This App Changed My Life

I know I usually chat all things books (and there are some book recs at the end of this post), but with tax time around the corner (thank you deadline extension!), I’ve got my mind on my money and my money on my mind.

​I hope you’ll indulge me as I share some of the tools that have helped the husband and me up our finances game.

​And by “upping” I mean basic adulting stuff like: getting out of consumer debt, growing our emergency fund, saving for retirement, and doing estate planning for the peace of mind that the kiddos are all set if god forbid the worst ever happened.

Ok now that I write it all out like that I’m high-fiving myself because I’m so proud of us for getting our sh*t together.

Growing up, neither of us had solid role models when it came to long term financial planning, so this all feels like a huge accomplishment for our little familia.

And because I love sharing what's helped me with anyone who'll listen, below are two resources that were total game changers for us over the last two years:

Disclaimer: I am not a financial professional. The recommendations below are based solely on my own personal experience and should not be taken as specific financial advice for your situation. If you have financial questions, please consult a professional.

FINANCIAL APP & BOOK THAT CHANGED OUR LIVES

• App: YNAB (You Need a Budget) I know, I know, budget is such a 4-letter word, but the YNAB podcast tagline is SO accurate: "you've never budgeted like this before." If you use Mint and think "budgeting doesn't work for me," I'd like to suggest that budgeting isn't your problem; Mint is because it kind of sucks. YNAB has a 34 day free trial because they know you'll get hooked on their style of budgeting that quickly which I know sounds ridiculous but was 100% #accurate in my case.

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program that Works. Please ignore the meh title — this is NOT a get rich quick scheme kind of book. It’s much more personal finance 101, where he encourages you to define what a rich life looks like for you & yours and then teaches you how to actually make your own personal "rich life" vision a reality. FWIW Husband & I both binged the audiobook version.

I know us creative types don’t always like to talk finances, but ask yourself this: 

​Who is our silence around money actually serving?

I believe it’s beyond time we have more honest, open conversations about the role money plays, and, to be more precise, the role financial (in)stability and (in)security plays in our ability to live the creative lives we crave.

Look, I “squandered” away about a decade of potential retirement savings by choosing to live the life of a “gradual” student.

I have no regrets! 

I loved getting my PhD, but that choice had financial consequences, and I could bury my head in the sand and ignore that reality, or I can get clear on where I am now and what I need to make happen going forward.

I choose getting clear and that choice feels empowering.

And, yes, I married a doctor.

I’m the first to admit it: that helps — a lot.

And yet, having money coming in hasn’t always translated into us being intentional about how we managed those funds from month to month.

YNAB & I Will Teach You to be Rich helped us make that shift towards being intentional with and more in control of our money — both on the big picture, long term strategy front, and on the day-to-day how are we spending each paycheck front.

These resources might be helpful for you too, so I wanted to share. Plus, check out a few more financial must reads below.

Happy budgeting & financial planning!

WRITER FINANCES

Book Recommendations

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