How financial coaching finally helped this couple see eye to eye on their finances

How Financial Coaching Helped this Couple Get and Finally Stay Ahead

The budget you have today is not meant to be permanent. It can and will change. Furthermore, it should change. Your budget is a living document. So instead of trying to squeeze into it like a pair of jeans that no longer fits, give yourself some breathing room and create the budget you need to match your life as it is now. Listen to this podcast to learn about the four signs you budget is no longer working for you and how to create one that does.

A caretaker is someone who uses their time, money, or energy to assist their immediate family members, friends, or colleagues.  Are you always stepping up to meet the needs of those around you?  Do you support a spouse or partner by working a lot or in a job you don’t enjoy so they can pursue a hobby or dream job? If you ask yourself often, but “What would they do without me?” If so, you may fall pretty high on the spectrum of caretaker tendencies.  As financial coaches, we sometimes have to coach our clients to balance their caretaker tendencies with taking care of themselves and their own finances. We support people to give, but in ways that don’t cause stress on their health or finances.   In this episodes of the Fiscal Fitness Podcast, learn: What care taker tendencies are How they show up How to balance the need and desire to help with your own financial goals Ways to flex your non-caretak

If you have kids, usually it’s not a matter of to Disney or not – it’s a matter of when. Whether you’ve never been to Disney or make it an annual pilgrimage like our very own Coach Jaclyn, this episode is for you. We brought in an expert to talk about ways to plan and budget for your perfect Disney vacation. We chatted with Stacy Ellis, a travel advisor for Key to the World Travel, an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. She’s been to Disney more than 16 times and loves helping families and Disney loving couples plan their best Disney trip. In this episode, we discuss with Stacy: The average cost for a family of four to Disneyland and Disney World Figuring out your ideal Disney trip (everyone does Disney different) Off season vs. peak season costs How to plan in order to not blow your Disney budget Staying on a Disney property to not Planning decision

When it comes to bodybuilding and wealth building there is one thing that seems to be very true: Once you build the foundation, it’s pretty easy to maintain. Unfortunately building that strong foundation is what keeps so many of us held back. We face a long list of challenges, including: Too many choices/options and trying to decide which is right for you  Decision fatigue Trying to use an app when it’s not built for your unique scenario or needs  Lack of accountability No ability to ask questions or troubleshoot as you go Sustainability/Consistency over speed Seeing it as a lifestyle vs a finite goal with an end date (this is a lifelong endeavor) If you follow Coach Jill’s instagram feed, you know she’s no stranger to the gym. Despite suffering a debilitating back injury years ago, Jill recommitted to her fitness in a big way in 2020 and has tu

In this episode of the Fiscal Fitness Podcast, Coach Jaclyn interviews Coach Jill, who is a mom of two, all about kids and money. They discuss at what age to introduce debit cards, how much you should spend on daycare, and how much allowance you should give and how it should be given or earned. Jill also admits that at one point when her two boys were young she was paying $20,000/year for childcare. It gets better parents of young kids!   Extra Resources for Kids and Money: Schedule a free Q&A call with one of our financial coaches Read more about a Eureka session, or schedule your own! Read these client success stories. We are always inspired by what our clients ac

Do you ever feel urgency or stress around this idea of "I need to make my money work harder for me!". If so, this one's for YOU! “I want my money to be working for me”. This is something we hear from people who reach out to us all the time. When we ask clients what their goals are, so many of them will tell us they want their money to be working for them. They want to be doing MORE with their money. They want to make sure they are making the best decisions with their money, etc. And I love this! These are all great things! But one thing I often sense is that they are feeling some urgency or stress around this idea of making their money “work” for them. This is usually the way of framing that they want their money invested and earning compound interest. You know - earn money while you sleep sort of thing, right?! Which of course is a beautiful thing. But what I want to talk about today is that there are many other ways that you can get your money working and non

Do you have big goals for 2021? As we head into the new year, so many of us are setting different goals for the year. We created a free download (click here to download) to support you throughout 2021 so that you can stay present and focused to your goals all year long. In this episode you will learn... How to set a SMART financial goal How to challenge yourself with Good, Better, and Best goals How to track your 2021 goal progress with our freebie: 2021 Goal Tracker   Additional tips: To visually watch this episode, join our free Facebook community where Coach Jaclyn went live to show how to use the 2021 Goal Tracker. To participate in the 21-Day Challenge (ment

Just because it’s called a “stimulus” check does not mean that it is your responsibility to go out and stimulate the economy with it. A big purpose of this stimulus bill was to provide additional financial relief to the American people. So in this episode, I am going to share five things you could do with your stimulus check to bolster and strengthen your own financial position, as well as some ideas of how you could use it to support your community.   In this episode you will learn... How to check the status of your stimulus check if you haven’t received it Five ways to bolster your own financial position with the stimulus dollars A few ways you can support your local community with your stimulus check   To get the latest updates about the stimulus check and other forms of Coronavirus relief, <a href='https://www.

It’s back! It only happens twice a year - our 21-Day Challenge is starting on 1/21/2021. We are super excited to kick off this challenge which is designed to help you move your money forward in a bigger, better way than you ever have before. In this episode you will learn... What the 21-Day Challenge is and how you can sign up Who the 21-Day Challenge is designed to help Who should not participate in this challenge To participate in the 21-Day Challenge, join our free Facebook community - this is where all the activity of the 21-Day Challenge is happening! Click here to sign Up for the 21-Day Challenge Click here to

It’s one of our favorite times of the month! It is time for the December FC Beat. That’s the Financial Coaches Beat, in case you didn’t know, where Jaclyn and Jill are giving you the inside scoop on what’s happening, all things in the Fiscal Fitness world. And of course our favorite part which is tooting the horns of our amazing clients, sharing the great work that they are doing and celebrating their accomplishments. You’ve got to tune in for this one!   Resources: New Year, New Money Checklist: fiscalfitnessphx.com/newyear - Episode 107 Choosing your word of the year: https://fiscalfitness

Famous financial gurus are known for their popular, one-size-fits all approaches to money. Here at Fiscal Fitness, we know from working first hand with hundreds of clients that no formula works for every single client. In this episode you'll hear why Coach Jaclyn herself chose to abandon one of the popular approaches out there when working on paying off her non-mortgage debt. In this episode you will learn... Why the one-size-fits-all approach wasn’t working for me - what I liked and what I didn’t. How working with Coach Jill changed my approach and what she taught me How having a custom approach was actually a much wiser path for us to take   Resources: Schedule a free call with one of our coaches <a href='https://

Many clients tell us that setting goals isn’t something they have ever done. That it feels really unnatural for them and isn’t something they feel comfortable with. We have definitely found that goal setting is a skill that must be learned and the better you get at setting your goals, the better you get at achieving them time and time again! Unfortunately, goal setting fails for so many people. Here are a few things we see or hear from clients when it comes to goal setting: They say it feels pointless. They don’t ever feel as though they are reaching their goals. They forget the details of their goal. Their goals are set up as pass/fail, and they find themselves failing time and again. They aren’t specific enough, so they never know if they have actually achieved their goal. <li style="font-weight:400

So long 2020 and good riddance!  This episode is a rerelease of episode 48 from 2019 but it is so great that we want to share it with you again.  Research shows that resolutions are largely ineffective for making positive, sustainable change. Twenty-five percent of people break resolutions within one week and sixty-five percent break them within weeks. Selecting a word of the year can help us to embrace a larger vision that feels expansive and possible. A single word is easier to remember than a whole list of goals and resolutions. Your “word of the year” anchors your daily life, helps you focus, guides the work you do, choices you make. The benefits of choosing one word: Can feel more expansive than goals or resolutions. Can feel more inspirational vs instructional. Especially great for people who do not do well with structure, deadlines, or too many rules. Allows one to adjust their goals and resolutions as the year goes on – th

This episode was originally published in December of 2019 as episode 74.  It was so impactful and popular that we wanted to put it back on your radar.  You may be excited to set new year’s resolutions and goals with your finances this time of year, but if you’re not careful, you could be getting ahead of yourself. Don’t set yourself up for failure, check out our New Year New Money Checklist FIRST. It will help you lay a really solid foundation from which to build from! Get ready to make your new year financial goals a resounding success in 2020! You can visit the original blog post with downloadable "New year, new money" worksheet here. 

It’s one of our favorite times of the month! It is time for the November FC Beat. That’s the Financial Coaches Beat, in case you didn’t know, where Jaclyn and Jill are giving you the inside scoop on what’s happening, all things in the Fiscal Fitness world. And of course our favorite part which is tooting the horns of our amazing clients, sharing the great work that they are doing and celebrating their accomplishments. You’ve got to tune in for this one!

This is a replay of one of our most popular episodes, episode 23: Holiday Traditions and Gift Giving Ideas that will Not Break the Bank. You can check out the amazing companion holiday shopping and traditions blog post here. 

This time of year, tends to be one of the most EXPENSIVE times of year for a lot of people. It is when there are a ton of festivities happening all within a relatively short period of time and we often can get swept away with the fun, the tradition, the expectations of family or friends and ALSO tempted by all of the sales and amazing marketing that is about to be around every turn.  We want YOU all to be prepared for it. Not only financially, but also from an emotional place, so you don't get swept up in the excitement of it all, only to regret it come January.  Notes: A lot of the really big sales that are going to be promoted in the coming weeks will have advertising that makes you want to "ACT QUICKLY" because the deal will end soon, stock is limited, shipping times may be delayed. All of these reasons will be used to push you to BUY and BUY quickly.  Spending money should actually feel v

"I think a lot of people, when they meet a financial professional, assume that they’re someone who is just naturally good at money, that they have some sort of formal financial training or degree in finance, or that they’ve always made good decisions with their money. And that’s just not true. I became a financial coach because of how financially stressed I used to be and the transformation I experienced from working with a financial coach myself" Jaclyn Wise, Financial Coach at Fiscal Fitness Phoenix   In this episode you will learn... What the major catalyst was for Coach Jaclyn to finally make a change How Jaclyn got her start in financial coaching Why Jaclyn left her teaching career to coach full time Additional tips for when changing careers: Tip #1 - Before you make a big financial decisi

Does it seem like learning to manage your money is just plain impossible? Do you keep trying to become better with your money, but then you find yourself giving up? In this episode, we dive in to the 4 stages of learning with money. We provide key characteristics of each one so you can easily identify where on the journey of growth you are. We also give you specific steps to take to keep you moving along the 4 stages.   In this episode, Kelsa will help you understand and implement: The 4 stages of learning a new skill Characteristics of each stage Steps to continue progressing through the stages Questions

In this episode Coach Jill walks you through how to assess whether a home project is worth the investment and if you decide to move forward, what are some of your options for deciding how to pay for the project. There are so many options out there - from paying cash to credit to HELOC’s to loans. Let’s talk about what option makes the most sense for YOU when deciding to move forward with a home improvement or renovation project.     Questions answered in this episode: How do you determine whether a home improvement project is “worth it”? How do you decide the best financing option based on the size of the project?  When's the best time to use a HELOC vs. home equity loan? What we recommend for anyone considering home improvement projects this year   Additional tips and strategies: <li st

Most of the time a brand new client finds Fiscal Fitness, they find us by searching for a “financial advisor.” And most people don’t know what a financial coach even is. In this episode, Coach Jaclyn breaks down the differences between financial coaches and advisors, and help you decide which one you need on your money power team today.

It’s one of our favorite times of the month! It is time for the FC Beat. That’s the Financial Coaches Beat, in case you didn’t know, where Jaclyn and Jill are giving you the inside scoop on what’s happening, all things in the Fiscal Fitness world. And of course our favorite part which is tooting the horns of our amazing clients, sharing the great work that they are doing and celebrating their accomplishments. You’ve got to tune in for this one!

Why is it that we want to shout from the rooftops when we hire a personal trainer to help us get in the best shape of our lives, but we want to keep it a secret when we want to hire a financial coach to help us get in the best financial shape of our lives? Coach Jill dives into the thoughts we have about money that are actually holding us back from becoming skilled in this incredibly important area of life.  Have you ever thought “How are they doing that?” when you see friends going on vacation, renovating their house, taking a voluntary sabbatical from work, or driving their new dream car? Usually this thought is followed by another one that involves self-doubt, shame, or embarrassment because we believe we must be “doing it wrong”.  Asking for help to figure out how to “Do it right”, brings about an onslaught of emotions that often prevents us from taking steps to learn a better way. WHY do we feel shame asking for help in this area of life, but would never experienc

The simplest description of the Diderot Effect is this: “The introduction of a new possession into a consumer’s existence will often result in a process of spiraling consumption.”    What does this mean? You buy a new car and now you need a new tint job, new rims, a new phone charging cable, new sunshades, etc. That one purchase has resulted in a multitude of purchases that before the initial purchase, were not even on your radar.    The Diderot Effect is a VERY common spending phenomenon that nearly everyone falls victim too. In this episode, Coach Jill gives examples of how the Diderot Effect might be showing up and she also gives you 7 tips to help you reduce its financial impact.    Coach Jill's 7 tips to reduce the Diderot Effect Awareness is key. Imagine how the new item will fit in with the rest of your life. Limit temptations.</li

Did you know that the average American household spends over $200/month on their cable bill? For most of us, that makes cable our most expensive utility. Learn how to save money with streaming by cutting the cable cord in this episode.   Notes from episode: Guest expert (and Jaclyn’s husband) John Wise shares different options for cutting the cable cord that can save you more money than you might have thought possible. Cutting the cable cord does not have to mean that you lose access to sports, local TV, or DVR. In fact, John and Jaclyn have access to all of them. One of the most inexpensive ways to cut the cable cord is to install a rooftop or wall antenna, which will enable you to pick up locally broadcast channels. You can completely eliminate your cable bill by doing that. A more popular option is to use a streaming device (like

Money is a LIFELONG journey. No matter where you are starting, there will always be something “Next” on the list. When we think about our financial lives, it’s as if we are climbing a mountain. We are always looking up and we can see the next step towards the goal we are working towards, but it’s like the top of the mountain is covered in clouds. Every time we think we must be JUST about to reach the peak, we get through the clouds and discover there is still so much more to go.  There will ALWAYS be more we are striving for and if we aren’t careful this can lead to frustration It is easy to compare ourselves to others who we see as more successful and think - “they are so far ahead, I will never get there.” So to combat this, we need to manufacture some artificial peaks for ourselves. We need to have a way to measure our progress and recognize that while it still feels as though we are climbing a never ending mountain, we actually HAVE made so much progress and that makes it

Adoption can be one of the most loving and selfless things someone can do. It's fair to say that the foster care system for each state is extremely underfunded and overfilled with children that need loving homes. Michael and Kelsa made the decision to adopt through the Arizona foster care system almost three years ago and were lucky enough to adopt their son, Alex, on June 14th of 2019. Many people have asked them about the process as well as the financials for adopting Alex. While each state is different in regards to the foster to adopt programs available, Kelsa and Michael have put together some great talking points about their experience so you can do some initial leg work for your state.   

It’s one of our favorite times of the month! It is time for the FC Beat. That’s the Financial Coaches Beat, in case you didn’t know, where Jaclyn and Jill are giving you the inside scoop on what’s happening, all things in the Fiscal Fitness world. And of course our favorite part which is tooting the horns of our amazing clients, sharing the great work that they are doing and celebrating their accomplishments. You’ve got to tune in for this one!

Meet our newest financial coach at Fiscal Fitness Phoenix, Jaclyn Wise!!! She wasn't always this awesome at budgeting though. It took some determination to look inside herself to be able to ask for help from a financial coach. And she hasn't looked back. Today, Jaclyn is sharing the top 5 money mistakes that she has made in the past and provides some strategies and action steps to help you avoid those same mistakes. Here are Jaclyn's top 5 money mistakes: Money Mistake #1: I blew through my grad party money. Money Mistake #2: I misused my student loans. Money Mistake #3: I struggled in silence (for six years!) Money Mistake #4: We bought way too much house Money Mistake #5: I overspent for the wrong reasons You can find Coach Jill's Top 5 Money Mistakes <a href='http://www.fisc

What does it mean to be interested vs. invested and how is this showing up for you in your life? The energy behind these two words and the actions we take are entirely different and in this episode, Coach Jill dives into how being “interested” in something is showing up for you in life and how it is holding you back from creating the life you want. Notes from episode:  Think about something you have been “interested” in. What does this look like for you? What results are you getting in your life?  Think about something you have “invested” in. How did you show up differently? What was the result of being invested?  How were your actions different between being interested or being invested?  What area of your life are you currently interested in and how can you invest to get the results you are seeking? Related links:<

It’s one of our favorite times of the month! It is time for the FC Beat. That’s the Financial Coaches Beat, in case you didn’t know, where Kelsa and Jill are giving you the inside scoop on what’s happening, all things in the Fiscal Fitness world. And of course our favorite part which is tooting the horns of our amazing clients, sharing the great work that they are doing and celebrating their accomplishments. You’ve got to tune in for this one!

Meet our newest Financial Coach - Jaclyn Wise! As a former math teacher you might expect budgeting would come easily, but Jaclyn shares she was a mess when it came to budgeting and balancing her own checkbook. Once she started making “real” money, she thought her finance worries would be solved. She was wrong. Six years after graduating college, she found she was still living paycheck-to-paycheck and feeling extremely jealous whenever her friends posted pictures on Facebook of themselves enjoying vacations in exotic places. She scrutinized and antagonized every purchase she made, big and small. Money made her feel all the wrong feelings.  That was years ago. Today, her life looks a lot different.  Since investing in financial coaching in 2015, Jaclyn and her husband have made a remarkable amount of progress in five short years.  Jaclyn shares her story of how she became a financial coach and some of the challenges sh

Knowing your income and expenses are important. But just as important are numbers that show you the bigger picture of your financial situation and that’s where your Net Worth & Savings Rate come into play. Kelsa will walk you through how to calculate these, provide some insights as to why you might want to care about them, and even provide some tools for you to use! Notes from episode: Why your savings rate & Net Worth are important numbers to know How to calculate both of these figures Pros & cons of using these numbers Next steps once you’ve gained awareness of these figures How to improve & strengthen your net worth & savings rate   Resources:  https:

As we start the slow return to normalcy following the COVID19 quarantine, it's time to consider what our spending habits will be. Companies will more than likely start to market towards our need for normalcy and the things we have been missing out on the past few months.  Jill and Kelsa talk about some strategies to make sure that your climb out of quarantine will be well within your budget!   Tips from Jill and Kelsa: Some expenses you may see a quick spike in  eating out travel entertainment What else do you expect? Don't forget to add back into your budget childcare gas expense for traveling to work kids activities if they were cancelled for a while Grooming hair nails facials waxing etc Be honest and realistic with yourself on what you may need to add If you lost

Amazon has made it so easy and convenient to have all of your purchases on your doorstep within a matter of days (or sometimes hours!). The convenience is great, but how is this impacting your finances? The convenience of being able to order anything we want in the click of a button, may be holding you back from reaching your financial goals. In this episode, Coach Jill gives some quick and simple tips to help you gain control of your Amazon spending habits in this episode of The Fiscal Fitness Podcast. Coach Jill's Amazon best practices to stop overspending: The convenience of instant gratification may be sabotaging your financial goals. Practice strengthening your delayed gratification muscle by adding items to your cart, but waiting to click “buy” until a set day each week. (**Hint - choose a day at the beginning of the week - try Tuesday or Wednesday) R

We were in a total funk for meals and found ourselves spending way too much on both groceries AND eating out! Here’s how we fixed it! Notes from episode/ summary of major points/ etc:  What being in a rut with food spending can look like  Various strategies for getting a handle on your food spending  One out-of-the-book solution you may want to consider Additional tips/ strategies/ other things to consider/ etc: This wasn’t always a problem - it just sort of becomes a problem suddenly. In fact, we used to be really good at cooking, eating at home, etc. Practical tips for meal prepping and planning  Resources/ links related to topic/ mentioned in podcast:  Episode 49 - Financial New Year's Resolutions Super Episode</

It’s one of our favorite times of the month! It is time for the FC Beat. That’s the Financial Coaches Beat, in case you didn’t know, where Kelsa and Jill are giving you the inside scoop on what’s happening, all things in the Fiscal Fitness world. And of course our favorite part which is tooting the horns of our amazing clients, sharing the great work that they are doing and celebrating their accomplishments. You’ve got to tune in for this one! Related Links: The Fiscal Fitness Podcast Special Episode:  Keeping Morale Up During Covid-19. https://fiscalfitnessphx.com/covid-19/ Why It's Important to Know Your Net Worth and Savings Rate.  https://fiscalfitnessphx.com/why-its-important-to-know-your-net-worth-and-savings-rate/ Learn more about our Eureka Session! <a href='https:/

What are some simple activities that you can do that can have a quick yet significant impact on your budget? Kelsa is going to share 5 of those actions! Notes from episode: 5 Quick money-saving and confidence-boosting actions you can take today Why these things are more impactful than they seem on the surface 5 actions: Review your pay stub Is there anything you’re paying for that is optional that you’re not using?  Is there anything you’re paying for that you can take advantage of - such as an Accident policy or Aflac type. Or a prepaid legal service where you can get a free will for you and your family?  Does your pay look correct?  Call to get a CC interest rate lowered Call in the morning

When there is so much uncertainty and things feel out of our control, it’s very easy to get sucked up in the worry and feel as if everything is “on hold” until this all blows over. In this episode, Coach Jill talks about how important it is to keep morale high while living through this very uncertain time. We have the opportunity to choose or DECIDE what we really want to get out of this time, so let’s choose to make it a time that we can be proud of. Notes from episode/ summary of major points/ etc: Ask yourself: “What would make me really proud to say I did during the Covid-19 quarantine?” Our level of productivity will translate to our mental health. Take care of yourself by finding a way to be productive. Declutter, find a fitness or nutrition challenge to participate in, learn something new, put your spending in check with a financial challenge, volunteer or donate your time

You can be really disciplined and still fall for temptations so today we’ll be covering 3 steps to conquering temptations once and for all. Kelsa will be covering: How to identify when triggers happen for you - this awareness is key!  Then Kelsa will discuss 13 ways you can reduce the chance of temptations tripping you up and essentially ways to prevent facing temptations to begin with. And then... How to have a backup plan of free activities so that when temptation strikes, you are prepared! CLICK HERE to receive the 50 Free Activities handout! Notes from episode: Identify your spending triggers that are pulling you off track Pick 2-3 changes you can make right away to curb your temptations Pick a m

Thinking about buying a house?  Listen to what mortgage lender Jeff Quincey shares with Jill. Coach Jill interviews mortgage lender Jeff Quincey of Fairway Independent Mortgage and they give you the scoop on everything you need to know about mortgages, refinancing and what to expect in the process.  This podcast is the perfect prep for our 4-week “Home Buyers” course that is about to kick off on Monday March 23rd, 2020 (postponed and new dates TBD). This live & interactive course is led by our own financial coaching experts Jill Emanuel and Kelsa Dickey. This course will help you feel more well-prepared and confident as you make the big decision to buy a home, which may very well be the single largest purchase of your lifetime. It only makes sense to invest a bit of time, effort and money to learn how to ensure your home is a blessing and not a curse! Click THIS LINK to find out more and

What are 5 quick activities you can do that will make an impact on your finances? We get asked all the time “what are some things I can do to quickly make an impact”, so we’ve put together 5 things you can do right now to start to see a quick improvement in your finances! You don’t have to do all 5, pick one or two that make sense to try and give them a whirl. Of course, bonus points if you do them all! Some takeaways from this episode: Try a spending elimination diet Get locked in on your day to day spending Plan your meals and groceries Organize your debt payoff plan Get help from a financial coach (Book your Eureka session!) Resources/Related Topics: Book a Eureka

It’s one of our favorite times of the year! It is time to chat about the New Year Money 21-Day Challenge. The 21 Day Challenges are designed to help participants with saving money, gaining clarity, having fun, making progress, fine-tuning expenses and gaining insights surrounding their finances.  The best part is the potential to even WIN money! And of course our favorite part which is tooting the horns of our amazing participants and having them share the great work and celebrating their accomplishments along the way. You’ve got to tune in for this one!

Oftentimes the initial thought when we learn we are getting a return is that it’s time to celebrate! We want to do something big with it - like book the vacation we’ve want to go on, make the big purchase we’ve been putting off, do some home renovations, or even pay off debt - unfortunately, even though these are done with the thought that this is all “extra money” to do it with, we can often regret our choices when a whammy hits us on the back side. In this episode, Coach Jill gives you a few things to think about to make sure you are using your tax return in the best way possible. Reminders of what to consider with your return: Resist temptation to do something “fun” with all of the refund. Think about using the 10/90% rule.  First ask yourself what your initial plans with this money is - get clear on the various options. Consider whether a whammy, or a large unexpected expense

It’s one of our favorite times of the month! It is time for the FC Beat. That’s the Financial Coaches Beat, in case you didn’t know, where Kelsa and Jill are giving you the inside scoop on what’s happening, all things in the Fiscal Fitness world. And of course our favorite part which is tooting the horns of our amazing clients, sharing the great work that they are doing and celebrating their accomplishments. You’ve got to tune in for this one!

You might be thinking all those emails with sales and discount codes are doing you a favor. I promise - they’re not! These emails are tempting you to spend on items that would not have even been on your radar, if not for the enticing sale that just landed in your inbox. One of the ways I save hundreds every year and minimize my temptations is to get off those mailing list and use three browser extensions that help me find the best prices and deals when I shop online. In this episode I share with you my 3 favorite tools for saving money while shopping online: Rakuten, Honey and CamelCamelCamel. Be smart with your online shopping with these sites: Use the app Unroll.me to easily unroll from email lists that are bombarding your inbox (and your mind!) with shopping temptations.  You can still take advantage of the sales and discounts, but do it on your own terms, when you are actively looking for something and not w

What makes a year your “best year yet?”. How is it that you can intentionally create the year ahead to be just that? This episode helps you reflect on the prior year, its’ ups or downs and identify what made it so great….or not so great. Once you have that information, now you can use it to craft the year ahead to be one you can feel proud of. Coach Jill reviews six key areas of life to evaluate and create a plan for that allow you to move into the New Year with clarity, purpose and intentionality. Let's recap some points that will help to make 2020 your best year yet!! Entering into a new year purposefully, must begin with a reflection on the year behind us. What factors contributed to how great, or horrible, we felt about the year behind us? How can we use this knowledge to intentionally recreate or completely reconstruct our lives in the year ahead?  Being intentional with our lives requires thought and a plan

Before you set financial goals or resolutions - listen to this episode! You may be excited to set new year’s resolutions and goals with your finances this time of year, but if you’re not careful, you could be getting ahead of yourself. Don’t set yourself up for failure, check out our New Year New Money Checklist FIRST. It will help you lay a really solid foundation from which to build from! In this episode, Kelsa talks about her 7 Steps to laying a really solid foundation for 2020. Step one is setting your intention. So firming up your wife for pursuing financial growth and progress in the new year. Step two is reflecting on your wins and losses in the past year. Step three, reviewing sinking funds and savings accounts. In other words, for any projects or special occasions and just everyday type expenses that might be happening in the new year. Step four is the year end checklist, getting organized a

Once a month, Coach Kelsa and Coach Jill like to go live in our private Facebook group (Ask to join for free here).  Listen in as they share with you the highlights of the past month! Updates galore, inspiration, tips and budgeting tricks, what's coming up for Fiscal Fitness Fanatics and the awesome accomplishments of our clients!!

If you find that your financial life is not where you want it to be, chances are good that it’s not for lack of effort. What we see here at Fiscal Fitness is that our clients have tried for years to turn things around, yet for one reason or another - nothing seems to stick. Don't feel bad or guilty thought. A lot of these things are not because you are "bad with money" but because the systems and strategies are set up for you to fail.   Our mission at Fiscal Fitness is to provide you with the financial skills, behaviors and tools that will support you for the long haul. Give this episode a listen to see if you relate to the top 7 things we see people have tried in the past that simply did NOT help.   You can see the full transcript of the episode here. Coach Jill's 7 things that just aren't working for you and your budget: Living Extreme <li style="font-we

Once a month, Coach Kelsa and Coach Jill like to go live in our private Facebook group (Ask to join for free here).  Listen in as they share with you the highlights of the past month! Updates galore, inspiration, tips and budgeting tricks, what's coming up for Fiscal Fitness Fanatics and the awesome accomplishments of our clients!!

The average cost of college according to 2017/2018 polls show an estimate of $25,000-35,000 per YEAR and up to as much as $70,000 for some of the more “elite” colleges and universities. Student loan debt is becoming one of the greatest financial burdens, so we asked college admissions consultant and scholarship guru, Pam Andrews, aka - “The Scholarship Shark” to join us today to offer some insights about how students can best prepare for college and navigate the world of college admissions and gaining scholarships to offset the hefty price of college education.    Notes from episode: The best time to begin planning for college is as you are entering your sophomore year of high school.  Pam explains the difference between the “sticker price” and the “net price” of college and what you need to know to avoid paying too much. GPA is one piece of the equation, but many s

This episode is all about tackling the idea of what wealth really makes us do and feel.  Many people have a mindset around money, especially when it comes to wealthy people or gaining wealth themselves, that wealthy people are all entitled, greedy and un-empathetic. They avoid pursuing becoming wealthy because they feel that they will become the same thing that they hate about other wealthy people. Do they really think money is the root of all evil? If they were being honest with themselves, are they judging rich people? Continually look for every reason to prove or reinforce some sort of stereotype they likely already had about rich people? Here's where things start to get interesting... A team of psychologist at the University of CA Berkeley rigged a game of Monopoly so that skill, brains, financial shrewdness and luck - the pieces of the game that can create your success or your demise - have been made irrelevant.  Researchers watch and document

Once a month, Coach Kelsa and Coach Jill like to go live in our private Facebook group (Ask to join for free here).  Listen in as they share with you the highlights of the past month! Updates galore, inspiration, tips and budgeting tricks, what's coming up for Fiscal Fitness Fanatics and the awesome accomplishments of our clients!!

It’s great to know that your bills are paid on time every month and that you have no significant debt or that you have money going into your 401K. But just because money isn’t stressing you out, doesn’t mean you are reaching your full potential. One of the things the biggest things that holds people back from having an extraordinary life, is being comfortable and believing that what they are doing is “good enough”. In this episode, Coach Jill challenges you to look a little deeper. What possibilities exist for your life that you’ve not even begun to explore because you have shied away from pushing yourself in your financial world?   Notes from the episode: Being intentional with our money gives us possibilities in life that we can’t yet even see for ourselves.  Time is a precious resource. Every year we spend winging it is

Did you catch Jill’s Money Mistakes? It was episode 65 so if you haven’t listened to that yet our owner and CEO, Kelsa Dickey, highly recommends it. She actually LOVES talking about mistakes she and her husband Michael have made. Which, maybe sounds a little strange but it's the truth!!! The easier it becomes to reflect on your past mistakes, analyze them and learn from them, the smarter you feel and the easier it becomes to anticipate future mistakes - and ultimately prevent them! How cool is that?   The better we get at owning our mistakes, the easier it is to take them in stride when they happen. The result is that you can actually be better at taking action overall because you don’t live in fear of making another mistake. And we know that happens with people in money - they’ve done some things wrong so they’re sort of frozen in trying anyt

We’ve all had our fair share of financial mistakes. All of those coulda, woulda, shoulda’s can weigh heavy, but know that you aren’t alone. I’ve had plenty of my own mistakes and in this episode I am sharing five that if I had a time machine would travel back and change today!  Below you can see a list of my top 5 money mistakes but you'll have to listen to the episode to learn why they were such a big mistake and strategies on how you can avoid making one of those mistakes in the first place. Here are Jill's top 5 money mistakes: Money Mistake #1 - I didn’t invest early Monday Mistake #2 - I didn’t understand the true cost of my college education and didn’t take proactive steps that would have helped reduce my student loan burden. Money Mistake #3 - We purchased a house when we should have rented. Money Mistake #4 - I kept telling

Get your Roadmap to Financial Independence We’ve got something exciting brewing over here at Fiscal Fitness that we can’t wait to share with you! If you haven’t yet heard of the Financial Independence (FI) movement, get ready - this is the topic of our newest LIVE course, that will be kicking off on Oct 21 2019. In this episode Jill provides a little sneak peak into Financial Independence and why this movement might just be the thing you’ve been searching for.  Notes from episode: The Roadmap to Financial Independence LIVE course kicks off on Oct 21, 2019  Weekly Zoom group calls on Monday nights for 4 consecutive weeks You get interaction and additional support from our financial independence experts within our FB community  Everything you need to kickstart your journey to FI  Resources/ links related to topic/ mentioned in podcast: <li style="fon

Nowadays there are so many opportunities to make some extra side hustle money. Uber, Lyft, Fiverr and Postmates are very common options; just to name a few.  We have all sold something that we had lying around the house or just weren't using anymore. Maybe you have a garage sale once per year, consistently sell unwanted items on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace or really like to refinish old furniture.  You can take the same principles and, with a little strategy and elbow grease, make some pretty good money with a side hustle where you resell clothing, shoes, furniture and more. Rachel Sodergren makes extra money every month by sourcing items that she wants to sell by shopping around Goodwill, Salvation Army and other local thrift shops, cleaning the items, then selling them online for a profit.  She actually says she enjoys the thrill of the hunt, learning more about pricing and trends and making money all while having fun.  If you are l

The Power of Focus and Intentionality - Client Interview with Truman Weston Truman Weston is an accountant in the Lake Tahoe, California area, who stumbled across Fiscal Fitness while researching other potential lines of business that he could add to his already successful accounting practice. What he found through coaching is not what he expected, but so much more. He found that the connection between his money and his life was not what he had believed it to be. Through coaching, he found a renewed passion, not only for his business and its future, but for his life.  In this episode Jill and Truman discuss these pearls: A plan without action, does not get you anywhere. And accountability to take that action, can provide the motivation you need to make massive change in your life.   Earning more money is not always the answer. Knowing that the money you are earning is being used to help you live the life y

Over the years financial coach Jill Emanuel has noticed that the great majority (80%!!!) of our one on one financial coaching clients clients are focused on their health as well as their finances. This fact got her wondering if there were certain personality traits that these people possessed that made them more likely to be successful in both. She has identified 10 traits that she sees time and time again in the clients we work with, that makes them people who are highly likely to be successful with their finances AND with their health. Here are Jill's top 10 traits of people successful with both their finances and health: They believe things (they) can be/do better. They are OK with being temporarily uncomfortable for the greater good They ask questions and seek advice and guidance from others who are successful at the things they want to be successful at  They know their numbers.  They abandon the ALL or NOTHING mentality. </

Are you avoiding your Big, Fat, Hairy Goals because they aren't realistic or tangible? In today’s episode Coach Jill talks about your BFHG’S, big fat hairy goals. The problem with these huge goals we have we start to feel overwhelmed and frustrated with the thought that we will never achieve those BFHG’s.  It’s when we start to put limitations on what we can achieve plus negative self talk that really holds us back and makes us think these goals are unrealistic and unreachable. How can you make them more tangible and real? What are the best ways to break down your BFHG’s to make them more manageable?  If you stay focused and follow Coach Jill’s simple tips you will see that your big fat hairy goals are actually very achievable! Tips on making your BFHG's more realistic, tangible and doable: Don’t limit yourself to the bare minimum or the easiest goals or what society says your goals should be. Go for what is going to make you happy, what i

Part 6 of a 6-part series on Cognitive Biases and how they impact us and our money each and every day! This episode is part 5 of our 6-part series on Cognitive Biases and how they impact us and our money each and every day! (Make sure you check out part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5 if you haven't yet) It’s important to know what these are bec

This episode is part 5 of our 6-part series on Cognitive Biases and how they impact us and our money each and every day! (Make sure you check out part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4 if you haven't yet) It’s important to know what these are because they are impacting the way you make decisions and the way you think about your finances every single day. In this episode, Coach Kelsa discusses how the Negativity Bias is impacting the way we define ourselves with money, our desire to make lifelon

One challenge that Coach Jill sees time and time again is that clients tell her they are blowing their budget when it comes to food and eating out. So many people are frustrated with how much they are spending in this area (or are too scared to even look!), but don’t know where to begin with getting it to a place they feel great about. In this episode she shares some of the easy things you can begin to do today to gain control of your food budget and use your money for the things that you really care about!   Tips and strategies from Coach Jill: Gaining clarity around how much you are spending on food and eating out is the first step to making a change. Total it up and reflect on what OTHER things you could be spending that money on? Are you just eating your money away? Be open to trying something new. Shop at a new grocery store, mix up your meals, make dining out special again by making

Part 4 of a 6-part series on Cognitive Biases and how they impact us and our money each and every day! If you missed parts 1, 2, or 3 of the series, be sure to check them out too.  It’s important to know what these biases are because they are impacting the way you make decisions and the way you think about your finances every single day. In this episode, we discuss how the Bandwagon Effect is impacting the purchases we’re making but also the emphasis we place on the importance of those purchases in our lives. In today's episode Kelsa cov

Part 3 of a 6-part series on Cognitive Biases and how they impact us and our money each and every day! Check out Part 1 and Part 2 of this 6 part series if you haven't yet! It’s important to know what these are because they are impacting the way you make decisions and the way you think about your finances every single day. In this episode, we discuss how the Attentional bias is impacting the purchases we’re making but also the emphasis we place on those purchases as being life-savers. In this episode we will cover: Attentional bias - what it is and how it’s being used to affect my  decision-making How this shows

Part 2 of a 6-part series on Cognitive Biases and how they impact us and our money each and every day! It’s important to know what these are because they are impacting the way you make decisions and the way you think about your finances every single day. In this episode, we discuss how the Availability Heuristic bias is impacting the way we think of ourselves as money managers In this episode we'll talk about: Availability Heuristic - what it is and how it’s being used to affect my  decision-making How this shows up on a regular basis for us How it’s impacting the way we think of ourselves as money managers How we can overcome this bias Additional strategies and tips: ASK YOURSELF---> What do your older memories say about how you are as a

John Lanza, is on a mission to help families raise money-smart and money-empowered kids so that they can live happier, more fulfilled lives.  To that end, he has written The ARt of Allowance along with three other children’s picture books. John is the creator and Chief Mammal of The Money Mammals, an award-winning DVD and youth savings account program for credit unions nationwide, all built around the core Money Mammals Mantra, “we’ll share and save and spend smart too!”   John’s mission began with a simple question “How can we raise our kids to be money smart?” He and his wife quickly realized that financial literacy was vital not only for their own six month old but for all families and The Money Mammals were born - a pioneering program to get kids excited about becoming money smart.   In this episode Kelsa and John talk about: The best age to start doing an allowance? Allowance vs chores as part of the famil

Hypnotherapist, Financial Therapist and CEO of Presidential Lifestyle, Kiné Corder founded Prosperity Club when she realized couples needed help with more than just the numbers. A former Morgan Stanley, Financial Planning Specialist, Kiné made the shift to counselor about 5 years ago. Helping patients feel more confident in every area of their lives. She is also a best selling author, international speaker, and her favorite pastime is traveling the world while healing it. In this episode Kelsa and Kiné talk about: Where confidence comes from financial or otherwise...and how to keep it once you get it. 3-things that cause us to lose confidence in ourselves, our partners, and our ability to stick to our love and money goals. Including how society, parents, and negative thinking affect us Comparing Complaining Competing Money cycle: earn, grow, protect, gift & enjoy 4-blocks and misconceptions that ca

  Mandyy Thomas, born and raised in Saskatchewan, Canada, is a former civil engineer and holistic nutritionist turned financial coach.  She found that she was so stressed worrying about money and had significant health and anxiety related issues.  She was able to significantly reduce her anxiety and improve her overall health with proper nutrition and learning as much as she can about personal finance.  This led her to have a passion for helping other people take control of their personal finances by becoming a financial coach.  In this episode we talk about: How exactly her stress about money showed up in her life, even though she was making good money How she decided to become a financial coach and exactly what she did to become one The mistakes she made when starting her financial coaching business Her favorite tips for people that are stressing about money And much more   You can find out more ab

In part 1 of a  6-part series, Kelsa discusses Cognitive Biases and how they impact us and our money each and every day! It’s important to know what these are because they are impacting the way you make decisions and the way you think about your finances every single day. And advertisers and retailers are fully aware of what these tendencies are and they’re using them to influence you. Notes from episode/ summary of major points/ etc: What is a cognitive bias? The Anchoring Bias - what it is and how it’s being used to affect my decision making Kelsa’s example of how this bias impacted a choice she made recently How we can overcome the anchoring bias   Additional tips/ strategies/ other things to consider/ etc: In order to combat the effect of anchoring, it’s important to put yo

There comes a point where most everyone gets fed up with their financial situation.  They keep over-drafting their checking account (like Michael did in grad school) or they just can't believe the amount of debt they are in and want it out of their life.  Or really any number of things.   This episode was recorded on January 4th so if you have a new year's resolution to get your finances in order, get on a budget, get out of debt or beef up your savings, this is the episode for you!  If you have had that watershed moment when you realize your finances have stressed you out for too long and want to know where to start, this is the episode for you! We go through, step by step, how you start to address your finances when you can't take anymore. We also talk about what people typically do and why it sets them up for failure 85% of the time! Learn more about Fiscal Fitness Phoenix financial coach at www.fiscalfitnessphx.com</

We all have some kind of goals with our money and since we are getting close to New Year's resolution season it's time to start to get clear with the goals we have for our money. The problem that most people have is that once they set a goal they don't actually follow through with it and actually fail almost right out of the gate.  According to U.S. News, 80% of new years resolutions fail by February.  In this episode, Coach Jill has some great tips and strategies on how you can take you money goals and make them long lasting habits. Links: Rich Roll podcast: James Clear www.FiscalFitnessPHX.com www.FinancialCoachAcademy.com  

Jennifer McDermott is the Consumer Advocate at personal finance comparison website, www.finder.com. She has more than 12 years’ experience under her belt in the finance, lifestyle and travel industries where she’s analyzed consumer trends. Jennifer is passionate about breaking down complex themes and providing actionable advice that empowers people to make better decisions about their money. In today's episode Jennifer helps break down side hustles:  How to choose the right one for you. How to know when to quit. When you should start one.  And much more! www.financialcoachacademy.com www.financialcoachingsymposium.com www.fiscalfitnessphx.com 

In this episode Jill talks about that there is sometimes more to what we think financial success actually means.  Highlights of this episode: Studies show that your idea of financial success is double whatever your current salary is.  The first step in understanding financial success is taking a look at what you are currently making and figure out how your current income can make you happy. To be financially successful you not only have to look towards long term goals and numbers but also look at nurturing what currently is making you happy and also eliminating what you are currently tolerating.  Financial success is living the life that you want to live with meaning and intention. 

In this episode Michael talks about the psychology of playing the lottery, why it's considered a "tax on the poor" and what the $364.5 million payout of this Friday's (10/19/18) MegaMillions could buy you.  Music by Antti Luode

Financial coach, Jill Emanuel, talks about her experience as a client of Fiscal Fitness Phoenix and how she and her husband had to make one of the hardest decisions of their lives in hiring a Financial Coach and why it was the best decision in their lives.    Music by Antti Luode

In this episode Coach Jill goes over why cash is so important, some strategies you can use to maximize cash and reduce "swiping syndrome" and how using cash can really impact your financial life and your relationships.   Find out more about Fiscal Fitness Phoenix at www.fiscalfitnessphx.com Learn more about Financial Coach Academy at www.financialcoachacademy.com   Music by Antti Luode

When you think of franchises you probably think of McDonalds and Little Caesars but did you know there are so many more opportunities for having a franchise as a source of income?  It is very interesting to me that a franchise is more than chain restaurants and that there are so many options.  Navigating the options of opening a franchise can be pretty daunting and there are definitely do's and don'ts for when it comes to opening one.  Loren Kutsko is a career transition coach and for lack of better words a franchise coach.  He helps people that are either transitioning out of a job and looking for a way they can invest their money and still work, looking to own a small business but want a proven and predictable system or looking for a way to have a side hustle to invest in that may not take a lot of time or energy.  Or really anything in between. In this episode Loren and Michael talk about the current franchise market, how he helps people identify the right franchise

Time management and money management are intimately connected and we often see clients that suffer from poor money management because they have poor time management.   In this episode Kelsa goes over her 9 time management strategies that will not only make you more productive but will positively affect your money too.  www.fiscalfitnessphx.com www.financialcoachacademy.com www.facebook.com/fiscalfitnessphx www.facebook.com/financialcoachacademy www.facebook.com/groups/financialcoachesunite  Music by Antti Luode

When you are sharing finances with a significant other there are many strategies and systems you can use to manage your bank accounts.   Some people combine all of their finances while others keep everything separate. And some people are somewhere in the middle of these two options.  In this episode lead financial coach at Fiscal Fitness Phoenix, Jill Emanuel, goes over the major reasons couples keep finances separate, when it does and doesn't make sense to do so, the major strategies on how to best combine your finances and the benefits of sharing finances with your significant others. If you combine finances with your spouse then you will learn some best practice strategies on how to maximize your finances.   If you aren't currently combining your finances with your spouse then you will learn why you should consider doing so and how to best do so to maximize your budget and do so with zero drama! You

Over the years, Kelsa has worked with thousands of small business owners and was even accounting manager for Enterprise Rent-a-Car, so she knows about business budgeting! In this episode she talks about how having a growth fund can be a simple tool to use to keep your small business moving forward so you won't miss out on opportunities that can take your business to the next level.   Visit us: www.FiscalFitnessPHX.com www.FinancialCoachAcademy.com  

Who doesn't love taking a vacation? With how busy everyone seems to be now-a-days it's about the only complete freedom we have anymore.  Whether it's to destress, get away from the routine of work, get in quality time with your loved ones, or just explore the world you live on, there are tons of options for vacations. Our amazing financial coach, Jill Emanuel, is going to tell you her top tips for getting that vacation (or vacations) you sorely need without breaking the bank.   She mentions: Glamping with www.airbnb.com (Check out our AirBnB, the Succulent Bungalow, in Gilbert, AZ here) The Chase Gauntlet for Travel Hacking your credit card rewards    Music by Antti Luode

Jill Emanuel is the lead financial coach at Fiscal Fitness Phoenix and has an amazing story about how she and her husband were hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and on the verge of bankurptcy, to clients of ours for 5 years where they paid off their debt and found financial freedom.  She realized that she wanted other people to feel the same way about their finances and wanted to help by becoming a financial coach.  You may have heard Kelsa interview her in Episode 30. In today's episode Jill talks about how married couples (or couples that share their finances) can get on the same page so there are no more fights, stress goes down, everyone's needs are met and the budget is just an afterthought. Since finances are one of, if not the leading causes of divorce, finding some simple solutions to have open communication between spouses, without judgment, is super important.  

In today's episode Kelsa goes over one simple yet powerful conversation you can have with your child (starting at the age of 2) so they start to form a positive relationship with money and jobs.    www.Fiscalfitnessphx.com www.FinancialCoachAcademy.com  Music by Antti Luode

Sheri Gundlach is a mother of 3 boys (one of which is a 2 time cancer survivor), a wife, a financial coach, a client concierge and one awesome lady!  Today she explains her system of how to plan and schedule when your life is crazy so you keep your priorities straight and sanity.  www.FiscalFitnessPHX.com www.FinancialCoachAcademy.com  Music by Antti Luode

Financial life coach, Rebeca Lima, grew up poor in Brazil.  She eventually emmigrated to the United States, while a teenager and became fluent in Spanish and English.  After working in the financial industry for all of her adult life and having the heartbreaking experience of leaving a horrible relationship to live in her car she vowed that she wanted to make sure no one else had to live the same way.  She coaches both men, women and couples, and specializes in coaching women that are climbing the corporate ladder, that work hard for themselves but feel like they always have “just enough” to hold them over until their next paycheck. She helps her clients with the practical and emotional side of money by budgeting, empowering them over their money mindset blocks and nurturing their new money habit and mindset within themselves and their relationships. In this episode we talk with Rebeca about her life experiences that made her want to become a financial life coach, the

Things are changing for us at The Saver and The Spender.  Don't worry, all good things.  We've been really busy with our main financial coaching businesses, Fiscal Fitness Phoenix and Financial Coach Academy.  We've rolled out some amazing courses and added some amazing financial coaches so that we can help more people take the stress out of money. And with these changes we've been invigerated to do more with the podcast, be more consistent, add more voices and expertise and be more engaging and so, just like the Spiderman movie franchise, we are rebooting the podcast. Our mission is to take the stress out of money, and as the world-wide leaders in reducing financial stress, we feel a calling to change the name of the podcast from The Saver and The Spender to "Overcoming financial stress with The Saver and The Spender".  Stay tuned because we already have some great episode

In Episode 31 we talk with couple's coaches Aaron and Jocelyn Freeman, otherwise known as The Freemans.  They work with couples to help them communicate better, work better together, increase happiness and joy and reach their goals.  They are the authors of The New Power Couple, speakers, relationship coaches and angel investors. They have shared the stage with Tony Robbins, were nominated as Arizona’s 40 Under 40 Influencers, and have been featured in national media for mentoring couples & individuals on fulfilling their dreams & living in their full potential. They also host, “EmPowered Couples”, one of the top relationship podcasts on iTunes and lead two thriving companies. They are passionate about investing in socially conscious businesses and one of the companies they invested in was featured on an ABC Show, Shark Tank in October 2017. They have been trained as leadership & relationship coaches, are ordained, & speak around the

Jill Emanuel is our newest financial coach at Fiscal Fitness Phoenix.  She started as a client of our nearly 5 years ago and had to drag her husband to their first session.  In one week they were cash positive $1500, which was unheard of, and flash forward two years later and they paid off nearly $85,000 in debt!  She found her passion for financial coaching after going through her journey with Kelsa and knew she wanted to help other people feel the same way she felt.   If you are looking to get ahold of your personal finances, pay off debt or reach your financial goals with gusto, she goes over some of her amazing insight that will definitely hit home for you.   If you are a person that feels you would love to become a financial coach but don't know where to start, don't know how to start or don't think that you can make a career change, she will tell you how she did it and tell you it can be done! You can contact Jill at <a href='mailto:[email protected]

How do you make a financial decision when you have some specific wants or needs but also are being budget conscious.  Kelsa goes over using value based decision making and how to make purchase decisions easy with a simple exercise.    You can find out more about Fiscal Fitness Phoenix financial coaching here You can find out more about Financial Coach Academy here

Lauren Frontiera is the host of The Real Female Entrepreneur Podcast.  In each episode she explores a different women's personal journey into entrepreneurship.  She believes being a woman entrepreneur is not a one size fits all story and shouldn't be told like it is one.  Kelsa dives deep with her on her journey into being an entrepreneur and podcast host and some of her favorite stories.    You can learn more about Lauren and The Real Female Entrepreneur Podcast here.    You can find out more about Fiscal Fitness Phoenix financial coaching here <li style="color:inherit;font-style:inh

Margo Brown is a productivity coach and owner of Wave Productivity based in the Phoenix, AZ metro area but works with people all over the world virtually.  In this episode we talk about goal setting, new years resolutions, personal organization, organizing your personal finances and budget, awesome organizational and productivity tools and apps to use and much more! Links Margo Recommends: Here is Margo's awesome review of different journals. Here is her article on the six basic questions answered by Evernote Trello - Organizational app Shinola - Journals, watches

One of the questions we get all the time is how budget for a fluctuating income.  Teachers, per diem workers, business owners, employees with hourly pay with bonuses, people paid with commissions or even just not paid on a set schedule say that it's impossible to budget for that.  You're not alone and we're here to healp.  We don't want you experiencing feast or famine with your budget where you are living thin then you get a large paycheck and you go celebrate or live a little too loose.  We don't want you to have the roller coaster ride that so many people experience.  We want you to plan your budget just like you are getting a steady paycheck.  Steady paychecks are nice and boring and when it comes to budgets, boring is good.  There are a few steps to take and actions to employ where you can make your fluctuating income budget your best friend.  Here's how: Get your expenses dialed in. Get them super consistent and organized.  Do this by writing them down in du

It's been in the news now and since we recorded there has been some shinanigans so let's just talk about Bitcoin!   What is it? How do you get it? How can you spend it? Should you treat it like an investment? Is it safe to use? Is it the wave of the future?  Shanna Tingom from Heritage Financial Strategies joins us and talks about Bitcoin so we can all understand this odd cryptocurrency.   Financial Coach Academy Meal Prep Challenge 5 Steps to a Better Budget online workshop     Y

Kelsa explains how to tackle your financial goals with the mindset of a Crossfit champion!

We cover a lot of topics in this episode but the main theme is about savings.  We talk about: A news article that says most Americans aren't saving enough and that an improving economy gets people out of a saving mindset.  How much should you be saving per yer? Where you should keep your savings based on ease of use and interest rate? The major places most people overspend and how to correct the behavior. (I'm looking at you Starbucks) Mind blowing ways to buy presents for your kids this holiday season. Here are some resources for finding the best savings account for you: http://www.magnifymoney.com/blog/earning-interest/best-online-savings-accounts275921001/ https://www.nerdwallet.com/banking/best-savings-accounts Make su

In the last episode I talked with Dr. Mike Simon about meal prepping and announced our 2018 meal prep challenge.  After thinking about it we want to change the focus to mostly meal prepping for time and budget savings and not focusing on the nutrional/ weight loss aspect.  In this episode I talk about some modifications to the rules and how my first time meal prepping went from last night.  I wanted to beta test the challenge to make sure it would work and be able to answer questions and give some tips before we start.  Join the Meal Prep Challenge here: www.FiscalFitnessPHX.com/mealprepchallenge   You can find out more about Fiscal Fitn

Meal prepping is huge right now and for a few major reasons.  First of all, the cost savings of meal prepping compared to what you spend on random shopping trips and eating out is tremendous.  Secondly, the time efficiency of meal prepping is huge. You may remember we talked about it with Dimir from LifeHack Bootcamp on episode 13 in which he said that spending 2-4 hours on a Sunday meal prepping is significant less the time it takes to cook individual meals and eat out.  Lastly, when you meal prep, you are in total control of the quality of what you put in your mouth and the portion size as well.  Win-win-win. In today's episode we talk with Dr. Mike Simon, from Crossover Physical Therapy in St. Michael, Minnesota, about his experience with meal prepping, how much money he saves every week on groceries and eating out (and it's a crazy number!), how much weight he has lost and much more. He also goes over his tips and best

We are starting a new feature of The Saver and The Spender.  We are calling them "Sprints" and they are quick one topic episodes that will give you a lot of information in a short period of time.  Our podcasts can be 60 minutes and some people enjoy that length and some people are in the mood for something a little shorter.  We hope you enjoy the first sprint and if you have any ideas for a future Sprint episode please let us know. In today's Sprint episode we highlight how we have clients use cash for day to day spending.  There are a lot of methods for using cash and they work for some people.  We feel like using cash should not be restricting.  When you use cash you should feel like you can see your money clearly, you aren't guessing with how much you have to spend, you have a clear budget and you have a boundary that is actually very freeing.  <ul style="color:#333333;font-size:13px;font-family:'Trebuchet MS', Arial, sans-serif;line-height:21.125px;margin:0px 0px 1.62

In this episode Kelsa talks with financial advisor to the stars Shanna Tingom about passive vs. active investing and other topics to help clear up some confusion people have been having with investments over the past few years.   You can reach Shanna at here You can find out more about Financial Coach Academy here

  Vanessa Shaw   Vanessa Shaw is an international Business and Success Coach, Wealth Mentor and Inspirational Speaker. Both lauded by her clients and admired by peers, her zone of genius is helping ambitious entrepreneurs and business leaders earn more income, make a bigger impact, and enjoy greater freedom. Leveraging years of experience working with startups to billion-dollar companies – and possessing a natural gift to connect with any audience – Vanessa is also a highly sought-after speaker and authority who can deliver moving and inspirational talks that empower attendees to get out of their own way and play a much bigger game in business and life. Her workshops and events, including her annual 3-day signature BIG BOLD EVENT, BOUTIQUE BUSINESS INTENSIVES, and BOLD WOMEN IN BUSINESS, demonstrate her natural ease and presence on stage and an ability to deli

The Credit Score Spectacular is here!  We dive into the Equifax breach, how to see if your information was taken and what to do if you were affected. We also go over the mysterious credit score, what it means, how to improve your score, what actions lower your score, mistakes people make with their credit score and much more! You can see if your credit information was affected here: https://trustedidpremier.com/eligibility/eligibility.html If you weren't affected you don't have to do anything. If you were affected, you can find out about credit freezes and freeze all three credit score companies here: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs You can read our entire blog post about the Equifax breach here: http://fiscalfitnessp

Over the last 4 episodes we interviewed young adults to get their perspective on their personal finances. In this episode we have a great chat with two members of the greatest generation, who both live in Adara Senior Lifestyle Retirement and Assisted Living Facility in Scottsdale, AZ.  They were both born when F. D. Roosevelt was president and lived very interesting lives.  Their insight into debt, credit cards, saving and how they lived their lives in general is so interesting! We apologize for some poor audio quality in the middle of the podcast.  Max liked to fiddle with the microphone while he held it.  The message is still amazing!  Enjoy   You can find out more about Fiscal Fitness Phoe

In episode 16 we talked with Ally, a college senior who's financial stress level was a 9/10.  She was very reactionary with her money and only planned out her budget a week in advance.  She is going to graduate next year and was very worried about not having a budget or know what expenses she should expect when she is out on her own for the first time.   In this episode we talk to Ally after having her first financial coaching session and talk about what actions she plans on implementing, what she found out about her guilt over money and the best tips that she learned during the session that you can implement today!  We also find out her new financial stress number, but you'll have to listen to find out!   <li style="color:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-h

Today in part 3 of our 4 part series on young adults and personal finance we talk with Alex McCall who just graduated from high school and will be a freshman at Arizona State University starting next month.  This kid is doing everything right!  He has recieved a few scholarships but didn't want to take out any student loans so he created a plan and figured out how much he needed to work this summer and next summer so he can pay for college for the next 2 years without having to work during the school year!  Amazing! We talk about how he planned, what are some of the lessons and activities that his parents used when he was younger to instill financial responsibliity and literacy and other great lessons and tips that he has found works for him.  This is a must listen to if you are a young adult getting ready to go to college or the parent of a young adult with college on their mind.     <ul style="color:#333333;font-size:13px;font-family:'Trebuchet MS', Arial, sans-s

In today's episode we talk with Ally Baker who is going to be a senior in college.  She rates her financial stress level as 9/10!!  We discuss what she has learned about financial aid and student loans, getting a job while in college, how she is going to transition into being an adult with a job after graduating college (and how scary that is to her).  This is an amazing episode for parents and they young adult children to listen to together and talk about strategies.   Ally is having her first Financial Coaching session with Kelsa and Sheri tomorrow and she will be back next week on episode 18 to talk about how she feels about her finances, what her plan is, what she learned and what the most important tips for young adults she has after her coaching session!   <li style="co

Young adults have a lot going for them but also a lot going against them.  They have technology, science and research at their finger tips but one thing we continuously see is that they aren't educated in real practical personal finance topics.  They don't teach personal finance and budgeting classes in school's any more.  Only 17 states require a personal finance class (and economics or civics that cover personal finance are acceptable). Also, parents are not well equiped to teach their children about personal finance because they haven't been taught it either.   In this 4 part series, we will be interviewing 3 different young adults to get their point of view on what they know about personal finance, what they wished they knew and what they want parents and their peers to know.  Alex isin high school, Dakota recently graduated from college and Allison is still in college.  We will be interviewing Allison twice.  Once before a financial coaching session and once after the fi

Julie DeVito is a personal coach that specializes in working with professional women, leaders, mothers and others who set big goals for themselves and want to keep reaching new levels of success.  Her areas of expertise are performance psychology, leadership development, productivity improvement and stress management.  She is a certified professional coach, holds a Master's Degree from Pepperdine in clinical psychology and is currently in a Doctorate Program with an emphasis on brain research, motivation and goal directed behavior.   In today's episode we talk about: How to detox from digital distraction and social media time suck How money management and time management are related Time management hacks Her 7 step recipe for increasing productivity And much more! You can reach Julie at www.RealizationPartners.com and on Facebook @RealizationPartners   <u

Most people can agree that they can be more productive and organized in their life.  Demir at LifeHackBootcamp.com has found simple ways to hack your brain so that you are more productive, get more done in less time so you save money, get healthy and regain your life back so you have time to do what is important to you!  His LifeHack Bootcamp is an 8 week program that teaches you how to achieve more with less time and effort, get and stay motivated and have fun doing it! In this episode we chat about: being a productive parent and how to get your kids to be productive simple mind hacks to get you motivated to be more productive ways to systemitize your daily tasks and finances so there is no guessing how meal planning is one of the big foundations in saving money, saving time throughout the week and eating healthier how to get your significant other to get as motivated to change as you are And much more!

Communication -the human connection- is the key to personal and career success. - Paul J. Meyer In today's episode we talk with The Dynamic Communicator, Jill Schiefelbein.  She is a communication expert and leads businesses and individuals towards better communication skills by involving 3 audiences: internal, consumers and general public.  She is the author of "Dynamic Communication" an Amazon best seller in two categories, has amazing instructional videos on Youtube and is a contributor to Entrepreneur magazine.   Today she shares her expertise when we talk about how small business owners can communicate with their ambassadors as well as their target market, how to be more assertive when asking for what you want, her personal (and financial) journey moving from Arizona to New York City to pursue her career and how to use communication to your advantage.  We also talk about her time analyzing terrorist communications that were intercepting in a raid and her thoughts

In this episode we talk about budgeting when you are in the process of buying a house, saving for your kids' college, how not to pay off debt, and a concerning issue looming over the country (Dah Dah Daaahhhhh) and much more. You can find the link to the Money Personality quiz we talked about for the next episode here:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/wihm1u33cvgx8p6/BrentKesselQuizArchetypes.pdf?dl=0 You can buy Brent Kessel's book, "It's Not About the Money," in which this quiz is based on here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013TPUVQ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 Complete the printable PDF quiz and if you share finances with someone have them take it as well and talk about your si

Jen Casey and Angie Lee are the geniuses behind The Wellpreneur Business Academy, which is an exclusive 3 month program that teaches health coaches systems and strategies that will launch their brand and master live video, social media and branding. Today we are chatting with them about how they coach wellness professionals to succeed.  Not only is this great information if you are a personal training or fitness and wellness professional but if you are a small business owner or entrepreneur that wants to make an online presence.   Here are some of the ways to find more about Jen and Angie and the Wellpreneur Business Academy: www.wellpreneurbusinessacademy.com www.healthcoachesmakebank.com www.facebook.com/angieleehttps://www.facebook.com/angie.lee.39 <a href='http://www.facebook.com/h

How many of you are planning your wedding right now?  What kind of budget are you using and how are you doing at sticking to it?  For those of you who have already gotten married how do you feel about your wedding budget?  Did you stick to it?  Was it easy to use and accessible?  Did you go over budget, under budget or come within your budget? We know that planning your wedding is super stressful so we want to at least make the budget somewhat less stressful.  In this episode we talk a lot about the proper ways to budget for your wedding and some things that we wish we would have done.  Hindsight is 20/20 right? First you need to ask yourself a few questions: What are your top 3 most important purchases for your wedding? These are non-negotiables and are top priority. What things do you NOT want to spend money on? What are not priorities and will not be pressured to add? What number would totally make you sick to your stomach if you ended

It's January of 2017 and there are a lot of things on our minds.  New years resolutions abound and for a lot of people taking control of their personal finances are top priority.  One thing you can do is start to plan the next year's worth of gifts and holidays by creating a gift budget.  We just went through Christmas, Hannukah and Thanksgiving so the costs are pretty fresh in your head.  Because of this you can get a list of holiday expenses down on paper pretty easily. Here is a link to our free printable gift giving budget!  This will help you budget for gifts and holidays for the entire year and help you think about all the little things that you may not think of or forget about.  No more surprises or over spending on gifts you didn't think about until it was too late. Listen as we discuss how to budget for this year's holidays and talk about a bunch of other financial topics, tips and tricks! <p

Do you find that it is difficult to find time to budget?  For most people budgeting isn't fun but necessary and if something isn't fun then why do it?  We want you to get out of that mindset.  Finding time to budget is just like finding time to work out.  You have to realize what your priorities, goals and values are and make time for them.  Budgeting doesn't have to be an everyday thing for the rest of your life.  If you are just starting out we do recommend that you spend about 5 minutes per day (first thing in the morning if you can) and once you get the hang of it make it every other day, then weekly if you can manage.   It is also hard to find time to have regular budgeting meetings with your significant other but this is a must.  There are some people that are numbers people (savers) and some people that are not (spenders).  The numbers person should realize that the spender only wants the facts when you have a meeting and doesn't care about the numbers.  This is 100%

We are finally back after a few crazy busy weeks.  This is a quick and dirty episode about the thing that you may be unknowingly saying to yourself about money.  Sometimes these are good things but more often than not you are sabotaging yourself by justifying or making yourself believe something that is setting your budget back.  Learn the major ones that we hear clients say and how to get yourself out of that mindset. You can find out more about Fiscal Fitness Phoenix financial coaching here You can find out more about Financial Coach Academy <a href='http://www.financialco

We have all had a vacation when you come back and you wish you had another vacation because you are so exhausted.  Or the kind where you are immediately stressed once you get back because now you have to figure out how you are going to pay for the supposed relaxing vacation you just took.     Vacations should be relaxing and enjoyable.  The best way to do that financially is to budget all year long for your vacations and travel and pay with cash.  After you get back, it is so rewarding and you feel so accomplished knowing that you don't have to worry about coming up with the money as fast as possible to pay off your credit cards.   Here is the step by step simple way to budget for all your vacation and travel.  (Side note: it doesn't have to be perfect)  Make a list of all the vacation and travel you are planning in the next 12 months.  List all associated costs (flight, accommodations, excursions, food/ drinks budget, etc) Total up your costs to one grand tota

People need to know that it is ok to not be the financial savvy person of their relationship.  Most relationships have one person that does the bulk of the budgeting and planning and one person that doesn't.   There are two things that can't happen.  First, the person that does not handle the finances cannot be a completely silent partner.  They need to provide input on what they feel is important and needs to be put in the budget, what goals they feel are priority and be able to give their input on anything else financial.  The need to be supportive of the financial person and understand that they need feedback and understanding of the big picture and current financial status.  They also need to understand the financial person is carrying a lot on their backs and need to be appreciated.   Second, the person that is responsible for the brunt of the finances can't feel that their doing the majority of the budgeting is unfair.  They need to understand that the non-financia

Splurging.  We all do it.  But when is it ok to splurge and when is it not?  What constitutes a splurge?  How can you splurge without sabotaging your budget, finances and goals?  Should you feel guilty after a splurge?  We will dive into those questions and more in this week's "The Saver and The Spender".   First of all a splurge shouldn't make you feel icky after you do it.  A splurge is something that is infrequent, budgeted and adds value to your life.  Some people like to buy Starbucks every couple of weeks or go on a cruise once a year.   Buying Starbucks every day or buying a new Blueray every Tuesday is not a splurge because once you start buying something regularly it just becomes a recurring expense.  What are your splurges?  In today's podcast we will talk more in depth about splurging, how to do it correctly so you aren't sabotaging yourself and how to feel good about it.  Every financial decision you make should be budgeted.  Whether it is one single cup of c

Thank you for listening.  First off, we apologize for the audio quality.  It will be corrected on episode 3.   Debt is a problem a lot of people deal with.  It is also a very relative thing.  Some people are ok with thousands of dollars in debt and some people can't stand to have $50 on a store credit card.  When it comes down to it, if you are trying to get out of debt you are doing it right.  There are many different strategies for getting out of debt and not every strategy works for everyone, unlike some financial gurus say.  You have to take into account the payment amounts, interest rates, your motivation and how much stress each individual stress causes you.   Not many people know that Kelsa and I were pretty far in debt when we moved to Arizona eight years ago.  We had some student loan debt, a car payment and some credit card debt.  We thought it was normal and were ok with it; until one day we weren't.  We decided that we were on very shaky ground if one of us l

Thank you for listening.  First off, we apologize for the audio quality.  It will be corrected on episode 3.   In our relationship, I (Michael) am the spender and Kelsa is the saver.  I was never good with money, keeping my checkbook balanced or really saving.  Kelsa has a finance degree, MBA and has 13 years of financial experience including Financial Advisor, corporate accountant and her current business: financial coach.  It's a match made in heaven... or is it?  Da...Da...Daahhhh   Are you a saver or a spender?  What about your significant other?  How do your different (or similar) money habits effect your relationship?  Most couples have one saver and one spender.  They speak very different languages and have different principles when it comes to money.  Money issues are the number one reason for divorce in America and maybe that is because savers and spenders need to learn how to communicate about money as well as understand what their partner needs and wants.