The Rachel Cruze Show - What to Do When Your Budget's Not Working

Episode Date: April 13, 2020

When you look at your budget, does it spark joy?   If you aren’t already living on a budget, the most important thing you can do for you and your family right now is to make one. Or if it’s been a while since you looked at your numbers, now is the time to adjust.   In this episode of The Rachel Cruze Show, you’ll learn:   Three ways to refresh your budget How Alex and Todd paid off $16K of debt in just nine months How to organize the messiest rooms in your house   Sponsors pay the producer of this show, The Lampo Group, LLC, advertising fees for mentioning their services or products during programming. Advertising fees are not based upon or otherwise tied to any product sale or business transacted between any consumer or sponsor. The following sponsors have paid for the programming you are viewing:   — Zander Insurance     Resources (everything mentioned in this episode):   Zander Insurance EveryDollar Learn about the 7 Baby Steps here 14-Day Money Finder Total Money Makeover  Financial Peace University  Give Other People Hope  Womansday.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We had like $80 in our bank account. I couldn't hide from it at all. The couple who paid off $16,000. It was just like eye-opening, and that is a driving force for us. We're going to talk about how to organize different areas of your life. You can do this using everyday household things. You don't even need to go out and buy anything. Hi, you guys.

It's a very uncertain time right now because of the coronavirus and everything that's being affected, whether it's your health or your money. The world is just, it's insane right now, it's crazy. But one thing is true that I believe in the American economy enough to tell you that we are going to be okay. I promise, we are going to be okay. There is hope still when it comes to your money. Now, there are things that we cannot control what goes on statewide or in Washington.

There's a lot of things that we can control. What we can control is what happens in our homes and our personal finances. So making sure that we don't make decisions based on fear, but on facts. But as recordings go, we recorded this a few months ago before the coronavirus pandemic. It all began, all the craziness, you guys. I just still cannot believe the world we're living in, but that's reality. But all the content in these episodes, they still ring true. So no matter what is happening in the economy, things might be a little bit harder at times, for sure.

But I hope this content brings you hope. I hope it brings you life. And I hope it brings you some really great tactics to help you with your money. So here's today's episode. Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of the Rachel Cruise Show podcast. So glad that you're here. So in this episode, we're going to talk about one of your favorite things, spring cleaning. Yes, not just spring cleaning, but spring cleaning your budget.

I'm going to talk to someone who cleaned up their budget and their whole life by paying off $16,000 in just nine months. And I've partnered with Women's Day to show you some fun ways to keep your life organized, which Lord knows I need. So let's dive in. I know a lot of people think of a budget as something that limits freedom. I know this because I was one of them. But just like getting all the old clothes out of your closet and into a yard sale or finally Marie Condoing your kitchen, there is a sense of relief once it's done. So both spring cleaning and budgeting can actually give you freedom and space to do more

of what you want to do. So here are three tips for spring cleaning your budget. Number one, tackle one area at a time. Just like when you clean out your house, it's easier to pick one small room to get started and go after it. And once that task is done, then you go on something larger. And the same is true with your budget. Don't focus on saving for retirement and funding kids' college

and paying off debt, all these things at once. It can get overwhelming so quickly. So start with Baby Step 1, get $1,000 saved for an emergency, and then tackle each baby step from there. Now, for a video on all seven baby steps, click the link in the show notes to check it out. Number two, start with a small task. If you begin organizing your bedroom, you know, it's best to start somewhere small and simple, like cleaning out a drawer just to get yourself in the groove, get some progress going, you know, you feel good, you do.

And the same is true when you're paying off your debt. So that's why we recommend the debt snowball. This is where you target one debt at a time starting with the smallest. Get those small wins, keeps you motivated, and keeps you in the process. And last but not least, number three, don't be afraid to rearrange. Sometimes you just need to rearrange a room and it looks brand new. And the same is true with your budget. I recently had to rearrange our budget because our water bill was so high.

It was like $100 high. Yeah. We turned on the irrigation system, bad choice, like all the things. So we got the bill and we're like, oh, God. So then I opened up every dollar and I started pulling. $20 from different categories like babysitting clothes. Each of the girls' categories got some money taken out, miscellaneous, just to fund this water bill.

And it was great, though, because Winston has every dollar on his phone. And so it just updates live and boom, we're both on the same page. So if you've not looked at every dollar, you guys, you have to check out this app. It changes everything. Seriously, click the link in the show notes. Now notice, when I got the high water bill, we didn't just pull the money out of savings. We took our budget and rearranged it. so that we could fund that bill.

So that's a game changer too. All right, next up, let's talk about that scary drawer. No one wants to open. The junk drawer. Sometimes you just need to open that sucker up and clean it out. I feel like that's what Winston and I've been doing

the last probably like three weekends. We've literally gone through every inch of our house. And we've started purging because we're moving. And so we're taking on this whole different mindset of like, okay, do we want this? We want to take this to our new house. my good friends moved into a new house, and she said that she took each item, and she said, looked at the item and said, does this item deserve to be in my beautiful new house?

And I was like, I love that. That's my filter. I looked at my dish towels, and I was like, do you deserve to be in my new kitchen? No, you don't. Towels that we got 10 years ago from our wedding registry that are brown and red, you do not deserve to be in my new bathroom. No. So, like, we're like looking at something like, I'm Persian, I'm Persian.

But some stuff you're like, okay, no, I can take you. I will take you. But sometimes it just takes, like, looking in the places you just never look. I mean, isn't it crazy? We opened up a drawer, you guys. These, like, these doors opened up and there were just files, just files. And we looked, it was like 10-year-old files with, like, random bills and, like, water bill and, like, all this stuff. And we're like, what is this? So, like, again, the places in your house that you just never open up, open them up. and the same is true with your money.

Look at your budget and use this filter. Ask yourself, okay, does this budget category not only deserve to have this much money in it, but also, do I just need to rearrange and open up other parts of our financial life and get it all out on the table? Feels good, because when you clean up, even your house and your budget,

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You guys, this is proof of what happens when you get intense. So here it is. Alex and Todd, thank you guys so much for coming on the show and sharing your story. Thank you so much for having us. Absolutely. So this episode is all about spring cleaning, and you guys spring clean, life and your money. And I'm just curious, take me back to what was the catalyst that caused you both to change

the way you handle your money? Yeah, it was Christmas. It was right after Christmas of 2018. I, like, did a really big no-no. We had, like, $80 in our bank account, and I had to tell Todd. Like, I couldn't hide from it at all. So he had to come home from work, and I had to be like, babe, I'm so sorry, but we don't don't have any money. And we can't pay the bills and I don't know what to do. And I was really nervous

that he was going to be really, really upset. But he was so humble and just, you know, like, we're going to figure this out. Like, everything is going to be okay. And I met with a really good friend at church. And her name is Stephanie. And she gave me the total money makeover. And she was just very blunt with me. And she basically said, in the nicest way possible, like, this is kind of your fault. this is all of your fault, but you are also the solution. Wow. You know, so I'm so thankful that I had a friend like that I need, and it was the exact words that I needed to hear at the time.

So when I got the book, 24 hours later, I was done, and I told Todd all about it, and I was like, this is what we have to do. This is totally what we're doing. And he was like, yeah, let's do it. Let's just do it. So then we laid everything out on the table. We pretty much went through our bank account with a, fine tooth comb. I mean, we, everything, what were we spending on eating out? What were we spending

on groceries? What, I mean, what were little things that we found that, like a subscription that we just forgot to cancel. We found a few of those and that, like, freed up like 30 bucks a month in our budget. Okay, guys, I wanted to pause and jump in here and really dig into what they just talked about. Listen, it is so normal for people to have no clue where their money's going. They don't know what their expenses are, they're just aimlessly spending money. They don't have a plan and they don't know what's going on, okay? And that might be you listening. If it is, I do not mean to shame you. I just need you to wake up and realize you are never going to win with money if this is your habit. If this is how you spend money, you guys, you are never going to get in control. And so really,

going through your bank account with a fine tooth comb, just like she said, and understanding, okay, this is where our money's going. And then making a budget and saying, okay, this is where we actually want our money to go, that you're being proactive instead of reactive. And this is so, so key. I mean, you are not going to win with money if you're not on a budget. And when you're doing the budget, you guys, throughout the month, make sure you're tracking your transactions. I really recommend every dollar plus get that because it does it automatically for you. It brings in your transactions to your account. If you don't do that, then keep receipts, write things down. Track your transactions. The more control you have over your money, the faster you are going to

win. So, oh, she needs you all to hear that. Okay, let's get back to the call. So you guys, I mean, it was really out of kind of this desperation, you would say, like $80 left. Yeah. It was like, something has to change. Okay, Todd, what did you think when you came home from work? And she's like, listen, this is our reality. This is what happens. What did you say? What were you thinking? Um, like she said, uh, we just, we needed, we both knew that something needed change. I knew that and I knew that freaking out wasn't really going to help anything. So I just said we need we need to figure this out. We can figure it out together, but we've got to make a change here. You guys really worked as a team, you would say. Like you guys kind of locked

arms because before it was more you, Alex, doing all the money stuff obviously because Todd wasn't aware that there was only $80 left. And you guys worked though more as a team, would you say on the other side of it? Oh yeah. We, I mean, not. we sit down together and we're literally doing a budget together. And it's just funny that we're talking about spring cleaning because the week afterwards, when we talked about the plan and how we were going to do the plan, Maria Kondo came up with her tidying up episode. Oh, yeah. And I watched it in the whole house. Everything, everything that either A did not bring me joy or B, we have not used, was getting sold.

And Todd actually came home from work one day, and all of his clothes were in a pile on our bed. And I was like, I need two garbage bags. I don't care what is going, but I need two garbage bags. And Todd likes to hold on to some things. So he actually had three garbage bags. He had two that were, okay, you can get rid of slash sell. And then he had a small Walmart sack of camp shirts

from when he was a kid. that he had to keep, but that don't fit him. But people... Todd, I'm with you. I have college shorty shirts that I'm like, it's near a dear to my heart. I get it, Todd. I get it a little bit.

I don't get it, but I put them in a bag very nicely folded them, and now they're in it. We call it the Todd tote. So hilarious. But yeah, we sold everything. So how much money did you make from selling all your stuff? Because we do. We tell people sell your stuff to pay off debt, Fund your emergency fund?

I would say it was around $500. It funded like half of our emergency fund. That's amazing. You know, we got the kids involved and our, you know, our little ones really took to it. You know, I would have them hold it just like Maria Kondo. And I was like, does this bring you joy? And my littlest who is three years old, she was like, no. And I'm like, perfect.

Yes. You know, so something else we can get out of there. Yeah. Okay, I wanted to jump in right there. Okay. They sold stuff. They sold $500 worth of stuff, you guys. I mean, that's unbelievable.

And I just think about how stressed they were with $80 in their bank account. Little did they know. There was $500 worth of stuff that they're not using that they can make money off of. So when we say sell stuff, for real, look around your house.

You know, I feel like we just have so much crap everywhere. And so get rid of some stuff and make some money. Okay, I just want to jump in and didn't want to fly over that point. So let's get back to Alex and Todd. So you did talk about kind of spring

cleaning your budget itself, not just your house. And you mentioned, like, subscriptions that was saving you, what, $30 a month? Yeah, it was like $30 a month that we just forgot that, you know, we just forgot to cancel. And like I said, kind of like Maria Kondo, we just laid all of the account on the table. And then we sifted through that. And then we kind of started from there, like, okay, what is a normal grocery budget for a family of, say, let's like start from there. And I feel like ever since then, we've always been spring cleaning our budget because we're always looking for ways to downsize it. You know, recently we got rid of all paper towel because with four kids, we're just using paper towel like it's going on a style. Oh, girl, me too. I get that. So we got rid of them

and now I bought dollar store washcloths and we just continue to rewash them so now we don't buy paper towel anymore. We're trying to get on the like glass paper plates wagon, but it's just really hard. I just, those dishes every day. I'm trying. I'm trying. No, y'all went down to like the nitty gritty in this. I mean, that's what's amazing about it. So, Todd, what was the hardest thing that you guys have cut out that you were like, oh, man, that's a sacrifice. You feel it. I think the paper towels were actually pretty hard on both of us. That took a bit of work, but it was good. Yeah, absolutely. So you guys are in the thick of financial. Amch-Beech University right now. You're in the middle of it. So tell me about like your goals.

You guys want to be debt-free. When is that going to happen? Like, what are you guys working on now? Yeah. When we started, we were like, oh, man, we could be debt-free. By the end of March of, or not sorry, by the end of 2020, like, we can do this. And then when we really started doing it and our snowball really started rolling and I was, we were just like, oh my gosh, we can be debt-free by like March of 2020. And it was, it was just like eye-opening. And that just like, like is a driving force for us to continue to do what we're doing. And we led the FPU at our church in the new year right. So you guys were coordinators. Yeah. Oh, that's awesome. How was that experience? Oh, it was so cool. It was awesome to see the light bulbs go off in our friends' minds.

I mean, when they would watch the, you know, the second video, because it's all about debt, you could just see all of our closest friends like, wow, yes, we need this. We need this in our life. And so all of us have kind of been cheering each other on. And we created a little tight-knit Facebook group just between the few of us to really help encourage us to, you know, not go to Target and pay our bills and more. So yeah, it was really, really awesome. So great. Okay, so Todd, Tell me how you guys felt pre-spring cleaning the budget and the money, like what life was like before. And now what does it feel like after the fact that you guys are budgeting? You're paying off debts.

Like, what's the difference? Oh, it's huge. It's a huge difference. It's awesome. Beforehand, we were, like we said, we just were spending money on a lot of things we didn't need. We were eating out or getting coffee or whatever, you know, just little things that you don't notice as much. And as soon as we got on board, like she said, for a lot of it. thing we did was we scrubbed our bills, scrubbed our budget and our bank account and just

seeing all this stuff that we didn't need. And so now looking back, it's like we had all this extra money that we were just thrown away, basically, that we could have been spending on things that were important. That's so good. I know we always say that when you budget, you feel like you got a raise. Would you say that that's true? Oh my gosh. I remember we did our first budget and I was like, we have X amount of dollars. This is awesome. And he was like, that's what happens when we're... Yes. Oh, I love it, you guys. Well, you are seriously, like, the best story of what it looks like to be, quote, unquote,

normal in America with your money, and then doing some weird stuff, like spring cleaning your budget, paying off debt, funding your emergency fund, all those things. You're doing weird stuff, but the results are what's absolutely incredible. And you guys are just living testimony that when you put your mind to something and you actually take ownership, like you said, your friend said, you did this. But you have the control and the ability to change everything. And you guys took that on and took that seriously. Now your sweet little four girls are going to have a different life because of what you guys are doing today.

And I just think it's amazing. So thank you so, so much for coming on and sharing your story. Thank you so much for us. Yeah. This was awesome. And I really enjoyed talking to Alex and Todd. And one thing I love about this is that we recorded their segment before I was on maternity leave. And so now I'm back recording these.

podcasts. And you guys, they updated their story in the Rachel Cruz show community. And y'all, they have already paid off $30,000. Like, they are just now months away from being debt-free. I mean, it's proof. I mean, they are doing it. And so, you guys, if you stick to the plan, this stuff works. It's not always easy. But man, getting debt-free and getting out of that hole, I mean, they started with $80 in their checking account. And now they're going to pay off so much debt, and they're going to be debt-free so soon. I'm so pumped for them. Okay, coming up next, I shot this next segment with Women's Day for the Rachel Cruz show, the video version. So make sure you check that out.

But I'm really excited to dive in because we're going to talk about how to organize different areas of your life. All right, we all know kids clutter up our lives. So being organized is so key. So I brought in Susan Spencer to help us declutter our lives when it comes to kids. So thank you for coming on. Well, thank you for having me. And it is true. children can kind of create a little bit of mess in their paths.

Just a little bit, just a little bit. So we actually have three areas that we're going to declutter. And so the first one is here. And a playroom was just adorable. So playrooms, it's like the black hole of toys is what it feels like at times. Right. And even though it's a black hole, it doesn't mean that you can't put some semblance of order in this. Yes.

And we've come up with some really fun ways to do this. And you can do this using everyday household things. You don't even need to go out and buy anything. So let me show you a couple of ideas. First of all, we have ordinary kitchen canisters. Super easy. They usually hold beans and flour and stuff like that. Great for corralling pencils.

So cute. Or pipe cleaners or any other supplies that you want to put in here. And I love clear stuff because of like kids' toys and everything. They're so colorful. Right. So you still get the fun. Yeah, you still get the fun colors. A bit of a decorative moment.

That's right. That's fine. Another kind of a decorative moment is, of course, you want to display your children's artwork. You can buy inexpensive frames. just what one thing that I love to do is just get really fun Plano clipboards. Oh, that's. So it doesn't have to be fancy. You can even mount them on the wall if you want.

No fancy frames. You can just do it out as they do them. So super fun, super easy, and inexpensive thing to do. I also find that paints are very, very messy. So one way to corral paints and try to keep the mess factor way down is just get an ordinary just soap container and just put paints in it. So that's so fun. And then you can just squeeze it out and no fuss, no way. and kind of corrals your kids and lets them be creative, but at the same time not super messy.

Yes, we love that. Order. We love order around kids. Oh, it's so great. And art supplies. It's perfect. Such good stuff. All right, come up next. We're going to talk about how to organize the closet. All right, next place to organize kids' closet. So we have these really cute bags. I can't wait to hear all about it, Susan. So I think kids closets are another clutter hot spot where stuff really, really tends to accumulate. So our recommendation here is to create a series of campus bags with different labels on them. We have homework crafts, and we even have sports back here.

And basically give them to your kids and let them run around the house and collect all their stuff. Then they can store them in the closet or they can take this around with them as well. So homework can go from the playroom, the closet to the playroom, to the kitchen, wherever they're doing their homework. So it's just a great system.

So these particular bags are from Lanzan. They're about $40, but you can go. come up with much less expensive alternatives. You can actually just find regular canvas bags. Give your kids some sharpies, have them decorate them. You don't have to actually do the full-on monogramming. But how cute is that? So great.

Because our stuff, I feel like it piles up at the bottom of the steps. Yes. And half the time, I'm always like, okay, Amelia, the 40-old. I'm like, just grab a couple things. I'll grab stuff. When you have this, you can already just organize it as you go. Right, exactly. It makes it so easy.

I love it. That's great. All right. Next tip, I can't wait to go. because I need it, probably more than all of these things, the car. Organizing the car. That's what's up next. All right, last place we need organization is in our cars.

So there's some great tips here. I love it. Yeah, I think the car is actually the place where it collects the most clutter. I was cleaning out my car a few weeks ago and I founded Lego piece from 2010. Yeah, there you go. Really, really bad. Story in my life. So the key to success is to try to corral as much stuff.

So you want to give stuff to your kids before they get into the car and then have them take it out of their car. So the easiest way to do that is really literally to contain them. So you could put little craft supplies, you can put snacks, you can put all sorts of things into these little zippered containers, super easy. So easy. Or even easier, a nice Ziploc bag. Everything goes in there, super easy.

Take it to the car, take it back. Really fun. Keep it all together. Right. All together. Exactly. And another way that I love to organize things are with these cute little shower holders. Now you might see these inside your shower and in your bathtub.

You can put snacks in, you can put little toys, keeps them contained, so they don't end up all over the car. I love it. And the snacks, it's easy to access. Yes. Like, to get, because I know my kids are always like, we're hungry, we're hungry. And I'm like trying to, I'm driving, trying to get them snacks. Right. It's all right there. All right there.

Brilliant. So good. Wow. All these organization tips, wonderful, Susan. Thank you. You're welcome. So much. To get more tips and tricks just like this, you can go to woman's day.com or pick up the latest Woman's Day magazine issue on newsstands.

today. Oh, this was such a fun episode. Thank you so much for Alex and Todd for sharing their inspiring money journey. I mean, just incredible. And thanks to Women's Day for all the organizing tips. I know they helped me out a lot. Okay, now if you're looking for new ways to freshen up your budget, make sure you check out my 14-day money finder. It might just help you clean up a few of your budget categories and you can find some money while doing it. So get that and everything else we mentioned in this episode by clicking the link in the description. Thank you guys so much for listening and make sure to subscribe to the podcast if you haven't and if the spirit leads, you can leave a review. And as always, make sure you take control of your

money and create a life you love. So if you guys enjoyed this podcast, we have more from the Ramsey Network, like the Ken Coleman Show. According to a recent Gallup poll, nearly 70% of Americans are disengaged at work. If you dread going into work every Monday morning and you're just trying to make it to the weekend, the Ken Coleman show is for you. Everyone has a sweet spot. Your sweet spot is at the intersection of your greatest talent and greatest passion. We will help you discover what it is you were born to do and then will help you create a plan to make your dream job a reality. You matter and you have what it takes. Join the conversation on the Ken Coleman show. To hear full episodes, just search Ken Coleman wherever you listen to podcast or go to Ken Coleman's

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