January 6, 2026 • 6 mins
Amy talks with the host of ‘How to Money’ Joel Larsgaard talking about 3 things to do in 2026 to make better money decisions.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's say good morning now to the host of How
to Money on KFI. It's Joel Larsgard.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Morning, Joel, morning Amy.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
So for this first time that we get to talk
in twenty twenty six. Happy new year, by the way,
So do you. I wanted to talk about how we
can get our money under control this year because I
don't know about you, but for me, things have been
spiraling a bit lately and I really need to get
on track, but I don't know how really to do it.
(00:27):
So I was hoping we could talk about like some
easy ways that we can just sort of readjust.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, let's do it. I mean, this is one of
those things. I think a lot of people find themselves
in that situation. Come January and February, it's the post
holiday hangover. They get the credit card bill in the
mail or in the email and they're like, oh my gosh,
I totally overdid it. I did that.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
I looked at it and I went I did what.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yeah, And you're not alone? Like that is so typical, really,
and so one like just honestly is something I talk
about regularly is sinking funds, and that is to set
aside money throughout the year for expenses you know are
coming up later in the year. It's kind of ridiculous
to say start saving for Christmas in January, but really
it's not. And so like, how much did you spend
this past year? Can you start dropping forty or fifty
(01:14):
or sixty dollars a month whatever you need into a
savings bucket for Christmas or next year. So that's just
one thing I want to mention. Also, and I'm not
some sort of goal setting guru or anything like that,
but let's talk about goals. I think it's really important
to set realistic goals and realistic timelines because I think
one of the most defeating feelings is to say I'm
(01:35):
going to pay this credit card debt off in three months,
and if the truth is that's not really physically possible
within your budget, then you're just going to feel like crap.
I think when three months passed and you haven't made
as much progress as you wanted to there. So I
would come up with a realistic goal set smaller goals
along the way that are going to help you achieve
(01:57):
the bigger goals that you want to hit. And then
I think it's really important to remind yourself of what
those goals are. So let's say paying off that credit
card debt in five months is your goal, Well, then
you need to know, well, what is it going to
take in bite sized amounts to be able to actually
pay that debt off in that amount of time. And
if you can stick something on your bathroom mirror, on
(02:19):
your fridge, whatever it takes to kind of remind you
that this is what you're working towards, that's going to
be really helpful, a really helpful motivator, and.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Maybe put it in your wallet remind yourself that you
have so when you open your wallet and take out
your credit card, you go, oh, maybe I don't need
to spend that.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yes, I think the other thing you have to do
is remind yourself of what is going you're going to
achieve at the end of this. Right, So, I think
it can feel like budgeting. For most people, that word
sounds terrifying. I hate it, Like, yeah, it's like, oh,
that's super scary. But if you can change your mindset
(02:55):
your mental approach to what that looks like, can say, actually,
actually budgeting is not me raining in and forgetting everything
I enjoy about life and eradicating it from my existence.
I think that's how most people, That's how I used
to think about budgeting, was like, yeah, if I do that,
it's going to constrain me. I'm not gonna be able
to enjoy my life. The truth is, it helps you
to come with intention to what it is you want
(03:18):
to spend money on. Spend money on those things proactively.
I talk about it as the craft beer equivalent, right,
because I like Kraft beer. It's pretty expensive to buy
good craft beer these days. But I spend lavishly on
craft beer. But it just means I cut back into
other places. So I'm not spending eighty two dollars a
month on my cell phone bill, and I'm not upgrading
(03:39):
my phone very often because I care about craft beer
a whole lot more. And so it just puts helps
you put your priorities in order, really important, to align
your spending with those long term goals. That's a recipe
I think for more success and for then greater joy
too in the process.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Do you think people have gotten more irresponsible about money too?
Because we don't have to track it like we used to,
Like still keep a check register, even though I don't
write checks. I mean, everything's on my debit card. Or whatever.
But you just if there's more unconscious spending because you're
not held as accountable.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yes, oh, I mean for sure. And I think it's
a really tough world out there for consumers because there's
products out there that are made to seem normal like
by now, pay later, and there's just all these things
that continue to conspire against us, and we have to
be conscious, conscious objectors to the new forms of payment
(04:32):
that we can use that will keep us perpetually in debt,
to the longer car lons, to all of these things
that just kind of they start to as like, well, okay,
they offered it to me, it must be okay, And
the truth is no, it's not in your best interest.
It's gonna it's gonna harm your other financial goals that
you have. And so yeah, I do think in a
lot of ways, like it is harder and it's really important,
(04:54):
Like you said, keeping keeping a check register, like that's
so old school, but it's a really helpful way to do.
There's if you want to go new school, there's you
need a budget. Wineab is a great website to help
you kind of get an actual budget. It's worth the money.
Same with Monarch. Monarch money is what it used to
be called. And that's another great service where it kind
of like mint was back in the day, but on steroids.
(05:16):
And so if you're like, I need something digital so
I can go and check and see what I'm spending,
I can see everything in one place. I can see
my net worth growing. I can like there's something about
keeping tabs right on your net worth and on your
progress and on your debt eradication that's also going to help.
So I love that idea of having your finger on
the pulse and whether you're doing that kind of in
a more analog way or in a more digital way,
(05:39):
like whatever floats your boat, but you gotta be keeping
track of it in some way.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
All right. So for more great money advice, you can
listen to Joel Larsgard every Sunday from noon to two
right here on KFI. It's gonna help you get your
year started off right. Thank you so much for the tips.
I need to just I like the idea of setting
your intention. I need to set my intention this year
because yeah, between between Christmas, yeah, and between Christmas and
(06:06):
my cat, we things have gotten way out of control.
I need to rain things back in. You can also
follow Joel on at let me see if I can
spit it out, Follow Joel at How to Money, Joel
and again. You can listen to him noon to two
on Sunday. Uh. He's the host of How the Money
on kf I Thank you Joelar's Garden, Happy New Year,
Happy New Year,
Let's say good morning now to the host of How
to Money on KFI. It's Joel Larsgard.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Morning, Joel, morning Amy.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
So for this first time that we get to talk
in twenty twenty six. Happy new year, by the way,
So do you. I wanted to talk about how we
can get our money under control this year because I
don't know about you, but for me, things have been
spiraling a bit lately and I really need to get
on track, but I don't know how really to do it.
(00:27):
So I was hoping we could talk about like some
easy ways that we can just sort of readjust.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, let's do it. I mean, this is one of
those things. I think a lot of people find themselves
in that situation. Come January and February, it's the post
holiday hangover. They get the credit card bill in the
mail or in the email and they're like, oh my gosh,
I totally overdid it. I did that.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
I looked at it and I went I did what.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yeah, And you're not alone? Like that is so typical, really,
and so one like just honestly is something I talk
about regularly is sinking funds, and that is to set
aside money throughout the year for expenses you know are
coming up later in the year. It's kind of ridiculous
to say start saving for Christmas in January, but really
it's not. And so like, how much did you spend
this past year? Can you start dropping forty or fifty
(01:14):
or sixty dollars a month whatever you need into a
savings bucket for Christmas or next year. So that's just
one thing I want to mention. Also, and I'm not
some sort of goal setting guru or anything like that,
but let's talk about goals. I think it's really important
to set realistic goals and realistic timelines because I think
one of the most defeating feelings is to say I'm
(01:35):
going to pay this credit card debt off in three months,
and if the truth is that's not really physically possible
within your budget, then you're just going to feel like crap.
I think when three months passed and you haven't made
as much progress as you wanted to there. So I
would come up with a realistic goal set smaller goals
along the way that are going to help you achieve
(01:57):
the bigger goals that you want to hit. And then
I think it's really important to remind yourself of what
those goals are. So let's say paying off that credit
card debt in five months is your goal, Well, then
you need to know, well, what is it going to
take in bite sized amounts to be able to actually
pay that debt off in that amount of time. And
if you can stick something on your bathroom mirror, on
(02:19):
your fridge, whatever it takes to kind of remind you
that this is what you're working towards, that's going to
be really helpful, a really helpful motivator, and.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Maybe put it in your wallet remind yourself that you
have so when you open your wallet and take out
your credit card, you go, oh, maybe I don't need
to spend that.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yes, I think the other thing you have to do
is remind yourself of what is going you're going to
achieve at the end of this. Right, So, I think
it can feel like budgeting. For most people, that word
sounds terrifying. I hate it, Like, yeah, it's like, oh,
that's super scary. But if you can change your mindset
(02:55):
your mental approach to what that looks like, can say, actually,
actually budgeting is not me raining in and forgetting everything
I enjoy about life and eradicating it from my existence.
I think that's how most people, That's how I used
to think about budgeting, was like, yeah, if I do that,
it's going to constrain me. I'm not gonna be able
to enjoy my life. The truth is, it helps you
to come with intention to what it is you want
(03:18):
to spend money on. Spend money on those things proactively.
I talk about it as the craft beer equivalent, right,
because I like Kraft beer. It's pretty expensive to buy
good craft beer these days. But I spend lavishly on
craft beer. But it just means I cut back into
other places. So I'm not spending eighty two dollars a
month on my cell phone bill, and I'm not upgrading
(03:39):
my phone very often because I care about craft beer
a whole lot more. And so it just puts helps
you put your priorities in order, really important, to align
your spending with those long term goals. That's a recipe
I think for more success and for then greater joy
too in the process.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Do you think people have gotten more irresponsible about money too?
Because we don't have to track it like we used to,
Like still keep a check register, even though I don't
write checks. I mean, everything's on my debit card. Or whatever.
But you just if there's more unconscious spending because you're
not held as accountable.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yes, oh, I mean for sure. And I think it's
a really tough world out there for consumers because there's
products out there that are made to seem normal like
by now, pay later, and there's just all these things
that continue to conspire against us, and we have to
be conscious, conscious objectors to the new forms of payment
(04:32):
that we can use that will keep us perpetually in debt,
to the longer car lons, to all of these things
that just kind of they start to as like, well, okay,
they offered it to me, it must be okay, And
the truth is no, it's not in your best interest.
It's gonna it's gonna harm your other financial goals that
you have. And so yeah, I do think in a
lot of ways, like it is harder and it's really important,
(04:54):
Like you said, keeping keeping a check register, like that's
so old school, but it's a really helpful way to do.
There's if you want to go new school, there's you
need a budget. Wineab is a great website to help
you kind of get an actual budget. It's worth the money.
Same with Monarch. Monarch money is what it used to
be called. And that's another great service where it kind
of like mint was back in the day, but on steroids.
(05:16):
And so if you're like, I need something digital so
I can go and check and see what I'm spending,
I can see everything in one place. I can see
my net worth growing. I can like there's something about
keeping tabs right on your net worth and on your
progress and on your debt eradication that's also going to help.
So I love that idea of having your finger on
the pulse and whether you're doing that kind of in
a more analog way or in a more digital way,
(05:39):
like whatever floats your boat, but you gotta be keeping
track of it in some way.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
All right. So for more great money advice, you can
listen to Joel Larsgard every Sunday from noon to two
right here on KFI. It's gonna help you get your
year started off right. Thank you so much for the tips.
I need to just I like the idea of setting
your intention. I need to set my intention this year
because yeah, between between Christmas, yeah, and between Christmas and
(06:06):
my cat, we things have gotten way out of control.
I need to rain things back in. You can also
follow Joel on at let me see if I can
spit it out, Follow Joel at How to Money, Joel
and again. You can listen to him noon to two
on Sunday. Uh. He's the host of How the Money
on kf I Thank you Joelar's Garden, Happy New Year,
Happy New Year,
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