- All right, this week's video is brought to
by our friends at Zander Insurance.
COVID-19, you're hearing it everywhere, aren't ya?
Quarantine, all of it,
like it's just like these words
are just constantly in our vocabulary.
Now, when all of this started,
we put out an event called Message of Hope,
and we wanted to spread the idea of a message of hope.
Great event name, right?
Because everyone was freaking out
and it was like a very uncertain time.
No one really knew what to do with their money,
how their jobs were gonna be,
how everything was gonna pan out.
But now that we're a few months
kind of out of that initial just shock,
we're still in the middle of,
some states are still under quarantine,
there's still things going on around COVID-19, of course.
But people are asking now, okay, what do I do now?
And I really believe
that pain doesn't have to be your only teacher.
It's a great teacher,
it's a thorough teacher,
but it doesn't have to be your only teacher.
But for a lot of people during the season,
during this time in our lives, it was very painful.
It was very scary.
They didn't know what to do.
And so hopefully you guys are learning
through watching these videos,
really digging in and understanding how your money works,
that one of the best ways to combat anything
is to have control over your money as much as you can.
And that is a budget.
And it's interesting because, when it comes to budgeting,
you know, there are spenders and savers,
there are free spirits, there are nerds.
But I, personally, I'm a spender
and I love to spend money.
And I found though, during quarantine,
people still fell in those two buckets
of spenders and savers.
And so when quarantine really first started happening,
people paused,
most people, for about 30 days,
and then the savers continued to save.
everything from not going out to eat,
not driving as much,
vacations getting canceled,
so much money people were saving.
And they found themselves saving
out of the fear of the unknown
and they just kind of kept, in a sense,
hoarding money and like,
okay, we're gonna keep everything
because we don't know what's gonna happen,
where some people were saving out of just,
or not spending out of necessity.
Maybe you lost your job.
Maybe you were furloughed
and you didn't have that amount of money
just to go and spend,
but you were really keeping it close and saving.
And then, I found people in the other category
where for, again, that first 30 days,
most everyone kind of held and saved,
but some spenders came out of the woodworks,
yes, including myself, I'll say that.
I was like, why is every store that I love
having a sale right now?
Like, that's what quarantine felt like.
Every time I checked my email,
it was like sale, sale, sale, sale, sale.
And I was like, what, what, what?
I even got to the point,
it's so bad, but it's true,
I just started filling up my shopping cart online
and just adding item, adding item, adding item,
and then I'd delete it, and then I'd go about my day.
I wouldn't buy anything,
but I'd go through the process of looking through stuff.
And I was like, what?
And good to know, yes, I was not alone.
Yes, in fact, 58 million Americans
said that they actually spent more in quarantine.
43% said that they spent money out of comfort buying
or because of stress.
And I was like, yeah, I get you, like I totally get that
because when you spend money,
dopamine is released in your brain
and everything feels good,
it kind of numbs you out to what's going on.
And in the moment you get that high, you get that rush,
and you're like, wow, that feels good.
But listen, that's not the way to live your life,
no, no, no.
Neither is just sitting there and hoarding money,
but really being diligent with where your money's going.
And that always is gonna bring us back
to the budget, you guys, always, always.
And the zero-based budget, it's the way to go.
So we talk about your income minus all of your expenses
needs to equal zero.
So every dollar coming in is assigned to a category
and your categories are everything you spend money on.
So again, this is food, shelter, utilities,
transportation, cell phone, insurance,
you could even have clothing.
Maybe every person in the family needs their own line item.
Especially you parents,
say, hey, there's a Rachel line item
and a Winston line item in our budget
that we have money to spend.
One of the lines that I am okay spending money on
that actually gives me great reassurance is life insurance.
And Winston and I, we use Zander Insurance
for our life insurance because they make it so easy.
Okay, you know how some companies,
they're like, hey, go on our website,
fill out your information,
they'll just give you one quote,
that's all they'll give you.
Zander, they shop multiple companies
to get you the best rate possible.
So you want 10 to 12 times your annual income.
So go to zander.com, get a quote today.
I promise it's gonna be the best money
that you spend throughout the month
because you're taking care of your family.
That if something happens to you,
that they are taken care of.
So if you have someone that is dependent upon your income,
you need term life insurance
and get it through Zander
and add that in the budget.
So the budget is the thing, you guys,
that is gonna bring you so far through all of this.
Because it's gonna be able to tell you,
hey, do we need to pull back on some expenses?
Hey, do we need to get an extra job?
Hey, do we need to sell something?
Like, what do we need to do
to bring in some extra money
to get those four walls,
your food shelter, utilities, transportation, covered?
Those are so key.
And that's the budget.
And if you've never done a budget before,
give yourself at least 90 days to let it work,
three months, give yourself three months.
And that budget, it really does,
it gives you this idea of control,
and not just the idea of control,
but you are actually controlling your money.
So whether you're a spender or a saver,
you need a budget during this time.
And it's interesting,
the study that I usually quote
sometimes when I'm out speaking
and it talks about how the finish line
always moves for people financially.
So if you talk to someone that makes $50,000 a year,
and you're like, hey, are you rich?
They're like, no, I'm not rich.
And the researcher asks,
okay, how much do you have to make to be rich?
And they would say $100,000.
They'd go to someone making $100,000.
Hey, how much do you need to make to be rich?
$250,000.
So they go to someone making $250,000,
they would say $500,000,
they would say a million,
they'd say $2 million, $5 million, it kept going up.
And it's like, yeah no amount of income,
or you could even insert there no amount of stuff
is going to make you happy.
No amount of stuff is gonna make you feel like,
oh, I arrived
or a certain income's gonna make you feel like,
oh yeah, I'm good, I'm satisfied
because people, you're just wanting, you're wanting more.
And that finish line always moves.
So that's always a picture I paint at my events
it's a story I usually tell.
But as I was planning out
and thinking about this and the what now,
like what do we do now with our money,
I thought it's interesting
because the starting line has started to move.
The starting line, people are saying,
oh, you know, I'll do a budget,
I'll get my money under control when all this is over,
when all COVID-19 is taken care of.
Or I'll do a budget when my husband and I
feel like we have enough money
to actually like do some stuff,
or we'll do a budget once the kids start school,
we'll do a budget, X,Y,Z, and the excuses are galore.
So don't let the starting line
of starting your financial journey keep moving.
Do it now. Do it today.
If you're married, get your spouse on board.
If you're single, find a friend you can talk to,
but start your budget now.
That's what you need to do right now and say never again
am I gonna feel out of control with my money.
Never again, if a pandemic, a natural disaster,
something crazy happens to us.
Never again am I gonna feel out of control.
And the budget is the way to do that.
So do the budget, you guys.
I promise it's gonna help you so, so much
during your financial journey.