Webinar Replay: Financially Whole, Financially Confident: Insights from The Budgetnista
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Well, hello everyone and and welcome. I am Rachel Sampson, National Director of Key for Women and Head of Community Banking at Key Bank. And I'm so glad that you can join us today as we celebrate Women's History Month, a time to recognize the incredible contributions, resilience and impact of women.
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past, present, and future. And it's especially meaningful as we come together right now during Key Bank's Teammate Appreciation Week. That's the week where we pause to say thank you to the team members across the country who bring our purpose to life every single day.
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So I want to take a moment to sincerely thank our more than 5,000 Kie for Women Certified Advisors and co-chairs across the country who champion key for women in their local markets. Your commitment, your advocacy, and your passion for personal, professional, and business success is what.
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makes cheaper women feel so real, and we simply could not do this work without you. And a huge shout out to Vanity Bryant and Colleen Dagarte, as they are instrumental in our national programming, as well as assisting in our local market activation. We see you, and we appreciate you.
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And last, but certainly not least, a huge shout out to all of our watch parties happening today in Dayton and Chicago, Toledo, Albany, Utah, Colorado, and yes, my hometown, Cincinnati. We love seeing the energy, the connections, and the community.
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that comes alive in these moments, and I can't wait to see all the great stories. Make sure you post and share it on LinkedIn or other social platforms. Hashtag key for women, tag me if you want, I'd love to see it. These stories, as we talk about in the work you do every day.
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connect directly to why we're here today. At key, our mission is to empower our clients, communities, and employees to thrive, partnering with clients to help them achieve their financial wellness in the ways that matter most to them.
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We know that money decisions are rarely just about numbers. They're about clarity, confidence, and having a plan that fits where you are today and helps you move forward to where you want to get to next, whether you're managing personal finances or making important business decisions.
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for your business as well. That's why today's conversation is so important.
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Recent research shows that more than half of Americans worry about their finances on a daily basis, daily.
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That's only about 45% of those folks feel very confident that they can handle a $1,000 emergency expense. At the same time, more than 86% of people say they use a budget, yet still rising costs continue to make it harder to stay on track.
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These realities can feel overwhelming, especially when you're balancing career goals, family, responsibilities, and long-term plans for yourself and your business. The good news is, is that budgeting does not have to feel restrictive or intimidating.
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When done well, it becomes a powerful tool, one that creates options, reduces stress, and helps you move forward with purpose.
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In fact, nearly 95% of people who budget say it's more important now than ever, and many report that it's helped them strategically leverage, limit, or pay down debt.
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And that's… we're honored to be joined by nationally recognized financial educator and author Tiffany the Paganista Alice, whose practical and relatable approach has helped millions of people build financial confidence and take control of their money.
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Her work reminds us that budgeting is not about perfection. It's about progress, self-trust, and creating a system that works for your real life, not just the one on the spreadsheet. So today's conversation will focus on using money as a tool.
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making budgeting work with your goals and priorities, and building the kind of confidence that carries you into every decision you make, regardless of where you are on your financial journey. Whether you're just getting starting out, recalibrating your plan, or looking for a fresh perspective.
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We hope you leave today feeling encouraged and empowered with ideas you can put to use right away. So thanks for being here and investing time with yourself. So, without further ado, I see the chat is active. I love it. Keep it coming.
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And please enter your questions into the chat. We are collecting them, and we'll get to as many of them as possible, and also potentially weave them through this conversation. So, without further ado, I'm excited.
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So welcome Tiffany, and begin our conversation. Tiffany.
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Hey, hey, Rachel. Hey, Twin! You see, I've got my red on.
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Huh? I love it.
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Yes, we are going to paint the town red. Thank you so much for being here, and I know this moment has been a culmination. We've met a few years ago. I had the privilege of seeing you.
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on stage, and I just was captivated by just how passionate you are about personal finances and the freedom that creates. So I'm so glad we were able to make this moment happen, and looking forward to the discussion. So, to kind of kick things off, I'd love for you to tell us, like.
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Mm-hmm.
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where to start? Like, this work resonates because it's grounded in real life, but before we get into the how, can you tell us about your journey and what led you to focus on helping people build confidence with money?
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So for me, Rachel, it started in the home. My father was a CFO of a nonprofit in Newark, New Jersey, and an accountant. And my mom's a nurse. And so we grew up learning about money at home. I didn't know that other kids.
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did it. I can remember one of my first financial lessons. It was like, I think I was turning like eight or nine and I wanted a bike for my birthday. If you have kids, more than one, then you know they don't remember anything, but they remember what their siblings got.
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Yes.
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And I wanted a bike, because when my sister, my older sister turned eight, she got a bike. So I was already like, according to my calculations, I'm owed a bike. And my father said, fine, you can get a bike, but I'm going to let you choose which bike. It was like one of my first real financial choices, and.
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Yes.
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Remember Sears? Sears is not still open. I'm dating myself, right? But so I remember we were at Sears and he was like, these are the two bikes you can choose from. This like cute bike that was just my size and this big, I call it Big Blue Ugly. And I remember thinking, well, of course I'm not going to choose.
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big blue ugly, and my dad said, Well, as you're making this choice, I want you to remember what happens to things that are just your size, what happens later. And I'm 1 of 5 girls, and so I remember growing out of my favorite shoes, my favorite shirt, my. And I thought, ooh, if I get this bike.
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The next year I have to get another one, and I already clocked that my sister Karen, who's 2 years older, when she was 9, she got a camera. So, oh, so I remember thinking, like, do I get this bike just my size, or do I go for Big Blue Ugly? I went for Big Blue Ugly. I rode that bike at elementary school.
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Middle school, high school, I was on a tennis team, um, and I was a team captain, rode that bike to practice. I put baskets on the bike. I had a paper route.
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Mm-hmm. No.
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Rolled that bike after I came home freshman year to lose my freshman 15. That bike is still in the garage. Can you imagine? So it was such a strong financial choice, because what he was teaching me is that my choices actually do matter.
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Mm-hmm.
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So, a choice that, like, an 8-year-old made at 40-something, um, that Joyce is still relevant. And so, I grew up in a household like that, and when I went to college, I remember my college roommate, let's say her name is Maria, she got debt collectors used to call our dorm room.
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Hmm.
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And I didn't even know that that was a thing. We thought it was hilarious, because we were young, so we would put on funny voices to pretend she wasn't there, and I was telling my dad, like, ah!
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Guess what? Maria has… these people that call and ask for money, but don't worry, we pretend like we're different people. He was like, ma'am, that's serious. I'm like, is it?
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And he was like, yes, this is what you should tell her to say, um, because unfortunately, Maria's mother was really struggling with her finances and that so she had opened up credit cards in her daughter's name, and that's why. And so I didn't, you know, that wasn't something I was familiar with. But what I loved was how.
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The advice he gave me helped her. So, like, this kind of like aha moment came up for me. And from then on, I realized I want to be the person that people go to.
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to help themselves as they're navigating their finances. And so the budget was born.
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Wow, that's incredible. And I want to double down on something you said, too, because there was a thread in there, right? You know, you mentioned your father setting you up and having this financial advice and giving you this choice, and then, in contrast, you have a roommate.
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exact opposite of the spectrum, but I really appreciate that you gave the context that.
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Mm-hmm.
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Yeah. Yes.
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Her mom was struggling financially. So what money story did she hear, you know, or perceptions that led her to the point, you know, now too, that you have this debt and now I'm avoiding it. And yes, the funny voices and probably she's not here, but probably talking to that.
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Mm-hmm.
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thanks that person probably happened, but I think that's interesting as we think about the conversation of even for us, what legacy are we leaving for those that are watching around us, especially to your point, kids watch everything and they say the darndest, and, you know, that is a point of why this work is so important. So I appreciate you.
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No, you're welcome.
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you're mentioning that. So, as we think about that, you know, too, I think one of the interesting things that I learned about you as well, and yes, I'm bringing it out, that you are a teacher at one point.
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Yes.
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Like, how does that fit into the work that you do now? And do you leverage that as you're talking about in creating materials? Like, how did that come to fruition?
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100%, Rachel. Honestly, I feel like the budget needs is just an extension of what my kids used to call me Miss Tiffany. So I taught preschool 3 and 4 year olds for 10 years, and I thought that I was going to do that forever. I love the kids, and as you can see, I had a lot of energy, just as much as them.
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Wow.
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a 3- and 4-year-old, you didn't need it.
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You know? And it… Yes, you do, okay? For those of you who have toddlers, God bless you. Um, and so I just remember, so I went to school for business.
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I worked in corporate America and no shade of corporate America. I said, I can't do it. I can't do it. Not with this personality. It's too much. So I had a bunch of internships, and they were like, we think this might not be a fit for you, Tiffany.
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And so, um, that's what internships are for, and I loved kids, and I loved teaching, and I had taught, like, Sunday school, and I babysat, and I tutored, and I thought, maybe I'll become a teacher. And so I went back to school, I got my master's in education, and I really love teaching, and that's when I got my other.
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lesson about finances, because I had to now make a choice that I think the job, the corporate job that was offered to me was going to pay $50,000 a year, which was big money back then for a 21, 22-year-old.
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Mm-hmm.
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And my teaching job was offering me 35,000. So I was like, so I remember having to decide, what do I do? And I decided, well, if I can, like, really get good with my money.
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Mm-hmm.
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Essentially, I can take the job that I like because I have that that just means I have to manage my money more wisely, because I'm not going to have really room for error. And so that's what I decided I decided to become a teacher. And while teaching, I taught in Newark, New Jersey.
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And the neighborhood was especially economically depressed, and it was there I met so many parents who were around my age. They were like 19, 20, 21, 22, who were struggling financially, and that's when I started to think, like, beyond my roommate, there are other people who are finding themselves navigating it.
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finances without any resources. And I can remember helping like parents during nap time do their taxes. My dad had taught me, like, how to do my own taxes, and they were paying all this money to all these places, and I just was like, well, no, come in nap time.
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We'll just do them, and then I'll just have my dad look over it, you know, to make sure I didn't make any mistakes. And so, to show you how to do it, so you don't spend all that money. Or, like, I'm gonna show you how to budget, because they would ask me sometimes to borrow money, and I'd say, well, I can't lend you money, but I can show you how to budget at nap time when the kids are asleep.
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Hmm.
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I can show you how to fix your credit, I can show you how to open up a bank account, because I had parents who had these huge refund checks and would go to check cashing places.
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I never heard of that. And I was like, wait, how much are they taking from your refund check?
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Mmm.
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No, no, no, no. You know, and I'm like, no, you know, they're like, you know, you can open up a bank account. So that opened up the next level for me for starting the Budgetista. So I was teaching the babies, and I was even teaching the babies, um, education, financial education.
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Really, during nap time, it became like parent university. And so from there is really where I developed my skill to start the budget NISTA to really help everyday people with their everyday money.
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I love that, and to your point, that's something we see from a financial services standpoint as well is people are still going there or going to the corner store or leveraging nothing wrong with leveraging the tax services, but.
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you know, you can electronically file, but in order to get the money same day, you know, they're taking huge swaths of the money, so that is something I know that we continue to hear about. So, I'm curious for you, you know, that was years ago when you were in that preschool days. Like, what is?
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What are the conversations now that you're having? What are you hearing most when it comes to managing money and priorities?
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So what I'm hearing now, mostly from people. So there's a range of of my audience. I have everybody from Dreamcatchers. That's kind of like the beginning to dream master. So that the early stage of folks are like, I just don't make enough.
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How do I pay these bills? It's an earning issue for a lot of folks. And then also some basic management, like I'm not really sure how to budget. Their credit and the way they're navigating their debt is taking their credit score and they're needing credit. They're needing credit for specific goals, like they want to buy a home or a car, or even there's some jobs they're locked out of because of their credit.
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Mm-hmm.
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You know, and so so that's kind of like one kind of group of people. And then there are some people who are like, okay, I feel more solid, Tiffany, but I really want to learn how to grow some wealth for myself, you know, like, I want to learn how to invest. I want to start a business.
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So there's that swath of people, you know, and then even smaller still, are there people because I've grown my business in the last 16 years, I have a lot of friends who are very successful business, seven to eight figure folks.
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They are asking, I need a trust because I'm the first person in my family to have done this. Like, what does a will look like, Tiffany? So I'm not doing those things, but I'm like, I'm… if there are resources I'm using, then I share it with them. And so there's this… and I have been at every level. Let me tell you, I've been broke, I've been broke, broke.
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I'm talking about, um, sleep out of my sister's couch. She was moving, and I was like, are we moving? She said, we're not. I said, okay. I'm talking about, thank goodness for my parents, because I don't know, like, I was able to move back home for a little bit at 30-something, which is.
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I assure you, not glamorous. Um, and I remember I had to rent a room, a room! It was a bunch of my teacher friends, one of them, she was struggling too, and she's like, I found this house. Um, each room is $500, and this is me in my early 30s, because.
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I turned 30 during that 2008-2009, 2010, so I lost my condo to foreclosure. I'd bought a condo in my 20s.
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Wow.
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I was a victim of a credit card scam that left me $35,000 in credit card debt that I did owe. I had just gotten my master's in education, $50,000. I was drowning in debt and then my school where I worked closed suddenly because they're a nonprofit and they lost their funding.
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during the recession. So I had all of this debt and no income, and I couldn't see my way out. Um, and I would say probably that's truly where the budget needs to was fully born, because then I was able to say, this is what it feels like.
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Mm-hmm.
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Mm-hmm.
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you know, you're giving advice before, Tiffany, from a place of, like, no, no, no, now you're in it. And so as I dug my way out, the teacher in me basically created lessons of what I was doing. And so, yeah, I've seen all the things, but… so I've experienced everything that everybody's been asking me for, essentially.
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Oh, wow, that is an incredible story, too. And as we think about resilience in women's History Month, like, you are a trailblazer when you think about where you were to where you are now with eight-figure businesses. That is incredible, and congratulations to you for the resilience of even getting there to get off the couch.
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Thank you.
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And to be with us today. I guess my question would be, when you think about those lessons, and there's a couple of things I want to unpack there as well that you mentioned really around the investment side and when you start growing, we know we have a lot of Henry's out there, a lot of high earners that aren't written.
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Mm-hmm.
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rich yet, but also on the credit side. But I'm interested, what's the couple one or two lessons that you really hone in on the most when you're talking about, you know, budgeting, investments, and finances?
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Well, lesson one has to be the mindset shift because Rachel and folks that are listening. I don't know if you've ever seen the studies that say like folks like something crazy like 90% of people that win the lottery are actually broker a year later.
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why… how do you get a million dollars, and a year later you owe a million and won?
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Mm-hmm. athletes.
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You know? And the reason is mindset. Literally, your money will never do better than your mindset will allow.
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Hmm.
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as my as my 19-year-old stepdaughter say, clock it.
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Oh wait, say that, say that one more time real slow for everybody.
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your money will never do better than what your mindset will allow.
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Mmm.
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So some you getting a million dollars, that doesn't mean anything, because if your mindset says we are struggling, you will get yourself to a place back to struggling.
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Mm-hmm.
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If you are… have a mindset of, like, yo, I'm able, I'm capable, I have wealth, and you lose all your money, you will work back to that wealth. If you say, oh, you know, I'm kind of in the middle somewhere, and that's what you believe, no matter if you go up or down, no matter where… what kind of money you come into, you will come back.
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Hmm.
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Hmm.
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To the middle. Like, your mindset dictates what happens. It's not the money. Money is an inanimate object. You decide what it's going to do for you, you know? And so, for me, when people come to me, they want the logistics. Show me how to budget. I can show you that. Show me how to save. I can show you that.
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I can show you all of that. But essentially, that's like you winning the lottery. Your mindset's going to bring you right back to where I found you, unless you shift how you think about money, how you think about yourself. Um, there's even, like, financial therapists as a result.
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Mm-hmm.
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of this, you know, now, like, literally, therapists that focus on people who are struggling financially, and so we always start with mindset shifts, whether it's journaling, whether it's, like, uh, mirror work, whether it's, um, sometimes, like, I share all the mistakes that I've made.
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Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
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It gives people the sense to like let go of some of that shame, you know, because financial shame shields solutions. Because when you're carrying around the shame, you're like, it's me. Like, I'll ask in the audience, right? Right. Who here in the last.
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Something happened.
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10 years has had some sort of financial mishap, whether you missed a credit card payment, put a put a me in the comments, whether you missed a credit card payment, you felt like the debt was overwhelming, you… Yeah, something happened in the last 10 years, because everyone thinks, like, it's just me, Rachel. No, look at all the me's! Almost everyone.
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Because yes.
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Yes, I say that all the time. I was having conversations with my sister. We were talking about that, and we were just talking about how much, you know, folks, especially now that there's Affirm and Klarna, that now studies show that people are using those for groceries.
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Mm-hmm.
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Yeah. Yeah.
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you know that it is really, you know, something that we think about that, you know, people are struggling and figuring out how do they make manage? I know I saw in the chat, too. Unfortunately, we had someone that that lost their loved one and now trying to figure out how do you rebuild, or you lose a job.
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Yeah.
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How do you really help make that mind shift, whether it's change that's thrust upon you or you want to make that change, how do you recommend, you know, everyone starts that process? They need to.
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Well, it has to start with small wins. Shout out to Dr. Green, my therapist. She's amazing. Um, so it starts with these small wins. So in therapy, they call it corrective experiences, right? We know this with kids, right? For those of you who have kids, like, ugh.
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Mm-hmm.
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Mm-hmm.
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Mom, Dad, I can't tie my shoe, just try. I did it! What else can I do now? You know, like, I'm scared to go down the slide. You do it that one time. I did it, what else can I do now? And so you have to do that for yourself. You have to create some corrective financial experiences.
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So it might be… I remember when I was trying to self-correct all the financial mistakes that I made, was I was like, Tiffany, can you save $5 a month? It wasn't that $5 was gonna buy anything, it wasn't… it was, I need to show myself I can save. And so I automated $5 a month to savings.
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And after a few months, I said, look at you, if you can do five, I bet you can do 50.
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If you could do 50 one day, you could do 500.
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Mm-hmm.
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what else can we do? Can you pay this one bill on time? So maybe not every bill is automated, because I was like, I wasn't really making any money, but this one bill, can you automate that one bill and it's paid on time? Those corrective experiences started to build my financial, um… ego, if you will, you know, like, where I said, like, Tiffany, because if you could do little things, you could do medium things. If I can do medium things, I could do big things. If I can do big things, I could do huge things, and now here I am. Somebody who, you know.
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Mm-hmm.
00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:42.000
just like, you know, just over 10 years ago was, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, and now I can honestly say that I've grown myself to become a millionaire, not just in assets. Well, cash is an asset, but, like, an actual paper, I can see the number.
00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:43.000
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:59.000
You know, like, that's a short period of time, you know? But in the beginning, I did not believe in myself, because I thought I'd made these huge mistakes, there's no way out. But I started to collect those little, if you could do 5, do 10, if you could do 10, do 20, and slowly but surely, I was able to build up to where I am now. So start with that.
00:22:59.000 --> 00:23:10.000
Small things that you can do so you could prove to yourself that you are capable.
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:11.000
Mm-hmm.
00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:23.000
I love that. And to your point, inch by inch lifesa cinch, yard by yard, life is hard. I love that one. Live by it. You know, we have a question in the chat, too, about can you repeat what you said about the shame? Because I think there is solidarity and understanding that I think sometimes people think.
00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:31.000
that only low earners sometimes have shame. I'd love for you to, like, double down on kind of what you were talking about there, and kind of explain that a little bit more.
00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:50.000
Yeah, honestly, I still carry shame. I call it post-traumatic broke syndrome. I'm like, I can't go back! I can't go back! I can't go back to the couch! So sometimes it affects what I purchase now. I'm like, ooh, I'm at Marshall's like, ooh, girl, I don't know, she should get this dress. I'm like, Tiffany.
00:23:50.000 --> 00:24:06.000
We have dress money. I'm like, yes, but what if it all falls down, you're gonna wish you saved this dress money? I'm like, girl, get the daggone $30 dress! But it is that shame shield solution. So write that down. If you don't have a notebook, get one.
00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:16.000
Okay.
00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:17.000
Hmm.
00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:22.000
Same Shield Solutions. And so, what does that mean? That means when you are in the shame cycle, you cannot see that there are actually solutions right outside your doorstep. I know I couldn't, and the only way to banish shame is… one of the reasons why I tell my story about.
00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:27.000
Having all those mishaps is that you have to give voice to shame to banish it. You have to say, me too.
00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:30.000
Hmm. Mmm.
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:47.000
I, as well, my credit card was late. I am worried about affording my mortgage. You don't have to tell the whole world, but find one person, a safe space that you can do that. For me, that was my best friend, Linda. Today's actually her birthday. Hey, Linda, she's not on here, but she's enjoying a spa.
00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:58.000
But for me, that was Linda. When I had lost everything and I was sleeping on my sister's couch and then moved back in with my parents at 30, I remember Linda had been calling me, and I was dodging her, because I felt so much shame.
00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:10.000
Hmm.
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:11.000
Mm-hmm.
00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:17.000
And finally, I picked up and she was like, girl, what's going on with you? You haven't gone out. You don't pick up your phone. What's going on? I was like, everything's fine, but your bestie knows your voice. She was like, it's not fine. Your voice sounds crazy. And then I was just like, I just Linda, I lost my job. And then I owe this money and I'm sleeping on my sister's couch and I have to go back home.
00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:36.000
And she was like, that's it? Girl, you know, I thought you were running from the law! Because she was just like… she's like, Tiffany, I'm literally on my mother's couch right now. And I was like, really? She's like, it's called recession. Okay, girl?
00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:37.000
Mm-hmm.
00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:46.000
She said, if you looked up, you would see almost all of our friends are navigating the recession and having a hard time, you know? And I was like, oh, because shame shielded the solution. That's why I had y'all type me, me, me, me, me, me, me. Because I thought it was just me.
00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:51.000
Mm-hmm.
00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:52.000
Right.
00:25:52.000 --> 00:26:02.000
But I looked around, so many people, it wasn't a condemnation of my characters, what I was doing. That, like, I made a mistake, therefore I am a mistake? No. It was like, Tiffany, now that you realize that these are mistakes that were made, but you are not a mistake.
00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:13.000
Then now, now what? Now that Linda has let you know, she too is having a hard time. Now I can release some of that shame, because shame loves the quiet of you being by yourself, and now… then all of a sudden, I was like, wait, you know, I grew up budgeting and saving. I know how to do that.
00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:18.000
Mm-hmm.
00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:19.000
Mm-hmm.
00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:34.000
You know, like, I grew up, like, my dad showed me how to dig out of debt. I know how to do that, and I started to see the solutions had been there all this time, just waiting for me to release some of that shame. And so, yeah, if you are carrying a lot of shame about your finances, find a safe person.
00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:55.000
Whether it's your sister, your partner. Not your dog, somebody who could talk back, and give you some reassurance. You know, your best friend, whoever, your work mom, you know, find someone who… they don't have to be financially… financial expert. You know, that's not the point. The point is that they're gonna give you the same reaction that Linda gave me, like.
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.000
That's it? Okay, and I still love you and what?
00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:00.000
You know, it's so, like, start there.
00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:16.000
Yes. Yes, I love that. And I have to double back to your Marshall's comment, because so many people are so surprised when they meet me that I use coupons, or I won't buy a sale, or I'm notorious about my rebates and cash back. Uh, wait, how much am I getting back if it's full price, I don't think I'm gonna do it.
00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:25.000
Yes. So this is for Marshalls. Okay, get into the red and the sleeves. Okay, I remember I brought this. I have like every color because I love it.
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:33.000
Okay.
00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:34.000
Mm-hmm.
00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:39.000
This shirt is from Ross. Like, yes. There will be a good. Okay, so I want to talk about, too. You know, you talked about automating your savings like, what advice do you give right? Because if we don't… if most people don't have $1,000 for emergency, how do we get there? And, like, what tips do you give to people?
00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:42.000
Mm-hmm.
00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:45.000
to help them get there down that road.
00:27:45.000 --> 00:28:00.000
So to me, automation is the new discipline, right? People think I'm so disciplined. No, I have automation. And so what's so great is that, like, we're here with KeyBank, right? So it starts with a bank, and well, really, it starts with payroll and HR and ends with your bank.
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:14.000
So I have this tool that I like to call split it before you get it, right? So before you get your money, I want to see if you can split your money.
00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:30.000
For those of us who are, like, not good at remembering to transfer, or whatever it is, no, no, no, you can go to HR, you can go to payroll and say, okay, I've done the math ahead of time. You know, you've pulled up your, you can use AI to do this, but you pulled up your bank statement, your credit card statement.
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:49.000
to figure out what are my bills? What am I spending? So things my my monthly spending or spending per pay period. So think about like haircut, you know, maybe you get your nails done, groceries, things for the kids. Bills are bills, you know, like your mortgage, your rent, your car note insurance.
00:28:49.000 --> 00:29:09.000
And then I like to have 2 savings categories to your point, Rachel. I like to have savings for emergencies, and I like to have savings for goals. And I like to have those 4 split bank accounts, you know? And so you're gonna go and say, hey, now that I know my numbers, before I get my check, I want you to.
00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:18.000
split my money into these four accounts. So, like, most companies can do this. Even, like, the Budget Easter is not some huge, huge, huge company, and we're able to split up to four ways. And if you don't, you can always transfer, automatically transfer, but after that split. So when your check comes in.
00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:24.000
Mm-hmm.
00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:28.000
Some money goes into your bank checking account for bills.
00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:29.000
Mm-hmm.
00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:46.000
Some money goes into your checking account for spending. Some money goes into your savings account for your emergency account, and some money goes into savings for goals. Now, in the beginning, when I started this, savings work. We have it. It was just enough to get the bills.
00:29:46.000 --> 00:30:05.000
And that's okay, because for a while, it was just bills and a little bit of spending. And then bills and a little bit of spending, and $5 for emergency savings. And then bills, a little bit of spending, $100 for emergency savings, $5 for goals. So don't be… don't be upset if you can't hit them all, but you want to have them open.
00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:21.000
And slowly but surely start to fund those four regularly, automate that. If you do that, you don't have to think about it. The key, though, is with that first checking account, to, um, I want you to unhook your debit card from your bills account.
00:30:21.000 --> 00:30:29.000
because I want when you are swiping your debit card that you know, oh, I'm swiping money in my spending account, not my bills.
00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:46.000
You know, you know, it's not your savings, you know, it's not emergency savings, it's not goals, and it's not bills. I want when the bill money lands, it's just there to pay bills. If you do that, honestly, that helped tremendously. I didn't have to be as disciplined. The automation did it for me, and yeah, that's just a great tool to use. And especially, like I said, you know.
00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:49.000
Banks really are your friend for that because you, you know, you get your core accounts at your bank.
00:30:49.000 --> 00:30:59.000
Guess we are. Yes, and to your point, you know, making it easy. If you don't have that debit card attached, there's online bill pay. And once you actually add that payee, whether it's the mortgage or whatever, you really don't need it.
00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:07.000
Mm-hmm. Yes.
00:31:07.000 --> 00:31:08.000
Yes.
00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:15.000
You can change it, you can set it up reoccurring, so you really don't need that debit card, to your point, for that account, and it takes the fuss out of it, and hopefully, if you do it and it's automated, then you don't have folks calling your line like Maria.
00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:33.000
Yes.
00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:34.000
Mm-hmm.
00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:40.000
Where's my money? No, but it's true, because I didn't want… I didn't like the feeling of when I was swiping my debit card, like, wait a minute, is this? It's like, no, no, no, this is money allocated for spending. It's not your bills, because I have all my bills. I couldn't do this in the beginning, so it's okay if you can't. I could not automate all my bills in the beginning.
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:57.000
You know, because I just didn't know if I was going to have enough. So I would automate maybe just one that I knew for sure, my rent. And then it was like, okay, my rent and the utilities. Okay, rent, utilities, and insurance, and now they're all automated, but it's okay if you just tell yourself, I have my bills account, and every two weeks I go in and manually pay them.
00:31:57.000 --> 00:31:58.000
Mm-hmm.
00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:05.000
Because I don't quite have enough to cover the way I'd like, and that's okay too, but having a separate bills account is a life changer.
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:27.000
Mm-hmm, I love that. One thing, too, that's unique to Kia, and of course, you know, we are in a shameless plug, we absolutely want our audience to fully bank with us, and I often laugh, because bankers need bankers, too, as I mentioned, with our money story. But one thing that I love that I know that I do here at Key.
00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:28.000
Hmm.
00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:36.000
is that with that other spending account that you have, we have something that's called Easy Up. And so you can set it anywhere from 10 cents to $5 and every time you swipe that card, then those funds, it just adds to it, basically gets transferred over to a savings account. So to your point.
00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:40.000
Yeah.
00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:51.000
you know, even if it is at Marshalls or Ross's, if you add another dollar to it in that spending, you actually automated your savings without the $5 or the $50 or the 500, which is a really, really neat tool.
00:32:51.000 --> 00:32:59.000
And uh… And that's that, that's that corrective experience. I can't say, well, you just did.
00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:00.000
Mm-hmm.
00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:07.000
You know, they're like, Oh, I did! So you're retraining yourself to say that narrative is actually not true, because with Easy Up, I just saved. So I'm capable of saving. If I can do 5, I could do 50 one day.
00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:28.000
Mm-hmm. I love that. So, we're getting a lot of questions in the chat around paying down debt and how you did that, and how you go about it. How would you talk to folks about how they manage what they have today? If there is limited extras, as we call it, to pay down that debt.
00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:33.000
what was it, like, your method, and what would you recommend today, if that has changed at all?
00:33:33.000 --> 00:33:48.000
So no, the same method. So I I there are they're all kind of like snow themed, but there's snowball, there's avalanche, and then there's one that I call blizzard method. So the snowball method is really when you focus on the dent with the lowest balance first.
00:33:48.000 --> 00:34:02.000
The avalanche method, you focus on paying off the debt with the highest interest rate first and the avalanche, you focus on the debt that's giving you the most anxiety first. So here's how it works. So let's just say you've got.
00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:18.000
3 credit cards, and one of them you owe 25, 50, and $100. With the snowball method. Well, this is what most people do. They owe $25, 50, and 100, and they give $5 each to all the credit cards.
00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:35.000
Like, they're trying to basically pay down everything simultaneously. And unfortunately, where your attention goes, that's what grows. And so, if you are just doing little to little, it moves very slowly. So instead, you say, you know what? I'm gonna pay the minimum to everything.
00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:50.000
All my other debts, except for the one I'm focused on. And so for the snowball method, I'm going to pay the minimum to the $50 debt, to the $100 debt, and give all that extra to that $25 debt. So the $25 debt is going to get its own minimum, plus the.
00:34:50.000 --> 00:35:09.000
say, like, $2 or $15, whatever it is that you were giving to the other debts that's beyond the minimum. And so now, debt number one, it's getting its minimum, plus that extra money. Great. So that $25 within a month or two, it's paid off. Great. And then you roll it over like a snowball rolling off down the hill. You roll it over.
00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:21.000
And say, now that $25 debt is paid off, I'm gonna use all that money and pay… put it toward the second lowest debt, which is the $50 debt. So the $50 debt is going to get the $25 minimum.
00:35:21.000 --> 00:35:41.000
payment, the $50 debt minimum payment plus that extra money. So now it's almost getting 3 payments in one. And so the reason why they call it snowballs as it rolls down the hill, you collect minimums along the way, and it gets bigger and bigger like the cartoons. And so, that… I like to start with snowball, because we need that corrective experience early win.
00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:42.000
Hmm.
00:35:42.000 --> 00:36:07.000
Lowest debt means you could probably pay it off sooner. So I'd like to start with Snowball, and as the debt starts to get a little higher, let's just say now you've… you're getting into debt where you owe $50,000 on a credit card, or… a car note or whatever, then I like to switch to Avalanche, which is that same premise, except for instead of the lowest debt, it's the debt with the highest interest rate that you're focusing on, because that debt is the most expensive debt. It's costing you the most, because the interest is what.
00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:23.000
The lender is charging you to borrow money from them. And so, it's like, okay, now that I'm, like, you know, you know, I've got this $50 credit card debt, or $50,000 credit card debt here, and $50,000, well, I'm gonna pay off the debt that's cost me the most, because this one has an interest rate of 25%.
00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:38.000
This one has 15%. So you're going to put all your energy toward that debt and all the minimums you collected along the way, till that's paid off, and then roll it over to the interest with the, um, second highest. And then, for some people, if you're super anxious.
00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:51.000
you know, um, and it's just like, you're like, I need to… I need to pay grandma back first. The blizzard method is for people who have some debts that are not about interest and not about lowest balance, but it's about how they're making you feel.
00:36:51.000 --> 00:36:52.000
Hmm.
00:36:52.000 --> 00:37:10.000
You know, let's just say you borrow money from your grandma. You're like, I know I gotta pay my credit card debt, but I have to pay my grandmother back, because Christmas is coming, and New Year's, and Thanksgiving, and I do not want the side eye from the cousins, you know? And so, for the Blizzard Method, you might want to knock out the debts that are causing the most amount of anxiety first, and then hit snowball, then.
00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:11.000
Um, then Avalanche. So, yeah.
00:37:11.000 --> 00:37:27.000
Hmm. I love that. And so when you think about the credit cards, and we talked about the two checking accounts, right? Depending on where you are in the financial journey, maybe leveraging credit cards not for debt, but for fraud protection, other things, maybe it's rewards, or are.
00:37:27.000 --> 00:37:28.000
Yeah.
00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:49.000
you know, cash back. I know we have a 2% cash back. You know, how do you think about that in using credit now if you don't have debt, but you'd like to leverage it and, you know, especially as you think about rolling over where there's 0%, I saw in the comments, you know, where we have the 0%, where you could potentially roll over, like, what are your thoughts on.
00:37:49.000 --> 00:38:01.000
leveraging debt, maybe in a. smarter way of not being overwhelmed by it and only paying what you can afford, and using it for other options. What do you advise people on today for that?
00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:24.000
No, absolutely. So one of the ways I got out of the the $35,000 of credit card debt is, like I said, I started with the snowball method, but what I did even before that was I rolled over. Now, you have to have solid credit for this. I rolled over that balance to a.
00:38:24.000 --> 00:38:25.000
Mm-hmm.
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:33.000
I did a balance transfer to a card where they gave me, like, a year plus of 0% interest, which meant that I was just paying the 35, not the 35 plus whatever the fees were. And I tried my best to get rid of as much of that debt as possible before.
00:38:33.000 --> 00:38:43.000
Um, that promotion was up. So, one, you can leverage debt like that to make it more affordable by finding, you know, a balanced transfer card. I'm sure KeyBank has. Right? And then, um, but now, at my big grown age now, I'm like, woohoo, I feel so grown.
00:38:43.000 --> 00:38:48.000
Absolutely.
00:38:48.000 --> 00:39:05.000
Because now, when I think about credit, um, I'm like, what? I would have never done this years ago because I was not ready for this. It's like, um, I mean, like, I love cookies, cakes. I just had a cookie yesterday, even though I'm not supposed to. I cannot keep tweets in the house, so I know me, I don't do it.
00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:23.000
So you have to know yourself like if you know you're not ready for this temptation, don't do it, but I put all most of my bills now on my credit card, so I can get points, right? And so, I use those points for different things. Like, I love to travel, right? And so you can get, you know, uh.
00:39:23.000 --> 00:39:38.000
You can travel or hotel, or, you know, it might be cash back for you. It might be like, what? You know, for me, the cashback is more important, you know, so looking at your lifestyle and saying, what rewards make sense for me, you know?
00:39:38.000 --> 00:39:54.000
But like I said, it's like having that cookies and cakes at home. If you know that you are not going to pay your credit card off in full, because you don't want to put all your bills and your credit card, now you are, like, overwhelmed with, like, the credit card debt. Ideally, those are for people who are able to pay their.
00:39:54.000 --> 00:40:05.000
their, um, their bill's often full every month, and I started doing that maybe, like, 5 or 6 years ago, um, when I was like, can we trust each? Can I trust you too? You know?
00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:25.000
I think so! And so, it's mostly… it's automated, um, and so, you know, and this is… I… I had the money before. It wasn't about the money. Remember I said the mindset. I had to really ask myself, Tiffany, if we put all these bills on this credit card, are you of the mindset that you will pay it off every month?
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:26.000
Mm-hmm.
00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:33.000
If not, continue with that Bills account. You know what I mean? Now my bills account actually pays the credit card, you know, off every month, so I still have my bills account, it's just the way that I do that. So, those are just ways that you, you know, these are kind of, like, levels, but don't push yourself.
00:40:33.000 --> 00:40:38.000
Mm-hmm.
00:40:38.000 --> 00:40:53.000
To the level… like, don't automate your bills if you're not ready for that. Open the bills account, pay them yourself. And then you're like, you know what, I'm ready to do one automation, then two, then 50%, then 100. You, you know, you ramp up, get those corrective experiences.
00:40:53.000 --> 00:41:09.000
Oh, that's awesome. And you know, one thing, just continuing down that spectrum, one thing that you mentioned that I thought was so interesting is, you know, as you talked about your friend or your friend's group circle, where maybe this new wealth is the first time in a generation, in a family, and.
00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:19.000
There are some high income earners, like, in how you think about that. What advice do you give to that group when they are asking about what should I do next?
00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:24.000
have this large sum of money or this big salary. What's the advice you would give to them?
00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:34.000
I say ask for help. I remember like so I'm 40. Hold on 45. Oh, I'm 46. I'm like, wait, because I.
00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:37.000
What year is it?
00:41:37.000 --> 00:41:52.000
Oh, but we're in 6, we have about 46 bag! I'm gonna be 47 this year? That's crazy. Anyway, so I'm 46 now, but I became officially a millionaire at 37 because of my business, The Budgetista.
00:41:52.000 --> 00:41:53.000
Hmm.
00:41:53.000 --> 00:42:08.000
Which is crazy to think about, because I was like, not the preschool teacher, Tiffany, right? So what I realized then is I remember as I was making all this money, and I was really good at saving. So I didn't spend nothing, and it was just saving. At one point, I remember it was crazy.
00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:13.000
I had, in a savings account, 7 figures. I'm like, you know better than that. What?
00:42:13.000 --> 00:42:14.000
Mm-hmm.
00:42:14.000 --> 00:42:25.000
It needs to be invested, Tiffany, but I was scared, because what post-traumatic broke syndrome and I didn't want the Tiffany that had put me in trouble before to come and mess up. So I was like, if I could see it, we good. I'm like, you lose somebody, sis.
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.000
Hmm.
00:42:29.000 --> 00:42:40.000
Um, and it was crazy, so I realized then, oh, you need help. And so, I got myself a certified financial planner, which is, like, the top-tier financial advisors.
00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:57.000
And so you can. It's reaching out to your bank and saying, what tools are available here? Are there people here who I can ask questions of that I can. I can share what my goals are, and they can help me reach them with the money that I have.
00:42:57.000 --> 00:42:58.000
I'm sorry. Can you wind that tape back real quick for me?
00:42:58.000 --> 00:43:01.000
That's really key. I had to.
00:43:01.000 --> 00:43:12.000
Yes, is to reach out. You can reach out, that's where I started, I reached out… I reached out to my bank to say, okay. Well, first of all, they're gonna reach out to you, you got that kind of money in the bank. They're like, girl, what are you doing?
00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:24.000
Yeah, so pick up when we call. We're calling for a reason.
00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:25.000
Hmm.
00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:30.000
What are you doing? But I was nervous, and I was scared, because the reason why I'd gotten $35,000 in credit card debt is because a friend of mine scammed me with an investment. So that's really what I was. I was scared. And I said, so, um, I said, like, you know, I don't…
00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:48.000
What if I don't have the I don't know, like the discernment to know whether like what's true, what's not true. And I was like, well, one, you were 20 something, Tiffany, you're older now, and you know not to ask additional questions. And you didn't then. And so I was like, okay, here are my goals. Here's what I want to accomplish.
00:43:48.000 --> 00:44:12.000
I'm not sure what to do, if I'm being honest. I know how to make money, I realize. I knew how to save money. But beyond that, you know, like, I didn't know anything else. I mean, I had a retirement account, but, you know, I didn't know how to do anything else, and so it took a lot of learning, and honestly, when I meet.
00:44:12.000 --> 00:44:13.000
Mm-hmm.
00:44:13.000 --> 00:44:20.000
With my financial advisor, I bring… and it took me a while. You know, you can interview. Even if it's with the same bank, you know, you want to feel the vibe, okay? Like, this is where the Gen Z's get it right. You should feel a vibe. Like, okay, yes, because, you know, if they're certified financial planner.
00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:26.000
They know their stuff, but like doctors, you have your degree, you know your stuff, but I want to feel comfortable with my doctor.
00:44:26.000 --> 00:44:27.000
Mm-hmm.
00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:33.000
You know what I mean? And so, like, you get to interview multiple people, and I always bring a notebook.
00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:42.000
And so you have to be the consummate student. And don't feel foolish, even though my financial planner knows I'm a financial educator. I'm the budget, not the Invest Anista.
00:44:42.000 --> 00:44:43.000
So I'm like, girl, I'm like, sometimes little will say, Anjali, say it like I'm 10 years old.
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Knowing your lane.
00:45:01.000 --> 00:45:02.000
Mm-hmm.
00:45:02.000 --> 00:45:08.000
So now she knows if I don't have my notebook, she's like, where's your notebook? I'm like, true. So I'm like, okay, so what? Because I want to do my own research. I get to Google it and I say, I saw on TikTok, she's like, girl… But I ask, and I'll say, is that true? Is that real? So you want someone that's not gonna make you feel foolish for asking questions. And so… but because of having my financial…
00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:14.000
Mm-hmm.
00:45:14.000 --> 00:45:20.000
advisor, you know, I am in a place now, I want to say I started working with her.
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It had to be like, I don't know, maybe 6 or 7 years ago, I guess. I'm at a place now where I don't actually have to work anymore.
00:45:29.000 --> 00:45:46.000
I have enough money invested, and I have properties. Even when I'm buying, like, a home. I was like, Anjali, what do you think about this? Is that a good price? Is this… Anjali, am I fully insured? She's like, you're not. You need more insurance, Tiffany. Anjali, like, a certified financial planner is gonna look holistic.
00:45:46.000 --> 00:45:47.000
Mm-hmm.
00:45:47.000 --> 00:46:01.000
at your life. And say, Hey, I thought you said you wanted to retire by 50. The way you're spending, you won't. Nope. You know, or like hey girl, when I first worked with her, she's like your insurance, you don't have enough insurance.
00:46:01.000 --> 00:46:12.000
You know, like, to protect your assets. And I said, okay. And so, it was just so helpful. So, asking for help is the number one thing. And the truth is, you don't have to wait until you're a millionaire to do that.
00:46:12.000 --> 00:46:21.000
Mm-hmm.
00:46:21.000 --> 00:46:22.000
Mm-hmm.
00:46:22.000 --> 00:46:28.000
you know, you can literally go to the bank now and ask. And especially, I saw someone ask, what would I say for my 25-year-old self? Start asking those questions now. Start making those plans now. You're making… I was making, not that long ago, $35,000 a year.
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And now my company makes probably 6, 7 times that a month. Things change quickly when you're ready, you know? And so I wouldn't wait.
00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:53.000
I love. Yes, that is so true, and I'm gonna pause there for a couple of things, because I want the audience to know that before we start getting into our Q&A, because I know we've answered some of the questions, but I want to make sure I get to them. But if today's conversation has resonated with you, and you want to go deeper.
00:46:53.000 --> 00:47:10.000
Tiffany's book, Get Good With Money, expands on many of the ideas that we're discussing today, and it offers practical tools that you can apply right away. So, um, attached is this, uh, our QR code as well. If you are not a Keeper Women member, scan the QR code on your screen or go to.
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:25.000
key.com slash join K4W to enroll, and you'll be sure to get our updated event invitations, insights, and updates directly to your inbox. We don't spam you. However, I am going to take a short, quick.
00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:45.000
break here to say. many of the topics that we discussed, it is a privilege to do the work that we do, especially for me leading our community banking team, which is very much the work that we do is ensuring that across the country that we have the products, the services, the support to our team members to people.
00:47:45.000 --> 00:48:00.000
meet people where they are with empathy. That includes programs like this, like Key for Women, our additional programs that we'll be launching this year, our language access program, so much of what we do is to build financial confidence, no matter where you are on that journey.
00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:16.000
The other thing I'd say, not to sound like a commercial. We absolutely want you to have a relationship with us here at Keith, a relationship as a partner. And much of what we talked about, to your point, we talked about bankers and financial advisors a lot.
00:48:16.000 --> 00:48:22.000
And one of the things that I really want to lean in on, even for the clients that we have on the webinar right now.
00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:41.000
We have what's called a financial wellness review. So regardless of whether you're at the point that you need a certified financial planner or advisor, we do have a tool that can help you. You can come in, it's on our website, vanity, if you could please drop a link to the financial wellness review appointment setter, that'd be great.
00:48:41.000 --> 00:48:56.000
And we can go in and you can tell us. We'll have a conversation, tell us where you are, what your goals are, and we will help you create that plan, whether it's getting out of debt, saving for retirement, even if you haven't started to that point. In addition to that, on the advisor side.
00:48:56.000 --> 00:49:06.000
We can help you, no matter whether it's a few thousand or just getting started to our ultra high net worth and family offices. We have the best.
00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:31.000
family wealth team that's out there, bar none, and they are certified advisors as we're having our three four-part series on women and wealth that we're going to be tackling, that be on the lookout for the invite for around, um, positioning yourself for growth and access to capital.
00:49:31.000 --> 00:49:32.000
Hmm.
00:49:32.000 --> 00:49:38.000
We really want to lean in on those topics because to your point, we are here to help, and we can help you set up that automated bill pay. We can help you get those additional accounts. We can help you with the retirement, and it really does start with.
00:49:38.000 --> 00:49:55.000
setting that appointment, walking into a bank, and regardless of wherever you are, we are one team. So if you are an entrepreneur, you're going to have a banker, a business banker, you'll have your personal banker, you'll have your investment, you have a team of people that are surrounded by you.
00:49:55.000 --> 00:50:02.000
to ensure that you are set up for success, and to all of my KeyBank folks as well, bankers need bankers too. So…
00:50:02.000 --> 00:50:10.000
Yes. So I, can I just say that like, well, one, name of the book gifted with Money, Mama Dana Black. Mm-hmm.
00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:23.000
New York Times bestseller, but also some years ago, when I was looking, uh, Rachel, we talked about this kind of offline, when I paid $1,200.
00:50:23.000 --> 00:50:24.000
Wow.
00:50:24.000 --> 00:50:37.000
For that, for, like, that, like, um, you know, like, that plan, and I thought, wait… and so the fact that y'all offered that, you know, this kind of, like, comprehensive, where do you want to be, because that's a question people ask, like, how do I even figure out, like, what's the road? So that's incredible.
00:50:37.000 --> 00:50:53.000
And that was years ago that I paid that much. Um, they didn't do the thing, it was just, I told them all the things, I said, here is, you know, all my financials, and they were like, well, here's what you should be doing, here's this kind of, like, like, you know, um, quasi roadmap. So, I think that's amazing that that's a tool.
00:50:53.000 --> 00:50:56.000
Um, and a resource that's available for people for free, right?
00:50:56.000 --> 00:50:57.000
Okay. Let me not overspeak.
00:50:57.000 --> 00:51:11.000
Yes, it is free. Yes, our financial wellness reviews. Yes, come and see us, and I know I've seen some of the bankers in the chat. Feel free to shout out if you're in a particular area and get connected. That is the whole point of this is building financial confidence.
00:51:11.000 --> 00:51:27.000
breaking down barriers, reducing the shame, that there's no shame out there, no matter what it is, and I know we're getting on time, and I would be remiss if I didn't think about one of the biggest impacts I've seen is that I was at a key at work. We also do financial education.
00:51:27.000 --> 00:51:28.000
Mm-hmm.
00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:42.000
out in the field as well, and I remember this woman who hugged me, who was sleeping on the couch with her two kids, saying she woke up this morning with no hope, and she really felt like that she had a partner in what she does, and I carry that story, and I carry that with everyone, because.
00:51:42.000 --> 00:51:55.000
Regardless of whether you anticipate inheriting wealth or you have it now, that there still is a lot of confusion, questions, and you've got partners there and people who really do want to help you. So I appreciate that.
00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:56.000
Yes.
00:51:56.000 --> 00:52:12.000
I love that. Oh, I love that. Look at people looking. They're like any bankers in the chat from here, from here. I'm telling you like you know I'm this is I'm going to give you a little homework before we we're finished, but because I'm like, if there is one, the teacher in me is like, if there's one piece of homework, because in order, science shows that in order for.
00:52:12.000 --> 00:52:26.000
Any new habit to take shape, that if you could do something within the first 24 hours of learning a thing. It's more likely to like see yourself through. And you have the perfect homework assignment other than get going with money, right? Is like, go get what is the, what is the plan called again?
00:52:26.000 --> 00:52:32.000
Mm-hmm. It's a financial wellness review.
00:52:32.000 --> 00:52:48.000
Get your financial wellness review. There is no excuse. That is your homework. If you want to get an A, because whether you are 25 watching, whether you are 55, whether you are 46, looking 24, I mean, hello!
00:52:48.000 --> 00:53:00.000
You know? Right? Whether it is… I mean, honestly, that's mind-blowing to me. And so there's no excuse. At least you get to see where you are, and it will force you to figure out where do you actually want to go.
00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:01.000
Mm-hmm.
00:53:01.000 --> 00:53:06.000
You know? So you can start to put one foot in front of the other, and that's how changes are made.
00:53:06.000 --> 00:53:22.000
Absolutely. And for those in the chat, I see we've got a lot of folks here, too. Please make sure that if you have some questions, you can always email our key for women at keybank.com mailbox if you have not connected with a banker. I see the chat is going.
00:53:22.000 --> 00:53:35.000
We are happy to help you set that up with the particular banker that's a certified advisor, as well as, again, we do have our appointment scheduler on our website as well. So, without further ado, we have another question, which I think is an interesting one. If you could go back to Young Tiffany that was out there working and before the recession.
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Mm-hmm.
00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:47.000
What would you have done differently, knowing what you know now versus what you knew then?
00:53:47.000 --> 00:54:04.000
I. So I don't know that I would want to erase any of those mistakes because I get to teach from a place of like most of the mistakes because it gives me the empathy to say, child, I know, I know broke, I know broke, broke. I know super broke.
00:54:04.000 --> 00:54:05.000
Mm-hmm.
00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:23.000
But the one thing I wish I would have done differently is during that time. So I was I lost my job. I was… I had this condo I bought at 25, and I was trying to figure out, I'm gonna… I'm gonna keep paying my mortgage. I was trying to figure out any way to pay the mortgage, and I went to my retirement account.
00:54:23.000 --> 00:54:40.000
there was maybe like $40,000 that I had. Can you imagine what it takes to save to get to 40,000, making 3539, whatever $1,000 a year that I was making at that time. I went to my retirement account, and I took the money out. I took the pre-withdrawal penalty with it, you know, so all that money I had saved.
00:54:40.000 --> 00:54:54.000
I lost a chunk of it because I was not, you know, 59 and a half, 49 and… I mean, 64 and a half, 65 years old, right? And so, I took the money out to try to keep paying my mortgage, ONLY to lose the house anyway.
00:54:54.000 --> 00:54:55.000
And I'm just like… and I think back at, like, this is what happens when you don't ask.
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Mmm.
00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:10.000
I had a whole father, a Randi Alice, who has his bachelor's in economics and his master's in finance.
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Where?
00:55:11.000 --> 00:55:21.000
I could have turned around and said, Sarah! Is this a good idea? You know? Because essentially, when I lost the house to foreclosure, that money was going with it.
00:55:21.000 --> 00:55:31.000
So, I could have had… imagine, like, you know, that, at the time, I started, because one of the things my dad told me right away is start… I had a 403B, because it was a non-profit. So basically, a 403B is a 401 , yeah.
00:55:31.000 --> 00:55:34.000
Mm-hmm. Same thing. Mm-hmm.
00:55:34.000 --> 00:55:46.000
Um, and so I imagine if I just, if I never touched it, if I never even added to it, that $40,000, then what it would be now. Okay. We might be doing this with me with the Mai Tai, like what was that?
00:55:46.000 --> 00:56:00.000
Rachel. You know? And so, if there is one thing, it would have been that, that I would have, even if I didn't add to it, I would have just left it alone and just let it grow. But, you know, we live and we learn, um, and so I've got a 19-year-old.
00:56:00.000 --> 00:56:16.000
Now, and so since she was 13, she's worked with me at the Budgenista doing social media and stuff. So I pay her by… we max out her Roth IRA. So I pay her, and I say, don't touch that money, it's not for you. And then we were able, because she works, to max out her retirement account.
00:56:16.000 --> 00:56:32.000
She doesn't fully get it, she's 19 now, but imagine that keeps happening well into her 30s and 40s by the time it's time for her to retire. Just off that, she will be a millionaire. And so, I get to correct it.
00:56:32.000 --> 00:56:33.000
Yes.
00:56:33.000 --> 00:56:38.000
I love that. And we've got a couple minutes left. I wanted to touch on one more topic, and we may have to just bring you back, because I think there's so many questions. So, um, what advice would you give? There's a number of entrepreneurs in the audience, right, that are either starting to start or scale their business. What advice would you give.
00:56:38.000 --> 00:56:44.000
Okay.
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When you think about it from a budget and finance perspective, and what's helped make you successful?
00:56:48.000 --> 00:57:06.000
Number one thing I'll tell you is that brokenness brokenness will not allow you to be creative. So meaning that if you don't get your personal finances together, it's going to be very difficult for you to grow in business and think outside the box. So before you jump out there to like fully do your business.
00:57:06.000 --> 00:57:09.000
that get your personal finances, like, strong. Get a solid.
00:57:09.000 --> 00:57:21.000
Hold on, say it again. Wait, rewind. I'm sorry. Go back. Say it one more time.
00:57:21.000 --> 00:57:22.000
you know, finances. Yes.
00:57:22.000 --> 00:57:31.000
Right? Brokeness kills creativity. Before you jump out there to fully be an entrepreneur, get your personal finances in check, because that is who you're gonna lean on when the business says, um, we don't got no money. It's gonna be the Bank of Tiffany, you know?
00:57:31.000 --> 00:57:52.000
And so I had to… I saved ahead of time. Well, the thing is, well, I didn't know I was gonna start a business. The recession took my job, but I did have some savings, um, and also, too, I had a solid credit score, um, but also, too, I had to tighten up my budget. Like, I knew how to go from.
00:57:52.000 --> 00:57:53.000
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:57:53.000 --> 00:58:10.000
Whatever my full-fledged budget was to what I call my ramen noodle budget, that's that college budget, if you had to eat ramen noodles, I learned to do my own hair, own nails, own everything, okay? So I can have the excess money. And sometimes entrepreneurs are like purists, right? Like, I can only do my business now. I was babysitting, I was tutoring, I was.
00:58:10.000 --> 00:58:11.000
Multiple streams of income.
00:58:11.000 --> 00:58:24.000
Don't be afraid to, like, supplement your income. Yeah! You know, like, what other things can you do to make that thing go? I don't think I did full entrepreneurship, and maybe it was, like, it took me 3 or 4 years to just do Budget Nista. I was doing other things on the side.
00:58:24.000 --> 00:58:31.000
And so that's where I would say start. And please, for the love of all things, separate your personal bank account from your business bank.
00:58:31.000 --> 00:58:33.000
I'm gonna have to take you on the Key Bank Roadshow. Please.
00:58:33.000 --> 00:58:44.000
Okay. Because, Lord knows I made that mistake, too. Don't do that! Because the IRS will be like, uh, you wanna look good in orange?
00:58:44.000 --> 00:58:53.000
Yes, and one other thing. So that financial wellness review you have on the personal side. We have the same thing on the business side. Go in and set an appointment for your small business financial wellness review. Please, please.
00:58:53.000 --> 00:58:59.000
Yes. Ooh, that's great! Hold up, I might have to do that one.
00:58:59.000 --> 00:59:18.000
Please. Yes. Oh. Yes. It's fine. All right. Yes, I know we are at the top of the hour. Thank you all so much for joining us today. This was an incredible conversation, very much impromptu going with the flow. And I appreciate all of you reaching out in the comments. This has been amazing.
00:59:18.000 --> 00:59:19.000
Thank you.
00:59:19.000 --> 00:59:22.000
Tiffany, the budget, you are amazing. I'm so glad I've been able to share space with you to all of our audience, please have a wonderful rest of the day, and make sure you check out those financial lens reviews.
00:59:22.000 --> 00:59:30.000
Bye!Take care. Have a great
Catch the replay of our empowering conversation with acclaimed financial educator, Tiffany 'The Budgetnista' Aliche. Gain valuable insights and relatable strategies designed to strengthen your financial acumen and support informed decision-making in both your career and personal life.
Key Takeaways
What you will learn:
- How to make money decisions with greater confidence
- Practical perspectives on using money as a tool
- Ways to make budgeting work with your goals and priorities
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