96: The #1 Money Habit That Changed Everything for Our Family

There’s one money habit that completely changed everything for my family... and it’s probably not what you think.

It wasn’t budgeting.
 It wasn’t meal planning.
 It wasn’t cutting out coffee or canceling subscriptions.

Those things can help… but they weren’t the thing that actually moved the needle.

In this episode of the Money Mom Podcast, I’m sharing the one simple question my husband and I started asking before every single purchase, and how that tiny pause transformed the way we spend, save, and make decisions as a family.

You’ll learn:

• The exact question that stopped our autopilot spending
• Why most money problems aren’t about income—but misalignment
• How this habit saves hundreds of dollars without feeling restrictive
• Why clarity around your goals changes everything
• How to spend money without guilt when it actually aligns with what matters to you

If you’ve ever wondered why you know your goals but still feel stuck… or why progress feels so hard even when you’re “doing all the right things,” this episode will connect the dots.

This is a small shift—but it has massive long-term impact.

Press play and let’s change the way you think about spending. 💛

xoxo,
Rachel

Where to find me:
Instagram: @heyrachelcoons

Join me for my free training to cut your grocery bill by $600 every month: Register HERE

Transcript

The One Habit Tease

SPEAKER_00 0:00

There is one money habit that changed everything for my family. And it's probably not what you think. It's not budgeting, it's not meal planning, it's not cutting out coffee or canceling subscriptions. Those things definitely help, but they're not the thing that actually moved the needle for us. The habit I'm talking about is so simple that when I tell you what it is, you're probably gonna roll your eyes and think that's it. But I'm telling you, this one shift changed how we made decisions. It changed how we spent our money, how we saved our money, and how we showed up in our marriage and our family. And if you implement this one habit, I promise it will change everything for you too. So stay tuned. Welcome to the Money Mom Podcast, the show where we empower moms to take control of their finances, break free from money stress, and build a life of freedom, confidence, and abundance for their families. I'm your host, Rachel Koons, mom, money mentor, and your personal cheerleader on this journey. Whether you're here to save money, pay off debt, or dream bigger for your family's future, you're in the right place. Here, we believe that being a mom is already a full-time job. But your role in shaping your family's financial success is just as important. And the best part, you don't need to sacrifice everything to start winning with money. Let's get started. This is the Money Mom Podcast. Hey there, and welcome back to the Money Mom Podcast. I'm your host, Rachel Coons. Okay, so you're here because you want to know the number one habit, right? That changes everything. So I'm gonna give it to you. But before I do that, you have to promise that you're gonna stick around for the whole episode because I need to explain the habit as well. Just knowing the habit isn't going to actually help you. You have to know why it works. So the number one money habit that changed everything for my life, my husband's life, our family, is this. We started asking ourselves one question before every single purchase. And that question is is this spend moving us closer to our goals or further away from them? That's it. That's the habit. One question. Before we buy anything, we pause and we ask ourselves, is this moving us closer to our goals or further away from them? And I know what you're thinking. That sounds way too simple. How does it actually work? But here's the thing: most of us are spending money on autopilot. We're not thinking about it. We're not questioning it. We're just swiping the credit card and hoping that it all works out in the end. And then we wonder why we're not making progress, or we wonder why we're not hitting our money goals. That one question forces you to stop the automation. It forces you to think critically about your spending and it forces you to get clear on what actually matters to you. What are your goals for the future? So let me explain why this is so powerful. Most people think that the problem with their money is that they don't have enough of it. If I just had more money, everything would be fine. But that's actually not the problem. The problem is that your spending doesn't align with what you actually want in life. And when we can get really clear on what you actually want, then we can start to take action that move you towards that goal. And I'm really passionate about setting financial goals based off of what really looks like your perfect life. Not what somebody else is telling you is perfect, but what is it in you? What is deep in your soul that you want out of life? Is it freedom? Is it joy? Is it connection? Is it memories with your family? It doesn't matter what it is, but we have to get clear on what the end goal is. You may say that you want to get out of debt, but then you're spending$200 at Target on stuff that you don't actually need. You may say you want to save for a family vacation, but then you're ordering takeout four times a week. You may say that you want financial freedom, but then you're buying things on impulse that you don't even want three days later. It's not that you don't have goals, it's that your spending doesn't match those goals. And that's because you're not pausing to ask yourself if what I'm about to buy is actually helping me or hurting me. When you start asking that question before every purchase, a few things happen. First, you become aware of how much you're spending on things that don't matter. There's always going to be fluff spending, right? We're never going to get rid of that. But you may realize that half the stuff you're buying isn't actually important to you. It's not a value to you. You're just buying it because it's there, because it's on sale, because you're bored, you know, all the things, all the reasons we overspend, which I have an episode recently about overspending that you should go listen to. But when you pause and ask yourself if it's moving you closer to your goals, you realize the answer may be no. And that awareness alone will save you hundreds of dollars a month. The second reason we do that is we start to prioritize what actually matters. It's really hard to try and hit a bullseye if you don't have a target to aim for. When you create the bullseye, when you get clear on what your goals are, and you're asking yourself, does my spending align with these goals? You start to make different choices. And it's not massive changes, it's micro changes. You stop spending money on things you don't care about, so you spend it on things you do care about. You stop wasting money on stuff that doesn't bring you joy or move you forward so you can use the money to pay off debt, say for a family vacation or invest in something that actually matters to you. And then one of the coolest things about doing this is when you ask yourself this question and your answer is yes, then you don't have to feel guilty about spending the money. And that is huge. Most people feel guilty when they spend money on things that maybe aren't necessary because they're not sure if they should be spending it on it or not. But when you ask yourself the question, is this moving me towards my goal? And your goal is family time and you're spending money on a vacation, then the answer is yes, that is moving you towards your goal. And you can spend money on that with confidence. You can enjoy it, you can feel good about it because you know it's aligned with what you actually want. Let me give you an example of how this habit changed everything for me. I used to go to Target when I had young kids and we had an afternoon by ourselves. I would take the kids and I'd go to Target and I would get all of them popcorn and slushies because they have that awesome cafe. I'd get myself a Diet Coke and then we would peruse the aisles and I would put things in my cart that I thought we needed, and I would end up spending$100 about things I'd on things I didn't actually need. And then I would get home and I would feel guilty about it. But I kept doing that process because I wasn't thinking about it and I was trying to fulfill a need of something else. And I was just on autopilot. And when I started asking myself the question, is this actually moving me towards my goals? Everything changed. I would think about putting the kids in the car to go to target, and I would decide, no, it's not actually helping me. It's not making me feel happy. It's not helping me spend time with my kids. I could do that doing something else. And so I wouldn't even go to Target in the end. Okay, so now that you know what the habit is, how do you actually do it? And here are the steps that I want you to take when you are implementing this habit. First, you want to get clear on your goals. You can't ask if something is moving you closer to a goal if you don't have a goal in the first place or you don't know what you're aiming for. So sit down with your spouse or by yourself if you don't have a partner and get clear on what does it look like? What do I want to accomplish in a year? What do I want to accomplish in five years? What do I want my life to look like in 10, 20, 30 years? And figure out what you're working towards. Do you want to pay off debt? Do you want to save for a house? Do you want to build an emergency fund? Do you want to be able to take one vacation a year? Do you want to retire early? Write it down and give yourself those benchmark goals that you're working for and be specific with those goals. Then number two is write that question down. Is this actually moving me towards my goals or away from it? And put it somewhere that you're gonna see it. Maybe it's on your phone, it's a screensaver or a sticky note in your wallet or on your credit card or on your bathroom mirror, wherever you need to see it to remind yourself to ask before you spend. And then comes the actual action of asking yourself the question. Before every purchase, you ask yourself the question. And this is the hardest part because we're used to spending on autopilot, credit cards, Apple wallet, all the things make it so easy to just spend money. But you have to train yourself to pause before you swipe the credit card, before you click buy now on Amazon, before you add it to your cart, pause and ask yourself the question: is this moving me towards my goals or further away? And then number four is you have to be really honest with yourself. Don't justify your purchases that aren't aligned with your spending. Don't tell yourself you deserve it if you don't need it. And be honest. If the answer is no, it's not moving you closer to your goals, then you're gonna have to be really clear on am I still gonna buy it or not? And maybe sometimes you will, but maybe sometimes you won't. And that's the win. Put it back, walk away. You'll feel so much better when you do and when your spending aligns with your goals. And then the last and most important step is to celebrate your wins. Every time you choose not to spend money on something that doesn't move you towards your goals, celebrate it. Tell your spouse, write it down, really congratulate yourself that you're taking actions that are moving the needle. Because we know that when we implement new habits around our money where the micro shifts change, everything's gonna change. A tiny shift in your trajectory right now will make massive changes in 10 years. So we have to focus on implementing the habit and celebrating the win. So I hope you will do it. I hope you'll implement this habit and I think it will change everything for you. Okay, can't wait to see you in the next episode.