Embrace Boring Wealth | Morgan J Brown | Growing Money with Sean Trace

In this episode of Growing Money with Chandra's, I sit down with financial coach Morgan Brown to talk about what it actually takes to get a handle on your money, especially when your income isn't steady. 

Morgan breaks down why financial stress isn't just a low-income problem, why separating your business and personal finances is non-negotiable, and how the income smoothing account method can take the emotional rollercoaster out of variable income. We also get into the psychology behind money shame, why clarity is more powerful than any investment strategy, and how building financial confidence really just starts with one small goal at a time. 

Whether you're a freelancer, entrepreneur, or just someone who feels behind, this conversation is a reminder that managing money is a skill, and like any skill, it can be learned. What's one money habit you've been putting off that you know would actually change things for you?

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I mean, if you think about it, it's not something, first of all, you're not born knowing how to manage money. Um, and it's not something that you're necessarily taught growing up, and it's not something that you're supposed to talk about. So it's kind of wild that we would automatically expect that we would know how to do it. I mean, it's like a skill. It's like if you wanted to learn how to play tennis, like you don't, you're not going to be good at it from, you know, right out of the gate. You practice, you get a pro that teaches you tactics and skills, and you practice and and eventually you get better at it. But it's not, it's not something that you're just born knowing how to do. And you're absolutely right. It's it's goes across all incomes. You know, I talk to people all the time that that, and I was, I was in that same boat. I was like, why, why am I so behind? Why do I feel like I'm, you know, I'm smart, I'm educated, I'm hardworking. Why can I not figure this out? You know, and I think there's a lot of people in that boat. They say I make good money. Why, why am I so far behind? Why do I feel like I've, you know, I don't have a good grasp on this.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Welcome everybody to the uh Growing My Ocean Trace podcast. I have an awesome guest with me today. Would you like to tell people who you are and a little bit about what you do?

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Sure. Um, my name is Morgan Brown, and I am a financial coach. Um, I help primarily variable um income earners kind of organize and optimize their money so it's less stressful.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

How did you get into this? Like, what was it that started you down this path?

SPEAKER_00 1:29

Uh, really, it's based on my own experience. Um I graduated from college, got a job, um, and you know, did all of the normal things. I had student loans, I had some credit card debt, had a car loan. Um, I ended up quitting my job and going into real estate, investing full time. And I very quickly got in over my head. I found myself six figures in debt. Um at one point I realized that I couldn't pay, I didn't have the money to pay the minimums on my credit cards. And I thought to myself, this is not sustainable. This is crazy. Um, you know, here I am like a young, hardworking, college-educated person. I did all the right things, and I still found myself so incredibly stressed about money. So I took on extra jobs, I started paying off my bet debt, but then I started studying uh personal finance. And it was just something that I was really passionate about. Um, and I, you know, I know that there's so many people out there that are concerned about money, stressed about money. There's a lot of anxiety around money. Um and so I um, you know, I did real estate investing for quite some time. I got, I grew a business, sold a business. And then after that, I kind of decided what my next chapter was gonna be. And I decided that I wanted to become a financial coach.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

That's awesome. You know, and what does a financial coach actually help people with beyond just budgeting or saving money?

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Yeah. Um, I mean, a financial coach, like really we look at the holistic look of your money. So a financial advisor is going to look at your investments. We look at all of your day-to-day money. So your income, your spending, your assets, your debt. Um, and then we get dive deep on, you know, what are your goals? What are your values? Um, is is your spending in alignment with those values? Um, yeah. And right, you know, I mean, really, a job of a financial coach is to highlight, you know, where you are, where you want to be, and then help you create a solid action.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

I like that. You you can't get to where you want to be if you don't know where you're at. You don't have a direction if you don't know where you want to be going. And I think that's one of the people like when I I do video content for people, right? And when I get feedback from someone on the video and they're like, I want it better. What do you mean? Like, do you want better graphics? Do you want it to be more entertaining? Do you want different color? Do you want b-roll? Do you want what do you mean better? Because better is so vague. I want to be better with money. Well, that's also very vague, you know. How can you figure out what it is about money that you want to be better at? You know, do you want to be better at um saving money? Do you want to be better at investing? Do you want to be better at just having a better relationship with money? You know, those are all different things. And yeah, one of the things that I find is that a lot of people don't know how to define that, you know, define that relationship or define what they want.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

Yeah, absolutely. And I think in our society, there's so many, there's so much financial advice out there, and there's so many like shoulds, what you should be doing with money. So anytime I'm approaching somebody and I hear, I know I should be doing this or I should be doing that, my ears always perk up because I always question, what is it, what is it that you think you should be doing? And is that what you really want? You know, let's dig into that. Um, because it may not be, and oftentimes it's not.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

I think that should is a dangerous, dangerous thing because it's a um let's look at it this way. My daughter is built just like me. We are tall and skinny. And everyone at her school, like I she's always got teachers coming up, they're going, You're too skinny, you're too skinny. And they just judge, you should be eating like this, you should be doing this. And my daughter comes up to me and she's like, Do I need to worry? Am I and I said, You're, you know, a mixed-race kid. You're built just like me in a country that is not built like us, you know, it's different. And what someone else is doing that's right for them might not be right for you. You know, you are exercising Muay Thai three days a week. You are also going to dance a couple days a week, you are active at home, you have a different level of energy and you eat a lot. So what you should they say you should be doing might not be right for you. It's just like, you know, if I go to the gym, I have to figure out how to train for myself, not the way someone else trains. I'm not going to train like an Olympian. I mean, I'm not there. It maybe I could, but it's not yet, you know. And so I have to sit there and figure out where I'm at. And once you figure out your where you're at, you can get a better bearing of what you should be doing.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Right. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, financial advice, like any advice, it's not a one size fits all. It really depends on uh the person, their goals, and you know, what they're looking to do.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

I you know, I want to ask you this too, because I meet a lot of really smart people. On my podcast, people come in and some of the smartest people I've ever met, but like some of them are still ashamed and stressed and confused about money. Yeah. Wow. And people think that shame, stress, and confusion only happen when you don't have money. And they don't realize that even people that have a lot of money also have stress, shame, and confusion about money.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

Yeah. I mean, if you think about it, it's not something, first of all, you're not born knowing how to manage money. Um, and it's not something that you're necessarily taught growing up, and it's not something that you're supposed to talk about. So it's kind of wild that we would automatically expect that we would know how to do it. I mean, it's like a skill. It's like if you wanted to learn how to play tennis, like you don't, you're not going to be good at it from, you know, right out of the gate. You practice, you get a pro that teaches you tactics and skills, and you practice and and eventually you get better at it. But it's not, it's not something that you're just born knowing how to do. And you're absolutely right. It's it's goes across all incomes. You know, I talk to people all the time that that, and I was, I was in that same boat. I was like, why, why am I so behind? Why do I feel like I'm, you know, I'm smart, I'm educated, I'm hardworking. Why can I not figure this out? You know, and I think there's a lot of people in that boat. They say, I make good money. Why, why am I so far behind? Why do I feel like I've, you know, I don't have a good grasp on this?

SPEAKER_01 8:02

I understand entirely. And it's like one of the things, too, that I think is really interesting is when someone's, you know, comes in, we we can't know everything. You know, it is impossible to know everything. And when someone's income goes up and down a lot, you know, it can feel overwhelming for them, you know. And I think one of the hardest things is that people don't know where to start. And when someone's income goes up and down a lot, what is the first thing they need to get under control?

SPEAKER_00 8:34

So that's yeah, that's a great question. Um, when somebody's income goes up and down a lot, it can add an element of stress that is just non-existent if you've got a steady paycheck. Um but the first thing that you really need to get under control is you need to know what your baseline is. What are your monthly expenses? Um, and then I even break it out like what are we what are our bare essentials? Um, and then what's the lifestyle that we want to be living that's realistic? Um, but you need you need to know that number. Um, and then the second thing that I have uh my clients do is to open up a separate account uh for, you know, owners comp. I call it the income smoothing account. So um you put your earnings into that account um and you pay yourself the same paycheck every month. Um, because what I see a lot happen is um people's income, um, their lifestyle will follow their income. If they have a couple of good months, they will maybe start to loosen their belts a little bit. They'll buy some things, they'll go out to eat more, maybe they book that trip, um, that sort of thing. And then it when the season slows down, they get really scared and they contract. And that's really um exhausting financially and emotionally. So um having a separate account um where they pay themselves the same consistent amount every month can take a lot of the anxiety out of it.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

It can be so much helpful because, you know, one of the things that I find is that people um don't have an understanding of how to set up the basics. Um, you know, how to set up multiple accounts so that you're not that you have a clear savings account that you don't touch, an emergency fund that you don't touch. Um, you know, one of the things for me, it's I started growing my business, and one of the biggest things I was looking at was um lifestyle creep was something that was starting to sneak in. Yeah. And I think that I'm pretty good with money. But then, you know, well, hey, I've got those credit cards that get those points, and you know, I getting the points is a good thing. But then suddenly I realized I was allowing myself to slip into this game that wasn't right. You know, and one of the earliest things I did that I was so successful is I was setting up a kind of modified envelope method. And I was winning when I did that. So I found my budget from a while back today when I was doing cleaning out some paperwork and I saw the the uh the envelope method I set up and I was like, yeah, I'm going back to this. This next month, I'm going back to that, and having a really clear uh bearing of what I'm doing every single day. And, you know, I want to ask you too, because like, how should people think about money when they don't have a steady paycheck or when they have things that are going up and down? How do should they approach it?

SPEAKER_00 11:17

Well, I think you just need to be a lot more intentional. Um, in it in that you start planning, um, start by planning two weeks in advance and then a month in advance, and then and then multiple months in advance, you start to think of your income coming in waves and you start to notice patterns as to when it's going to be um, you know, slower. And like let's take real estate, for instance. Here in Colorado, real estate has a seasonal market. So like April through October, agents are really busy, people are buying and selling homes, but in the wintertime, you know that it's going to be a little bit slower. So when you're looking at your income in waves, you can start to predict, um, predict that income. And again, the key is to be able to have that money in a separate account so you can see what kind of runway you have. So if you know you're you need to pay yourself $5,000 every month, you can look in that account and say, I've got $20,000. I'm good for four months, but I know I need to get some closings between now and then.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

I love that too, because I think that one of the things that to me makes a lot of sense is to have that clarity. You know what you're looking at. And I mean, that that evil word budget, you know, like when people sit there and go, oh no, I budget. But you know, like a budget's just a snapshot. It's like jumping on a scale. And you see, where am I at today? You know, today I'm at this weight. Well, I would like to gain weight or I'd like to lose weight, but you don't know which direction you want to be going without having a clear picture. And maybe you need a better picture, you know, maybe you need to check your bone density, muscle, whatever. They have all those fancy things now. You know, and I think that you know, a financial snapshot is much the same. You are breaking things down so that you can get a better understanding. I one of the things I absolutely love is looking at where is my money going, you know, and to know am I wasting money on this? How much am I spending on transportation? I have a a friend of mine that spends an exorbitant amount on transportation because they have to commute. And they had to sit there and figure out, you know what? My big truck is not a good option right now. And they picked up a really inexpensive commute commuter car that cut that that cost down to a small fraction of what it was. Yeah. But if you don't look for those things and figure out where that's going, you can't fix it.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Yep, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

What what are some common mistakes that people make with their personal finances, whether that be an entrepreneur or someone else?

SPEAKER_00 13:49

Um well, I think so, yeah, there's a few things that I see that are pretty common. One, if you're an if you're an entrepreneur, um, you have to have your business and your personal finances separate. Um that should that should be a no-brainer, but it's actually very, very common for people to kind of commingle um and kind of move money around um with no particular cadence or rhythm to it. So that's the first thing. Um the second thing is, um, and we kind of touched on this, but being really clear with your numbers, both what it takes to operate your business and what it takes to operate your personal life. Um, because knowing those numbers gives you a lot of clarity as to what you need to be, what you need to be doing and what direction you need to be going. Um, and then the third is um, like I said, moving money around. Um I see a lot of people that will um not pay themselves on a consistent schedule. So it's, you know, my checking account is low. I'm gonna transfer money from my business. Maybe the business is now low and we're transferring money back and forth. And it just creates a lot of um unnecessary chaos. Um setting aside for taxes is always a big one. Um a lot of a lot of people, it's something that's not pressing. So they um, you know, don't necessarily set aside that money for taxes, but you know that bill is coming. Um, it always does, and that that can derail, you know, an otherwise good year. Um, so that's that's uh something. And then honestly, um making sure that you're setting aside money for long-term goals like retirement. Um 34% of small business owners um don't have any kind of retirement, which is shocking and scary. Um, but making sure that that's baked into your into your plan is super important.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

I love that because if you're not checking these things, then you're gonna have a problem, you know? And I think that when you can check these things, it makes it uh a lot easier. But I want to ask you too, uh, or not preparing, because like I know that like I remember one day I went out hiking with a friend and we were hiking in the woods uh out toward these hot springs, and we, you know, thought it was gonna get medium cold. It got really cold, and we were not prepared, and we were suddenly out in the woods very underprepared for this very cold weather. And luckily we got back to our car in time, but we were sitting there going, Well, that that was scary. Like that was that was the coldest I've ever been in without having like the right clothing. And we should have known, but we didn't, and we didn't prepare. And that being unprepared was something that was downright dangerous, you know. And I want to ask you this because shifting gears a little bit, you know, for you you talk about women specifically. What money conversations do you think are still not happening enough there?

SPEAKER_00 16:42

Um, I think two things. One, I still I talk to a lot of women that say something along the lines of, my husband handles the finances, I wouldn't even know where to start. Um, and I just want to stress that women really need to have a seat at the financial table. So you need to know even if one partner is in charge of paying the bills and that sort of thing, totally fine. But you need to know, you know, the income expenses, your assets, what your retirement looks like. Um, you can't outsource it to your partner, your advisor, or anyone else. You really need to know what's going on because God forbid, if anything were to happen, you need to know. You just, it's it's essential that you know. Um, and then the other thing is, you know, I think it's really important for women to have the ability to earn money. And some women choose to take time out of their careers for, you know, kids and and uh caregiving and that sort of thing. And that's a wonderful, beautiful choice. But I think women still need to have the ability to earn. Um, and I just I talk to women that say things like, you know, I'm coming out of a divorce or my husband passed away, that type of thing. And if they don't have um the ability to earn, they can find themselves in a really scary, vulnerable situation.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

I have a daughter, and one of the things that I'm trying to do is instill in her these financial principles. But, you know, if she doesn't make the same amount as someone else, if she's having to deal with inequalities, if she's having to deal with challenges that other people might not have, it's it's hard to keep to like to have an even playing field, first of all. But the concepts I think are so important. And if you can get people understanding what are the games that we need to play financially? Like, I think a lot of people aren't aware that there are games being played. And whether you like it or not, there are a lot of financial games, and you have to be ready and aware to learn how to win, you know, because I think any of us can. You can win financially, but you have to go at it in a different way. Now, how does someone start rebuilding confidence if they feel behind financially?

SPEAKER_00 18:59

I would start small. I would um uh sit down and realistically look at where you are. Um, so again, you want to look at your income, your expenses, your assets, your debt, and just get a really good picture of where you are and then start small, set a goal. Um, you know, I think confidence is built with momentum. So um, if you can set a goal of I'm gonna save up a $500 emergency fund, um, and then you accomplish that goal, you're showing yourself that you, that you can win with money, that you can win the game. And you just go from there. Um, so you know, just one goal at a time and accomplish it and start to build confidence from there.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

I love that. I think the best things in life, the best things in the world are accomplished one thing at a time. Like, you know, we want to be able to win big. But sometimes winning big is accomplished by putting one foot in front of the other. And I think that that is the thing that I had to teach myself is that in any thing that I'm working on, uh, can I break it down into actionable steps? Because those actionable steps are gonna help you get there. And, you know, we don't always know how to take those steps, but I do know that, you know, just figuring out what's what can I do right now? You know, um, I want to be successful. What can I do right now? Well, maybe for me, that's having this podcast. That's you know, figuring out what I can do today to move the needle a little bit. Because for each of us, that's gonna be something different, you know. I think that a lot of people want to focus on results, but I think one of the most important things you can do is to focus on the process because the process is really the whole game, you know?

SPEAKER_00 20:54

Yeah, I love that. And you're absolutely right. What's one thing that you can do right now? Is it researching, researching? Is it opening an account? Is it start putting five dollars away, you know, a day? What's one thing that you can do right now that's going to move you forward? Um, and those small steps, they add up.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

I a hundred percent agree. I think those small steps are really the thing that's gonna make the difference. But you know, you have to again know your values, know your direction, and put those things into place every single day. Because if you can put those pieces in place every single day, you're gonna be making that movement. And that movement is I work with people with content. And again, one video is gonna do nothing, you know. But when you have a lot of videos that you get out online and every single day you're sharing with people, you're getting your content out there so it can be seen, so people can be inspired, and that you can kind of tell the story and the narrative that you think people need to be hearing, it does make a difference, and people do start to. notice but it's one little video at a time and that can feel it can feel boring to some people well you know this month i'm i'm setting my boundary to like this is how much i'm spending every day like that's not going to help me win financially it is that is exactly the thing that's gonna help you win financially but it doesn't feel glamorous you know i i knew this one person who was a college classmate of mine and they were big into bitcoin and like oh it's the bitcoin this bitcoin that and they wanted flashy and then after bitcoin went from tiny to very very big i i i checked in with that person years later and they were still at the same place financially and i thought you i thought you invested all this and into bitcoin and had other investments too yeah well it and there was all these excuses and when i i dug deeper and my friend love the pieces didn't have good financial habits and they weren't really doing the things that could help you know and i mean i think that it's not about having some magic investment whether that's crypto or this investment or gold or oil or whatever it's about being disciplined and having a plan because at the end of the day you might you might win the lottery and then that money's gone in a week because you don't know how to handle it you know yeah absolutely yeah you're absolutely right i mean it's just it's taking consistent steps every day um to move you forward the really when I start working with clients there's oftentimes a lot of um anxiety and shame and stress around money we want to get to the point where it's kind of boring you know you have your system set up everything's kind of operating in the background and you'll you'll eventually see the wins and reap the rewards of that but it's it's really kind of boring and that's what we're going for.

SPEAKER_00 23:49

That's what we want.

SPEAKER_01 23:51

Yeah you want it to be boring you want it to be simple and you don't want things to get too too heavy or crazy you know and I I think that that's something that goes opposite to what people think it should be going you know and so I I I just try to remind myself that every single day what's this the thing I can do? What's the thing I can do today? What's the thing I can do to move the needle a little bit but it's an emotional thing. You know I have to work with myself emotionally and think about that. And I want to ask you do like what does the emotional side of money look like when someone is building a business or just in daily life you know yeah that's a great question.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

You know especially when you're building a business um the emotional side it can be you're it can be on a roller coaster really it feels like you're on a roller coaster. So you um have a good month or you have a couple of closings and you feel on top of the world and then things slow down and it gets really scary really fast. You know, when you're building a business especially um it just you have to keep in mind that it's going to take longer and cost more than you expect. When I started my previous business I was able I went two years without taking a paycheck because we were putting everything back into the business. And the only way that I was able to do that was because our personal finances were super solid. But you know the reality is most businesses go 20% of businesses go out of business within a year and almost 50% go out within five years.

SPEAKER_01 25:22

And one of the main factors is not having um it's financial stress a year or two ago I was having major mental health stuff going on and I was trying to figure what out what what's going on because I life is good this is good but then it suddenly clicked in me like I wasn't depressed. I was stressed about money. And I actually loved my life I loved most of the things in my life but I was really stressed about money and that money stress was something that was causing me to feel overwhelmed and anxious and all these other things. Yeah. And I want to ask you about that like someone who's dealing with that level of anxiety and stress how do they try to calm that down are there practical things they can do in that day to try to minimize the anxiety or stress yeah I mean it's it's really very common for people to be stressed about money.

SPEAKER_00 26:16

And when you think about it money touches everything in our lives everything from the small daily decisions to the big decisions it touches everything. So a lot a lot of the stress and anxiety I think comes from just not having clarity. Once you have everything and you know where you stand, even if it's not a great situation, at least you know what where you need to go from here. But when you have it's just kind of this ambiguous you know stress cloud that hangs over you it it really can just be very daunting. And yeah there is a lot of um mental health that goes along with that people fight with their spouses they lose sleep they um you know physically have reactions um yeah it it yeah but having clarity can really make a big difference I think you have to name it you know you have to name that thing that's giving you stress you have to identify what it is you got to point it out and say um I am stressed because of that whatever that might be because once you name it you start to give it an identity and you start to be able to go okay now let's circle around this thing.

SPEAKER_01 27:28

Are there any ways that I can be attacking this today are there any ways that I can be working on this today are there any ways that I can minimize it's uh the the power that it has over me today maybe you're stressed about money. So maybe the thing is that you're not making enough well something you can do about that is to have someone help you with a resume or send out some resumes or um go to your boss and ask for a raise you know all of these are things that you could be doing that would give this this thing that has power over you less power. You know and if there's other things in your life you know I don't know how to handle I feel anxiety about money. Well maybe finding a financial therapist or a financial planner or a financial coach who can sit there and talk to you and go, let's talk about that. Let's hear what you're dealing with and figure out how to get to the other side of that. Because I think if you can do that it it's going to steer you in the right direction. And at the end of the day that's what you need to be doing. You need to be going in the right direction um you know and you you need to be figuring it out because if you can get that North Star and sometimes you can't figure out that north star by yourself. Sometimes you do need people to help you but if you can figure it out it makes the next steps easier. Not easy but easier. And action what breeds confidence right um yeah once you start sending out those resumes once you start moving in a direction you start to gain confidence um but it all starts with knowing no naming what it is and knowing where you stand um and that clarity um is is can be very eye-opening I love it and I I think that that getting that clarity is such a good thing because once you get it um I the power's back in your court you know you you have it like I was gaining a little bit of weight and I that's something I've I I eat a very clean diet but I found this really delicious white bread up the street little bread rolls and they were so yummy. And I ate one every morning and one became two became three three became five I ate it every day with some fruit it was delicious and I started to put on a little bit and one of the day one of my workers who I really respect came up to me she says wow Mr. Sean I was like yes you're really fat right now I was like wow that's painful right now but hey hang on what do you mean I'm not I I'm I'm big boned I'm and then I was really I see I was like whoa what did I do I kind of let myself slip a little bit there and it wasn't that bad and it was just it's funny because uh I'm in a very different culture and people engage in different ways and they talk in different ways it probably would do that back home. But it did help me get an awareness of like maybe I need to make a change and I was making a change because I wasn't feeling great. I wasn't feeling yeah eating all that those carbs every day wasn't the best thing for me. But if I didn't identify it and get that help in identifying that I had a problem then you know my friend my my my worker looked at me and said Mr. Sean eating all that that sugar that's like not healthy for you like that's a lot of sugar in your diet you have all the fruit and you've got all the carbs it's like sugar sugar sugar and I was just like you're right and I made a change but it was something that someone else was able to bring to my attention. And I want to ask you this like when someone sells a business or suddenly receives a larger amount of money what should they be thinking about first?

SPEAKER_00 31:12

Great question. Well first of all take a moment to just breathe especially if you sell a business like a lot of times your identity was wrapped up in that business. It's something that you poured your heart and soul into for however many years. So that can be a big shift. So I think it's important to just breathe for a minute. The next thing of course would be um you know make sure that you've got money set aside for taxes. That can be a little bit of a sticker shock um when you receive a large large sum of money um taxes. And then you know I would work on um setting the foundation so if you don't already I would pay off any high interest debt I would you know make sure your emergency fund is fully funded that sort of thing. But beyond that, I that's where it gets really fun. You can start thinking about what your next chapter is going to look like. So do you want to start another business? Do you want to buy real estate? Do you want to invest it? Do you want to just maybe take some time off you know but I sold my business in 2022 um and I took a year sabbatical um which was one of the best decisions I've ever made. It just you know is allowed me some time to dial back, slow down, spend time with my kids and um just kind of figure out what my next chapter was going to be as opposed to jumping into something. So my advice would be you know take care of the basics but beyond that just give yourself some time to you know relax and figure out your next move.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

I love that I want to ask you another question because I love so many, but what's one simple money habit that can help someone feel more stable even if their income and business is unpredictable what's something they can start today I would recommend they start pick a time um every week put it on their calendar if they have a spouse um put it on both of your calendars but have a money date every week.

SPEAKER_00 33:08

I love that um it does so much when you're looking at your money um it can just be you know a 15 20 minute you know quick meeting but when you're looking at your money every week you start to realize like the your friend that was spending too much on transportation you start to look and you're like oh gosh I had no idea that I'm spending X on you know but you have to be looking at it. I think a lot of people only look at their money when things are tight or scary or stressful, when something goes wrong. But having that regular cadence, whether things are good or stressful, you're looking at your money and you're asking yourself the same questions every week you know what do we have coming up? What happened last week? What can where can I improve? You know, that sort of thing you start to get ahead of it and you start planning and just overall becoming a lot more intentional.

SPEAKER_01 33:55

I love that.

SPEAKER_00 33:56

Well I want to ask you where can people go to learn more about you and what you do um so my uh my company is called yourmoneyproject.com on LinkedIn I'm under Morgan J. Brown um and I'm also on Instagram at MorganJ Coach