In this episode, we have a special guest, Cara Harvey, who is back on the Money Mindset podcast to share her debt pay off journey.
Cara, the creator and founder of "A Purpose Driven Mom," previously talked about productivity and prioritizing time and money in episode 53. Today, she shares how she and her husband, both teachers, managed to pay off a couple hundred thousand dollars in debt despite facing job losses along the way. Cara's story is a realistic and inspiring example of how financial goals can be achieved through perseverance and smart money management.
Tune in to hear her tips and insights on staying focused, navigating financial challenges, and making progress towards becoming debt-free.
Meet Cara!
Cara is a wife, mom to a 16-year-old stepson, 7-year-old daughter, 5-year-old son, and a woman of God. She works as a productivity coach for work at home moms and her mission is to provide women with the tools, resources, and community to reach their goals, empower themselves, find their happiness, and live a life by design. She does this via her blog, podcast "The Purpose Driven Mom Show", virtual community groups, and e-courses that help moms figure out how to grow and scale a business without hustle, shame, or guilt
“So I always, always say before you jump in, take a pause and go into this baseline and add in that dream phase while you're going through, while you're acknowledging the spending, while you're just paying attention. Start to think what would I do with this money if I didn't spend it on this? What would I like to do? Allow yourself to dream. I think a lot of times when we're in a lot of debt we feel like we can't dream about things like that cuz we don't deserve it, we didn't earn it. I'm so bad with my money already. I don't have the money for this. You deserve to dream, you deserve to make goals. But like when you start to like think about it and open your brain up to it, your brain will start to see other possibilities of it and it starts to become realistic. If you don't ever allow yourself to dream, then your brain is gonna shut off there.”
- Cara Harvey
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction to today's episode
05:59 - Meet Cara!
07:20 - Cara's financial journey
17:05 - Balancing roles and tracking in financial planning
21:09 - App for expense tracking and category management
21:44 - The importance of finding a system that works for you and your partner
28:12 - Balancing smaller financial goals and bigger financial goals
32:44 - Preparing for potential income loss and unexpected financial challenges
35:10 - Starting with a baseline and creating realistic goals
40:24 - Cara’s book recommendations
42:04 - Where to follow Cara
42:34 - Last words of wisdom
If you need help paying off your debt, go to www.budgetsmadeeasy.com/debt for your Paying Off Debt Starter Kit. This will help you really get going on your journey to longer-term investing strategies.
And if you enjoyed the podcast today and got some great takeaways, I’d really appreciate it if you followed the Money Mindset Podcast so you don’t miss out on future episodes.
Book Recommendation:
* The 15 Minute Formula: How Busy Moms Can Ditch the Guilt, Say Yes to What Matters and Conquer Their Goals by Cara Harvey
* Drive Your Own Darn Bus by Julia Kristina
Resources and Links Mentioned:
* Paying Off Debt Starter Kit: www.budgetsmadeeasy.com/debt
Connect with Ashley:
* Instagram: www.instagram.com/budgetsmadeeasy
Connect with Cara:
* Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/purpose-driven-mom-show/id1465377461
* Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/cara4384
* Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/findyourawesome/
* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apurposedrivenmom/
* Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3rmBh--3wrq9nEOs2ZcCYg