The Rachel Cruze Show - How to Save More Money in 2022 with Christy Wright

Episode Date: December 27, 2021

2022 is right around the corner, and it’s the perfect time to save more money! In this episode: How to Have More Time and Money in 2022 Top 10 Used Cars for 2022 Helpful Resources: Christy Wright’s 2022 Goal Planner Get a money plan for real life! Start your free trial of Ramsey+:  https://bit.ly/3Cl1ETy Kelly Blue Book: Best Used Family Cars Under $15,000 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If that's what you believe, that's exactly what you'll get. If you don't believe something is possible, you won't try. And if you don't try, you won't get results. And it wasn't necessarily because it wasn't actually possible. It's because you didn't believe it was. Hey, everyone, welcome to this episode of the Rachel Cruz Show podcast. I'm so glad that you're here. And we are so close to New Year's.

I can't believe it. I cannot believe 2022 is just a few days away, you guys. I feel like 2020 and 2021 were just one big year. what it feels like. So the fact that we're going into another new year is so wild. But it's always a time of year that everyone is ready to be intentional about their lives. So I decided to have Christy Wright on to talk about how to set some great goals with both our life and our money when it comes to 2022. But first, I want to talk about used cars. That's right. Cars are always a conversation all year long. So I'm going to list out and give you some great information about the

top-used cars in 2021. So take a listen. All right, this episode, we're going to dive in to talking about cars. This is a subject that, you know, you love them, you hate them. But it's a reality and also a reality that people are like, I need a new car. How do I do this? How do I buy one? It'll be smart about it. I don't want to go and get a car loan, all of this. So we're going to talk about buying a new car for you. you, which means probably a used car.

But buying a used car now, it's insane, you guys. Like the whole industry, it's crazy. It is so expensive. It seems to be, it's like, oh my gosh. So there is that piece to the conversation that we have to have. But also, what's tried and true is paying cash for a car that you can afford is still going to be the standard, you guys. Because with a car loan, when you are taking out money and taking on debt, for something that's going down in value,

mathematically, it's just crazy. It's crazy. And you can find a great, reliable, used car. So, dependable cars, they are still there, I promise. And even though the new car seems great and wonderful, you pay more on registration and insurance, and you lose value of that car, the instant you drive it off the lot.

So shopping for a used car, it's going to be in some of your futures. And that's great news. Because also, if you have a car now that you're having to sell or trade in, you're going to get top dollar because it's costing a lot of money for use cars out there, including the car you currently have. So I would recommend researching and be prepared to act quickly. I feel like the housing market went through this. It was like a house would up on sale or at least in Nashville, and it was gone. It was gone. It was gone.

It was gone. It seems like that's how cars are right now. So when you're ready to buy, get ready because you're probably going to have to take some action fairly soon. And I want to you to be flexible on your wants. Okay, you may have a list of like the dream, be flexible, because if you can get a great deal on a used car, you're going to want to take it. And I would also recommend considering a sedan if you can, because the demand is so high right now for SUVs and trucks and car dealers are more willing to negotiate the price of a sedan versus a truck or an SUV. And consumer reports has found that sedans tend to be more. And, you know, fuel efficient than SUVs that are even the same size.

So you're going to save money on gas. And also, if you're shopping around, look for a return policy that is seven days or longer. Okay, those are some tips as you're out shopping around for used car. But let's talk about some of the best family cars of 2021, according to Kelly Blue Book. And all of them are under $15,000 that I'm going to give you today. Yep, you are welcome. All right, number 10, a 2013 GMC Acadia. So this is going to be a mid-sized SUV.

Drives great, has a great crash test score, and you can buy one as low as $12,000. Number nine, a 2015 Toyota Prius. So this is a five-person hybrid hatchback. Obviously, you get great miles per gallon, because it's partly a hybrid. Keep your gas budget under control, which is awesome. And you can find one as low as $12,500.

Coming in at number eight, a 2014 Honda Accord. Classic. I just, I love Hondas. And this one is also a hybrid, so it gets 50 miles per gallon in the city, seats five people. Again, high crash test scores, great safety ratings.

Just a great car all around you guys and get as low as $13,000. Number seven, a 2015 Mazda CX5. So this is an SUV. It fits about five people. Great safety rating. It looks great. Good fuel economy.

It's a great SUV. And you can get one as low as $14,000. Number six, 2012 Toyota RAV4. So this is more of a compact SUV. So this seats anywhere from five to seven people. Great reputation and reliable. People love this car. Love this car.

And you can get one as low as $10,000. Number five, a 2013 Honda CRV. So this one's getting a little fancy. You have a keyless entry. Above average reliability ratings. Great scores on safety. Again, another great SUV as low is $12,000. Number four, a 2014 Subaru Outback.

So you get the comfort of a sedan, but the versatility of an SUV. Fancy, fancy. Again, really reliable car, top safety pick, and you can get one as low as $12,500. Number three, a 2011 Toyota Highlander. Seven people, reliable, great miles per gallon. Again, top safety pick,

and you can get one as low as $11,500. Coming in at number two, one of my faves. In 2013, Honda. Odyssey. Heck yes. Bring in the minivan. Room for three car seats. Even a little bit more, I would argue. Lots of cargo space, reliable, wonderful, cruise family approved. You can get as low as $13,000. But coming in at number one, it beat the Odyssey, but I'm going to give it to them because it's on the list and it's just fact. And it's fine. It's fine. I'm all mad about it. At 2013, Toyota Sienna. The other minivan out there, that's great, too.

Seats eight, has a blind spot monitoring. Very fancy. Cross-traffic alert system. Man, this Sienna, doing great, doing great. And you get one as low as $14,000. As minivan people, man, you just got to love a minivan. And this is pretty few guys, as you can see, you can find safe, reliable, great-looking cars for your family that are used.

And yes, the used car market right now is insane. I know, I know, I know. But you can still get a great deal if you're looking for a car. You don't feel like you have to go buy a brand new car. There are still great used cars out there. Again, as long as you can pay cash, that's it. That's my bottom line. Pay cash.

And it's to be great. You're going to love not having a car payment, I promise you. We are about to dive into a new year of 2022 and always the conversations around, gosh, I have gold. I want to accomplish things. I'm going to do things different. I mean, all of these conversations start to really heighten this time of year or so. I thought I would bring in someone that is so great at these conversations. One of my great friends, Christy Wright.

Yeah, thanks for having me. This is so good. So great. How was 2021 for you, Christy? Oh, huge. I mean, it was one of those years where it was like I feel like that we have been planning and preparing for making this kind of pivot and expansion from Only Business Boutique to the Christie Wright Show and all those fun things.

And so we got to see that this fall. But one of the things I love about this specific. week that we're in right now is we're right in the middle of the calendar flipping. And so everybody's looking ahead. And whatever happened in 2021, whether it was great or terrible or weird or something you didn't expect, we can all have this fresh start. And there's something about a clean slate and a fresh start with the flip of a calendar that gets us excited about the possibilities. And so I'm so excited to dive into this because this is one of those things that you and I'd love to talk about, whether it's with money or time or anything in life. It's so important. Absolutely. I know. And the money

piece of it, I feel like always ramps up. But also, you know, a lot of people, they're balancing so much, right? Whether it's work and motherhood or fatherhood, your marriage, I mean, all of it. What are some top things that you see, we'll say specifically women for this? You're like, okay, I see them start to change areas in their life and they start to make goals and they actually accomplish them. Like, what are some of those big areas that you see most women do that in? Well, I think one of the keys is picking your area of focus. And so a lot of we put pressure on ourselves, whether it's explicit or implicit, to do everything all the time. And we know intellectually we can't do that, right? Like, we can't do everything every

day all the time. But then when we do, let's say, let's say in a given day or a given week, we do three things awesome. We don't focus on those things. We're not proud of those things. We're not excited. We're focusing on the five to 50 things we didn't do well. And so what I want to encourage people to do is they think about this new year is not to say you're going to let those other areas of your life totally slip and fall apart, but is there a particular area you want to grow in? And maybe, for example, this year you're saying, you know what, I really want to invest in my marriage, I want to make that a priority. So then you make decisions with your calendar from date night to getting child care to planning a vacation that then put time, money and energy

behind this thing. You're saying, I want to focus on this area of my life this year. So I think focus, giving people permission to focus is a key to actually sticking with your goals. Because if not, you're a mile wide and an inch deep and you feel like you're not getting anywhere. No, it's so true. And I feel like we're even in a culture that we almost applaud this multitasking thing. Yes. You are doing so much. How does she do it all?

Yeah, and it's like celebrated in a sense. And maybe some people naturally, they can do it. That's good for you. You know what I mean? You're winning and you're doing it. But for a lot of people, it is overwhelming. And that's even, you know, with people in their money goals, that's why I'm like, yes, that's why it's so key to focus on the wins. Even the small ones, even if it's like, hey, I just want to save an extra $100 this week and you do it, celebrate it.

Even if you don't feel like, oh, yeah, it's not the thousand or it's not, or I'm not paying off that small debt. It's those small things, those small victories that really do. They motivate people to keep going. Well, and if you think about the baby steps, those are focus, right? Your focus in Baby Step 1 is just $1,000. Your focus in Baby Step 2 is getting debt-free. Your focus on baby step three is getting that.

So each one, you're focusing on something. Now, when you get to four, five, and six, you're doing some of those maybe simultaneously, and that's normal. But there's an element of focus. And when you have that permission, you're going to make more progress there. And I think that's so huge. But you bring up a good point because one of the things, a pattern I've noticed, especially in women, is that we tend to judge others by what they're

doing well and judge ourselves by what we feel like we're falling short. So we see someone like you, we're like, oh my gosh, she's rocking it, she's a perfect mom, she looks cute, put together, hair and makeup, her house is so clean, she's just awesome. And they don't see that you had help, or you let this one thing slide, or you didn't work out that day, or whatever those things are. And I just think there's an opportunity for Grace there. I put something on Instagram a few weeks ago, and it was a side-by-side picture of me. It was the same picture, but it had all these words around me. Oh, I saw it.

It was me on stage like this, and it's like, the first picture is like, fearless, confident, on stage, hair and makeup, put together. And the next picture is, messy house, screamed to my kids this morning, took a seminary quiz at 11 p.m., haven't worked out in two months. It's like the picture's true, but we judge others by what we see that they're doing well in ourselves, but what we're doing wrong.

Look, we're all doing some things well, and we're focusing in those areas, and there's always going to be some things that we choose not to make the cut, and that's okay. Yep, absolutely. So when it comes to goals specifically, what are things that you see? Because you teach on this a lot. To make it, quote, quote, a good goal.

To be like, okay, this is a realistic thing that I actually can accomplish. I think it's hard sometimes when we have these, like, massive goals that almost can just be unrealistic, right? And you're kind of setting yourself up for failure, even though, yes, God can do all things. Things can happen. But it's like in a realistic sense. It's like, okay, but you need the win. Like, you need to be able to know that's actually possible. So how do people kind of sift through that in their lives?

Okay, so the first thing I want to call out that's really important to goals that we don't stop to ask ourselves enough, and then I'll go into the three qualities of a goal. The first thing is it needs to be yours, meaning you want to do this. I don't know if you're like this, Rachel, but like, I'll have new ideas. No, you are like this all the time. We'll just have an idea pop in our head. Like, for me, it's like, I'm going to read 30 books this year. What did I say?

I'm going to run 20 minutes a day for 100 days. That was a goal I had. You don't like to run, Rachel. But that's a terrible idea for you. That's what Christy said. Connor was like, I have a new goal. I have a new goal. This was like six years ago.

Yeah, well, I got to, yeah. Because I heard someone we work with did it, and they were like, this is where it comes from. And I was like, oh, my God, that's so smart. Because it was like this whole psychology thing of 20 minutes. I don't know, it was like this whole thing. It makes sense. But it's only 20 minutes a day, Christy. It's only 20 minutes.

Did I do it? No. No. It needs to be yours. And so, you know, I used the book example, joking. But literally years ago, someone in my small group, same thing. It was like, I'm going to read 30 books. I was like, me too.

It was terrible. I was having my second baby. I was launching a book. It was not the season for 30 books. And so let's just start with, it needs to be yours, meaning if you don't want this goal bad enough, then you're not going to work hard enough. You're not going to make the sacrifices required to reach that goals. But if you really want it, you'll make the sacrifices, you'll do the work to get there.

So it needs to be yours. But let's just talk about the metrics. It needs to be specific, measurable, and have a time limit. So the way that you break this down is, let's say, for example, you have a side gig and you're trying to make extra money to pay off your debt. You might say, I want to grow my business this year. Well, that's not a goal. That's an idea.

It's a wish, it's a dream. It's a resolution. It's not a goal. So ask yourself some further questions. So how do you want to grow by how much and by when? How is the metric? So by Facebook fans, by revenue, by personal income, by email list, whatever, by how much, percentage or amount, and by when is your deadline?

So you take this idea, I want to grow my business, and you turn it into a goal by those three specific variables by saying something like, I want to grow my top line revenue by 30% by June 1st. Now this idea of, I want to grow my business is specific, measurable, it has a time limit. It's now, by definition, a goal, and you can actually work towards that. And do it, yeah, because it makes it realistic. And that's even, like, when you're getting out of death, talking about it, I'm like, yeah, list out the debts and put a time frame.

That's one thing I always tell people when they want to get their spouse on board, especially a husband. It's one of the best things to do is to bring, like, a logical plan that's written out, easy to understand, and it's that. There's a time frame. You know what the goal is. You know when the end date is. How much money needs to happen. Like, you can back your way out of almost the math and bring the way to the

the logic in. When you see it, you're like, okay, I can do that. It's not like this mystery thing up in the cloud. So you guys, again, whether it's life or its money, write it down, number one, we talk about that a lot, make it visual, be able to see it, and then map it out like what Christy's saying, because again, when we throw things out there, oh, this is what I want, this is what I want, it is this wish. It's this dream lingering. But when you actually put legs to it, and it's like, okay, this actually can happen, and you start to focus on it, it's incredible what can happen. Well, and you can do this in any area of your life. So I think we think of goals as like weight loss or business growth or getting out of debt,

which are great. Those are very easy areas of your life to set a goal in, and you should. Yeah. But what's interesting is you can do this in any area. So, for example, I want to be a better mom. Okay, well, how do you define that? If you will just define success, then you know what you're actually aiming at. Does that for you represent, we have quality time every Saturday,

or I'm home for dinner times, or I don't know what that is? Yeah, yeah. But you can't achieve something you don't define. So just define success in any of these areas that you want to grow and improve, then you know what you're working toward, you have that metric, and then, like you said, you back out of it. So if you're doing business growth, well, now I know how I need to increase my revenue every month between now and June 1st, you see the plan. And like any plan, when you can see it, you can do it. Whether that's getting out of debt, getting a new degree,

running a marathon, when you can see it, you can do it, and it takes the overwhelm out of it. Yep, absolutely. Okay, so speak to the person out there who's thinking, this is impossible, whether it's impossible that I'm going to grow this side business that I have a passion for, or it's impossible for my husband and I to get on a budget together, or it's impossible even for me to be a good mom. Like, I struggle at it, right? Like, whatever that is up there, people do have these things that we can sit here and be like, no, we believe in you.

Like, we have hope because we've seen evidence of people changing their lives and turning things around for the good. So someone that's sitting there thinking, oh, that sounds great for them. There's just no way I can do that. What do you say to that person? That's hopeless. Give us the Christy right answer. If that's what you believe, then that's what you'll get.

If that's what you believe, that's exactly what you'll get. If you don't believe something is possible, you won't try. And if you don't try, you won't get results. And it wasn't necessarily because it wasn't actually possible. It's because you didn't believe it was. And we talk about this a lot, Rachel, but the power of your thoughts, the greatest analogy for this, because you know, I love a good running analogy. But the example of the four-minute mile.

Okay, so before May of 1954, no human being had ever run a mile, four lapser on a regular track in less than four minutes. It could not be done. It was impossible. Doctors said the human body would die. You could not put it through that pressure for that length of time until May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister breaks the mile in four minutes. That wasn't the cool part, though.

What was cool is six weeks later, John Landy broke it, and it was broken two more times that year. It's been broken over 500 times since then, and now it's just the standard for the mile. All because someone showed that it was possible. So it starts in the power of our thoughts, because if you believe something's possible, like Roger Bannister or anybody that followed him,

then you'll try. And if you try, you actually can achieve way more than you think you can, but it starts in your beliefs. So good, and I think we're just surrounded or people are by people that are kind of the naysayers. The people will say, oh, well, those people over there can do that. It's almost like this negativity could live in you, but also who you're around and what you're feeding your mind even,

and that's to the news, Twitter, all of it, right? So guarding your minds, it is so key of what you're putting in, is going to affect your outcome because your beliefs can change. People can change your beliefs. Yes. And if you're one of those people and you're thinking, yeah, that's not possible, you couldn't become a millionaire, you couldn't become debt-free, that's impossible. If you're one of those people, here would be my challenge for you.

If you can't change your thoughts and beliefs overnight, I get that. Maybe you've just had a lot of hard years where life has beat you down. Yeah. Okay, here's what's really cool, though, when it comes to not only our thoughts, but building confidence. Confidence is built in tiny little steps. It's not built in this huge sweeping grand. action, we think somebody just runs out and runs a marathon or just overnight becomes step-free.

It's in these small steps. So just say, hey, I'm just going to try to save $200. It's not $1,000. But I'm just going to, look, my first mini goal, my micro goal, is just going to be save $200. Could I just scrounge up $200? Could I sell some old electronics to get $200? I did it. Oh, my gosh. Well, let me just get $200 more. And then $200 at a time, you've got your first $1,000. And then you begin to chip away at your debt snowball, or whether this is growing a business, it starts with a Google search, purchasing a URL, asking a friend for a logo,

you begin to take these tiny steps. None of them are very impressive. None of them you're bragging on Facebook. But as you take one tiny step at a time, your confidence grows and that confidence fuels the next tiny baby step. And one tiny baby step at time, you look up, you go, I'm doing it. It is possible.

I'm debt-free, I have a business, I ran the marathon, whatever the thing is. So if you're intimidated by the big goal, just take one tiny step and watch how that fuels your confidence and momentum. Yes, the hope. And that's why I love even with the dead snowball. It's like paying off that smallest one, right? It's that small thing.

It is so key, you guys. So having those small wins and your goals early on in 2022 is going to continue to fuel you for the rest of the year and all the goals that you have. Again, no matter what part of your life it is, having that, I think, is so, so key. And you have such a great help with the goal planner that you have. Let's talk about one thing in this that is so that we haven't hit on and I think it's important. Yeah. So everybody sets goals in January, New Year's resolutions, whatever. and then maybe they've fallen off the wagon by March,

and they're feeling bad. Here's what's really interesting, and this is so in line with what I teach with everything around balance, I think instead of beating yourself up in June because you're not on track for whatever you set in January, I think we have permission to revisit our goals.

And so in May and in August, so when your season's kind of changing from spring to summer and then from summer to fall, there's an opportunity here whenever in the teaching to revisit your goals in January and say, hey, are these still right? If so, let's stay on track. And if not, let's revisit.

what do you need to reassess? What do you need to change? Maybe that goal still makes sense. Maybe your whole life has changed. Maybe your business has changed. Your health has changed. Your kids need something from you. And so I just want to remind people, even though setting goals is so important, you have permission to change your mind, your plans and your priorities as your life changes, and in fact, it should. That's so good. And that's so encouraging because like you're saying, you can't, you can plan out as much as you can plan out. And then when life happens, right? Right. And again, even like with the money stuff, I'm like, we, I hear stories. I always, time of like, oh, we went backwards or I had to use that $1,000, you know, life is going to do that.

It's not this just like straight vertical line all the way. It's to heaven, right? It's ups and downs all the way, all the way in life. So I think that's great. I think that's super encouraging just to know, guys, things can change and be fluid. And that's awesome. Well, Chrissy, where can everyone get the goal planner? Ramsey Solutions.com.

So great. So great. And you guys, when it comes to your money goals, maybe you just start with a budget and say, hey, if I'm new to this whole thing and the very first step, it's just do a budget. Figure out what money you are bringing in, what money is going out. Again, it sounds simple. It's going to take a little bit of time, but you can actually start to get under control

and realize what you have. So if you want to check that out, we have a great app every dollar inside of Ramsey Plus. So just go to Ramsey Solutions.com slash Ramsey Plus and check that out. Thanks for being here. This is so good. Having new here, guys.

I know, absolutely. I hope you guys had a great 2021, and we'll see you next year. Well, I always love having Christy on. It's fun to work with one of your great friends and to have her on the show because she brings such wisdom to all these conversations.

So I'm so thankful that she was on. And I'm so thankful for you guys, for listening. And we're closing out a year, you guys, closing out 2021. And so I hope it was a great year for you. I hope it was one that possibly you made changes when it came to your money and creating better money habits. And we can all continue those onto the new year in 2022. So happy new year.

But I will remind you, if you've not subscribed to the podcast, make sure to do that. and if the spirit leads, you can leave a review. And as always, make sure to take control of your money and create a life you love.