The Process
Day 1
After you reach out to me about getting started on the F.R.I.E.S. system, we will set an initial consultation. The first consultation will include the following:
- Getting to know you and your financial situation (Why you reached out)
- Talking about what money means to you and how reducing stress around it will change your life
- Discussing your budgeting options and getting you set up on a budget app, if desired
- Setting some small habits that you will work to implement starting from day 1
- Looking ahead to set a destination just one month from now based on your small habits and budgeting
This session will be primarily a listening session for me where I gather information and insight to suggest budgeting and habits that you can easily implement in your daily life without adding stress.
Week 1
the first week is crucial. It is said that it takes 90 days to develop a habit, but without the first 7 days going smoothly, the other 83 days have no chance. Therefore, you will get at least one message from me everyday checking in to see how the new habits and budgeting are going.
Rest of Month 1
I will continue to reach out regularly and check-in to make sure you are considering the benefits of the habits you want to form around your money. In this first month, we are still primarily gathering information about how you are actually using your money. It is very likely you will make some financial improvements, but I will not force them on you. The habits will steer you in that direction, but do not feel like a failure if you slip up, even often, in the first month.
Ongoing Monthly Consultations
At the beginning of each subsequent month, I will meet with you to discuss the prior month and what you learned. We will set new habits and expand on the working habits to continue to make positive progress toward establishing the Financial F.R.I.E.S. in your life.
This meeting will last about 30 minutes. It will consist of about 10 minutes of lessons learned, 10 minutes of me listening to what you want to change, and 10 minutes of me suggesting changes as well. Once again, we will end this meeting with plans for your budget and new habits to introduce, without adding stress to your life.
Regular Check-ins
For the remainder of the time you need me to coach you, I will check in at least weekly and work with you to continue to make small adjustments during the months. This will make sure the information we discuss at the beginning of each month does not get forgotten.
I am also always available to help you at any time when you feel you need extra help or have questions about something you are not understanding. This will likely happen often early on, but will decrease as your increase your Financial Intelligence, a key to supersizing your finances.
My Coaching Values
Stress-Reducing Process
I am not in the business of demanding you do something. I am in the business of developing small, low-stress, habits that will accumulate to reduce the stress you have around finances. Our conservations will consist of helping you gain financial intelligence and suggest little changes you can easily implement, without any sales pressure or pushy tactics making you feel like you have failed to this point.
Judgement Free Zone
I know it can be scary to get vulnerable with someone else about your money. I understand the first meeting may feel extremely awkward, but I am here to coach you, not judge you. I have made my fair share of financial mistakes in my life. I am not ashamed of them as I learned a lot from those mistakes and so will you.
I will work to make you feel as comfortable as possible so you can be fully transparent, and we make maximize the impact the Financial F.R.I.E.S. will have on your life.
Real-Life Application
Everyone's life is unique. Yours in no exception. I am not going to present you options that are either a bad fit for where you are in your life or are unrealistic for you to stick to based on your current life situation. For example, you may have children. Maybe your kids play a sport. In that case, I am not going to suggest you cut out all money allocated to your kid's sports.
Or perhaps you are nearing retirement and are trying to save as much as you can in the next few years to be better prepared. I will walk through what that looks like and propose habits that lead toward your retirement savings goals. An important note though, I am not a financial advisor. I am not going to tell you how to invest to gain wealth, just that you should.
Flexibility
I know life is chaotic and so I will keep a focus on flexibility. First, I can meet in-person or virtually. I would ultimately prefer in-person, at least for the initial meeting, but will do it virtual if that is what works best for you.
I will also be flexible in how aggressively you want to change. I believe as you become a F.R.I.E.S. aficionado, you will want to increase your pace of change, but I am not going to force you to ble change everything all at once. I am not Dave Remsey (but his method does work when you dedicate yourself to it).
Faith-Based Financial Management
This may seem weird to have as a value but let me assure that the Bible has a lot to say about money. I will often refer back to God's teaching about our finances to help you continue to learn about the true importance of money. No, I am not going to ask you to give everything away. No, I am not going to force you to tithe to work with me (but you should give back to the Kingdom).
What I am going to do is make sure it is clear that money is not an idol. It is a means that we can use for good. Good for our family. Good for our community. Good for our church. If we start to idolize money or a perfect budget, we start to lose sight of what is important and will miss out on the true joy a Financial F.R.I.E.S. life can bring.