In this YouTube testimonial, financial coach Penny Kidd interviews clients Matt and Lindsay about their six‑month experience with her coaching service in Colorado. The couple began with disorganized finances: multiple checking accounts, scattered debt, no savings plan for their two children, and a habit of shuffling money each month, which caused significant stress and conflict in their marriage. Through coaching, they gained clarity on where their money was going, established a structured budgeting system, and adopted the Qube Money app to implement a digital envelope system that allocates funds for groceries, personal spending, relationship expenses, and upcoming bills (e.g., car insurance). The coaching emphasized behavior change over pure math, personalized recommendations, and regular “budget dates” to align their differing values and priorities. Over six months they learned to plan for irregular expenses, reduce arguments about money, and feel more in control of their financial future. They also discussed initial concerns about coaching duration and fear of restrictive advice, which were alleviated by the coach’s supportive, flexible approach.
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Hey everybody, my friends Matt and Lindsay here with me that we've been working together now 6 months, and they've agreed so graciously to do, um, a little story and tell us a little bit about what they've gotten out of financial coaching. So I appreciate that. Um, do you guys, um, have anything by way of introduction you want to tell us a little bit about why you came to financial coaching, kind of What made you reach out to begin with?
You're the one that reached out to begin with. Okay. So I guess the biggest issue, so Lindsay and I were doing all right like money-wise and everything, but we were just keep on kicking debt down the street pretty much. And we kept seeing it on the wall and we needed to figure out our budget more than anything else. I'm like, And like, I guess our biggest issue was that we, um, we just had really disorganized finances.
Like, we had multiple checking accounts, uh, not really sure what was going into savings. We have two children, we haven't started saving for them yet. We had, uh, debt in multiple different avenues. We both have good incomes, but, um, just like at the end of every month, I feel like we were just shuffling money from, oh yeah, this bill came out of this account this time, but like I forgot about it. And so like, let's move some money from savings up to that. And we were just doing like a lot of shuffling. So then, um, we just didn't have like organization to our finances.
Yeah. How was that impacting your relationship?
Uh, not positively.
It was very stressful.
Yeah, we were definitely getting after each other a lot and getting frustrated a lot and raising our voices quite a bit. And it just like, we could tell that it was spiraling to a place that we didn't want it to keep going.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So what would you say are some of your biggest takeaways from deciding to invest in yourselves and your coaching? What have you guys, what's changed? What have you noticed has We know, like, what we've—
the biggest thing is we know where our money is and we know where our money is going. So at the end of the day, we have a plan in place where we know where, like, we should be putting our money every week, every month. And I guess that's a huge asset.
I think also, like, we've kind of brought it to— so, like, you know, we, like, we have these debts that are looming over, but we also, like, have a life and want to do these things. And so, like, budgeting to, you know, like I've got spending money and Matt has spending money. And so there's no guilt in using that spending money and knowing like kind of, okay, this is how much every month we're putting towards this, this, and this. Um, just kind of organizes our money usage.
Yeah.
And then it also, um, also does it like taken a lot of So when you're scrolling through your bank account, you're not seeing, you know, all of these different expenditures that just like, you know, like now are to roll through our bank account. It's like 5 things, you know, so we know like what comes out and then when, when, and it's just been a lot more organized.
That was, that was pretty big before because we'd have like this big lump sum within our account and be like, oh, we have the mortgage coming out right here. Oh, we have a student loan coming out right here. And sometimes that stuff just gets completely forgotten. And with Penny's help, with your help, Sven, we understand exactly what's coming out when and where.
And planning for the one-time expenses that are coming out in the future that aren't going to surprise us anymore.
Yeah. So like car insurance, for instance, is like every 6 months, but you don't really realize, like we weren't really realizing it was coming up until we received the bill in the mail.
And then it's like a crisis, like, oh crap, we're going to have this this month. And yeah, then, and I think all the little micro spends that happen during a month, you guys have adopted the Qube Money app. As well. And tell me a little bit about your experience with that. How's that been for you? What do you, what do you like about that or dislike?
My favorite part is knowing exactly where to put our money every— like, we've set it up so it's every other week. So like, we put a certain amount of money in Qube every other week, and we know like, hey, we have this certain amount of dollars to spend this week on groceries. We have this amount of money to spend this week on ourselves. We have this amount of money to spend on our relationship every week. So it's— it is an envelope system completely, so you know exactly what you're spending where. But on the other aspect of it too is you have— you can put money into your bills too. So you know that the car insurance is coming out every 6 months, but you can put that money towards it every other week.
So You have a little bit coming out every, every couple of weeks instead of a lump sum.
Yeah, I love the billings. Yeah.
And then it also, you know, takes all that multiple receipts out of your bank account. So you just like have this lump sum that goes in that's in an organized form. They're in different cubes. So like, it's easy to kind of track your, track your spending too.
And I know this might sound a little bit confusing to a neurodiverse, but like Penny Kidd helped us a lot with that. Possible way of using Qube, which is a great way of just like it is an app and like whenever you go somewhere, you have to spend that amount of money and you open up the app and it tells you like you can see exactly what's in your balance so you're not overspending at that location.
Yeah, it's real time, right? Versus, you know, waiting until payday to figure out what do you have left? You can make the decision on the fly about should I buy this toy or coffee or whatever, or do I have enough for that? And because I think at the end of the day, our behavior is the biggest thing we're working on, which is what I really feel like with my background is I'm, I'm more about the behavior than the math, right? And the systems helps contribute to the behavior because if we don't, if we don't have something set up that we can consistently do, you're going to quit, you know, and this isn't going to be a long-term game. And so that's one of the things that I feel like Kube has simplified life to where, you know, I did the, the cash envelopes for a very long time and, and but it was hard to like go to the bank and get the cash and do the thing and separate all the and then not have the envelope with me when I was going to the store. And so this kind of gives you the accountability with each other even when you're not together and you're busy. Right, so I'm excited to see you guys implement that with your kids eventually because we haven't started that, but that's coming.
Yeah, and Penny Kidd, what you've done like great is like just made it up so personalized too. Like instead of saying, hey, you can't spend this, you can't do, you have to do this with your money and everything else, like you've worked with us and looked at like our overall picture and said, hey, What are your thoughts on like doing this instead of being like, you know, this is what you have to do, otherwise you're not going to be successful. Exactly.
Were you afraid of that, that if you worked with a financial coach that I'd be here telling you how, what you can't spend and where you have to spend it?
That was, I think, one of our biggest concerns, but we needed a kick in the butt as well. So, and, and a kick in the butt was more just like, looking at the overall picture than anything else. Yeah. Yeah. And then we figured out what we can do more than what, what we were doing.
Well, I'm excited to see what's coming for you because I feel like, you know, and it, it does take a little while. I think people think somehow if I wave my magic wand, it'll just happen overnight, but you're changing a lot of things, right?
And habits, which take a lot of time and That was our major concern too at first. We were like, oh, 6 months? That seems like a long time, but we needed that 6 months easily just to kind of change. Well, it takes time first of all to figure out where your money is going and everything else and tracking that money.
And to come up with what a budget would be for each different area.
Yeah, that took a while. And then just sticking to that and then adapting our budget over like the last 6 months. Yeah.
And the other thing I appreciate was like the first conversation we had was like, tell me your money history, you know, like, 'cause we were raised differently and we didn't really like think about that or, you know, know that that was probably a factor in some of like our choices and how we do things. Yeah. And so just kind of being able to bring us together and to have like our own process of how we handle money and deal with money and the emotional aspect of it versus like the practical aspect of it. Yeah.
And I think having those budget dates and trying to remember that we are two different people, even though we're married and that we have different values and interests and stuff. And how do you find that middle ground? And putting it together, especially when you have little kids. I remember how hard it is to get 5 minutes alone when you've got kids, right? And so structuring that into your life and your paydays, I really think helps you move the needle. And I really believe it helped my marriage, you know, when we started getting on the same page with money and dreaming and having those like, ooh, what do we get to do next? Instead of that kind of constant feeling of You know, I wanted this and you wanted that and you're pulling against each other. You'll, you'll be on the same path.
Yeah, 100% have noticed the difference in that.
Good. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for being part of this and for being with me, and I hope that we get to stay in touch.
