spk_0:   0:00
Hey, this is Sami Womack from a sunny, side up life. I'm a podcaster and a blogger, and you are listening to the Prosperity Gap podcast.

spk_1:   0:07
Welcome to the prosperity Gap, where we discuss the financial gap that exists between where we are and where we should be. It's time to bridge that gap. Surprise. It's me again. Everyone. Hey, CR to lean and I am back to talk all about bridging the gap in your finances and to inspire you with amazing guests on the prosperity gap. Today's episode is being brought to you by E. Trans tax and accounting. Did you know they have amazing tax videos on YouTube that can answer all of your business tax questions? You know, I love those guys at the trends, so check him out at Tax e Trends group dot com and

spk_0:   0:46
let's get into the

spk_1:   0:47
show. But first of all, when our host Dave Hall is traveling, I get to climb out of the producer's chair and get into the spotlight, and I want you think about our guest today. So when you think about Sunshine Rain Bo's happiness, I hope you're thinking about our next guest, and I'm so excited to have Sami Womack from a sunny side up life. And she is a budgeting coach, blogger, motivational speaker and the host of The Incredible Podcast, a sunny, side up life podcast that has already broken the 100,000 downloads. She's married with three kids and had almost $500,000 of debt and is now debt free. So her passion is inspiring women to live abundant lives through budgeting, intentional living and positive thinking. Sammy, did I do okay?

spk_0:   1:36
Yes, that was perfect. Well, welcome to the show.

spk_1:   1:40
I'm so glad you're here with us today.

spk_0:   1:42
Yes. Thank you so much for having me.

spk_1:   1:44
And we talked earlier. One of the things I I like to do before I get a guest on is I like to It sounds weird, but I like to stock and make sure that they're valid. Candidates have great story. And that's the one thing that I absolutely loved when I found you. And I found your podcast is I said you have one of the most incredible stories. Yeah, and what I wanted to do is have you share your story because that's the one thing I think will inspire everybody who listens to this show?

spk_0:   2:12
Yes. So, like you said, our debt total was almost 1/2 a $1,000,000. I like to say that for dramatic effect, it just, you know, half a 1,000,000. But it was about 490,000 and that did include three pieces of real estate, and we had the house that we were living in, which was a huge 3000 square foot house. He had four bedrooms and an office that we were using as 1/5 bedroom, two and 1/2 baths like it was just a huge house, and people kept telling us, Well, you'll grow into it, you'll grow into it. And we had three kids. We realized we were done having kids, and we're like we still haven't grown into. It's still huge, it's still expensive, and we also had our house before that we were living in, and we decided when we moved into the big House, we're gonna turn this into a rental property because people tell you that's always a great idea. You know you need to be a landlord rental property rental property. It's not a good idea when you literally don't even have a savings account open on Dhe. When things like the heater break, you have to put it on a credit card, which is literally what happened to us. And we were just in such a tight spot. And I also had a piece of raw commercial land that I was going to, you know, be an entrepreneur and do all this stuff. And I couldn't even get a small business loan. I had no idea what I was doing so that I was stuck with this land that was, like, $600 a month. And it was so expensive. Such a burden. Plus, we just had, you know, we were having babies in the middle of this. We when we very first started budgeting, our middle daughter was nine months old. And then we had about a about four months into our budgeting journey, we found out we were pregnant for the third time. So we were you know, we're having babies in the middle of this. So we had all those expenses. We had all those medical bills, we were just living way beyond our means. So we were living off credit cards, you know, going out to eat too much things like that. We couldn't afford the property taxes on these three pieces of real estate. So we were three and four years behind on property taxes. I mean, just it was it was crazy, crazy. We were just living so much beyond our means. And we just got really fed up with it like most people. And we were like, What are what are we doing? This is not the dream. Like we were high school sweethearts and we had, you know, all through high school we planned how our adult lives we're gonna go, how we're gonna build our family. And here we are actually married, actually having Children. And it was not the dream that it was supposed to be. And so we basically just pump the brakes and we were like, No, we're going in a different direction. Obviously, it was much easier said than done, but, you know, and then we ended up. We just slowly sold off one piece of real estate after another. We chipped away at the debt, and then now we are renting a tiny two bedroom, one bathroom house and just living on about about half of our income and we are cash flowing vehicles. We've cash flowed a suburban for me, a truck for my husband to boats. Now we sold our old one and and an RV in 1/5 wheel. And so we camp and we bow and we do what we want. And, you know, we're we're now we're actually living that dream. So 11 years and tour Mary, I think that's us in a nutshell right there.

spk_1:   5:40
Well, that's awesome. I think that's the one thing that we have to go through is we have to be able to go through these phases in order to realize what we really need to do. I mean, I absolutely loved your stories. So for those who want to hear more about your story, but like I think it's Episode 79 you have, That's the your debt free journey. That is one of the most incredible stories because I mean, you talk about the homes, you talk about everything in detail and you're so honest and open. And that's the one thing that I soon as I listen about podcasts immediately after him, like I have got to get Sammy on the show because that was so inspiring and just the lessons you learn from that. I mean, you have so much to share with the world. And I just thought that was awesome.

spk_0:   6:21
Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I I tried to share and not just, you know, in all episodes that I d'oh I try to be, you know, open and vulnerable and honest and tell people that it wasn't easy. It definitely was not easy. I mean, we were having babies in the middle of this and having babies and like being in the early years of your marriage is hard enough, you know, and then taking on this huge thing. And then there was so much there was so, so much tied up in all of that day, you know? And there was all the emotions and the selling the properties. And you know, a lot of the reasons why people don't move out of homes because we get so attached to our physical possessions. And our homes, of course, are the biggest one. And I know a lot of people told us like we're relieving all the memories, all the things, and I was just like, No, it's not. It's not part of our dream anymore. So even though that was really hard, there were a lot of tears. There were a lot of, you know, to stay motivated, but, you know, we came out the other side so

spk_1:   7:23
and I think you have to live your own dreams. I think family has a lot of dreams for us, but we have to do our own journey, and sometimes it's not in the same path or than same home or in the same city. A lot of these things we have to learn on our own and my daughters, 19 shooters in Nashville. Everyone's dream for her was stay close to home, go to college here and not go somewhere far away because you're going to struggle. But that's what makes us stronger. I think through our struggles and I love. That's why I loved your story. It's not because of the struggle, but because of the way that you persevered through that. Like you said, having your Children, making sure that you're finding your dream and your happiness. That's what makes us so so important for us. And that's why I love this story because a lot of us. Just see what was me. We can't do much here, and we're just gonna sit and buckle down. But you kept fighting and that's what I love.

spk_0:   8:12
Yeah, I think it's a lot of breaking out of that box. That society puts us in two, and it's, you know, people say, Well, you should invest in real estate. You should be a homeowner. You should you should And maybe that's not our dream And what I feel like at the end of your life, what is going to matter, you know, and for us, we really we stopped and we took Ah, hard look around and we were like we would rather live in a really cheaper at house right now. Our kids were little. The three of them don't mind sharing a room right now, so let's let's go with that. And let's, you know, we we wanted to get outdoors more. We homeschool our kids and my husband works offshore. So he's gone three weeks home three weeks. So we have so much time freedom that we're like we could be camping. We could be boating. We could be out there doing all the things that most people wish they could. D'oh! And how do we make that a reality? So we took that dream and we worked backwards. Well, what do we need to do to get to there? And then we just, you know, we made a timeline. We made a debt payoff timeline, a savings timeline, and we chipped away at it. And here we are.

spk_1:   9:20
And I wanted to ask you because in your bio, you talk about being intentional. Way had Kelly from If the Jones is on our show and she said, I'm getting more joy by being intentional, not frugal. I wanted to ask you what intentional meant to you so we could get this out there to let people know what being intentional really is.

spk_0:   9:38
Yeah, I completely agree. And I think it's the best. Comparison is a diet versus a wellness plan. You know what I mean? And when people go on a diet, it's a crash diet. It's ah, it's thinking about what they're missing out on. It is a scarcity type of thing, and when they go on a wellness play and it's like, Well, how can I make myself feel better? How can I get actually get better, and it's not a short term thing. It's more of a long term thing. So that's how I think of intentionality. I think, Yeah, I'm a little frugal. Maybe I'm more cheap than anything just because I'm a natural saver. But it's more intentionality, and I can squirm a little bit about the silliest $50 purchase, but then go and drop $11,000 on a boat like they didn't even feel sticking my stomach at all about it. Because that's intentionality. That's like, Does it align with where we are? So I completely agree, and I really think that intentional living to me is everything mixed together. It's your money, it's your home. It's your goals. It's your relationships. It's all of those things. And I think that when you're intentional with one area, it really starts to spill over. And so for us that started with our money and then it spilled over into minimalism and then it spilled over into you know, all these other things, and it's just a ripple effect

spk_1:   11:10
exactly. And I I was in Hollywood for a vacation last weekend and we pulled to the parking garage and I pull up and it was $15 but there was no sign. And I'm thinking I'm gonna go find one cheaper down the road. My wife's like, just paid the extra $5. It's $10 maybe a block further down to just pay. We're here, and I love that you're talking about that being intentional, and I think that's the one. Thing is we need to make sure that we really are focused. Its I love your analogy. Also the diet in the lifestyle because, like for me, if I'm gonna go to the beach, I can't hurry, not eat and expect to have that perfect beach body. You have to be intentional about when you're going, what you're gonna be doing and making sure that it is a lifestyle. And I think that's what this podcast is about. It's about helping people bridge that gap in their finances to say, Hey, we're gonna be intentional about making sure that you know where your money is going and it's okay if people want to be cheap or frugal or they're very intentional about saving, and it's just important that we really just find who we are, but it has to go through a big journey, right? Like what you went through, Because if not, you don't have those stories to tell. You don't have those things to fall back on and say, Well, this is what I went through and I want to share it with the world.

spk_0:   12:17
Yeah, exactly. And I I think, you know, statistics tell us that money is one of the biggest causes of divorce. And it's one of the biggest causes of stress and depression and all of these things. And we feel like, Hey, we got our money, right? Like, what else can we not conquer, like, come at me life like we are ready? And I mean, we we joke about that all the time. My husband and I do. And we're like we could overcome half a $1,000,000 in debt and moving into those tiny house like, what else can we not conquer like we're good, We're good now. It's so we definitely where that is like a badge. And we're just, like, so proud of that fight and all of the hurdles that we overcame. And like I said, like, that spills over that drive and that you know confidence. It spills over and every other aspect of your life. Like I've gone through things way harder than this. I'm I'm good.

spk_1:   13:17
Exactly. Well, I wanted to ask you why you started your podcast A sunny side up life podcast. Because to me, podcasting is one of the best marketing platform. That's an awesome way to network from your home. But I want to know why you started this podcast to reach out to the world.

spk_0:   13:34
Well, I started my my blogging, my website and everything about three and 1/2 years ago. And honestly, when I first started, it was out of boredom as being a state home. Home, schooling, mom, with a husband offshore. I'm just like I need to talk to adults and on I just felt like we had this story and it needed to be shared, you know? And which is I feel like a lot of people when they when they start something like this, like I just I needed to share. I needed to share. It was just a calling. And that eventually led me into podcasting. Just as podcasting grew as I realized as a busy mom. That's how I get most of my information. A lot of times I don't I can't read an entire block without getting interrupted, and I lose my train of thought. So was a podcast. I can put my headphones on. I can wash dishes, full laundry, vacuum drive, do whatever watch the kids play, and I can be productive at the same time. And so I was like, That's how I get most of my information. So if I want to reach those women that are similar to me, that's how I have to do it. And also, for me, it was just kind of a natural. It's easier than writing. For me. It's faster. Probably 98% of the episodes that I do by myself are after my kids go to bed at 11 o'clock at night at midnight, and I don't have to put on makeup or have lights on Aiken. I've recorded many episodes in the pitch black while my kids are asleep an arm's length away. Um, so it just made sense for me, Um, logistically And just, you know, the passion of spreading the message. It just seems like the easiest way to do that.

spk_1:   15:19
That's awesome. and I was also wanted to ask about a sunny side up life. I mean your business, your blogger things you're doing. And because I noticed that you share a lot of great content from freebies that you download two courses, which is super impressive. And I love that you're trying to help others and give them opportunities for the budget to get control. And you also do it at great prices, which is unheard of in this industry. A lot of people are quite high. Tell me about your experience with fists and how this has been going.

spk_0:   15:49
So I do have a couple of paid courses. I have a budgeting course, and then I have a smaller kind of many cores called control. You're crazy, and it's just a little bit of like it helps you get just a couple of first steps with, like, goals and money. And like I said, how it the intentionality spills over. And so I really feel like if you were to just take the first couple of steps with de cluttering your house, you're gonna have more energy. So then you're gonna have more energy to focus on your budget or vice versa. So I just really think that that is really important. And then, of course, I have a lot of free resource is just because there were times in my life where I desperately wanted to invest in a course or even buy a book, and I couldn't. I mean, that was the difference between having enough grocery money and not so I try to help those people that are at the very beginning, like Step Zero of their journey, and they just need something to get them going. And then I hope that that helps them enough that they can later take the next few steps into the paid courses. And the chip's been it's just been really great has been really rewarding, and I recently launched a my budgeting system. It's called the Digital Budgeting System, and it is Google Sheets, but it is all formulated and, like, color coordinated, and I'm just a nerdy now over this. It is insane. I actually brought in one of my friends who is a tech expert and because the formulas air like over my head. I mean, it's just so amazing. And you can imagine with my husband's three weeks on three weeks off schedule. Our budget is a little out of the ordinary, so ah, lot of these acts and stuff they put you in this little box of a monthly budget that's literally will not work for us. And so for me that held me up for so many years. I'm like, Well, I don't fit in this little box that these abs are putting me in So guess I can't budge it. And so I try to reach those people who feel like that. And with the online courses, I try to reach those moms who can't get a baby sitter to go to a seminar or go to, you know, a class outside of the home, and that's definitely me. So I'm like, You know, you have an online course, you can hit play during that time. You can wait till 11 o'clock at night and your kids are asleep like I d'oh ah, nde. It's just been really reflecting on six years ago, what would I have needed? And I go from there, so

spk_1:   18:29
that's awesome. And one of the things I found on your site to was actually talking about shopping and saving hacks. Yeah, I wanted to have you tell me a little bit about your experience in this area and how it's helped you and things we can do to teach those who are part of this prosperity gap. What bacon do to kind of stay on this hacking train that everyone's on?

spk_0:   18:48
Yeah, So some of my favorite tips for saving tax are things like, You know, you could do the extension browsers and the like, eBay stuff and the honey dot com and the pop car and all these things that will help you compare prices. Because a lot of us we shop online nowadays and so we can do these really simple things. Like, for example, I was shopping for a new dog food, and my dog is like, 14 years old, and so I'm really like trying to step up my game with his food. And so I'm shopping around online and I go on Amazon and I'm finding his food and I'd click on the little pop CART extension browser, and it's like pop up, you know, like shows all the different target warm are all the different prices, and it's like you have the best deal in like cool. That was so fast and that was so easy. And then I do a lot of things like, I am obsessed with Ray's dot com and they're discounted gift cards. And I like I thought it was a scam at first cause it was like, Is this too good to be true? So you can go on there and you can buy discounted Elektronik gift cards and again for me? I do most my shopping online, especially my kids clothes and my clothes. I don't want to drag them to the mall and try on clothes. And it's just so I will shop online at like Old Navy or something, and I will go on Ray's dot com. I will buy discounted gift cards save 4% 8% 12% just depending on what they have on there. And you literally just copy and paste the gift card code into your check out. And it takes an extra minute or two, and I've saved so much money doing that. I actually Price hacked the computer that we're talking on right now with Ray's dot com and going through ebates to get there cash back and I saved so much money, it was it was insane. And there's, you know, there's a lot of other things. There's, like fetch rewards now where you can do can your receipts and you can even do it for the receipts. If you're doing like Wal Mart Grocery, pick up, which is another life saver of mine. You could do that. And I that was another part of my hacking for my computer. I got, I think, like 100 and $50 worth of gift cards through fetch on just groceries that I would buy anyway and referrals of recommending it on Instagram. And it was super simple. It was, you know, and there there are other things like I bought. Ah, and what is the new one? Dosh is a new one. I'm just trying it. I It's an app, and I think I've used it twice so far, so I can't give you a lot on that one. But But they're out there, and I feel like to me, it's a It's another little extra step, but it doesn't really take that much time. And in a lot of ways, I feel like when we are on a long journey and especially speaking as a state home. Mom, I feel like you know, my husband's out there. He's hustling. He's bringing in the income. I'm here. What can I d'oh? And this is something that I can very easily do while kids play and scream in the background and I go about my regular shopping duties as the mother, and it makes me feel like I'm actually getting my hands on it. I am physically helping, and that kind of stuff has really helped me stay motivated because I feel like I'm actually contributing. I'm actually doing something. I'm not just sitting here waiting for the next payday, so but the things like that and always like, you know, just do a quick Google search. Is there a coupon code? Is there a new app out? And I think things like that are are super helpful,

spk_1:   22:45
and I'll put a link of all these in the show notes so you'll be able to find, especially Your Block post about it because you have a thing of five on there that you kind of go into detail about. And I love that, too, like so Amazons great and we use a lot of like you said that the extensions for the browsers, Those air Incredible honey dot com. Yeah, and even Walmart. I love Wal Mart. Pick up because the fact that if I go down and I spend two hours and Wal Mart and up spending 3 to 4 times more than I originally planned for because, you know, we plan all of our meals ahead, we're going out and know exactly what we want. We're very intentional on how we buy our food, especially eating healthy. And when you're down there, you're just like and this looks really good. So does this And then,

spk_0:   23:24
yeah, God forbid you go in there hungry. I know, right? And, you know, and even going with kids, that, of course, they're gonna ask for stuff. And especially my kids were there so close, together and age. It was like taking the circus to the grocery store with me. And I can't focus. I can't price compare. I'm just, like, grab things and and let's just get out of here. And you know, every man for himself. But now that I can do the grocery pick up, we've been doing it for I think about a year, maybe a little longer than a year now. And I can do it when the house is quiet. I can actually think straight. I can actually price compare and was really cool about it is that my husband also has the app on his phone. And we, you know, we used the same log in, and so we can both add things to the cart while you know, on our separate phones. And so it's really great for times, like when he's home or when we're planning a camping trip and I'm like, What do you want? Go do it on your phone. This is what I want And then we kind of come back together and, you know, before we actually purchase and Plus you can see that total as is doubting up, nothing is worse than getting to the grocery store and go, Oh, wow. I did not expect that to be the total. But when you're shopping online like this, you can see those totals at up, and so you can go back. And maybe I don't need those cookies will take that off. Maybe I don't need, you know, all these extra things that's super helpful.

spk_1:   24:52
My wife to get really frustrated with me when my daughter was really young because she said, the worst combo is you two going to the store together because I would just go down the ion. We just start throwing stuff in by Tommy gun down. I'm like, we haven't even got what's on the list. Yeah, and my my wife was like, Please don't take our daughter when you go shopping. She looks me with those big eyes and I'm like, Don't throw it in, we'll eat it. Yeah,

spk_0:   25:15
yeah, The kids were like, Can we get ice cream? And then, you know, my husband's like, of course, and nothing's worse than I mean when we go camping, I mean, those are our vacations. So we're in full vacation mode. We're in full junk food, whatever anybody wants. Mood. And nothing is worse than going in a grocery store with vacation fever. And you're just like, yes, everything. So the pickup really, really, really else?

spk_1:   25:45
Yeah. So is coupon ing dead?

spk_0:   25:47
I feel like it's not 100% dead, but it is changing. And, you know, we first started five years ago I I was doing physical coupons. Of course I wasn't doing you. The newspaper coupons like my grandma still does, but I was doing coupons dot com. Which coupons dot com It's still it's still thing, and I would print him and I take him into the grocery store and I would do that. But now it is. It's couponing, but it's in a new digital way, and that is basically what I bought. It is that is basically what fetch is they're doing it more in a cash back type of sense, but it's still it's the same thing. And honestly, it is more profitable because I remember clipping coupons to save 10 cents 1/4 and now I'm doing fetch, and it's just like click, click, click quarter like it so much. It's so much faster, so much easier, you know, you know, fumbling with all the paper coupons. But yeah, you can still, you could still go on like coupons dot com and things like that and and print off coupon. So it is a dying art form. I believe in the old sense of the word.

spk_1:   26:57
Yeah, and I wanted to add to because my son has. He's in high school and he has something called pocket Points every time he keeps his phone in his pocket and doesn't take it out during school because you set a timer and it tells you how long you've had in your pocket or how long you haven't had it at school and they get coupons. So if they want to go to Tropical Smoothie and take a date, he gets a buy one. Get one free, and they have all these places they can go. It encourages them to keep their phone, you know, in their pockets, and my wife have a trip coming up. And instead of just going to the mall, she'll order from different sites online where they'll come and they'll send her clothes and she can try my home, which is another. It sounds crazy, but it's really such a great time saver versus going to the mall because then you end up stopping at 45 other stores and you're buying all these other things you really don't need. But if you have four outfits to come directly to her, she tries. Mom keeps one or two and sends the rest back.

spk_0:   27:47
Yeah, It's not the impulse as much. I feel like we get in the stores and I swear that they run something through the air vents that just makes you crazy. And we did this. My daughter's birthday was last week, and she got old Navy gift cards. Want to go and spend a Well, of course. My other daughters wanted things, and I saw a couple things I like actually need that. And next thing I know, I spent $140 on top of her gift card. That was even counting her gift card. And I was just like, I had no idea what the total was because we're in birthday mode here, you know? And if I were to be shopping online, I would have seen that total buildup that in polls that were in the moment, we're having fun were in the store, wouldn't have been the same thing.

spk_1:   28:36
Exactly. And so, you know, we talk about student discounts we're talking about. Pay close attention during checkout, right? So it's not when you go to Wal Mart and you're thinking you and your spouse or like Okay, are we gonna be over 200? We're gonna be over 300 you're just watching it rise. And you're thinking, Oh, my gosh, I'm gonna be sick. Yeah, things like that. And then also, you know, some of the other things I do. My wife loves hobby lobby. It's one of those stores that justify No, she's going. I just dread because she's gonna be there forever. But she also has, you know, there's APS for certain stores, So hobby lobby has a nap Every time she goes in. They always have the 40% off at, but they're teaching you and they're helping you to say, Hey, state, stay loyal to us. But I also love that you can shop for things you want down the road. So if you know you're gonna be getting school supplies, it doesn't hurt to start now, even for Christmas. I know it sounds crazy, but I started soon as Christmas is over and I go through like, slick deals. If you ever been there. I loved you on slick deals because I look for things for my kids and for my wife, and I buy them now, and I I stick him in my closet. It's not like one of those things. And like, I know I got you something two years ago, and here it is. But, you know, because even with that we talked about being intentional. I'm super intentional about making sure I get gifts that are that are great. But I also look for deals because I want to make sure that I'm getting the right deal where I could go back and feel proud that hey, I only spent $100 on all these gifts versus I just got it yesterday and it was $100.

spk_0:   30:01
Yeah, And Groupon is another good one like that. And with us, you know, we try to encourage more non physical gifts, experiences and things like that. And so if you're someone who does that group on is is a great is a great alternative. There are some physical things that I've bought through there. So Groupon is like my go to place my go to grand parent Gift is calendars from Shutterfly. Yes, I do. The same is a classic, and I can really easy pop out four calendars for the grand parents. And I do a click through from group on, and I buy it. It's cheaper and it is like dirt cheap. And I think I made four calendars. Is past Christmas for under 50 bucks. It's and I got all the grandparent's like right there. It was so easy. So that's another one. You know, Check group on it if it saves you $20. I always think of it as people are like. Well, is it worth my time? I always think of it is if it saves you $20 or $1 whatever it is, If that $1 was sitting on the sidewalk, would you bend down and pick it up? Yes. Like I literally pick up pennies my middle daughter and I every time we were out in public, we are just scoping for coins. And she finds a coin. No joke. 90% of the time when we leave the house. I mean, she is just she's got laser focus. And so I just think if it was a penny, I would bend down at the store and pick it up. So, yeah, I'm gonna click through two or three extra clicks to save this money. Definitely.

spk_1:   31:33
Yeah. Exactly. And you know what I did the calendars for years to even found out how to print it at home. So I was able to save, and then I actually started moving into place mat. So I take a picture of all my kids laid out on a 12 by 18 sheet, have it printed at Costco. And then I had it laminated and also for the parents I gave him placemats. So you're speaking my language, right? Because that's the same thing. I'm always looking for deals. I'm always looking for ways to give better gifts or experiences. I love taking my kids to go do things because that has more memories. And then when I get down, I go and make a book of all those experiences and I can get coupons. I look for every deal and my wife. Sometimes she's like, Just go buy it. I'm like, I'm waiting for the perfect time and deal and she's like, You are insane. I'm like I know

spk_0:   32:16
yeah, I even with my Christ hacking for my computer, I was buying the discounted cards on Ray's dot com and without realizing that there is a gift card limit on walmart dot com, which is where I bought my computer, and it's like you've reached your maximum limit for how many gift cards you can combine. And I was Oh, man, I didn't think about that because I'm, you know, getting this one over here. That's like, 40% off on this one over here, you know? And so it was a lot of small ones. So I was like, a weight, and I call. I called my local WalMart real quick customer service. And I said, if I happen to have, like, 10 gift cards, for example, could I come in and you could put them on one gift card and she was like, Yeah, no big deal. Just come up to the service desk. Cool. And I was like, Okay, I mean, it took a couple extra minutes, but it worked. So if you run into that situation where you've been, you know, hoarding gift cards or you're buying this kind of gift cards online a lot of times you can go into the store, and now they'll help you with that. So

spk_1:   33:17
yeah, no, that's awesome. These these air such great tips and we're running out of time, so I want to ask you a couple more things before we before we end the show. But one of the reasons I really wanted you on the show is because I love your positive outlook and it's so inspiring. And that's the one thing I love, that you talk about positivity, especially helping women, because you're right. You're in that mind set. You're in that you're in that right now. You're not talking about something. It's like I can't go on talk about Spanx and how amazing they are because I'm not in that space, right? But I can talk about the way that those were created and how a woman went in there and said, I'm gonna make this better because it's not Guys aren't wearing this. I'm gonna go make it so if it's for me and I love that you are always talking about making sure that things are for women, that that fits for them, that it's something that helps them to move forward. And I wanted to ask you because you mentioned something about having full freedom, how to continue on the journey of life, and I wanted to ask you about how you combine that with a positive outlook to be able to help women survive in the world. Right now,

spk_0:   34:16
he has. So for me, it's a lot of thinking about that big picture vision that I have for my life and kind of connecting the dots back to where I am right now. And to me, I have that vision of where I want to be 10 years, 20 years from now, and I worked backwards of How can I make that a reality? And it's also, I feel like it's a constant juggling act of constant balance, of being content and happy in the current state you're in and finding joy, even when you're in the middle of paying off a lot of debt or raising babies or something like that. And it's a lot of knowing that it is gonna get you to where you want to go. And for me that that helps me stay positive because I'm like, you know, I used to be really sad and depressed every time my husband goto work. Three weeks is a long time, and now that we are, we're good, like we're just like Okay, bye, see you in a couple weeks and not that we don't love each other anymore. It's that we know that we know why he's goingto work. And I feel like when you know that you're working for a greater purpose when you know that you're working towards your long term goals. We're one trip closer to retirement. Were one trip closer to being millionaires. And we know that now. And so we're working with Dr An intention and purpose now and that'll get you through a regular Tuesday where you're like, Oh, I wish that you were homes. I could really use some backup with these kids. You know, that kind of stuff you like. Okay, But I realize why we're doing this. I know why we're doing this. And so I feel like when you're working for a greater purpose, it makes the day to day so much better. And it's so much easier to be content during the journey.

spk_1:   36:07
And I wanted to read something you posted on Instagram because I want to express that you don't have to be perfect. You don't have to be already putting things together in your life. You just have to be trying, right? You get up every day, no matter how rough the day is. You said that when you're talking about your daughter, when you had your daughter and you said it actually had no idea what I was doing, But I just kept taking the next step. I kept going because she was counting on me. I made it up as I went along. And when in doubt, I just lead with my heart. We never really 100% know what we're doing. We're always kind of making it up as we go, and usually as long as our heart turned right place, life turns out pretty great.

spk_0:   36:47
It's true.

spk_1:   36:48
I love that because you basically are so transparent special on your podcast. But even in your writing and I love on your instagram, I'm a huge instagram nerd. But I love that because you're you're telling everyone out there it's okay to mess up. It's okay to keep faking it till you make it kind of a thing where you're just trying because there's not really I can't tell you how many parent books we bought when we first had kids and we thought, Okay, we're gonna we're gonna nail this, but as you're going, things happen. Depression sets in, life sets in, and you're just trying to make things work. So I love that that you share about having that positive outlook, because we all struggle and we go through these, we feel like we're alone. But I think you're a voice for so many that are feeling weak and lost. And if they just can sit down and listen like you said when they're doing laundry, if they're just doing dishes, they have that time where they can sit down and listen and feel like somebody gets me. They were putting me on the path of success again, and I just have to do it. And then you have courses to follow up. And I think that's awesome.

spk_0:   37:49
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I just feel like, you know, in those little day to day moments, you're you're folding laundry. You're listening to a podcast. You're doing something towards the greater purpose of your life towards your big vision of your life. And so it really helps you not to get discouraged and way down by the day to day type things. And, yeah, I'm a big advocate of trial and error. Fall on your face. Who cares? At the end of the day, you know no one's going to remember, but they're going to remember is Did you live life to the fullest? Did you actually achieve your goals? Did you actually chase your dreams that that's ultimately what matters? I think

spk_1:   38:28
I I I totally agree. It's like being on the podcast. I was so comfortable being behind the scenes for 10 years, helping Dave do all these podcasts. When he says, Hey, go do the podcast, I'm like me. You want me to

spk_0:   38:39
talk to somebody face to face on here? No.

spk_1:   38:42
Hey, I stumble. I make a ton of mistakes. But the thing is, is I love it because I got to talk to people. I got a network and I get to build relationships. That's the one thing that I love talking to people because I get to know who they are, and I build relationships. They last forever. I met one guy at a concert and that we've been friends for three years now. We're gonna do a vacation coming up. My wife's like, What's wrong with you know, Mike, you know, I just meet people like on an airplane. Meta dude, and we're good friends. And she's like, We can't meet somebody one time and just become friends And I said, Well, yeah, you can. You just You're lying to each other and you helping motivate It's It's when you're teaching your courses and people are in tune with it and they get it. They reach out to and they feel like they know you right. And this is part of life. And that's what makes us so enjoyable. Yeah, exactly. So while our time has come and gone and I have loved talking to you, it's been so inspiring. I'm so excited that you came on insured your story. And I hope that those who are enjoying the podcast are getting a lot more out of it. And how did they learn more about you? Where can they find you?

spk_0:   39:41
Yeah, so I'm at a sunny side up life dot com is my website and all of my links for the podcast, the blog's, the courses, the freebies, everything is on there. I'm also at a sunny side of life on Instagram and Facebook as well. So

spk_1:   39:56
awesome. Well, thank you so much for being on the show. I really appreciate it.

spk_0:   40:00
Thank you so much.

spk_1:   40:02
Make sure to subscribe to our podcast on YouTube and give our show a review wherever you listen to podcasts. And you have been listening to the prosperity gap, the financial gap between where you are and where you should be And until next time, keep investing, saving and using your money for good. So you guys.