Financial Overview

Take a look at your family's journey along with financial accomplishments to help you set this year's goals. 

Transcript

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Kelli:   0:05
So 2020. Can you believe it? We're starting a whole new decade. Well, I'm Kelli. 

Casey:   1:12
And I'm Casey. 

Kelli:   1:13
And we are so thrilled to bring our live better podcast and blog series to you. This is something that we've dreamed about for a long time and it's finally come to fruition. Yeah, it's a so from our, um, gosh, from anything from our classroom workshops here or online webinars, you name it. We've arrived now at a podcast and we're ready to get this thing going. Yes. So we will be coming at ya once a month. We'll actually be bringing in a, we'll have a series that we'll have once a month we'll cover from budgeting to saving to building wealth. Anything that you can think of that will help you live better financially. And so the cool thing about that too, if you subscribe to our live better podcast, we'll have some bonus features for you. We're really excited about that and that could vary throughout the month, but it'll be really neat things. It's pertinent topics specific to our main discussion for the month. So, Hey, what better way? We're kicking off a whole new decade, 2020 we're rolling out all kinds of new things. So why not talk about finances,. 

Casey:   1:17
Yeah, talk about money, what everyone likes to talk about. Sometimes that's a good subject. Sometimes it's, sometimes it's not. That's very true. That's very true. Well, so I will tell you this, like one of the neat things about the first part of the year is really thinking about, okay, what were we able to accomplish financially, both your families, you know, what did we accomplish in the previous year? And so I think one of the cool things is really thinking about the, the successes and all the fun stuff. So like, I mean, tell us about it. What are the things you're proud of? I made a whole decade is now gone by and we're starting to open up a brand new one. 

Casey:   1:20
Thinking about like the goals that I've accomplished, you know, over, the last few years. And you know, we've just recently started a family. So I think about that and like the car purchases that we recently made. But really just thinking of how I arrived there, you know, taking a overview and looking at what, you know, what's going on in my life. Some of those things make me proud. And then some of the, you know, the history, you know, there's some stuff that we had to work on, but I think I arrived where I am now because of that. So I think it's cool. 

Kelli:   1:46
Yeah. I mean, in thinking about, you mentioned you had some big purchases, some lifestyle changes. I mean that probably impacted your budget and spending a little bit, 

:   2:10


Casey:   2:19
we had to change the way we thought a little bit with some of those things? You know, anytime you make a big purchase you have to look and take a deep dive and see, you know, is this right for us? You know, where are we headed with this? What's the, what is this going to look like in a few years? 

Kelli:   2:31
I'm telling you. Yeah. So I'm a mother of two little girls. I'm, I'm married, just like Casey. And we both have families. And it's so funny to think about, you know, the things we used to spend our money on, you know, for like, you know, we would anything, I mean splurge on unnecessary outfits, a savings, what was that shopping throughout the week. And that doesn't happen anymore, right? I mean it just is what it was. And so anyway, yeah, you're right. Reflecting over the decade is something that's really funny, but you know, it's really cool to think about 2020 now we've said all sorts of goals and we're kicking off with new and cool things. And so, you know, a lot of things that people ask us, you know, when they're getting ready to maybe turn over a new leaf, you know, they think about too, it's like, gosh, you know what, I have a ton of debt and I don't really know where to start. And so I don't even really want to have that conversation. And the less we talk about it, the less real it is. That's like the furthest thing from the truth, right? 

Casey:   2:49
They're out of sight, out of mind. It would just pay those bills every month and hope it all works out for the best. 

Kelli:   2:51
Yeah. And most of the cases when you worry, when you just say, let's just sweep it under the rug, not worry about it, boy, that's when you're really just kind of turned up and it gets bigger and bigger. Yeah. Oh no. So some few things too. You know, we're talking about this, this, this whole podcast today is really just talking about a financial overview. You know, it's a new year, we've talked about that or 2020 which is just kind of blows my mind. But to think about this too is how you can really get started creating a budget, understanding your debt, setting mini, you know, savings goals. And the cool thing about it is that when we can just set a few goals, we write it down and are committed to it, are much more apt to really get it going. So a few things we'll cover today is really just assessing your finances. You know, look at the debt that you have, really know who you owe. But more importantly, until you ask yourself, you know, do you have a plan? Do you have a plan yet? Do you have a savings? You know, where are you headed financially? And so, you know, we're huge advocates of savings, you know, depending on the season, you know, we typically always maintain our emergency savings. But you know, with the holidays it just come passed and you know, we budgeted for those things. And it's so important to really think about, okay, let's budget that buy, let's budget, you know, for everyday spending and whatever income we have go over. I mean, how do you guys do that Casey at home and like make it all work, especially with the new transition from being, you know, just parent or just the, the husband and wife and then transitioning into having a little baby. 

Casey:   3:24
I would say the biggest thing for us, you know, starting out, um, and as things change, you know, the biggest thing that helped us was to have individual spending money for the week. So like, um, every week we have a set budget for each of us and that just kinda helps us stay on track because otherwise we would just pay the bills and maybe put a little bit in savings, whether us would just spin it however we wanted to and say without that set structure of, um, you know, what we like to call our money for the week, then we just kind of blew our money. You know, we didn't really know where it went, so we kind of took a deep dive and went and looked at how we spent our money, you know, where do we make our debit card purchases and what kind of cash should we get out and what do we do with that money. And so that was a really cool thing for us to do. I think that helped us a lot. I think that helped us get to where, you know, we can start tackling our debt a little bit more. 

Kelli:   3:31
Yeah. And you know, one thing that we focused on very similarly to you guys, you know, we planned for a period of time to have children, but when it happened it's like, Oh my gosh, you know, we really want to tackle our debt. And so we kind of went a little, a few steps backwards. And so it took our family right at about 14 and a half months to off almost $15,000 in debt. And so when you think about that, I was like, Oh my gosh, really Kelly? Like how did you do that? Did that really happen? Yeah, It totally did. You know what I mean? And here's the thing, like did we have to kind of do that? We did. But what the main thing, and this is something I think is probably just as important, is paying off your debt is that emergency savings. 

Kelli:   4:55
Yeah, because I really believe that. I know my spending habits, my husband's are nothing like mine. I'm the spender of the bunch. Guilty as charged. But you know, the neat thing about it was knowing that if we had an emergency come up, you know, we had that emergency savings, you and you hear all sorts of financial advisors and planners, they say, you know, a minimum of $1,000 in your savings. Well I think that's key before you ever kick off, like trying to pay off your debt or pay down your debt, you got to have that savings. And I just think that was the biggest thing for us. And when we really took a look and said, okay, we're going to sit down together, that was the most important thing because you know, my husband is more of the one that's a saver and I'm more of the spender. And he thought, well, we've got a plan. You know, we're making the payments, we're not late, you know, have an okay savings. But I mean we're okay. And he kind of wanted to have the control over that. But when we really sat down and said, Hey, take a look at where we're spending our money. And it was just kind of like, I'm glad we were sitting down because there's a ton of ways like summit twice go out on. And so the cool thing about it, I've said, you know, look, let's just really get serious. You know, I'll be serious. I'll take an assessment of my spending and where the money's going and let's just kind of put a name to everything. So we kind of named every dollar, named all of our spends and really created a budget for the things that we knew. You know, those recurring payments every month from auto. 

Kelli:   5:44
We had a student loan and two credit cards, um, and then our mortgage. And so we were able to pay off all of that with the exception of our home, you know, within that short period of time. But before we tackled our debt, we started moving that money towards our savings account and establish that emergency savings, which would save us, you know, if we'd ever had an emergency throughout all of that. I mean, it's crazy. I mean people were like, how did you really say that much money in the short period of time? But it's like you can do it

Casey:   5:44
It's possible. It's so possible. And I think, you know, why is it an emergency fund? You think, Oh, I don't, I'm not going to have an emergency. But it's, it's the things that happen, like from day to day, you know, week to week something's going to come up. And if you don't have that, your budget's just not going to work. I ask just the facts, you know, if you don't have that to fall back on, it's just going to be difficult to make that budget work. If you've ever tried it and it's failed, that's probably what was missing. Yeah. And so I would definitely say to get to that $1,000, there's so many things that you can cut back on. You know, I'm thinking of like cable, you know, cable nowadays is like a thing of the past, you know, Hulu, there's other subscriptions that you can have that are more specific to what you know you're watching. Um, and that might be a big saver for you. Um, things like auto insurance, you know, have you even shopped your auto insurance to see if there's a cheaper option out there for you? Um, there's just so many ways that you can, that you can save that money.  It's possible. It's so possible. And I think, you know, why is it an emergency fund? You think, Oh, I don't, I'm not going to have an emergency. But it's, it's the things that happen, like from day to day, you know, week to week something's going to come up. And if you don't have that, your budget's just not going to work. I ask just the facts, you know, if you don't have that to fall back on, it's just going to be difficult to make that budget work. If you've ever tried it and it's failed, that's probably what was missing. Yeah. And so I would definitely say to get to that $1,000, there's so many things that you can cut back on. You know, I'm thinking of like cable, you know, cable nowadays is like a thing of the past, you know, Hulu, there's other subscriptions that you can have that are more specific to what you know you're watching. Um, and that might be a big saver for you. Um, things like auto insurance, you know, have you even shopped your auto insurance to see if there's a cheaper option out there for you? Um, there's just so many ways that you can, that you can save that money.  It's possible. It's so possible. And I think, you know, why is it an emergency fund? You think, Oh, I don't, I'm not going to have an emergency. But it's, it's the things that happen, like from day to day, you know, week to week something's going to come up. And if you don't have that, your budget's just not going to work. I ask just the facts, you know, if you don't have that to fall back on, it's just going to be difficult to make that budget work. If you've ever tried it and it's failed, that's probably what was missing. Yeah. And so I would definitely say to get to that $1,000, there's so many things that you can cut back on. You know, I'm thinking of like cable, you know, cable nowadays is like a thing of the past, you know, Hulu, there's other subscriptions that you can have that are more specific to what you know you're watching. Um, and that might be a big saver for you. Um, things like auto insurance, you know, have you even shopped your auto insurance to see if there's a cheaper option out there for you? Um, there's just so many ways that you can, that you can save that money. 

Kelli:   8:49
Yeah. I mean, and little bitty things, you know, one of the, um... Casey and I we teach a live bitter series, very similar what we do with our podcast, with our local employers. And then with community we have, so one of the cool things that we talk about is really how to save $1,000 within less than 90 days. It is totally doable. Even if you work like a minimum way to kind of like that is that is a fact. We have tested that we've put it to work. Um, and even to, we're talking about becoming debt free and neither one of us, my husband nor either one. Um, we, we were expecting a child while we were becoming debt free and we didn't take an increase in pay like that and nothing changed there itself. If anything, we had an additional person to our budget. So diapers and all the other things that you don't anticipate. But what's really interesting too that, I mean it's just really thinking, you know, we talk about what's the average lunch costs? $10 right? If you say you eat lunch every single week, that's $10 it's on a five day work week. That's 50 bucks. $200 every four week, month, $200 okay. Will you do that for three months, right? I mean you've got $600 there, you've got more than half of your emergency savings stopped. And then if you think about it too, you know, one of the biggest things we are huge advocates for is taking a look at the things that are costing you money. Like for example, if you are not being paid to use your checking account or even for your savings, you got to stop that today because everybody should be paying you to put your funds wherever you're at. 

Kelli:   8:49
And so, you know, as a, you know, we're employees of Centric and this program is sponsored by Centric and we're so thrilled that they, you know, understand and provide the products and services for everyday people just like you know, you and I and um, it's just a really cool thing where we compare our savings accounts and certificates and so forth hand over fist, you know, we're paying two and three times the average, you know, the national average. So I'm pumped about that. And that also helps with towards your savings goals. So take a look at where you're putting your savings, you know, when you're stocking that, make sure that your financial institution is adding a little love to that account because you desperately need it and it'll help you achieve those goals much faster.  

Casey:   10:51
Yeah, you should be earning at least 2% on your savings account at this day and age for sure. 

Kelli:   10:57
And then there should definitely be zero minimums. Like there should be no minimum to earn, there should be no minimums for you to have a fee or anything like that associated that that's just bonkers. Long gone are those days like totally. For sure. And then, you know, of course too, you know, we talk about if you are truly ready to turn over this new leaf and what better time, you know, it just, we go back to this whole new, you know, the season of new brand new things. You know, a lot of times people set these new year's resolution. Why not put, you know, like your financial journey. You want to change that financial journey. And even for us, you know, we may be on the path to debt freedom, but there are so many other things too, you know, that we could set goals for. 

Kelli:   12:02
Like we've got a large vacation that's planned this year. Well we've been saving for that for over a year, you know, and so we're continuing to add to that. Uh, you know, we've got two little girls, um, I feel very sure, you know, they're going to need to go to college and all the other expenses. And so it's all sorts of neat things, you know, that you can constantly work on and even so forth, investments and things. So no matter where you are on your financial journey, you know, take a peek at that because we can always improve the way we're spending and then our behavior with money, too. 

Kelli:   12:49
Yeah, we have, um, over 30 thing, right? What? 32. 33? Our sale. So we have someone available at all of our locations, and you're suppose so. Very simple, too. If you wanted to schedule an appointment, you can do that online. And our website, my centric dot org's you could basically schedule anytime that works. For you were even open on Saturdays, which is really made. But I love that. That's the one thing that we must now we did. We actually sat down with the financial advisor and said, Hey, you know, let's just get on the same page because we were not on the same page, All right? Not at all. Because I was like, you know, we're making the money. You only live one time like you might as well. Just like you were a card for that. I spend it. That's definitely not right. So if you guys were doing that, we highly advise you not to live that lifestyle. Okay?

Casey:   13:29
Yeah. And so, you know, saying all that, you know, with your goals and kind of assessing where you are, you know, that can be overwhelming. And so a great resource that the credit union has for you is our credit counselors. You know, you can come in and meet with them, bring your spouse. It's important we say to have everyone who contributes to the income, you know, in the household to be present for those kind of conversations. I think that's important, you know, to have everyone included, um, for the budget. And it just makes it easier too, when you're having a conversation together instead of one person doing it, you know, on your own. Um, but I would say the credit counselors, it's important, um, to meet with them, just to kind of have a third party, you know, someone who's owned by us and you know, can give you their opinion on how, how to do it, you know, what's your action plan. So, um, that's a resource that we have here available for you. 

Kelli:   13:30
Yeah. And we have, um, over 30, I think we're, what, 32, 33 counselors now. So we have someone available at all of our locations and you're exposed, so very simple to, if you wanted to schedule an appointment, you can do that online and our website, mycentric.org and you can basically schedule any time that works for you and we're even open on Saturdays, which is really neat. But I love that. That's the one thing that we, my husband now, we did, we actually sat down with a financial advisor and said, Hey, you know, let's just get on the same page because we were not on the same page at all. Right. Not at all. And cause I was like, you know, we're making the money. You only live one time, like you might as well just go for it. That's definitely not right. So if any of you guys are doing that, we highly advise you not to live that lifestyle okay for you in the future. Sure. You've living proof. But um, but yes, I mean the really cool thing about that too is that they're experience too and they're going to be able to offer the resources. They build the budget for ya. I mean, so 15 minutes, the credit report review, which is so cool, they take a look at all the things, even taking a look at analyzing your debt, who you owe due date. Those things are so incredibly important and they really do that whole credit review with you. And what's really neat is that we might even be able to save you some money. Yeah. I mean, how many times have you reviewed a credit report and you're thinking, Oh no, you guys, we can, we can reduce these payments or we could save you some money over the life of the line. 

Casey:   14:06
Yeah. And so there's, there's plenty of opportunity for that. But we will tell you, you know, if we're not saving you money, then stay where you are, but we want to take a look at that because overall, you know, if you can decrease your monthly payment, you can take that extra money and put that elsewhere, whether it's your emergency savings or to another piece of day, you know. So we want to do that for you and we want to take a deep dive and look and see what, what do you have going on? You know, what's really going on with your debt. 

Kelli:   14:32
It's crazy when you think about it too, that just to sit down and do that credit report review. And even if you can bring in your statements or re bank with us, we can actually assess your, your whole statement here while you're with us. You know, we just work through, we have a client that we're working with right now and uh, we are building a budget out for her. Um, and it was a really cool thing. I mean, we got to take a look at our credit report. We were able to save her money, we were able lower her payments on our auto loan, we'd load them lower than by about $15 a month. But what was really great about that too though, is that she's actually working towards establishing our savings account. Um, just many, many different options and things that you can do with that. 

Kelli:   16:30
But if you, if she hadn't looked, there've been no way, there've been no way, you know, to think about that $15 every year in a 12 month period, you're saving a decent amount of money, but you put that into your savings account, it accrues a dividend, increases your earnings. So it takes literally 15, 20 minutes. I mean, I'm thinking too, if I were to sit down and create a budget for you, if we were to go over the credit report review, 15 to 20 minutes and how well that would really like, just kinda change the trajectory of your financial journey. I mean, truly. So when we sat down and we, we were with our financial advisor, literally, it was a couple of different visits that we had. But beyond that. I mean, I'm telling you, it was the neatest thing because we, the reason why we had the multiple visits is that we had to bring her some of our documents and taken a look at all the things that we were accountable for, our commitments each month, all the bills that we were due on the order and that were owed. And so she constructed this budget for us. But we can take care of all of that. I mean, within just one little sit down session, the credit report review, give you a full run through, take a peek at how we might be able to save money. Or like Casey mentioned, if we can't, we'll tell you, we'll give you that recommendation, stay where you are. But let us build a budget. You know, and this is something that I did not know and I've been in the financial industry for, Oh gosh, where we say 12, 13 years something. So what was really funny is while we were talking about this, you know, one of the things that people are so focused on, we're building budgets. They always talking about what the payment, like what's on payment. Oh, I slept better. So payment driven. And it's so crazy to think about that.

Kelli:   16:31
Oh, I slept for seven. Human driven. And it's so crazy to think about that. And I'm I just mentioned I'm thinking, you know, if we really think about that and if we feel like man, we can't necessarily really afford this payment or ever saying, Oh, I can get this to a payment that I can afford. But what is that term? Are you extending your term toe? Will beyond Really, what? The value? I mean, will it still be worth something once you've paid it off? So what was really interesting is that what we tried to do is not necessarily say, let's extend your term. But if you're so payment focus and we're really trying to build a budget that you can afford and avoid the late fees, that's because we gotta think about that. And so one of things we do is that we'll split that up. So say it, for example, like, here's the credit union were paid by weekly. So if you have this one monthly payment. We can divide that up and set that according to your due dates, that simple tiny little change could add to $300 to being on how big your loan amount is. He could split that up, say, $500 split up into two different payments. Then you're freeing up a good bit of cash per paycheck. We're seeing more and more. I mean hundreds of thousands of people in America and primarily here in the northeastern region of Louisiana. I mean, these people were struggling, living, paycheck to paycheck. And if there's one little tiny thing that we could do is to help our members and modify those payments, it helps significantly.

Kelli:   17:53
Yeah, I would say, you know, actually recently worked, I said recently. It's been over, like almost two years before that, I worked in the collections department here. It's in trick. And so just to see, you know that people don't really realize that we work with them and we can change things for you. So something's not working out to your benefit. Um, we can change that and edit it to fit your budget. And so it's a very simple thing. People just have to ask. You just have to ask. I mean, it can change. It could be a simple thing. You know, just for a monthly to bi weekly, however, that needs to look for you, whether it's a longer term to fit that to fit that payment.

Kelli:   18:27
It's just so wild. I mean, when you say, you know, we just have to ask for it, but it's like we didn't even know about that. You know, it's just a few years ago we realized like, Oh my gosh, it'd be a wonderful way for us to do that. And so those are just simple, tiny little things. And we hope that as we continue to talk throughout our podcast and throughout our series that you know, we'll be able to provide our listeners with the end viewers to even to be able to offer and share with you some things that you can really ask that will change the financial journey that you have. And just to help us better understand our financial situation and make us proud, right? Because we work hard for our money and no one wants to struggle financially. And there's always an answer. A lot of times it has to do with our behavior and our relationship with money. But I will tell you this, once you really understand that there's tiny little things, tiny little changes that you can make even on a day to day, weekly and sometimes monthly basis that can save you hundreds of dollars. And who doesn't want to be debt free? I made, who does not want to be debt free? Right? So they're just a really, really neat things. And so throughout this, we're actually going to be reflecting to you on several different things. Goal setting is a major thing, you know, in marketing and business development, we talk a ton about goals often and really setting those and lots of those things out. Once we write it down, it's kind of like set in stone. It's like, okay, yeah, kinda like this podcast. It is. One of the things that we had, you know, we were slated for 2020 and boom, here it is. Are so thrilled. And so one of the cool things we, it's no different with any sort of goal, whether it's, you know, a a fitness journey that you're on a overall wellness. Let's talk financial wellness and set those goals. So if you did not have an emergency savings, if you have less than a thousand dollars in your savings account, that is goal number one. We don't even want to talk about debt beyond paying your minimum payments until we have that $1,000. Yes, for sure. We don't want to go any farther than that. So once we have that bill, then of course we'll start tackling our debt, taking a look at smallest to largest, tackling our debt, smallest to largest, and then really kind of go through and building that budget, even that credit report review, please don't forget about our financial counselors. That's one of the coolest things that we have. And in fact, that's what sets centric apart from all the other financial institutions. 

Kelli:   21:03
 I mean we've got all the bells and whistles of our accounts, but we have the real life people who are nationally certified financial counselors and in casing our proudest day that you could actually chat with us and we would love to go over those things with you because that was a very daunting experience for us. But we gained so much knowledge that always also benefited us. But it's something that we continuously give back to our community. And I mean that's incredibly rewarding to us. I know that you probably feel very similarly. 

Casey:   21:37
Well its cool too to speak with someone who's actually going through the things and you know, studied themselves the different struggles that people have, because not all of our financial journeys are going to look the same. Matter of fact, no one is going to be the same, you know? And so to be able to speak with someone who just can talk real to you and I talk about what you're going through and specific things that you can do, I know we just spoke with someone, um, you know, and it, it's just a, a specific journey that you have and that's okay. You know, whatever little things, like Kelli said, you know, you just change the little things and so it's gonna make a huge impact on you.

Kelli:   21:37
Which is great. I mean, it's just really unbelievable, truly the things that tiny little things that make all the difference. And so when we're talking about setting these goals, we're going to be checking up on you. All right? And so all of the things we're going to be talking about are really going to be layered into where we've started and we've started here today with just an overall financial overview. That is exactly what our live better financial wellness program is all about. And we want this blog and our podcast to be nothing more than financial tips. So we'll help you and your family succeed. I mean, truly. So we're excited. So we have covered a few different things. If you want to hear from us, if you want to ask any particular questions, we'll take anything you got.So feel free to reach out to us. Yes, you can visit us online at mycentric.org You can contact us 24 hours a day. Um, we'll have our phone number here on the screen, so you just let us know if there's any way that we can help you, we can get you set up with a financial counselor, get your credit report review, and also establish a budget. But as always, check back, we have this one month, a one podcast, a month series, or there are live better podcasts and blog series that we can't wait to hear from you later. Thanks so much for watching. Thanks.