The ARMC

Money Anxiety, Mom Reality

• Kylie & Gina • Season 2 • Episode 14

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Money can feel like the messiest relationship we have—loud, needy, and always showing up at the worst time. We get honest about the anxiety behind rising costs, why Q4 taxes and holidays spike stress, and how a few simple systems can shift the mood from panic to control. No lectures, no shame—just two moms comparing notes on what actually works when the grocery bill climbs and the kids need everything at once.

We walk through a practical roadmap inspired by Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps: a lean emergency fund, the debt snowball for quick wins, building three to six months of expenses, and investing for the future. We also push for balance—yes to living below your means and driving the paid-off car, but no to postponing all joy until retirement. You’ll hear real talk on subscriptions that quietly drain your budget, how to spot duplicate charges, and why rotating streaming services can free up more than you think. Small shifts add up: a 20-minute monthly budget check, scanning receipts with Fetch, stacking Target Circle and grocery loyalty, and using Rocket Money to hunt down waste.

We go deep on kids’ futures without defaulting to debt. Community college, trades, and certificate programs can launch strong careers with lower costs, and scholarships are still a smart play if four-year schools make sense. Meanwhile, we share easy wins that fit a busy life—online grocery pickup to dodge impulse aisles, sinking funds for taxes and sports fees, and a simple $10-a-week coffee swap that becomes real holiday cash. Underneath it all is a mindset shift: stop keeping up with the Joneses and start telling your money where to go.

If money has been running the household vibe, this conversation will help you reclaim the steering wheel with clear steps and zero fluff. Subscribe for more real talk, share with a mom who needs a boost, and leave a quick review to help others find the show. We’re building financial peace one small win at a time—come with us.

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Welcome Back And Why Money Hurts

SPEAKER_00

You're listening to the Anxiety Ridden Moms Club. Season two. I'm Kylie. And I'm Gina. Real moms, real anxiety, real conversations. Let's dive in because chaos is our cardio.

SPEAKER_01

Welcome back to season two of the Anxiety Ridden Moms Club.

SPEAKER_00

I'm Kylie. And I'm Gina. And today we're diving into a topic that affects literally every single mom listening. Money.

SPEAKER_01

Money feels like the third roommate, except it doesn't help clean the house, it doesn't cook dinner, and somehow eats our whole paychecks.

SPEAKER_00

And it's wild because even if you have money, you still stress about money. And if you don't have enough, you stress even more.

SPEAKER_01

Eggs are$5, laundry soap is$20, and my kids drink milk like we have a dairy cow in the backyard. Like, how did our parents do this back in the 80s? Meanwhile, I'm over here deciding if I should get Starbucks or buy produce. It's insane.

SPEAKER_00

I have done so good though, not buying that Starbucks, which Right, because I told you to buy that sweetener that's so delicious to make in your coffee. Yes. With your protein that you have that's unflavored. Which is on sale this week, by the way. Oh, what's the brand?

SPEAKER_01

Um Ice Apure.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01

Unflavored. Ice Apure, unflavored. Again, this is not a paid advertisement. It should be, though. I'd love for it to be.

SPEAKER_00

Iceapure, reach out. But making your own coffee at home is you can make it just as delicious for a fraction of a few. And it's like, yeah, it's like And we all need our protein ladies, so add some protein.

SPEAKER_01

There's no sense in getting a small. That's just stupid. And a medium is like$6.97.

unknown

Yeah, it's dumb.

SPEAKER_00

And I'm not gonna say once in a while I don't love to try one of those, but I swear, the more that I make them at home with the different ways I do them, I don't really care that I'm not at like a Starbucks or I don't care as much.

Coffee Talk And DIY Treats

SPEAKER_01

Oh my gosh. So there is um it's it's a trend, and I don't even know. Is it McCormick? I don't know what it is. I'll have to run upstairs and and grab some so we can give a shout out to it. But it's like the finishing sugar, and it's apparently around the holidays, and and Walmart has it. So I bought the coffee, coffee, toffee, coffee, top toffee. There's no toffee coffee. It's just like it's just like sugar, um, like a finishing sugar. And so one, I got salted caramel, and then I got toffee, and like I could like it, oh my god, it's so good. It's so good. It's it's but it's sugar. Yeah, so like I make my coffee, protein, all the things, and then I do one scoop of cool whip, and then I do like a little sprinkle of my finishing sugar, two freaking diaphragm. Seriously, yes. Oh my god, it's so good.

SPEAKER_00

I'm gonna pick some of that stuff up.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I'll have to you'll have to check it out. But just a sprinkle. Oh, totally. Just all you need is a sprinkle.

SPEAKER_00

We do. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah. I'm gonna do it. So if I want to make it more um Starbucksy.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. Okay, so this is I'm gonna drag myself a little bit because I am a Dave Ramsey girl and I believe in the baby steps, but I do not always follow the baby steps as we're having this conversation about how sometimes I divulge in$8 coffees. Um, but yes, I I love Dave Ramsey. I believe in Dave Ramsey and I believe in Dave Ramsey and what he says. Okay. Do I follow Dave Ramsey? I don't. And I need to. I need to start because I am sick and tired of being stressed out about Yeah. I well, I know.

SPEAKER_00

That's me. I I the holiday time, anyways, I get stressed about a whole bunch of stuff to do with the with money.

Taxes, Fees, And Seasonal Stress

SPEAKER_01

I'm in Illinois, you're in Missouri, and we have way different tax laws. Yeah. Totally different tax laws. Yes. But one thing is for sure, my taxes were due September and October, and yours are so we have well you have first taxes on your house are due in September? Yes. So we don't have personal property, but we have it costs us like$130, or I don't know, somewhere between$105 and$130 for a license plate sticker every year.

SPEAKER_00

So I know things like majorly Yeah, but that's I mean, still a fraction compared to personal property tax, to be honest with you. But um, yeah, we have our it's like, I mean, and you're like when you have a mortgage, obviously our taxes for our homes are all built into that. So then I just pay that every month. But then you have, which you don't have to, you can separate it out if you wanted to. Um, but then personal property tax is due. They will send out a bill. I should be getting it very soon. Yay. And it'll be due by the end of December. Merry Christmas.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. What and what in the hell? Why do we have to wait until Q4? Why do we have to wait until Q4 to make taxes due? That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

SPEAKER_00

I think that's the part of it that makes me that's the thing. That's the part that makes me mad is when it happens. This is the time of year that I want to be having fun and getting gifts from.

SPEAKER_01

But there are probably people listening that are gonna be like, well, if you would save up because you know it's coming, dumbass, then it wouldn't matter when you had to pay. I don't fucking want to save up for a personal property tax. It just makes me mad. If you have personally personal property tax, and then I have property taxes, and I feel like they pretty much line like what are your I guess So you have a property tax on your home.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, but it's a shit ton of money. So is mine. Comparatively, I feel like there are so typically I will say, and I think it's kind of comes down to because I was talking to one of my friends, so she has a similar home to like my home. If you look at like size and everything, but I think the pricing of it is different. So our taxes, she actually still being in Illinois pays a little less. Now, my husband and I were talking about this the other day because I was getting in a bad mood about it. I was getting myself all wound up, anxiety through the roof. And um, he was like, Well, I think it depends though, sometimes like because I do know like if you go into certain neighbor certain areas, obviously, especially your more prestigious ones in Illinois, that their home prices then are high and then their taxes are out of it. They're outrageous. So, in that aspect, I would say, you know, if you look at it that way, um, it all kind of depends, I guess, on kind of what you're comparing it to. But taxes on your homes are typically in Illinois, though, based on a higher rate than what we pay. Yes. And so we pay, though, our house property tax, and then we also have to pay person property tax on every vehicle that you own. I just the great land of Lincoln really. Yeah. So it just pisses me off. Puts it too. It just makes and it what makes me mad is honestly probably more than anything. It just makes mad when it comes. I want to have a nice Christmas. I love to give to my kids, grandkids, all that. Um, but I just you just start feeling like that stress feeling during this time. Like, and then I gotta come, I make sure I got the money for that too. So you're like, well, I could be using that money for anything, anything, and instead I'm sticking away for the taxes. But you know, but ultimately, okay, so you're talking about um Dave Ramsey. I'm not really overly familiar, obviously. So what is like the short version?

SPEAKER_01

The short version. So the short version of his baby steps for anyone who doesn't know number one,$1,000 starter emergency fund. Now, I personally do not feel like$1,000 is enough. No, I don't either. Um, because I feel like if anything breaks, it costs more than$1,000 these days. So that's where I feel like I think you need at least at least double that.

SPEAKER_00

That's not more, but it scares me.

Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps Explained

SPEAKER_01

But his number one rule is you have a thousand dollar emergency fund. Number two, you pay off all of your debt except the house in the snowball, snowball method. So that is also something that that is interesting. So in his method, he pays lowest to highest for debt. So I think that for a lot of for everything in life, probably journaling is important, whether that's to get your thoughts on paper to whatever the case may be. But talking about a budget specifically, putting it on paper is the number one eye-opening, like, holy shit, we waste so much money on Starbucks, on going through the drive-thru, on things that are not necessary. Um, cigarettes, which I quit, which then I gained 20 pounds. It's fucking fun being an adult and like living life. But that was one thing. When you put that on paper, now cigarettes in the state of Illinois cost like$12 a pack.$12. Like you can't freaking afford that. Like that's crazy.

SPEAKER_00

So, like, although you shouldn't smoke. You you should there's an incentive to not smoke. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

You shouldn't do sex, drugs, alcohol, none of that stuff. And then you get to live a boring freaking life. Okay, back to the baby stuff. So his snowball, though, you you put your debts, you write your debts down, and you just you do lowest to biggest. And he does that because it is, I don't know, I'm thinking of like legally blunt, endorphins. Endorphins make people happy and happy people, right? Right. But it really is about endorphins. So you do lowest to smallest, not interest rate. It's your lowest debt to your highest debt, and you pay them off in order. And that is so you get that gratification of some you're always winning.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, it's that winning mentality. That makes sense. Um, I kind of like that because that would actually work for me better. Because I always think everybody talks about whatever's your highest interest rate, whatever's this or that. Well, sometimes that just depends on what people owe, you know, amount-wise. And then you do feel like I just feel like I'm never getting anywhere.

SPEAKER_01

I'm never getting anywhere. So fuck it. Why am I doing any of this? I'm going to Starbucks because I want a coffee. Like, yes. So you start the lowest debt to the highest debt.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. So that's your except for your house. So your house is in a separate category.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

So number one, emergency fund. Two, pay off all debt. Number three, three to six months of expenses saved. Yes. So if you lost your job today, that you would have three to six months in the bank to pay for everything that you need. Yep. Number four, invest 15% for retirement. Number five, save for kids college. Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Why? You want your kids, you want to pay what I tell what I tell my kids is figure out how you can get scholarships ships so get good grades so that that way you can find scholarships and there's ways to get money. And then decide what the hell you're going to do with your life and be smart about what you're picking for college. And college, at the end of the day, I am very, my kids are not. Here's the thing. If I say, I'm going to pay for you go to college because you're probably going to get drunk and have sex and enjoy yourself like too much, and then you'll probably learn shit anyway.

SPEAKER_02

It's going to work out.

SPEAKER_00

At the end of the day, I don't want to pay for that. And I think a lot of kids go to college just to have a degree. And at the end of the day, they don't make any more freaking money than the person who just simply worked for those few years that they went to college. They went to work and now all of a sudden, wow, their income is exactly the same when they get out of college as it was the person who just won't need a whole nother episode on number five for Gina, because she just went on a TED talk.

SPEAKER_01

And I do feel like it could go so many different ways. Because yes, if you if you just pay for your kids' college, then they have no gratitude and they go and they fuck off and then they fail out. And they don't think it through the same way.

SPEAKER_00

Well, and here's the other thing is I had like Kylie, I told she says to me, so okay, for college, like you've like saved the money, right? To give me college. I've I started laughing, right? Because I mean, she's so funny and cute.

SPEAKER_01

You're so funny. I'm paying for your college bitch.

SPEAKER_00

And so then she immediately says to me, Oh, there goes that idea. So now she's going to work at Hooters because she did talk about that too. Hey, if it was gonna pay the bills, my hunt, my darling dear, you know, use what God gave you. But at the end of the day, she still is has now every she actually has a lot of intentions to go to college. And so she's talked about it. So it does not stop them from going. She, but you can tell when she's thinking of colleges, she's thinking of what's the most fun college to go to when the stuff that she's wanting to do, she could stay at home and go to college for much cheaper.

SPEAKER_01

Kids go to community college. Yes. Go to community college until you can get your life figured out on what you want to do. Because it is a it is a life-changing experience, like obviously college, but you are 17, 18 years old. And I think that I think that we need to talk about that more because like you are 17, 18. You have no idea what you want to do with the rest of your life. And even if you think that you do. Me, for example, I thought I wanted to be a teacher. I fucking can't stand kids.

SPEAKER_00

I would be viewing. Wait a minute, you just said in the last episode. In the last episode, you had just made a comment. I do believe that you said people don't love microphones are evil. I do.

SPEAKER_01

I like I like kids related.

SPEAKER_00

I like kids in small volume. Well, here's what I always say. Small volume. Yeah. I'm the same way. And when it comes to certain things, I we always say at our house, and it's probably not a don't take this sprong. We always say, fuck them kids.

SPEAKER_01

Fuck them. Goes back to the fuck them theory we talked about.

SPEAKER_00

Fuck them.

College Costs, Trades, And Real Options

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Okay. But for real, go to go to community college. Get your get your undergrad. Figure it out. And and spend some time talk talk to people, which I think is so cool. And I think that schools, at least here in my area, are doing a little better job because Wyatt has been very, very, very um, so he's in the eighth grade and he um on his days off, like they've got Monday, Tuesday off, and he's already met up with my dad and like he's going to work with my dad. And my dad's instilling some great work ethic into the kid. I have great work ethic. My parents did a phenomen, phenomenal job. Sometimes I give them a hard time. I'm like, why did you teach me to have morals? Because like, I know I could just be at home laid up, living off the state, you know, whatever. Like, and hey, I think state aid, I know it's a hot topic right now, so I don't want to get super big into it. And I don't, but there are people that I know in my life that have not worked a job where they have to actually pay taxes into the state in their entire lives because they're quote unquote disabled. Not disabled enough not to party, not disabled enough not to do drugs, not disabled enough to not do demolition derbies their whole life, not disabled enough to live a fabulous life, but too disabled to go to work. And like that will get me on my and so I I will tease my mom and be like, why did you teach me to have morals and like like work for my money? Because it's a real fucking drag.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. It's a real drag. Well, and my see, that's why I'm I feel the same way. But my parents always told me though, the one thing about it though is it really does limit your choices when you don't have money. So like realistically, at the end of the day, they yes, they get the freedom to do all those different things, but at the end of the day, when they're going shopping for certain things, they are they have more limits than what you have. You know what I mean? Like if I want to buy, if I want to buy something real expensive, or if I want to be cheap, I can I have that choice more. You know what I mean? So I am I'm glad that I have some of those morals, and I hope I passed all those morals onto my kids, which I can tell you from what they all do. I mean, even Kylie has two jobs right now that she's working for, and during the summer she had picked up a third, and which I think is great. She will have the same frustrations we have of the people who do not participate in those things.

SPEAKER_01

Hey, and you know what? That is probably people in this world that need help, and I'm all about helping people. I'm all about that. I, when I had Wyatt, I was on maternity leave. I obviously a lot of that he spent in the NICU, and so I extended it and took like four and a half months off. And so I at that time, well, and then he needed the higher calorie formula because he was a premium. So I I pumped as long as I could. My milk didn't really come in because I was never able to breastfeed because he was on the ventilator, yada yada yada. Um, and then I did take advantage of he needed the high higher calorie, which was like even 14 years ago, was$25 a can. And so I got on Wick and it was the coolest shit, man. Because when you got a little bit older, then you were getting bread, milk, eggs. It was, it was awesome. Um, and so I know that there are people in this world that need help, and I am not opposed to helping. I am opposed to you sitting your data dead ass on the couch and not going to work or even driving.

SPEAKER_00

I'm I'm against people who don't have true, real good reasons to be needed, asking for help. But that's on, as we said, we could talk about college, we can talk about all this stuff even all because I can go on a tangent. But saving for the kids' college, I feel that that is a personal decision. If you are, if you are in a situation that you can stash the money and you can do those things for your kids, that's wonderful. If you look at us, some kids anymore are going towards entrepreneurship or they're doing some other trade ways, trade.

SPEAKER_01

Shout out to trade schools because I'm telling you, trades are going to be the highest paid, best jobs that you can possibly get.

SPEAKER_00

If you have any interest in painting painters, drywallers, yes, plumbers, electricians, electricians and um are gonna be big, especially with AI going on. They will for sure even more and more and more need electricians. So those are all wonderful things. And so, and some of those stuff, like um, like for Austin, he actually went to a school during high school for getting certificates to do trade. So that way, right out of high school, he didn't have to then go on to a trade school and spend he got walked out and got a job doing the same things, and he's it's no different. So it's you there's a lot of ways to go about it, whether you have that money or you don't have the money. There's a lot of things offered to people. Um, so college, I'm I'm just going to tell you in my for me personally, yeah, no, but at the same time, um, for the people who can, I think it's great. They help their kids. Wonderful high five to you.

SPEAKER_01

But yeah, that's I want them to be able to do whatever they want to do. And I don't want them to live, you know, come out of school and automatically have$150 million worth of debt to do. I just, I I want, yes, I just want to help them and guide them into making smarter decisions and not just be like, I'm getting out of the house. I'm I take it from us. Getting out of the house is not as fun as it seems. You're like, yes, I'm gonna live on my own. I'm gonna have to pay for all my shit.

SPEAKER_00

No, it's not as fun as it seems. And girls really want to get out even faster than boys for sure. And I understand it, but um, yeah, you'll be broke real quick and won't have all the things that you want in life.

SPEAKER_01

So one of my kids came home, they're like, my teacher told me to live with my parents as long as they will allow me. And they're not wrong.

Living Below Means And The Joneses Trap

SPEAKER_00

I've had well, and my daughter, especially being the girls, I feel like they talk about a lot more. Um, she said some friends come over and they've even talked about I just can't wait. When I'm 18, I'm getting out of the house. And I told them, I said, you know, I completely understand why. Completely 100% understand why. Same, I was the same person. But at the same time, I'm like, do you understand how much it truly will cost you to get out and you don't even have a safety net of money? And now how much you will have to work and do things to get yourself in order to get advanced. I'm like, seriously, I don't care what your parents' rules are, whether you like them or not is irrelevant. Find a way you can have a balance with them and enjoy the fact that you don't have all those bills. And just know there is an ending date. You will get out at some point. It's just that they won't make you get out they don't want you forever. I mean, some people do. I don't understand that, but some people do. But for the most part, most people can't wait for you to grow up and have your own life and be happy and be adults and stuff like that. So take advantage of your parents for sure in that aspect. For sure. Okay. The right way when I say take advantage of your parents in the right way.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. Okay, now the next one after that. Let's go. Okay. We're gonna recap.$1,000 start our emergency fund. Two, pay off all of your debt except for your house. Three, three to six months of three to six months of expenses saved. Four, invest 15% for retirement. Five, save for kids college or not. Or not. Six, pay off your house early. Seven, build wealth and give generously. So his saying is live like no one else so you can live like no one else. And that basically means don't keep up with the Joneses. The amount of debt that families are in right now, always, um, is is astronomical. It's crazy. But it's not about the biggest house, it's not about the biggest car, it's not about um physical things that you feel like you need in your life to to compete with everyone around you. Drive the paid off shitty car as long as it gets you from point A to point B and it's not gonna break down. Drive the shitty car, the paid off shitty car. Not the$700 a month house payment. So it's like live below your means, pay everything off, get out of debt. So then you can retire early, live the good life. And it's so hard. It's so hard because I've heard stories. I've one of my um nearest and dearest friends. Um, we've lost touch since we don't work together every single day, but her mom saved up, had multiple condos in Florida, living her best life to die of a brain aneurysm like a week before she was gonna retire or shortly after, whatever the case. You hear that so many times. So you've got to find the balance between living your life and and and not and and being psycho-like you can't take this money with you when you go.

Streaming Bloat And Cutting Bills

SPEAKER_00

No. I think that's the thing about it is I think that um I think everything like on this list all makes everything but number five all makes sense to me. Yeah, I think it all makes sense to me. And it and it's it's true. If you because here's the thing about it though, I feel if you're living and doing some things under beneath where you are and you have extra money, um, I think you're happier anyways, and you have less anxiety and less stress in your life. I think that's 100% huge for anybody to be able to just live that way. I do I feel the same way. I mean, heck, I almost lost my husband, and I mean, we've always been focused on when we retire, when we retire, when we retire, you know what I mean? And so people always will say, you know, take that vacation and go do those things and all that kind of stuff. I just think there's ways I I just think as long as you're not doing those things to get in the way of the fact that you can put away because if you though hopefully hopefully we are all blessed enough to be able to live a very long fulfilled life. So if you're going to, you certainly don't want to live the fulfilled life while you're young to be old and broke. Like that's you don't want that to be your goal. So you ultimately almost kind of have to find that the happy medium for you, like you said, because live within your means.

SPEAKER_01

And we are so freaking bad about it.

SPEAKER_00

And quit worrying about the Jones, like the everybody next door and the friends on the street and the people that you work with and stuff like that, and what they're doing, you should live your life based on you and what you're doing.

SPEAKER_01

If you are living your life trying to keep up with the Joneses, you will forever be in debt. And that's that's all there is to it. And um, you know, the situation happened with me. I was making Buku dollars and bought a new car, and then ertskeet, that came to an end. And now I have this big ass car payment, and I am paying off little extra at a time, and I'm doing the best that I can, and I cannot wait, and I'm gonna drive this thing until the wheels fall off of it, let me tell you. But like it it is so true. You don't know what tomorrow is going to bring, and so set yourself up for success, but live within your means. You you can take a vacation, it doesn't have to be to Disney. No, which by the way, there are ways to go to Disney cheaper. The park tickets. See, I'm fortunate enough that my significant other has family that that work at Disney, so there's that. But like when you go to Disney, you don't have to do the well, the princess boutique clothes, but you know what I'm saying? Like you can vacation in your means. Yes. It's just I think that we are so caught up in this world of what we see online and these perfect lives that we want to drive the G-Wagons, and you know.

SPEAKER_00

But so have you ever seen, so like they've had they'll be like they'll post a picture and it'll be a guy and he'll be like, I don't know, jeans and a whatever, just regular nothing t-shirt, no special haircut or anything, just kind of a regular, regular guy leaned up against some car that's like maybe 10 grand if he's lucky. And then you'll have this guy who's GQ, right? And he's got this freaking awesome looking car, hot, the whole thing. The cars.

SPEAKER_01

If you don't realize you can tell by her what she drives and and her husband's but at the end of the day, it's like you'll be like, man, look at that.

Budget Tools: Rocket Money And Rewards

SPEAKER_00

But I will say, they a lot of times will say, Who do you really actually think has more money? And a lot of times it's the guy that's driving that crappy car. Says the guy with all the money. And I was always raised all the time by being told, you know, you go out and you meet some guy and he is GQ'd out, you might really want to wonder what his bank account looks like because he's spending an awful lot of money making sure he looks that way. Now, that doesn't mean obviously there comes a point everybody can have jobs and they get to the point they can be that guy. But the truth be told, you want some stability and you want some things to where you have money. And just because somebody appears a certain way, I mean, you need to like evaluate each and every person accordingly. And so we get so mesmerized by the GQ rather than looking at some reality and having respect for all these other people who sometimes like I just had a uh lady tell me um about a job that she's like, oh my god, it's a boilermaker. Never heard of this, anyways. Anyways, it's like it's called the boil, they do they're boiler makers, they only work like three months a year. I was like, seriously? And she said, Yeah, they work hard for three months a year and then they get the rest of the year off. But like the guy drives a he bought this car from some girl for like real cheap. And she's like, This is like a beater. Like, you do you really want this car? He goes, You have no idea how much I want your car. He's like, I'm not getting in another car of mine that's nice with the clothes that I'm wearing after being at work. So this is my get back and forth to work. So I'm sure if you see that guy during the times that he is working, he probably looks like a shit bum. But he's freaking loaded.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And that's yeah, build wealth and you know, in lots of different ways.

SPEAKER_00

So quit like never judge a book by its number, like and quick getting on all these social media and saying, oh my God, that's what rich looks like.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. So if you are interested, and what what I love the most, and I've got the total money makeover, which is funny because you know, my brother, my older brother reached out and he's like, Does anybody have Dave Ramsey's total total money makeover? Um and he's a lawyer.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

It's all about, okay, my and my grandma taught me this a thousand years ago, and I know I don't have the number right, and I could run to the next room and get the exact number. But um, for those of you who don't know, I bought my grandparents' house. And so I have in a metal cabinet, a room over. I have um all kinds of things, but one includes like an old um like check registry or whatever. And I cannot remember the exact amount, but I'm talking like$56 was a paycheck. Like, yeah. And they lived a great life and they lived within their means. And my grandma always said, it's not what you make, it's how you spend it, but also you spend what you make. Like if you make$100,000, you spend$100,000. If you take that pay cut and you make$60,000, somehow you figure it out. Yes. You the more you make, the more you spend. Yes. And I am freaking the poster child for that.

Grocery Hacks, Loyalty, And Small Habits

SPEAKER_00

The more you make, the more you spend. And I think so. Here's the thing about it. Like, um, so Casey all the time reached out to me because he talks about the economy and how it's it's very, you know, how horrible, like what the dollar's worth and all these different kinds of things. But when I look at it as a day-to-day life, when you look at like the expenses and what things cost, I mean, if I sat and tallied up what I was making, even when I had, you know, first starting out, you know, young and everything, and I'm making like eight dollars an hour having a child, um, yes, homes were cheaper and all these different things. And and his thing is, well, your dollar went further. Well, I'm gonna tell you, I had to work my butt off, and I certainly did a lot of window shopping and I didn't get to go have fancy coffees and do all these things. And what I so I've told him, I said, Well, I feel like a lot of the kids nowadays want to go out and have all of it. They want to have the the life that a 40-year-old would have. That I always knew at that age I don't get to do those things till I'm older. So I'm gonna have to budget and be smarter and you know what I mean, and and and do these different things. And and we can all go on about what's the dollar's worth and maybe in investments there's some different things, whatever. But when you look at what my what I got paid and what I had to pay for, and you just look at that, I didn't have anything extra to do anything extra. Right. You know what I mean? So I had to, I did. I walked around in the mall and looked at shit all the time, but I didn't get to buy any of it. And if I did buy anything, I was buying it because I had a baby, and so then he had to get, and I was the same as you, I had to get the um expensive ass formula because he threw everything up under the sun. And that shit was$25 a can back then and$25 a can, and hello, I'm making$8 an hour. That is not, that doesn't, that doesn't work out really well, right? You know, and so I just think sometimes that these kids, unfortunately with social media, has made them feel like, oh my God, you have to go to this restaurant and this is what I tried. And I bought four different items. You see these all the time. I bought four different items, and I'm trying them for you guys so you can see, and blah, blah, blah. And I'm sure, you know, they through time get some things out of that. But the reality is in the beginning, they you don't, you know, you have to build something. And so I see them with all the fanciest coffees. Oh, they want to go to the cutest little boutiques. They want to go to, I mean, it's their everything in their lives.

SPEAKER_01

They're food, they're they're losing their snap. And there are people that need help in this world, and I am not above helping these people in the world. But I am above people swiping their EBT card behind me at Walmart with their brand new phone that's fucking newer than mine, their fucking nails done, their hair done, their fake eyelashes, and bullshit. I'm sorry, you're paying. Pissed off that you don't get your snap benefits because you can't that because you can't get your nails done next week. Because now you have to spend your money on food and not your nails. So like, you can really get me, you can really get me going on this.

SPEAKER_00

And it's true because it's just that's they I just feel like this young the younger generation wants more younger or kind of thinks that they should have more younger, and it just isn't reality. I mean, I didn't more younger, what do you mean? Like when you're like when you're like they're they're thinking fresh out of college, by the time they're mid-20s, especially, they should be living a life like what I to me. I'm like that, you don't get to live those lives till you're like 40. It's just you don't get to do that. And it's I wish it was how it was for me, but it wasn't. And then to be told, well, the dollar was your dollar went further. My life was nothing like what I want. Okay, I shouldn't. And this is not like I just see it on social media. These are people, I mean, all over the place that you can talk to. That their lives, I'm like, the hell? You're like 26 and you're able to do what? I mean, I couldn't even imagine to, I did not have the money to do that, nor did I have people sitting around handing me all these extra gifts and money and doing bailing me out of it. I didn't have it. I had to, I did a lot of sitting at home and doing a lot of nothing. I bought nothing for myself. I didn't do, I never was one that could go get my nails done and I literally get my hair cut like once every nine months because I couldn't, I just didn't have the money to do any of that stuff. So I did, I mean, I I did the best that I could do. And I so like for Austin, even I was very, very good at um, you know, if I summertime and now it's the end of summertime. Well, next summer I can pretty much guarantee he'll wear probably this size. So I would buy all the clearance shit, and that's what you're wearing next to your bub, because that's what I have money for. I mean, so it just was like, that's just to me, like I just feel like we everybody should be better at budgeting and shouldn't be have the expectations that we should have so much at the age of 25, 27, even 30, when reality of it is that like you don't it's a that's never been anybody's life. My parents didn't live like that either.

SPEAKER_01

I mean a couple weeks ago I posted on social media um all these kids talking about six seven, wait till they have to figure out what a nine to five is. Six, seven, nine five, get it? Nine five, get a fucking job. You're not entitled. We owe you nothing. Get a job. It's fine. I get excited. When I get excited, I get loud. So here we go. The next thing I'm gonna say is um Gary, Gina, who is Gary that I send you all the time on Facebook? I'm just gonna call it Gary V. Yeah, I love him. And I'll have to share, I'll have to reshare or repost somebody. So if you're super interested in this episode, keep an eye out for anything they share from Gary.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

But Gary gets very animated and he gets very into it. And I think he's he's the one who's got me all pumped up about it because he's like, quit fucking saying that you don't have any money. Yep. If you log on your when you turn on your TV, it says Netflix, Hulu, Prime.

SPEAKER_00

Right. It's a truth.

SPEAKER_01

Paramount, Apple.

SPEAKER_00

Yep.

Planning, Saving, And Final Encouragement

SPEAKER_01

If you are streaming 19 different services, then you are not fucking broke. Yep. Period. End of story. And if you are broke and in debt and you're streaming all of those services, that is step one. That is your problem. Like, shout out to Gary V because he does not sugarcoat it. He tells you. And I'm sitting there, I'm like, oh my God, I was like crying over money, and I have all these streaming services. Like it's just, you got, you know, it's a reality check. And sometimes in this world, we need somebody to say, cut it out. You don't need to keep up with the Joneses. You don't need 19 streaming services. Like, we're, which that's just not fair. That is not fair. What happened to back in the day when you turned on the TV and you could watch different channels? Like, you cannot mark my words, if you want local channels and like live TV, you can't find it cheaper than$80 a month.

SPEAKER_00

No, I do think there's certain things that are absolutely absurd. Although there's so many people I talk to anymore that they literally have like Netflix, Apple TV, you know, Hulu or something like that. And that's all they watch. Because you really need to watch almost all the stuff that's on TV. And so the one good thing I think is that that there's a lot more people getting out and doing things. Unlike you and I, who like to sit at home and not do shit. We just stream. There is a lot of them that um and my husband would die without TV. But um, there's a lot of them I think that they just look at it as, you know, they try to get out and do a little bit more to try to save on the bill because otherwise I think TV is a freaking racket just to have such a racket regular television. It's a joke. It is such a joke. We were paying so much money. It was just stupid. It was one of the things that with Tom going through all of his stuff for his heart attacks. I mean, I have had to rebudget and rebudget and rebudget throughout the years just due to, you know, things changing for us. And it's I I just like don't even the TV, I'm just like, dude, I know you like TV, but God bless America.

SPEAKER_01

That was one of the very first things I got rid of um going through my divorce was the direct TV. It was like$137. And I was like, you can't do it on my own.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's just stupid. It's it's and then you throw on all the other different things on top of it. It's just, it's dumb. TV is one of those things where yes, I like and enjoy, but I could if it if I'm limited more, it doesn't bother me. But it but to be honest with you, it got more that way too. Like I just like the that price of TV grew even in the last like 10 to 15 years, just kept going up and up and up. And I'm like, oh my God. So my suggestion to most people is get rid of a shitload of stuff on your TV for sure. If you want to budget and get your butts outside and do something. Go for a walk, isn't that what I like?

SPEAKER_01

All we're gonna do is walk. It's getting cold though. And that's that so let's talk about, you know, money, money isn't just money, it's security, it's safety, it's stability. And moms will go without before we ever let our kids go without, that's for sure. Definitely. Um, but we'll put the$9 lip gloss back because we don't need it. Um and we deserve to feel financially supported too. So how do we what what are some tips, tricks that we can use? Um, how do we how do we battle this money topic, this money situation, this money conundrum that we're in where the price of living is just astronomical. You know, the cost of living goes up, our salaries don't. So what do we do? What are some tips and tricks?

SPEAKER_00

So couponing, that's not my thing, but um, I should be better at it. But couponing can definitely help.

SPEAKER_01

For sure. I think um some real life easy things that that might actually help are, you know, one 20-minute monthly budgeting meeting. Sit down, write down what's coming in and and what's going out. I think that you will be shocked. Um, I actually I actually recently um downloaded an app.

SPEAKER_00

Um oh my gosh, I should have been prepared for this. Oh, well, hey, why you're saying that anyways? Um, I saw someone in chat for chat GPG GPT. You can get on there and like plug in even like stuff to do with your um expenses, and that it will even help you to budget it. Perfect. So that's one thing you can do. Um because I'm all about making it easy. But if there's an um the other thing is too, is like um if you even save like$40 a month for you know every month just so that you have some Christmas money. Um, maybe get some sports fees, you know, maybe a weekend getaway. I mean, that's$480 a year, just budgeting some stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my gosh, I can't find it. But there there is an app out there in this world. Um, and it was funny because it was like, well, you can pay$299 a month if we'll help you do this, whatever it is. And you guys know how I like to throw in my not paid advertisements that I hope will pay for it. Well, then there's that rocket money. Rocket money! Oh my god, stupid. I cannot think about it. I could not come up with it. Rocket money, and I could not find it on my phone because I live in a world where you have to have 7,082 apps that you don't use. Yep.

SPEAKER_00

I have gone through a lot of that recently and got rid of a bunch of like I don't even know what this is.

SPEAKER_01

Like Madison County Sheriff's Office. Like, I don't check in on criminals that often. Anyway, Rocket Money. So Rocket Money is an app. Again, we are not paid advertisements, but we would like to be. Um, but it is an app that you can download or a service that you can sign up. I was fucking paying for two Hulus.

SPEAKER_00

And they say, they say on that Rocket Money that that people find that a lot that they'll have like two of like Netflix or Hulu's that they're paying on and they don't even realize.

SPEAKER_01

So let me explain how this happens because you sign up for a free trial and you use every email address that you've ever had in your entire life for a free trial that you forget to cancel. And so then I had my Hulu Live, which I have since canceled. Um, but that was$82.99. And then I was paying a separate$21.99 for like normal Hulu. And I was like, oh my God. And so there are some um services that they can actually contact. So like I ended up paying for one month's subscription of Rocket Money because finding Hulu alone saved me what it cost. So I did Rocket Money. And so there was a um car wash that had been charging me since I hadn't had my old car. So like over I was getting charged$21 a month for a car wash for a car I no longer had. Um it saved me right off the bat so much freaking money. So shout out to to Rocket Money. But there are obviously well, and I think that's the thing.

SPEAKER_00

I think people need to take advantage of stuff like that to help, especially something as simple as that, to help them to make sure. Because I think we just like you just said, sometimes you'll think, oh, these are all my bills, and all of a sudden there is a sneaky little bill in there that you didn't know popping up that you're paying out all the time that you could get rid of. And um damn monthly subscriptions. Yes, they're for sure, for sure.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, so schedule a monthly budget meeting with yourself. Use Rocket Money if you need to. Um, use Fetch. Um, I'm gonna bring my mom on the show. She'll laugh right now because she obviously is an avid listen listener of the anxiety-ridden mom's club. Um, but use fetch. So with fetch, you scan every receipt, and so it can be a random ass receipt and you get 25 points. But after you get so many points, then you can get um gift cards to to different stores or whatever. So use things like fetch or i botta. Um, always, always, always Google a promo code before checking out of anything. Like so many times I've um searched and just been like coupon code for X, Y, Z. I know I need to be better about that. Um, Target Circle. Target Circle is free. Use it. Dollar General on Saturdays. I think it's every single Saturday. Um, it's 10 off of 25, which is a lot of freaking money in today's. Oh, yeah, that is every Saturday? Every no, maybe it's five off of hell, I really need to get my restaurants together. Jesus, you're not what the hell you're talking about. Okay, anyways, there's some sort of great freaking deal. I think it's five off 20. It's five off 25 at Dollar General, but they often do um bigger than that, like 10 off of 40. So they'll but every single Saturday it's five off 25. But even if you get on like the Dollar General app, you can clip the um online coupons and and save money. And also, if you're a a scroller like I am, there are a lot of um people out there that will do that, that's what their content is, and it's it's based solely off of like Dollar General. And it then they'll be like, look at all the laundry detergent and all of the things that they needed um and that they got for like five dollars. I'm like, oh my God. But like couponing can also be a full-time job.

SPEAKER_00

And so we're not, I'm not giving tips. But there are different things. I know some people do couponing, digital couponing, it's supposed to be easier. I just knew the people that I knew that ever did a lot of couponing, it just seemed like a lot. And I don't know that I always have the time for all those things. But um, then some people have told me that digital couponing is good, but I definitely always try to be really good about anywhere that I can save on something, or they'll give you so many and you get something free, blah, blah, blah. But it like even at um Dearburg's and Schnooks, you know, they have where you just use your phone number and then it gives you so much money. And I'm more I'm at Dearburg's most of the time, but it's amazing to me, to be honest with you, how much I just save up that money. So I always do it like right now. I save up because of Thanksgiving. So I always save up. So then that way I'll either cash out for Thanksgiving or I might hold on to it and wait till Christmas time when we have everybody over. But it's nice to get, you know, 20, 25 bucks off of heck yeah, you know, your Gina's from the big city here in Jerseyville.

SPEAKER_01

We have Sinclair Food Mart. And if you put in your phone number, you do get money back, and you can get a free turkey. Yeah. Once a year and money back. So even though it's not shucks, schnooks or dearburg's.

SPEAKER_00

Um a lot of them give a lot of places. I feel like I've gone to Florida and gone to places there, and they always be like, Oh, are you a member? Blah, blah, blah. So I mean, most grocery stores in most places, I would say, have some sort of something that gives you an incentive. And anywhere you can save a dollar is it is a dollar. Yes.

SPEAKER_01

And check with your school too. So if you um if you have kids still in school and in Jerseyville and St. Francis Holy Ghost, we we have it, but um, it's all over the globe in schools that have signed up, but it's called Raise Right. And Rais Right is a program where you can get um gift certificates from these companies and you get a certain percentage back. So that's nice. For example, like um, if anybody knows me personally, I am a TJ Maxx Marshall's Home Goods girl. And anytime I go to one of those stores, I can get on my phone through Rais Right and buy an electronic gift card, and I get 6% back every single purchase. Even things like Home Depot, it's 4%. And so the school gets a piece of that, and then I get a rebate. But like even if your kids aren't in school, you can sign up for Rais Right and do this, and you can get a cash rebate once a year. So there are programs out there, and again, we're not giving things, we're busy, we're anxious moms. We don't need a file little file thing of coupons that are always expired and hanging out. But let's maximize make things easy. Make things easy, but maximize where we can. Like we mentioned, target circle. Um buy thing, you know.

SPEAKER_00

And realistically, it's those small things. It's the small habits that make the biggest difference. I mean, if you do stuff like that, rocket money, you put in target circle, you go to the grocery store and you add in the money there. There's like the um fetch, is that what it was? Is the other one that there's stuff like there's an I know there's a few others too that do the same thing. Um, you go to Sam's Club. Ratatoukin.

SPEAKER_02

There you go.

SPEAKER_00

And then there's um, there's also like when you go to Sam's Club, like if you use their um, if you get their credit card, then they get money back on that as well as you can use their gas, and then if you're a member, you get cheaper gas, you know, all those kinds. I feel like it's a scan as you go now too.

SPEAKER_01

You can get special discounts on things for scanning things as you put them in the cart.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. So I mean I this I just think it's like it's about thinking before you do it. It's about being a little bit more um just taking us in. Yes. I think planning things out a little bit better. Obviously, anybody would tell you to if you're gonna make your grocery list, make your grocery list before you go to the grocery store. So you don't just walk in there aimlessly, I'm hungry, and what do I want to eat?

SPEAKER_01

The grocery store because we don't buy shit you do not need. Quite honestly, that's why I started to do um Walmart pickup because then it doesn't, I don't have the temptation of going through the closed um section. Or, you know, but that that also has its downfalls. Like when I bought um the little Debbie Christmas trees that were like the size of my head on accident. I guess I didn't have to. Yeah, it does.

SPEAKER_00

I've had that happen too. But for the most part, like I feel like when you do that stuff, it does, it's there's a lot of temptation to walking around and seeing things that you don't need and saying, well, I mean, it's only four bucks, it's not a big deal. Oh, two more dollars on that. Oh, who cares? Oh my god, those look delicious. I haven't had them in about three months. I think I'll need a package of those two.

SPEAKER_01

So what have we learned? So we're gonna, what have we learned today?

SPEAKER_00

We have learned today that we need to be more, we need to plan. We need to plan. I'm a planner, like I always said. I'm not, I've not always been the most effective about planning out all of this stuff for my money, but I've definitely had to in the last several years, no matter how you look at it. So planning, writing your stuff down, what you're spending your money on, rocket money, important. Yes, uh, using Target Circle, things at the grocery stores, all those kinds of things I think are incredibly important. And saving even$10 extra a week. So instead of drinking your Starbucks coffee, put one of those coffees away and stick$10 in a drawer and watch it grow and see what you got at the end. To live within our means. Yes. And even when I said, like Casey talked to me about the younger generation and the cost of a dollar and all those things, and he's very efficient, goes through his stuff a lot. Like he's kind of like crazy man overlooking at his account more than I could ever imagine. It would make me super anxious if I did that. She doesn't excited over. I'm like shaking as I'm talking about it. Um, but I just think that truly at the end of the day, I understand his frustrations and he wants so much, and I get all those dreams everybody has. I just think that we have to be real, everybody has to be realistic. What do you make? What can you spend? And we can't solve all the world's problems or everybody's problems in doing that, but we can definitely make sure we have leftovers and are generous.

SPEAKER_01

So if money feels like the most stressful relationship in your life, you are not alone. We feel it too.

SPEAKER_00

Just a moment, please, because I have no idea where I'm at. Start that over.

SPEAKER_01

So if money feels like the most stressful relationship in your life, you're not alone, we feel it too. But we can choose to stop letting money control us and start telling our money where to go.

SPEAKER_00

We deserve to feel stable and empowered, not panicked.

SPEAKER_01

It's simple, not always easy, but moms, we do impossible things every single day.

SPEAKER_00

So here's two financial peace, baby steps to less mindless spending and more intentional living. We've got this. If no one's told you lately, let me be the one to say it. You're not failing, you're growing. You're not broken, you're becoming, and you're doing better than you think.

SPEAKER_01

Thanks for being here today. If this episode resonated with you, I'd love if you'd subscribe, leave a review, or share it with another mom who might need to hear this. You can also connect with us on Facebook or TikTok at the ARMC. We'd love to hear your story. Until next time, give yourself grace, breathe deep, and remember, peace is possible.