That’s what we think about when we think about the B word, right? Is oh, I can’t spend any money, but that’s not what this is. That’s all we’re. going to do is make a, just like you said, a financial plan for the retire, the people are helping with retirement. We’re going to do that for your every day so that, I have money to spend every time I go shopping.

I have money to travel to the other, since I’m at the lake, I’m going to go to the other lake or whatever I’m going to do. I, that’s what the budget is. Give me freedom to do that. Yeah. And question, do you have our budget, our simplified budget system?

I do not. I purchased it. I have not used it yet.

Oh, okay. So you have it. Okay. Perfect. Okay.

I was just trying to figure out which direction to go. So awesome. Part of that is in the back. It actually has retirement budget that you can create. It has retirement calculators in there. It also has a mock budget section, which is really fun because then you can go in there and just put a bunch of numbers and play with it.

And it’s not attached. There’s no formulas attached to that tab. So it won’t mess up any other part of the budget, but you can really go in there and just tweak things around, especially when you’re in this transition phase. We do that a lot with people that are moving or that are retiring different phases of life.

Yeah. So the simplified budget system is perfect. You’re going to, once you get into it, but let’s just explain what it is real quick. So you have your income and that might be one of the things that’s changing the most, coming up, but you have your income. So what we did when we’ve been doing this for years, Lisa, is we wanted to make the budget as simple as possible because we don’t want to do something complicated or ugly.

Like we get that. That’s probably the vibes, right? Why? We haven’t done a budget. You haven’t done a budget yet. So we try to make it as simple and clear as possible. So we have 5 columns in our budget. That’s it. Just 5. You have income, Okay. And then we’re going to put debt minimums. You don’t have any already winning.

Check that one off. Okay. Then we’re going to put bills. So this is not the most fun part of the budget. We get that, but this is just so that what’s coming out, right? So the bills is like the most budget feel. So you’re going to list all those out. And this is really important, especially if you haven’t done it before, because there we’ve had so many times, especially you said your husband manages this and you can’t manage that.

Like sometimes there’ll be, Duplicate subscriptions or duplicate we’re paying or something, or maybe I didn’t even know you had Hulu. I would have been using it or Spotify. I would have been using it this whole time, babe. But anyway, so we’re going to put all of them on one. It doesn’t mean that you have to get rid of anything.

We just want to know what we’re actually paying for, because a lot of times people will have, Do not necessarily duplicates, but they’ll have Apple and Spotify and this. And they’re like, I don’t think I actually need all of those. So we want, that’s one of the first steps is getting all the bills listed.

And what we see is that they’re paying for things that they don’t want, but they don’t need. And not necessarily that, yes, they could have duplicates but that they’re not even using, like they have Paramount and they have HBO and they have Peacock, they have all of this stuff. So it’s really just.

Understanding and knowing the awareness of where all your money is going throughout the month. So we really just want to list everything down on paper. And remember your, a bill is anything that you’re being charged for anything that you’re being invoiced for. So anything that you get are automatically that’s being charged every month, whether it’s a, somewhere, like whatever account we’re going to try to bring that all on the budget in the bill section.

Yeah. And so one way that you can discover these things is go to whatever different accounts or credit cards or you guys don’t have credit cards. So awesome. That you have, because. There might be scattered, but we want to go look through and see if we can find them. And that will help.

We call it a 90 day audit. If we go back three months, that will help you set up the next part, which is spending. Okay. This is more fun. We’re getting a little more fun vibes here. So spending breaks down and then this is why we made our budget this way. That’s what you do with your hands, with your money is you spend it.

Okay. Like you swipe, you go out and you swipe. And swipe the card. So spending is gas spending is groceries. Spending is getting your haircut. But then it’s also the fun stuff like going out to eat. It’s going to Costco or that’s not fun. I don’t find that fun, but other people do.

But going out shopping. We have a new store in the mall that we love. That one is fun. It’s called Versona. So anyway going shopping or maybe taking kids out to dinner or whatever. Stuff like that. That’s the fun stuff. We’re gonna list out a budget. A budgeted amount for that, but it’s okay. Because it doesn’t have to be a little amount.

It can be whatever you want and whatever you can afford. But we just want to have that in there. Because like just because you can afford something doesn’t mean you should. But what happens is once you get this number, get these numbers down Lisa, what you’ll find is it’s, I actually want to stick within those numbers because everything else is working.

And I, I feel. I know how much I can spend. I know I can spend, I don’t feel restricted. And it’s so much easier to do that. Once you know the numbers, then when you’re just like, they’re swirling around in your head.

Correct.

Okay. So it said a lot of things before I add in what I wanted to add in. What are you have any thoughts or questions so far?

So you said there were five income debt bills spending.

Yep. Yeah. We’re going to get to the savings. That’s the savings section. Yeah. I didn’t know if you had any questions about spending yet.

No.

Okay. Okay. Good. Yeah.

So the last section of your budget is the savings. Okay. And so we, you fill in everything else first, that is the last part. And for you, since you don’t have debt, you probably are going to be able to put in some savings there.

And so we like to break it down into categories. So the first one, usually the more responsible one is annual bills. So anything that you’re paying for annually. Your prime membership, maybe you have a Costco membership, maybe you have HOA or whatever, all that stuff. You’re going to add in there.

We have a savings bucket tracker. That’s also in, in the system. So you’re gonna put that there and then maybe you’re saving for travel. Maybe you’re saving for Christmas. Maybe you have gifts that you have going on. Maybe you have college or grandkids or something. Maybe. So all we want to list all those categories out.

I do want to say though, if you’re, if you guys are adding money to investments, that’s goes in your bills column. So make sure you don’t put that in your savings section. A lot of people will think that they put it there because they’re quote unquote saving money, but that’s actually a bill that you’re sending somewhere to invest in, right?

So that it doesn’t go in your savings section. Yeah. And I want to say you, you mentioned being disciplined. I feel like the right word or what we notice people want is they want to know where their money is going and that they have money when the moment comes to spend it or to do whatever.

And that’s really what the savings buckets do. Those are all the unexpected expenses. We’re putting them in the budget on purpose so that I feel like I, it is a sort of discipline, but I know I have the money and that’s where I know I have the money on purpose. It’s not that I can’t afford it, But I have designated the money for this thing and that’s why doing the budget is really important overall because it’s really gonna The budget is saying what your life is right the spending categories I have a client she came on when she first came on she said i’ll do what you tell me but my Eating out and travel is non negotiable.

Yeah.

So they, there’s two of them and they have a thousand dollar eating out budget every month. And then they travel a lot. And so I was like, that’s fine. That’s that. And that’s what I mean by your budget is your life. You get to make whatever it is. You just want to make sure it’s organized and it’s actually aligning to what you want your life to look like.

Yeah. And don’t like, some people will go look at. Sample budgets and what should I be spending money on? No, the idea here is to look at how am, you want to ask two questions. What am I doing and what do I want to be doing? So that’s where you really want to start. Ask yourself those questions and then set up your budget.

Shana said, it should align with your vision and your goals and what you guys have coming up. What’s exciting and mindful to you.

I like the what am I doing and then what do I want to be doing? And that’s really what I’m driving at is just how do I make sure that I’m making the most of the money and not just buying that pair of shoes if I really would rather save up for that trip.

If you need the shoes, then you need shoes. There’s a difference. So if, when you look at our, the system, we have a savings bucket tracker that’s in there and that’s really going to allow you to plan out your year. And especially since it’s the end of the year right now for you from the time that we’re recording this for you to be able to go, okay, how much are we going to spend on travel in 2025?

How much do I think we normally spend on clothes? And you can categorize that out, put that in the budget. And then, that all that is taken care of all the birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, all the holidays, travel, all that is done. It’s in your budget. And then girl go crazy on your spending.

But if you, if none of that is filled in yet, Then maybe cut it back a little bit on your spending so that way you can fill that other stuff in because if that’s what you want to do. That, and that’s what the budget allows for. So when you’re making all of that and you’re saying, I’m setting this aside, I’m setting this aside, I’m setting this aside.

And then I have this amount that I get to spend. And so what you’re going to do is you’re going to open a separate account where That spending money goes into and so that all you have to do is look at that number, Lisa, to say, am I getting the shoes or not, because I have money to spend and I know if I just stick within whatever this amount is, everything else that I want to have happen will happen and I don’t have to worry.

I will be paying my bills easily. I will be saving for travel. I’ll be saving for the kids to do this or whatever. And, but I have this money right here and I can do whatever I want with it. And it’s in a separate account. So I don’t have to be tracking and looking at all the other stuff. I just have to stick within that one.

I think that’s what people love so much is I can spend this. But all of this is still happening. The investments are happening. The savings buckets are happening. All my bills are happening. You don’t have to do anything over there because you’ve set that all up automatically. And then really, like Shana is saying, you only have to really focus on the spending section of your budget because that’s.

That’s where you live. Anyways, that’s where you’re spending money out of. As long as you stay within those limits. Like I had a new client and they’re brand new and we’re really trying to work on her budget. And I said, look, you have 1, 800 this month to spend. I don’t care what you do with it, but don’t go over.

It’s that’s what you got because we’re really trying to get everything else under control. And she’s okay, done. Like I’m not worried about tracking how much did you spend on gas and how much did you spend on food? I don’t care. You have 1, 800. Have fun. Bye. Figure it out, but just only in that amount.

Right.

Yeah. That’s great. That’s very helpful.

Okay. Here’s another step. So you’re gonna what your spending categories will also be different accounts. You’re gonna have a bills account that’s gonna take care of all your bills. You’re gonna have a gas and groceries account that’s gonna take care of that. Because that’s a need.

So we’re putting the money in the need. And then I also want an account that’s a one, which is my spending. And then you can also have as many savings as you want. Savings accounts. Yes. And so the way it works and trust us, this is what you want. It might sound a little overwhelming, but what it’s going to do, Lisa is allow you to do it automatically without having to do anything with your hands.

That’s what we want. So the income goes into the bills account. And then according to your budget, which you have the system, it’ll do the math for you. And it’ll say, What transfers are going to go to each account. So let’s say you’re going to do 500 to groceries, 300 to spending and 500 to travel, or for example you can set those transfers up automatically.

To happen on payday. Yeah. To happen. Yeah. Whenever it is convenient, with your schedule and your pay schedule. And then guess what? You’re saving money for everything automatically. Your bills are getting paid automatically and you have money every, whatever days you set up, you have money to spend every time.

And you’re not in, you don’t have to do it. So that’s the best part is like you’re it’s hands off once you set it up, it’s hands off and then you can just wake up in the morning and voila, you have money in your account and you’re ready to go.

Perfect.

You’re the easiest student ever. Obviously you’re already halfway there because you’re not in debt and you guys are, you’re making good money and you’re in this transition period. So that probably puts you way ahead. So if you set this system up, it can run automatically and you can just enjoy retirement.

Hello. What a concept.

I love it. That’s fantastic. And I think the challenge, what I like about your program is just the ability to lay it out in advance. It’s not restrictive and the hands off is fantastic. Everything I do is auto pay. So I like that. But then taking it to the next level of allocating. The money into each of those accounts, so then it’s covered there and then the rest I can either save or go buy some new shoes.

Yes. We need to see the shoes because they’re there. We’re excited about the shoes. I have told myself I’m not allowed. I have no more shoe cubbies in my shoe box. You have to give one to get one. So I’m like, okay, you’re not allowed to buy any more shoes

Yes, our role now is 2 out for 1 in. So that’s the role we’re operating at. I’m not really there yet, but I’m working on it.

But it’s a concept. Yeah. It’s in the works.

is. It is.

Okay. Lisa, we’re obviously emails, any questions if you, as you continue to set it all up, we’re here. We’re happy to help. We’re excited for you guys and your next step. It’s a big deal. It’s a fun season of life. So thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing your story.

Cause we know that you shared your story. There’s somebody else out there that this is blessing and that’s helping that. Doesn’t maybe have the courage to come on or just forgot to ask. So

Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

have a good one, Lisa. Have a good weekend.

You too. Bye.