Ep 54 - Let’s Get Your Finances Organized! Featuring Maureen Paley

 

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Join me for a conversation with Maureen Paley, Life and Career Coach, and the host of Financial Autonomy for Women: The Podcast. She is going to give you practical tips on how to FINALLY get your finances in order. If money issues are stressing you out - this is for you.

You can listen right here, on Apple, Amazon, Spotify or you can read the transcription below. Enjoy!

 
 
 
 

Carly: Hey friend. Welcome back. I am really excited to have you here today because we are talking about something that has been on my mind for the podcast for a hot second, and I have the perfect person to chat with you all about it. We're going to be talking with my pal, Maureen Paley, she is a financial life and career coach and the host of Financial Autonomy for Women, the podcast. She is passionate about helping women reduce stress and build confidence so they can level up their lives, wealth, and careers.

She practices strength-based, trauma-aware coaching, and no shaming ever. Maureen is a certified Professional coach and an accredited financial counselor. She calls Sacramento her home just like me. And she is the human to the world's best rescue, doggo Mabel. You can find ways to work with Maureen, including free downloadable resources on her website at maureenpaley.podia.com, and her Instagram at Maureen Paley coach, which will all be linked in the show notes and we will get to it in a bit.

Thank you so much for being here, Maureen.

Maureen: Hi Carly.

Thanks for having me.

Carly: Just as a little bit of background to our folks, we have someone in common, my PAL Kachet Jackson Bell and we met at her retreat earlier this year.

Maureen: We did, and then I've been working with Kachet. Kachet is my business coach

Carly: Amazing.

She has absolutely been my coach as well. Obviously, I'm a big enough fan to hop on a plane and go to Texas. And hear what she has to say for the weekend as we deep dive into our businesses. And then you and I definitely got to bond when we took the later flight home that day

Maureen: We did.

And we got froyo at the airport. That was a highlight.

Carly: That really was. we got to play bags or cornhole depending on where you live in the country, what you call it. But we had a later flight, so we just got some food, we played some bags, we went to the airport, we got froyo, we cheers, and just flew our happy butts back to Sacramento, from Dallas.

And that was an amazing way to start an… I'm going to say business slash personal friendship with you. And so thank you so much for being here today.

Maureen: Indeed. Oh, you're so welcome. Thank you.

Maureen's Journey into Financial Coaching and Its Impact on Personal Growth

Carly: Okay, so I'm just going to jump on into it. As we get started, can you please share your story about how you got into the work that you do?

Maureen: Oh, yes. I'd be happy to. And you know, it's such a, As you all know, I mean, everybody has a big textured personal story, so I'm going to give you the cliff notes, of course. So I am a life, career, and financial coach working with individuals who have received the gendered conditioning typically given to those assigned the female sex at birth.

So for those of us who may have been little girls at one point and are now adults, the type of conditioning that we've received has actually affected The way that we walk through the world, Of course, that's the way conditioning works. And I would say in about these past 10 years, I have had a personal and professional evolution having worked formally in investment management in the corporate world for a time, and now in nonprofit and direct social services since 20 14, 20 15.

I was able to start seeing A lot of that conditioning that's at work. And I was able to learn about myself that I'm passionate about supporting women and individuals in the space where they are deciding to double down on themselves. Maybe they're in a process of Understanding that conditioning and wanting to move forward, wanting to do something with their life, their career, and their money that they never thought was possible.

I've learned that my strength is being with people in those spaces, asking good questions as a coach does, and providing support so they can take the next best steps in their life. So that's a long way of saying that through my personal journey and my professional journey, I found myself.

Ultra passionate about creating those spaces for women. And so here I am today as a financial coach.

Carly: I love it so much, and I know that you and I have talked at length about this offline. But in my own journey, it's something I don't talk about too much here only because I feel like it would really mix the messaging of what I do.

But my own financial journey and my decluttering journey were so completely intertwined. I've found that kind of once you're getting certain areas in your life, let's just say like you're getting them into the shape that you would like them to be in or you are closer on the side of getting to your goals that other things end up falling into place in your life as well.

And I think that it is super cool and almost like magic how it happens. You know, as you're feeling this confidence, you're like, wait a second, maybe I can do this thing that I always wanted to do and it's so great. But again, that is not my realm of expertise as in how I work with people. And so I'm really, really happy to have you here Because I feel like this will be helpful for the folks who are listening. I would love to ask, and the reason I'm asking, I know I haven't asked the question yet, but the reason I'm asking is that what I found is that people really, it can feel really isolating when they're going through the journey and then once they get into it, they realize that they're so not alone.

So I would love to hear in your words, what type of clients do you work with and what types of issues do they have when they come to you?

Maureen: You said so many good things there. And I think a lot of what you do, you're kind of swimming in very similar waters that I'm swimming in, right? Helping people transform and like you said, build that confidence. So when clients come to me I work with clients, you know, I almost kind of think about three or four main client types. I've got clients that come to me and they say, I'm lost, I'm overwhelmed. I don't even know where to start. This could be anything from their understanding, their basic cash flow, month to month, you know, how, and a lot of people I would imagine share this experience.

'cause I've heard it a lot and I've had this experience. You get your paycheck or you get income directly deposited into your account so you know you're getting paid. But then a few weeks later you say to yourself where did that money go? Yeah I know I get paid, I know I make money, but I don't even know where the money's going.

And there, I think what I've noticed, especially in the past several years, is there are now. Many, many, many more ways where technologies, where money can leave us, right? There are pay apps and there are buy now, pay later. And there are, It is Apple Pay and it's tap here, swipe here, double click here, and store your credit card on Amazon.

So those types of technologies. While they do feel convenient on our end, they do create a great deal of overwhelm and a lack of clarity. So going back to the person who might be like, I just don't know where the money's going, that's, that is a very common experience. I would say well over 70% of the clients I work with at least have some flavor of that.

Now, some of the clients might be like, yeah I am over budget and I'm spending more than I'm making and I really need to correct that. So we go in deep on that. Other clients are saying, you know, I think, I'm pretty sure I have enough money, but it's just the overwhelm of not being clear.

About where the money's going and how it's being spent, that's causing me stress. Sometimes we can get into a place of we think things are actually worse than they are, and so we're like, we have this imagined anxiety that's not even based on accurate fact.

So when we go through a process of getting clear, About the financial picture, which is like shining a big scary spotlight on those, on all of our vulnerabilities, our little soft areas that we don't want to show anybody. Then we can take a deep breath, exhale, and say, oh, okay, I know now that I'm clear, I can make my next best decision. So I would say that's one client type that I work with. I also work with women who may have been running a small business for a while or looking to transition day job into a small business, looking to launch a passion project, take the next steps go out on their own.

So, those are women I work with to support them in staying financially sound, and also like tapping into their internal motivation to take risks. That they're going to need to take to make it happen, right? To step into this, to take these leaps. And I'm also a big believer that the leaps are actually a series of baby steps taken consistently.

And then there are also clients that I work with who are feeling really good about their money. You know, they can manage their budget. They pay down their debt. They're invested. They feel pretty good about that, but they want something more. They want to really level up their financial and wealth standing to a place that they didn't really think was possible.

What I like to tell clients is, I'm in the business of possibilities. I'm going to help, I want you to be able to see what's possible for you as well. And that's part of the process that we get to dive into together.

Carly: I love that so much and I love what a caring and understanding and to your point that you made, having known you, I know it is very much the case.

Just like a non-judgmental approach, I think is everything. And again, I don't talk about it a lot because it doesn't. It really muddies up my messaging. What, and as a business owner, you kind of have to be strategic, but I'll share it here because it's relevant. When I got started with my decluttering and organizing journey, it really came from this one meeting that we had with a financial advisor because we knew that we wanted to own a home, and we were thinking like, okay, we want to own a home in five years.

Know that we have a lot of things that we have to do to get there. So where do we get started? Like that sort of thing. And it must have been, it must have been after we got married, 'cause I can't imagine it would've been before. But the person that we met with was the worst.

Maureen: Oh no.

Carly: And I say that like capital T, capital W: The Worst.

And really, without getting too much into it, it really felt like there was zero caring,so much judgment and just very much like, wow, you are really bad with money. And I'm like, yeah. I know that's why I'm here saying what do I need to do? But it was, it, it just, it was cringe. It was terrible. It was a bad experience.

I was, and this of course, Is not necessarily their fault, but did I find myself crying in a restaurant after that meeting in public? Yes, I did. And I just felt really embarrassed, completely ashamed, and it was really, really difficult. And that, that ended up being one of those, you know, pivotal moments where I'm like, something's gotta change.

And if anything, if for nothing else than to prove this person wrong that I would never talk to again. But. It was really, really difficult and I know for me personally, when I started to really, to actually start budgeting and actually look at my money because I was the type of person who was terrified for years. After all, I was just like, it's just going to be bad news. It's just going to be me overdrawn in my account again. If you've been following me for a while, I know that you hear me say I was a Hot Mess Express turned pro organizer, but I need you guys to understand, that what I'm saying, like Hot Mess Express, is constantly overdrawn.

No idea where any of my money was. Sweaty palms every time a bill came in the mail, a lot of things came in the mail back then. Totally afraid to start doing online bill pay. Everything was late, constantly. No organization to it. Like it was bad, bad. And getting my finances in order was a game changer.

Like I would've never thought possible. And I went from being like 30 K in debt from my student loans and credit cards to paying it all off to now we have a mortgage and a car payment 'cause we just had to get a different car this year. But, you know, there's no revolving balances for my credit cards and I have savings and we've utilized that savings to do things like buy a house and have a travel sabbatical and things that I never would've thought possible.

And definitely took a lot of hard work, but I know that's a big tangent. I know this isn't about me, but in case anyone else is listening and thinking like, oh, well there's no way this could apply to me because I am in too deep. I'm here to tell you that it is so important to have somebody in your corner who's not making you if I'm just going to be frank, feel like a complete piece of shit who doesn't have their stuff together, and instead is like, Hey man, I got you and I'm here to hold your hand.

We can do this. You can do, you can do this. All we have to do is learn about these things. Like that difference is amazing because you're not going to have to sit there scrolling through blog posts for hours and hours and hours trying to empower yourself. You have somebody who's in your corner and helping you.

And I just want to say, I just want to speak on the power and of what that is and how absolutely life-changing that help can be. So thank you for what you do, Maureen. I really appreciate you.

Maureen: Oh my goodness. I am so just so flattered. Well, first of all, you know, Carly the story that you just shared is so important because it offers so much support to the people who are listening. the story that you shared is very normal, like part of my job. As a financial coach and an advocate is to normalize this experience of being stressed and overwhelmed and a hot mess express when it comes to our finances.

Not knowing where the money's going the burden of debts and the burden of, oh my God, it's never going to get better. So that is a very normal, understandable, and very conventional experience. Because we live, and this is the other part of the nonjudgmental no shame approach. Of course, that's a normal common experience because we live and work and operate and spend and save in systems that are built to keep us as hot mess expresses that are built to keep us.

Not knowing where the money's going. I'm just going to swipe this. I'm going to swipe that. I'm, you know, these, some systems want us to spend our money. They're systems that want us to be indebted. I've worked with people from other countries in my career. Other countries don't have this crazy system of credit that we do in the United States where you start with a very poor credit score and then you have to work your way up.

In other countries, you know, the work it takes to purchase an asset like a car or a house, we don't do that. With cash in the United States a lot of the time, right? , our systems are set up such that we need to use financing. So the whole system is there to be used. So that's my systemic high-level approach. And that's part of the macro social worker in me. It's like, Hey, let's talk about me existing in these systems. And then you also add in the system of gender. Conditioning and gender oppression. Racial and cultural oppression, systemic racism in the financial services industry.

You've got the perfect storm of causes and conditions for not feeling good about your money. Now that's, yeah. Right. And so for me, when I look at folks in their financial situation, that to me like wipes the judgment and the shame aside. 'cause I'm like, well, of course, you're in this system.

This system doesn't want you to win. Now does that mean we give up personal responsibility? Of course not, because I think, you know, part of what you mentioned in your story is that you found, it sounds like you experienced some empowerment when you were able to get off the hot mess, express and make the decisions for yourself.

And that's where the personal choice and the agency comes in. And that's why I I beat the drum on financial autonomy for women. Our autonomy and our agency and our choice are really the recipe and the secret ingredient for us living our best lives. So I'm okay with whatever financial decision you make.

I just want you to know, I want you to step into the power of your choice. Yeah. You've brought up some really important points and, you know, People come to me, clients come to me and they kind of come into the first meeting and they're like, This is the worst you've seen, isn't it?

Carly: Yes.

Maureen: I am the worst you have seen, aren't I?

Carly: We do too. We joke about it with organizers. Every client is like, this is the worst. I'm like, I'm just the worst. Yeah. I'm like, sweetie, I can promise you this is like a three.

Maureen: Yeah, exactly.

Carly: On a scale of one to a hundred

Maureen: And it's, you know, it's, I mean, it's funny.

I don't laugh at somebody's discomfort, but it's like I said, I promise you, you're not the worst I've ever seen.

Carly: No.

Maureen: And I don't even think in those terms.

Carly: Yeah.

Maureen: I just think in terms of who are you, where are you at? What is the discomfort you're feeling?

Carly: Yes.

Maureen: How can I help you relax see clearly and take a step towards feeling better?

Carly: How can I help you? Take a step towards feeling better. That truly is all we're thinking.

Maureen: Yes, that is. I swear. And you know what, I'm not surprised by the fact that you had a very shaming individual around finances, and also finances are in the realm of behavior change and behavior change happens to be the hardest thing we do as human beings.

As humans being human beings, you name a behavior change. It's the, I know I should do this, but I'm not actually doing it. I know how to do this, but I'm not actually doing it. That goal, my job is to help you get from the thing you know you want to do, to doing it out in the world. And that's what I do as a coach.

I provide that accountability. But I want people to understand that's no joke. Making a behavior change, you know, you should make a behavior change is the hardest thing to do as humans. So what we also do, and I think we do it really well in, the United States, is we shame people for not making those behavior changes.

We tell more shame stories and we come if so, for anyone out there who's looking for a financial expert or thought leader who will probably shame you into submission. Trust me, they're out there. I chose that. I choose not to do that. Because I know, and I see that shame is its stuck cycle of pulling people in this undertow of, I can't do it, and I'm doubting myself, and so on and so forth.

I want to work with clients in a way where they're, I call it running experiments. So you want it, you want this to change to this? Okay. Let's talk about one step that can help you get there and let's, you're going to run this experiment for the next week, two weeks for the next month. Let's regroup and let's see what you learned from the experiment.

So it's not like I have to be the total champion or else, I'm a total failure. We don't work on that binary. We work on, this as a continual process of running experiments.

Carly: Yes.

I talk, sorry. You can't see at home. I'm smiling really big because a lot of this is just the same things that, that we do too, and it's all about, okay, let's create these systems and just so you know, the systems will come undone, not if they will. And that's okay because you are human and that's how it works. It's if you don't keep up with it perfectly, it doesn't mean that you're not good at organizing. It just means that you got busy, as we all do sometimes. That's okay. We're going to set our timer for 20 minutes and we're going to reset it.

And I feel like the same thing can be true for the financial systems. Is this working? Is it not? How are we feeling? Do we need to make some tweaks? And did you just get after it?

Maureen: Yeah, you have to revisit and you know, I was sharing with someone, I can't forget, I forget what context it was in, but our life journey, our life milestones, they are always financial milestones.

Finishing your education, getting together with a partner. Changing careers, maybe starting a family, maybe purchasing a home, then retirement, and so on and so forth. So all of these life milestones or financial milestones. And like anything, I mean, think about yourself 10 years ago, what you were, you know, your normal business as usual 10 years ago would not fit today.

Of course, it won't. And in the next 10 years, When we fast forward them, what you're doing today, business as usual, maybe managing your money and so on and so forth, it's not going to work in 10 years. So we always have to revisit, like I, I just made some changes to my own personal financial I would say checklist based on the goals that have changed for me over the past year and a half, two years, and I've really.

They've been on my mind, they've been there and I'm like, you know what? The old way of doing things is definitely not working anymore. And I'm like, I have to make some adjustments. I have to pull some levers and I have to do things a bit differently going forward. And I made those changes and I feel a lot better about it.

So yeah, you're right. We're, you're going to have, the systems that are working today are not going to be the systems that work forever. They're good systems. We did enough exploring and investigating to figure out what's feeling good right now. And they'll need to be adjusted.

Carly: Yeah. And that's fine. And it's part of the process. I love it. I wanted to ask you a little bit about when you talk to clients about leveling up if folks are at home thinking like, what does that mean? Or what does it mean for me? 'cause I know it can probably, mean a few different things. Can you elaborate on that a little bit?

Leveling up when it’s not working anymore

Maureen: Thank you. Leveling up is this decision to not, again, to maybe change the systems the old way of being is not working anymore. I'm feeling that I'm over it. Whether that's this job I've been in or this career I've been in, or that's, you know, my current status. The money I'm making and how I'm spending it, and how I'm saving it how I'm investing it, it's like I need to do more.

I need to take, I need to step into a bigger, higher space. To take a risk on the life that I want to live. So I know that this, a lot of this sounds intellectual because I, part of it is it's different for everybody. So maybe someone's leveling up is okay. I have been thinking about starting my own small business 'cause I know I've got this skillset and I know I can send it out into the world.

But here I am in a really good mid-management job and it's like, how do I do all this? But yeah. But let me start by building a website. Okay. So it's like that's, that is the first, remember, leveling up. While it is a leap, higher to a different realm of engaging with yourself and your work and your wealth, it's all about baby steps.

So when I talk about leveling up, it's really going from status quo right now that's feeling stale or that's just. You just know it's not working anymore. I mean, I experienced this when I worked in the corporate world in financial services. I was looking around saying, yeah, I've been here for almost seven years, but this is not working anymore.

And so I leaped. I changed completely. I believe that was a leveling up not just for me. My soul, but also for my finances my wealth, and my comfort with the life that I live today. So it could look like launching your own small business. It could look like finally opening an investment account or two because you've been scared of investments your whole life.

Do you know why? Because girls aren't conditioned to be wealth builders. We're conditioned to be conservative and restrained in our wealth-building. So, it could look like that. It could look like I'm good on my investments. I'm ready to take this to the next level. I'm out on my own in my own business and I'm going to start charging rates that really connect to the value that I'm showing my clients.

Yeah.

So it's about going from status quo, business as usual, getting to a new place. That's what I call leveling up.

Carly: I love it.

Yeah. If folks are at home and they're feeling stressed about money they want to know some quick steps that they can take to lower that money stress. What are some things that you would recommend that they do?

Maureen: Oh, great question. I think automating certain things and this also depends on the person. Automating certain things can be helpful. So if you're someone who's let's say that you've been meaning to build an emergency fund, and you're like, well, I've got my savings account. But you know what happens with that savings account?

Like at the end of the month or the end of the pay period, I go out and I pull $300 from it, and then all of a sudden, Sudden it's not a savings account anymore, but I need an emergency fund. 'cause last month the brakes went, you know, next month I need new tires, so on and so forth, right?

Carly: Yep, yep.

Maureen: Yes. So it's like, okay, you can take this step, you can press pause on the podcast right now and you can sign into your banking app and you can take this step within the next two minutes, 120 seconds, automate. A deposit into a savings account. You can also call your bank or credit union and ask them to open you a second savings account.

It does not take long. It is it is not a heavy lift for them. They will do it. And then you can also name the savings account, emergency fund, or let's say you wanted to name it something else. But the key here is that we're going from the status quo of, yeah, I've got my savings account, but I keep pulling out of it.

I keep pulling out of it every, you know, every couple of weeks, every month, because I want to, want to cover

Carly: That was me.

Maureen: Yeah. Oh, oh, yes. And you know, it's for some people, I've worked with some people where they're like, I just need to have that kind of, that slush fund of $300 just sitting there. So I can, you know, if I have stuff that comes up and I'm like, good. Keep that there. Let's talk about also about the emergency fund. How are we going to build that? Back to the step that you can take, you can go ahead and automate your savings today, you know? People usually get, there's some research on this that people get concerned about automating like a hundred or 200, like a larger sum per month.

They get less intimidated by doing a very small amount per day or week. So you could automate a dollar a day if you wanted to. I have $5 a day automated. From my, to sweep it into my savings account. And what's cool is that savings account is always growing. It's not, it's growing incrementally.

It's growing modestly. But yeah, it's I look at it at the end of the month, I'm like, look at that. That's plus 150 bucks. You know what I mean? And it was a lot less intimidating than actually putting in, than saying, okay, I want 150 bucks going over here. Back to the point, automation, automated savings, that's a way that you can know that you're on track to hitting your goals without feeling overwhelmed.

Like, I'm going to have to sign in and I'm going to have to commit to this big number and I'm going to have to do this. Commit. Don't go $5, go $2 a day, go something super duper mediocre. It does not have to be the moon and the stars that you start with. Go for something really small, just watch it grow, and run that experiment for 30 days.

What's it like to have a certain amount of cash now in your emergency fund after 30 days? Usually, when that happens, people are like, oh damn, I did that. You know what I mean? And I just let it sit there and I still have it, and that builds more confidence. So that's one thing that you can do.

I would also recommend, and I mentioned this before If you are someone who is having that overwhelmed feeling about the formats. The avenues that are taking your money out into the world. The pay apps, the Apple pay, the tapping and the logging, the credit card, and so on and so forth. The subscriptions and the, if you find yourself being like, I have no idea where this is all going, you might want to streamline that and intentionally and purposefully get yourself down to one payment method. Maybe that's your debit card. Why? Because that overwhelm is keeping you stressed and it's keeping you dispersed. And in this cloudy world of, I don't know what's happening with my money, when you reduce it and streamline it down to one method.

Again, you could do this for a month. Just do it for a month. You don't have to do it forever. Run the experiment for a month. See how you feel. Just use the debit card, and then after a month, do you have a clearer picture of where the money's going, Has that chaos and that panic calmed down and gotten a little bit more focused and quiet?

Chances are it will just try that on. Try it. Try on. What does it feel like to feel a little bit more quiet and calmer about my money situation? It can be really nice.

Carly: Yeah, man. Not to be underestimated.

Maureen: Yeah. Yeah. It can feel really good. And that's why I say run experiments like you can set up this automatic savings today. You do it for a month, you can change it. You know, you can streamline the ways that you spend the actual applications that you use to spend.

You can do that today as well. Do it for a month. If you don't like it, change it. You gotta find what works for you too.

Carly: And I love that power of incremental change because it really doesn't have to be all or nothing, and it's just really about building up your confidence In these little ways that, just like interest, compound over time.

Maureen: That's right.

Know Where the Money Is Going Mini Course

Carly: Love it. Okay. You just published a mini course that, I want to know all about, so please spill the details.

Maureen: Oh my goodness. I am so excited about this mini-course. The mini course is called Know where the money is going. It's very simple. The heart of this mini-course is absolute simplicity.

So this has come from, you know, what we've been talking about for a little while now, this. Stress, panic, chaos, and this feeling of being overwhelmed when we don't know where the money's going.

Yeah.

My experience has been that when I work with clients they get clear on where the money's going, just the actual practice, and what I mean by knowing where the money is going is recording all of our sources of income and all of our expenses. It does not need to be perfect. It just needs to be done, and it needs to be simple. So when clients actually step into that process and do it, this is what happens. Like I've never seen it not happen. Clients always have some type of insight. Into their financial situation and where the money's going after that process is finished.

So it's like, I call them aha moments. It's going to be, oh my gosh, I didn't actually, I thought this category was absolutely terrible, but actually it's not really that bad. I am spending more over here. I'm actually surprised how much is going over here. I didn't think that that was leaking over there that much.

So you're going to have. Insights about where the money's going, and then those insights help you decide. What you want to change. So again, this is about going from the status quo, the business as usual. It's like that panic and that overwhelm, it's like, okay, I, you have to do something. This is the true essence of an intervention.

You've got to intervene in the status quo with an intervention. And that process is knowing where the money is going. And I've designed a tool myself. I call it the Keep It Simple sweetheart, cashflow Tracker.

Carly: Love.

Maureen: So that is the main essence. You're going to track the income and the expenses, that's the intervention.

And then you get to understand the gifts that showed up from actually doing that for yourself, what showed up. That's going to be the aha moments, that those are going to be the insights. The light bulbs that went off like, oh my gosh, look at this. Oh my gosh, look at that. Then you're going to use those as your stepping stone for the changes that you want to make.

And then after that, it's rinse and repeat. So basically when folks sign up for this mini-course, they're going to get two videos. It's going to be one just explaining the whole system, using the cashflow tracking tool, identifying the aha moments, and then. Planning the changes that you'll make. The other one is a step-by-step guide for how to use the tool itself so you're not thrown out into the weeds with more stress to deal with.

Again, my goal here is to keep it simple, to help you experience some relief and relaxation versus feeling that stress. And it's the type of tool that you can use. It's a repeatable system. You can use it month after month after month to stay on track with your financial life.

Carly: I love this so much.

When you were saying that everyone has those aha moments, I'm like, ah-huh a hundred percent. I know exactly what they were. I was spending hundreds of dollars a month at Walgreens, Taco Bell, and Starbucks all within walking distance of my building at the time, and I was like, okay, so let me get this straight.

I have no savings, but I have 30 nail polishes and I don't. Polish my nails. I have no savings, but I have 30 lip glosses and I use two. I have no savings, but I'm at Starbucks every day buying myself another baked good because I've had a tough day, you know? So it was. And I'm not saying, you know, that you have to skip the lattes if you want to be a millionaire.

I'm like not going down that path. But I am saying that for me, I did need to skip some of the lattes to pay my bills. And so I love everything you're saying because those aha moments do come, they do help that pattern interrupt

Maureen: Yes,

Carly: of where your money is going and helps you pause and think about it, and it's on.

It's decluttering your habits, your shopping habits. Truly because that's what happens when people declutter too. I get, I'll get texts from clients that'll say thanks a lot. I just went on vacation and I second, and I thought about what I was buying before I did it and decided not to get it because I was going to declutter it in six months and I don't regret not making the purchase, but I'm just saying this is your fault.

And I get messages like that pretty frequently. I mean, they're nice messages I made it more sarcastic, but they're nice messages, but it is that pattern interrupting. And I just think this is absolutely amazing and I. If anyone is listening to this and just feeling that stress about their finances, I want you to check this out because this same process, I know it wasn't the same tools because it was a different time before I'd met you, but this same process is one of the things that led, literally changed my life if I could scream that I would, I won't.

You know, I know you're probably driving or something. I don't want to throw you off the road, but it changed my life period. So please, please, please check Maureen's everything she has out.

Special Offer for Listeners

And I hear you have a special offer for us.

Maureen: I do, I do. I know that you have, a vibrant community of listeners,, that follow you, and I wanted to support them by offering a discount code for the know where the money is going mini course.

The discount code is Tidy Revival 25. So for those who are listening and you use that discount code, when you purchase the course, you'll get $25 off.

Carly: Amazing. Thank you. Oh, you're welcome. Appreciate that. And we will make sure that that's in the show notes as well.

before we kind of give the rundown of where folks can find you. Do you have any final thoughts that you would like to leave with our friends here?

Final Thoughts - It is possible

Maureen: It is possible, it is possible to feel better about your finances. I've seen it. I've experienced it myself., It is the reason why I continue to coach and coach and coach and put out content and develop courses and work in a way where My clients leave their time with me feeling lighter. It is possible.

I have seen it. I know it. I believe in it, and I just want people to know, that no matter what financial situation you are in today, there is a pathway out of it. It all depends on what the situation is, but there is no financial situation that is too big or too scary and shameful. The other thing I want them to know is shame is not a prerequisite for change.

You don't have to beat yourself up. Now, if you do, it's fine. That's a habit. Pattern. Pattern. I've got that as well, but, If someone's shaming you to get you to change your behaviors, that's toxic. You can change your behaviors at any time. It is possible, and we are not meant to do hard things alone. So believe that it's possible. Believe in the power of support and changes can happen for you.

Carly: I love, love, love everything that you're saying. Thank you. Thank you so much for being here.

Maureen: You are welcome. Thank you. And thank you to everybody listening,

Carly: Thank you for letting me go on a couple of little rants and share my story and how it relates.

I appreciate you holding space for me too.

Maureen: That was a pleasure. Thank you. It was a privilege.

Carly: Where can folks find you, Maureen?

Maureen: Folks can find me on my website, so it's maureenpaley.podia.com, and I'm very active on Instagram. You can find me at Maureen Paley Coach.

Carly: All of this will be linked in the show notes.

And Maureen, thank you so much again for being here. I appreciate you so much. I adore you and cannot wait to run into you at Trader Joe's. 

We would love to make sure that your questions are answered for a question of the week or a future episode. So we love to hear from you. DM (on Instagram) or you can always email me, carly@tidyrevival.com. We love hearing from you. We love hearing your thoughts about the pod, and thank you so much for hanging out.

If you wanna learn more about how I can help you, feel free to head over to tidyrevival.com to learn how I work with people one-on-one or in our private community. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe so you'll always have access to the latest episode.

We would also love to hear your takeaways. Feel free to tag us on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok. The Tidy Revival podcast is written and hosted by me, Carly Adams, and edited by Brittany McLean. Title Song Maverick is by Dresden The Flamingo.

and until next time, remember that…

 
 
 

Links mentioned in this episode

 
 
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