The blueprint you need to get ahead with your money
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[00:00:00] Are you looking for the blueprint you need to get ahead with your money? If so, keep listening. Hello and welcome to the Wealth Minded MD podcast with your money best friends. I'm Dr. Brittne Halford.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And I'm Dr. Lisha Taylor. And of course, we're here to help you build wealth and make good money decisions so you can create the life you desire with more control over your time. And now a word from our partner.
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Dr. Brittne Halford: Okay, Lisha. So in our life is lifing segment, I need you to help me with the dilemma that I have every single year. I am not good gift giver. I should probably do a reframe, but we're just going to leave it at that. And every mother's day. I struggle with what to purchase my mother. So Mother's Day is May 12th and I have purchased her so many things in many years.
Dr. Brittne Halford: And I just hate when I spend money and [00:03:00] I see my gifts still in the box. So one year I actually purchased my mother some underwear. Cause I'm like, everybody needs underwear, right? And she, she didn't wear them. So, please help me. What are you doing for your mother?
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Well, probably not underwear. I will start there. Okay. So you know what? I'm like priding myself on this. I believe, and I've been told this, I'm a really good gift giver. So when I am thinking and planning, uh, buying somebody something, including my mom, I first go with, what do I think that they want? My mom is the kind of person where she will tell me exactly what she wants me to buy her. She's like, Lisha, I know mother's day is coming up. I know you're going to get me something and this is what I want. And so most times I just stick with, you know what she told me she wants. Like, you know what?
Dr. Lisha Taylor: It's not about what I think she would like. She told me what she wanted and I'm going to get her that. So we usually start there. And if it is some odd season and she's forgotten to tell me what she really wants, I will usually go with a few different things. I will usually one, try to think about what do I think? That [00:04:00] she would want that she just didn't say yet. I will think about you know What do I think is something that she could use and would appreciate but that she may not buy herself and this has actually sort of been my dilemma even when I'm buying my father gifts or my brother's gifts because Thankfully, they're in a pretty good financial position and that most of the time when they want something They Buy what they want themselves.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And so unless it's some like super designer item or some trip overseas or whatever that costs a thousand dollars , they usually buy all of the things that they want. And I'm not, there's a limit to what I'm going to spend. When it comes to my mom, , she's really into sports like me, big shocker.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: So one of the things that I've tried to do is like feed her passion of sports, because that's something that we both share and also try to get her inexperienced. And so I think last mother's day, we actually purchased. Was it NBA? Wait, no last mother's day. Let me think about what sports going on in me, I think it was baseball tickets.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And so we, as a family went to like the Braves game, cause [00:05:00] I live in Atlanta and we bought tickets, not only for my mom. But also for my dad and then a sibling sort of chipped in and bought our own tickets, but we try to do like an experience So we did that one mother's day.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I think we got her like a purse or something. She said she wanted a purse. My mother doesn't really buy clothes for herself that often. Or let me just say, she doesn't buy the kind of clothes that we, that we want her to wear. We're like, mom, we can afford better things than that. We'll sometimes get her like really nice like designer clothes or things like that that she wouldn't normally purchase herself one year I think we got her like an apple watch because she was trying to be more fit and walk more And so we thought okay, you could track your steps.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: You might like this She didn't know how to work the technology. So that was sort of a bust but the thought was there
Dr. Brittne Halford: I love all of those ideas. And when you think about experiences,the experiences really matter. And if I want her to use it, then I should just buy something that both of us can use together at the same time. And that way I know, if she's not using it, it's not a [00:06:00] gift, right? And there have been times when I've asked her and she still doesn't use it.And I know that there are ways in which she could still care for herself and, enjoy the experience. She just doesn't make the time. I don't either. So that's, so that's what I'm thinking. It would be an opportunity for both of us to just share each other's company and to use it together. Yes, it's a little bit self motivated because I want to make sure that she uses it, but I also feel like a gift is really not valuable if it's just sitting on a shelf and in a box, then it's not really serving her in that way. So that's what I'm thinking about, , using your experience. Now I can ask her, Hey mom, what would you like to have as an experience for Mother's Day? And it could still be motivated and driven by her, but I think something that we do together will ensure that she actually does it.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Well, okay, I'm going to do a reframe here because just because someone doesn't use it doesn't mean they don't think it's valuable, right? You could get someone some really nice decor for their home or, , Sometimes [00:07:00] for Christmas, I will get my mom other things too. But one of the things I will try to do is get something that is like memorable.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: So sometimes I'll put photos of us in a picture frame. And so she's not technically using it, but it's something she really values. Cause it reminds her of that memory or that experience. And so just because they don't use it doesn't mean they don't want it. But sometimes I will do that. Other times I've tried to get her practical things or I listened to what she complains about. Like I remember a few years ago, my mom was like, my back hurts. And I was like, Ooh, maybe I can get her like a back massager or foot massager or something like that. And so I've done those sorts of gifts. My dad actually, which I realize is different from my mom, but my dad really likes to read. And so I've purchased him books that I thought he would enjoy or purchased him like an audible subscription or Spotify so that he can listen to different like audio books from people that I think he might, enjoy hearing from.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: So I've done some of those, kinds of gifts. Brittne, we got to step up your gift giving game.
Dr. Brittne Halford: You know, we do, we do have to step it up. I, feel like I should just hire a personal assistant [00:08:00] like you. My best friend is a phenomenal gift giver. So I've even said to her in years, Hey, can I just give you this lump sum of money? And then you just purchase the gifts and send them out to the people on this list. We haven't gotten there yet, but usually around. At least for my husband's birthday, I send her and my other best friend a text message like, Hey, what should I get Kevin for his birthday? Hopefully he doesn't list this episode. But they really helped me to understand that sometimes, like you said, I just ask, , my husband, but I don't know. I struggle with this every year. So thank you for, for the insights.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And you'll have to update us on what you actually get her and whether or not she likes it and hopefully no underwear this year.
Dr. Brittne Halford: Definitely no underwear. She didn't use those the last time I bought them. Okay. Now let's get into our money mishaps and confessions. And to our listeners, I want you to understand something. This is a money confession that I am revealing to Lisha. For the first time on this [00:09:00] podcast.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I'm very nervous actually. What are you going to say?
Dr. Brittne Halford: So, hopefully we don't have to edit out any like bleeps or,
Dr. Lisha Taylor: My true reaction to whatever you're going to say.
Dr. Brittne Halford: All right, Lisha, deep breaths. So Lisha and I, we have this business together, Wealth Minded MD podcast, and we share some expenses. And of course, when you're partnering on any type of joint venture, you want to make sure that you respect and you appreciate your partner's input. So, Lisha, Is so much of the brains of the operation. And I have a little bit more of that technical experience. So we have this software that keeps us organized. It's called ClickUp. I love it. It's new to Lisha. And when I pitch this to Lisha to use as our organization software. I told her that it was 84 a month. I'm sorry, 84 a year because I thought that it was 7 a month, but I didn't read very well, [00:10:00] Lisha. It's 7 a month per member. And so since you are a member and I am a member, it is actually much more than the 84 a year. But I will swallow that expense. But that, that's a money mishap. That was like me not reading well, it says 7 per month per member. And so this is actually, we're spending a little bit more money on the software than, , I had anticipated.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: You know what? thought it was going to be a lot worse. You made me, I was so nervous. Cause you know how I feel about like making sure things add up, but , , I'm not gonna get mad at you for an extra 7 a month. You know what? I've been working on myself and I am trying to, uh, I'm trying not to get super upset about things that I cannot change, and, , clearly this software is really helpful for us. You mentioned that it was new to me. You are the most organized person I think I've ever met. Like I don't even know how to work it because it's so organized. First of all, this is a compliment, this [00:11:00] sort of backwards compliment, but I'm trying to say, thank you for keeping me organized, thank you for the compliment. I will not kill you for 7. It's fine. , I think we can afford it. but I do appreciate you letting me know. And I think that's a lesson for all of us, of making sure that we read the fine print on how much things cost. And, my money mishap is sort of related to that. I, have signed up for lots of different subscriptions over the years, whether it's me listening to music via Spotify or, my Amazon prime subscription, or. Other subscriptions. But you know, what happens is that sometimes there's these promo offers for the subscriptions or they come free with my credit cards or whatever. And so I will sign up for them because I will be like, okay, well, it's free for me now, or it's so cheap now. And I will forget to cancel them.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And so as I'm looking at my credit card statement, I'm like, wait, I mean, it's not a huge amount of money, but at the same time, like, why am I paying for this? Why am I paying for that? And wait, am I paying for this thing twice?
Dr. Brittne Halford: Yes.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And so I really need to do a better job again of staying [00:12:00] organized. But also paying attention and making sure that I put reminders in my phone of when to cancel subscriptions or when the billing will come in and out for certain subscriptions. I'm also trying to do. I'm going to do a better job of making sure that the right payments go on the right cards will talk about this
Dr. Lisha Taylor: in future episodes of about how I try to optimize my expenses and making sure that I'm putting the right expenses on the right credit cards because certain credit cards give me certain rewards or cash back or a percentage off of things here or there and sometimes I put the wrong expenses on the wrong cards or it really happens as I have a lot of things on autopilot or auto pay. And I've forgotten to change them. And so I think one of my money mishaps and confessions is really like trying to do a better job at staying organized so that I can remember to cancel old subscriptions so that I can make sure that I'm putting the right expenses on the right cards at the right times.
Dr. Brittne Halford: Mm. I feel that too. And although our ClickUp is organized, there are so many other aspects of my life that are unorganized and I struggle with the same thing. Like, [00:13:00] there's been months where I'm like, Oh, I forgot to cancel this thing. So, you know, usually if you send them a quick email, they will reimburse you and, kind of backdated depending on how much it is.
Dr. Brittne Halford: But I appreciate that. I think this is something that we all struggle with.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Yeah, yeah, and for those who don't know what ClickUp was, because I didn't know what ClickUp was before I met Brittne, I was like, you want to use what? First of all, I've never met somebody who uses so many different software systems, like, oh, my goodness, it's like one of those things, it's like, Brittne, I'm very grateful for you because you have just upped my technology game. I did not know that we needed like 10 software systems to run this enterprise. I am grateful. I am grateful that we have them. I have learned so much. So much. But for those who are not familiar with ClickUp, it's like a super organized, better version of Google Docs, I think, right? Because Google Docs is like, you create these Google Docs, you can create Google Sheets and things like that.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: But I think ClickUp allows you to create various different documents and different segments or. In various groups it allows you to [00:14:00] tag and comment other people and for us It's our assistants who can like make changes here and there and update us when changes are made without getting a separate email each time if you don't choose to the app I think is pretty decent.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And so I actually really like it I'm, really glad that you introduced this software to me, uh, not as happy about Paying twice as much for it, but
Dr. Lisha Taylor: uh, it's okay We've been working on ourselves. Y'all see this? Y'all see this? And I'm actually, I'm genuine. This is genuine. Response. I did not know about this before we started recording, which we'll talk about when is the appropriate time to tell Lisha things. but I'm going to let you live today. I'm gonna let you live today. We're going to be great today. We're going to finish this podcast today.
Dr. Brittne Halford: Mhm. Mhm. We are. Thank you. Thank you. You know, , sometimes you got to reveal stuff in a public setting so that you know, like, Oh, they're going to be out in their best behavior when I tell them this thing . So thank you, Lisha. I appreciate that, , and it just, reveals that we all make mistakes.
Dr. Brittne Halford: That's why we have this segment money, mishaps and money confessions. And this was really a online Confession today. So [00:15:00] Lisha, I'll work on some of the other things that I might have to tell you after this Okay. let's get into our financial focus plagues. Many of us in Lisha, , we've kind of talked about my student loan debt journey.
Dr. Brittne Halford: I don't know if I've actually had large amounts of consumer debt, but regardless if it's consumer debt or student loan debt, like the strategies are. almost the same. And even as high earning professionals, as a coach for women in health care, financial coach, I've helped women to pay off thousands of dollars debt, like 25, 000 of consumer debt.
Dr. Brittne Halford: And so I know that there are many people who might be listening. Maybe you don't have consumer debt, but have other types of debt and you felt a certain way. So we're going to give you the blueprint on how to manage your debt, how to pay it off successfully without having the guilt, the burden, the shame, and that feeling that you're sacrificing everything just to [00:16:00] pay off your debt.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Yeah, yeah, you know what? It was interesting. I was looking at statistics a few months ago from various different, , survey data for doctors and some of that data, some of those stats showed that almost 20 percent of physicians. still do have credit card debt that they're not paying off at the end of each month. And so I do think that there is a rather large segment of physicians and other people in healthcare and just Americans in general who do still have a substantial amount of consumer debt. And if you are one of those people, you should know that you're not alone. I was one of those people a few years ago, and oftentimes I think that you can feel some guilt and some shame.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: , because you have it. But for me personally, I definitely had those feelings, but I also felt. A little bit confused. If you will, like, I felt like I'm a responsible person. Like I identify as someone who is responsible and good with money. And yet I still found myself in that predicament. And I think that there may be people [00:17:00] listening who feel very similarly.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: It's like, it's not that you went out and, , 20 international vacations or bought five designer purses or bought some super expensive watch or. So if you went out to eat every day, maybe it's that you were using credit cards to sort of supplement your income during a time in which you weren't making much income. And one, big period comes to mind, and that's the time in medical school. Oftentimes when physicians are in medical school, or even if you're not a physician, right, if you're a lawyer, when you were in law school, or if you, work in business, maybe when you were an undergrad or you were in grad school, whatever it is, there was probably some time in your life when you were either in school full time or when you were just starting your career and you weren't making as much money.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And sometimes, it can be hard to make ends meet. Sometimes expenses just come. Sometimes things just pop up life. Life's At times and although it's great to have an emergency fund and that's sort of the fiscally responsible thing to do. It's not always feasible for some people at all times.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: So you may find yourself in that predicament. I [00:18:00] know I certainly did. And I had a lot of shame and I had a lot of guilt. And I just really wanted to first start off the show by saying If you feel the same way you're not alone. I too felt that way. I too had to pay off consumer debt. It took a lot of energy and time and I think that other people are in the same predicament.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: If I was thinking, before we started this episode about what are the periods of someone's life in which they may be in this situation and I thought about my own self and I said, well, when I was getting an education, I talked about school and I said, when I was moving, Oftentimes I was okay on the day to day, but as a physician, we move a lot oftentimes or training, whether it's different schooling or training or fellowship or a new job and moving, can, cause someone to maybe have to take out some consumer debt. Unexpected car trouble, vacations. That's sort of a lifestyle thing. getting people gifts, at least for me, I have a large family. And so I would want to get people various Christmas gifts and things. And sometimes I would accumulate some debt from that. or, you know, something that really impacts a lot of females and that's fertility treatments and other sort of life [00:19:00] things. And I think a lot of physicians may be able to relate to this a lot of people may be able to relate to this and we are going to help you out today. We're going to give you some steps and some strategies on how you can tackle that..
Dr. Brittne Halford: Yeah. Lisha, thank you for walking us through some of those periods in which the debt accumulates. I too see that. when I'm working with women, I was doing good until. And then it's that fill in the blank because many of us , we might have a certain rhythm of cashflow that works for us for month to month, but then it's those unexpected expenses that get us into a bind or it's that family member I've heard so many times, , this happened with my family.
Dr. Brittne Halford: It's like, how do you budget in for those family member expenses? Because you don't anticipate that it's going to happen, but you also feel this sense of need. to [00:20:00] help to serve someone else. And it's always a challenge for me to say to someone, well, if you can't get yourself in a good position, then how are you going to continue to help someone else?
Dr. Brittne Halford: I've also heard a lot when there was. some event that happened that caused a period of depression, whether that's, a death in the family or you didn't get the job that you wanted. And we are using purchases to make us feel better, to trigger the dopamine instead of actually doing the thing that we need to do, whether that's getting therapy, whether that's seeking support for family members and things of that nature.
Dr. Brittne Halford: Those are some of the other ways which I've seen. Persons to accumulate the debt. And as you mentioned, there are still a significant number of physicians who have debt and the interest rates are crazy now. I don't know about you, Lisha, but we don't carry a balance on our credit cards, but I still pay attention to what the interest rates are.
Dr. Brittne Halford: And they've almost doubled in the past two years. I used to have credit cards with an interest rate of [00:21:00] 11%. Now they're mostly at 22%. I'm like, Oh my gosh. We are responsible borrowers. Our credit scores are 800, but the interest rates have really accumulated. So I see that when you even carry that little amount, maybe you just helped a family member with something.
Dr. Brittne Halford: Now you're paying almost double if you carry that balance forward.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Yeah, yeah, I agree with you and you were I feel like you were my therapist for a second talking about like how we're using purchases To get that dopamine rush because I think another situation where people can use purchases not only disappointment not only loss Um, it can be a loss, but also heartbreak, right?
Dr. Lisha Taylor: If a
Dr. Lisha Taylor: relationship doesn't turn out the way that you expect, or maybe a friendship ends that you didn't anticipate to end. or, family things. Maybe it's not a loss, but there is something that is happening. Health related things can cause, people to sort of try to make themselves feel better in some other way.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: So I felt like you were talking to me personally and I was like, Oh, she is talking today. And so help. Help us out. Brittne, how would you, , cause I know that you, , have really sort of made this [00:22:00] your niche and that you have helped lots of women in healthcare sort of tackle their debt.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I know I, have really focused on student loans, but you have really focused a lot on consumer debt as well. What would you say is like probably the first step that you would tell people to do?
Dr. Brittne Halford: So the first step, Lisha, that I think many of us have to take, and this is arguably the hardest step is to reconcile our debt emotions. We like to think that our money, our finances, our are all logical. Let me know which investment to choose. And that investment is going to make me millions of dollars.
Dr. Brittne Halford: But really when we think about money and the management of our money, and when we think about debt, because debt is so emotionally taxing, it's something that when I have coached women, they don't want to reveal to their spouses how much debt they have. And they have been married for years. decades, some of them, if you can't tell your spouse who have seen every part of your body and has seen you at your best and your worst, if you can't reveal that you have [00:23:00] accumulated this debt to your partner, then that just reflects how emotionally charged debt can be.
Dr. Brittne Halford: I want to say that it is not your fault. It is a number and you have to try to get a hold of that debt emotion. Absolve yourself of that guilt. Because if you think about just how our brains work, when I'm stressed out, when I'm sleep deprived, when I feel down on myself, I don't want to get activated. I don't want to be motivated and I can't think creatively.
Dr. Brittne Halford: And that's going to keep you in the same position in which you are. So I would say whatever it takes, if that means having a conversation with your spouse, if that means writing a letter, if that means writing a letter to yourself and just forgiving yourself for this debt , accumulation, then that is kind of the first step.
Dr. Brittne Halford: If that means that you need to get a little bit of therapy to work around that, then Try to absolve yourself of the guilt and all of the shame and all of the burden because it's not going to allow you to be creative and be [00:24:00] activated towards managing your debt
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Yeah, I was gonna say I, totally agree with you. I think you said debt's not your fault. So I think maybe it is their fault that they accumulated the debt, but I think the emotion that they have probably isn't their fault. But I get what you, you're laughing. I get what you're saying, in terms of that.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: That's one of the things that I've had to accept in a lot of different areas of my life is that it's okay for me to feel what I feel. And I think that sometimes when we try to avoid feeling the way that we feel, then it makes us busy. It makes us not quite ready or able to really deal with the problem. But once we allow ourselves to feel the emotions that we feel, accept them for what they are, then we're able to really sort of make a plan of attack, in terms of navigating this. And I think, for a lot of people, it can be shameful. There's this sort of sentiment, or at least that I had when I had consumer debt was I should not be in that position.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I should not be this sort of person. I am not the kind of person who has debt. I am not irresponsible sort of thing. And recognizing the reality of the [00:25:00] situation, which was, I was a person who at the time had consumer debt with. The fact that that was not how I self identified.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I didn't self identify as somebody who had debt and instead of letting that sort of weigh me down of saying, Okay, if I'm not someone Who typically carries debt then what would someone who typically doesn't carry debt do they would pay it off? You know what? I mean and sort of saying okay, who is the person that I want to be?
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I want to be someone who's debt free. I want to be someone who doesn't have credit card debt. Okay How can I become that person? What would this sort of person do this sort of person would at some point? Tell their significant other and share that information just because it's hard to share. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't share it. And so what would that sort of person do? They would share the information. What else would that sort of person do? They would make a plan of a talk to pay it off. What else would that person do? They would stop accumulating more while they're paying it off. And so that is something that I know has really helped me in the past.
Dr. Brittne Halford: Yeah. I agree with all that you're saying about , the shift in [00:26:00] behaviors. And I think part of just the reframe, at least when I. get into and I have a five year old, right? So I say something to Brooke and Brooke is like, Oh, mommy is all my fault. And she kind of like slumps down and she completely changes and shifts her behavior and her actions.
Dr. Brittne Halford: I think sometimes when we take on this, ownership of fault, does not allow us to also examine some of those other external factors. You know, as a QI person, I like to think that oftentimes the problems are not just an individual, but there are systemic problems. There are environmental problems.
Dr. Brittne Halford: And so what I want you all to do is like Lisha said, kind of examine some of the behaviors that you need to Make the shifts and behaviors, but also examine some of those external factors. So when I say that it's not your fault, maybe it was that there were other circumstances. So for example, this transition from medical school to residency occurred and you actually did not have the wherewithal, you match somewhere else where you didn't know that you're going to match there.
Dr. Brittne Halford: And so [00:27:00] therefore you had to move somewhere else that you didn't anticipate. That there was going to be an additional cost. So what I'm saying is that, yes, there is some ownership that you can accept. Don't allow that ownership to manifest into guilt, shame that demotivates you from taking action. And I also want you to take a look at the circumstances that caused that.
Dr. Brittne Halford: Was it a lack of information? Was it behaviors that you needed to modify? Was it that you were helping somebody else? And understand that those are behaviors that could have led into this debt accumulation, not to necessarily absorb you of all responsibility because like, Lisa said that there are going to be some shifts and behaviors that will need to be made.
Dr. Brittne Halford: But I also don't want it to be so debilitating that you are unable to examine all the other factors that played into the debt accumulation.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I like that. I think that's a good tip for folks, even for myself. I'm learning so much here today. This is like a session for me. So yeah, I think when you examine some of the, outside factors, you [00:28:00] can maybe identify and say, all right, yes, I had this debt, but you know what? Part of the debt I accumulated was because I was transitioning, like you using your example from medical student to resident, and I had to move and that was not something that I anticipated.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Maybe I knew that I was going to, become a resident, but I didn't anticipate moving so far away in the move costing so much, or, maybe I have consumer debt because I was helping a family member. It's like, okay, that's my fault because I, maybe didn't have the cash on hand, but maybe I couldn't have controlled the fact that that family member needed my help at that time. And so I think when you, when we examine some of the factors, and the things that led to that debt, it can really help us examine, okay, maybe part of this is my fault. Maybe a part of that is really not my fault. And, now I can sort of. Take less blame, if you will, and start really thinking creatively about a solution to get rid of that debt.
Dr. Brittne Halford: So then after you do all of that, you reconcile your emotions or at least get them to a state in which they're manageable. Then you start to be strategic and we're going to [00:29:00] help you to kind of work through now that logical approach to paying off your debt. And I think that next step is to really understand your debt, because with each type of debt, you might utilize a different approach.
Dr. Brittne Halford: For example, your student loans. We had other episodes about student loans and using the income driven repayment options or forgiveness. You may not want to pay off debt as aggressively because it could be at a lower interest rate or you're going up for forgiveness. Say, for example, you have a medical bill.
Dr. Brittne Halford: And that was something that was unanticipated. You could therefore maybe negotiate with the hospital and say like, okay, well, I can't pay all of this. How much can I pay? So the reason why I suggest these different strategies is because each type of debt is going to require A different approach, possibly if you want to pay them all off aggressively and if you want to pay the least amount without damaging things like your relationship with [00:30:00] other people, your credit score, et cetera.
Dr. Brittne Halford: So the first step is to really categorize the types of debt that you have.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Yeah, like that first step and I would also say when you're categorizing the kind of debt you have also writing down how much of each that you have in each category and also the interest rates and the timelines through which you may have to pay off things because I think that will really help to really clarify which type of debt maybe you attack first and how you go about it.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: So I like your step one, which is really laying out the kinds of debt that you have, making sure that you understand it. Interest rates amounts, that sort of thing.
Dr. Brittne Halford: And then including the interest rates, especially for, for consumer debt is like, when are the payments? That is so important because I've seen women like, Oh, well, , I'm good until this date because this payment is due right before I get paid. And so the cash kind of runs lower when that payment is due.
Dr. Brittne Halford: And I just want to give you a little hustle here. You can actually change your payment date for many [00:31:00] of your bills. So if you find that at the end of the month, you're running low and then that payment is due when you're always late on that payment, instead of Continuing to accumulate that fee or being charged that additional fee for that late payment, call the companies and actually change the payment date to a date that works better for your cashflow. After you've done that, the second step is setting a financial goal. Lisha, I actually want to know where you land on this because I've heard a couple of philosophies for goals. You know, we hear about the smart goals and part of the smart goals is making sure that it's attainable or achievable, but then I've also heard people in another camp about those B hacks, those big, hairy, audacious goals that makes you stretch a little bit.
Dr. Brittne Halford: Where would you land, especially in, , this discussion of a debt payoff? On creating a BHAG or having a more smart and achievable goal.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: You know what? This is my first time hearing the acronym BHAG, Big Hairy Audacious Goals. [00:32:00] I had not heard that acronym before. I've obviously, heard the concept before, but I'd not heard the acronym. So this is sort of new for me. But in terms of where do I land, right? Should you be making, attainable, realistic goals or should you make super large goals that require you to stretch? I think that, It probably depends on the person, their personality, the kind of debt that they are tackling. So part of this answer I'm going to , say is it depends, but I think where I land for most things, if I had to sort of pick one, I actually probably lean towards the BHAG, but I think that's probably just because of my personality. I really hate debt. I am very debt averse. Some people are not as debt averse as I am. And so the debt doesn't bother them as much and so for them Making a goal that is easily attainable And sustainable for them is fine and they're fine sort of Dragging the debt out many years and just making a small manageable payment each month and going about their lives who's to say that that's not a decent approach.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I just for me personally I am so debt averse. I hate debt. [00:33:00] And so for me i'm always thinking about what is the quickest way that I can pay this off, For a lot of things I will even probably put a lot more money towards paying down debt than maybe Other people would and I think even though we're not talking about student loans in this episode specifically It really kind of comes to a head in terms of my student loans.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I don't actually have any consumer debt I paid off, credit card balances at the end of each month I don't have a car loan or anything like that. , Thankfully at this point in my life, but I do still have student loans And I think I mentioned on a prior podcast That most of my student loans will be forgiven through the public service loan forgiveness program But that there is a small portion of my loans that do not qualify for forgiveness under that program,, and so I have to pay it off myself and I have really been throwing a ton of money at those student loans to pay them off really quickly.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And it's interesting. I was talking to one of my best friends, , last weekend about this because she also has student loans and she was shocked at how much money I was paying off my student [00:34:00] loans. It was like her eyes popped out of her head and she was just like, what? How are you paying that much?
Dr. Lisha Taylor: , It was just funny and I was like, you know what? I'm so debt averse. I don't like debt like I Would rather live a more frugal lifestyle and know that I'm paying off that debt Than to make much smaller payments and drag it out for a longer period of time So this is like way super long way of answering your very simple question Which is that I sort of lean towards the b hag big hairy audacious goals paying off the debt super quickly as opposed to more of the smart goals where we're making more specific measurable more attainable goals
Dr. Brittne Halford: So I love that. I like. That you're like, okay, if I set this big, hairy, audacious goal, then I'm going to be more motivated to attack it. And this is the reason why. I think it really depends on who you are. And understanding that the psychology of our actions and our motivators. So What I see often is.
Dr. Brittne Halford: Women who do not succeed in paying off their debt is because they've set a goal, they didn't achieve the goal. And then they're just like, well, since I've already failed at [00:35:00] this one goal, why let me just keep failing instead of let me take a step back, let me examine and understand where I'm coming from, why I was not able to achieve that goal and how do I move forward
Dr. Brittne Halford: I think that there is. a role for having a SMART goal, making it very specific, making it very measurable, making it very achievable, relevant, and time bound. And once you achieve that SMART goal, then maybe you can move on to the BHAGs, those big, hairy, goals, because you can be like, well, I did that.
Dr. Brittne Halford: If I could do that, then I could do this too. And you'll be more creative to move in that way. And when we say specific, when you're paying off your debt, if it's a consumer debt, so you could say I want to pay off the Amex card 10, 000 in the next five months or the next 10 months, whatever that might be, and write that down.
Dr. Brittne Halford: , you could even break that into smaller chunks and say, I want to pay off 1, 000 by doing this thing [00:36:00] by this date and being very specific and breaking that goal down into smaller chunks. goals. And once you've done that, once you've achieved that, that dopamine is going to be there, that confidence is going to be there, then create a more audacious goal.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Yeah, I agree with you. And I think that's why when we talk about different ways to pay off debt, oftentimes in the personal finance community, there's this phrase of debt snowball versus debt avalanche. And I think that that really kind of illustrates , both methods, the debt snowball, meaning that you, start with smaller.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Goals. Are you start with smaller amounts of consumer debt. You pay those off, you get that dopamine rush, you feel really motivated to keep going, and then you attack the next smallest and then the next smallest. And you attack basically the debt. That is the largest amount last versus your sort of your debt avalanche method, which is, Hey, don't pay attention to the amounts, just attack the debt with the highest interest rate first, anything. Even though mathematically you come out ahead with debt avalanche method by attacking the debt with the highest interest rate first For a lot of [00:37:00] people some of the debts that have the highest interest rate have the largest amount So it just takes so long to make a dent in that debt that a lot of people get discouraged along the way And so I think when we think about it in those terms of debt snowball versus Debt avalanche, smart goals versus be hags.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I think that for most people, they probably have a lot more success long term doing those smart goals, starting with debt snowball. But if you are somebody who is super motivated, who is really into personal finance, who knows that you're not going to get demotivated along the way, then you may come out ahead by doing those other methods like the be hags and the debt avalanche.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: So I agree with you in terms of. Different sorts of goals that you can set, but yeah, so our step one was really kind of understanding the debt. Our step two is really setting financial goals and you have to decide which category of goals you want to do. Smart versus big hag, debt snowball versus debt avalanche. And then what's step three, Brittne?
Dr. Brittne Halford: Step three is creating consistent cashflow. And this is very similar to understanding your expenses [00:38:00] and your income. That's what I mean with creating consistent cashflow. But when you want to pay off your debt, And you have variable income. Some months you have 5 left over in the month. Some months you're a negative and you're using credit to fund.
Dr. Brittne Halford: It's going to be difficult for you to create a strategy to tackle your debt because you're not going to know and understand how much additional money besides that minimum payment. Can I apply to this debt? Sometimes in medicine, we have bonuses, right? And we know when those bonuses are going to come in and we have an idea of how much of the bonus we're going to have.
Dr. Brittne Halford: And so you can use that definitely to pay down the debt more aggressively. But when you want to create a strategy that helps you to be consistent, to create those positive behaviors that Lisha mentioned. It's really understanding your cash flow so that you can create a spending plan that allows you to have predictable amount at [00:39:00] the end of the month.
Dr. Brittne Halford: And therefore you can apply that amount to the smallest amount of your debt, , or to, pay the one with the highest interest rate, whichever approach you want to use the snowball method or the Avalanche. But you got to be able to have predictable cash flow at the end of the month in order to apply that to your debt,
Dr. Lisha Taylor: You know what? I would actually take this a step further and say that. You should look at your cashflow that you're going to have even before the end of the month, because I don't know about you, Brittne, but when I was paying off my debt, what happened is I initially was like, okay, I'm going to pay the minimum payment and then whatever's left at the end of the month, I'm going to spend and, put towards the debt.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And the problem was there wasn't anything left over at the end of the month. Like I
Dr. Lisha Taylor: would just spend things right? My friends would come in time, we'd go to brunch and they'd invite me to another brunch and I'd be like, Uh, yeah, I'm coming. Or, I would get invited on some girl's trip and I'm, can't turn down a girl's trip.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And you know, my family is like, Oh, we're going to do this family outing and it's family. You can't say [00:40:00] no. And so this would happen and I would tell myself, well, this month was different. And then next month would happen and I would be like, well, next month was different. And then I'd have another expense the next month and I'd be like, well, this is not an expense that I normally have.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And what I realized is that each month there were things and expenses that I would buy or have to spend money on that I didn't predict that weren't necessarily consistent from month to month. And so what I had to start doing. Okay. Lisha, you know what experience has taught me? This is me talking to myself that I cannot be trusted to have money left over at the end of each month.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Even now, to this day, I still don't even rely on that. Cause even though I'm an attending physician, I make a substantially more money now. Uh, I can't trust myself. So what I have to do, Brittne, as I have to like pay myself first. Pay off the debt first. When the money hits my account, I'm paying my tithes because I'm Christian and I give my 10%. My bills are on auto pay. They got to come out at the beginning of the month. They can't come out at the middle of the end or running into problems. So the bills come out in the [00:41:00] beginning of the month, my student loan payments, even the extra that I think I'm going to put towards my student loans comes out in the beginning. And then I say, You know, towards the middle or whatever of the month, I can spend what's left. And I like the freeing feeling of knowing I can spend whatever else I see in my checking account. Cause even my savings I have come out at the top. So it's like, okay, how much am I saving this month? That needs to be taken out before I can see it.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: You know, my bills need to be taken out. My giving needs to be taken out. So whatever I see in that account, I'm like, oh, we're doing good this month. Looks like I'm buying new shoes. Looks like I'm getting a new dress. And I don't know, maybe I'm an anomaly, maybe I'm just the weird one, but I would venture to say that other people probably are quite similar to me.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And so I would say, , not to destroy your point, but I think what you were talking about is saying, okay, how much extra can you afford to put towards that debt each month? And my challenge to those listening is to say, Okay, let's not wait to the end of the month and see what we have left over.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Let's go ahead and make a spending plan even before the month occurs and say, how much money do I think [00:42:00] I can afford to put towards that debt? And let me put that money towards that debt first before I buy all these other things throughout the month.
We do the same thing. And I agree with everything that you're saying. I guess, to clarify, revolving debt versus installment debt, I think that those are different approaches because installment debt, you have a.
Dr. Brittne Halford: Fixed amount every single month that you pay because of amortization. So they've already calculated that, much interest is going to be included on each of those payments for this specific payoff . Revolving debt depends on your consumption .
Dr. Brittne Halford: for those who have revolving consumer debt, they have gotten into this habit of, if I don't have it, I have credit and they see credit as a source of income. So I agree wholeheartedly with the pay yourself first.
Dr. Brittne Halford: I think it's really going to be imperative that you examine your expenses. I like to coach clients to go through this method of, looking at expenses . So So you talked about subscriptions I pay this 9 every month. Does that bring me joy or not?
Dr. Brittne Halford: Yes or no, if it does bring me joy, okay, can I still have the same [00:43:00] amount of joy and pay less on the subscription? Because that's where you're going to budget in that additional cash flow . And it will allow you to do what Lisha said. It's like, Pay the extra amount first so that at the end of the month, you're not swiping again to pay for other expenses that you haven't accounted for.
Brittne, what would you say is step four.
Dr. Brittne Halford: Step four, Lisha, is, I mean, why should I be introducing this? You are the queen of negotiation. So it is negotiating your interest rates. I never really thought that I could negotiate my interest rates with a credit card company because I felt like what was so. prescribed to me, what was dictated to me, I had to adhere to.
Dr. Brittne Halford: But Lisha, you've taught us that everything is negotiable. So I would say to go in and negotiate those interest rates or go in and negotiate some of the terms. Yes, you signed your name on the dotted line when you have that credit card, but everything is negotiable. Lisha, do you have an approach to how you might [00:44:00] enter into a negotiation with, , some type of credit card company or a loan servicer
Dr. Lisha Taylor: yeah, actually, I have done this when I had a, you're laughing when I had credit card debt, I certainly did. I called my bank several times. . I made a note to call my credit union at the time. Once a year. Sometimes twice a year, but usually once a year to call them, to ask them to lower my interest rate.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I'll be honest. The interest rates matter less to me now because I'm in a financial position where I pay off my credit cards at the end of each month. So because of that, I don't actually pay attention to interest rates anymore. But when I had credit card debt, you best believe I was calling those folks.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: So I would actually, had my credit card through Navy federal credit union and I called Navy federal. And I would say, Hey, I would ask for two things. I would ask for a credit limit increase, and I would ask for a credit interest rate reduction. And the reason why I would ask for a credit limit increases because when they are calculating your credit score, one of the things that they look into is your credit utilizations, right? So out of [00:45:00] all of the credit that is available to you on all of your credit cards. How much of that are you using? At the end of each month, or how much are you using?
Dr. Lisha Taylor: , by the time that your billing cycle, your statement closes. I knew that if I had more credit available to me, it would make my credit utilization look better, right? , if I've got, 5, 000 of debt, but I only have 10, 000 available to me, then my credit utilization is 50%, right? But if I have 5, 000 of debt and I've got 20, 000 available to me, then my credit utilization is 25%, which is a lot better.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And so I would ask each year, Hey, can you increase my credit limit? And usually they would say, yes. Sometimes they would increase it automatically and sometimes it would be inconsequential to me. They'd increase it by like a thousand dollars But that was one thing that I did to sort of improve my credit score when I was going through training And then in terms of lowering interest rates I would call them.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I would ask to speak to the credit card specialist and say, Hey, I have been a longstanding member of your credit union for X amount of years. I really value your products and your services. I have been referring, [00:46:00] people that I know to your, , institution. I'd really like to stay here. However, I just got this offering the mail for this different credit card at this different company with a much lower interest rate. I would really prefer to stay with your credit union and you know maintain my status at your institution Is there any way that you would consider? lowering the interest rate and They did several times. Actually, I think I got them to lower maybe three times. Now, granted, when I had credit card debt was years ago, and the interest rates in general, like economic times are a little bit better.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And a lot of people were getting pretty low interest rates. And so I think they were more likely to say yes. Now, in this higher interest rate environment, it may not be as easy. , I think it also helps, like I said, that I had been a member of that credit union for so long, they were able to see that over the years I was making more and more money.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: They were able to see my direct deposits and so they could see, okay, she does have a consistent job. There is money flowing in. She's a valuable member of our institution. And I could also see that I made my payments on time, [00:47:00] right? And so they weren't necessarily nervous or concerned that if they lowered my interest rate, I was going to charge a bunch of money and never pay it off.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And so those things helped me a lot. Like I said, now I'm in the position where I don't negotiate interest rates really much anymore, but I have had success doing that. And so I would say if you were somebody listing and you have credit card debt that you were trying to pay off that you haven't quite paid off, It doesn't hurt to ask all they can do or the worst thing that can happen is they say no And then you're stuck in the same position And so asking them to increase your credit limit asking them to lower the interest rate can be really helpful
Dr. Brittne Halford: Yeah. Lisha, you echoed the words of my mom. I've been hearing that my entire life, that the worst thing that they can say is no. So learn a word from Lisha and a learn a word from my mama that, feel empowered because you're right. You would just be where you are now. And really that's a worst case scenario.
Dr. Brittne Halford: I love Lisha. So that's, you kind of. Formulated your strategy before you entered into the [00:48:00] negotiation. And that is what I tell people to do all the time. You got to have your numbers and things in order. So when you're negotiating your interest rates, actually go to your credit card statement, look at what your current interest rate is, because if they offer you a 14.
Dr. Brittne Halford: 9 percent and you're at. 15. That's no difference, So you want to make sure that you are informed before entering in this negotiation. And if you don't know the information, one of the things that I always advise is that you get a credit report because your credit score, everyone knows their credit score, but that's just your grade.
Dr. Brittne Halford: You want to know what is influencing that grade. So like Lisha said, your payment history. Have you had a missed payment? And if you actually paid that payment on time, then that's something that you can argue for with, and dispute with the credit card bureau so that you can elevate your credit score.
Dr. Brittne Halford: You want to know how long you've been with that company and what they've done for other [00:49:00] persons. When you're entering in these negotiations and I've had not personally had great success because like you, Lisha, I don't really carry a balance on my credit card, but for my clients have had great success and that has allowed them to pay things off more aggressively because they don't have the interest That is compounding and causing them to put more of their money towards their interest instead of having that go towards the principal.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I think those are some really great steps for anyone who is tackling debt Especially if you have consumer debt, so making sure that you understand your debt, that you organize it, figure out what kind of debt you have and what categories at what interest rates that you set some financial goals, whether it's the BHAGs or the SMART goals and figuring out if you're going to use. That debt snowball method or that debt avalanche method looking at your cash flow and trying to see how much extra you can afford to put towards that debt to pay it off a little bit sooner and then being sure to negotiate interest rates credit limits Those sorts of [00:50:00] things that can make That debt payoff strategy a little bit easier to execute And so I think these four steps are really helpful.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: You know, it was interesting. Brittne, I think we had a little healthcare hustle tip because I think it was maybe one of your clients who was saying that they needed some professional help. And obviously it went to you, the consumer debt payoff guru, on some help in, navigating this. wondered what, you would tell them besides, book us to help you.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: But , what would you tell, , this particular client?
Dr. Brittne Halford: Yeah.
Dr. Brittne Halford: So when you've been paying off debt for a while and, you feel like discouraged that you haven't really moved the needle to the degree at which you want. My first step would be to celebrate some of your small victories. I don't know about you, Lisha. I'm a glass half empty type of woman. So I always see all of the things that I did not do.
Dr. Brittne Halford: All of the goals that I did not achieve, all of the boxes that I did not check. Underneath that air is a lot of water. It's a lot of stuff that I've already done to [00:51:00] help to get me to that glass half full position. And that's the same thing for you. If you're paying down debt is that you have already done many things to help you to pay off that debt, write down a list.
Dr. Brittne Halford: And let me just give you a few things to put on your list. If you have a job, you're earning an income. That's something to put on that list. Celebrate that because there are many people who are here that are not employed. If you have negotiated for a higher salary or gotten a bonus or anything like that, Put that on the list.
Dr. Brittne Halford: If you've taken a step back and you've canceled a subscription, even if it's just 5, that is something to celebrate because it's when we celebrate those positive behaviors that it tells our brain, I can do more of this. I can think more creatively. I can generate more income. I can reduce my expenses down more so that I can have.
Dr. Brittne Halford: More cashflow to put towards that debt. And oftentimes I think we get into kind of this mental slump of all the things that we haven't done, and we fail to acknowledge the things that we have done that will motivate us [00:52:00] to accomplish the goal better.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Yeah. Yeah. Someone once told me, instead of focusing on the problem that you have, start thinking creatively about how you can solve it. So instead of being discouraged by like, oh, I have this debt, think about, okay, what are creative ways that I can actually pay this off? And sometimes it is, okay, let me examine my cash flow.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: But sometimes it's like, okay, I want to be able to pay off this debt by this date and this amount. So maybe I'm going to negotiate a raise that maybe I wouldn't normally negotiate for, but I have now a plan of action of what I'm going to do with that extra money. That's one of the things that I plan to do with. with regards to my student loans, saying, okay, yeah, I'm going to go into my boss's office or my supervisor's office and I'm going to ask for a meeting and I'm going to prepare really well for that meeting, but I'm going to try to negotiate a raise so that I can then use that extra money to pay off the debt faster. Another thing that you might want to consider is saying, okay, are there, other programs and things that I could purchase that might give me more strategies or help me sometimes a money coach is really helpful. [00:53:00] Sometimes taking a program or a classroom online training is very helpful. But sometimes some of those things are not necessarily cheap. And so one of the things that you might be able to do is little health care. Hustle tip is seeing if some of those programs or, , online things, , are eligible for CME reimbursement, right? Sometimes a lot of these personal finance classes, boot camps, courses and things qualify. And then you money as physician wellness activities, which does typically qualify for CME. And so if you are someone that has money available to you through your job for CME for continuing medical education, oftentimes you can use that CME money, that continuing medical education money to also purchase things that help with physician wellness and financial literacy and financial wellness as a part of that.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And so just seeing, okay, Okay. Is there. Can I tap into some money at my job? Whether it's through a negotiated raise or through, additional funds like CME money to sort of help me better achieve this goal. And if you are somebody who is thinking about those [00:54:00] things, Brittne and I have something for you.
Dr. Brittne Halford: We've joined forces. You got the best of both worlds here in our debt payoff bootcamp. And Lisha specifically chose this word bootcamp because she's like, Britney. Courses, people don't complete. We want them to know that we're going to give them the high yield and we're going to make it easy.
Dr. Brittne Halford: We're going to be your coaches that push you forward with gentle nudges, but allow you to take action the moment you walk into our course doors. What I Love about this bootcamp that we've created, Lisha, is that we've included.
Dr. Brittne Halford: All of the elements. And the barriers that women set forth. So no more excuses. If you're like, I don't have the time to dedicate to my finances. That's okay. The bootcamp has an app that you can actually watch the videos on your lunch break on your phone. You can listen to us like a podcast and understand the strategies.
Dr. Brittne Halford: The [00:55:00] bootcamp has. All of the tools that you need of the spreadsheets already built out. So you don't have to Google how to create your own budget or do the thing. We have it there. We have those exercises built out for you to take action and start to see the gains today. And all of the things that we've talked about negotiation, right?
Dr. Brittne Halford: Understanding your cash flow, reconcile your debt emotions. We've included those elements in this bootcamp and of course, more detailed than this podcast.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Yeah, I'm so excited for this. For those who may have known me before I started this podcast, I was formerly on other podcasts and I have actually extensive, experience doing a lot of student loan consults and teaching, strategies, for student loans to lots of physicians. I've done consults.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I've taught on this for quite some time. And one of the things that I'm pretty skilled at is helping people understand various student loan strategies so that they can pay off their student loans more efficiently or get them forgiven. [00:56:00] And oftentimes a lot of physicians anchor on just income driven repayment plans and anchor on just public service loan forgiveness.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And I'm here to tell you that there are more programs that are available. There are more strategies that you may want to consider. There are lots of nuances that are involved. You sometimes need a more accurate calculator than the one that you can find for free on the federal website. And we've got all of that ready for you.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And so I just wanted to give a little plug, Brittne has her, joyfully free sort of, debt payoff, course. And I don't like calling things courses because I don't know about you, but I don't want to take another course at this point in my life, but I will take a bootcamp that will help me achieve the goals that I desire.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And so that's why I'm very strict about, framing and marketing and, , naming. , but I do the part on student loans. , and I called it student loans made simple. It's in eight different parts, skip to the part that's most relevant to you. One of the ones that I really enjoy. It's sort of how to tackle student loans.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: If you make less than six figures versus more than six figures, how your student loan payment and how the strategy might change. Once you get married or if you get separated, if you have a change to your family [00:57:00] size, if you change to, or you move to different states, we talk about side incomes and side gigs and how that sort of factors into student loan and the student loan strategy. There's a whole entire lesson on student loan tax strategies, because oftentimes if you have student loans and you are married, way that you file your taxes with your spouse may differ. We talk about sort of how to think about that. I know it can be easier to just say, Okay, Lisha, tell me what thing to do. But your life changes often, can change often, whether it's a salary increase, a job change entirely, a change to your family size, your structure, a different state. Whatever it is, and I think it's more valuable for you to understand how to alter that student loan strategy when your life changes Because I could give you the strategy that's relevant to you now That's helpful for your level of income now but then when your level of income changes when you go from trainee to attending when you go from assistant professor at your academic center to an associate professor or to a full professor or you go from Employed physician to a partner, that strategy is [00:58:00] going to change and you need to understand how it might change and , how to best attack that.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And so I do that in student loans made simple. Brittne has her joyfully free, course. And we've combined those together For you, because we think that that could be helpful for a ton of people. And so if you are interested in that, feel free to go to our wealth minded MD website, and you'll learn all about it.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Also quick plug, if you're not interested in that and you're like, Lisha, you know what? I'm good. Um, we still have our wealthy mind starter kit on the website. And so, feel free to, Leave us your email and you'll get a free copy of that. So we just wanted to put a quick plug in there as we're talking about debt, because in some future episodes, we've got some exciting things that we're going to be talking about, but if this is a problem that you still want more information on, or you still need some help tackling, Brittne and I are here for you.
Dr. Brittne Halford: Yeah, we are here. And the Joyfully Free Accelerator has literally helped women to pay off one individual woman, 30, 000 of consumer debt in two years. It's quite crazy that you go from accumulating that amount of debt to paying off [00:59:00] that amount of debt. But it just requires these small shifts and we guide you through that.
Dr. Brittne Halford: We are your guides. We're your money best friends. We hold your hand through all of that in this debt payoff bootcamp.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Yeah. And so now we're going to get into our last segment of the show, our fun money segment. All right, Brittne, what is something fun that you are doing with your money?
Dr. Brittne Halford: So Lisha, I actually, scheduled the appointment yesterday. I am getting my hair straightened and I'm a curly girl over here. I often just wear protective styles or I wear my hair curly but about twice a year, I'll get my hair straightened. And it can be a bit expensive from time to time, but , it's a nice experience for me.
Dr. Brittne Halford: And it also just makes me clip my ends. That's the main reason why I do it
Dr. Brittne Halford: is to clip my ends, to get a trim. But I'm really excited to go to the salon and just like have that salon experience.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: That is really nice. I'm curious. What do your kids [01:00:00] think when you straighten your hair? Your husband or your close net friends? What do they say? Do they like it curly? Do they like it straight? What do you like better?
Dr. Brittne Halford: I like my hair curly better and this could be a whole podcast in itself, so I'll keep it short. , as a woman with ethnic textured hair, I know that sometimes it can be challenging. , And also perceived as, I don't know, not beautiful for some individuals or to some individuals. So for me, I prefer to wear my hair curly because growing up, I always had my hair straightened.
Dr. Brittne Halford: It was chemically relaxed and I had to learn how to love myself again. My children, I don't think KJ cares. My youngest, my son, he's two and he just loves mommy. My husband. I think my husband actually likes me in braids, Lisha, which is quite interesting, but I had braids recently and he was just like, know, a little bit more affectionate during that period of time.
Dr. Brittne Halford: I'm like, Hmm, what is it? Um, and for Brooke, the reason why I wear my hair curly is [01:01:00] because it allows me to swim, to run. And I don't have to worry about straightening out my hair. For those of you who don't have curly hair, when, You straighten your hair, basically you kind of break the hydrogen bonds and that allows for it to maintain its, straight, appearance,
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Science lesson? Ha
Dr. Lisha Taylor: ha!
Dr. Brittne Halford: water again or humidity, it causes those hydrogen bonds to form and it reforms the curls.
Dr. Brittne Halford: So when I'm swimming, of course, , my hair is not going to stay straight. It's going to be curly or if I sweat, if I go for a run and things of that nature. So I like that it provides me with a little bit more freedom. I also prefer curly hair because Brooke has curly hair and where we are in Boston majority of the individuals that she sees have straight hair and I want her to be able to love the way that she was created with her curly texture.
Dr. Brittne Halford: And so that's another reason why I prioritize maintaining my hair in a curly state.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Oh, that's so cute. Like I thought you're gonna say something like vain, like I just like it straight or I like it this, but you're like, Oh, I want to show my daughter that [01:02:00] she is fine the way she is. . So, you know, I actually go to the salon pretty often.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I get my hair braided by my hair stylist and she'll wash my hair and things like that. , I have a lot of strengths, but I am not really good at when it comes to doing my own hair. Like I'm just, that is not an area where God has blessed me. And so I probably spend way too much money at the hair salon. , but I'm happy for you that you get to have this experience. How am I spending my fun money? Okay. So I was thinking, uh, Oh, I alluded to this earlier. I'm going to brunch. So I have been to brunch like way too many times, like to the point where I should be eating at home. It's one of those things where I can hear my mom in my head saying we have food at home.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: But you know, part of it is a lack of self control, but when my friends are in town or they want to hang out. Oftentimes it's let's go to brunch, or let's catch up over drinks, let's get a couple cocktails, let's go to happy hour. And you know me, Brittne, I'm so social, I love to hang out with my friends.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And so when they're inviting me out, I'm usually saying yes. , so as I look at my credit card statement this [01:03:00] month, I'm like, oh, we have been eating out a lot. So I'm gonna chalk it up to this is something fun that I'm doing with Money
Dr. Brittne Halford: Lisha. Okay. So this is kind of going back to our segment about, accumulation of, the credit card. So that's something that I actually hear from a lot of people is that I want to go out with my friends and sometimes the budget doesn't always allow for it. Right? So I'm going to charge this.
Dr. Brittne Halford: I'm just going to put this out there. Do as you please. But one of the ways that I often coach women is to take control over that, like to choose the restaurant so that it fits within your budget. And then maybe this is an opportunity for you to have like a potluck and bring people over to your place is not the same luxury.
Dr. Brittne Halford: So I get it. It may not be as fun, but yeah, I love that you're going out with girlfriends. I have not had a brunch with my girlfriends in a long time. Usually it's like. Hi, cheers
Dr. Lisha Taylor: No, No, no,
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I mean, you're right. I was telling one of my other friends that now that a lot of my friends are also attending physicians, like they're done with their training, the, [01:04:00] even the homestyle brunch has like reached new levels. Like, I went over to my friend's house the other day and she was like, Oh, I'm gonna do brunch at my house, right?
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And I'm thinking, okay, whatever. I go over there, she's got like expensive bottles of champagne. I'm like, Oh, okay. She's got sushi. She's got different kinds of salami, different cheeses. She's got some wings. She's got this, the, , whole fruit platter. And I was like, okay, I appreciate the effort.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: This was unexpected. You have exceeded all of my expectations. When you come over to my house, lower them. Was like, Oh, I joked. I was like, I, looked at her and I was like, are we rich? And she, she starts laughing. as I'm like, okay, even the home, even the homestyle brunches. Uh, okay.
Dr. Brittne Halford: Well, I need, I need some invitation. Maybe you could like package me up. It's a go package and then like mail it to me. It's a Boston.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: I was like, okay, we are having a great time.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: Anyway, this episode is super long. We appreciate y'all listening. If you've made it this far, Hopefully you learned something in regards to strategies of how you can, start paying down your consumer debt if you have any. And,, as a [01:05:00] reminder, Brittne and I do have our debt payoff bootcamp that includes her joyfully free accelerator and my student loans made simple part.
Dr. Lisha Taylor: And so we invite you to check that out. If you have not yet, , joined our wealthy minds community, feel free to do so on our website. We will give you a free copy of our wealthy mind starter kit as a thank you. And lastly, do not forget if you would like to rate and review this show whenever you do so it helps other people more easily find us and so we would greatly appreciate it if you could leave us a five star review and share this with the people that you know. Thanks again for everything. We cannot wait to see you again next week.
Dr. Brittne Halford: Bye bye.
Hey, money, best friend, we want to buy you a drink on this show. We are all about spilling the tea on our finances and our personal lives, but we also want to share a little bit more tea with you. Basically, we're trying to give you a free drink on us. All you have to do in order to put your name in this drawing for a free drink.
Is to leave a review, hopefully you'll give us five stars and share this podcast with others that you know, whenever you wait and review the podcast, it just makes it [01:06:00] easier for other people who maybe haven't heard of us before to find us, right? And review, subscribe to the podcast and don't forget to share with your girlfriend.
Cheers.
Hello everybody, it's me Brooke. I'm recording a little disclaimer for my mommy, Dr. Brittne Halford and her friend, Dr. Lisa Taylor. Just so you know, they're not financial advisors, tax professionals, lawyers. financial planners. Everything you hear is for education and entertainment. It's not strict financial advice, you know.
So use your best judgment. Chat with a top professional. And all those other people that you need to talk to. Thanks for tuning in today. Keep cruising on your journey to wealth and wellness. Buh bye.
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