Episode 44: Breaking the Cycle of Busy, Broke, and Exhausted with Brie Sodano

Let’s talk money!

If you’re feeling stuck living paycheck to paycheck, you’re in the majority here in America – but it doesn’t have to be that way!

Brie Sodano is a nationally recognized Personal Finance Expert, and she does things differently – today we flip some paradigms on their heads and get a peek into Brie’s wisdom and systems for money, including:

• The ineffectiveness of budgets and the importance of mindset in managing money
• The worst financial advice Brie has ever heard (I bet you’ve heard it too!!)
• The interconnectedness of time, money, and energy in financial management
• The impact of college education and student loan debt on financial well-being – and how to evaluate college as an investment
• The best way for parents to build a healthy money mindset for their young children
• Why systems work better than plans (and a few system recommendations that will make a massive difference)
• How to look at grocery spending, and why you might not need to cut back there!
• One step to take to spend less (and it’s not giving up yoga class or even that Starbucks latte!)
• A simple habit to add to your family’s life that will help you feel better about money – and it’s not a financial habit!

Brie is a mom just like us, with all the surprises that come with parenting – like apparently having kids makes all your forks disappear. 🙂 She’s funny and wise and a perfect person to have in your ear when it comes to thinking about money.

Be sure to check out her Find Your Bleed course for more!

Can’t see the video? Watch Breaking the Cycle of Busy, Broke, and Exhausted here on YouTube!

No time for the video? Here are the notes!

Redefining Money Management: Mindset Over Budget

• 1:54: Today I’m talking with Brie Sosano about money! We start out by hearing her story.

Budgets actually don’t work for the vast majority of people. -Brie Sosano

• 4:21: Brie shares the worst financial advice she’s ever heard. Can you guess what it is?
• 4:28: Many people don’t fully understand the long-term magic of compounding interest when they’re young adults. Let’s say you save $10,000 over the course of your 20s. It may seem like the best option is to put that towards your debt, but if you invest that money, it will be in the neighborhood of $160,000 by the time you’re in your 60s. 
• 6:08: It’s imperative to develop the habit of investing young. Don’t underestimate that compound interest! 
• 7:02: More than half of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. How do we get out of that cycle?
• 7:34: Everyone has three primary resources: time, money, and energy. You can turn these resources into many things, such as a college degree or a business for example. Once you have a scarcity in one of these areas, it actually snowballs into other areas pretty quickly. For example, a scarcity of time leads to you eating out more which leads to a scarcity of money. 

• 8:55: When you want to break out of the cycle of being “busy, broke, and exhausted” you need to do it in a way where you balance saving time, money, and energy all at once rather than push all the stress out of one area and into the others.  As an example, you might be spending 5-6 hours a week checking deals and driving around town to 3-4 different grocery stores to get the best deals on groceries, but you’re now spending too much time grocery shopping. 
• 12:28: Brie has two kids who are 18 and 13. She shares the biggest challenge having kids brings to her budgeting. 

Building a Healthy Money Mindset for Kids

• 13:29: Many of us aren’t in our 20s anymore, but we might have kids who are or will be soon. How can we build a good money mindset in our kids so they can be set up for financial success from a young age?
• 13:42: Mindset is super important when it comes to money. The way you talk about money will greatly impact the mindset your kids develop around money. We don’t want them to associate lack, stress, limitations, and fighting with money. Here’s the book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, that Brie mentions.
• 14:59: One specific thing Brie has done with her daughter is start a Roth IRA for her and her daughter deposits money in it regularly. At this age, it doesn’t need to be a lot, it’s about building the habit and building financial momentum. 

RELATED: Get tips for teaching kids about grocery budgeting here.

Evaluating College as an Investment

• 16:28: Let’s switch gears to talk about student loan debt. College students generally do not have enough life experience to comprehend the level of debt they’re taking on. Brie’s rule of thumb is to look at the starting salary you can expect out of college and not take out more loan debt than one year’s expected salary. 
• 21:05: The younger generation is starting to question the importance of college education for everyone. Brie shares a little bit about how we came to value a college education so highly in the US and how in the last decade the price of college has continued to go up, but salaries aren’t going up a the same rate. Having a degree is no longer something special that sets you apart. 
• 23:03: Guide your teens by asking questions like “Does this actually require a college education?” or “Would going to a trade school to get into the trades be better?”

• 25:08: It can be helpful, especially for older kids, if money is an open conversation in your home and you share details of your budget occasionally so they have some concept of how much it costs to run a household. 
• 26:08: When it comes to younger kids, it can be tricky to show your kids how money works because we have credit and debit cards now. When we were kids we saw the exchange of funds when we went to the grocery store with our parents. Now, between online shopping and using cards in stores, it can look like we just swipe a plastic card and have an endless supply of money. It’s a good idea to narrate for your kids when you’re paying or to use cash sometimes to let them see how money works in real time. 

• 28:10: Brie has a very straightforward way to deal with inflation, ask for a raise. If it’s an option, you can also look for a new job to try to get a higher-paying position.  

• 29:01: Brie shares with us how her money management system is different from other money advice out there. The first step is to examine your current finances and figure out where all your money is going and what you’d like to be different. 
• 30:00: Most of the time, the big place to save money is around things that seem normal and necessary, but you haven’t been paying attention to how much you’re really spending. 
• 31:21: Brie lays out the structure she recommends for her clients. She has them pay themselves first (saving and investing), an account for bills, an account for pocket money, and an account for working capital which is savings for future spending you know is coming. This includes things like birthdays, Christmas, car repairs, home repairs, taxes, vacations, and back-to-school shopping. She recommends having separate accounts so that you can see very easily how much is left in each category. 
• 35:05: When Brie works with clients, groceries are not usually the problem area, but that’s usually where people try to cut back. If you’re throwing away a lot of food or buying stuff you don’t need, then yes you should cut back, but if you’re eating what you buy then you may not be overspending on groceries. If you understand on groceries, you’re more likely to overspend on take out which is counterproductive. Here are a couple of previous interviews specifically about grocery budgets: developing a flexible grocery budget, feeding your family without going broke
• 37:37: One great way to save is to avoid going into stores more than necessary. How often do you run to the grocery store for just one or two things and come out with five items? Stores spend millions on marketing to get you to buy more once you’re their captive audience. 
• 39:17: We leave you with one quick win you can accomplish today. Here are the books Brie mentioned: Think and Get Rich, The Science of Getting Rich

Resources We Mention for Money Mindset

• Brie’s free Find Your Bleed series
• All the books Brie mentioned: Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Think and Get Rich, The Science of Getting Rich
• Here are a couple of previous interviews specifically about grocery budgets: developing a flexible grocery budget, feeding your family without going broke, and teaching kids about grocery budgeting
• Find Brie online
• Follow her on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Youtube
• Listen to her podcast: Cash Confident

Brie Sodano is a nationally recognized Personal Finance Expert and the founder of Cash Confident™.

Brie teaches women how to build wealth and financial freedom. This inspires full life sovereignty and abundance. Her methods are holistic and fantastically effective because they address the root cause of common money problems.