Ep.42💡 Reset Your Finances Without Panic —Even in a Hard Season

Welcome to the Money's not your Problem podcast, the show for hard working women of faith who are doing everything they can to care for their families but still feel defeated when it comes to money. I'm Madeline Strasberg, financial coach, educator and more. I've felt the anxiety of swiping my card and hoping you would not be declined. I know what it's like to feel like you cannot say no to your kids, your family or your husband and to end up resentful for always putting yourself last. But I've broken the and now I'm here to help you make peace with your money using three our faith, applied financial knowledge, and a mindset of progress. Each week I'll share real stories, honest lessons from my own financial blunders, and three simple steps you can use in your everyday life even in the middle of a busy, overwhelming schedule. Your prosperous financial life starts right here, exactly where you are. Because money is not your problem. Welcome to the Money's not youw Problem podcast. I am Madeline Strasberg, financial coach, educator and fellow working mom who knows the weight of trying to do it all when money feels tight. If you're feeling the pressure of rising costs, shrinking paychecks and not enough margin, you are not alone. In today's episodes, I'm going to walk you through a real moment in my life when I had to hit a reset and the three steps that helped me get back on track without shame or stress spirals. Let's make this practical and doable for you. I want you to picture this. It was a beautiful day in March. I was just sitting down in my office with the sun shining through such a beautiful day. The little doggies by me, the big dog laying over there by me too. And I was gonna just check my emails. When I opened the inbox I saw an email from the Internet company that we've been using. When I look at the inbox I saw an email that seemed a little unusual from the Internet company that we've been using for the past two years. Since we moved into this house, we've had a specific company and so it was March, it was another year that we had that company and I see an email so when I opened that I almost fell off my chair. The amount that we've been paying for Internet and cable, I know we're probably the only people they still have cable. My husband loves to watch TV and the baseball teams and all that only plays in a specific package so it's was just easier for us just to get cable. So we have the Internet and the cable and they always offer us one of those introductory special deals. Well, it had been two years. So then they decided that the end of the promotional time it was here. I knew it was in the contract, but I wasn't expecting it. We've been paying $150 for the Internet and for the cable, the highest package again, so my husband could have access to the baseball games and the football games and all that other stuff. When I opened the bill, it came to $290. I could not believe that he had doubled without the promotional. Without the promotional price, it was pretty much unaffordable for us. And it's not that I haven't noticed that the price of gas went up, the groceries went up and all the prices increasing around us. It's just our power of purchase was diminishing with the same amount of money that's coming in. But everything else, the outgoing was much higher now. And when those two things happen, you have a smaller margin. For us, using debt is not a solution. So what we have to do, we have to adjust our expenses or make more money to be able to continue paying for the things that we've had before. I felt in my chest when I look at that bill that large, that a little bit of that quiet financial anxiety creeping in. But because I've been there before and because we're debt free, it was just a matter of sitting down, calming down, breathing and look at different solutions. Now these are the three steps that I took when I started feeling that a little bit of that anxiety because of the inflation. First I paused. I did not panic. I review my budget and we start cutting down on everything that was non essential. We had Disney plus, we cut that off, we reduce our trips to the fancier grocery store and now we only buy certain things there when we're gonna make that one special meal. Also I became more strategic in how I drive to make sure that I less trips to save on gas and shutting down those extra things. I of course accepted that this is just the face that we are right now and we have to play according to the game. It does no good if I just throw a fit and say it does those. It makes no sense for us to be mad and throw a fit and blame the government and all these things. We still have the prices and the adjustments that we have to do to be able to continue surviving. So that was something that really helped me is just always remembering of our mindset and the perspective that we're looking at. And the second thing I did. Then I went and got some different quotes, just like for the Internet and the cable that I just told you clearly I wasn't going to stay with that company. But the first thing that I tried was negotiate with them. So I got in the chat because sometimes, most of the time you cannot get on the phone with anybody. And I was trying to negotiate and try to, if they would value me as a customer, they would probably would offer me a good deal for me to stay with that company. I talked to three different people and you can see that the company is not training well. They're, they're customer service people. Because the first guy said nothing. He just like, that's the price. You have to stay with this price. The second person I talked to, and of course every time, if the call, if the chat drops or something, you have to start your story all over again. So I did it for the second time and he offered me something, but it wasn't good enough. He probably knock it out and he wanted to give me an extra phone line. I didn't need a phone line. All I want is the same services that I was having before. So then at that point I noticed that they were not going to do anything for us, that we're going to keep going back and forth with different offers but not getting what we needed. So I just told them to cancel one part of the deal one day. Cancel the cable first and then cancel the Internet. Because at that point we already talked. My husband, I had already talked and we decided that we were going to do a different thing for Internet. And eventually we. I came back to cancel the Internet once ours was up and running. And this third person from the customer service, he was actually willing to lower our price. And it was really sad when I told him, sorry, we already got another Internet, we don't need this anymore. So then we switched and we got, okay, maybe we got less channels right now. We got YouTube TV and we got the Internet in a separate way, but it lower our price. It came about the same as we were paying before with actual better Internet, which is very important for us here. If you're going through the same situation, having to cut things on your budget, try to negotiate before you cancel. Try to see if you can get them the same company to lower your price. I've had that happen several times where I, I contact the company before I canceled and they offer a better deal or the same deal and extended the promotional period for that special price. One thing that's interesting to notice is that when things are not that tight. Even though we can go and reevaluate and try to find different quotes, we just don't. We just leave it because we're in the comfort zone and it's there. It's not bugging us the same price. But this will save you a lot of money if periodically you revise your insurance, Internet, cell phones and all that. If you try to find a better quote. I know sometimes is inconvenient to change from one company to another, but if it gives you a bigger savings, that's the easy way and a good way for you to, to save some money. And it will make worthwhile your time on hold or waiting to talk to someone. We've done that with also the house insurance and the car insurance. We were paying a whole lot of money for car insurance. Every six months we were paying $2,000. And I've reviewed our policy. I talked to the lady at the office, but there was no way. She, she offered me a discount for doing auto pay or for the renewal. Auto renewal. I'm like, I couldn't believe it. But I took it. Because sometimes we think that we're stuck within a company that we cannot find anything better. And moments that we're tight, we're just like, there's no other option. We have to find another option. We have to either lower our coverage or do something like that. And that's why it's good for you to talk to friends or to listen to other people when they're talking about money because they can give you good ideas. We had a friend that refer us to another company for auto insurance. We tried to put our auto insurance and our home insurance at the same company, but the home insurance was not part of that company. So then our home insurance went up and our car insurance went down. Of course we have two vehicles that we almost don't go out that much. So then we just lower to liability insurance only. So that means if we're getting an accident with one of those cars, it will pay the other person's whatever they need. We'll have to fix our own cars out of pocket. That's one advantage. That is one of the advantages. That is one of the advantages of you not having a car payment. Because our cars are not financed, we are able to just carry liability for those two cars. And that dropped a lot our car insurance. But the home insurance went up. And then what happens? Well, because it's part of escrow, part of the mortgage, then our mortgage payment went up by a lot. So what we had to Do. Then we had to give the money to make up the difference on escrow. So our monthly home payment was not that high. Well, we continue looking for it. We were not very happy with the home insurance the way it was, but we didn't even think about, oh, we can get another home insurance. We just stay there and. And this friend, again, we brought it up. I said, hey, we did this. But then our home insurance went up. Oh, I found. And then he said that he had found another company for the home insurance. He gave that to me. And of course we always put it off. The things that can help us a lot. As things got tighter then I decided, no, wait, I have to look into that and when I apply for it, to see that if we qualified, if we could switch insurances, then we found something that was much cheaper than the one that we're paying now and even cheaper than the one that we had originally. So it worked out well for us. So go negotiate. Go ask around. What are some of the companies that can help you save money? We know in business that the best customer is the customer that's ours. And some companies are not willing to do that. So go take care of the ones that actually care about your business. The third step that I took was I got creative in some of the things that I negotiated. So at first I thought that I would have to cancel my cleaning services every other week, but then I thought that was such a big help for me and I will cut other things before I completely cut out my cleaning services, because she does. They do the, the deep stuff, the windows, the everything. So then I negotiated with her. She had raised her prices a few months back, and I was surprised that that price lasted for almost the same as the Internet because we, at the same time, when we moved to this new house and I talked to the lady and we got to an agreement. The house has two levels. So one week she would do the whole house and the next time she would come after two weeks. Then she would just do the top part of the house. This way I was able to continue having the cleaning service and she still kept us as a customer, but it was more affordable. And I was able, we were able to adjust that better to our current budget, which I think was a win win for me and for her. So then again, here are the three steps. Pause and don't panic. I know it's hard when things seems like they're so chaotic. Pausing and actually calming down. It's best for you to make better decisions. Step number two, go get different Quotes and start cutting things that are non essential for your survival and that's going to fit in your budget. And two, make sure that you try to negotiate, try to find arrangements for things that will work out for you. Sometimes you're going to have to negotiate with yourself. I like to have my nails done, but now instead of having every other week, I wait longer to get my nails done. And instead of getting manicure and pedicure every month, I wait a little longer to get pedicure. Spreading these services out helps me keep something that I like to get it done, but at the same time I save money in the long run. You know, I know it can seem really difficult and at times can seem impossible, especially when you have so many bills that you have to pay every month. And I know it can be really worse if you have things are financed like your car or multiple cars, if you have personal loans, if you have family loans, if you have both, or if you have other different things that you have finance, you have credit cards, three, four, five credit cards that you cannot pay off the bill every month. This can really take your sleep away, make you some restless nights. But again, take the time to pause to think about some solutions and to get creative. Now notice that I said for you to look for solutions. Our brain is amazing. Our brain is built to solve problems, but first you have to admit that you have one. If you keep thinking that everything is fine, your brain's not gonna look for a solution. When you define your challenge, your brain, specifically your prefrontal cortex, it kicks into gear to search for solutions. It is wired for resourcefulness. We are resourceful. We can find solutions, the craziest solutions sometimes for the problems that we have. Make sure that you use this. Don't avoid the tension, leverage it. Use this little bit of stress to propel you forward, to give that the first push for you to realize that you have to go solve that problem. I know sometimes people get paralyzed by the stress and I understand how hard that is. I've had those happen before with me. But I encourage you to lean on your faith and to use a little bit of stress. Understand there's nothing wrong with you and that you can find solutions. Robert Collier says success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out. You don't need to cut everything all at once. If things are getting tighter, start moving one step at a time. Cut as much as you can, but go slow at times so you don't feel that deprived and you don't have in your mind that you are going to be broke. You're not going to have a place to live. Our brains love to go to the worst case scenario. And there's one simple truth in Proverbs 21:20. We read the wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down. I don't know which version of the Bible that is, but what that says is that smart planning today creates breathing room tomorrow. Think about it. You cutting as much as you can right now. When things start getting better, you're gonna be in a better position to save a little more money and to be able to create some margin to have some savings. And you actually might see things that you don't even need, doesn't even make a difference in your life. Not having them because you cut them during difficult times. I'm not bragging here, just being your wise older friend. Not having consumer debt right now feels really good because we can adjust our expenses and we don't have things that are hanging over our heads because we had so many things financed. And we're able to handle tighter times with more confidence because we have an emergency fund. We have only the regular bills to pay. We're not concerned that if we don't pay a car payment payment this month, they're gonna come and take our car. We are not concerned that we won't have money to pay the home mortgage. We've been there before and then we lost the house to foreclosure because we couldn't pay for that. So use difficult times to see as opportunities to setting you up for the future. Use these times wisely. Cut where you can the extra things and prioritize savings when things start getting better. If you're in a hard season, you are not failing. Remember that this is not a reflection on who you are as a person. At the same time, use this time to adjust. What you do next is really important. It matters. It matters more than what just happened. And if you think the problem is money, that if you get more money you could solve your problems, that is not true. You don't need that. All you need is a strategy. One that starts right where you are with what you have. And you have an amazing brain that can help you solve problems and find a solution. So don't wait. So don't wait for someday. Take your right next step today and reset your finances with confidence, clarity and action. Remember the three steps from today. Pause and trim everything that's not essential. Two, find different quotes, negotiate. And three, be creative. Be creative in how you spend your money. Be creative how you can make more money. Be creative in how you are going to navigate this season. You've done hard things before and you can do it now again. And if you don't trust yourself or you don't believe that, you can know that. I do believe you can. I believe you can find solutions. And as we move forward and we look for God to help us, you'll be able to find opportunities and the resources that are going to help you find solutions or have more strength to endure the situation with more strength, more patience and more clarity. Remember, money's not your problem. Go cut your budget, Go find solutions and I'll see you guys next time. Thank you for listening to the money's not your problem podcast. Remember, you are not your dad and you're not your past financial mistakes. You are exactly where you need to be to begin creating the peaceful, prosperous financial life you want to have at your own pace and with purpose. If this episode helped you share with someone who could use some encouragement or support on their own financial journey, come back next time for more financial goodness. Obrigada Sat.