More Money Podcast - 235 How to Achieve Different Types of Financial Goals - Alyssa Davies, Author of The 100 Day Financial Goal Journal & Blogger/YouTuber at Mixed Up Money

Episode Date: April 1, 2020

I know revising or even setting new financial goals may seem like the last thing you want to do right now (I get it, there’s a pandemic going on!), but right now is actually the perfect time to sit down and take a hard look at your finances. If you don’t have a budget, this is the time to make one. And if you do, it’s time to make a new one because you can stop those auto-contributions to your travel fund. To discuss this and her new book The 100 Day Financial Goal Journal I’ve got Alyssa Davies on the show, blogger and YouTuber at Mixed Up Money. Aside from talking about the importance of having a budget and tracking your spending, we also discuss how to set and plan for different types of financial goals like homeownership and starting a family, and Alyssa shares some tips and techniques to help you get started. For full episode show notes visit https://jessicamoorhouse.com/235 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to episode 235 of the Mo Money Podcast. I am your host, Jessica Morehouse. Welcome back to the show. I am very excited for this episode. I have someone who I've known for a number of years online, and I have met a few times throughout the years. Finally, I have her on the show because she has a new book coming out, which I'm very excited about for her. I'm talking about Alyssa Davies. She is the gal behind Mixed Up Money, the blog and also the YouTube channel. So make sure to find her at mixedupmoney.com. And she is also the content specialist for Zolo.ca. So she does a ton of content creation for them on their blog. And in 2019, her blog was named

Canadian Personal Finance Blog of the Year at the Plutus Awards at FinCon, which is very cool. But the exciting thing, of course, is she's coming up with her first ever book called the 100 Day Financial Goal Journal, which is not out yet, but you can pre-order it now, which I highly recommend that you do. But we are going to be talking about so many different things in this episode. We're talking about the cost of being a new mom, the cost of being a new homeowner, and just some of her top tips that she integrated into her financial goal journal that you are going to want to listen to because, you know, we're all still in this situation and we're all still kind of anxious and panicked. And I feel like having some kind of structure, kind of in the form of a journal, may be really helpful for you right now in your life. So very

excited to have Alyssa on the show. But before I get to that interview with her, here's just a few words about this episode's sponsor. This episode of the Mo Money Podcast is supported by Ufile. It's that time of year again. You know, time to file your taxes. So how are you going to do it this year? Why not join over 1 million Canadians who put their trust into UFile's 20 years of experience helping taxpayers get it done. No matter if you've got a simple return or your situation is a bit more complex, like you're self-employed, have lots of investment income, or have rental properties, U-File can help. Moreover, if you're a student or filing a return for the first time, or have a very simple tax return to file, or if your family's income is

less than $20,000, you may be eligible to file your return with Ufile absolutely free. Ufile also offers the triple guarantee, meaning you get their assurance of accuracy, satisfaction, and the best tax result. To learn more and to get your taxes over and done with the pain-free way, visit ufile.ca. And as a special bonus, get 15% off when you use promo code MOMONEY. Once again, that's ufile.ca and make sure to use code MOMONEY to get 15% off. Welcome Alyssa to the Mo Money Podcast. Hi, thanks so much for having me. Thank you for joining me. So, so excited when I first heard the news that you had a book coming

out. And I feel like this is actually a really great time for it to come out because people want to take control of their finances, especially during these kind of uncertain times. And so this is a great opportunity for people to do that on their own, on their own terms during their kind of on their own time, I guess, really at their own pace, which is really great. But before we really get into what the 100 Day Financial Goal Journal is all about, I would love, since it is your first time on the show, surprisingly, I want people to get to know you a little bit more in case they're new to you as well. Can you share a little bit about, because I know you've had mixed up money, it feels new to you as well. Can you share a little bit about, because I know you've had mixed up money. It feels like for a while now. Do you want to kind of

talk about your background a little bit? Yeah, for sure. It actually has been a while. I think in March. Yeah. So probably pretty soon here, it'll be coming up on the fifth year anniversary of the site, which is pretty crazy because I feel like it hasn't been that long, but time flies when you're blogging, I guess. I'm so curious because you have had it for five years. How do you feel like it has evolved since you first started it? Oh, it's so much. So when I started the blog initially, it was kind of just as an online diary, I like to call it, as I was trying to navigate how I would get out of debt. So basically, I just kept track of my expenses and my debt and how much I was paying off each month. And now it's turned into a place where I share all of my successes and my failures with my money

and how I kind of manage things now that I'm a mom and now that I have a career because things have changed drastically in my life over the past five years. And yeah, it's just turned into like a lot more than just a blog. Yeah. Cause I know what you do now is you're, uh, you were kind of in marketing and also you're a writer as well. And it is kind of more in the personal finance space. Is that kind of where you started or what were you doing before you kind of focused more on personal finance? Before this, I was actually working in communications. So that's what I went to school for. I have a degree in journalism. So it kind of all works together as one. But I think my passion really was personal finance. And once I started to learn about it,

I just fell in love with the feeling of having that kind of security and helping other people feel the same way. Because most people my age, as you know, just don't know where to start and don't know how to get to that feeling. And I know that you, on top of having the blog, you also have a YouTube channel as well, which is really great. Why did you also want to kind of expand and make video content as well? Was it just because you found there's kind of different people on that platform that you also wanted to reach? Yeah, I think for me, it's more like, I know there's not a lot of

Canadian financial content on YouTube other than like, you're the only one I know that regularly posts videos and I love watching your videos. So I was like, well, I do. Cause there's like, there's not a lot of content out there for Canadians specifically that want to learn about their money in a different way. Cause a lot of people don't like to read. Like personally, I love to just have a YouTube video on in the background and just listen to people talk about money. It's kind of like a podcast, but I don't watch TV. So YouTube is like my TV, I guess. And yeah, I just love filming the videos. I love editing them. I think it's, it's fun. Yeah, no, I a hundred percent agree. There's not a ton of,

yeah, Canadian specific personal finance YouTubers. Hopefully that will change the future. There will be more, you know, uh, content for all of us, but I think that's great what you're doing and focusing on and having written content and also video content to kind of share all of your knowledge. Now you mentioned also the big change in your life, obviously, as you became a mom. I'm so curious. How has your financial life changed when that came about? Well, it definitely started the day I found out I was pregnant. I'll never forget because I like took the pregnancy test and then me and my husband sat down and the very first thing we did was make a financial plan for saving money, which sounds so dorky, but we're like, can we do this? And that's the only way

we knew how to felt confident, like to feel confident in the kind of situation we were in. And so from that moment on, we started to save like a family emergency fund, which was like a big difference for us because it gave us way more financial security. And now it's, it's changed a lot as she gets older because we spend a lot more money than we used to as just a couple. She eats a lot for a toddler. So just navigating like every single month, we kind of have to adjust to whatever's going on with her milestones. And our budget kind of goes along with that. Yeah. One thing I always, is always curious is a big concern with people thinking about having a family is obviously the financial costs. And I think sometimes it's hard

like when you haven't had that experience of like what you need think sometimes it's hard when you haven't had that experience of what you need. Sometimes it's hard to figure out how much does it actually cost to have a baby and a toddler? How did you kind of figure out some of those numbers when you were kind of adjusting your budget and figuring out how much do we need to save for this special emergency fund? Yeah. When I started to look around, I just couldn't find that information out there, to be honest. So we kind of based it off of what's our current emergency fund. And we just tried to make a separate one that was the exact same amount, just that was specifically for family stuff. But as for navigating like the new costs and changing our budget every once in a while now uh I've really

done a good job I think of tracking all those numbers and I try to share them on my blog for people that are just starting out with a new family or just had a newborn um like I tracked every single diaper I changed for the whole first year which is nice because I've heard from people that you know now they know how many diapers they'll need to buy in each size based on the charts that I made and stuff. So there's not a lot of resources out there, but I try to just do it based on, I go three months at a time. Has anything changed in the last three months? And I look at my numbers and I look at how much we've spent and then I'll adjust for the next quarter. Okay. Yeah. That sounds, I mean,

that makes sense, obviously track. And then you can kind for the next quarter. Okay. Yeah. That sounds, I mean, that makes sense, obviously track. And then you can kind of figure out what are your real numbers. And sometimes it takes time to figure those out and then you can kind of adjust from there. So that's really helpful. And that's great that you're sharing it with other people. Cause yeah, I tried to look just cause I'm like, I'm just so curious. And all you hear is just that, well, daycare is very expensive. And then you just, that's kind of all you hear. But I'm like, well, I, you know, my sister had a baby in the summer. And yeah, there's a lot of costs that you may not expect. Lots of things you have to buy. They're like, oh, I didn't know I had to buy that. What did, was there anything that surprised you that

you're spending money on or how much certain things cost? I think I'm just most surprised about the groceries. We've always spent like a very minimal amount of money on groceries compared to the national average. Like I think we've cut it in half. I think it's about $200 per person for a month. I usually spend $200 to $250 a month on groceries. And that's increased quite significantly just in the past six months because she is eating a lot of food and she loves fresh fruit and she loves fresh everything, which is very expensive. And you're constantly having to go to the grocery store and we're just not used to that. Absolutely.

And do you, because I know you work from home, a lot of people I feel like have this idea that if, you know, one parent works from home, then you don't have to do daycare. You don't need any special help, but you are obviously still working. How do you balance working from home and, you know, caring for a child? Yeah, I could not work without some kind of childcare. I just don't. It's just not possible. So I luckily have two retired grandmas in our life that are very gracious enough to help us out with childcare. We tried to put our daughter in daycare and it just didn't work out. She just was a little bit stressed out because we just moved and everything

happened so quickly. So luckily we have that. If we have to adjust in the future, we will have to put her in daycare. But yeah, it's just like, I don't know how people who do work full-time from home also parent. If there's people out there doing that, praises because I can barely get something done on the weekend if my daughter's hanging around. Yeah, absolutely. So I want to shift gears a little bit because you have this book coming out in April. So very soon called the 100 Day Financial Goal Journal. So it's not like just any old personal finance book is more of a journal format. Very different. There's not, I feel like I haven't seen come across too many of these things. Why did you want to write a book in that format? What was your

kind of intention with that? I think for me, because the way that I did start getting interested in personal finance was writing about it. So when I started my blog and I was just kind of tracking all of my goals that I had for my finances, it helped a significant amount. And this journal is kind of similar to that that but it's a safe space because it's your own personal journal and you can kind of keep it for yourself and hold yourself accountable so just kind of I love the fact that you can journal about money and putting pen to paper really drastically changes how you look at your financial goals so that's kind of the idea behind it is just a safe place for you to actually track your goal

realistically and you know accomplish it finally yeah is it based on I guess kind of what you do in your own personal life and what you've learned over the years is trying different things yeah absolutely it's kind of like I found it best to just kind of check in with myself every single day because things change, your mood changes and your mood really greatly affects your finances. So it's kind of a lot about that. It's like, how can you sit down and just do some reflecting and take some time to actually get to know the way you feel about your money? Because it's very behavioral as you know, and it's important to just check in with yourself. Now, is it for kind of anyone at any stage or is it for people that are just starting out?

Who is this journal really meant for? I think it's meant for anyone. Anyone who has any kind of income. If you have a roller coaster income and you're not sure how you can accomplish a financial goal. If you are really good with your money, but maybe you're not great at creating a goal that you can accomplish in a short period of time. If you just have a vacation coming up next year and you're not sure where to get started, it can help you with any kind of goal, big or small, but it's just about accomplishing something in that short time frame and doing it in a way that you actually are able to achieve that goal. Amazing, amazing. And I know a big financial goal for lots of people

is to become debt-free. And I know this is probably something that you cover in the journal. Do you want to kind of discuss what are some of your thoughts and some of your strategies for becoming debt-free and working towards that really big goal? Yeah, for sure. The first step for me, I know, was actually just getting to know what debts I had. For the most part, if you have a lot of debt, it's really hard to actually face those numbers and write them down. So that's a great place to start is getting to know the debt and getting to know where that debt is and how much interest that debt will accrue if you don't pay it off. And then tackling, I'd say like whatever debt is stressing you out the most say it's a loan from

your mom and you just really want that off of that burden off of your shoulders or if it's a credit card that has a really high interest rate that you're just kind of unable to catch up with you know try and tackle those ones first if you have student loans the interest rate's really low maybe that can be a later debt payment so just finding out the numbers and getting to know the numbers because that's exactly where you have to start. Which I know is probably very hard. I mean, when I work with clients, the thing that they least want to do is to really look at those numbers. And I'm sure that's part of the good thing about the journal is it really forces people to take a look at those hard things. But it's also great because there's no judgment because it's

a book. It's not judging you back. They just have to look at it and just kind of deal with it. But yeah, it's difficult. There is a lot of emotions and psychology that goes into finance. I think a lot of people don't... Well, I think people are getting to know it a little bit more, but it's definitely a big issue. I want to talk a little bit about spending as well, because typically when we overspend, we get into debt. And obviously this is a big part of the journal as well. And as you mentioned, tracking your spending is so, so important. What can people, I guess some of their, I think a big issue is how do people really change their habits? It's one thing to track your spending, one thing to actually implement what you've kind of learned

with that data. How can they do that? I think one thing that I really love that we have in journal is just the ability to track how you're feeling that day and then looking back and seeing what you spent money on that day. And that'll kind of give you some insight into, okay, when I'm feeling stressed out, I tend to spend a lot more money on skip the dishes. Or if I'm feeling really sad, I usually spend money on buying a new movie online, or just stuff like that. Just those little behaviors that don't make too much of an impact day to day, but at the end of the month, they add up. That's one thing that I love about that. And then there's also a lot of tips and tricks in the book that are like, there's weekly lessons. So you can kind of go through and try something new every week to better your finances. And

there's a few in there that are just, you know, about how to manage your spending and how to know what is worth spending money on and when you should dial back. Since you mentioned some kind of tips, could you kind of share, just tease a few little things that we could probably find in the journal? Yeah, for sure. So there's a section all about how to actually create a budget that works with whatever your income type is. And then there's also a lot about just finding ways to better your income, whether that be through passive income, whether that be through investing, and just getting to know more ways that you can make money so that you can achieve a goal faster.

There's lots of different things that are sprinkled in there and they kind of go and flow as you get through your goal. Oh, good. Yeah. Because I think that's an important thing to note too is, I mean, when I was first starting out, it just seemed like every book was always just talking about how to cut, cut, cut back. And at a certain point, there's nothing left. I remember being in my 20s. I'm like, there's literally nothing else I can cut back. I am living on a very tight budget. And I feel like a lot of people our age are starting to talk about like the side hustle and why it's so important to find another stream of income. Because I mean, let's be honest, in our generation, we haven't really been able to make as the same types of kind of high incomes as people and, you know, maybe 20 years ago when they're in our shoes. So it's important to kind of and also like,

you know, what's going on right now. I think lots of people are maybe going to be thankful that they have a few other streams of income than just their full time job. So is that kind of, you know, what's going on right now. I think lots of people are maybe going to be thankful that they have a few other streams of income than just their full-time job. So is that kind of, I guess, also a reason that you started your blog? You're like, maybe this could be, you know, a future, you know, either maybe I think that could lead to, you know, a job opportunity or a side hustle. And this is my other stream of income. That was never actually my intention, but it has completely

changed my perspective about side hustles and how to make money. Because from my blog is how I got my full-time job working as a content specialist for Zolo. And from my blog is how I've gotten all of my opportunities as a freelance writer. So it's just absolutely crazy how something that you actually care about and something that you have fun with can turn into another source of income. Because like you said, I am a huge believer in having multiple sources of income because you just never know what's going to happen. And that's very timely right now. But yeah, just being aware that one income sometimes isn't enough. You need to have options and you need to have a backup plan. Absolutely. And what's great too is looking at how far you've

come now. It's like you started your blog from nothing. It didn't exist. And then you put it into the world and now it exists. And look at all the great things that it led to, including this opportunity to have this book and put it out into the world and help a lot of people. So sometimes I think it's easier said than done because we have done it and we're living it right now. But I always like to reiterate to people that are thinking about it. I mean, we all were in that place where like, should I do this? Should I get this domain name? Should I try this out? I always think, yes, you should try. You should try. I mean, what's the harm? Like what do you got to lose? Absolutely.

I even, I started with just a WordPress. Like I didn't even have an actual domain. And then I was like, oh, I actually love this. And maybe it's time to invest a little bit of my own money into it. Exactly. Homeownership is something I want to talk. Do you currently own your home or did you, did you or did, yeah, I can't remember. Yes, we bought our home six months ago now. Oh yeah. Um, kind of on a whim. We actually

bought it sight unseen. Oh wow. Oh wow. It worked out okay though. Yes. Best decision we've ever made. Um, that's definitely not for everyone, but yeah, it's been a great experience. I, I love owning a home. I'm a big believer in homeownership for personal and emotional reasons, not maybe the financial side of it. What were some things, and I'm assuming, are you a first-time homeowner? Yes. This is our first home that we bought together. It's a detached property. Perfect. And what were some things that you learned along the way? I talked to lots of first-time homeowners and it always seems like

kind of a shock. There's a lot to kind of know and a lot of mistakes that can be made if you don't really know what you're getting yourself into. Yes. One of the best tips I actually just heard last week when I was doing some research is that you'll probably spend 3% of your purchase price in addition to the town payment in the first year, just becoming a homeowner. Wow. And have you felt that? I mean, you're only six months in, but have you felt, is that true? Yes, I think it is like you, if you come from, say we came from renting and we came from renting, uh, you know, an 800 square foot property, it's like, okay, well we, all of a sudden we have a yard and all of a sudden we have just like a lot of landscaping that we have to take care of. And we've never had

that. So we don't have any, we didn't have a lawnmower. We don't have a hose. We don't have just so many things that you don't think of. And there's also a lot of maintenance that you're going to want to do as soon as you get into the place, even if the place is ready to move in, there's things you want to change to make it your own home. And there's furniture you need to buy. Yeah, things add up very, very quickly when you buy a house. Now, when you were thinking of buying a home, did you think about that? That, okay, maybe we need a little bit of money set aside for when we actually move in and we want to change some things or we have to get some extra things that we didn't think of? Yes, for sure. We definitely purchased a home that was underneath

what we could afford just so that we had a little bit more room. And we made sure that we had kind of an emergency fund so that we weren't house poor when we moved in. Because that's something that just is not a great feeling. I have friends that have been in that situation, and it's not great. No. And I mean, I hope nothing happens, but it's interesting. It'll see what happens right now with what's going on with the stock market and the economy and housing. I mean, selfishly, I kind of hope that housing dips. I feel like we've been in a bubble for a long time, but also I know a lot of people who own and it would be bad if things dipped because, or if interest rates rise, there's a lot of things that could happen. And yeah, I completely agree. It's, it's, it's really important not to kind of, I think, go a little crazy and become house poor. A lot of people buy a little bit too much house and

then they're in a situation where they, they have, they need cash and all they have is a house. Yeah. And from one of my recommendations for those kinds of situations is, you know, you don't need to do it all at once. Like you can take your time. And I personally, like I will not buy anything new. I won't do any renovations until we've saved that money up completely because I just don't think it's worth going into debt for an update on your house. So not a big fan of the whole, you know,

get a home equity line of credit and do some renovations. It'll pay for itself in the future. Personally, that's not for me, but it totally depends situation to situation. Yeah. Yeah. No, I agree. I don't like the idea of getting into debt just to update your house if possible. I mean, you know, things break down, but again, that's why you have a special, some money set aside for these things. I mean, as a homeowner myself, I've owned our townhouse for about three years.

I mean, every appliance is broken down, every single appliance, including some very expensive ones, like our heating and AC unit, which costs about 10 grand. So it's been expensive. But like you said, when you said that stat of the 3%, I'm like, yeah, that is probably accurate. We're at that three-year mark. And if I added everything up,

it'd probably be about that. Yeah, don't add it up. Don't add it up. I know. I mean, the good thing is like yourself, I enjoy being a homeowner. It gives you that sense of security. I don't worry about having to move or anything. And we're going to stay here for a long time. So that's one of those kinds of things. It's got that stability a little bit. For sure. And of course we definitely bought below what we, you know, were approved for, which also is great because then we had that extra cash on hand when things broke down, which they did literally the day that we got the keys. Oh my gosh. These things happen. People which they did literally the day that we got the keys. These things happen.

People always say prepare for the worst, but hope for the best. And that's kind of what happened. But it is what it is. That's just being a homeowner. There are some really great things about being a renter sometimes. You got to remember. It's like, oh, yeah, if you're not ready to buy, I mean, there's nothing wrong with renting. That's for sure. Oh, no.

If we didn't have a kid, I'd still be renting. Absolutely. Absolutely. Um, so, uh, before I let you go, is there any other, um, things that you really want listeners to take away from, you know, maybe your story or just some of the great, um, lessons that they can learn from grabbing the 100 day financial goal journal. Yeah, for sure. I think just what I really want to knock home is that when you are coming up with a financial goal and you're trying to accomplish something, especially if say now it's for an emergency fund that you want, or like I said, if you have something fun coming up that's small and short term, that you need to be realistic and you need to be calculated with that goal. And you actually have to sit down and kind of map out a timeline and take a look at your personal

financial situation and get to know your numbers so that you can say, yes, I can achieve this or no, I can't. And if I can't, what can I do to change things so that I will be able to accomplish the goal? And that's something that you can do with this journal. And also, it's just a really great place to get to know you and your feelings about money and kind of understand your values. Yeah, absolutely. I think, yeah, that's really key is the value part. I feel like when you start from figuring out what your value system is, all the other things kind of become a little bit easier in terms of like where to cut back or how to change my spending habits because you become more intentional. It doesn't feel like you're giving up anything because you're still keeping all the things that are actually important to

your life. So I think that's really key. For sure. I never, I would never want to give up the things that make me happy and the things that kind of are small expenses, but I need them. Like I want to go for my coffee. I'm not giving that up. Yeah. And you shouldn't feel guilty for that. It's like, as long as you can afford it and it makes you happy and it works with all of your other goals, who cares really what you spend your money on? It's really, it's your money, right? It's your money. You can do whatever you want with it. A hundred percent. Yeah. Um, so where can people find more information about you and, uh, like a pre-order or if you're listening to this in the future, order a copy of your journal. For sure. So you can find me anywhere at Mix Up Money. I'm on Twitter,

Instagram. I'm even on TikTok. Oh, are you? Oh, you beat me. I don't even know what that like, it's an app. Like I'm too old. Like I'm not even sure where to start with that. I don't even know where it is. There's no dancing on my account. Okay. I'm going to try to find how to make an account and I'll find you on TikTok. You should. But yeah, so you can find me at Mixed Up Money pretty much anywhere. And if you're looking to find the book, you can buy it at any Indigo or Chapters in Canada.

It's available on Amazon and it's available at Barnes and Noble in the States. Amazing. Well, thanks so much for taking the time to chat with me. I really appreciate it. I'm excited for the journal to be out for people to get started working on their finances. Thanks. I'm super excited as well. And that was episode 235 with Alyssa Davies from Mixed Up Money.

Make sure to check out her website, mixedupmoney.com and pre-order her book, The 100 Day Financial Goal Journal Now. You can find it on Amazon, Indigo, Barnes & Noble, anywhere you would normally find a book online because we're all in our houses and cannot leave to go to the bookstore. So please do that and support Alyssa because it is her first book. And we all got to support each other. And I think it's an awesome resource for this time that we're all kind of going through. If you're looking for some direction in your life. Also, as she mentioned, check out her TikTok. I checked it out, obviously, after the recording.

And was surprised. Holy crap. She can sing. This girl can sing. Her TikTok is amazing. So find her at MixedUpMoney. And obviously, because I am that typical older millennial, I'm like, okay, I'll just like download it just like for fun. But I like will never post. I think I just want to see what's going on. And like two days later, I'm like, Josh, my husband, we need to do this TikTok dance and

post it. And I'm now an official TikToker. Not that I have. I have five followers, guys. Give me a break. Come on. I'm just starting. I'm just trying my best. Just did this.

I don't know what I'm doing, but it's honestly, during this kind of time that we're all going through and you're just trying to find some happy, positive distractions, holy crap, this has been a ton of fun. So highly recommend it. Find me at Jessica I. Morehouse. It's like the exact same handle as my Instagram, which is at Jessica I. Morehouse. So make sure to also follow me on Instagram.

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Okay, first and foremost, because I always forget to tell you this, if you want to check out the show notes for this episode on my website, just go to jessicamorehouse.com slash 235. If you want to check out the show notes for any episode that exists, go to jessicamorehouse.com slash the number of that episode. And of course, because I've been doing this weekly and I've been getting a lot of great feedback, I will be back this Friday with another Money Minute episode, which I am excited about because it's one that's going to make you feel good, I think. Going to help you out a little bit because we're all super anxious and worried and freaking out. And I tried to make an episode

that's going to make you feel nice. Also, just as a reminder, I have a YouTube channel that I have been putting weekly videos out. A lot of them, well, they're all topical. They're all about what's going on right now because you can't, I just feel like you can't not talk about what's going on right now. So make sure to check that out. You can go to jessicamorehouse.com slash YouTube or find me, I think it's youtube.com slash C slash jessicamorehouse1. Just Google Jessica Morehouse and you'll find me on the YouTube. But I just surpassed 4,000 subscribers, which I know that may seem like little potatoes.

You know what? I forget the saying. I'm so bad with sayings. You know what I mean. But for me, I'm like, oh, that's exciting. So make sure to check me out on the YouTube. And of course, too, if you're not already in it, get into my free Facebook group. I've been getting a lot of new members, which is great because I think a lot of people are looking for some more online communities because again, we're all stuck in our houses. So it's jessicamorehouse.com slash Facebook group or on Facebook, it's facebook.com slash group slash money life balance. And a lot of amazing group members, a lot more engagement lately, sharing articles, sharing, I feel like just in the news, it's so hard to keep track of what's new, what's going on,

especially when it comes to, you know, dealing with our own finances. So make sure to get into Facebook group. It's a really great place to just talk with each other, ask each other questions, and also keep in the loop about what is going on. Okay. And lastly, and I did share this in my weekly newsletter last week. If you're not in there, get subscribed, jessicamorehouse.com slash subscribe. But so as you may know, I have not been taking on any new financial counseling clients for a very long time. I feel like the last time I took on anyone new was probably in the summer. I just got very busy with other parts of my business.

Obviously, things have changed. I'm trying to shift my business because of what's going on. Can't really do public speaking when you can't leave the house um and so with that being said i am now taking on new clients uh if you were interested in uh hiring me as a financial counselor if you're looking for some financial help in terms of building a financial plan for yourself uh i offer those services if you want to learn more about what that means if you want to chat with me share what you're looking for see if I can help you with whatever you're struggling with right now. Amazing. Just go to jessicamorehouse.com slash discovery call and you can book a call with me.

I will call you. We will have a nice little chat and hopefully we can work together. If you are looking for something maybe not so one-on-one, I of course have some amazing online courses. So I've got my Fix Your Finances Masterclass. It is now on demand. Anyone can sign up at any time. And right now I am doing a free weekly office hours is what I'm calling. But basically I hop on Zoom for an hour every Friday. And anyone can pop in and come hang out with me and ask me your questions live. And I'm doing this every single week for as long as we're stuck at home, basically. Or as long as I feel like people really need that kind of extra accountability, that extra kind of one-on-one help or whatever.

So there's that. I also, of course, have my Investing Foundations for Canadians online course. If you really want to better understand what's going on with your investments or you want to get started with investing, but want to make sure you don't make any mistakes, this is probably the course that you're going to want to take before you start buying stocks or ETFs or whatever. So you can find out more information about all that on my website, jessicamorehouse.com slash courses is where you can find that. I also have a few courses that are not mine, but they're just like personal recommendations of courses that I have taken. If you want to kind of look at that, I'm going to add a few more just because there's so many great other, you know,

online entrepreneurs and content creators that have some really great online courses that I think can really help people. I mean, I obviously have my own courses, but I take a lot of online courses as well because I think education is the best way you can spend your money. So yeah, so there's my little promotion there. Got to self-promote a little bit because I'm actually kind of bad at doing that sometimes. But just wanted to let you know in case you had no idea that existed. So that is it for me. Thanks so much for listening. I will be back here Friday for another Money Minute episode. And keep on, I really, really appreciate everyone who's been, you know, hitting me up, DMing me or sharing

a story saying that they're listening to the podcast on Instagram or, you know, message me or tweeting me, you know, show me that you're listening just because it's really nice. It makes me feel good. Or you can, of course, send me an iTunes review. I appreciate those as well. But I just really, really just wanted to let you know. Thank you so much for listening. I really, really, really, especially during this time,

appreciate the support. Because again, I just run this thing by myself. So it's really, really helpful and nice to hear that I am actually helping other people that are listening. So it's great. Anyways, that's enough for me because I can talk forever. I'm gonna let you go. Have a good rest of your day. I will see you back here on Friday. This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.