A few weeks ago I wrote about how our bank accounts (i.e. our transactions) can say a lot about us and our values. I shared that although I feel good about what my transactions say now, I didn’t always feel that way. Today, I want to share a little bit more about my personal journey. 

Spoiler Alert: It feels a little uncomfortable to publish this post because my past relationship with money is not at all what you would want from a financial coach but, I think, like teachers who are particularly good at teaching subjects they struggled with in school, my past financial struggles help me better empathize and strategize with my clients. 

And, if nothing else, maybe my embarrassing story will bring you a little joy. That’s worth it in my book! 

Let’s go back to the mid-2000s…

You know, when this song was cool. And these looks (check out slide 15). And this movie. 

I was in undergrad and once I moved off campus my parents started giving me a monthly allowance that I could use as I saw fit. I truthfully do not remember how much it was (I wish I had written this all down!), but I remember that it felt like almost enough most of the time. I always paid my rent first and then would willy nilly make it through the rest of the month. I have vague memories of “budgeting”, but I did it in the exact way that I teach clients not to do now. I wrote down how much money I “made” and then came up with what felt like reasonable guesses for my expenses. I finished the exercise, realized that if my guesses were right that it would be a really tight fit to do everything, promptly closed my notebook, and then never looked at the exercise again. 

But, of course, my guesses weren’t right. No one’s guesses are right. 

And that meant that sometimes, especially at the end of the month, I was having to make difficult decisions about what to pay for (thankfully, I did not have a credit card until I graduated or I would have started my credit-card-debt-rack-up-journey multiple years earlier than I did). 

I have one particularly embarrassing memory of this decision making process: 

As a kid I was allergic to bee stings. I had five years of allergy shots, so am likely not allergic anymore, but haven’t ever been tested again to confirm (**pauses to make Allergist appointment**). I had always carried an Epipen, but didn’t realize how expensive they were until it was time to refill the prescription. I have a strong memory of getting to the pharmacy, realizing that if I paid for the Epipen I wouldn’t have enough money to go here ⬇️

Aaaannndd…I have never owned an Epipen since 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ 

If nothing else will convince you that 22 year olds do not have fully formed brains, then I don’t know what will. 

Anyway…long story short - I don’t have my old bank records, but if I did I can guarantee that my “bank account values” list would look something like this: 

1. Partying

2. Rent

3. Clothes 

4. Restaurants

I don’t actually think I would have been embarrassed by that order when I was 22. In fact, I bet I would have been proud of it. And, truthfully, the real problems didn’t come for me until I got credit cards and started living beyond my means, but that’ll be a story for a different day.

The point is that our values and priorities can, and should, shift over time. What this means in reality is that sometimes our values shift faster than our financial habits and in order to catch up with ourselves we need to take the time to check in with our spending and our action plans. Because, if we aren’t analyzing, reflecting, and learning, then we can end up drinking our Epipen money away.

Okay. I think I’ve aired enough dirty laundry for the day. 

As always, I’m rooting for you.

XOXO,

Last week on instagram I posted about an article that has really stuck in my head. The basic premise is that the best food related things you can do for the environment are eating less mess (especially beef) and throwing out less food. I don’t eat a lot of beef so ✅  ✅  ✅  for that, but I have recently noticed that we’re throwing out more food than we used to. In the past (i.e. pre-baby and pre-pandemic) my husband and I would always “shop in our kitchen” before going to the store. We meal planned and we prepped things ahead of time. It felt very organized and, to be honest, pretty easy. I remember doing a video walking through my process with the Verdi instagram community and having so many people reach out telling me that it was simpler than they thought.

And yet, here I am, two years later throwing away some terrifying looking carrots that I unearthed from the back of my fridge crisper drawer. If it was so easy I wouldn’t be doing that, right? 

It turns out that things are easier when they are at the top of your priority list (duh). When my husband and I were rarely throwing out food we were also spending a lot of time focused on meals. My husband was cooking a lot and I was regularly training for marathons and therefore focused on getting as much good, healthy food back in my body after runs as soon as was physically possible. 

Now, my husband’s work schedule has changed and he’s cooking less. I’m enjoying short runs, but have no interest in running for 4 hours at a time anymore and we both are focused on spending time with our daughter. Food prep has decidedly moved down the priority list. 

That being said, I still want to waste less food than we do. Part of that desire is based on environmental reasons, but part of it is also financial. Every time I throw moldy food in the trash (or in the compost bin) I see dollars being tossed in with it. Throwing out food is throwing out money, plain and simple. 

Here’s what I’m trying:

• I will make detailed grocery lists and will only let myself go “off list” a little bit (I mean, I’m not going to stop myself from trying those new almond butter covered almonds at Trader Joe’s if I want!)

• Related, but not the same, I will never go shopping without a grocery list. That is asking for trouble 

• I will also stop talking on the phone at the store. That seems to cause me to go into a black hole and emerge from Sprouts with ice cream, yogurt covered raisins, and fancy olives, but zero vegetables or really zero ingredients for any meal other than dessert and/or cocktails. 

• Before making a list I’m going to review what is in my fridge and cabinet and make a note of what needs to be eaten pronto

• I will loosely plan meals (as in I’m buying things for a couple options, but not deciding what day I’ll do what) based on that “about to go bad” list

I’d love to hear your thoughts, advice, or encouragement! Do you already have a good system in place that keeps you from throwing away food? Do you worry about the money that gets wasted or the environmental impact? Just hit reply to this email to let me know! 

XOXO

Things are finally opening up! People are going on vacation, seeing friends, eating out, and doing all the things (or at least moving in that direction). It is exciting, but as a financial coach, it also makes me a little nervous. Over the past 14 months or so a lot of us have dramatically changed our spending habits and, for many, that meant that they were spending less overall and saving more (yay!). Now that things are opening back up I’m seeing lots of clients start spending in very different ways. This is not necessarily bad, but the sudden change does give me pause.

I made a little checklist that will help you make sure your new spending habits aren’t accidentally sending you off in a bad financial direction:

• Can I afford this? (i.e. do I have the money available to pay for this without going into debt?)

• Does it align with my values?

• By buying this will I need to not buy something else? Am I okay with that? 

• Does this help me with my lifestyle and financial goals? 

  • If not, does it take away from my lifestyle and/or financial goals? 

As long as you can afford it, it aligns with your values, and it either helps you reach your goals or doesn’t take away from that progress, then it is a-okay to spend that money! But, if it actually pulls you away from your goals or forces you to go into debt then take a pause. I know it feels like we have to do all the things now, but we don’t. Even if that specific swimsuit isn’t available in June, something else inevitably will... 

XOXO