The Rachel Cruze Show - Why Intentionality Matters When It Comes to Your Money

Episode Date: October 4, 2021

Are you living a life you love? If your answer is “Not yet,” you might be missing intentionality. The solution is to do life on purpose. You’ll learn how to be intentional in every area as we simplify food, money and planning vacations! Listen in for: Meal planning in 10 easy steps Debit card myths and truths How to plan vacations both you and your budget will love Find me on Instagram: bit.ly/3h7wwPi Join my Official Rachel Cruze Community: bit.ly/38LbX6D Try EveryDollar: bit.ly/3BTfvAg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After talking to people who win with money, they are not winning with money because they have a high credit score, but they have a bunch of airline miles or discover points, like all this stuff, okay? That's not how people build wealth. People build wealth because they take the time, they're intentional with their money, they save up, they pay for things, they're wise with what they're doing. Hey, everyone, welcome to another episode of the Rachel Crewe Show podcast. I'm so glad that you're here. In this episode, we'll talk about why. intentionality matters when it comes to your money because it does. And there are some big budget busters

out there for us, everything from food, travel, I mean so much. So I don't want you to miss this. And you're going to hear me break down some of the top debit card myths that are out there. Then we'll talk about how to budget for a vacation that you love. So what's your motivation behind going on vacation? Understanding your why is really going to help you budget. But first, let's talk about meal planning. I'll break it down in 10 easy steps. We'll talk about what it entails and how it can save you and your family so much money. Take a listen. All right, one of the number one topics everyone loves to hear about is food. How do I save money on food? How do I save money at the grocery store? Constant conversations. And listen, I think I have the number one secret to how to save

money on groceries. You ready? Being intentional. Mm-hmm. I know it's a shock. I know. But listen, when you are intentional with your life, this is where people win, okay? When you're intentional with your kids, you're a better parent. When you're intentional with your marriage, you have a better marriage. When you're intentional with your faith, you have a stronger faith walk. When you're intentional with being healthy, you're healthier. I mean, like, it's just amazing. When you do things on purpose, you get a great result versus kind of just floating through life and hoping that everything's going to turn out, right? You actually happen to your life. And the same is true with you.

your money, which is what we talk about all the time on the show. And the same is true at the grocery store. Having a plan, knowing what is going on. So instead of just filling up your grocery cart with good intentions of, oh, yeah, blah, yeah, and you end up overspending or you're doing it online and just click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, and hope it works out. Well, I don't know. Is it going to work out? I don't know. Is the banana and the flour and the peanut butter? Is it all going to work out? We don't know because is there a plan? There's not a plan. He just threw a bunch of stuff in and hoping there is a plan. So we got a plan. Being intentional, he's having a plan. That's why meal planning, oh, it's the best thing in the entire world.

It helps so much, you guys. It helps with your sanity. It helps with your budget. It helps with everything because you have a plan. And Winston and I, this is what we do. Every Sunday night, we talk about the week. And we say, okay, what's going on? Social calendars, what's going on with the kids? Do they have soccer? Do they have ballet? What do they have going on? Do we have a work dinner? Do we have friends coming over? Like everything. We map out every night. And usually I don't do weekends because that kind of stresses me out. We just do week nights. So we just say, okay, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Thursday, Friday. Here's what we have. And then what meals are we going to be cooking at home? Is it two meals? Is it all five meals? Every week is very different. But the meals we have at home,

I say, okay, what do we want to eat? What do we have in the pantry? What do we have in the refrigerator? What do we want to eat? What sounds good, right? And you plan out. All right. We're going to have chicken, fettuccini, salad and bread one night.

We're going to have homemade pizzas one night. We're going to do breakfast for dinner one night. We're going to do whatever, right, chicken. We're going to do, I don't care. So you plan it out. And then you have what, is that already in your kitchen that you don't have to buy? What you need to buy? You plan for.

Listen, I know that sounds like. really simple, okay? But sometimes when you're non-intentional with it and the weeks come in and it's Wednesday and you're like, what's what we're going to do for dinner because you didn't plan. So I'm like all about this meal planning and I have a link to a new meal planning and grocery savings guide

in the show notes. It's free. It's amazing. We're going to talk about it a little bit. But I just want to give you an overview on how to save money at the grocery store and that's it. But I'm going to walk through 10 steps to be very specific with your meal planning because again, it's so important. So, number one, make time to meal plan before the

week begins. Like I said, Sunday nights is usually when Wednesday night, look at the calendars. Maybe for you, it's Saturday morning. I don't care. But carve out some time. It doesn't have to be that long, you guys. It's literally just looking at your calendar real quick, coming up with some ideas, but looking ahead. And then again, number two, checking your calendar, know what's going on. See what nights you're home that you're going to have to cook. Number three, go look through your pantry, your refrigerator, your freezer, and just think about, okay, what do I have on hands that can help me make a meal? And maybe there's stuff in there that you just hate. I do that sometimes. I look at something. I'm like, this is not good. Get it out of here. I'll be honest,

I bought some sauce from Costco, and it was like this, I don't even know what it is, is yellow. It came in two packs. We tried one, and this other jar's been sitting in our pantry for months, and I'm like, I will never use that again because it was gross. It wasn't good. To clear it out. Like get the clutter out, know what you have. This is very, very important. Also, search for the sales ads, for coupons on apps. Look to see where you can save money doing that. Because when you actually buy things that you need, and then there's a coupon attached to it, you're going to be able to save money that way. Also, look for recipes. This is going to help you. This is always hard for me. Well, no, not finding recipes, but just coming up with new ideas. You kind of get in a rut of what you cook. So branch out a little bit. Cooking should be fun.

Next, write down your meal plans. I do this on my phone on the notes app, although you have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and I have exactly what's going on. Because if you're working, even if you're home with the kids all day, I don't care what you're doing, life is a lot, right? And it takes up so much energy, so much energy to figure it out. But when it's written down, it's there. You can just look at it. You know what's going on. And then again, you're going to make a grocery list based on those meals, whatever you don't have at home, you can go and buy. And then next, you're going to go shopping and only buy what's on your list. Only buy what you need. And then you can add meal prep to your to do list. So you could say,

this meal, I can carry over this ingredient to the other meal or I can freeze certain things and just kind of be, look and say it's kind of like a puzzle, right? And you can figure it out and you can just make the most of your grocery budget. You really can. And then also ask your family. There's been a handful of times I cook something and my kids are like, I hate this. And I grew up old school where that's what you got for dinner. I'm not making you something else. I'm sorry.

But you do don't want your kids going to bed hungry, so you do want to make something that they will like. So I've had to learn that too. So get the family involved, be like, hey, what do you all want? What's going on? And then also go look at your budget and say, okay, what money do we have to spend and stick to that? Now, if you're on baby steps one through two,

you're getting your starter emergency funds, you're getting out of debt. Yeah, your grocery budget's, probably going to be a little tight because you're taking any extra money you have and throwing it at the debt. But once you're on Baby Steps 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, there's a little bit more freedom to it. There's a little bit more. You can spend that Costco. You can spend at the grocery. You know, you can be like, oh, yeah, I can kind of enjoy a little bit more. It's great. But then also, you guys remember, have grace for yourself, okay? You may have it all mapped out, and then something

happens, which is what happened two weeks ago. I got home from work and Winston, who's amazing, made some of the dinner, and he was like, it was just not good. You know, it was just like chicken corn, it was just so bland. And it was like, man, it just didn't work out, didn't work out. I'm like, you know what, we're not going to get right every time. You're going to be perfect at it. You're not. And remember, too, not every meal has to be this like extravagant, wonderful meal. I feel like some moms take this upon themselves. Like, I have to have like all these sides. It has to be awesome. You know, sometimes a turkey sandwich can make a dinner. It can. to just give yourself some grace and some breathing room. It's fine. We have these ridiculous expectations.

And sometimes we can fulfill those, which is awesome. And then sometimes we can't. And that's okay. We're all going to survive. It's going to be all right. Now listen, I know that you want to save money on groceries. And that is why I created the meal planning and grocery savings guide. So what you got to do is you got to click the link in the description or just Google Rachel Cruz meal planning and grocery saving guide. and it includes tons of grocery savings tips, shopper secrets, meal planning 101. It also serves as your grocery list. I mean, it's amazing. It has so much stuff in there. So make sure to check that out.

But I want to hear from you guys as well. So let me know in my Facebook community or Instagram how you're saving money on groceries because it's the one place in our budget. It's so easy to bust. It's like, oh, it's so hard. So really understanding, I've got to be intentional with it. I got to know what I'm going to cook, what I need to buy, and all of them. This is going to stay within my budget.

So what exactly is a debit card? How does it work and why should I use one? I love it taking ideas when it comes to money. Very simple ones, very complex ones, and just break them down. So this one is about the debit card. Some of you know exactly what it is. You're like, I'm a pro. Don't worry, Rachel.

Some of you are like, yeah, I have a couple of questions about it because I've heard some stuff. And then others of you are thinking, yeah, I don't know the difference between debit card, card, nothing. I don't know. I don't know what's going on. So no matter what camp you're in, we're going to break it down for you. So what is a debit card exactly? Well, it's a little plastic card, looks kind of like a credit card, and it lets you make purchases with your own money. So it acts just like cash, and when you use a debit card, the money comes directly out of your checking accounts. It's an easy way to pay for things without going into debt. It's a beautiful thing. So where can I use a debit card?

Anywhere. Basically anywhere. Now, some places only take cash. And if that's the case, then you've got to use cash. But everywhere else, usually anywhere they accept credit cards, you can use a debit card. That's right. So if you're tired of debt in your life, you guys, usually the credit card is the one thing that's hanging around with people. Get rid of it and use a debit card.

So how do debit cards work? Well, when you're at the store, you know, Walgreens, Target, wherever you want to say, just imagine you're there and you go to pay and you put your card in either for the chip or you swipe it, two options are going to pop up. Credit or debit. If you hit Debit, what's going to happen is your pin number is going to arise there on the screen. And you're going to have to put in your pin number. Your pen number is a secret little number that you've set up for your card. You put it in to identify, yes, this is me, and then the transaction's done. And what happens from there is it goes from Walgreens or Target straight to your bank and the money comes out of your account instantly,

basically instantly. Now, if you hit credits, you're not using a credit card. Remember, it's a debit card. But what's going to happen is the retailer is going to say, okay, I'm going to run this transaction as a credit card transaction, if you will, meaning it's going to go from the retailer to Visa or mastercard or whatever company there is in that little logo of your card, and then it's going to go to your bank. So you kind of have a third party there, and the good thing about that is that if fraud comes up or something goes wrong, that middle protection, that visa or master card is going to protect you just like a credit card would, like a credit card, but you're using your debit card. So again, it is still your money coming out, and if you click credits, you're probably

going to sign your name, but it's just the way that it's processed that transaction. That's the difference. Honestly, I kind of do both. Sometimes I feel like putting my PIN number in. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I feel like sign of my name. I don't know. So like it kind of just depends. I usually, most of the time, hit credit just because I like the idea of that extra little safety of that company there in the middle, just in case something happens. But again, some places will only let you put your PIN number in if you have a debit card. Depends on the retailer. But usually you get two options so you can decide which one you want to choose. What do debit cards call? What do Debit Cards cost. Well, most debit cards are included with your bank membership, but some banks will charge a fee.

So account maintenance fees are a thing, and these are typically charged if you don't keep a certain balance in your accounts, have a certain number of transactions, or enough direct deposits that go into your account. Now, some banks waive their fees, but it can kind of be a hassle, so just make sure you read the fine print. There's also ATM fees. So if you go to the ATM machine to get some cash out, and the ATM machine is not in the same network as your bank. You will be charged a fee. So make sure you know, and trust me, the fees are a lot higher when you're out of the country. So be aware of that. There's also transaction fees. So some banks charge you a transaction fee for you using your PIN number like we talked about, right? So if you use your PIN

number, some banks will charge you a little fee for that. But if you run it as a credit, then that fee goes to the retailer instead. Again, check your bank's fine print to be sure of what you're dealing with and you know what's going on. Are there rewards with debit cards? Depends. I'll be honest, they're trying to like get in the game, you know, some places are. Yeah. But I'll be honest, there are not a ton, not a ton of rewards because with credit cards, that's where banks make their money. So if everyone's using debit cards, banks aren't making a lot. So there probably aren't going to be a lot of rewards. When you use a credit card, though, that's when they make a lot of money because people are like, oh, I want rewards. So I'm going to use a credit card. And then they go and

they spend money. Sometimes money they don't have. And they can't afford the bill at the end of the month. And they keep wrecking up credit card debt, like $16,000 worth. It's the average in America right now. Yep. And usually people get suckered into that because of the rewards. And they're like, oh, that's what I want. So, do debit cards have rewards? Some of them do. Not always like the best of the best, of the most exciting, but they're out there. And if they have, all that's great. You can take advantage of that. But don't fall for the fact I want rewards when I make purchases. So I'm going to do a credit card instead. Trust me. It's not a good plan. Not a good plan. So the bottom line is, just use a debit card. It doesn't matter if it's with rewards or not. If they have them,

you can take advantage of those. All right, let's talk about some myths around debit cards. Myth number one, you can't rent a car with a debit card. Well, this is not true. You can rent a car with a debit card, but it depends on the company, okay? Because there are some rental car companies that will not let you rent a car with a debit card. You have to do your research. You have to know your options, okay?

and some of them they're going to make you show your return flight. Some of them are going to make you show insurance. Some of them are going to make you show a bill. I mean, there's some stuff there. So if you're going to travel and rent a car, call ahead of time and know, okay, what do they have? And then call round two. Winston and I, we found one rental car company that works great because they take our debit card and we just do it. And we travel all over, all over.

And we're great. We're not freaked out by it because it works. But you have to do your research beforehand. Trust me, make sure you call. and you know. Now, rental car companies will take some money out of your account as a deposits, and then when you return the car, then they'll give the money back to you. So you have to make sure if you are traveling on vacation that if a certain amount of money is pulled out of your account to be held for the rental car company to make sure you have enough money in your checking account

for the rest of the vacation. So again, this is to plan it out. Look ahead, okay? Just plan, plan, plan. Number two, the second myth is that debit cards aren't safe. Debit cards are just as safe as credit cards. If your debit card is backed up by a company like Visa or MasterCard, again, that little logo on your card, you will have the same protections as a credit card. And you want to make sure you let your bank know, though, if you've lost your debit card. If your wallet's been stolen or you lost, you can't find it. It's important to call your bank as soon. soon as possible and say, okay, my debit card, I can't find it, and then they're going to cancel it. And this is really important, though, because as the user reports fraud, the card holder is not

liable. So you must watch your transactions and look to see, okay, because if you report fraud before the transactions are made, then you have zero liability. But if you wait two days to report, then your liability is $50. If you wait 60 days, it could be up to $500 on what spent on your card. So again, this is one reason to look at your bank account, look at your transactions. The third myth is I can't use a debit card because I need a credit score. Oh man, you guys, this is a big one because listen, I get it. People say, well, if I don't have a credit card, how am I building my credit? Or if I don't have debt, how am I building my credit? And the answer is, you're not. Because the reason to have a credit score is to go into more debts.

And we've talked about another video is that you can still get a mortgage without a credit score. I get that. That's the one type of debt I will not yell at you for. But this idea to just go and just build up your credit score, and that's the reason you have a credit card. Again, you're using your credit score to go into more debt. So with the debit card, you will not be building a credit score because you're not using debt to do it when you use a debit card. And I'm telling you, though, after talking to people who win with money, they are not winning with money because they're not. have a high credit score, or they have a bunch of airline miles or discover points, like all this

stuff, okay? That's not how people build wealth. People build wealth because they take the time, they're intentional with their money, they save up, they pay for things, they're wise with what they're doing, okay? That is how you build wealth. So this whole idea that we're going to just worship at the altar of the credit score is insane. It really, really is. So get it out of here. Myth number four, I beat the system and get the rewards from my credit card. I kind of mentioned this earlier, but people go and they love to get a credit card because they love to get all the rewards. But it ends up happening as you end up spending more money, statistically speaking, when you spend with a credit card versus a debit card in cash. Because when you spend with your own money, literally your brain, the pain sensors in your brain light up because you know my money is leaving.

When you spend someone else's money, you just spend the bank's money on a credit card. There's no emotional connection there, okay? So you're going to end up spending more, I promise. And when you actually look at the rewards and do the math, it's not really worth it. People are like 1% cash back. That means you have to spend $30,000 to get $300 back, people. Okay? Like it's crazy.

So people will. It's a mind game, you guys. They know credit card companies are smart. They play the psychological. game because they know if you think, we'll be getting some cash back, I'll just spend, I'll just add another shirt, you know, in here and buy something else. Or I'll, I'll pick up everyone's tab because I'm going to get some cash back. $30,000. You got to spend for $300. Oh, no, it's so sad to me. And the other thing that I hate about this is I'm like, credit card companies are not like,

oh, we're so generous and we love you all. We're just going to give you some money and give you some free stuff because we are just like really good in our hearts. That's not where they're doing it. Do you know what they're doing it? Because they're making like billions of dollars off of people. People that can't pay back their credit card bills. And when you can't pay off your credit card bill every month, you get charged interest. And then you get charged fees.

And you end up with a big bill and some interest. You got to pay on that big bill. And you end up in the cycle, and they make so much money. So much money. And they make all this money. And they're like, oh, we're so generous. we're going to give some of it back to people that if you spend more money, we're going to give you some of this money. It's crazy. It's crazy. So all the rewards that you're getting people,

it's because people are terrible at managing their money. That's why you get the rewards. So I'm out. I'm not messing with it. All right, myth number five, I treat my credit card like a debit card. So you're like, well, Rachel, no, I just, you know, I pay it off every month. And that's what I do. Okay. Do people pay their credit cards off every month? Is that true? Sure, absolutely. People do that. Yes. But what happens is you get sucked in this game that you're playing, right? It's like you're trying to trick the credit card companies and you're trying to say, okay, well, I'm going to still pay it off every month, get the rewards, and be okay. But again, what you're not realizing is still the amount of extra money that you're paying because you're using a credit card. When you use a debit card and you have your own money and you're budgeting like we talk about, and all this is employees. you are so in control of what's going on. Like, you guys, you work hard. You work hard.

You go to work. You pay taxes. You sit in traffic. You do a lot to make money. And when that paycheck comes in, I want you to be so diligent with that paycheck because I want it to go as far for you as possible. But when you don't live on a plan on a budget

and you're not using your own money, you're using a credit card instead. What happens is money just starts disappearing here and there. And it may not. feel like that big of a deal at first because you're like, oh, it's just, you know, maybe $30 here, $100 there. And it's just like, well, I'm just going to, what ends up happening is a lifetime of that habit. You could have been out of debt, building wealth, literally becoming a millionaire. Like, you could be doing so much with this money, but it's just kind of this approach of,

it's okay, I'm smarter than all of them. So when I tell you that there's psychology behind the fact that when you use other people's money, you will spend more, okay? So you will get a head so much faster when you just use a debit card. I'm telling you, just use a debit card. Because when you swipe it or you enter it into your phone, you know immediately when you press enter, that money's gone. It's leaving. And there's something so true, so true when you have that emotion that you know and you second guess and you think through and you plan and you look. It's so good, you guys. That is a healthy way to live. Okay. So I'm telling you, debit cards does all of that for you without you even having to think about it. That's what I love

about it. Now, some of the benefits that I love with debit cards, again, no interest. When you go to buy something, you pay for it, and then you're done. And that's it. There's no bills. There's no penalties. There's no interest that's being charged to you. Nothing. Like, it's that easy. Number two, I love it because it makes you stick to the budget. I love being able to know exactly what's going on. And when I'm planning ahead for the next month, and I'm in that month and we're doing it, and those transactions come in, we can plug them in on our every dollar app. And it's just this, you're on it. Like you are on and you know exactly what's going on. You're able to say, okay, I can track my money. I know how much is left in each category. It helps you stay on pace.

Because remember, this is your hard-earned money. Okay? You never have to worry about going into debts. You just swipe it and you go. It's a beautiful, beautiful. thing. All right. I hope this deep dive into debit cards was helpful. But I know you guys, I know it's tough and I know that it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. And I'll be truthful. Maybe in some cases it may not feel like that big of a deal. When you actually look at the science, you actually look at the math, you actually look at your spending habits, you look at all of this, I want to set you up to win. And setting you up to win by using a debit card is just one of those small things you can do in life that actually helps you without you having to put in all this extra effort

and work into it on the back end. The debit card makes it clean. It makes it simple. You're using your money. You're not going into debts. You're not fooling with all the crazy games out there. You are actually in control of your money. And I can guarantee that you could probably save $300 a whole lot faster than getting that one person cash back on the $30,000 that you spend. I'm still stuck on that. I still just can't, just can't shake that math. I'm like, she's so crazy. All right, today we're talking about vacations. How much to budget for them, how much you should spend, how to enjoy them without guilt. When you're thinking about vacations, the first question I want you to ask yourself is,

what's my motivation for taking a vacation, okay, what's your why? And why this is important, I love this, because it's going to help you understand so much when it comes to even the tactical side of budgeting. So your why might be that you just want to be with your family. It might be that you're going on a new adventure. You want to experience something new. Maybe it's stress relief. Maybe it's to put some great pictures up on Instagram.

Maybe it's just to escape from reality because you hate your job. Maybe it's because you've been cooped up all pandemic and you're just so ready just to be out. Whatever it is. To know your why is so, so important because it's going to help you shape your budget. For instance, if it's just to be with the kids and enjoy the kids, that's probably telling you a deeper desire you have is to spend more time with your kids in general. So maybe you even throughout the week find times to actually spend with them. And then when you go on vacation, you don't feel like it has to be like the best or the best

of the best because you're already getting your desire met throughout the year. Or maybe it's because you're celebrating a big anniversary or a baby moon or something really fun. and you're like, okay, no, this is going to be a destination for a specific thing. So then you think, okay, well, maybe we'll spend a little bit more because it's, you know, we're celebrating something. Again, the point is to let your vacation reflect your values. Winston and I, we do this too. Sometimes we're like, no, we're getting away with just the two of us because we have not

spent time together. And we do, we spend more money on things like food because we enjoy nice dinners out, all of that. We will spend good money on that. Now when we're with the kids and we're going, I'm great with like, hey, just stop by a chick-fil-A, like, do what we got to do. Because if we spend all this money on a really nice dinner, I'm going to be stressed the whole time thinking like, oh my gosh, just someone going to cry or freak out or all of it, right? It's not worth it. But again, the value of why we're doing what we're doing is going to reflect the money you spend and where you spend it.

Now, the next thing I want you to focus on is your mindset. You want to be intentional with this because this can go like one or two ways. I'm going to use the example just like with kids, okay? When you're on a trip with your kids, and a lot of people say, yeah, it's a trip, it's not a vacation. I appreciate that. Some people are like, oh, it's just miserable. It's terrible.

We're just picking up what we've been doing and we're just going somewhere else and it's not as fun. And if that's your mindset going into vacation, it's probably going to be your attitude. That means you're spending money to have this attitude the whole time, okay? So like, that's one extreme.

The other extremes, people are like, oh, no, all my problems are going to disappear. and my baby who's waking up at 3 a.m. is not going to wake up at 3 a.m. in Florida. It's already to go to Florida because it's going to be perfect and it's going to be amazing. And then when it's not perfect and amazing and things start to unravel with the kids, suddenly your whole vision in this dream you had painted in your head is gone and now you're mad and you're frustrated and you're paying money for all that too, okay? So what I'm saying is just go in with a realistic mindset of what's happening. And I think that's just really wise.

I used to be a little bit of a want-w-want-w with kids on vacation and be like, oh my God, it's so stressful, it's so hard, it's so tiring. And is it those things? It is. But if that's my attitude, that's how I'm going to feel, versus saying, you know what, we're going to take the kids. It's going to be some extra work, but we're going to do what we can to have fun, enjoy the moments, watch them have fun, right? Like, think about your attitude because you're paying money to be somewhere. So we want a good, realistic attitude. Now, Ramsey Solutions, we do. tell you no vacations during Baby Step 1 and Baby Step 2. So Baby Step 1 is getting a $1,000 emergency fund. Baby Step 2 is getting out of all your debt except for your house. Because these are

two really important steps that you want to focus and be very, very intense on because we want you out of debt as quickly as possible, which means you're going to sacrifice your lifestyle, and part of that is vacations. So no extra money goes out when you're in those baby steps. It is all focused on completing Baby Steps 1 and 2. Now, it is okay to be able to. a cash flow vacation in Baby Step 3, which is getting three to six months worth of expenses. But I do want you to get through Babyset 3 as quickly as possible because I don't want you sliding back into debt. So again, you can do it, but don't make it like the most beautiful, expensive vacation in the world until you have Babyset 3 done. And then after that, you can go on

some nicer vacations, you know, when you're on Babyseps 4 or 5 and 6. And then when you're on 7, it's great. Because at that point, you got nothing to do with money except to give it. invest it and spend it, so you can enjoy there. Now, vacations are interesting because they do. They pluck you out of your reality and your day-to-day of life. But what comes of those where it's invested, right? And so, I mean, I look back on my life, and we never took vacations growing up. We went camping, and dad would tie our boat to a tree, and we'd have a tent. And that's what we do. And I didn't know anymore. You're like when I was a kid, and it was great. It was fun, which is what you did.

I'm not much of a camper these days, and I'm going to blame it on my childhood wounds. But when I look back and I'm like, they got what they wanted out of that, right? My parents wanted time away. They wanted just to be with us kids, and that's what we got. And when they started doing a little bit better,

we went on different vacations, you know, when I was like middle school, high school, and then when Winston and I got married and him and I had to pay for vacation starting out, at 21, 22 years old, we had no money. We didn't go to them all that place. We went for like one or two nights, even if we went somewhere. Low budget.

But it was great because we just wanted to, it was all about adventure at that season of life. We're like, we just want to go somewhere new. Those are big thing. We just want to go somewhere new. It didn't matter where. Just somewhere new. And then, you know, you kind of go through life. You have a baby, two babies, three babies.

That changes. And then now we've been married 12 years, three kids. So now when Winston and I go, we're back to the idea that we can't go for very long because we've got kids back home. we'll go for three nights somewhere, but we'll go somewhere nicer because our budget's bigger now after 12 years of marriage, right? So you'll start to see how vacations change in different seasons and whatever season you're in, it's beautiful. Okay, that's the bottom line. And know your why, know your why, because that's going to help you see, yes, I'm going just because I don't like my

job and I don't want to go to my job. That's really why. It doesn't really matter where you go. You can go anywhere and you're not at your job if you're taking your vacation for that reason. It's an adventure, you know, whatever the reasons are, that's what's important to know. Every season's different and every season is beautiful in its own time, in its own way. All right, next, let's look at the budget when it comes to your trip. So what you want to do is you want to list out every category you can think of when it comes to vacation. And you can use every dollar for this or budgeting out. Think about transportation.

It's at flights, gas, rental cars, Ubers. Think about your lodging. Are you staying at a hotel or an Airbnb? Think about your food. Are you going out to eat? Are you buying groceries? Think about some snacks you may need. Excursions. Are you going on a tour? Are you going to go sightseeing? I'm going to go play golf. If you're shopping, think about the outfits you need. Maybe you need a special outfit for a special occasion when you go to your vacation. Or maybe if you want to go buy some souvenirs. Also think about cash for tips. This is a big one. So if you're staying at a hotel, you may want to tip your maid. Tour guides. If you want to go.

take those or Bellman. So think through everything that you're going to spend money on. And then you're going to add that up and get the total. And then you're going to divide that of how many months until your vacation. And then you're going to set that number aside every month to save up. So you can do it that way or maybe you decide, okay, no, I have X amount to spend on vacation. And then from there, you go and divide it out through the categories and no. So it can be one way or the other, but the idea, again, is that you're paying with cash. That's the biggest idea. And when you're saving a little bit each month, I love that because that's basically a sinking fund. And it's really nice because you're saying, okay, no, it's going here, here, and here. And it helps you

plan over a period of time for a big, extravagant, fun purchase that you're going to make there on your vacation. You lose the guilt that's associated with a large purchase, because sometimes you've got to put that deposit down or you're paying for the hotel or whatever. You're like, you're like, like, oh, but when you just save up over a period of time, it feels like, yes, this is a marathon, like we're doing this. We've saved up, we've spent the time and the money, and we know this is the money we have. And then, of course, best of all, you come home from vacation with no debt because you've saved up and paid for it.

It's a beautiful thing. And I wrote a really super detailed article all about how to plan a trip on a budget, and I'll include the link in the show description, or you can just Google how to plan a trip. Rachel Cruz, and the article pops up there too. So if you're planning a trip, whether it's for now or maybe next year, I want to know where you're going. Traveling trips is a love language of mine. I love it.

So I don't care if it's a budget road trip or maybe a luxurious getaway. I don't care. I want to know. So you can tell me your plans in the official Rachel Cruz community on Facebook. Again, I love getting ideas from people. I'm curious what you're doing. So I hope this has been helpful when it comes to planning your vacations, you're doing it in a mindset that is good, your motivation is good, your heart is good in it,

and also your money. That piece of it is good as well, which it needs to be for you to really, really enjoy it and come home with just memories instead of a credit card bill. So again, hope this was helpful. Well, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. I really hope it helps you when it comes to your money, because intentionality in every area of our money is so, so important. If you have not hit the subscribe button for this 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.