So how do we even start the budget conversation, and how long is that gonna actually take us to do?

Hmm.

I think so many people are really overwhelmed by the idea of budgeting.

And actually, when I was writing this book, I surveyed over almost 4,000 women and asked them to share really honestly their fears, their concerns, just their honest thoughts around money.

And it was so surprising to me, because whether women were doing really well or whether they were really struggling, all of them had fear around money.

And so many of them, and these are my followers, so they're following MoneySavingMom.com. Like, so they're gonna have probably a little bit more of an interest in money than maybe the normal person.

So many of them said, "We don't have a budget, and we don't know where to start with budgeting, and we're so overwhelmed by the idea of budgeting." And also so many people are like, "It feels so restrictive.

Do you have anything else you wanna share?

Yes.

But you know, someone who has, who has launched...

My, my daughter is, um, in her senior year of college, and my, my second daughter just graduated from cosmetology school.

And so I would really say that so often we are stressing about things that are not gonna matter.

And I have this incredible gift of I had three...

My kids are 21, 19, and 17, and then we had 10 years of secondary infertility, and then we have two six-year-olds and a four-year-old.

And I have this, um, opportunity to get to kind of have a do-over as a mom, which very few people get.

[laughs]

And so often the things we buy for our kids to try and make us feel like good moms actually just give us more distraction from being good moms.

Mm-hmm.

That's so good.

When my husband and I were first married, we set this audacious goal that we were gonna stay out of debt, based upon my parents and their inspiration, while my husband went through law school.

And I unpack how we did that in the book, but one of the things that I really learned from that season, we were living in this small little basement apartment that you could plug in the vacuum and you could vacuum the whole apartment.

[laughs] We had this little tiny galley kitchen.

And what I learned from that is that contentment is a state of the heart, and I was so content in that very simple season when we had one vehicle and my husband was gone most of the day, so I was home in this little basement apartment.

How has, you know, knowing where your money's going and using cash helped you- Stay on, stay close to your values.

Actually,

no one has asked me that.

So I love that.

This was one that I, for a long time, had been mulling over doing.

And actually my very first book, I think it came out in 2012, was a money book.

And then I did not do another money book.

Until now.

So where should she begin without feeling overwhelmed or ashamed?

Okay

...

when you want to go, and then you can choose to fly anywhere to see the lowest options available around the country during those dates.

So it's just really helpful to figure out where would be the best place to go for the best price.

And then also to set a clear budget for your entire trip and decide what's important for you and what's not.

So maybe staying at the beach is a priority, but you're happy to bring food instead of going out to eat.

What's next?

So get the family involved in planning would be tip number three.

Yeah.

And, and so just really thinking of, "Okay, how can I use this little bit of time?" Or maybe just sitting with your child and reading a book, you know, just spending time with them.

But what can you do throughout the day to just kind of really cause there to be peace? Um, I read a quote the other day that it was about how, instead of asking how much can I get done in the day, how can I be relaxed while I do it? And that's really what I have been trying to implement, of just this, this place of I'm at peace.

And, like, doing things to help, like starting my day with things that really help me have that peaceful spirit to go into the day, and then also changing my perspective.

Having a child, um, our five-year-old has very, very significant disabilities, and he has completely changed our life.

Because where I would've used to have seen, when the kids make a big mess, I would've seen that as, like, such a frustrating thing.

Now I view it as, look at all the developmental things that they're doing in that.

That's good