If someone handed you an extra $500 today, what would you do with it?

I'd love to know when you feel most in control of your money. I think it's different for all of us, and I also believe it changes depending on our stage of life, what we're working on, etc. My answer is definitely different now than it has been in the past.

Summer always seems to do this to my budget…

One of the biggest reasons people don't deal with their debt is shame. Shame causes avoidance, and avoidance lets debt grow quietly in the background. The most powerful thing you can do is separate your worth from your bank balance. You are not your debt. When you stop letting shame run the show and stop the negative self-talk about money, you can actually create a plan to start managing it. Debt Payoff Made Simple kicks off May 26th!

We are officially a two car family with four drivers home this weekend 😅 And honestly? It’s another reminder of why “less” continues to be the right move for us, even when it’s inconvenient sometimes…because cars are expensive. My daughter is in college about an hour away. My son heads there in August. My husband rides his ebike to work most days when the weather cooperates because we intentionally bought this house in a location that made that possible. And I work from home. Still, it takes planning. It takes patience. It takes conversations. But we’ve had two cars for the four of us since moving back from Brussels four years ago, and living abroad completely changed the way we think about transportation and money. In Italy, China, and Brussels, life without a car for daily living was normal. (Okay…not Dubai 😂) We walked more. Used public transportation more. Planned errands intentionally. Moved our bodies outdoors naturally instead of paying for convenience all the time. And the financial impact is BIG. I know not everyone can reduce the number of cars they have. Different seasons of life and locations matter. But I do think many of us underestimate how much money can be saved when we get creative and truly decide something matters enough. Sometimes financial progress isn’t about earning more.Sometimes it’s about choosing differently. What’s one “less” in your life that has saved you a surprising amount of money? Let’s chat 👇