Financial Peace in Uncertain Times — How to Protect Your Family Finances During a Government Shutdown | 81 Debt Rebel Show

If the latest headlines have you checking your bank account twice and praying your job stays secure, you’re not alone.

Between rising costs and government shutdown chaos, it’s easy to feel powerless — but here’s the truth:

Peace with your money doesn’t depend on the headlines. It depends on you.

In this episode of The Debt Rebel Podcast, Jewlz the Budget Nerd shares a timely clip from her Financial Peace in Uncertain Times workshop — a practical, encouraging guide to help working families slim down expenses, prepare for uncertain income, and breathe again when finances feel shaky.

Whether you’re facing a government furlough, reduced hours, or just feeling the ripple effects of economic instability, this short, powerful episode will help you:

• Create a shutdown survival budget that keeps food on the table and bills paid

• Shift from panic mode to proactive mode

• Find financial peace even when the world feels chaotic

• Stay grounded in your values instead of reacting to the noise

  
  

💡 Mentioned in this episode:
👉 Watch the full Financial Peace in Uncertain Times workshop + download the exercises: jewlzthebudgetnerd.com/peace
👉 Listen to [Episode 53: How Headlines and Social Media Mess with Your Money Mindset] for more perspective

Hosted by Julian “Jewlz the Budget Nerd” Kohlbrand, The Debt Rebel Podcast helps working families stop living paycheck to paycheck, crush debt for good, and build financial peace — all without debt, shame, or overwhelm. Jewlz and her family paid off over $107,000 in consumer debt, and now she’s teaching others to do the same.

Visit DebtRebelPodcast.com for free tools, resources, and workshops to help you take your next brave step toward debt freedom.

👉 Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share this episode with a friend who needs some peace (and hope) in their finances today.

💬 About The Debt Rebel Podcast💥 Ready to take control of your family budget?

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello, so if you have turned on the news lately or got on your
social media feed, you probably have a pit in your stomach,
right? That feeling that makes you want
to check your bank account twiceand pray that your job stays
steady. So here in the US, we've been

(00:20):
hearing talks about the government shutdown.
And as I'm publishing this episode, we are currently in a
shutdown status. So there's a rising cost.
There's all these things, all this noise about the economy and
we can feel. Powerless in these.
Scenarios right? Here's the truth.
Peace with your money does not depend on the headlines, It

(00:41):
depends on you. Financial peace and uncertain
times. So today I want to share a short
clip from that workshop because if you're feeling stressed, this
can help you take a deep breath and take your power back and
allow your family to go through this season with more peace than
stress. So stick around for today's
episode. All right, First off, I just

(01:04):
want to say welcome, if this is your very first time listening
to the Debt Rebel podcast, today's episode is very timely
because as I said, we're going through a government shutdown
here in the United States. And it can be a really
challenging time because the area that my husband and I live
in, we have a huge government presence here.
And we also have a lot of businesses that rely on a

(01:27):
government presence and federal income.
And so right now, there's a lot of uncertainty.
I know I've had numerous conversations with friends at
the gym and a church and just being out and everyone's talking
about, but it's the top of everyone's mind.
I wanted to share with you some stuff that has helped our family
weather these kinds of storms inthe past.
Because whether it's a government shutdown or a

(01:48):
furlough, or maybe your hours are getting reduced or you know
that your job is going to be next on the chopping block, How
do you prepare your finances? Or what do you do when that time
comes and you don't know that your next paycheck is going to
be coming within the next two weeks or the next three weeks,
or you have no idea when it's coming?
Hey there, I'm Jules the budget nerd and welcome to the Debt

(02:10):
Rebel show. This is the place where working
families like yours learn how tostop living paycheck to
paycheck, crush debt for good, and build a life where money
actually works for your family. In about 15 minutes, I'll share
practical family budgeting tips,tough love strategies, and
actionable steps to move toward debt free living without the
fluff, the shame, or the confusion.

(02:31):
And I know a thing or two about this.
My family and I have eliminated over $107,000 and consumer debt
and that was after I got my degree in economics.
So stay tuned. This is going to be a great
episode. So grab that coffee, your
planner, whatever you need to make this a great experience.
Maybe a snack if you're like me.And let's make your money work

(02:53):
for your family. To do that, I created a workshop
so that it will give you the practical tips.
And I'll, I'm going to share a little bit of that with you
today, but it's to help working families especially because I
know that showing up as a parentis really, it's a challenging
thing. And then when you add financial
stress and maybe a potential jobloss to it, it just compounds.

(03:18):
And few things that I talk are just how to prepare your
finances, what to do with that. What does a survival, a shut
down survival mode budget look like?
What does it look like to reallyslim down your budget so that
your family can make it to the next payday, whenever that is?

(03:38):
I hope that today's info is helpful for you and your family.
And if there's anyone else that you know that could benefit from
hearing this episode because they are struggling with with
this type of situation. It doesn't necessarily have to
be the government shutdown. It could be just financial
uncertainty when that next pay period is or when that next
paycheck is coming. I would love it if you would

(04:00):
share this episode with them. All right.
So first step is to triage your spending.
All right. So what does that look like?
So this is not a time in your budgeting, in your, you know,
your money management. It is not time for normal
budgeting. So this is a time to stabilize
and create. It's like the emergency room for

(04:23):
your money. So that's why we call it triage.
You're spending. So we are going into financial
triage. So we want to protect first.
So we want to talk about what needs to happen 1st and what
needs to be protected so that your family can stay afloat.
O Whether you grab a pen or openU your notes, AI want to walk
through some of these things with you and encourage you to

(04:44):
take some action on these things.
O First off is we cannot skip meals all right, so that is a
huge one food, shelter, utilities, transportation to and
from work. So some people right now are not
knowing that their next paycheckisn't.
We don't know when it's going tobe coming, but you're still
required to go to work. So making sure that you can get

(05:05):
to and from work, whatever that looks like if you telecommute
or. If you.
If you drive yourself or if you take public transportation, all
that stuff, making sure that your transportation to and from
work and you know, doctor's appointments, that kind of stuff
is taken care of. So gas and then everything else
we're going to pause. So the things that are necessary
like insurance and our medical benefits, that type of stuff are

(05:28):
our medical expenses. We want to make sure that those
are taken care of because everything else we can recover
from, but we cannot recover and we cannot pause those quickly
so. Remember this?
Is not, you're not, you're not quitting on these things.
You're conserving energy and you're focusing your dollars or
they're going to make the most impact until that paycheck, that
next paycheck kit hits US, hits your account.

(05:50):
So you're, you're conserving energy, you're going to focus
your dollars in on where they'regoing to have the biggest impact
until your next paycheck arrives.
All right, So what does that look like?
So do you remember Maslow's Hierarchy of needs?
Back in. Like psych one O 1 So you want
to make sure that food, water, shelter, love and sleep, those

(06:11):
are the things that are considered.
Part of that. Base of Maslow, Maslow's
hierarchy of needs. So the first few things we can
cover with your budget and then sleep.
I understand that is a challenging one, especially.
When you're in a. Financial situation where you
don't know if you're going to beable to make all of your bills.
So I have been there. I understand it is a place so

(06:33):
you can use lose a lot of sleep.And so I highly encourage you in
this time is to eliminate as much stress as you possibly can
so that you can sleep and stop the scroll, that kind of stuff.
Protect your mental health because that will allow you to
sleep better and weather the storm a little bit better.
All right, So the things that are considered survival mode

(06:56):
expenses, so your mortgage or your rent and your utilities.
So keep that roof over your families head and then groceries
in the refrigerator or in in your cabinets.
Make sure your pantry is stocked.
And I'm going to have a tip for you on how to use what you have
on hand so you can feed your family and not have to spend
money. So right now we're not doing

(07:18):
things like DoorDash or eating out unless you're using DoorDash
to create. Some.
Additional income that that would be my caveat here we have
done that it is is helpful for the short term.
So if that's a place where you are and you can and make that
work for you and your family, then that's a great that's a
great opportunity. And then that transportation to

(07:39):
and from work like I said, so ifyou gas, insurance, car
payments, keeping those things so that when you do go back to
work or if you have to go to work right now without.
Knowing when that paycheck. Is coming that you still have a
way to get to work. All right, that's it.
A powerful reminder of how smallstudy steps can help you create

(08:00):
some huge progress when it comesto your.
Finances so. We're not talking about
overhauling your entire budget. We are just slimming it down to
the bare basics so that you can put a roof over your head, over
your family's head, you can keepfood in their belly and you can
protect your you protect your income when that does come back.

(08:22):
So peace with our money is not about perfection.
It's about preparing and perspective.
So we can be proactive and instead of reactionary when it
comes to our finances. And we can focus on the things
that matter most to us and not our news feeds and all of the
things that can come at us from all places.

(08:44):
And so if this is also somethingthat you struggle with when it
comes to outside influences affecting your finances, I
highly encourage you to check out episode 53.
That's going to talk about the effects that maybe our social
media or headlines are having onyour finances.
And whether you're in this scenario right now being

(09:04):
affected by the government shutdown or not, I highly
encourage you to listen to that episode because some perspective
shift is really super valuable to your finances.
If you want to get that full workshop, it's available on my
website, Jules thebudgetnerd.com/peace.
And you can get the entire workshop, including the

(09:25):
exercises that go along with it.And you can walk away with a
simple plan to get grounded, find peace with your money and
head into the holidays without panic or debt.
And you can weather this storm much better than you would if
you had not taken this amazing step.
So you can watch it at Jewels, the Budget, nerd.com/peace, and

(09:47):
it's going to take you less than30 minutes and is going to
change the rest of your 2025. So again, if you are joining us
for the very first time, thank you so much and I hope that this
information was helpful for you today.
It was encouraging. And remember, this is about
progress and not perfection and controlling the controllables.
Thank you for tuning into the Debt Rebel show today.

(10:09):
Ready to take your family budgeting to the next level?
Stop that paycheck to paycheck grind and start living debt
free. Head over to my website,
debtrebelpodcast.com. That's DEBTREBEL podcast.com to
grab. Resources.
Tools. And tips to make it happen.

(10:30):
And don't forget, subscribe, leave a review.
And if you know another family that will love hearing today's
episode, it would be such a giftfor both of us, your friend and
me if you share this episode. And remember, your debt free
life starts with one brave step.And I'm cheering you on every
step of the way. We'll talk soon.
Debt Rebel.