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May 12, 2025 15 mins

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If budgeting feels like punishment, you're not alone. In this episode, I share how to shift from fear-based money management to an empowering, joyful practice rooted in alignment and abundance.

You'll learn:

  • 3 powerful financial mindset shifts to replace restriction with ease
  • How to view expenses as receipts of appreciation rather than losses
  • Why flexible money systems support your real life better than rigid budgets
  • How celebration and emotional regulation can transform your money habits

This episode is for the female entrepreneur ready to ditch scarcity and embrace a new relationship with money—one built on values, joy, and self-trust.

Resources mentioned in the episode:

Busting Loose from the Money Game by Robert Scheinfeld 

Want to learn more? Here are your next steps:

Step 1: Join my FREE Facebook Community.

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➡️ Join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/941450038160915

Step 2: Grab your FREE Human Design chart

Curious what your Human Design chart reveals about how you're uniquely designed to make aligned financial decisions?

➡️ Get your chart here: https://generatealifewelllived.com/receive-your-human-design-chart

Step 3: Ready to transform your relationship with money and build true financial confidence?

Let’s create a strategy that feels aligned, intentional, and empowering—just for you.

➡️ Schedule your 1-hour Money Mastery Call here: https://generatealifewelllived.com/11-support

Money doesn't have to feel overwhelming. Let's create a strategy that feels nurturing and custom to you.

From my soul to yours,

Erin

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Erin Gray (00:09):
let's be honest, most budgeting advice feels really
restrictive.
We're told to cut out lattes,track every single penny and
somehow white knuckle our wayinto financial success.
White knuckle our way intofinancial success which, in my
opinion, is coming from a placeof lack and fear.

(00:30):
And although we might do it orwe can do it, my question back
would be why and I truly believethat when lack and fear is the
root cause of doing somethingwith our money, we're going to
get lack and fear as the resultsalso.
So, if you're anything like meor the women that I work with,
that approach does not feelempowering, and I'm all about

(00:53):
empowerment.
It feels very exhausting, itfeels restrictive.
I've had women come to me andsay it feels very boring, not
fun, and I totally agree.
So in this episode, we're goingto flip the script.
I'm going to dive into threepractical tips that are going to
give you.
So in this episode, we're goingto flip the script.

(01:14):
I'm going to give you threepractical tips that's going to
help you finally enjoy managingyour money.
These tips are coming from aplace of sufficiency, of love,
from joy and gratitude.
They're really about helpingyou make intentional, confident
financial decisions thatactually support the life you

(01:35):
want.
So you know that you want totake control of your money and
create a system that feels easy,more like freedom rather than
the restriction, but maybeyou're feeling a little bit

(01:58):
overwhelmed, like it's going totake so much time and so much
effort and so much energy.
I really want to invite you tomy one-on-one master your money
coaching program.
It's going to teach you how toalign your finances with who you

(02:23):
are, your goals, reallysimplify money management and
overcome the fear and stressthat keeps holding you back.
You don't need to spend hourson complicated strategies.
There's so much information outthere.
I'm going to show you how tocreate a simple, customized plan

(02:43):
specifically for you that worksfor you, tailored to your
unique needs, your goals andyour values.
We're going to focus onpractical 3D strategies right,
we're going to focus onpractical strategies, what I
call the 3D of money, right?
You want to know where yourmoney is going.

(03:04):
You want to know how you wantto circulate it.
And also the 5d the spiritual,the emotional side.
I'm going to empower you toovercome the limiting beliefs
and emotional blocks that youmight have currently around
money so that you can create arelationship with money that
feels calm right, that you feelin control, at peace, and let's

(03:39):
make financial clarity easy andfun, not time-consuming.
I would love to work with youone-on-one so that we can start.
I would love to work with youone-on-one so you can start
building the life that youdeserve, the business that you

(04:00):
really want, with clarity, withconfidence, and create true
financial freedom.
You can schedule your call bygoing to
generatealifewelllivedcom andbooking a session with me.
I'm looking forward to it.

(04:29):
So, when clients typically cometo me, a lot of times we've been
in this 3d world of, you know,making our budget fit within
some.
So let's start with my tipNumber one really starting to

(04:53):
focus on alignment.
That is coming from a place ofabundance, sufficiency, not
restriction, which very muchcomes from lack and fear.
So instead of thinking where doI need to cut, asking yourself,
does this expense reflect whatI value and the life that I want

(05:15):
to create, I like to look atexpenses as receipts of
appreciation instead of anexpense.
There is a book called bustingloose from the money game and
I'll put it in the show notes,and he really has you thinking

(05:45):
about expenses from a place ofappreciation, right, when you go
to pay your bill, being sograteful that you have
electricity to turn on thelights and to heat your house or
cool your house, or when youdecided to go and take your
family out for lunch.

(06:05):
That that was.
You know.
That adds to the memory bankand that that is an experience.
So, instead of looking at it asan expense, is something that's
taking away.
It's adding to your life.
Right?
This shift alone can reallystart to change everything.
So when you're spending alignswith your values whether that's

(06:27):
ease or creativity, freedom orgenerosity it's easier to feel
good about spending andcirculating your money.
I don't think budgeting shouldbe a punishment, and that is how
so many of us kind of havelooked at it.
It's very similar to weightloss.
It's like this restrictivementality.
I think we need to look at theword of allocating.

(06:50):
Right, instead of budgeting,we're allocating our money.
How do we want to do that?
It comes from a place ofclarity.
Right?
It's about saying yes to whatmatters most to you, what you
value, and no to what doesn'tlight you up, what isn't in
alignment with you anymore.
You know, when you think aboutbeing in alignment, it feels

(07:13):
good spending money, even makinggenerating money, when you are
in alignment.
That is, when I say alignment,I mean from your soul, right, it
feels good to your soul togenerate money in ways that
light you up and serve the world, not from a place of have to,
should to should right.
Same thing with spending ourmoney really slowing down and

(07:35):
getting clear when you arespending your money.
Does this come from a place ofsoul alignment or is this coming
from a place of have to or fearor rushed place?
Really getting clear on that.
Tip number two is really usingyou can start using just

(07:58):
flexible spending bucketsinstead of these rigid
categories.
Now some of my clients reallylike to like know where
everything is and have differentcategories, you know, of
accounts.
If this feels too restrictiveto you, like this goes back to,
it depends on every singleperson.
This is why I don't thinkoverall generic advice works for

(08:19):
everyone, because you have totake it what the advice someone
is giving and then run itthrough your own filter.
So, if you know, traditionalbudgets sometimes feel so

(08:47):
restrictive and we don't stickwith them because sometimes
they're too granular, right,they don't account for real life
.
So maybe looking at using morebroad, flexible categories that
reflect your priorities so youcould look at like the
essentials.
I look at that in terms of,like, those are things that

(09:07):
you're going to have, no matterwhat your mortgage, your rent,
your property taxes, yourinsurance.
Like, what are those thingsthat are you're going to have
every single month and they'renot going to change joy and
lifestyle, right?
Like, how much do you want toallocate to those types of
things?
You know, I had a client saywell, how do I, you know,
account for my child?

(09:27):
It's like, well, we, we accountfor it.
We allocate money for yourtwo-year-old so that we plan for
things, and that helped hergain more clarity as to okay,
how much am I spending, how muchdo I want to spend, and really
feeling good, like then shedidn't have shame when she was
buying something for him becauseshe had money allocated for him

(09:51):
specifically.
And then let's talk aboutsavings, because I really feel
like the financial industrytalks about savings from a place
of lack and fear.
You know, how often have youheard famous gurus talk about
having six months of cashreserve on hand?
And I really want to encourageyou to think about what is that

(10:13):
energy that it's coming fromwhen we think about cash
reserves, when we think abouthaving six months worth of
expenses.
To me that feels likesomething's gonna happen.
We need to make sure we havemoney.
And when we are in thatvibration of something's going
to happen, we need to make surewe have money.
Something will always happen.

(10:34):
Now you might say you know whatI like, just having money,
because if something comes up orI want to, you know, use it for
X, y, z, that's totally fine.
You just have to check thevibration that you're in of why
you have this money.
That's why I don't use wordslike emergency savings account,
because when we are having anaccount for an emergency, an

(10:55):
emergency is going to happen.
So maybe it's just you'rehaving an account instead of a
savings account.
It's just an account that youhave so that you know what, if
opportunities come along, youhave money to invest in or to
circulate or whatever it mightbe.
You know this might give youthe structure, these more broad
buckets, and here you go back to.

(11:17):
You have to run it through.
What is your lens?
If you're someone that likes tolook at every little area, then
this might not work for you.
If you're someone that's likeyou know what I like bigger,
broader buckets and that feelsbetter to me, then do that, so
it might give you the structurewithout having to micromanage
like every little dollar.

(11:37):
And then the third tip iscelebrate every time you engage
with your money.
I can't tell you how many timesthis is true for me.
This has been my journey aswell, so of course it's going to
show up with my clients, is youknow?
I'll ask a client like howoften are you celebrating
yourself?
And more often than not, theanswer is not much, right, it's.
It's almost this withholding ofcelebration, withholding of

(11:58):
love until we get to a certainplace.
It's very conditional, um,celebration and love versus
celebrating everything, anythingthat feels.
You know your brain might tellyou it's, it's too, it's too
small to celebrate.
But that is actually when youneed to be celebrating, right,
getting in the habit ofcelebrating.

(12:19):
Most people avoid their moneybecause it feels heavy.
You know how we grew up withmoney, what we believe about
money currently, and so we haveto create.
If we want to live a differentlife, if we want to feel more
ease and flow and trust andabundance with money, we have to
create a new emotionalexperience around it.

(12:40):
So every time you check youraccounts, you're looking at your
income or you're making adecision, celebrate it.
You know that could be like Isay with money dates.
You know that could be lightinga candle.
It could be playing Like Italked about.
I love piano guys.
It's so like nervous systemsoothing and regulation to me.

(13:00):
Playing piano guys, playingyour favorite playlist, you know
acknowledging like hey, youknow what I'm so proud of you
for showing up because you didwhat you said you were going to
do.
Right, we are women andbecoming women that are do what
we say we are going to do.
So when managing your moneybecomes something that you

(13:23):
associate because right now, ifwe're avoiding our money, we
probably perceive money to be athreat right, there's probably
some lower vibration emotionsthat are causing us to not be
with our money.
But when we can associate ourmoney as being calm, as feeling
joy in our body, as feelinggrateful or abundant, and maybe

(13:45):
those are not emotions that youcan get to immediately and
that's okay, right, but where isthe neutrality?
Where is going from shame andguilt to going to curiosity and
neutrality and then getting tothe place of feeling calm, of
feeling joy and grateful for themoney you have?
Right, it's going to stopfeeling like a chore.
It's going to start becoming ahabit and something that you

(14:08):
actually look forward to.
You know, last weekend I satdown.
I typically sit down with ourmoney first and then I bring
Jason and my husband for us totalk about money and look at
where we are, like how muchmoney did we create this week?
And like, what did ourinvestments do?
And you know, what do we wantto allocate moving forward for
the next week or month.
And it's exciting to sit downwith my money Now.

(14:31):
It's exciting to allocate wheredo we want to circulate our
money and to look at what we'vecreated from an income
standpoint.
That's fun.
It used to not be that way,Right, and it and I want to say
that our brains want to say, oh,that's because the money
changed.
No, it's because you have tochange who you are first.
So money loves to be paidattention to right.

(14:52):
When we actually sit down and wecultivate this relationship
with ourselves and with ourmoney, the easier it gets, the
more that we actually want to doit.
Think of a pleasant experiencewhen you love to go see your
girlfriend, if it, if she wereto sit down and complain the
entire time and tell you how youaren't good enough and how you

(15:13):
know you never call and younever do this.
Like, how often do we want tohang out with that friend?
But when our friend is so happyto see us and you know it's
been looking forward to it andit's such a fun time that we get
to spend together we want to domore of that.
So we have to create thatwithin ourselves so that we can
do that with our money.
So, love on your money, you know, show appreciation for what you

(15:38):
have, for how far you have come, even the littlest, and I think
that that is a skill set and amuscle that we need to build and
cultivate.
Right, look at, like, listen,over the last four weeks I have
consistently sat down with money, my money.
I am so proud of myself.
Like, give yourself theattagirls and you don't need my

(15:59):
permission and I'm giving youpermission.
Right, you know you don't needmy permission and also I'm
giving you permission.
You don't have to followsomebody else's restrictive

(16:20):
budgeting rules that you foundon the internet or you heard
from some other podcast.
Right, you get to feel incontrol now.
Right, who you are, you get todecide to feel confident now,
and it starts by what youbelieve about yourself, what you
think, what you feel and thenthe action that you take.
So start by shifting from aplace of avoidance, and so you

(16:50):
can start by thinking okay, whois the person that celebrates
her progress?
Who is the person that is soproud of herself?
How does she show up and startpracticing that?
If you want support, I wouldlove to have you join me for a
one-on-one master your moneycoaching session.

(17:12):
We will look at and worktogether to create a tailored
plan that helps you align yourvalues, your goals, your
finances.
I want to invite you to join mefor a one-on-one master your

(17:38):
money coaching session Duringthis hour.
We're going to take a look atand work together to create a
tailored plan for you that helpsyou align your values, your
goals, where you are financially, with your specific energy,
your mindset.
I want to invite you to join mefor a one-on-one master your

(18:02):
money coaching session Duringthis hour.
We will work together to createa tailored plan that helps you
align with your finances, so youcan get clear on where you are
financially and where you wantto go and really start
transforming your relationshipwith money so that you can
create more ease, more flow,more freedom, more trust in your

(18:26):
life.
You can head out, you can headover.
You can head over to my website, generate a life while livedcom
and schedule your session.
That's all I have for you todayand I will see you in the next
episode.
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