Good Neighbor Podcast Live

Holistic Coaching That Aligns Values With Spending, Saving, And Earning

• Garfield Bowen & Carrie Friedberg

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Money isn’t just math; it’s memory, emotion, and daily behavior. We sit down with holistic financial coach Carrie Friedberg with SF Money Coach to unpack how values-driven choices make budgets actually work in the real world. Carrie shares how she helps individuals, couples, and multi-generational families align spending, saving, and earning with what matters most—then build systems that bend with life’s curveballs rather than break at the first surprise expense.

We challenge common myths head-on. A static budget won’t save you, and “no emotion in money” ignores how real people live. Carrie breaks down simple practices—fifth grade math, real-time cash flow tracking, and small, repeatable habits—that reduce stress and build financial confidence quickly. She highlights why early twenty-somethings face the highest risk for costly mistakes and offers guardrails to avoid credit card debt, manage impulse spending, and create momentum with automatic transfers and sinking funds.

Carrie also lifts the curtain on how she reaches clients: strong SEO, Yelp profiles in San Francisco and New York, and years of consistent content. She announces her new book, At Peace with Money, which distills a decade and a half of coaching into an approachable framework for holistic financial wellness. We touch on her past podcast mini-series, the realities of running a solo practice, and why joy matters—hello, pickleball—as a reminder to build a money life you can actually enjoy.

If you want practical tools, clear language, and a kinder approach to financial growth, this conversation brings it home. For more information, visit SFNoneyCoach.com.

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a financial coach? Well, one may be close to me then. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Carrie Freeberg. Carrie, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_01:

I'm fantastic. Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_00:

Listen, we're excited to learn. Excited to learn all about you and your business. Tell us about your company.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I am a holistic financial coach. So I work with individuals, couples, and multi-generational families around aligning their values with their spending, saving, and earning. And I've been in practice for about 15 years.

SPEAKER_00:

That's interesting. I never heard the word holistic in financial coach. It seemed like polar opposites.

SPEAKER_01:

I know, doesn't it? But money is emotional. I think everybody would admit that. And our family history can uh be a factor when we are adults trying to make financial decisions, save money, increase earning, um, go through any kind of transition, um, coupling up, decoupling, all of these types of things. And um, that's why I call myself a holistic coach because we also address the emotional, spiritual, psychological side of money.

SPEAKER_00:

I watch a lot of Shaw Tank and I've missed a wonderful word here. He says, No emotion and financial decision. So, what are some of the myths and misconceptions?

SPEAKER_01:

Um, well, some people think that uh you should just be able to write a budget and stick with it. Um, and I was told that many, many times by family members and other people when I was struggling with money. And I, but I was not one of those people that was born with this kind of innate money sense. For me, I really had to learn, it was like a new language. I had to practice the ABCs and one, two, threes of basic personal finance, literally how to properly manage a checking account, balance all the timing of you know, checks posting and bills being due, and uh as well as how to build and sustain meaningful savings. So, so for me, I needed a mentor, coach myself. That's how I got into this was as a client at first, um, before I did a certificate program, uh, and then a second certificate program after that. But um I needed to train and practice and have that cheerleading and support along the way. So that's one of that's one of the big myths. And then um the other one is that once you create a budget that you're set. And I totally disagree with that because I I don't know about you, but no two months are alike in my financial life. There's always a curveball or a something that's more than I expected, uh, or one of those darn um periodic expenses, like you need to buy a new washing machine, or something like that happens. And so it's not uh as easy and predictable as people think.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I agree with you. I actually have a degree in uh accounting, believe it or not. Um, and I I I I think there should be a lot more financial literacy, especially in high school. I mean, it it's you know, you have to run your life, you know.

SPEAKER_01:

Now you have to run your life, yes. Well, the thing is about high schoolers though, is that they're usually working with their parents' money. I mean, unless they right, so they don't, well, unless they're hardworking high schoolers, good for them. That's amazing. I know I worked throughout all my teenage years babysitting and summer jobs and things like that. Um, but I still got some allowance from my parents. And um, there's a little bit of uh rose-colored glasses when you're given money, right? So I think the most powerful uh age group that really needs the financial literacy and the support and the kind of financial support team and trusted adults they can talk to, uh, because that that brain development stage is so loaded with their own parents, is the the 20 somethings, the early 20s. Um, attending college or not, maybe around 20 to 25 people hopefully have jobs and are leaning into being self-supporting, then they really have skin in the game. And and because their brain is still developing and they don't have full impulse control and things like that, lots of expensive mistakes are uh at risk, right? They're at risk for that. Um, credit card debt and other pitfalls that I fell into. And so um it's when it's when they've got skin in the game and there's a little bit of pain involved, right? So hopefully the the mistakes and the financial missteps are are manageable and easy to recover from. Um, but that's really gonna be what motivates people to uh turn the lights on, um, be more disciplined, pay attention, and really care for their money.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that actually leads to my uh next question. We know um marketing is the heart of every uh business. Um, who's your target audience? And you started to cover it a little bit at 20 something, and how are you currently attracting them?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, um my website has been blessed with very good SEO search engine optimization. I also have a um frequently visited Yelp profile here in San Francisco. And a few years back, actually, it was quite a while back now, I did live in New York City for and worked there for two years. So um I still get referrals from my New York City Yelp profile and and things like that. Um, my website is sfmoneycoach.com. Um, so good web designers planted some gold in there, and my website comes up quite frequently. Yelp helps a lot, and then over the decade and a half, I've actually done a lot of writing and blog posts and newsletters and things like that. And some of those got some good traction and were publicized um again and again. And um, by the way, I have a book coming out in a couple of weeks. I just received my author copies yesterday, which is really the culmination of everything that I've been practicing myself and and teaching others around holistic uh financial wellness. So I'm super excited about that.

SPEAKER_00:

Holistic and financial planning and management is such an interesting topic. Have you ever thought about doing your very own podcast?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, I have. I I did 10 episodes, financial wellness with Carrie. And um the thing is, I have been a solopreneur, a kind of one-woman shop, if you will, for all this time. And I haven't built out a proper support team uh around, you know, all the tech side. And I did have um editors and designers at that time to help me with those 10 episodes, and I'm I'm very proud of those conversations, but it was this whole additional department of my business that I felt I couldn't take on. So, but yes, it's it's still there as a possibility, and thank you for the encouragement.

SPEAKER_00:

So, uh Carrie, when you're not so busy running a business, what does Carrie like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I am in a little bit of a casual outfit here, Garfield, because uh after this I'm going to play pickleball. Um I took the week off, it's Thanksgiving week, and I uh am totally obsessed with pickleball. And and that's been an offshoot of a 45-year tennis career. I still play a lot of tennis as well, um, but it's a very different sport and game and experience for me. Um, I love pickleball because it's pretty much hit-hit giggle. There's a lot of laughter, points are quick, uh, games are short, and you mix it up and play with different partners and different opponents. Um, tennis, speaking of emotions, is is more of a marathon and it's more emotional. And because I've played for, like I said, 45 years, um, yeah, there's just a lot there that I, you know, have to tackle when I'm on the court with myself and my partner and all of that.

SPEAKER_00:

I've never tried pickleball. I guess I gotta try some pickleball and see how that works out for me. See if I get that same flavor that you can.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my gosh. I highly recommend anybody can pick it up. If you've ever played ping pong, it's quite similar. The rules are a little funny at first, the scoring, but you can learn that. Um, and of course, you've seen courts or you probably know people who play, and a lot of people just like buy their first paddle off of Amazon or borrow from a neighbor. And um, so it's quite accessible, I hope, in your area too.

SPEAKER_00:

Listen, Carrie, we're about out of time, but I want you to leave our listeners with one thing, one thing they should remember, if nothing else, about SMF Money Coach.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, um I am living proof that all you need to know is fifth grade math in order to master personal finance. So while it can feel a bit difficult and overwhelming at first to establish a new system or get into healthy financial habits, everything is figure outable. And um, if I can do it, you can do it. And I wish everyone all the best.

SPEAKER_00:

And they have one word on their lips now, and that's how how can we get more information on um SF Money Coach?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, go to my website, sfmoneycoach.com. Also, my book is coming out any day. It's at Peace with Money, and it's sold on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Um, and I also have uh a lot of giveaways and freebies. All of my podcast interviews are interesting and they're filled with good practical content. Um, and those are on my YouTube channel. You can look up my name, Carrie Friedberg. And uh I just uh I encourage people to reach out. And if I can't help them, I'm more than happy to um make introductions to other people they may need and uh resonate with to build out one's financial support team so that people can flourish and be prosperous and feel really happy and confident in their financial lives.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, Carrie, we really appreciate you having on the show. We wish you and your business the very best moving forward.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you so much, Garfield. Bye bye.