Ep.43 ⏰💡 Boost Your Finances NOW with Amanda Christensen!

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.

Hi, welcome to the podcast. Today I am interviewing Amanda Christensen. Amanda is a Utah State University extension professor and her specialty is in personal and family finance. She's also the director of a statewide empowering financial wellness grant program and she has spent her entire life helping people take control of their financial futures, whether through their Utah money matters platform TV and radio segments for award winning programs. Her goal is to provide people with real life money smarts that empowers everyone to succeed. She is passionate about seeing women achieve financial wellness and she is here to help them every step of the way. Hi Amanda, thank you so much for being here on the podcast. How are you?

Good. Thank you so much for having me.

Thank you so much for accepting the invitation. We are excited and I've seen you live a couple times for the past two years. I went to the women's and women in the money conference here in Utah and I've seen you speak and it was really great. So I decided to call you up and have you on the podcast.

Thank you. I'm so glad you're connected with that conference. It's a great opportunity. Love that it is.

Especially for the locals. Whoever here, whoever is here in Utah, make sure that you check that out. It's usually in October. September. October.

September, September, right.

So then you can get a ticket and it's very affordable and it's a fun time. They feed us good food. Last time I actually did based on your talk on the 45 frugal.

Yeah, we love that.

The joys. I did that on site. I sat in a room somewhere and I recorded over there because it was so great. I was like, oh, you gotta think about this because sometimes you think that to be happy you have to spend a lot of money. And that's not true. Right?

That isn't true. Yeah.

Okay, so let me ask you this, let's go back and maybe introduce yourself a little bit. I read your bio, but go ahead and introduce a little bit of yourself. What are you doing right now and how did you get to the position you are?

Well, first and foremost, I'm a mom to two awesome kiddos and my spouse and I raised those kiddos together. And that is fun to teach them about. You know, they're eight and two, so we teach them about money in different ways than I do in my professional life. I teach adults personal finance education and I, I, I love doing that because I love the light bulb moments that adults have when they think there's no hope or maybe there's, they don't understand. And when we can change that to a feeling of, of hope and, and that there's a positive side to managing your money and feeling fulfilled in your money decisions, that gives me a lot of joy. So I've taught for about 16 years. I've been an accredited financial counselor for about five years, five, six years now, time flies. And I love that process as well, helping people understand their choices and choice. There are, there are so many choices when it comes to money. Personal finance is personal. And so I love carrying that mantra through everything I do and teaching people. And I think reliable financial advice can be hard to find. I mean, a lot of people out online willing to tell you their opinion about money and how they think you should manage money. And at the end of the day, we have to know the best practices and then decide for ourselves. So I love helping people decide what works for them personally.

Yeah, sometimes a program works for us, but it might not work for someone else. So offering different, different solutions or different ways that they can get to their goals, that's really important. And there are truths that are true. And especially in finances, we know that if we spend more than we make, we're going to be in debt. Right. We're not going to have that safety. So there are, I like this part of the math, the mathematical, about the money. So tell us a little bit about your, your life growing up and way back there. How was your family with money? How did you start learning? Did your parents talk to you about money and so forth?

Oh yes, I have early money memories. I remember the sound that, I mean, my dad would get on and he used Quicken for personal finance software. And I remember the sound that there's a sound that it makes every time you enter a receipt or an expense or a deposit. And this was back before it. It wasn't connecting automatically to your bank account. Right. And pulling those transactions automatically. So he was doing all of that manually. And that's just a sound memory. And that's a, That's a mem. Something I can remember my family doing. I can remember learning at a young age to save a portion of my money, to donate a portion of my money. I grew up a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And so learning 10% tithing is something that as a principle I live by. Still. Still. And at the time I remember learning that as well. That and then what was left over for spending and so, you know, fun, fun memories like that. I also, I also have memories of times when money was tight and there were difficult times. When my grandfather passed away, both of my parents found themselves out of a job because they both worked for him. And so, you know, such difficult times as well and grateful for that as well as the good, you know, the positive money memories because that's all sort of shaped my trajectory. Now.

Did they talk to you about money or it was all mostly observation?

Yes, they talked to me about planning and being purposeful with money. But then I don't. That I observed what was going on with their money situated. You know, they didn't ever come come to me and say we're really struggling right now. I think they wanted. And I don't think that's something we would say to our kids always. We, we don't want to put them in a place. You know, I was never, I never felt vulnerable as a child. I don't. I never lived. I never experienced child poverty or, you know, I mean, I never experienced anything remotely close to that. So I can't speak to those feelings. So I, I was taught to be purposeful with money. And then I observed when things were tight too, and there. When there were struggles with money. Yeah, right.

How did your parents reinvent themselves since they were out of the job?

Oh, they just. Well, my mom was a very skilled nurse, so she, she got jobs elsewhere. And my father was a medical practice manager, so he also just managed other. He same thing, got jobs elsewhere and then they both kind of continued education and, and, and trying to think they've both done really well after the fact, but. Yeah, that kind of forced them to.

Extract stretch a little bit, right?

Yeah. Yep.

Expand. So was there a specific event or defining experience that helped you in your financial journey?

I can remember my husband and I, so we experienced infertility early on in our marriage. It took us five years to have our. Our son. And I can remember the debt that. The medical debt that started piling up as a result of trying to. To start a family. And when we were headed in to do our IVF cycle and the. The expense of ivf, and that's not covered by insurance. So that was the first time. I mean, that was a lot of debt to take on. Almost overnight, you take on tens of thousands of dollars in debt and. But that was the only choice. I mean, we weren't. We weren't. We were. We were confident in that decision to move forward. But I can remember the feeling that. That gave me of the debt burden. The feeling, you know, that stuck with me, and I think it has helped me empathize as an educator and a creator of content. You know, as I. As I talk with people about money, we. We just can't let. So the defining moment for me was realizing that debt isn't. Doesn't define who I am personally. It doesn't. It's. It's separate. It's not. It's not worth. Yes, we. We associate worth, though. We do. We. We talk about debt as if it's bad always. And I think we have to be careful how we. We place those kinds of feelings because people can then internalize those things and think that they're bad if they have debt. So learning to separate the debt is not me. It's not a personal reflection of. Of me, and. But then also to down and. And work as hard as I could to pay it off. Right. So that was. That has definitely been a defining moment for me.

And we see that you have two kids now. Did you have to go to two cycles?

You know, we had our first child and. And you.

It's too personal.

You don't need to answer. No, I don't. I don't mind talking about it at all.

Okay.

Our first child was born with our first IVF cycle. So successful right off the bat. So we thought, great, that'll be easy, easy peasy. And about five failed IVF cycles later, we realized this is not the path for us. There is another way. This is not how, you know, we felt like there was another child, but this was not the way. Obviously we were. So we started the adoption process and we were able to adopt our daughter in February of time.

So you had that preparation, right?

Yes, and mentally, emotionally, that was a very different experience because again, tens of thousands of dollars in debt, but very different experience for me that time. Yes. Yep.

Excellent. That's great. So did you, you mentioned that you're a member of the church and a lot of my listeners are member of the church. How did the spirituality play a part in you, your financial knowledge application and in your journey?

Great question. I think I learned from the scriptures that we're taught to be wise with money and that money, you know, that it can steer us and make us money, can make us act in ways that are not our typical, make us treat people in ways that we wouldn't typically treat them, make us, you know, it can be a master. It can become a master if we let it. So with all this talk about money, I think my, my background religiously and spiritually has really shaped learning that money is, you know, learning to manage money is a skill and that we, we can use our money particularly to help others and to, and that has been a sweet, sweet experience in, throughout my life to be able to do that. But, and then also to receive help as well and, and receive help graciously from others. So, you know, those, those are some ways that I think that I have, I have been impacted or that, that my spirituality has affected that and had influence on it. I, I still pay a 10% tithe and I have seen really great blessings come from that effort as the scriptures tell us they that do. So I, I have put that to the test and have seen, have found that to be true for myself. And so, so that's something I continue to do.

Do you still carry anything that you learn in your youth with someone that was impactful for you or something that you learned back then that you, I know the tithing. Is there anything else that you remember that you still do because you learned that from someone?

Let's see, what have I learned? I had a really impactful. So this was in my later, you know, my, in college I had a really impactful professor who taught us about a principle called the step down Principle. And Elena Johnson, and she has since retired, but she taught for years and years the personal finance class at Utah State, kind of the entry level class. And she taught us about the step down principle, which was a really aha moment for me in personal financial management, which, and just quickly, briefly, the idea of the principle is that if you envision a staircase in your mind and at the very top of the staircase is. We'll use going to the movies as an example. The most Expensive way to go see a movie. Today is prime time, new release. The box seats, popcorn, soda, a treat, company night. Yes. Right. So that's the most expensive way to do that or you know, and then at the very bottom of the staircase you would envision the least expensive way to have that experience and, and still have a going out to the movies experience. But maybe it's a matinee during the day and you bring your own treats. Right. So I, she taught us that and I realized that just helped me see that there are ways to feel fulfilled with our spending and joy in our spending without, without, you know, maxing out and you know, at the very highest level of, of of that spending. And that has stuck with me. And even now I use that, I teach my 8 year old that we, I mean I use that all the time. That principle is very ingrained in either how expensive I'm, is there a way I can do this and have this experience a little less expensively or the number of times I'm going out to eat. Can I step down? Because inflation and economy right now, if, if, I mean, I think we've all had to pivot in our spending some way to keep up with what's going on and that has just always been ingrained. It just applies in every situation. So shout out to Alina Johnson and the step down principle that has molded and stuck with me forever.

Absolutely. I love the visual. Yeah, the visual of the steps. I love it. Thank you.

Great.

Thanks for sharing. And so was there anything negative from your past in while you're growing up or maybe while you're at college about money that you had to reconcile and how did you do that?

Well, I remember particularly an experience I calling my mom crying because I had a zero, I had a zero zero in my checking account and I just felt kind of like a failure. I was in between paychecks and you know, wasn't really something I was used to feeling normally I, and I, I just remember calling her and needing, needing some guidance there and hearing again that I wasn't a failure. The money's coming. What can we do in the meantime to get you through? And thank heavens I had that, that lifeline or that person. It wasn't, in hindsight it wasn't as big a deal really. Like I was okay, my bills were paid, I was, I had food. You know what I mean? I was okay. But I remember that feeling of scarcity still to this day and of being upset with myself and calling my mom and I, and I just remember feeling A lot better after I talked to her, realizing that she, you know, she was there to help me. But also I was on, I was on the right path.

Yes, yes.

Doing anything wrong, just sometimes we have, we have those experiences or we make spending decisions that leave us with a zero in our checking account. We think, right. Wait a minute, could I have made a better decision? So those are common things that everyone experiences. Very common thing to experience. Feeling of scarcity or, you know, and that, that stuck with me and my gut, that feeling. And I don't, I, you know, I, that we just remember those kind of negative things stick with us and we try to avoid, makes choices that help us avoid those feelings in the future. But I think a lot of people may be now struggling with feelings of scarcity or not having enough and more regularly. And you know, that's why we teach, that's why I do what I do to help people to learn and empower their financial wellness so that they don't have to fill those feelings regularly.

Yeah. It's interesting because as you said, our problems are really our emotions about whatever the situation we're going through. So you said that when you were going through debt then you had that, that feeling, that crushing the, you know, it's heavy and you never had that before. It's a lot. And, and that's what was creating your emotional state of, you know, just feeling so distressed. I was feeling very distressed when I had a lot of debt and I would blame myself for not making better decisions, for not choosing a different path and those things. And I think sometimes, and of course when you're feeling like that you're not going to make the best choices because our brain just trying to prove us that we are right. So we keep making other mistakes along the way.

True. Yes.

So working on our mindset, on our beliefs, those beliefs, that, that is not a good thing. Then you know, just, you can make progress and to have the debt, I'm making progress, I have a plan and just feel at peace and keep moving.

Right.

I think that's a better emotion to go through.

Yeah.

Now you told me you're a mom, so tell me a little bit of the things that you do with your kids to teach about money.

Oh, these, this is fun at, at 8 and 2. I mean our 2 year old, we're not really doing much yet. So you know, she's, that'll be fun. We, I can already see that she, you know, she loves her shoes and she loves Minnie Mouse and she, you know, it's gonna be Fun when that time comes. Our eight year old, we've done, you know, a couple of things. One, teaching and, and he, we've set up a 529 account for him for college and he knows it's there and he knows that it's, we contribute to it and he knows that some of the money he receives, when he receives money for a birthday or Christmas, that some of that money goes to that account. And he's aware of that. I'm not sure how much that's really sinking in at 8 years old, but he's aware that that's happening. Right.

As part of the routine. It's probably, he's just thinking this is the way we do life.

Yes.

That's what we do.

So we do. And then he's also aware of earning money and, and donating himself a 10% tithe when he earns money. And what, what, what that money. Why, why, you know, what are they.

Doing with this money? What do we do?

Yes, where does it go? What does it do? And why is it better if you know, why wouldn't we just keep it and ourselves. And you know, some of the, so those have been some fun discussions about what we, what we believe and choose to do that way. And then spending decisions have been really fun. We've done, you know, helping him see there's a lot of choices. He's, he loves Legos, for example, and he loves to read books. It would be hard for him to choose the, you know, to purchase a book or to purchase a Lego. Those decisions take time. He's overwhelmed a lot by I think the number of choices there are. And so it has been fun to, to talk through spending decisions with him and well, you know, what do you already have and, and what do you not have? What do you most enjoy reading? What's, what would challenge you a little bit in your reading? You know, only mom, that's Moms. That's how mom teaches her to spend. Right. And those have been fun conversations. The advice is usually followed. You know, we usually, usually afterwards. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's the lesson, right? It's recognizing the lesson. Right. And reflect. That's right.

And then I hear him say things like, mom, how can I earn some money? Could I do? And, and that has been a great. As he's gotten older and is able to do more, more things, I, every time he asks me, mom, how can I earn some money, I make, I make a way for him to do that. Because fostering entrepreneurship or earning, you know, fostering the ability to Learn the opportunity to learn. I work, I do work and I earn my work.

That connection, right?

Yes. Like that's, I would just, that's a, that's a very important thing to teach children before they leave home and to provide. If I don't provide those opportunities, who does? Nobody does. Unless until he's old enough to get a job outside of the home. Right. Which I. So that has been fun to, to lean into his desire to earn and help with his spending decisions, help with charitable giving and then teach him that we are saving for his future. And those are all things that we would do with our daughter as well and when she's old enough.

So yeah, it's fun. We, I had kids a long time ago and they were little 20 years ago, one of them. And we started. That's when we got through paying off all our debt. So then we start doing more, you know, let's do we use envelopes at that time, we're using more cash. And now my 15 we use. She has a debit card for the past three or four, three years. And we've been teaching her how to look at things and their options. Right. There's so many, many options. We always try to narrow to two because that makes our brain easier to choose between one and the other and then help her see, okay, are you going to buy this on Amazon or do you want to go to a store and buy that? And then she gets overwhelmed. So many stores at the mall. But then we're teaching those options. Right. And it's so good that you're helping your kids to know the options in there. And I didn't hear you saying this is a bad choice of your money, how you spend your money. But he's getting the consequences. And then you guys talk about it to see the lesson. Right?

Yes.

And when you do give a little advice beforehand, what happens? Does he usually follow you guys advices or does he still do on his own? And then you have another lesson to teach.

Sure. I think it's a little bit of both. You know, I think it's a little bit of both. There are times when you, he, he'll decide, oh yeah, I've got $15 already, but if I wait till I have $20, I'll be able to get this right. Or it's oh, I want to go spend this right now. Can we go to the dollar store or can we go right. Like I want to go, can we go walk or whatever. Yeah. He's very aware of Amazon and that you can search, you can see everything. You can just search and scroll and see Amazon. So, you know, we, there's probably a little bit of both, which is fun.

Yeah. And that's what you said. They need to learn that before they leave the house. It's. It's better for them to learn before they leave the house. Right. Is the training wheels. We're giving them the training wheels.

Yes. Well said. Yes.

And taking them off little by little. That way we're there to steer them when they're tipping over. Right.

Right.

So how do you continue to grow in your financial understanding? Because you're always teaching, you're always reaching out to the community, but how do you grow on your understanding?

Oh, yeah, great question. I, I have some outlets for professional development that I, I frequent. So the association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education subscribe to their journal and I love attending their conference. So certainly there's the formal ways. Right.

That we further.

I, you know, I keep up ceus that way too and, and have done those things. I, I also on the day today, which is something I think anyone can do, it doesn't, you know, we all, we all can do this. I, I love subscribing. I have some favorite e newsletters that just come right to my inbox that I read regularly and there's a couple. I don't really listen to any one podcast regularly with regards to money particularly, but I like episodes of many different podcasts. I've done some trainings as. As they come up and are available. I love being with other educators in person and, and doing trainings together where we learn from each other. I think that is, that is really enlightening. So a lot of things on the day to day though, there's really so much at our fingertips that we can be learning, whether it's. I mean, I just read. Just hosted a book club where. And we read. We read a book. We read a personal finance book every year in April as part of this book club. And I love reading and talking about how. What. What are you getting out of the book? What did I take from the book? And we both learned together and that's just so fun. So, you know, reading and podcast listening and, and then as I study to teach as well, then always learning new. I, it's interesting. There's always research being done or about debt levels in America or we know that recently that the number of credit card applications have sort of skyrocketed in our country. So, so keeping up to date on the statistics and the current economic, you know, what people are saying about their debt burden and, and oh, that is always. It can be overwhelming. But it is intriguing to me and it's something I'm really passionate about continuing to learn always.

And it's important to know so you can talk to people and understand what they're going through when we're trying to, to teach them. Right. Yeah. Understand what they're feeling and, and the situation they probably gonna be on. If we have that many credit cards, applications, it all keeps very current.

Yes.

I appreciate you sharing that. Is there a book or someone that you like that talked about money that you follow that you listen to? Read more books.

Oh, I really like. Let's see, where is my. I really liked the. There's a couple that I, I really liked David Bach. He's the latte factor and he writes. He writes. He's the author of a number of personal finance books. David Bach has written quite a bit. So I like him. I like, I like what he's written. I also have recently in the past couple of years found Ashley Feinstein Gertzley and she read, she wrote the 30 day money cleanse and I thought that was a pretty good step by step what someone would need to do if they really needed to be in the details of their skills spending.

Okay.

And pivoting a little bit. And I find that, that, I found that that was really helpful. No. You know, she's not trying to shame you for how you're spending. In fact, it's quite the opposite I found and I think that is a really refreshing take on teaching people to, to be smart about their spending doesn't mean to cut out everything that they love. And I loved her approach to that. That's also where I feel found the frugal joys and learning to consider just how much joy there is in and for me, one of my favorite frugal joys is a puzzle and a Diet Coke and a podcast in my ear and I, I could.

You're a happy camper.

Hours. Yes, I could spend hours in that frugal joy moment.

So any cost to do what? Barely the, the soda can and the, the puzzle.

Yeah, that's it.

Yeah. And you might even have it at home already. So.

Yes. And my, my tip for you didn't ask, but I'll tell you, puzzles is savers or the di. People donate their puzzles all the time. And I really open right. That's where I go and I find them and they're like $3 and they're my favorite. It's my favorite.

Oh, that's so fun.

Yeah.

Finding, you know, it's that what you talked about, the step down, you found the best way to approach that and gives you so much joy, so why not? Right? So let's go back to, to finish. Go back to that time when you're going through that difficult time, especially with the debt, with your, your infant infertility treatment. And let me say that again. Sorry the accent comes through. Um, let's go back to that time when you were going through trying to get your. Get pregnant and do an IVF and think about the mom that's there right now. What would you tell her? Either emotionally, of course, we're talking about money and, and the difficulties that you went through. But how could give her some hope?

Sure. Well, related to the money side of that issue, I would tell her that this is temporary, that this current feeling or this need, you know, this is temporary. And your inability, you know, sometimes we focus on our inadequacies but to try to focus on the positive aspects of how grateful we are that there's financing available, that there's credit available, that there's a possibility and a path to this. This thing that you want more than anything else. And sometimes debt is that path. And when carefully considered, that is the way to go. So it's not a personal reflection. So two things. It's temporary. Right. Like this, this will not be always your situation. So be okay with the now and that it's temporary. And then really realizing that it doesn't define you. It's not, it doesn't define your personal worth. Your personal worth is so much greater and, and your potential. So using it as the tool. Debt is the tool. It's the means to an end. It is, it is the resource in that case to your dreams. And you, you've got this that you know you can, you can do it. You are capable of managing and of then digging out of the debt as well. That.

Right.

That will happen. That opportunity will come to better your situation. As long as we're consistently seeking for that.

Is there anything from the researching or finding a place to do or finding how many rounds you're going to do that before. Do you think that would help as well?

Oh, that is. It's interesting in my case, many people have, have infertility that they have. They get a diagnosis and then there's a reason and they know for sure what the issue is. That's. That's not how they're not able to get pregnant and then they're able to tweak that component and then it's pretty.

Well easier to fix.

Yeah.

To get it working.

I had. My diagnosis is unexplained infertility. So they just were trying every avenue, they were trying to. Every variable, every possible thing. So there was no. We just didn't know. Like, we really couldn't put a sure thing on it. So the doctors are. And most infertility clinics have packages that you buy that, that include, you know, which I, I felt like was a good option because it helped me mentally and emotionally kind of disconnect and realize. Okay, I can. I, I have, I have to be now.

Right.

Yeah. Yeah. And I'm, I have time here and it's good. And so those are that, I think that is helpful looking at your clinics that have those. The packages that come with and, and working with your doctor. Very individual decisions there, obviously about. Based on the cause of your infertility and things like that.

Yeah, that's a good point. And always I've done that before where you look into two or three different clinics or programs.

Yeah.

Because it's not. Because you found one that's gonna be. That's the one. Right. Look for prices because they vary a lot with the prices. And just like you said, some of them offer guarantee. And one, they offer like three rounds. So there's a large range of prices. So try to do with the least amount of money that you can. If you have to get debt in debt, then you have less to pay back.

And.

And then. So we had that part of the before and then the after. Right. What would you say to her? She's already on a debt. She finally got her things going. What would be a good mental, emotional space to be there and maybe to pay off that debt as soon as they can or.

Yeah. So I've used a tool that was developed by a colleague of mine who, who since retired at Utah State university. And it's powerpay.org and it's completely free to log in and you enter your debts and you can see how long it's going to take me to pay this off. And you can also see. So this is where what, what you said struck me is if I've got a. If someone is in the process of paying off debt, it can be a long road and it's hard to stick to it. And am I really. If I put $20 extra towards my debt, does that really help me in the long. Or should I just go. Should I just buy another pair of shoes instead to make me happy today? You know, happy and I have used that PowerPay tool. I've entered my debts as I was going through this and I could see what does 20. It'll let you put an extra payment and show you how fast that'll speed up your timeline and things. And I started doing that. I've done that. You know, I've taught that. So I've, I was using it for me personally though. So this experience was. It really did motivate me to stick to my debt payoff plan, to not add to my debt and to continue as I could put extra towards that debt. And I could see that debt payoff timeline shifting and changing and speeding up and the money and interest savings and it was very motivating. So honestly, honestly, that is. You've got to stay mentally motivated when you're paying off debt. You've got to also reward yourself along the way. So you've got to take 20 bucks and go celebrate. If you.

When you pay off one of the bills.

Right. You do. Yeah. That is absolutely something you're mentally have to motivate. I just think PowerPay was a tool that helped me so clearly see the benefit of sticking to my plan.

I didn't remember. I don't remember right now. And you can help me with this. I don't remember. Is the power play power pay smallest to largest in amount or in interest.

It will do. It'll compare all of those options side by side.

Okay, so then you decide which one.

Yeah. Lowest, shortest term, highest balance, highest interest. If you have a relative you have a loan from a family member that you would like to prioritize and pay that off first.

Just like the irs, huh?

Yeah, like you can do any of those. And it will show you side by side. It'll show you all of those options all together. And then you'll know here's the best for me based on what I. What I need to do. And I just have used that over and over with people. So it's a great tool.

That's wonderful. We'll link that in the show notes. So just to finish, we're going to have some rapid fair rapid fire questions for you. Are you ready?

Okay. All right.

What was the most useless thing that you ever bought?

Oh, probably a kitchen gadget that I never used that I thought would be so great to have and I, I still haven't used it. So. Yeah.

You don't even remember, right? I don't do those. End up getting it right.

Yeah.

And on the other side, what was something that you bought that turned out to be better than you expected.

Oh, my goodness. Well, I always love spending, so this is not a thing, but I love spending money on travel. I love being able to go places and have experiences with my family. And so purchasing, you know, spending money to go, to go on trips that turn out to be better than expected is always really, really fun. The trav that's really having that.

It feels like your money had a big roi, right?

Yes. Yes. That's good. It's always great, too, when you buy a new pair of shoes and they turn out to be comfortable and stylish. So, of course, there's the things that you buy as well. But I, I sure love spending money on travel and the ROI that comes back to me and the memories afterwards and all of it. That's so fun.

Wonderful. All right, Amanda, thank you so much for being here with us today. And do you want to share anything about how can people connect with you and the programs that you run and more conferences coming up?

Sure. Yeah. We'll. We'll be at the Women in the Money conference this September again. So we'll be helping in some different ways this year, but we'll still, we'll still be there, and we'll have a booth there. You can always reach me at Utah Money Matters on Instagram. And we have our, our website, too. On the website, you can click a link to request a class. So if anybody here had a group of folks that they were interested in arranging a class for to be taught, we typically like you to have eight or more people. But. But if you click the link, you can request us to come and teach a class on really any financial topic that is helpful for them. So that's something we love to do. Our, my team and I work, work to do that to fulfill all those requests. And then we have regular weekly webinars you can connect with on our website as well and register for. So we teach those Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon, and they're totally free. They're a chance to empower your financial wellness. So come learn about beginning investing or credit the myths that, that sometimes come with building credit debt payoff. We were talking today about that. So, you know, all the, all the things that we do there are free and are more. We'd love to have people come check those out. And they're great.

I've taken a few of those. Those are really good.

Thank you. I'm so glad.

Of course. And do you guys offer the replay.

Just in case we do? If people are registered for the webinar they can email us for a rep replay of recording if they weren't able to make it live or if they want the replay to just study and learn. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes you have to hear things more than once, so we're happy to provide that.

All right, Amanda, thank you so much for your time. It has been a pleasure to get to know more of you and learn more about the things that you're doing in the world. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Pleasure to be here.

And this is the end of my interview or conversation with Amanda Christensen. She is a great educator and you can learn a lot more from her. Check out the Utah Money Matters on Instagram or the website for more information on their teams weekly webinars, the classes that they can teach for you, and also the tool that they have developed to help you pay off your debt and keep moving forward. I'll see you guys next week. And remember, money's not your problem Problem at the Brevi Obrigat thank you for.

Listening to the Money's not your problem podcast. Remember, you are not your debt 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 journey. Come back next time for more financial goodness ate Brevi.

Yo Brigadier.