#1: Why I Took a Two-Year Break from Budget Divas

Two years ago, I was running a thriving business—coaching women, hosting challenges, and helping people pay off debt while still living their best life. But in November 2023, everything changed. My husband passed away unexpectedly, and I couldn’t breathe, let alone talk about budgeting or business. So I stepped away. I grieved. I healed. I started over—on a single income, with a broken heart, and a new perspective.

In this episode, I’m sharing the full story. From being buried in $90,000 of debt and praying on the bathroom floor… to discovering mystery shopping and becoming debt-free… to losing everything I thought I was building and finding the strength to rebuild.

This isn’t just about money. It’s about survival, grief, healing, and taking back your power—even when life doesn’t go as planned.

🎧 What You’ll Take Away from This Episode:

• How I went from $90K in debt to debt-free
• What mystery shopping did for my budget—and my confidence
• Why I stopped budgeting after my husband passed—and how I started again
• What it’s really like to live on a single income after loss
• How you can rebuild your finances without giving up joy, coffee, or self-care
• That you are not alone, you are not behind, and you are more than capable

If you’ve ever asked yourself, “How am I supposed to do this alone?”—this episode is for you. Even now, even here—you can still live like a diva.

Transcript

Hey bestie, welcome to the Budget Divas Podcast. I am your host, Jenn Trinidad, mystery shopper, budgeting coach, and queen of finding a way even when it feels like the odds are stacked against you. If this is your first time here, welcome. I'm so glad you're here and if you've been following along since the early days, thank you so much for coming back. You have no idea how much that means to me. Because this episode right here, it's special. It's a big one.

This is my first episode after a two year hiatus. Yes, two years. The last time we spoke together on this mic, I was building this beautiful business. was coaching, doing podcast episodes, running challenges and helping women all over the country pay off debt, shop smart and live fabulously on a budget. But then everything stopped.

So going back to November, 2023, my husband passed away unexpectedly. And I just couldn't breathe. I couldn't show up. I couldn't podcast. I couldn't talk about budgeting or mystery shopping when it felt like the ground had been ripped out from under me. And so I stepped away. And for two years, I grieved.

I healed and I tried to find my footing again. And let me just tell you, it wasn't easy. There were days when I didn't want to start this podcast again. I didn't want to talk about my story. All I wanted to do was eliminate the pain in my head and make it go all the way. But you know what? I decided that I needed to tell this story.

And with the support from family and friends, they said, Jen, you have to tell this story. And so this story is not just my story, but it's also a chance to help listeners like you to get out of debt while still living fabulously on a budget.

So now that I'm back, but not as the same person, I am back with a new perspective, a new mission and a fierce fire to help you build the kind of life that's not just debt free, but rich in freedom and has so much more meaning to life.

So let's rewind and I'm gonna tell you everything. How Budget Diva started, what happened when my world fell apart, and how I'm starting over on a single income while still living like the diva I want to live.

So today I'm going to tell you everything. How Budget Diva started, what happened in that November day when my entire world fell apart, and how I'm starting over on a single income while still living like a diva. And more importantly, in this podcast, I'm going to show you how you can do it too.

But I wanted to kind of just tell you my story and how this all started. And it started on the bathroom floor. It was 2016 and I wish I could tell you we were thriving, but we weren't. We were buried in debt, over $90,000 worth of debt. Every month was a blur of minimum payments, overdraft fees, and praying nothing else broke. We were in debt and everything. had student loans, credit card debt, car debt, even back taxes. We did not hold back on anything. Then I remember one day I found myself sitting on the bathroom floor. I had my knees pulled up to my chest and just crying, you know that ugly cry where you just can't breathe and you're just crying your eyes out, wanting to breathe, but nothing is coming out. So on that bathroom floor, I remember just saying, God, I'm so tired. I can't live like this anymore. Please show me a way out. We felt like we were doing everything we could. We were cutting expenses, living on a beans and rice diet, doing everything in our power to cut as many expenses as we could. But still we were not happy because we were cutting so much out of our lifestyle that we felt like we didn't have anything to live for.

And it was in that moment that I felt broken. I felt ashamed. I felt like we were doing everything right. Budgeting, saying no to things, cutting coupons, and still it felt like we were losing. I was also spending two hours every single day doing surveys that were paying me four or five dollars at a time. And sometimes I would get to the end of the survey and they would say that I was disqualified.

because I did not meet the criteria they were looking for. So imagine two hours of my time had passed only to find out that I wasn't making any money at all. I was so heartbroken and I just didn't know where to go from here. But then I discovered mystery shopping. One day when I was at work, a friend had told me that her mom comes to Hawaii all the time from the mainland and is a mystery shopper. And at first I thought, wait, is this legit? So I thought that mystery shopping was just a scam because mystery shopping sounds too good to be true, right? Like getting paid to eat out.

Because mystery shopping sounds too good to be true, Like getting paid to dine out, getting reimbursed to shop at Target or stay at hotels, I thought, no way this is real. But I tried one little gig and that tiny shop paid for our fast food dinner that night. And then we tried another and another and suddenly our groceries recovered, oil changes, birthday dinners, getaways, all reimbursed. Now, don't get me wrong, it is work and there is a strategy to it, but that one little side hustle gave us breathing room. And with that breathing room, we funneled every dollar we saved towards our debt. We weren't living like monks anymore. We weren't giving up fun. We were just working the system.

And by 2020, we were debt free.

So once we became debt free, something kept tugging at my heart. Because I looked around and saw so many women doing what I used to do, putting groceries on credit cards, saying no to things their kids wanted, feeling guilty for buying a $5 coffee. And I kept thinking if I could just show them what I've learned. So in 2021, I launched Budget Divas. Not to teach people how to be cheap, not to guilt you into giving up everything but to help women find freedom. The freedom to spend smart, the freedom to pay off debt without giving up their personality or their Sephora or Ulta shopping sprees, and the freedom to stop living like they were less because they had bills. So after that, I started coaching women across the country, creating challenges, programs, and courses.

We had women using mystery shopping to pay for groceries for an entire year, women paying off $10,000 in credit card debt, women crying happy tears because they finally felt in control again. Everything was going so well.

And then in November, 2023, my husband suddenly passed away unexpectedly. My partner, my best friend, my biggest supporter. I can't explain what that does to you. I didn't just lose a person. I lost a whole future I thought we were building together. And suddenly the budgeting didn't matter. The business didn't even matter.

I didn't care about the downloads or spreadsheets or social media tips. I just needed to breathe. And so I stepped away from all of it. And for two years, I learned how to grieve, how to show up for my son and how to cry, scream, pray and slowly start again.

And so this is where the rubber meets the road. Now that I'm back, not because life got easier, because honestly, I have days when I just want to curl up into a ball and eat Cheetos all day in the dark. But it's because I learned something powerful that you can rebuild, you can start over. And even with one income, even after loss,

Even when life looks like nothing like you plan, you can still create a beautiful life. And so once I started healing again, I started budgeting again. I started mystery shopping again and I started to finally feel like myself and I'm a diva. I love getting my lashes done. I love going to spa treatments. I love going shopping.

and buying all the pretty things to decorate my house. So of course I was not gonna go back to living on a rice and beans diet on a frugal lifestyle. I needed to figure out again how to live my life on a single income, but still on a diva budget. And I know you can too. So if you're listening to this podcast, I just wanna encourage you that you can do exactly the steps that I took to get out of debt and live a full fulfilling life.

I am not the same person I was when the show started. I know I am wiser now, softer, stronger, and I want to help you in a deeper way than ever before.

So I want you to know that this podcast isn't just about money. It's about getting your power back. If you've ever looked at your bank account and thought, I don't know how I'm going to make it this month. If you've ever said no to something fun because of the guilt, if you've ever thought you had to give up your joy just to be good with money, this podcast is for you. In each episode, I'm going to teach you how to make a budget that actually works, how to start mystery shopping, how to stop the shame spiral, how to pay off debt while still living your life, and staying fabulous while doing it. This is your safe space, and this is your reminder that you can take control. And I'm gonna show you exactly how.

So whether you're listing in your car, folding laundry, or hiding from your kids in the pantry, just know this, you are not alone, you're not behind, and you are so capable of building a life you love. 

Because even on a budget, you are still a diva. All right, I'll talk to you soon and I'll see you in the next episode.