February 20, 2025 • 20 mins
Feeling overwhelmed by family finances? You’re not alone! Between juggling kids, unexpected expenses (hello, surprise spinal surgery!), and competing financial priorities, budgeting can feel like just another stressor. But it doesn’t have to be!
In this episode, I’m sharing simple, effective budgeting hacks to help busy families stay on track without spending hours crunching numbers. You’ll learn how to:
✅ Use the right tools to simplify budgeting—whether digital or good old-fashioned pen and paper.
✅ Schedule a weekly budget check-in to keep everyone on the same page.
✅ Create a "Fun Fund" to keep motivation high while working toward bigger goals.
✅ Meal plan smartly to save money (and avoid the dreaded "What’s for dinner?" panic).
✅ Automate savings & bill payments so you never miss a beat.
✅ Incentivize financial responsibility in your kids and make money lessons fun!
✅ Keep the budget visible to encourage accountability and celebrate milestones.
Plus, I’ll share my personal experiences (like how we’re navigating a big medical bill this year!) and practical ways to align your budget with your family’s values—without the stress.
👉 Ready to take action? Download my Family Meeting Template and start leading your family with confidence.
🎧 Tune in to Episode 101: Christmas Club Account Advantage
Learn more about working with Laura Sexton
· Become a master with your money. Learn more here!
· Checkout the resource library here!
Want to ask a question Laura can answer on the podcast? Connect with her here!
Want to receive a live money or career audit? Apply Here
Send an email to Laura@AccelerateYourLegacy.com or send a DM on Instagram @accelerateyourlegacy
Elevate your coaching with daily devotionals and prayers from 'Seasoned with Salt.' Get your copy HERE!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Laura (00:02):
hello and welcome to money and career mastery from
overwhelmed to ownership.
I'm Laura Sexton, your abundanceand legacy coach here to help
you navigate the world of money,debt payoff, and career growth
with confidence and clarity.
In this podcast, we'll tacklethe financial and career
challenges, holding you back,optimize your income and build
(00:22):
the freedom that comes with trueownership.
If you're ready to break freefrom overwhelm, create a budget
that aligns with your values anddesign a legacy that empowers
future generations.
You're in the right place.
Well, hey, Accelerators.
Today we're going to be talkingabout budgeting hacks for busy
families, and I know that a lotof you are going to be very
(00:45):
excited about some of theinformation that is coming up on
this podcast.
I know that because I know whatit's like to be in the middle of
a busy, busy family.
In addition to my for children.
I am pregnant with number five,and my husband just had spinal
surgery.
It's almost as if I have fiveChildren right now, and I'm
(01:06):
pregnant with the sixth.
It's kind of what it feels like.
So if you are a busy family, andyou want strong team dynamics in
your family.
I have the perfect podcast foryou.
Let's dive in really quickly totalk about budgeting hacks for
busy families.
Look, I know you're busy.
One of the hardest things whenit comes to family budgeting is
(01:30):
time.
Crazy, right?
We need to make sure that wehave the time to sit down and
budget as well as the time tohave conversations.
I know that there are varyingfinancial priorities.
My children, their financialpriority is for me to take them
to Disneyland.
And unfortunately, that does notfit with our financial priority
(01:52):
of buying a home.
And we also know that unexpectedexpenses come up all the time.
You know who wasn't expectingspinal surgery to be on my bingo
card this year?
Me.
So here we are with unexpectedexpenses that we have to face
head on.
Creating a budget that fits theunique dynamics of your family
(02:13):
is incredibly important.
You want to make sure thatwhatever budget you make is
based on the values that youhave set, and the things that
are important to you.
You see, if I were to make abudget for my family, and then I
were to make the budget for ourfriend Jack's family, it
wouldn't fit for them becauseJack and his family put a strong
(02:37):
priority on Dodgers baseball.
I love how much he and hisfamily love going to see the
Dodgers, but I would never thinkto put Season tickets in my
budget.
Your unique family has uniquedynamics and unique values.
So you need a unique budget.
(02:58):
You may be asking, why isbudgeting as a family important?
There are many reasons, butfirst of all, it teaches
financial responsibility.
It shows your kids the value ofmoney and how to prioritize
spending.
I have been working recently ona book.
That is a picture book forchildren, and I cannot wait to
get it out into the world.
Hopefully this summer, you willbe able to make the purchase and
(03:20):
have this picture book in yourhand, where we talk about the
value of money in a home forchildren.
What does it look like for kidsto earn money?
What does it look like for kidsto spend money?
And here's the thing.
We don't talk about money enoughin our families.
We just don't.
If you're anything like me, yougrew up in a house where people
(03:41):
just didn't talk about money.
We swept it under the rug, wepretended like it wasn't there,
One of the worst things for mewas that I had no idea that you
had to pay back your creditcard.
These were things we just didnot talk about.
And so I want to change that.
I want to change that for you.
I want to change that for yourchildren.
Let's show our kids the value ofmoney, how to earn money, how to
(04:05):
prioritize our spending withmoney.
But I also want you to encouragethem in their giftings.
So if you have a child that is anatural saver, let's celebrate
that.
If you have a child that's anatural spender, let's celebrate
that.
If you have a child that's anatural giver, let's celebrate
that.
But also remember, there arethree things we can do with
money.
We can spend it, we can save it,we can give it, and we need to
(04:27):
be doing all three.
Budgeting as a family alsomatters because it will reduce
your financial stress.
Aligning your family goalsminimizes conflicts over your
finances.
And don't tell me you don't wantto minimize conflicts because I
know you do.
I work with Couples all the timethat fight about money because
they're misaligned on what theirgoals are.
(04:48):
They're not aiming for the samething.
And if you're aiming for thesame thing, we might have
different ideas about how to getthere, but at least we're going
to the same place.
And this, of course, will builda stronger team dynamic inside
your family.
It fosters unity.
It's shared accountability,which we all need.
These are reasons why budgetingas a family matters.
(05:12):
So let's get into those hacks,right?
Hack number one, use the righttools.
This could be every dollar.
This could be YNAB.
This could be Monarch.
Things you can use for easybudgeting and tracking.
But if you are like me and youare a physical pen and paper
kind of person, There are budgetbinders.
(05:32):
You can use the envelope system,which I love, especially with
children.
They need their hands on cashbecause they need to be able to
see it.
They don't understand numbers ona screen the same way that they
are going to viscerallyunderstand cash in hand.
Numbers on a screen, they'reones and zeros, zeros and ones,
(05:53):
and sometimes our transactionshaven't come through and we
forget and we haven't putsomething into our tracking and
so we go over in a category thatwe should not have gone over on.
Those are the times that youwant to have the envelope
system, the cash in on hand sothat you know how much you
actually have in that category.
I also highly recommend notlooking at your bank account to
(06:15):
find out how much money you havethat you can go out to eat with,
but you're looking at yourbudget.
What does your budget line itemsay?
How much do you have left inthat category this month?
Hack number two, schedule aweekly family budget meeting.
Now look, your budget meetingweekly, you can keep it short
and engaging, like 15 to 20minutes.
Are we on track?
What was the previous week'sspending looking like?
(06:37):
Do we need to adjust forupcoming expenses that we hadn't
planned on this next week?
But I also would like for you toconsider having a family
business meeting where it's alittle longer than the 15 to 20
minutes that's just for thebudget.
Instead, this is a chance for usto look at your calendar, a meal
(06:59):
plan, the budget, give yourself60 to 90 minutes every week.
And you do this behind lockeddoors with the kids not around.
And let me tell you, if you wereable to go over the calendar and
the meal plan and the budget andyou still have time left over,
well, that door is still lockedand we can do other things that
(07:20):
help us become unified as amarried couple.
So budgeting hack number three,create a fun fund.
If you are out of debt, I wantyou to allocate a small
percentage of the family budgetfor entertainment and treats.
This keeps everyone motivated tostick with the budget.
When you are working on gettingout of debt, this is going to be
(07:41):
a small fund fund.
For my kids, they are reallyhappy.
We have this one restaurant nearus called Tarantula Hill.
And they love going there forice cream.
We spent 10 on ice cream for thewhole family and everyone is
thrilled.
That is part of our motivationto sticking with our family
(08:01):
budget.
When you get further along onyour debt free journey and you
are out of debt and all of yourmoney gets to be allocated
towards other things that areimportant to you, your family
entertainment or your treats,your fun fund may look a lot
different.
In the beginning though, keep itsmall.
Remember what it's for.
It's for keeping you motivated.
(08:23):
It's not for buying love andaffection.
Hack number four, meal plantogether.
Plan meals for the week as afamily to control your grocery
spending and reduce food waste.
This is actually a really funway to get your kids involved,
not just on the spending plan,but on your meal plan together,
getting them to try new foods.
If they help make it, they mightbe more likely to try it and
(08:46):
they might be more likely toenjoy it.
Again, we have a lot ofchildren, we want to make sure
that.
Each of them gets at least onething per week that they love to
eat.
So I let each of them pick adinner one night a week.
What are they going to want toeat?
And I think that it's soincredibly important to bring
them in together make this planfor food because we want.
(09:06):
Our family to have healthy foodsand we want to be able to
continue to bring those thingsinto our home and make it a
priority.
But if we go to the grocerystore and we're just buying
whatever and then we get homeand we may or may not use that
food, then we're overspendingwith the grocery store and we're
wasting food because there'sgoing to be plenty that we're
(09:27):
not going to actually end upusing.
There are apps that you can useto help you meal plan.
Or doing something likeHelloFresh could be really great
for you if you have a smallerfamily.
If you have a big family likemine, that's not so great.
Hack number five.
Automate to simplify.
Listen, you don't have time togo in and manually pay all of
(09:49):
your bills.
It's annoying, but also, youshould be automating your
savings and investing, andhere's why.
First of all, with the bills,you don't want to.
If you miss a deadline or messsomething up, if you have your
budget set up correctly, youdon't have to worry about
automated bill pay.
You do want to be payingattention because there are
(10:11):
months where things go up anddown.
And obviously we want to be ontop of things and making sure
that we are making the smartdecisions in our life.
If your electric bill is goingto be very high because it's
summer and your air conditioneris on, you want to make sure
that you adjust in other areas.
However, for the most part, youcan just automate your bill pay
and not have to worry too much.
(10:34):
Automating your savings andinvesting, on the other hand, is
done for a totally differentreason.
You automate savings andinvestments.
So that you never miss themoney.
If it comes into your accountand then you move it to savings
or it comes into your accountand then you move it to
investments.
Sometimes we spend that money onother things.
(10:54):
We don't necessarily prioritizethe saving or investment because
that is a future thing and rightnow feels good.
And sometimes we just go aheadand use the money for right now,
as opposed to for later.
So automating your savings andinvesting is going to help you
avoid the temptation to spend.
(11:16):
This also will help you userecurring transfers for your
sinking fund.
Things like holidays.
I don't know about you, but I nolonger get surprised by
Christmas.
You go back a couple episodes toepisode 101, the Christmas club
account advantage, you willlearn why it's important to go
ahead and create a Christmasclub account or other holiday
(11:38):
accounts to make sure that youhave money.
for Christmas.
This can also be for back toschool shopping.
I don't know if you've heard,but school starts in August or
September and we need to makesure that we have money because
your kids are growing and theyare going to need new clothes
and they are going to want a newbackpack and they are going to
need pencils and All of theother binders and calculators
(12:00):
and things, go ahead and savefor those things every month.
Also, great sinking fundaccounts would be car
maintenance, home repair, thingsof that nature.
Hack number six, incentivizegood financial habits in your
children.
Now, You can do this in one of afew different ways.
(12:22):
First of all, go ahead andintroduce the concept of earning
money.
I know that some families haveallowances and some families
don't.
Our family chooses to allow ourchildren to live here and we
have a commission based earningsystem.
There are things around thehouse that our kids do not get
paid for, and that usuallyincludes cleaning up after
(12:43):
yourself.
When you use a toy, you put itback.
When you eat dinner, you putyour plate in the sink.
When you sleep in bed, you makeit look nice.
And then there are money makingactivities they have, which Are
beyond the normal tidying up.
This would include puttingdishes away after they're
washed, washing the familydishes, putting siblings laundry
way, dusting, vacuuming,watering plants, washing
(13:04):
windows.
All of these things contributeto the family as a whole and are
beneficial to keeping itrunning.
And it's really nice since thekids can't go to work like you
and I can to show them thedignity of earning money.
Now you can also introduce theconcept of earning interest by
paying them small amounts ofsaved allowance.
(13:25):
So if they save their money, youcan give them something on top
of it.
However, I feel like this is avery difficult thing to
implement until they are mucholder and those amounts are
bigger.
But I think it is great toreward them for saving.
So what if you go Habsies onsome bigger items with them?
I know my daughter was reallyinterested in a Nintendo Switch
(13:48):
and her dad said well if you payfor half I'll pay for the other
half.
Unfortunately for her Santabrought her one for Christmas.
So She no longer has that goal,but the goal she does have now,
which is smaller and easier forher to obtain, is to buy a
different game for the NintendoSwitch, and she and dad are
(14:09):
going habsies on that.
So we're going to pay half,she's going to pay half, and she
is working hard to save up hermoney, which is really hard for
her because she is a spender.
If she has it, she wants to, sheneeds to go to Target or Five
Below or somewhere that she canspend it immediately.
It is very difficult for her.
We also want to go ahead andoffer rewards to our children
(14:31):
who make smart decisions withtheir money.
If they're saving, we want tomake sure that we are
encouraging that.
We also want to encourage themto spend smartly.
So like I said with my daughterwho is just a natural born
spender, we always encourage herto think about her purchases
ahead of time.
(14:51):
So we don't allow her to go intoTarget and just buy whatever
whenever.
If there's something specificshe wants, she has to tell us
about it, and if she's stilltalking about it a week later,
we go ahead and make thepurchase.
So hack number seven is keep thebudget visible.
This can be hard.
(15:12):
But if you have a shared familycalendar or a visual tracker
like a whiteboard you can trackyour goals on there.
These are great.
Ways to show off the success ofyour family.
Celebrate your milestones aswell.
When you're paying off debts andone small one gets paid off,
celebrate it.
Find a small way to do so.
When you're saving for a familytrip, get everybody involved.
(15:34):
Make sure it's exciting.
By keeping it visible, you'realso keeping it top of mind and
the children will be able to go,oh yeah, that's something that's
important.
Or when they're at the store andthey're begging for something,
you know, mommy, please buy methis extra cereal that we don't
need and it's not good for us,but it's sugary and delicious
and we love it.
You can say, well, would youlike me to buy you that cereal
(15:56):
or would you like for that moneyto go towards our trip?
Sometimes putting it inperspective like that.
Really allows the children tounderstand the value of a dollar
and understand great decisionmaking.
Keep it visible, make sure theycan see what is going on and
make sure they are part of it.
Let them color in.
We had a savings tracker for awhile when we were trying to get
to our first 10, 000.
(16:18):
And every time we say 50, we letour daughter color in another
square and she just colors Wouldeat it up.
She's like, did we save anymoney today?
Do we save any money today?
She asked me the same thing nowwith my business.
How much did you make on yourcall today?
How much did you make?
And when I get off, she's like,did they, did they sign up?
Do we make any money?
She's so excited to earn money.
(16:39):
Part of that's because she's myspender, so earning the money
means she gets to spend more,and she loves that.
Here are some common pitfallsthat I want you to avoid.
You have to allow flexibilityfor unexpected expenses because
you have children.
Unexpected expenses arrive.
Sometimes They forget to tell usthat they need something for a
(17:01):
class project.
Sometimes they forget to tell usthere's a field trip coming up.
Sometimes they forget aboutpizza lunch.
There are so many things thatthey forget to tell us that we
need to allow for flexibility.
Or you have a child that'saccident prone and you end up in
the ER with a broken bone andthat was an unexpected expense.
Give yourself some wiggle room.
(17:22):
Inside every single budget thatyou make, you need a
miscellaneous column.
Things are going to come up thatyou weren't prepared for.
Especially in the beginning,when you're not really dialed
in, you haven't been trackingfor three to six months, you're
not 100 percent sure what yourexpenses are going to be, throw
in a flex spending option.
(17:43):
This will allow you to stickwith it longer.
Another pitfall that's reallyimportant, especially for my
nerds out there, You cannotneglect your family's input.
When you are married, one of youis a nerd and one of you is a
free spirit.
That's just kind of how it goes.
I want you to ensure thateveryone feels heard and
(18:04):
involved.
That means if you were the nerdand you make the budget, give it
to your free spirit and ask themto make a change.
Ask them, is there somethingthat's coming up for you that we
need to put in the budget?
If the kids have things thatthey know are coming up, sports,
for example, there's somethingthey really want to be involved
in.
Let's make sure that gets put inthe budget.
(18:26):
Money.
It can be simple.
It can be easy.
So stick to these simpleactionable steps that I have
given you and I promise it's notgoing to be that hard.
You don't need 47 accounts.
You need a checking and asavings and that's really it.
If you want to throw in an extrahigh yield savings to hold on to
(18:47):
your long term emergency funds,that's fine.
But you don't need toovercomplicate things.
You just need things to be easy,and it can be.
I'm curious if anything I saidtoday really resonated with you.
I would love for you to reachout and let me know.
Tell me what step you're goingto take.
Which of these hacks wassomething that you were like,
(19:08):
yeah, that's really important.
I'm going to go ahead andimplement that into my family.
I would love for you to sharethat.
With me, just so I can know whatkind of things are resonating
with you and what kind of thingsare not.
I also want to go ahead andencourage you to download my
family business meetingtemplate.
This is going to help youkickstart your weekly meetings.
It's going to help you stay ontrack and it's going to help you
(19:29):
win with your money.
If you are tired of livingpaycheck to paycheck, if you are
ready to thrive with your money,this family business meeting
template is going to be a greatway to get started.
All you have to do, scroll downthe show notes, click on family
budget meeting template.
And hopefully you're going to beable to implement some of these
(19:50):
budgeting hacks for your busyfamily.
That's going to help you in yourunique dynamics, create a life
that you love.
That's it for this week,Accelerators.
Go out and make a difference.
thank you for spending time withus today on Money and Career
Mastery from Overwhelm toOwnership.
Remember, your legacy isn't justabout financial freedom.
(20:12):
It's about living with purpose,taking action, and building a
foundation that lasts forgenerations.
Don't just listen, implementwhat you've learned and share it
with someone who could use afinancial or career
breakthrough.
If you found value in today'sepisode, help us grow by rating,
reviewing, and sharing thepodcast.
I'll be back next week with morestrategies to help you master
(20:34):
your money and career.
Until then take ownership ofyour future and build your
legacy with intention.
hello and welcome to money and career mastery from
overwhelmed to ownership.
I'm Laura Sexton, your abundanceand legacy coach here to help
you navigate the world of money,debt payoff, and career growth
with confidence and clarity.
In this podcast, we'll tacklethe financial and career
challenges, holding you back,optimize your income and build
(00:22):
the freedom that comes with trueownership.
If you're ready to break freefrom overwhelm, create a budget
that aligns with your values anddesign a legacy that empowers
future generations.
You're in the right place.
Well, hey, Accelerators.
Today we're going to be talkingabout budgeting hacks for busy
families, and I know that a lotof you are going to be very
(00:45):
excited about some of theinformation that is coming up on
this podcast.
I know that because I know whatit's like to be in the middle of
a busy, busy family.
In addition to my for children.
I am pregnant with number five,and my husband just had spinal
surgery.
It's almost as if I have fiveChildren right now, and I'm
(01:06):
pregnant with the sixth.
It's kind of what it feels like.
So if you are a busy family, andyou want strong team dynamics in
your family.
I have the perfect podcast foryou.
Let's dive in really quickly totalk about budgeting hacks for
busy families.
Look, I know you're busy.
One of the hardest things whenit comes to family budgeting is
(01:30):
time.
Crazy, right?
We need to make sure that wehave the time to sit down and
budget as well as the time tohave conversations.
I know that there are varyingfinancial priorities.
My children, their financialpriority is for me to take them
to Disneyland.
And unfortunately, that does notfit with our financial priority
(01:52):
of buying a home.
And we also know that unexpectedexpenses come up all the time.
You know who wasn't expectingspinal surgery to be on my bingo
card this year?
Me.
So here we are with unexpectedexpenses that we have to face
head on.
Creating a budget that fits theunique dynamics of your family
(02:13):
is incredibly important.
You want to make sure thatwhatever budget you make is
based on the values that youhave set, and the things that
are important to you.
You see, if I were to make abudget for my family, and then I
were to make the budget for ourfriend Jack's family, it
wouldn't fit for them becauseJack and his family put a strong
(02:37):
priority on Dodgers baseball.
I love how much he and hisfamily love going to see the
Dodgers, but I would never thinkto put Season tickets in my
budget.
Your unique family has uniquedynamics and unique values.
So you need a unique budget.
(02:58):
You may be asking, why isbudgeting as a family important?
There are many reasons, butfirst of all, it teaches
financial responsibility.
It shows your kids the value ofmoney and how to prioritize
spending.
I have been working recently ona book.
That is a picture book forchildren, and I cannot wait to
get it out into the world.
Hopefully this summer, you willbe able to make the purchase and
(03:20):
have this picture book in yourhand, where we talk about the
value of money in a home forchildren.
What does it look like for kidsto earn money?
What does it look like for kidsto spend money?
And here's the thing.
We don't talk about money enoughin our families.
We just don't.
If you're anything like me, yougrew up in a house where people
(03:41):
just didn't talk about money.
We swept it under the rug, wepretended like it wasn't there,
One of the worst things for mewas that I had no idea that you
had to pay back your creditcard.
These were things we just didnot talk about.
And so I want to change that.
I want to change that for you.
I want to change that for yourchildren.
Let's show our kids the value ofmoney, how to earn money, how to
(04:05):
prioritize our spending withmoney.
But I also want you to encouragethem in their giftings.
So if you have a child that is anatural saver, let's celebrate
that.
If you have a child that's anatural spender, let's celebrate
that.
If you have a child that's anatural giver, let's celebrate
that.
But also remember, there arethree things we can do with
money.
We can spend it, we can save it,we can give it, and we need to
(04:27):
be doing all three.
Budgeting as a family alsomatters because it will reduce
your financial stress.
Aligning your family goalsminimizes conflicts over your
finances.
And don't tell me you don't wantto minimize conflicts because I
know you do.
I work with Couples all the timethat fight about money because
they're misaligned on what theirgoals are.
(04:48):
They're not aiming for the samething.
And if you're aiming for thesame thing, we might have
different ideas about how to getthere, but at least we're going
to the same place.
And this, of course, will builda stronger team dynamic inside
your family.
It fosters unity.
It's shared accountability,which we all need.
These are reasons why budgetingas a family matters.
(05:12):
So let's get into those hacks,right?
Hack number one, use the righttools.
This could be every dollar.
This could be YNAB.
This could be Monarch.
Things you can use for easybudgeting and tracking.
But if you are like me and youare a physical pen and paper
kind of person, There are budgetbinders.
(05:32):
You can use the envelope system,which I love, especially with
children.
They need their hands on cashbecause they need to be able to
see it.
They don't understand numbers ona screen the same way that they
are going to viscerallyunderstand cash in hand.
Numbers on a screen, they'reones and zeros, zeros and ones,
(05:53):
and sometimes our transactionshaven't come through and we
forget and we haven't putsomething into our tracking and
so we go over in a category thatwe should not have gone over on.
Those are the times that youwant to have the envelope
system, the cash in on hand sothat you know how much you
actually have in that category.
I also highly recommend notlooking at your bank account to
(06:15):
find out how much money you havethat you can go out to eat with,
but you're looking at yourbudget.
What does your budget line itemsay?
How much do you have left inthat category this month?
Hack number two, schedule aweekly family budget meeting.
Now look, your budget meetingweekly, you can keep it short
and engaging, like 15 to 20minutes.
Are we on track?
What was the previous week'sspending looking like?
(06:37):
Do we need to adjust forupcoming expenses that we hadn't
planned on this next week?
But I also would like for you toconsider having a family
business meeting where it's alittle longer than the 15 to 20
minutes that's just for thebudget.
Instead, this is a chance for usto look at your calendar, a meal
(06:59):
plan, the budget, give yourself60 to 90 minutes every week.
And you do this behind lockeddoors with the kids not around.
And let me tell you, if you wereable to go over the calendar and
the meal plan and the budget andyou still have time left over,
well, that door is still lockedand we can do other things that
(07:20):
help us become unified as amarried couple.
So budgeting hack number three,create a fun fund.
If you are out of debt, I wantyou to allocate a small
percentage of the family budgetfor entertainment and treats.
This keeps everyone motivated tostick with the budget.
When you are working on gettingout of debt, this is going to be
(07:41):
a small fund fund.
For my kids, they are reallyhappy.
We have this one restaurant nearus called Tarantula Hill.
And they love going there forice cream.
We spent 10 on ice cream for thewhole family and everyone is
thrilled.
That is part of our motivationto sticking with our family
(08:01):
budget.
When you get further along onyour debt free journey and you
are out of debt and all of yourmoney gets to be allocated
towards other things that areimportant to you, your family
entertainment or your treats,your fun fund may look a lot
different.
In the beginning though, keep itsmall.
Remember what it's for.
It's for keeping you motivated.
(08:23):
It's not for buying love andaffection.
Hack number four, meal plantogether.
Plan meals for the week as afamily to control your grocery
spending and reduce food waste.
This is actually a really funway to get your kids involved,
not just on the spending plan,but on your meal plan together,
getting them to try new foods.
If they help make it, they mightbe more likely to try it and
(08:46):
they might be more likely toenjoy it.
Again, we have a lot ofchildren, we want to make sure
that.
Each of them gets at least onething per week that they love to
eat.
So I let each of them pick adinner one night a week.
What are they going to want toeat?
And I think that it's soincredibly important to bring
them in together make this planfor food because we want.
(09:06):
Our family to have healthy foodsand we want to be able to
continue to bring those thingsinto our home and make it a
priority.
But if we go to the grocerystore and we're just buying
whatever and then we get homeand we may or may not use that
food, then we're overspendingwith the grocery store and we're
wasting food because there'sgoing to be plenty that we're
(09:27):
not going to actually end upusing.
There are apps that you can useto help you meal plan.
Or doing something likeHelloFresh could be really great
for you if you have a smallerfamily.
If you have a big family likemine, that's not so great.
Hack number five.
Automate to simplify.
Listen, you don't have time togo in and manually pay all of
(09:49):
your bills.
It's annoying, but also, youshould be automating your
savings and investing, andhere's why.
First of all, with the bills,you don't want to.
If you miss a deadline or messsomething up, if you have your
budget set up correctly, youdon't have to worry about
automated bill pay.
You do want to be payingattention because there are
(10:11):
months where things go up anddown.
And obviously we want to be ontop of things and making sure
that we are making the smartdecisions in our life.
If your electric bill is goingto be very high because it's
summer and your air conditioneris on, you want to make sure
that you adjust in other areas.
However, for the most part, youcan just automate your bill pay
and not have to worry too much.
(10:34):
Automating your savings andinvesting, on the other hand, is
done for a totally differentreason.
You automate savings andinvestments.
So that you never miss themoney.
If it comes into your accountand then you move it to savings
or it comes into your accountand then you move it to
investments.
Sometimes we spend that money onother things.
(10:54):
We don't necessarily prioritizethe saving or investment because
that is a future thing and rightnow feels good.
And sometimes we just go aheadand use the money for right now,
as opposed to for later.
So automating your savings andinvesting is going to help you
avoid the temptation to spend.
(11:16):
This also will help you userecurring transfers for your
sinking fund.
Things like holidays.
I don't know about you, but I nolonger get surprised by
Christmas.
You go back a couple episodes toepisode 101, the Christmas club
account advantage, you willlearn why it's important to go
ahead and create a Christmasclub account or other holiday
(11:38):
accounts to make sure that youhave money.
for Christmas.
This can also be for back toschool shopping.
I don't know if you've heard,but school starts in August or
September and we need to makesure that we have money because
your kids are growing and theyare going to need new clothes
and they are going to want a newbackpack and they are going to
need pencils and All of theother binders and calculators
(12:00):
and things, go ahead and savefor those things every month.
Also, great sinking fundaccounts would be car
maintenance, home repair, thingsof that nature.
Hack number six, incentivizegood financial habits in your
children.
Now, You can do this in one of afew different ways.
(12:22):
First of all, go ahead andintroduce the concept of earning
money.
I know that some families haveallowances and some families
don't.
Our family chooses to allow ourchildren to live here and we
have a commission based earningsystem.
There are things around thehouse that our kids do not get
paid for, and that usuallyincludes cleaning up after
(12:43):
yourself.
When you use a toy, you put itback.
When you eat dinner, you putyour plate in the sink.
When you sleep in bed, you makeit look nice.
And then there are money makingactivities they have, which Are
beyond the normal tidying up.
This would include puttingdishes away after they're
washed, washing the familydishes, putting siblings laundry
way, dusting, vacuuming,watering plants, washing
(13:04):
windows.
All of these things contributeto the family as a whole and are
beneficial to keeping itrunning.
And it's really nice since thekids can't go to work like you
and I can to show them thedignity of earning money.
Now you can also introduce theconcept of earning interest by
paying them small amounts ofsaved allowance.
(13:25):
So if they save their money, youcan give them something on top
of it.
However, I feel like this is avery difficult thing to
implement until they are mucholder and those amounts are
bigger.
But I think it is great toreward them for saving.
So what if you go Habsies onsome bigger items with them?
I know my daughter was reallyinterested in a Nintendo Switch
(13:48):
and her dad said well if you payfor half I'll pay for the other
half.
Unfortunately for her Santabrought her one for Christmas.
So She no longer has that goal,but the goal she does have now,
which is smaller and easier forher to obtain, is to buy a
different game for the NintendoSwitch, and she and dad are
(14:09):
going habsies on that.
So we're going to pay half,she's going to pay half, and she
is working hard to save up hermoney, which is really hard for
her because she is a spender.
If she has it, she wants to, sheneeds to go to Target or Five
Below or somewhere that she canspend it immediately.
It is very difficult for her.
We also want to go ahead andoffer rewards to our children
(14:31):
who make smart decisions withtheir money.
If they're saving, we want tomake sure that we are
encouraging that.
We also want to encourage themto spend smartly.
So like I said with my daughterwho is just a natural born
spender, we always encourage herto think about her purchases
ahead of time.
(14:51):
So we don't allow her to go intoTarget and just buy whatever
whenever.
If there's something specificshe wants, she has to tell us
about it, and if she's stilltalking about it a week later,
we go ahead and make thepurchase.
So hack number seven is keep thebudget visible.
This can be hard.
(15:12):
But if you have a shared familycalendar or a visual tracker
like a whiteboard you can trackyour goals on there.
These are great.
Ways to show off the success ofyour family.
Celebrate your milestones aswell.
When you're paying off debts andone small one gets paid off,
celebrate it.
Find a small way to do so.
When you're saving for a familytrip, get everybody involved.
(15:34):
Make sure it's exciting.
By keeping it visible, you'realso keeping it top of mind and
the children will be able to go,oh yeah, that's something that's
important.
Or when they're at the store andthey're begging for something,
you know, mommy, please buy methis extra cereal that we don't
need and it's not good for us,but it's sugary and delicious
and we love it.
You can say, well, would youlike me to buy you that cereal
(15:56):
or would you like for that moneyto go towards our trip?
Sometimes putting it inperspective like that.
Really allows the children tounderstand the value of a dollar
and understand great decisionmaking.
Keep it visible, make sure theycan see what is going on and
make sure they are part of it.
Let them color in.
We had a savings tracker for awhile when we were trying to get
to our first 10, 000.
(16:18):
And every time we say 50, we letour daughter color in another
square and she just colors Wouldeat it up.
She's like, did we save anymoney today?
Do we save any money today?
She asked me the same thing nowwith my business.
How much did you make on yourcall today?
How much did you make?
And when I get off, she's like,did they, did they sign up?
Do we make any money?
She's so excited to earn money.
(16:39):
Part of that's because she's myspender, so earning the money
means she gets to spend more,and she loves that.
Here are some common pitfallsthat I want you to avoid.
You have to allow flexibilityfor unexpected expenses because
you have children.
Unexpected expenses arrive.
Sometimes They forget to tell usthat they need something for a
(17:01):
class project.
Sometimes they forget to tell usthere's a field trip coming up.
Sometimes they forget aboutpizza lunch.
There are so many things thatthey forget to tell us that we
need to allow for flexibility.
Or you have a child that'saccident prone and you end up in
the ER with a broken bone andthat was an unexpected expense.
Give yourself some wiggle room.
(17:22):
Inside every single budget thatyou make, you need a
miscellaneous column.
Things are going to come up thatyou weren't prepared for.
Especially in the beginning,when you're not really dialed
in, you haven't been trackingfor three to six months, you're
not 100 percent sure what yourexpenses are going to be, throw
in a flex spending option.
(17:43):
This will allow you to stickwith it longer.
Another pitfall that's reallyimportant, especially for my
nerds out there, You cannotneglect your family's input.
When you are married, one of youis a nerd and one of you is a
free spirit.
That's just kind of how it goes.
I want you to ensure thateveryone feels heard and
(18:04):
involved.
That means if you were the nerdand you make the budget, give it
to your free spirit and ask themto make a change.
Ask them, is there somethingthat's coming up for you that we
need to put in the budget?
If the kids have things thatthey know are coming up, sports,
for example, there's somethingthey really want to be involved
in.
Let's make sure that gets put inthe budget.
(18:26):
Money.
It can be simple.
It can be easy.
So stick to these simpleactionable steps that I have
given you and I promise it's notgoing to be that hard.
You don't need 47 accounts.
You need a checking and asavings and that's really it.
If you want to throw in an extrahigh yield savings to hold on to
(18:47):
your long term emergency funds,that's fine.
But you don't need toovercomplicate things.
You just need things to be easy,and it can be.
I'm curious if anything I saidtoday really resonated with you.
I would love for you to reachout and let me know.
Tell me what step you're goingto take.
Which of these hacks wassomething that you were like,
(19:08):
yeah, that's really important.
I'm going to go ahead andimplement that into my family.
I would love for you to sharethat.
With me, just so I can know whatkind of things are resonating
with you and what kind of thingsare not.
I also want to go ahead andencourage you to download my
family business meetingtemplate.
This is going to help youkickstart your weekly meetings.
It's going to help you stay ontrack and it's going to help you
(19:29):
win with your money.
If you are tired of livingpaycheck to paycheck, if you are
ready to thrive with your money,this family business meeting
template is going to be a greatway to get started.
All you have to do, scroll downthe show notes, click on family
budget meeting template.
And hopefully you're going to beable to implement some of these
(19:50):
budgeting hacks for your busyfamily.
That's going to help you in yourunique dynamics, create a life
that you love.
That's it for this week,Accelerators.
Go out and make a difference.
thank you for spending time withus today on Money and Career
Mastery from Overwhelm toOwnership.
Remember, your legacy isn't justabout financial freedom.
(20:12):
It's about living with purpose,taking action, and building a
foundation that lasts forgenerations.
Don't just listen, implementwhat you've learned and share it
with someone who could use afinancial or career
breakthrough.
If you found value in today'sepisode, help us grow by rating,
reviewing, and sharing thepodcast.
I'll be back next week with morestrategies to help you master
(20:34):
your money and career.
Until then take ownership ofyour future and build your
legacy with intention.
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