Ep.16 Having Money does not Make you Greedy and other Mental Shifts with Bonnie Wiscombe

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Hi there, Foodie Ozz. Welcome to the money's not your problem podcast, where every week we talk about how you can become good with money in your pocket and in your mind by using practical life coaching tools and simple and efficient ways to do money math. Are you ready to invest in yourself? Let's dive into this episode. Hey there, furioazos. Welcome to the money is not your problem podcast. Today we have a special interview with. With a really brilliant mind, a mom, working mom. Super busy, but she's also a coach, and she's going to introduce herself to you guys.

Yeah. Hi. Thanks for having me, Maddie.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Of course.

So my name is Bonnie Whiscom. I am also a mom to 10 children. We homeschool, so they're always here, always making noise while I'm trying to work. But I love it. I love the chaos. And then I am also a life coach, recently certified, and I coach moms who are trying to build a business themselves, generally moms of faith who are really feeling called but are feeling pretty terrified about it. So.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Wow, that's. And we're all out there, so we need your help.

Yeah, we're all feeling terrified about it. Let's be honest.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: If it's not for the businesses for the whole life. Right?

Yeah.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: All right, so we are going to talk about money. How do you feel about that?

I love talking about money. I still have some drama in my head like most of us, but I have made leaps and bounds in my money journey. Thank goodness, because I started off in a pretty unhealthy place, I think.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: So, Bonnie, why do you think people don't like to talk money?

Well, I think that we have this history of being told that it's impolite. Right. You don't talk about money, and then in addition to that, there's just a lot of drama around it. If you. A lot of us don't feel like we have enough, and then if we want more money, we feel like that that means there's something wrong with us, that we just want to have, you know, excessive amounts of possessions. We want to look better than other people. So there's just a lot of heavy stories around money, and I don't think it needs to be that way.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Yeah, it's always the story we tell ourselves, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And many people associate their value with the amount of money they have or they don't have or the amount of debt, so. Which is not very healthy, I guess.

Yeah, absolutely. For sure.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Okay, so let's go back in time and tell us A little bit about how was your life growing up and, you know, how did your family look at money back then?

Yeah, you know, I think we had a really big scarcity mentality growing up about money. And I, and I think my parents, you know, had good intentions. They were always trying to just keep us aware that money doesn't grow on trees and all these things. But I grew up thinking that it was just really difficult to come by and that if you did not work your butt off and do all the right things, you know, go to college and get the secure job and everything, that you were going to struggle. And that struggling meant that, you know, you did something wrong and you were to be able to provide for your family. So I just remember thinking, gosh, there's a lot of pressure on money. If I don't do everything right, something might go wrong. What if my family needs me to provide for them and I can't? Right.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: So.

So a lot of pressure there.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Did you have a childhood where you guys had enough for your survival, for your necessities, or did you have some extra. How did that work?

Yeah, I feel like, if my memory serves me right, most of my childhood we had plenty. We went on vacations and we ate out and we did things that kind of a standard upper middle class family did. At one point in my high school years, my dad went back to school and I distinctly remember that because they sat us down and had a conversation that we were going to be poor for a few years and we just kind of thought it was funny and, and it was true. We didn't have extra lessons or didn't eat out, that sort of thing for a couple of years. But it was a really, I think it was a really good learning experience for me to just go, oh, you can make sacrifices if necessary to do this or that. And then later on he was able to get a job that paid better. So yeah, it was a, it was a good experience for me at that young age.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Oh, good. Was your mom a stay home mom?

So she was most of my childhood she worked, actually worked when I was very little, but I don't remember that. And then when my dad was still in school, and then she was a stay at home mom most of my life until this thing with my dad going back to school happened and then she worked for a while, so she always had kind of this job on the side that she could pick up whenever she needed to. And that was really helpful for us as well.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Right. Was that that side job a little bit of the Extra money you needed to do different things or it was just in times of need.

Yeah, it was really in times of need. I don't think that she really wanted to be a working mom, but she did it when she needed to. So that was kind of the attitude I was raised with, is that being a stay at home mom is the best thing to. And if you have to support your family, you should have something to rely on. So that's kind of how I was raised. And what's interesting is when I graduated from college, I had these plans to go on to graduate school so that I could have that perfect career that I could hop into if I needed to and I could also put on the side if, if necessary. And that one didn't work out and that panicked me a little bit because that went directly against my upbringing of have something on the side. Right. So then I was just purely a stay at home mom and that made me nervous for a while.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: You met your husband during college?

So I met him, yeah, before my senior year of college. I finished college, we got married and then I dove right into my preparations for grad school and then had my first baby and just felt like, no, I can't, I can't leave my baby, I can't go do this. So that was, that was a transition for me to figure out, oh well, what's my life going to look like now financially and career wise?

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: How was the choice for you to go to college?

It was, it was not really a choice. Like we went to college. In my family, my. Both my parents were, had advanced degrees. That was just not, it was non negotiable. If you wanted to be successful, you went to college.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: And what was the degree that you got?

I got linguistics, a super useful one. I used to just joke that I like to talk a lot and so why not get a degree in it?

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Well, that, that's working out now, right?

Yeah. Talking to a lot of people and you're writing things.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: All right, so how did that upbringing shape the way you view? Well, I guess we already kind of talked a little bit about that. But were there certain things that you always kept in mind that, that you kept from growing up?

Yeah, I think it was just that a little bit of that scarcity mentality, like, you know, if you are not prepared, things could be hard for you. And then things just worked out really well for us. My husband began working at his family's company early on in our marriage, or actually he was already working there when we got married and he stayed there this whole time. And so we have not had to rely on my income. I've been able to do things on the side just because I wanted to, and I felt more fulfilled that way. So it has been a big shift for me to realize, oh, actually the world looks a lot different now than it did when I went to college 20 some odd years ago. Right. There are so many more possibilities to make money and for it to flow very freely and easily into our lives. And I'm really grateful for the coaching I've had around that. That's really kind of loosened my death grip on the idea that money is hard to come by.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Right. Because you grew up with that. Both parents thinking that way. Right? Yeah. Did you guys have like teaching financial literacy taught to you? Exactly. Like, let's sit down and let's learn how to make a budget or.

Well, funny that you ask. No, not really. I mean, I think we learned maybe the envelope system at one point in my high school years, and that was about it. It was like, you need to save, you need to pay a tithe and you know, good luck. Right. Go get a good job. Right. And so as an adult, in fact, it's really only been the last few years that I felt a lot more comfortable in my budgeting, in understanding. Understanding how money comes in and how I want it to go out. But it was a rough road for many years. I just didn't feel like I knew what to do and how to fix things when they went wrong or when I got into debt. Um, so yeah, that was a, that was a weak spot for me for a long time.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: We have to go through those. Right.

So we can learn so much. Yeah, for sure.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: So tell me, what was your dad's career again?

So my dad was initially an engineer in the auto industry, and then he went back to school and became. And got an mba. So then he was in management for the auto industry as well.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Oh, excellent. Yeah. My family, my dad was an engineer. My brother's an engineer engineer. So engineers, especially with automotives.

I thought about it myself, in fact, is all you have to do as a woman is, is put you might be interested in engineering or really any STEM type of degree and you get all the offers from all the colleges. And I didn't end up going that direction. But that, that was interesting. They really want the women in those engineering degrees.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: You know, that was really interesting because I grew up in Brazil and I did main junior degree in Brazil and I didn't notice that. I noticed there was of course, more boys than girls. And depending on, depending on the type of engineering, there were more girls. But my brother, he went to a school that was really difficult to get in. In Brazil, you take an admissions test for whatever college that you want to take and attend. And so he went to that school and there was three or four girls. You know, they would joke around, there's three or four girls in school and two of them are ugly and one is this and one is that. So there's one that was a popular one that was smart and pretty.

But yeah, you get your, you get your pick of the men, I guess, if you want to go into engineering.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Absolutely. Do they ever get to finish their degree? Right. So was there any specific event or experience, a defining experience that helped you with your financial journey?

I wouldn't say any specific experience, but marrying my husband husband was really eye opening for me because he did not look at money as this really big pressure filled thing. I do think he experienced a lot of stress in those early years because we didn't make a lot of money and just trying to figure out how to combine, you know, two people and then three and then four and then five, as if we started having kids and under one income, you know, and make it all work. But he, he just has a very, very laid back approach to life in general. He's very mellow, whereas I'm very high strung and so just kind of feeding off him and understanding, oh, there's a different way to look at money. We can just look at it as this tool that we use and I can go into it just assuming everything's going to work out. And I think some people might think that that's kind of a naive way to look at things. But it's served me really well because I like to overanalyze and stress out unnecessarily when we've always had enough to eat. Right. And we always make it work and sometimes we make poorer financial decisions than others. But so I guess probably marrying my husband was probably the biggest, the biggest boon to my financial mindset.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: So I guess he is an influence person in financial journey, right?

Yeah, for sure.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Was there anybody else to influence you one way or the other, like positively or negatively about money?

You know, I do have a close friend who is a money coach as well and she has helped me countless times when I feel overwhelmed or, you know, there were many years I would just be in tears every time I did my budget because I couldn't figure out how to make the numbers work. And so I would call her send her a Marco Polo. And she would just call me down and say, okay, let's take a look at the numbers. It has to make sense. Let's figure it out. And so it's always been nice to have a friend who loves me non judgmentally in my back pocket and can give me tips when I get stuck.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Absolutely. Those are great friends to have. Right. In anything, any area of your life, how has your spirituality influenced how you develop with your money?

Knowledge and yeah, you know, I would say that in my early years I really felt like money was kind of a moral issue, which I realize is kind of silly now. So I don't think that was my, the, the fault of my spirituality or my faith upbringing. It was just kind of a cultural thing that I picked up. Like, oh, don't you don't want money to buy nice things. That means that you are greedy. Right. You live frugally. You, you know, live within your means, which I still agree with. But I think as I've grown up, I've understood that. Oh, actually I think God just wants us to be happy and to do our best with this amazing tool that he's given us. Right. And that putting myself out into the world and is valuable and I deserve to be compensated for it, that was a really important shift for me as well. Because as a woman of faith, sometimes we just think we should give away everything for free. Well, if somebody needs my help, I should just help them. But putting value into the world is so essential and what I have can help people. So I want to show them the value of it by requiring that they give me value as well.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Yes. And if we think about it, if we don't have money, we can give some other things. But when a person needs a light bill to be paid or food to eat, having money is, is a tool, a very important tool to be able to help those people. Right? Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: So do you still carry anything that you learned from your friend or from your husband that you decided to embrace as your own and you carry with you for your financial decisions?

I think more than anything, it's just a feeling of peace, of knowing that it's all going to work out. And I also, I learned this from some life coach I followed that money is in constant flow. It was probably Jody Moore that teaches that money is not stagnant in our minds. It's like we either have a lot of money or we don't have a lot of money. And that is a little silly considering money is always moving. Right. It's always coming in, it's always going out. And so it's very hard to define that way. And that helps take some of the pressure off it as well. Helps me feel a little bit more peace. Like, hey, anytime I could learn to make more money, anytime I could learn, I could decide to spend my money on something else. Nothing is ever locked in stone. And we get to choose how this tool benefits our lives and other people's lives as well.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: I love that because I apply that to my life, too. That is a flow. There's money coming in and money coming out. Of course, using our minds, our beautiful minds, to make sure that there's more coming in and coming out. And that having. I think that was really important. I learned that. Do you have the capacity to have money? Because a lot of times people just make money and then they spend it all. Like, do I have the capacity to hold that amount of money, to have money, just to have the money there set aside?

Yeah, absolutely. That was something that recently came to my attention as well. And I thought, gosh, I've never even really considered that. I've only ever considered increasing my income and increasing that flow in so that I can increase my flow out. But having that reservoir, really, it inspires a lot of. A lot more of that piece. Right. Just knowing that we have this pool to. We can wait in it, not physically, metaphorically, obviously, diving in our money, but to just sit in comfort and knowing that our family's taken care of to make it work for us if we choose to do that. Any number of things to take the pressure off of always spending more when we have more. I really like that.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: That concept, right. And that we don't have to spend. Right. We can just have the money there. We have our emergency fund. We have different. I have different sinking funds for different things that I'm saving. Or right now I'm already saving for Christmas. Right. I already have a little bit going. But just being able to have money without having the need to go, oh, we got to spend it. We have the money now. We can spend it or increase our lifestyle. I really like that. So was there anything from your past related to money or money belief that you had to reconcile? And how did you. You do that?

You know, I did go into some debt when I was in College, probably about $10,000 worth of student loans. And I was raised to believe that debt is very bad and again, kind of immoral. And so I felt really guilty about that for a long time. But I. In retrospect, I Was doing the best I could. I had a job, I was going to school full time. I was doing everything I could. And I mean, could I have cleaned up my spending a little bit? Maybe. But it was a lesson I needed to learn that today's spending needs to be paid for eventually, if you decide to put it on student loans or credit card or whatever. But I went into my marriage feeling a lot of heavy guilt over that as well, because I brought the debt into my marriage. So paying that off and understanding that it didn't mean there was anything wrong with me was really powerful. Feeling that debt, I think, I believe, is also just a tool. And I don't want to regularly be in debt. I like the flow. You know, if I'm going to put something on a credit card or something, I want to also pay it off regularly. But, yeah, that, that. Just learning that, that it didn't mean anything about me was a really powerful.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Right. Yeah. And, and sometimes we don't have that knowledge. And as you said, you've learned with your friend who's a coach, you learned from your husband, and it was part of your learning. Learning process.

Yeah. And I, I think it was also a part of just accepting who I am. Right. That I tend to be the spender in our relationship. I mean, many moms are because they're the ones that have to buy the groceries and the clothes and everything else. There's a lot on our shoulders when it comes to the managing of the money. But to just accept myself, like, it's okay that sometimes I get joy out of buying things, as long as it's, you know, there's some bounds around it and to just accept myself for who I was and not always criticizing myself for that habit.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Right. I. I teach my clients that you can be in peace even though you're not completely out of debt. Because I'm pro. Let's pay off the debt. Let's build the wealth. And the fastest way for you to build wealth is not having any debt. So I teach my, my clients that you can feel even though you're not completely out of debt, if you have your plan, if you're working on the things that you need to do, you following your plan to get out, you can say, hey, I got this. I already pay my extra on the debt I'm doing, you know, doing well with my budget, so I can just keep moving forward. It's going to work out. So you don't have to feel the heaviness the entire time that you have that. Because I carry that when I got out of debt, we had over $300,000 in debt. That pressure was immense, and it lasted the entire time as I was paying it off.

Yeah.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Like, even though I had a plan, but I had all that, it was so bad to have that I didn't like it. I was. I actually. I would blame myself. I was feeling very guilty that I let it got this. Get this far that far. So. And then once I realized that it's okay if you have your plan, you're doing your part, the Lord is helping you, so then you can still feel peace and move forward. That action is going to propel a better action for sure. From peace. Right?

Yeah. I talk about this a lot, especially when it comes to physical health, because that's one of my passions, too, is exercise and nutrition. And everyone thinks that they need to hate themselves into getting into better shape or hate themselves into eating better, exercising, any number of things, any goal. But the more we criticize ourselves, the more we lose our power. Like, we really drain our power. And I think that's especially true in. In the debt scenario, because you can just sit there and beat yourself up all the time, but you do not show up from a place of empower when you're beating yourself up. And so the chances of you actually making progress on that goal of paying off your debt is a lot lower if you're just constantly berating yourself and telling yourself how messed up you are for getting into a bunch of debt. What's there is there. Move forward. Right.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Focus on the GPS story. Right. That we learned from Brooke Castillo, where the GPS doesn't care. Of course we need to look at the past and learn. But the GPS is from here forward. And the past does not define us.

Right.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: We can change and move forward. And having a good plan, having our budget that will lead us to. To financial freedom and to our Build. Build wealth.

Yeah. Without having to hate ourselves.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Right. Yeah.

And it's a lot more fun doing it that way.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Absolutely. Yeah. So how did you reconcile any of the things from your past that. Those. The debt that you had to.

You mean, like, emotionally?

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Yeah.

Honestly, it was a long path. I mean, now I. I manage my mind so much better than I did back then, but it was a long path. For a long time, I felt I didn't love managing our money, and my husband always put me in charge of it. I don't know why. Probably because I was the spender and it's a better idea for me to be in charge. But I just. Anytime I would Open my budget, I would feel guilt, I would feel like it's my fault. And that still comes up for me sometimes. But I also realize how power I have. Like I have the power to make my family's life what it is to buy groceries for them and to buy them the clothes that they need. And I have the power to cut back on our spending if we need to pay back, pay off some debt. I have the power to, you know, increase it if we have medical bills that need to be paid. So sitting in that place of empowerment feels so much better than feeling like a victim or feeling self pity because I just messed up again, because I overspent or I got into debt or whatever. Just go, it doesn't matter, matter. Like you say, the past doesn't matter, it's today. From this step on, I'm going to do this. And also to realize how much is out of my control. You know, sometimes we'll have months where we have unexpected, we have so many kids, unexpected medical bills means thousands and thousands of dollars that we didn't anticipate. Somebody goes to the ER or something and to just go, it's okay, it's all going to be okay. We'll pay it off, we'll get there. But that was something we couldn't have anticipated. Maybe we need to build up our emergency savings a little bit because. Because we couldn't have covered that. So that allows me to feel a lot of peace too, not try to control everything around me.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Right. And did you forgive yourself from coming in to the marriage with a bunch of debt or do you still have a little resentment on that or a little bit of guilt?

You know, I for sure forgive myself. Now I look back at that teeny tiny baby 24 year old and just think, I'm so sorry you felt so bad about that. It was not a big deal. Right. And at 24, $10,000 was an insurmountable sum. I think it probably took us 5 years to pay off. And now in the grand scheme of our life, it's not that much money. But I wouldn't do anything differently because it was a lesson I needed to learn for sure. And now feeling that weight of that debt makes me realize, number one, that it isn't that big of a deal, but also that it isn't something that I want to hold on to forever. And so that motivates me to stay out of debt in the future as well.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Very good. It's very wise. So let's move back. Let's actually move forward to now that you have your king kids, how did you teach them about money? Do you teach them about money?

Yeah, I try to. So I have changed my perspective a lot about education and, and like job skills and that sort of thing. And a lot of what I'm allowing my children to do because we're homeschooled. So they have a little bit of a unique perspective on education and on getting the skills and the job experience that they, that they need. A lot of it I just leave into their hands. Like I show them what, what's possible. Right. So if you want to be a scientist who does research, you might want to go down this path. If you want to be an engineer, if you want to be a doctor, if you want to be any number of things, this is the likely path you'll go through. If that doesn't sound interesting, what does sound interesting to you? Right. So like my oldest does not have plans to go to college, but he's learning welding and he wants to go out and get a good job doing some welding and then start investing in real estate. And he has all these big goals and dreams. And one of the biggest things, one of the biggest changes from my own youth that I am sharing with my kids kids is just that unlimited possibility. I never ever say, ah, that's unlikely. That probably won't work because how do I know what the world is going to look like in the next five, 10, 20 years? I have zero idea. And even now the possibilities are endless for them to earn money and manage that money. So I kind of just let them decide what's interesting to them. We do teach them basic budgeting. We have a zero based budgeting app that we use and my two oldest who have jobs use that. And so we talk about, about, you know, not checking bank balances because it doesn't tell the full story. We talk about I was putting money aside for savings and then allowing them to, to spend their money free of guilt and enjoy that. So it's been really fun watching them learn.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Yeah. And did you have, did you guys give allowance or did you pay commission?

Ooh, that's a great job. So I personally decided I wanted my kids to have spending money, but I didn't want it to be connected to chores because I didn't want them to say, well, I'm just not going to do my chores and I don't care about the money. So chores are non negotiable and I will give them spending money. But that also means that I don't pay for anything outside of the house. So everybody gets the amount of dollars that's equal to their age every month. So my 8 year old gets $8 a month, the 10 year old gets $10 and that's they're spending money for the whole month. So if we go to the movies and they want a snack, they buy it with their money. If we go to the store, they want a pack of gum, they use their money. And I've really enjoyed that because it gives them power, spending power. I don't have to constantly be thinking gosh, have I bought you a lot of things lately? And then by the time they're about 12 or 13 and they can get babysitting jobs or other jobs around the neigh neighborhood, then we don't give allowance anymore because I want them to go out into the world and to earn their own money.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: That's pretty good. You talk about the ones that are already going out and getting their own money babysitting. What happens when they decided to do something that's not maybe in line or something. That opinion that you gave that they shouldn't spend that money that way or the other way. How do you deal with that? Not following your advice?

Yeah, you know, it's just managing your emotion like anything else. Right. There's only so much we can do to teach our children what we think is the best. But in the end we also don't know what the best is for them. Right. So my second son right now is going to be getting his license soon and he has all these great ideas and grand schemes for buying and fixing up a car. And so he was showing me one recently and said I think I'm going to buy it. It needs $3,000 worth of work on it and I think I can do it. And the inside of me is like oh, it's a terrible idea. So I shared my opinion with him. I said, you know, it might just be better to spend a little bit more on the car itself. So you get one that's drivable and doesn't need any fix ups. But it's your money money. Right? You get to decide. So that's a hard thing to do. Especially when you, you know, quote unquote. I mean, do we ever really know? But you know, it's a bad decision. But that's what life is all about. And I'd much rather have him make a mistake, you know, a one or two thousand dollar mistake at 16 than a 10 or 20 thousand dollar mistake at 25 because he didn't weigh the pros. And cons well enough.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Right. And then there, there's still a home. So they still have a place to fall back and get the help.

Right. They can't, they can't get themselves in, in so much trouble that there's no place to eat or sleep. Sleep. You know, we got that. So they might as well make their money mistakes now.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Yeah, because the stakes get higher.

Yes, they do.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: So how do you continue to grow finance your financial understanding?

What do you do? So I really like some of the tutorials that I, that are available on my budgeting app. We use Ynab and they just have some great apps. Every time I get stuck on something like, gosh, how do I reconcile an account? Or how do I, you know, make sure that I'm paying off debt within my goal? Then I go watch their, their videos. And I'm always looking for ways to increase our passive income to make it so that our, our family can gain more freedom and get to the point where we're not working quite so hard every single day to keep ourselves, you know, fed. So that's really fun for me is just to learn investing opportunities and other ways of increasing our wealth.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: So let's look at what you can teach someone else about the money. Thinking about your hardest part in your financial journey. What was the hardest part? And imagine a mother going through the same thing. What would you tell her?

I think I would probably just say, honestly, I have a lot of faith in putting your priorities right. Right. So no matter how much money we were spending, we always paid a tithe and we always did our best to take care of the debt or the medical bills or the obligations first before going out and spending things on ourself. And just doing that, I felt, has really blessed our lives because we've put our priority parties in order and there are times when I, when it hurts to pay those bills. Right. To pay money to the church or pay money to, you know, whatever hospital we. I say medical bills a lot. Our kids really are healthy, but there's just a lot of them. So somebody's, you know. Yes or something all the time or new glasses or braces or something. So having faith that you are doing, you know, you're taking care of those obligations first and then everything else will sort itself out. And it really has for us. I mean, have we been super duper wealthy? Not yet. We're planning on it, but, but everything has been taken care of. And I've never had to worry about having something for my children to eat. And I know that's a. That's a huge blessing and that. And I don't take that for granted. That's not the case for every. Everyone. But I think that anyone who's paying attention and who's working hard to bring in the income their family needs will be just fine if those priorities are taken care of in order.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Yeah, that's pretty good advice, just having your priorities work on them and involve the Lord. Right. Just starting first and go from there.

Yeah.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: All right, so this is so good. And I do have a few rapid fire questions for you. Are you ready?

Okay, let's bring it.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Okay. Whatever comes to mind, just tell me, okay? Okay. All right. What was the worst financial decision you ever made?

Oh, probably buying a timeshare.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Yeah.

We were young and foolish and. Yeah, we made a mistake there.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: The. Did you get out?

Yeah, well, we got out, but we lost a lot of money. Yeah, it was too bad.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: All right, next. What was the most useless thing you ever bought?

Oh, most useless. I've bought a lot of useless things, I'm sure. Gosh, now I can't even think of it. Probably the timeshare was there like a.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Kitchen gadget that you. You really thought you needed to have and never used it, right?

Oh, yeah, for sure. A spiralizer. You know what a spiralizer is? I may have used it once and it didn't even work out the way it was supposed to. And I'm like, oh, dang it. Too much for that.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Well, so now let's go to the other side. What was something that you bought that turned out to be better than you expected?

Probably paying for personal training at the gym. So that was something that was kind of a pipe dream. And I finally sat down with a trainer and found out how much it was, and it wasn't as much as I expected. And it has been incredible. I've been doing it for about a year and a half now. Totally revolutionized my health. I love it. It's my favorite thing to do is just to go to the gym and lift weights now, so. That was awesome.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: That's awesome. So fun. All right, so, Bonnie, thank you so much for spending this time with us and talking about your financial journey and tell us a little bit about what's coming up for you where people can find you.

Yeah, for sure. So I have a brand new podcast you can listen to as well. It's called Burning Brightly. And that's where I help moms get inspired to start their own entrepreneurial journey. Hard work. I also have another podcast called Outnumbered the podcast and that's for the moment of all the kids who are feeling overwhelmed. So you can check me out there. And I am starting a new class online on Zoom where I'm going to teach a life coaching skill and also bring people on to coach. So if you get on, if you come follow me on social media at Bonnie Wiscom or come to my website, sign up for my email bonnie wiscom.com and you can learn about that and get some free coaching that way.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: That's awesome. Thank you so much, Bonnie, and we are so grateful that you spend this time with us.

No, thanks so much for having me.

[CFM COACH ASSISTANT AI ]: Mary all right, thank you so much for listening to this week's episode and I'll see you next time. Ate Brevillo Obrigada thank you for listening to this week's episode. Remember to like, subscribe and share. And if you want to learn more about the attributes that make you good with money, go to my website right now, StrasbourgCoaching.com and sign up for the free 9 video series. I'll be back next week at the Brevio Brigada.