The path between living on maxed-out credit cards with financed eyelashes to having a no-spend-year is a bumpy one. The mindset work that is required to make this drastic change is definitely not for the faint of heart, but women like Ashley Ahmad are proof that it can be done.

Ashley from @ashsavingcash is sharing the ins and outs of her journey to becoming debt-free as a young nurse right out of college. She’s sharing what led to her rock-bottom money moment, how her mental health also went on a downward spiral as a result, and how she hustled her way back out of survival mode.

Working towards your goals and maintaining a positive outlook can sometimes seem impossible. When you’re prone to anxiety or going through a down season you can feel like an achievement of any kind is an uphill battle. I’ve been through these seasons too, which is why I’m sharing my secrets for making progress on your goals…even during the rough patches of life.

I’m talking about what’s held me accountable over the years, what you can do when you’re feeling unmotivated, and how to still follow through during your personal seasons of winter. Plus, I’ll share about my favorite secret goal setting weapon, The Powersheets…and how they can help you achieve your dreams.

Mental health plays a role in every aspect of our lives from our careers to our finances. Taking our sanity into account on our intentional living journeys is something that we’re finally starting to talk about as a society…I think mostly thanks to the Millennial Generation.

Yunhwa from Savings Cents is a great example of an educated young woman who got to a breaking point with her life and then decided to make drastic changes. After leaving her career, Yunhwa started pursuing minimalism, debt freedom, and just plain ol’ happiness. She got intentional with her life and hasn’t looked back since.

She’s joining me this week to share her story with the hope of helping you on your own journey to more sanity and more savings.

The year is winding down as we come into the 4th quarter. As the weather cools off and the holidays get closer and closer, we’re going to be more tempted than ever to just put our feet up and coast through what’s left of 2019. BUT, I know my Sunny Side Up sisters aren’t ready to call it quits on this year quite yet!

So, I’m hosting a M.B.N. Challenge (Mind, Budget, Nest) to help us finish the year on a high point. Remember those big goals you set back in January? Well, if you want to actually achieve all of them before it’s another January…then you’re in the right place!

In this episode, I’m sharing why your last 3 months of the year are what set you apart from the average person and how to fully reap the benefits of a Fall Refresh.

If you lose yourself you can’t be the mother, wife, sister, business owner, or woman that you truly want to be. You weren’t put on this Earth on accident. Your heart has a mission + your life has a purpose. You weren’t born to merely survive. We have to start by showing up for ourselves first.

In this episode, I’m sharing some transparent details of my mental health journey. I’m sharing my experiences in hopes of encouraging + helping you on your own journey. I’m sharing to remind you that you’re not broken or crazy…and that you are worth fighting for.

If you’ve ever screwed up with money you know about the mental scars and PTSD that it can leave you with. Looking back on your financial mistakes can feel like a strong punch in the stomach, especially if you’ve ever rolled change to buy milk, had your electricity cut off, or charged fast food…all of which I’ve done, by the way. These harsh memories don’t leave you, even after you’re debt-free with a 5-figure savings account.

In this episode, I’m sharing a few of my rock-bottom money moments that are still haunting me nearly 10 years later, and what I learned from all of those experiences.

Is a ‘September Slump’ a thing? If not, I just made it one. After a Summer full of activities, a huge new course launch, and the seemingly never-ending Texas heat…I’m feeling a little blah.

When these seasons of no motivation roll around we can’t just bury our heads in the sand and do nothing until we recuperate; we have responsibilities and big goals. There is a happy medium; there is a balance between anxiety-filled overachieving and wasting your life. There are still ways that you can live an intentional and productive life during these “slumps” and “seasons of blah”. In this episode, I’m sharing how to handle your own “September Slump” with grace and still show up whole-heartedly for your life.

Anyone else a recovering perfectionist? I know I’m not alone in the battle to feel “good enough” to achieve the dream life that I have pictured in my head.

We think that if we’re a budgeting family that we’re never allowed to get an overdraft fee again…and if we do, all financial progress has been lost. We think that if housework sometimes stresses us out that we must have failed in our attempt to be a Minimalist. We think that if we slip up and don’t hit a goal on time that we just must not be a good goal setter. False, false, and false.

Perfectionism is not a requirement for progress. Let me say it louder for the ladies in the back… YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE PERFECT TO ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS.

We’ve all heard the saying, “Money can’t buy happiness.”. We end up hearing this and repeating this so many times that we actually start to believe this lie. …yes, I said it’s a lie!

No, money isn’t everything, and I wouldn’t value it above my soul, myself, or my family, but we have to acknowledge the fact that money can make some pretty awesome things possible. I don’t know about you, but I personally love traveling, going to Major League Baseball games, eating yummy food, and having enough money in savings that I can sleep soundly at night. Oh, guess what? Money bought all of those things. Thus, money CAN buy some sort of happiness, and believing otherwise will do nothing but repel money from your life.

Money funds my experiences, money brings me freedom, money provides for my family, money allows me to put my soul’s purpose into action…money buys happiness.

Every journey has a beginning, if you’re ready for today to be your day one then this workshop is for you! In this recorded live workshop I’ll walk you through starting solutions for positive thinking, goal setting, minimalism, budgeting, and time management.

I had slowly broken free from survival mode…key word being “slowly”. This didn’t happen overnight, it wasn’t a magical quick fix, but it worked. I put one foot in front of the other, day-after-day, for 5 years to get to the place I am today; a debt-free, minimalist, business-owner, homeschooler, personal-development obsessed, happy soul.

In this week’s episode, I’m sharing my story, plus what I wish someone would have told me at the beginning of my journey.

Rachel Hollis + her Rise Weekends have become world-renowned and I recently had the opportunity to attend the conference for myself. I learned so much during my couple of days in Dallas and I couldn’t wait to share my light-bulb moments, the quotes I wrote down in my notebook, and the exercises that made me cry. In the first part of this episode I dug into everything we worked on during “Day One: Owning Your Past”, and now this week I’m continuing this conversation with “Day Two: Owning Your Future”.

Rachel Hollis + her Rise Weekends have become world-renowned and I recently had the opportunity to attend the conference for myself. I learned so much during my couple of days in Dallas and I couldn’t wait to share my light-bulb moments, the quotes I wrote down in my notebook, and the exercises that made me cry. In the first part of this episode I’m digging into everything we worked on during “Day One: Owning Your Past”, and next week we’ll continue this conversation with “Day Two: Owning Your Future”.

So many questions surround the topic of homeschooling, especially for families who are already on a strict budget or a debt-free journey. The thought of taking on such a big life change can be overwhelming enough, but then add unknown costs, and it can be enough to completely scare off newbies.

You don’t need an entire extra room as a designated classroom. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on curriculum. Homeschooling can be done on a super frugal budget!

I’ll share how my family has been able to homeschool throughout our entire debt-free journey…from $490k in debt, all the way to 100% debt free!

The reality of living an intentional goal-oriented life is that we sometimes get burnt out. And in order to actually achieve our goals, we have to invest time in ourselves, break the mindset that busy equals productive, and learn to find contentment along the way.

I recorded this episode as I was leaving my monthly counseling session so I could share my biggest takeaways on this topic with you!

Brene Brown, through her “Call To Courage” special on Netflix and her best-selling book “Rising Strong”, has brought a new perspective to my view on succeeding on a debt-free journey. She quotes Teddy Roosevelt who said, “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly.”.

Brene interrupts that quote into battling for success + whole-hearted living in the arena of life. Being vulnerable and going against the grain of society, being willing to fight our way to our goals, and being willing to have dust and sweat on our faces along the way. When we live this way we are being brave and are daring greatly with their lives. We are going to battle for what matters most to us.

When you’re on a big life-changing journey like becoming debt free, community can play a huge role in your success. Although there can be negatives to being involved in an online community, like dealing with other people’s opinions, the pros definitely out-weigh the cons. Having people who understand, support, and encourage you can often be the thing that keeps you going when times get hard.

This week, I’m joined by Amanda from Debt Free in Sunny CA to talk about how and why she started The Debt-Free Community, how it’s grown over the years, and a little bit about her own personal journey to financial freedom.