The Better Budgeting Podcast
The Better Budgeting Podcast is your go-to resource for mastering your finances without the stress. Hosted by Danielle Reese, this podcast breaks down budgeting, saving, and smart spending into simple, actionable steps. Whether you’re tackling debt, building wealth, or just looking to make your money work smarter, we’ve got expert insights, real-life success stories, and practical tips to help you take control of your financial future. Tune in and start making your budget work for you—without sacrificing the things you love!
The Better Budgeting Podcast
What To Do When You Are Seriously Broke
Feeling the weight of financial pressures and not sure where to turn? Join Danielle Reese, money coach and founder of The Better Budgeting Playbook, as she shares viable strategies to get you through. She cuts through the misconception of being broke and provides practical advice to help you meet minimal expenses. From efficient grocery shopping to cost-effective transportation, gain control of your financial situation in a sustainable manner.
In this candid conversation, Danielle underscores the importance of prioritizing needs and creating an emergency fund. She shines a light on the pitfalls of quick money schemes, emphasizing the value of income growth for a stable financial future. As the conversation wraps up, she invites you to reach out and connect, affirming that you don't have to navigate these tough times alone. Your Financial Freedom starts here!
Danielle is a money coach helping women and couples who have been trying to figure out their finances FINALLY create a clear plan so they don’t have to worry about waiting to refill their bank account the next payday.
She is the founder of The Financial Freedom Society on Facebook and her signature money coaching program, The Better Budgeting Playbook. You can sign up for her newsletter by clicking here.
Take the first step towards financial freedom and sign up for a complimentary assessment call with me, Danielle Reese.
Grab your copy of "Let's Talk Groceries" Your Guide to Reducing Your Grocery Bill" This is an ebook with over 30 pages of tips, tricks, and guidance to help you save hundreds on your grocery bill!
Sign up for the early release of The Better Budgeting Blueprint for $99 with a $50 refund once completed. The release is scheduled for April 1st 2025.
You can connect with her on Facebook or Instagram.
Hello and welcome to the Better Budgeting Podcast. I'm your host, danielle Reese. I'm a money coach and the founder of the Better Budgeting Playbook. That is my one-on-one coaching program for women and couples who have been trying to figure out their finances, finally create a clear plan so they don't have to worry about waiting on payday anymore. If that sounds like something that you definitely need help with, check out the show notes. There is a link to the Better Budgeting Playbook there and you can apply, because I do accept clients. It is now September 8th when this recording is going to release and we are booking up for the back half of September at this point and into October. So if you need help with your finances before Christmas comes and you get further into debt, let's go ahead and straighten out your finances Now. Just click the link for the Better Budgeting Playbook in the show notes and apply for that program. Also, the Financial Freedom Society is a free and I really truly mean free community on Facebook, and that is where I'm posting all kinds of content budgeting, saving, debt, payoff, all the things to help you on your financial freedom journey.
Speaker 1:Today is going to be all about what to do when you are really broke, and this is going to be a little different of a episode because I'm going to be a little bit more militant about it, because I am, I am all about it. I am all about it because if you're broke, we need to fix that, but nobody can fix that besides you. So I'm hoping that I can give you a little bit of a push here, a loving push. It's kind of like that movie, major Pain. I guess it was from late 90s, maybe early 2000s, and if you remember, major Pain was a militant to those kids but he was a softy on the inside and wanted best for them, and that's how I'm going to approach this episode today. So, in order to define if you are really broke, we're going to have to define what is broke and how I define broke in the Better Budgeting Playbook is your minimum expenses exceed your income. There is no extra mula, nothing, nada, like it ain't working. That's how I would describe broke.
Speaker 1:Some people think they are broke but they're still buying cigarettes, they're still running around and going through the drive-thru and getting their kids hey, dudes, instead of some inexpensive Walmart shoes, you're still spending money ridiculously and you say that you're broke, and I wish people would stop that. There are real people out there that are really broke and they are trying hard to make ends meet and try to do things, and the people that go and buy their kids expensive things and have them running all around in all these different sports and are still going on vacation and then they say they're broke. It's kind of like a slap in the face, to be honest, for some of these people that truly are having a hard time and are trying to do different with their life and they ain't got it. They ain't got the funds for it. Again, I told you this was going to be a little bit of a different episode, and it's because I just feel so strongly about it. So how do we know that we're broke?
Speaker 1:To get down to the real numbers, you have to have a spending plan, you have to have a budget. Okay, I use the word spending plan as the actual materialistic thing that it is, but most people call it a budget. You need to decide what are my minimum expenses and if your grocery bill for two people in your household is $1,000, you got some room to cut here. You really are, unless you have some allergies and a very specific food regimen that you have to follow because of your health. You can really cut things down and what's over in the Financial Freedom Society is a wonderful, wonderful download by my friend, chris Heskett, who owns Peak Wellness and you can find him on Facebook too and he put together specifically for my community how you can live for a family of four on $100 a week, and this was just done a few months ago. We're talking these are inflation prices and where he lives is way more expensive than where I live, so it worked really well for a lot of people in my community. We tend to, especially with the groceries, grab convenience and pay for convenience and cooking rice at home. It's super duper cheaper than buying the 90-second rice packs.
Speaker 1:But this episode is not about cost savings. This is about what do we do when we're broke, like, how do we move forward? You're not spending extra, you've cut all the extras out. What do you have to do? And you have to increase your income or or not pay something. That's what you need to do. So I'm gonna walk you through what I will walk through with clients, because I know, with soon loans coming and the price of Groceries and you know all the things people feel like they're broke, and this episode is truly for the people that their Expenses, their minimum expenses, truly do exceed their income.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about minimum Expenses, and what does that include? It is your housing, so your rent, or your mortgage, your utilities, water, electric garbage. You know stuff that you have to have in order to operate the household. Food which is Minimal, right, no, eating out. Like this is rice, this is hot dogs, this is Raviolis, this is ramen. Like these are frozen vegetables and canned vegetables and possibly farmers market vegetables. If you get a good deal. You know like this is food that is very Cost effective and it doesn't have to be processed. Food like the whole list that I was telling you about earlier is a nothing process and it's a hundred dollars week. That's $400 for four people for a month. That's wonderful.
Speaker 1:And also the last one is transportation, because if we don't pay for your transportation, how are you gonna get to work to make more money? So that's a priority as well. It's a car payment, it's car insurance and it's gas. These are the most important, no matter what. No matter what. Visa doesn't matter. Care credit doesn't matter. Discover doesn't matter. Freaking Clarna after pay all of those, they don't matter. All right, we can leave those to go into collections.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I said that like it needs to go into collections if we truly can't pay for our minimum expenses. They gotta roll out for a while and we will get to them when we can get to them, but right now it ain't them. Like, I gotta provide a roof, I gotta have heat and I need to have food and I need a way to get to work. That's your minimum budget right now. And Do I understand that this is extreme? Yep, certainly do, and I understand how hard it is Because I've coached people through this. I've had that mama tell me that they're they had to tell their babies no at the store. They couldn't go and get Oreos, that they couldn't do other things. I it hurts our hearts? Oh, does it hurt our hearts? Because we want to provide so much better for our family. And right now, honey, you can't do it. That's going to come later.
Speaker 1:Ok, providing for your family right now looks like your house, your food, your utilities and your transportation. That's enough to provide for them right now. And you are probably freaking out right now because a money coach told you to throw stuff in collections. Here's the thing those creditors don't care. If you eat, they don't care. If you have to not pay your mortgage, they don't care. But you care. You need a place to sleep at night. They can seriously wait and that's OK. Yeah, it's going to ruin your credit. I totally understand. You don't need any credit right now, right? You need to get your head above water. So, for an example, let's say that all of your minimum expenses equal $1,500. I'm talking those for housing, utilities, food, transportation. If you've got a baby, that includes diapers and food and formula, right. Let's say these expenses equal $1,500 a month and you bring home $2,000 a month. That means there's $500 a month that you can put towards a goal.
Speaker 1:Personally, first thing we're going to do is put in an emergency fund. You need something to stop the bleeding or to stop digging out the bottom of the hole while you're trying to climb out of it. We need an emergency fund If that means that those creditors aren't getting paid. That's what it means for right now. They'll get paid eventually. Is that scary? Absolutely Right. Statue of limitations for Pennsylvania is four years. Rhode Island it's 10. So that means that if you live in Rhode Island, it's 10 years that they can sue you for this stuff If it goes into collections and you don't pay it and you don't communicate with them. Pennsylvania it's four, but the point is that you're not trying to stay where you are for four years or 10 years. You're trying to get your head above water so that you can do what's right for you and your family, and that does not include going on vacation and spending money where it's not needed. So go back to your example. You got $500. What's the first thing we're doing? We're putting it into an emergency fund After that is fully funded. Whether it's $500, $1,000, $2,000, not really sure. It really depends on who you are and how much of expenses you have. Once that is done, then we'll go back to these creditors. Then we'll start paying on some of them, whether we can do minimums or whatever it is.
Speaker 1:In the meantime, we need to make more income. You have to. You will not get out of this hole if you don't make more income. Inflation is 7% over last year. Right now, that means every year, in order for you to stay the same, you need to earn 7% from the previous year, and most people aren't given raises like that.
Speaker 1:So what does that mean? You need to job hop. If you have some really great skill sets, you'll probably get paid more in the private sector elsewhere. That's just on average. You can Google it yourself. You're more likely to make more money if you're job hopping every two years. If you're doing the same exact job, maybe you need to take a second job. Nobody wants to do that, especially us mamas. We don't want to spend any other second away from our babies than we already have to. But your kids deserve better. You deserve better. You need to change something. That something might include increasing your income. And if you can't job hop and go to a different job to make more money, then you need to get a second job.
Speaker 1:And something that frustrates the crap out of me as a money coach is all of these MLMers on Facebook, on Instagram, telling you how they've made $10,000 in their first 90 days and all this other stuff. That is not for everyone. It doesn't happen for everyone. Can it happen? Hell yes, just like I've had clients that pay $20,000 off in a year and I've had clients that have paid $1,000 off in a year. It happens. There's a wide spectrum.
Speaker 1:Totally get it, but don't get caught up in these agencies, these companies, these MLM companies that sell you a dream, that's not a reality for you, and if you're trying to find quick money, that's probably not the best answer for you. On the other hand, let's say that you have a really great hobby and people love what you do. You sell baked goods, or you crochet, or you make candles, or you know you have a service You're a dog walker. Great, go do that, because you're gonna love doing that too, and you can make money and you can set your prices for that stuff.
Speaker 1:But in order for you to change your finances, you are going to have to make more income. That's what it's gonna come down to. In order for you to do your minimum expenses plus paying these creditors, you are going to have to make more income. Then the challenge comes. Well, I don't have time because I've got kids. You know I've got my kids and nobody else can take care of them. Okay, I got you. All right, have you considered doing a barter system with a girlfriend? Hey, I'm gonna watch your kids two nights a week, you watch mine two nights a week and I'll go to work with those two nights.
Speaker 1:Okay, we get so stuck with. This is how it is. We don't look outside the box and we have to look outside the box. We have to do things that we've never done before in order to get something that we've never had before, because what you have been doing is creating the results that you don't like, so we have to do something different. Oh, we gotta do something different. So if you are truly, truly broke, that means you need to create a budget and you gotta stick to it, girl. There is no room for error in there. Your budget is going to have housing utilities, food, transportation, and then, if you can afford your creditors, your debt, you're gonna do debt too on top of it. If there's no wiggle room after that, you probably need to increase your income.
Speaker 1:I know this episode is so different than my normal episodes. However, someone out there needs to know this. They need to hear those hard words that you've exhausted all of your other options and you still aren't floating. Girlfriend, you are drowning, and that means that it's time to do something different, whether it's to hire a money coach and listen, I've had people take out loans to pay me Because, guaranteed, we're making some progress on your finances if you're working it and the investment was worth it for them. Every single one, because if you take a chance on me. I'm going full force with you. Ooh, we're getting stuff done, we're getting your finances figured out so that you will stop living this way. But even more so, even if you don't hire someone to help you, you need to look at doing stuff differently. That is the only way out of that tunnel.
Speaker 1:And know that I am saying all of this out of love, all of it, because I've been doing this three years. I've talked to over a thousand people about their finances. Some of you aren't getting it. If you would stop doing what you've always been doing and do something different, you would have what you want. But a lot of the times it's hard to see that and you need somebody to come alongside with you and look at it and be like hey, you're going on three vacations a year and I understand travel is super important to you. But you told me being a stay-at-home mom is so much more important and it is on the priority list. Are you willing to let go of some of those vacations so you go be a stay-at-home mom? And there's not a right or wrong answer, it's just what do you want? Some of you need that accountability, someone to push you and tell you you need to do something different.
Speaker 1:All right, enough of this episode. I'm going to step down from my pedestal right now. Know I love you and I want what's best for you when it comes to your finances. It is free to send me a message on Facebook or Instagram Link is in the show notes how to get a hold of me. It is free to tell me what you're going through and see if I can help you out there. I love connecting with the people that listen to this podcast. It is so helpful to know that you are listening, that there are people out there, so that means this message is getting around and that it should be, because people need help. All right, talk to you soon. Bye-bye.