Hey there – thanks for being here. I have a quick questions for you…

Do you remember the first time you ever made your own money?

Not your first paycheck from a job… I mean the first time you earned money as a kid and felt ridiculously proud of it.

For me, it was potholders.

Yes… potholders.

I would sit at the kitchen table weaving those colorful little loops together and then I would walk around the neighborhood — by myself, because that’s what kids did back then — knocking on doors and selling them.

One potholder for twenty-five cents.

Three for sixty cents.

I know… basically slave labor.

But this was also the era when you could buy a pack of gum for five cents and penny candy was actually still a thing.

Anyway, I remember something very clearly about that time.

I felt rich.

Like truly rich.

I would come home, count my coins, and then immediately start making more potholders because the joy of making something, selling it, and then saving the money was almost impossible to describe.

There was excitement in it.

Pride in it. Joy in it. And it was fun.

But, somewhere along the years… I lost all of that.

Not all at once. But slowly. Without even noticing it.

I lost the joy in my money.

INTRO HERE

Looking back, I can see exactly how I lost the joy in my money.

It’s because I fell into the comparison trap.

Someone had something and I wanted it too… even when I couldn’t actually afford it.

We got caught in the cycle so many families fall into.

As income went up… spending went up.

Raises meant lifestyle upgrades.

We never saved for emergencies.

We never really thought about the future.

Retirement?

That was something for old people and I was going to stay forever young… me and Rod.  

And when you combine that kind of spending with almost no savings, the result is exactly what you’d expect.

Stress. Overwhelm.

One unexpected expense could push everything over the edge.

But here’s the part that still surprises me.

No one ever told me the basics.

No one ever told me we needed an emergency fund.

No one ever told me we needed to live below our means.

No one ever told me we needed to save first and spend second.

Because money is not intuitive. Money has a mind of its own.

And if you are not paying attention to it, money will flow through your fingers like sand at the beach.

Here today. Gone tomorrow.

With nothing to show for it.

Now before we go any further, let me tell you what we’re going to talk about today.

Because this story is not really about potholders.

Today we’re going to cover three things.

First, how so many women slowly lose the joy in their finances without even realizing it.

Second, the simple shifts that helped me take control of my money when I finally hit a financial brick wall.

And third, how you can start putting the joy back into your finances so that money supports your life instead of stressing you out.

Because financial freedom isn’t something you chase… it’s something you build.

Alright.

Let’s go!

Now I didn’t actually realize I had lost my financial joy until I was about forty-eight years old.

And it hit me like a brick wall.

Around that time I had this realization that if we kept going the way we were going — earning well but spending everything — we were actually heading toward the poor house in retirement. Or living in a 2 man tent.

And that realization triggered something I can only describe as a full emotional breakdown about money.

Not because we were irresponsible people.

But because we had never been intentional.

So I started making changes.

Real changes.

I began cutting back on spending.

Not forever… but long enough to get control.

I used the extra cash to pay down debt.

To build savings.

To invest.

And slowly something incredible started happening.

The bills started shrinking.

The savings account started growing.

The stress started easing.

And one day I realized something surprising.

The joy had come back.

That same joy I felt counting quarters from potholder sales as a kid.

The joy of knowing I was building something.

And that’s when I understood something important.

Money itself doesn’t create joy.

What creates joy is knowing you’re on track.

Knowing you have a safety net.

Knowing your future is being built intentionally.

That is where the joy comes from

So let me walk you through the process that helped me find that joy again.

First… take a bird’s-eye view of your money.

Step back and look at the big picture.

Ask yourself honestly:

Are you happy with where you are financially?

Do you want money for vacations?

College for your kids?

Weddings?

A new car when the old one finally dies?

What about retirement?

Do you have money set aside for that?

Do you have an emergency fund if the roof leaks or the hot water heater breaks or someone gets seriously sick?

If your answers to those questions aren’t where you want them to be, then it’s time to figure out your money.

Because when your goals are big enough… you will make changes.

That’s exactly what happened to me.

At the time, if you had asked me whether I had twenty extra dollars in my budget, I would have laughed and said absolutely not.

What I didn’t realize was that there were thousands of dollars hiding in my spending habits just waiting to be discovered.

Second… analyze your spending.

And this part is simple, but it requires honesty.

Grab a notebook.

Write down every purchase you make for a month.

Every single one.

Automatic bills go on one list.

Daily life spending goes on another.

Coffee.

Eating out.

Gas.

Amazon purchases.

Target runs that somehow turn into five bags of things you didn’t plan to buy.

At the end of the month, start highlighting categories with different colors

Eating out. Is blue

Clothing. Is yellow

Personal care. Is pink

Entertainment. Is green

You get it…and soon

You’ll begin to see something fascinating.

Your Patterns. Your spending habits.

Because most spending isn’t about need. It’s about habit.

You drive by your favorite coffee shop and buy the same drink every morning.

Habit.

You run into Costco for “just a few things” and leave with three hundred dollars of stuff.

Habit.

You go into Target for one thing and walk out with five bags.

Habit.

That’s where the hidden money lives.

Third… compare your spending to your income.

Is your income the real problem?

Or is it your spending?

In our case, we had a very good income.

The issue wasn’t what we earned.

The issue was how we spent it.

So I started cutting back.

Not on everything.

But on the things that weren’t actually adding value to our lives.

Subscriptions we didn’t use.

Cable packages we didn’t need.

Impulse purchases that added stress instead of joy.

I even switched to a cash budget for a while.

No credit cards.

Just the money in my wallet.

And something amazing happened.

The extra started appearing.

And that extra went toward paying off debt.

Building savings.

Investing for the future.

Brick by brick.

And my friend, here’s what I want you to understand.

When you finally get ahead of your money — when you know where it’s going instead of wondering where it went — something shifts emotionally.

The stress disappears.

The overwhelm fades.

You build a safety net.

And the joy comes back.

Not because money itself makes you happy.

But because you know you are on track.

You know you’re building life on your terms.

You know you have an emergency fund.

You know you’re paying yourself first.

You know vacations and college and retirement are becoming possible.

And suddenly money feels like a tool instead of a burden.

Because financial freedom isn’t something you chase.

It’s something you build.

You become smart.

Be savvy.

Be secure.

And if you’re ready to take this even deeper and actually build a clear path toward real financial security, I want to invite you to my free masterclass:

“The 4-Step Map to Financial Security: Without Tracking Every Latte.”

Inside, I walk women step-by-step through how to go from feeling bossed by their money to becoming financially smart, savvy, and secure — with a clear plan, intentional investing, and a strategy that actually builds freedom over time.

Financial security is something  that you create.

It’s something you intentionally build.

And it starts by deciding you’re ready – the magic is in the action my friend

And as always, I encourage you to find the joy in your finances… and make a clear plan for your future.

Because the goal isn’t just to retire someday.

The goal is to retire financially secure… not broke.

Until next time.