Budget Divas

#6 Why September Is Your Second Chance at Financial Freedom

• Jenn Trinidad • Episode 6

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Ready for a financial fresh start? Forget waiting until January—September is your secret weapon for financial transformation!

The September Reset works like a second New Year, but without all the pressure and post-holiday exhaustion. While summer vacations and adventures (like my trips to LA and Orlando) create amazing memories, they often leave our finances and routines in disarray. By late August, most of us crave structure and clarity before heading into holiday season chaos.

Starting your financial reset now gives you 3-4 crucial months to build momentum before year-end. Think about it: pushing a heavy cart is hardest when starting from a complete stop. With a September start, you'll already be rolling when January arrives instead of beginning from zero with holiday debt hanging over you.

My five-step September Reset framework can transform your financial trajectory: First, revisit your budget with fresh eyes to identify spending patterns and necessary adjustments. Second, review your debt payoff strategy, choosing between the motivational snowball method or the financially efficient avalanche approach. Third, create a realistic holiday spending plan now, before emotion and urgency take over. Fourth, establish or boost your emergency fund—even just $1,000 provides crucial protection. Finally, select one achievable financial goal to accomplish by December 31st.

Remember that mindset matters as much as tactics. The stories we tell ourselves about money can either sabotage or support our efforts. My own transformation began when I shifted from hopelessness to possibility, recognizing I didn't have to live paycheck-to-paycheck forever.

In upcoming episodes, I'll share weekly guidance to help you clean up your budget, eliminate hidden expenses, set effective short-term goals, navigate holiday spending without debt, and refresh your savings strategy. Together, we'll create a framework that sets you up for success well before the new year begins.

Ready to stop waiting and start building your financial confidence? Hit subscribe, and let's make these next few months count. Your future self will thank you!

Jenn Trinidad:

Welcome to the Budget Divas podcast. This show proves that you can pay off debt, budget like a boss and still live your best diva life. I'm your host, jen Trinidad, budgeting coach, mystery shopping queen and solo mama rebuilding after losing my husband in 2023. This podcast is part money makeover, part pep talk and part real life stories. We do budgeting with lashes on and lattes in hand, because you shouldn't have to sacrifice everything you love just to get your finances on track. Every week, I'll share practical tips, money mindset shifts and how I went from paying off 90k in debt and how you can pay off debt and live freely too. Let's talk about how to slay your financial goals with style, grace and a whole lot of heart, because even on a budget, you're still a diva. Hey, bestie, welcome back to another episode of the Budget Divas Podcast. I'm your host, jen Trinidad, mystery shopper, budgeting coach and your ride-or-die hype girl for living fabulously bougie on a budget. But before we dive in into today's episode, I just wanted to say thank you so much for being here. Thank you for pressing play, for hanging out with me and for all of your sweet messages. Thank you so much for letting me be part of your money journey, when I get messages like Jen, I finally made a budget that actually works, or this podcast made me feel like I wasn't alone. That right, there is what keeps me showing up every single episode and wanting to make podcast episodes that really will make a difference in your life. And you know what? This podcast isn't just my story, it's our story. It's the space where we can freely talk about money, mindset and life's curveballs, because we all know that life doesn't go on an uphill trajectory. Sometimes it's going downhill and restarting again and again and again, and so in this podcast, we're just going to talk about how to handle them with grace, grit and, yes, a little bit of sparkle.

Jenn Trinidad:

In today's episode, we are talking about one of my favorite topics the September reset. You know, september is my favorite month out of the entire year because it feels like a second new year and it's like the secret weapon most people ignore, but it can completely change the way you step into January, way you step into January. So, before we dive in, if you're sitting down on the couch with your favorite fall Starbucks drink, cut it in a blanket with a notebook, I want you to write one thing down. Write down one money win you've had this year, no matter how small you think it is, because today we are going to build on that. Let me start with a confession Summer is actually my least favorite season.

Jenn Trinidad:

Yes, while it's fun it's beaches and barbecues and travels but for me, summer always feels hot, unstructured and directionless. It's almost like I lose my rhythm, my routines fall apart, my budget gets stretched and my focus is completely gone. And this summer was no exception. I had the best time going to LA with my new beau, having the best time going to Universal Studios and the best restaurants, spending time with friends and family, and then later in July, going to Orlando for a Zumba conference and also going to Disney World with a friend. It was so amazing, amazing, and let me just tell you, disney, as an adult, is still pure magic. The pictures, the laughter, the memories they were all priceless.

Jenn Trinidad:

But now, as of this recording, it's almost the end of august, next month will be september already, and it's time to regroup. It's time to get myself back on track, because this summer just felt like there was no discipline, no clarity, no momentum. My pictures on Instagram look fabulous and, although I had a great time inside, secretly I was seriously craving some direction, and so that's why I love September, because September feels like a breath of fresh air. Kids go back to school, routines come back, and even in Hawaii, where the seasons don't really shift, I can definitely feel the change. I can feel the cool weather upon us, and when Starbucks drops that pumpkin spice latte suddenly, I'm like, okay, it's time to get my life together. So that's why I call the September reset the second new year, because there is no pressure, no one's asking what's your resolution, no one's watching to see if you quit. It's quiet, it's private and it's just for you.

Jenn Trinidad:

So I want to ask you what season throws you off the most and why season throws you off the most and why? I want to know, like is it the new year? Do you feel like you're not refreshed, that when January rolls around, it's just a bunch of chaos and not wanting to open those bills from the holidays, not wanting to see what's going on with kids in the new year and all of their activities, etc. What season really throws you off? I asked this question because I feel that way during January too. It's like, oh, my goodness, I said 2023 is going to be my year and then 2024 is going to be my year, and now that it's 2025, I don't want to wait until 2026 to say this is going to be my year. There are still a few months left before the year ends and I want to make sure that I'm making the best of it.

Jenn Trinidad:

Getting all're working, a regular nine to five W2 job, it's usually around the time that your manager is checking in with you to see where are you with the goals that we set up in January. What do you need to accomplish before the end of the year? Because when performance time rolls around, you want to make sure that you have everything checked off on the list and you're not going into a needs improvement mode. And also, if your company gives merit increases and they rate it by if your performance is satisfactory, if it's excellent, if it's exceptional, you want to make sure that you're getting that highest percentage for that merit increase. And so I think about it this way is, if I'm doing this for my job, if I'm doing this for my career, if I'm doing this for my career, making sure that I'm hitting all those targets before the end of the year. The same goes for my budget and my personal finances. I need to make sure that what are the targets that I set up in January to hit by March, by July, by the end of September and then by the end of the year, and so, by setting up those quarterly check-ins, I can make sure that I'm on track every step of the way. And I'm going to be real with you, I did set it up for every quarter, but it doesn't mean that I followed it to the T.

Jenn Trinidad:

There were some times when I went over budget and I needed to realign my goals. There were times when I was like you know what? I don't want to have this goal anymore, and so I had to set a new goal. And, as we all know, like life happens, and so when things happen in life, when there are accidents that happen or medical emergencies or anything that's out of your control, you know that you need to regroup and find out what's most important to me right now. Maybe it's not contributing to that savings account, maybe it's not contributing to that IRA, but it's taking care of this medical expense that came up or this accident expense that came up.

Jenn Trinidad:

You know, recently, early this year, my son got into a car accident. It was totally not his fault, it was a hit and run. He was at a stoplight, somebody had hit him, and so the car was totaled. And so, fortunately, fortunately, our insurance did cover it and we were able to get him a car, not on payments, but we had just paid for the car outright, and so, even though it was an inconvenience, it didn't feel really really stressful. But it was because we had money in a savings account that we were able to do that. And so, even though I had planned for that money to go into an IRA, into investments, that money was a savior to us because we were able to use that to get Brandon transportation so that he could go to work, so that he could do his daily activities, and it didn't seem like an extreme emergency. So, getting back on track.

Jenn Trinidad:

Here's the trap that most of us fall into waiting until January to get our life together. We say next year I'll fix my budget, next year I'll start saving money, next year will be my year, but by the time January comes around, we're tired year. But by the time January comes around, we're tired. We've just survived the holidays travel, overspending, food, family, trauma and now we're supposed to start fresh. That is not a fresh start, that is a punishment.

Jenn Trinidad:

I like to think of it as saying I will start my diet on Monday and then eating a whole box of chocolates on Sunday. Yes, guilty as charged. I have been there, and even today I will be totally transparent. I wasn't able to get the tech up to date for the podcast and so I was stressing over it Totally, was on this eat healthy journey for this entire week, but I had a few chocolates, and so, instead of just throwing my whole healthy eating diet lifestyle out the window, I'm just going to say you know what this happened, let me just do better from tomorrow on and just let it go. And so the same thing happens if you want to go on a diet or you want to do this healthy lifestyle instead of eating a whole box of junk food over the weekend so that you can get it out of your system. That doesn't work most of the time, because by the time Monday rolls around, you're not feeling well, you're not feeling the greatest, you're feeling that fast food in your system, you're feeling that sugary high that's eventually going to be a sugar crash, and then you're just going to throw it out the window.

Jenn Trinidad:

And so I like to think of September, as the holidays are going to be super, super busy, are going to be super, super busy. After September ends, we're rolling into October, so that's, you know, halloween, and then November is Thanksgiving, and don't even get me started on December with Christmas, because that is a whole other stress word. And by the time the holidays are over, january rolls around. We are tired already and we are exhausted and just ready to basically just throw in the towel and not look at the credit card bills that will be coming through in January and just wanting to go to the store and get a lottery ticket so that we can win the mega millions. But it doesn't have to be that way, and so this is why September is my favorite month, and it's the best time to get your budget and your finances back on track before the end of the year. When you start in September, you give yourself three to four months to build that momentum. Think about it like pushing one of those giant Costco carts. At first it feels impossible to get it moving, but once it's rolling, it's way easier to keep going than to start from a dead stop.

Jenn Trinidad:

So let's talk about the area that needs the reset the most your finances. You know money has a sneaky way of piling up when you ignore it. One week it's just a little off and then boom, you're behind, you're stressed, you're avoiding your bank app like it's that ex who still stalks your Instagram stories. And then, when you want to look away, here come the holidays. The truth is, if you don't reset now, january is going to greet you with a financial hangover. I have lived that hangover before, when our family took out a Christmas loan because the radio told us it was cheaper than a credit card. That regret was real. It happened when this is before. You know Spotify and just listening to music on YouTube. Back when we were listening to just the radio in the car, I would hear the same commercial. It seemed like every 10 seconds. They would play the same commercial over and over.

Jenn Trinidad:

Get a personal loan, pay for holiday gatherings, pay for holiday gifts. Get it at a really, really low interest rate. That's cheaper than a credit card. And even though it was much cheaper than a credit card, it's still a loan that you have to pay back. And as soon as January rolls around, when you see that you have spent $5,000, $10,000 on that personal loan, it can be overwhelming. And in that situation. We had took out a loan for $8,000 so that we could go on this fabulous vacation, buy all the presents for our friends and family, only to realize that that didn't really matter at all and the stress of having that loan and having to pay it back in January and the coming months after that was really not worth that vacation or all of the presents that we had bought for people and for each other. So here is the upside September gives you a head start and here's exactly where to begin.

Jenn Trinidad:

Number one revisit your budget. This is why I would rather use an Excel spreadsheet than to use budgeting apps, because in my Excel spreadsheet I can easily look at all of my expenses, tracked from January to the current month, and see exactly what I was spending on and which category I overspent and where I need to realign my goals. Maybe I was super stressed in one month so I did a lot of takeout in that month. Or maybe I spent so much on Zumba wear because the clothes were just super, super cute that I spent more in my clothing category or my personal fun money category than I should have, and so that kind of makes me think, all right, looking in my closet at all of these new clothes that I have. Maybe I don't need to buy new Zumba wear until next year. Maybe I can just use what I have right now.

Jenn Trinidad:

Number two is to review your debt payoff plan. When our family was getting out of debt, there were only two ways that you could get out of debt. Either you did the snowball method or you did the avalanche method. Now, if you're not familiar with the terms, the snowball method is basically paying off the lowest amount of debt that you have and then rolling over that money into the next highest and then the next highest and the next highest versus the avalanche method is rating the highest interest debt, first paying that off and then getting into the lower interest rate once. So whether you want to do the snowmob method, which will give you a better win because you're paying off the smallest debt first and then rolling that money into the next set and to the next debt and to the next debt, or you want to pay off the highest interest rate first because that credit card is at 30% or that car note is, you know, 20% and you just want to get rid of it, really think about which one makes sense for you. When we were getting out of debt. Which one makes sense for you? When we were getting out of debt, the snowball method worked better for us because I could really see that, all right, this $500 Capital One credit card can be done in month one, and then the next one will be done in three months, and then the last one, which was my student loan, which was the biggest debt that we had that will be done in X amount of months. So I really like that method because I could easily just cross off the debt of the smallest one, cross off the next one and then focus all of my energy and attention into the biggest debt. So really think about your behavior, habits and which one makes sense for you and then just roll with it so that you can get out of debt as fast as possible, as fast as possible.

Jenn Trinidad:

Number three is to decide how you want to spend your holiday spending. Now, I know that it's already the end of August by the time this podcast airs it'll already be September, but that doesn't mean that you don't have time to save enough money for Christmas spending. One of the biggest tips that I can say is to make a spreadsheet or just take a pen and paper and write down all the people that you want to give gifts to, and then write a dollar amount next to their name how much you will be spending on each person. Once you tally that up, that'll give you a great idea of how much you need to save from September to the first week of December when you start buying those gifts the first week of December when you start buying those gifts. If this is really stressful and you don't have a lot of money to spend on gifts, this is also a great time to get creative. Like I said, september is the month of a restart and so you can say all right, I don't have that much money this year to spend on Christmas gifts, but I can look on YouTube, I can look on Pinterest. I can ask friends for ideas on what to give them. Instead, maybe right now you'll be busy on Pinterest looking for cookie recipes or homemade crafts or something that just shows a little bit of appreciation to the person that you want to give a gift to without spending a ton of money. So that is number three Decide how much you want to spend on holiday gifts for each person and put a dollar amount next to their name, or if you're doing the DIY route, then put down what you want to give them in lieu of buying a gift.

Jenn Trinidad:

Number four is to start putting away cash. If you don't have an emergency fund, now is the best time to start. Most financial advisors or financial youtubers out there would say that your starter emergency fund should be a thousand dollars. Now, a thousand dollars does not sound like a lot of money, and it really isn't a lot of money, especially if you have a big emergency, but at least it's better than zero. So start by seeing how much you can put away every single week from now until end of the year to get that $1,000 as fast as possible. And if you can do it right now, with this next upcoming paycheck, or you can do it with a month, that's even better.

Jenn Trinidad:

And now is the perfect time for side hustles. You'll know that my favorite side hustle is mystery shopping, because I like to shop, I like to write reports. If that is not your thing, there's so many other side hustles that you can do. You can go to Side Hustle Nation. It's a great website which gives you so many ideas on how to make extra money, and this will help you get to your thousand dollars fast. Even better if you can get to two thousand or $3,000 by the end of the year as your starter emergency fund, that will give you a head start into 2026. So at least you have that money set aside and then you can focus on any extra funds going into debt payoff.

Jenn Trinidad:

The purpose of this exercise is just to make sure that you have some cushion in your bank account should an emergency arise and you need to use that cash. So that was number four start putting away cash into an emergency account. And then the last goal that you want to do before the end of the year is to pick one realistic goal to crush by December 31st. So maybe it is starting on that starter emergency fund and getting that $1,000 into an emergency fund account. Maybe it's paying off that $500 Capital One credit card. That's the lowest amount credit card that you have out of all your debts, which is super reasonable to do. You can definitely crush $500 by the end of the year. So pick one realistic goal and you will be better off starting into 2026.

Jenn Trinidad:

You know, when our family and I were in the thick of paying off debt, fall was actually our most productive season, because we knew Christmas is coming and we wanted joy, not regret. It really worked to keep to focus and our holidays felt light and not heavy. So now let's talk about the secret sauce mindset. Now, this might seem a little woo-woo, but it really does come down to having a positive money mindset, a healthy money mindset. Because here's the thing your tactics can be perfect. You can follow all of the steps that I outlined previously, but if your mindset is messy, it won't stick.

Jenn Trinidad:

I know this from personal experience because I am the most squirrely person ever. Fortunately, I'm able to work from home, but that doesn't mean that I don't get squirrely all the time. Most people think people who work from home are super focused because they don't have any distractions of traffic, getting ready in the morning and having to make small talk with co-workers and having to think what am I going to eat for breakfast, when am I going to get for lunch, where are my kids while I'm at work and how much traffic is there going to be when I'm driving home from work? Yes, I don't have to deal with any of that, but that doesn't mean that home is not a distraction. I still get distracted by all the shiny things I need to do a lot of laundry, I need to run the dishwasher, I need to work on this task or this task, or respond to this email or, you know, check my social media because somebody had reached out to me for budget divas and everything in between. That's when my mind gets so messy and all I want to do is just lie on my bed and take a nap.

Jenn Trinidad:

So to get myself really focused, here's what I do first thing in the morning before my workday 10 minutes listening to chill lo-fi on youtube or some relaxing or energizing no lyric music on youtube, and just write down everything in my brain for 10 minutes, and then I will use the rest of the 50 minutes to get most of it done. If not, maybe all of it done. Maybe what's in my head is I need to make my bed and I need to put a load of laundry in the wash, and I need to run the dishwasher and I need to water my plants or whatever it is. So by the time my workday actually starts, I have nothing to think about. There's nothing squirrely that I need to think about and my mind is just focused. So this goes the same with your money as well. Maybe you're thinking about. There's this bill that I need to pay, but oh no, I need to register the kids for football. I forgot that. I need to set up automatic payments for my credit card. Oh no, the rent is due, the mortgage is due. If you just spend 10 minutes just writing all of that down and then just getting it done one by one, it's easy just to set up automatic payments. It's easy just to put on your calendar all right, need to register my kid for football on this day and this is the amount that's due for the registration, things like that. Then your brain will be so much clearer and you'll have so much more focus.

Jenn Trinidad:

Here's another thing that's going to sound a little woo-woo, but it's also your belief system. If you believe that you're bad with money, you will prove yourself right. If you shame yourself every time you slip, you will sabotage yourself. And if you think you will never get out of debt, you will quit when it gets hard. Ask me how I know this. I have lived through all of it. But when your mindset shifts, everything shifts. I'll never forget my own turning point. I was sitting on the bathroom floor crying, begging God to help me, because I felt so hopeless. And then, deep down, I heard you do not have to live like this, you can change. And it was from that spark, from that hopelessness to possibility. Hopelessness to possibility. That is what stuck with me to move forward. So, if you're still sitting down with your pumpkin spice latte or your favorite holiday drink, write this down. If you have a pen and paper in a notebook nearby, what is the story that I have been telling myself about money? And then ask yourself is it actually true? Because your affirmation should be I am worthy of financial freedom. It's just progress, not perfection. Okay, so, as we are wrapping up this podcast, here's what's next In September I'm going to give you step-by-step things to do on a weekly basis so that, from September to December, you will have your financial strategies in place.

Jenn Trinidad:

We talked a little bit about revisiting your budget, paying off your debts, deciding how much you want to spend on holiday spending, putting aside an emergency fund and picking one realistic goal to crush by December 31st. In the next episodes, I'm going to give you step-by-step tips on how exactly to do this, how I have done this in the past to make sure that my financial journey was on track, and just know that it's not going to be easy. It's going to be messy and it's actually okay if it's messy. The journey is messy, life in general is messy. It's not going to be a month of momentum and we're going to keep that momentum into December 31st so that when we are stepping into January, we are just ready to go to make 2026, yes, the best year ever.

Jenn Trinidad:

So in the next few episodes, here's what you can expect. Number one we'll be diving into cleaning up your budget. Number two is cutting hidden expenses. Number three is setting short-term end-of-year goals. Number four is prepping for holiday spending without debt. And number five is refreshing your savings plan. So by December you will feel confident, lighter and ready, can reset your mind, reset your money, and you've already been building since September 1st. So until next time, keep moving forward one step at a time. Make sure that you are giving yourself a lot of grace, because life is not perfect. Life is messy. It's okay if life is messy, and we will be on this journey together.