Yahweh’s Money®️: The Crossroads of Religion & Money

Revisiting a Fan Favorite: Review, Reflect, & Reset Your Finances

• Crusaders for Change, LLC • Season 3 • Episode 72

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On this episode we revisit a pivotal episode, "Review, Reflect, and Reset Your Finances," where they share personal stories, such as selling a condo in Puerto Rico, to highlight the importance of reflecting on past financial achievements and setting fresh goals. Through a faith-based lens, they celebrate the wins and recognize their growth, offering hope and resilience for what's next.

Managing personal finances is crucial, and they've got some strategies to share. From pausing Amazon purchases to reconsidering your streaming services and possibly returning to cable, they explore ways to make entertainment choices more cost-effective. Listen as Shay and Vanessa discuss the psychological impact of spending habits formed in childhood and offer tips for resetting budgets for the new year. Plus, they uncover the benefits of thrift shopping and dollar stores in even the most affluent areas. Join them for a session filled with practical advice and spiritual encouragement to manage your finances with intention and faith.

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Our podcast is proudly sponsored by Crusaders for Change, LLC (C4C) and hosted by our CEO and Founder, Mrs. Shay Cook. At C4C, we provide customized corporate financial wellness programs for businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations. Our services are tailored to create happier, healthier, and more productive work environments. We also empower individuals and couples to overcome debt, improve their credit, boost savings, and more. Ready to learn more about how C4C can impact your life? Contact us today at https://www.crusaders4change.org/!

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Shay:

Ever felt those awkward vibes when religion and money come up? You're not alone. Welcome to Yahweh's Money, the podcast where we tackle the crossroads of faith and finance. I'm Shay Cook, an Accredited Financial Counselor and the CEO and founder of Crusaders for Change LLC.

Vanessa:

And I'm Vanessa McNelley, Accredited Financial Counselor and COO of Crusaders for Change. Join us on our journey as we discuss topics like tithing, saving, and conquering debt through religious perspectives. Let's get started.

Shay:

Welcome back. Today, we'll be revisiting episode 44, Review, Reflect and Reset your Finances, one of our most downloaded episodes, filled with wisdom for those wanting to get their finances in order. This episode is special as it is about embracing change and using reflection for growth and principles that resonate as we navigate life's seasons. We also want to honor our former co-host, Vanessa, who has moved on to new adventures. We appreciate her contributions and wish her well. Exciting ideas and impactful episodes are ahead, so stay tuned. Now let's dive into this powerful reminder of how faith and finances can transform your life.

Vanessa:

Oh man, I wasn't quite ready for that.

Shay:

I know that was like quick Five, four, three, two, one. All right, let's go. Let's go. We're talking about reviewing and reflecting and resetting your finances because it's almost a new year. 2024 is almost here. My god, that's crazy. Oh lord, I'll be 45 in a couple weeks, Vanessa you'll be 29 no, I'm 45. I don't be playing those games. My sister has been saying she's been 29 for so long she don't even know how old.

Vanessa:

She's right, I'm 40 to say that stuff. Yeah, she's like it's weird we're the same age, both 29 weird but I'm happy to be 45.

Shay:

I mean I just I'm happy to be 45, because that means God is providing and he is blessing me so I'm happy to be 29. Yeah, I know you look great girl 29 I thought you were 21, but okay, okay.

Vanessa:

No, I'm really going to be 43.

Shay:

That's a beautiful number. Two of my favorite numbers four and three, 34 a little better. So, as the year comes to a close, now is a great time to reflect on the past year and plan for the upcoming one. The Bible says, for everything that was written in the past was written to teach us so that through the endurance taught in the scriptures and the encouragement they provide, we might have hope. Romans 15, four. I love that because we can we. Everything in life is a lesson and we should teach, treat it as such. And you know I feel like God as you. If you learn a lesson, he doesn't have to put you through that fire again, Cause I always tell people like why are you going through this again? You didn't learn it the 15th time ago? You know what I mean. So like it's the cool to be able to learn from the lessons and get endurance and encouragement from that to move forward and have that hope.

Vanessa:

And it's so weird we're talking about this today, because I was having that conversation last night like seriously, about everything being a lesson and we're supposed to learn from it and if we don't, we're going to go through it again.

Shay:

Oh my God, you can be hardheaded too.

Vanessa:

Oh, I'm very hardheaded, I'm very stubborn, very.

Shay:

My family's like uh-huh, uh-huh. I mean, I don't know what it is Sometimes, I just need to be going through it. Why am I going through this again? Why didn't I learn this back in 1985? I'm going through it again now, in a whole other century. I'm in the 2000s. I'm not even in the 1900s anymore. It's just crazy. We were born in the 1900s, but you say it like that. It seems like we're really old.

Vanessa:

You are not me, no, yeah.

Shay:

I'm sorry, you were born in 2003. Thanks, but here are some tips to help you make the most of this time. You know, when it come into a close is like, for example, reviewing and inflecting on your financial goals. What goals did you achieve? Celebrate the wins. You can also look at creating new goals if needed, and are there goals you have to adjust, readjust? So these are the kind of things you can reflect back on on your goals. So any goals you want to share or any of these things, Sure, yeah, yeah.

Vanessa:

And I think something we need to remember first and foremost is, when we do this, it's so cool to kind of see how far we've come.

Shay:

Yes, yes.

Vanessa:

There's always growth. There's always growth and it's hard to see it in that moment, but when you look back you can really see what's changed for you, and usually it's a good change, and we've had some times where things are bad.

Shay:

Yeah.

Vanessa:

Um, but yeah, but it's. It's nice to be able to say oh, my goodness, like this time last year, I would have been so happy and feel so blessed to be where I'm at right now. Forget those things. So I think it's a great time to kind of think about that and say, okay, you know we've done this far, what's next? Yeah, but it's okay to sit in your moment too and enjoy what you have.

Vanessa:

So I think there's a balance there. But you know so some one of my goals this year was I had a condo in Puerto Rico and I love Puerto Rico but I just don't get to go very often. So for me one of the things was to sell that property and then feel a little more financially secure, which just happened this week.

Shay:

Yeah, congratulations, that goal was met Yep.

Vanessa:

So now I've just got to kind of figure out what my next move is for my goals for 2024. Yeah, but, yeah. But goals don't even have to be that big. It can just be, you know, be able to live within your means or feel a little more secure about your savings. So, you know they don't have to be big goals, but it does feel good when you can check something off your list.

Shay:

Exactly Our biggest goal that we accomplished this year which I think was due to 15 years of planning, which is crazy is we bought a new home and so we had tried several other times over those 15 years starting. So we bought our home in 2007, our first home, a townhome and three years later we were like try to sell it. That didn't work out and it was like a letalana in school. So a lot of things started happening and we just kind of surrendered to sell it. That didn't work out and then it was like I'm going to let Alana in school. So a lot of things started happening and we just kind of surrendered to God and said okay, and then we tried again. That wasn't successful. The third time we were, it was perfect timing. Thank God, it was all God really Cause the amount of money we got on that home. We wouldn't have gotten any other time during that cycle and we were able to put a lot of that money into the new house.

Shay:

And so it's funny when I step out, when I go get the mail and I come back and I see my house, I don't know it's just. And again, I don't like to get focused on materialistic things. But when I see this house and when I thought about all the stuff I was asking God for, like I would like walk around my house for 15 years, no-transcript. And then another thing that freaks me out about this house is that it was built in 2016. And 2016,. I was going, I started the hell I went through working at my previous job and I feel like and I know I ain't no, feel like I know God was preparing this house for me and my family, knowing that I was going through all that stuff in 2016 and 2018 at the Coast Guard. And so I was just like wow to me. It's like all these things start coming to me like God, like this is bigger than financial goals. This is what he knew, and again, the idea of having this and that that was all God anyway. So it is like wow, and he provided it all. So that was the biggest thing.

Shay:

But you know, there's been some struggles because I wanted to save more and like my IRAs, my step and stuff. But I felt, and I was shown that I need to put all that money into people, into the, the, the, this business, and that's okay. God will make up for that. And then another little thing is Amazon. It's just so easy to buy things in Amazon and it's like I saw my credit and I always pay my credit card off every month and I know people struggle with that and that can't, and I know I always feel like God is putting me through things so I can better understand things from our clients perspective.

Shay:

And so, because you know, I used to look at people like, why are you buying so much Amazon? And then I became one of those people and I'm like, oh my God, it's just so easy. Ok, I need that, ok. So now I try to just put stuff in the cart and let it sit there for like a week or two and be like do you really need that? Can you save it for later? Or, like my daughter says, save on the carbon footprint and go to Target mom.

Shay:

But yeah, so I've had the big things accomplishments and wins from the house and some unfortunate things I have to readjust, like the retirement savings because of the business, which is great. Sometimes you have to spend money and not save money to move forward in certain aspects. And then little things like controlling my spending around Amazon. So you know, yeah, it's real, but it's good.

Vanessa:

Well, amazon is the devil on earth. I understand completely, because I have that struggle too. Well, it used to be Target.

Shay:

Yeah, it used to be Target, but now I don't even have to go anywhere, I can do it all on a phone and sometimes I'll wake up at two o'clock in the morning and just like, oh yeah, I need that, and go to amazon and I start scrolling. I'm like, oh man, I can't guilty. Yeah, it's just a bad thing, it's so easy to do.

Vanessa:

It's so easy and it's like, if I don't do it now, I'm gonna forget, forget to buy that. And it's like, well, if I forget to buy it, did I really mean it like so I have a wedding that I'm going to on Saturday and I think I bought like maybe seven dresses well, they're not even cheaply expensive on Amazon.

Shay:

Like you can get a dress for like 30, 40 and nice quality too, like okay, it's like I just don't know which one's gonna fit.

Vanessa:

Well, that's part two like we need to just take our butt to the store and buy a dress for like 30, 40 and nice quality too, like okay, it's like I just don't know which one's gonna fit well, that's part two.

Shay:

Like we need to just take our butt to the store and buy a dress.

Vanessa:

One dress, yeah, I may or may not have six packages ready to go back to turn in a kohl's for amazon, uh, but they've been in my car for like three weeks oh my god but yeah, amazon's the devil.

Shay:

And then returning I mean for real, though, we need an amazon sponsorship you're not the devil, amazon, sorry well, you know what I mean. Hey, god created that, so he oversees all of that. So it's all good we gotta just tame that beast.

Shay:

we gotta tame to tame that beast. We got to tame that spending. And the next point is the review your spending, the look back at your spending over the past year and see where you can cut back. If you're not already budgeting, take the time to gather your details of your income and spending for the past few months and do a spend plan, you know. And if you're already budgeting, look through your transactions, see um how your actual spending is compared with your plan spending yeah, mine's the food on amazon.

Vanessa:

I actually did this the other night because I like to sit and do this. I do it late at night too, when I'm sitting in bed and I write everything down on paper, because I'm 29, that's what old women do and I write it on paper and it makes me feel better to actually write it down. And I was like okay, I was like so this is what we're going to do. I was like next month we're not going to buy anything on Amazon. We're going to see how that goes.

Shay:

Yeah, in December.

Vanessa:

Okay, I'm done with Christmas shopping.

Shay:

Oh yeah, you're one of those. I wait to the last minute. Yeah, yeah.

Vanessa:

Yeah. So I was like, okay, we're going to try that and then we're going to put like limits on things, because I used to do that and I think sometimes we just kind of get sloppy to do that or we don't care you know, emotions get the better of us sometimes. So just readjusting those things and then looking at you know my streaming subscriptions because they have gone up this year.

Shay:

Oh my God, no, my husband was telling me about. Hulu is now $17 or something.

Vanessa:

I remember when it was like eight. I mean just crazy yeah.

Shay:

Yeah, and then I pay for two different Netflix accounts. Oh, they got smart and they knew. Oh yeah, you were one of those, okay.

Vanessa:

So I have like, and they're $15.99 now.

Shay:

Yeah, I know I do the Netflix in the house.

Vanessa:

Yeah, so I have mine and I get my dad's too yeah and it's just like.

Shay:

Okay, like by the time I do all this, like cable doesn't sound like a bad idea, even though I don't want cable but um, but yeah, I just want to say that my husband's very smart, it very intellectual man and he everybody's like I'm coming back on cable. I'm coming back on cable nate and t said he was gonna come back to bite you because now we pay for our cable subscription. We got access to everything but hulu and netflix. We got access to hbo max paramount, because everybody you can put through their user same uh login and it's cheaper. So I'm just saying people was knocking cable, but now they're getting you because they're like, in order to have access, you can either pay the 10, 15 per or you just pay for cable and get access to it.

Shay:

It makes more sense, but it's crazy yeah, I may readjust next year.

Vanessa:

So that is your financial tidbit.

Shay:

I know exactly look at that, you know. And then another thing he always said is like a lot of people are cutting cable, but then you have to increase your internet because you need more internet, because you're doing all this streaming. So guess what don't cable providers? Providers, I ain't stupid, they getting their money, they getting their money. So, but yeah, definitely we also look at resetting your budget. After reviewing your transactions, get ready for a little budget housekeeping. If you aren't spending your money with a purpose and a plan, you may not get as far as your financial growth, you mean not meet your financial goals. So you can take this time to pivot if you're overspending, cutting back anywhere that you're spending more than you like, or revising your spending categories, putting more money towards your debts and increasing your savings. So resetting your budget is important, just so you can be like all right. Especially, you know everybody does new goals in January and stuff and you can say prepare in December so you can have a fresh start, a running start, in January.

Vanessa:

It's such a good idea to do it before the holidays.

Shay:

Yeah.

Vanessa:

We all overspend during that time and we just kind of throw the budget out the window.

Shay:

Yeah.

Vanessa:

But if you look at things ahead of time, and you're like ooh, I'm already overspending a little bit. How can I finagle things and kind of get things where I want them to be and that will help keep you on budget and on task for the holidays. First, off and give you a head start for next year.

Shay:

Yeah, that's beautiful, but no shade. But it ain't all because shade don't overspend, because I'm on a budget girl, I'm tight. My husband calls me cheap, even though I'll be like I'm frugal, I ain't cheap, so I'll have you. Like I said on every episode, I have a budget and I stick to my budget and if people want extra stuff and be like, okay, you ain't getting it, or you know I'm not buying for you, or I'll cut from myself, but I, you know I'll sacrifice, but I ain't about that life. I do overspend on other areas, obviously Amazon and stuff like that, but during the holidays for some reason I'm able to just stay. I'm thinking it has to do with childhood and growing up and seeing so many gifts and hearing my parents fight around money about gifts and stuff, because they always overspend.

Shay:

So I have like that in my head like I'm never going to overspend on Christmas I overspend on Not everything else, but on a lot of other things. But, around the holidays. I just, and I think it's like some trauma from childhood that keeps me, it makes sense, though.

Vanessa:

It makes complete sense, because I do that too with my gift giving. Yeah, like it is what it is yeah. But there's always something else that comes up. Or there's an extra party, or there's a you know another somebody who's asking for something for a family or something like that. But yeah, somebody who's asking for something for a family or something like that, um, but yeah, but to me it's like all the other stuff, yeah, all the fluff, exactly, and that's why it's lovely to have like a dollar tree or a thrift store.

Shay:

My sister went to a thrift store recently and she was sharing, we were on facetime. She's like she was in heaven. She's like, especially if you go to a thrift store or a dollar tree and a bougie and I know I've said this before but a high income area, those things be on point, I mean, and it's cheap and it's nice, stuff like that's another tidbit from crusades for change. Go out there, find you a dollar tree or a dollar store and a thrift store. That stuff gonna be nice and cheap and inexpensive. I guess.

Vanessa:

Not cheap but good quality and they have, like I love, facial products yeah. And Dollar Tree is really up their game with these things. So it's like you can get like a really nice face serum and a cream and a mask and you're like, okay, that was $3.75. I would go somewhere else and I would pay triple for one of the products yeah. Yeah, and you can put it in a cute little basket.

Shay:

Exactly, yeah, nice gift, so amazing. And then you also want to check your net worth. You know, compare your liabilities with your assets to see where you stand. Do you have a positive net worth? Unfortunately, a lot of people have a negative net worth. So if you have student loans, a car payment, a mortgage or any other type of debt, it isn't unusual for your net worth to be negative, but there's a reason. There's no reason to be discouraged. You can up your net worth to be negative, but there's a reason. There's no reason to be discouraged. You can up your net worth and get more liabilities what you own versus what you owe assets and be able to increase that. So, yeah, I think that's a great thing to look at net worth. I know working with people that are in a low income or underserved areas. Sometimes we're like looking at a net worth what is this going to do for me? But it actually just gives you an overall view of where you're at and encourages you to move forward to a positive amount.

Vanessa:

Well, and it's so nice to be able to look at those things and just kind of see where you are, because, you're right, most people are negative, especially when they're younger and they're building their life and it's okay. It's a okay to be there. You don't want to stay there, but you know it. It gives you a another goal, though. And it helps you see what that goal should be, Make it a little more clear a smarter goal, those types of things.

Vanessa:

Um, and then I usually go online, I look at like celebrity networks and I will tell you, sometimes that makes you feel better about life too really because they got a lot of debt.

Shay:

I've never done that exactly.

Vanessa:

Oh yeah, exactly and it's fun sometimes to be like hmm, now I am not up there with Beyonce or anything like that, but there are some like lower level celebrities and I'm you know sit there and like, okay, I'm like it makes you feel better about life sometimes. So, yeah, not to like knock somebody.

Shay:

Yeah, we don't want to knock nobody and discourage anybody, but hey you know you got to do what you got to do. Yeah, I can do that in my own family. So these people living them lives and looking like they got everything and be like debt, credit card debt, collections, taxes I'm, I'm good, I ain't worried about it To the bank of Shay though you know that right.

Vanessa:

No, that closed down years ago.

Shay:

I ain't, they ain't, nobody asked me for no money. So they'll be like can you donate to this cause and stuff for me? I'm like, as long as I get a tax receipt, I'm good.

Shay:

Yeah, I'll do it, but I ain't Don't be asking me to pay your electricity bill when I just saw a hundred Amazon packages on your front step. That's all I'm saying. Get your life together, so yeah. And then definitely check your credit score. Reviewing your credit report and making sure there are no errors or fraudulent accounts can help you maintain a good credit score. I don't check my credit report. Oh, yes, I do. I have that Experian email thing and I'll check it once a month and make sure it looks good.

Vanessa:

Yeah, that's something it's such a good thing to do, and people usually don't do this until they know about a house or a car, yeah. And you're like if you would have just done this like six months ago just to get something on there taken off or whatever it might be.

Shay:

Oh my goodness, crusaders for change is what we're here for. We'll help you get that figured out before you buy a house. That's why planning is important.

Vanessa:

Exactly.

Shay:

Yeah, and set new intentions. You know, think about your financial goals for the upcoming year, create a plan, as we just said, to achieve them, and this might include paying off debt, saving for a vacation or starting a business. So you definitely want to have some. I always say dream big, have some big goals. Even if you don't meet them at the end of the year, still just continue. I had this really, really big goal and for the business, and I just I move it, I kick it down the can, but it's at least there. You know, and again I feel, as I've said in another episode, god gave me that that wasn't and he's like I'm going to provide now.

Vanessa:

It might not be on your timeline, but it's going to happen, and so it's nothing like that and you're getting closer. Yeah, you can see like where you are, you know, compared to where you were last year.

Shay:

Yeah.

Vanessa:

So those are always good things and goals are something just like our budgets they're ever moving and ever changing, Like because life doesn't stay still.

Shay:

Not at all. It's a living document. Yeah, exactly.

Vanessa:

It's okay for things to change or you to mark something off that's not important anymore. It's okay for those things to change, even if you check it a few times a year, it's good. You have like a quarterly session to kind of review things Exactly, and then you're not scrambling last minute. But it's okay for things to change and for you to have different intentions than you had before.

Shay:

Yeah, setting new intentions is good and living an intentional life is a beautiful thing. Living with intention not just free nilly, and having that guiding voice, spirit is important too. Again, if you're a believer, in whatever religious background, it's just having a higher power to guide you helps with those intentions. So I would add that in there. And so meeting with a financial professional is our last little tidbit here. If you're unsure where to start, consider meeting with a financial professional, like us Accredited Financial Counselor, who can help you create a personalized plan for your finances. So Crusaders for Change, c4c is here to help.

Shay:

This is what we do, y'all. This is what we do, and we love the Lord too. We do it then. But if you don't want to talk about the Lord while you're doing finances, that's fine. But sometimes I love when my clients bring it up and then we just be like all right, let's talk about the Lord, and finances is a beautiful thing, but we don't got to talk about that. We can be strictly money too. So Crusaders for Change is here to support you. But, yeah, meeting with a finance professional asking for help, or a wise old friend or family member or mentor, I would even add, you know your tribe, as we call it, the money tribe. Find somebody in your tribe to help you.

Vanessa:

Yeah, exactly, and it's never a bad time to want to be a better version of yourself. And it's never a bad time to want to be a better version of yourself. It is never a bad time to make those changes and to kind of go through that. So yeah, so I just say sit down, have these conversations. That they're not super fun sometimes, but it gives you purpose and a goal.

Shay:

And that's priceless. Yeah, exactly, oh, wow. So a lot of great things to do during this time of year and during, you know, reviewing, reflecting and resetting your finances for the beginning of 2024. So any final thoughts?

Vanessa:

Just remember that you don't have to keep up with anybody other than yourself. I ain't living that life no more, so it's okay, right it's okay to be where you're at and it's okay to be happy with what you have.

Shay:

Yeah.

Vanessa:

And you shouldn't let anybody else make you feel bad about that, yeah, exactly um and yeah, and it's okay to reassess and reset and grow a big.

Shay:

Thank you for listening to this episode. We hope you found today's chat about the intersection of religion and money insightful. We would love to hear your feedback.

Vanessa:

Hit that subscribe button or follow the podcast and please feel free to leave us a review yes, and for the latest Yahweh's money content, visit us at www. crusaders4change. org or find us anywhere you listen to podcasts. Until next time, stay financially fit and spiritually inspired.

Shay:

And remember it's always better Yahweh's way.

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