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Welcome to the Miko Love Podcast.

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I'm your host, Kamiko Love.

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And when I'm not educating about personal finance as the budget mom, I'm here diving into
the exploration of my own passions and exploring a range of captivating topics.

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It's time to dive into conversations that ignite curiosity and inspire.

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Welcome to the Miko Love Podcast and welcome to another episode of Ask Me Anything.

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Now, this is just basically where I take pre -submitted questions that I put out on my
socials.

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and I answer them during a podcast episode.

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And if you are new, welcome.

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I am so glad you are here.

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So I have my phone out and I'm just gonna jump right in.

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Usually my Ask Me Anything episodes are a little bit longer just because I know I'm long
-winded.

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I kind of veer off on other topics.

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So we're just gonna jump in.

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So question number one.

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What is the hardest part of being an entrepreneur?

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That is such a great question.

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I feel like my fears have kind of changed throughout my journey.

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When I very first started working for myself, and I'll never, ever, ever forget the day
that I quit my full -time job in the investment industry and started working for the

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budget mom full -time, the scariest and hardest part for me was my income.

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Knowing that the money I made from my business

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was going to put food on the table, put clothes on my children's backs, pay for their
school supplies and activities and our lifestyle.

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Knowing that all of that, our life, was fully dependent on what I made with my business,
that was very hard.

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That was a lot of pressure, a lot of stress, a lot of anxiety.

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But as I've grown and as I've been doing this now, geez, I've been doing this for over 10
years now,

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I've learned that with the unknown, if you can prepare the best way you can, it's going to
help with lot of that anxiety and fear of the unknown.

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So that means setting myself up a little bit different financially for the future, for
retirement, setting up that emergency fund for my business.

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So if, God forbid, anything were to happen, I could still take care of my family.

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So preparing a little bit differently financially help with that unknown.

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I think right now what I'm struggling with is what's really hard being an entrepreneur is
it's not like your typical eight to five job where you go in and eight, you clock in, you

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do the work that you're supposed to be doing, you clock out at five, you go home, your
brain is able to kind of switch from work mode to home mode.

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As I'm an entrepreneur, your brain never really stops.

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I always said to myself, I, when I started working for myself, I was, I'm going to have so
much time.

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I'm going to work so much less.

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I'm going to be able to pick and choose what I do during the day.

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No, it's really I mean, I have some flexibility in my schedule.

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Yes, but I feel like I work twice as much as an entrepreneur than I did as an employee
working for someone else.

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That's what I'm really struggling with right now.

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And what's hard right now as an entrepreneur is time management, learning to put
boundaries.

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And if you missed my last episode all about creating balance by setting boundaries, still
one of the things that I struggle with.

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But learning to put those healthy boundaries in place so I can kind of check out and be
with my family, be 100 % present.

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But I will admit, I'm a workaholic, I'm a perfectionist, I'm a creator.

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And so my mind is going literally 100 % of the time.

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I swear, I've created videos and products and things from my dreams.

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I dream about this crap.

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I mean, it just, feel like it's never ending.

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never shut off.

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I don't know if that's just my personality and being a workaholic, if it's factors of
other things.

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I have no idea, but that's one of the hard things I'm struggling with as an entrepreneur
right now.

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How do you keep pushing yourself when you just feel exhausted all the time?

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Weight on one shoulders.

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I always say it's okay to take rest days.

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Give your time and self grace to realize when you're at that

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point because here's what you don't want to do.

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You don't want to push yourself so much and so far that you end up breaking down.

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If you're feeling exhausted, you need to measure and understand that level of exhaustion
and then go from there and make your decisions based on that.

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never, I can't say never, I'm getting better at not getting myself to the point where I'm
just breaking down.

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You have to take those rest days.

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And if you're feeling like

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all this weight on one's shoulders, write down on a piece of paper all the weights that
you feel.

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What are they?

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Is it having to cook dinner every night?

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Is it having maybe a specific work project that you're not okay with the timeline?

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What is the specific weight that you're feeling on your shoulders?

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Write it down.

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And this is where we learn to either ask for help or we delegate responsibilities.

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I always say in my relationship or in any relationship, believe anything, nothing is 50
-50.

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I always feel like when one partner is maybe 30%, the other partner picks up the slack.

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This is how teamwork works, right?

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And so I ask a lot.

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I've learned to ask for help in my relationship.

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I've learned to ask my employees for help and delegate different tasks to the employees
that I do have for help.

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And so I keep pushing myself even when I feel exhausted because I've learned to rest when
I need it and I learned to prioritize what I value and what truly needs to get done.

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And I stop worrying about the things that are out of my control.

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Those have been game changer when it comes to me being able to push through those types of
moments in my life.

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Okay, so next question.

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Can you talk about the best high -ill savings account?

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When I get this question, the

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best.

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I don't feel like there's the quote unquote best.

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What you're going to be looking for in a high yield savings account is a couple of
different things.

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Now, a high yield savings account or an HYSA is awesome because they offer higher interest
than say your traditional savings account at the bank.

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Usually you're going to get at a bank like 0 .01 % interest on your

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the money that you have in your savings.

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In a high -yield savings account, I've seen anywhere right now between 4 .7 and 5%.

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That's more than 10 times the average available from traditional savings accounts.

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So almost all high -yield savings accounts are FDIC insured for up to $250 ,000 per
depositor.

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But there are, I feel like other things you might wanna consider.

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Now, of course,

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your annual percentage yield is going to be something you want to look at.

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So essentially, the high yield savings account, APY, the annual percentage yield, is the
interest rate earned in a year.

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And that's including compound interest.

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So most high yield savings accounts have an APY between like 4 .5 to 5%.

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I've seen some above 6%, but not very often.

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It's also really important to mention that these interest rates, these annual percentage
yields, right, they can fluctuate at any time.

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And this is just dependent on what the Federal Reserve does, whether we're increasing or
decreasing interest rates.

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And so just keep that in mind, they can fluctuate.

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So you might get a high -yield savings account that's giving you 4 .7 today.

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In a month, it can be giving you 4%.

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So that's why there's other things that in other factors you need to consider outside of
just the interest rate.

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So one is convenience.

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Are you okay with having a high yield savings account that's online only?

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Like Ally for example, I love them, I've been using them for many years, it's what I
personally have my emergency fund in.

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Or do you need say an actual in -person location that you can walk into?

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That's something you have to look at.

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Now another thing of course, anytime you're opening any type of account, you wanna look at
fees.

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Now you shouldn't have to pay to keep your money in a high -yield savings account.

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Just so if you see fees, something ain't right.

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So read the terms and conditions before you sign to open any account.

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Some high -yield savings accounts are fee -free.

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Some have a monthly charge, like if you don't maintain a certain minimum balance.

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So just make sure you understand those terms.

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Now, just a second ago, I talked about convenience.

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One of the things with that is your access to your funds.

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Now with Ally, I only keep 75 % of my emergency fund in that high -yield savings account.

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The reason being is because I don't have a checking account that's linked to that high
-yield savings account.

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So I could not instantly transfer money from my high -yield savings account to my
checking.

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It would take a couple days to process my request to get my money out.

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And it's my emergency fund.

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So typically if I'm in an emergency, it probably means I need my money right away.

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And so I only keep out 75 % and the rest is actually in a traditional savings account at
my credit union that I have immediate access to.

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That's just what gives me peace of mind.

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So make sure you can access your money easily.

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Look for high yield savings account that offers maybe ATM access or that you can link a
checking account

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where you can easily and quickly transfer funds to that.

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know that Synchrony Bank High Yield Saves Account comes with like this optional ATM card
and unlimited monthly withdrawals at any ATM.

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It's like displaying the plus or the logo up to $1 ,000 per day.

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So look for those different conveniences and accesses to funds if that's something that
you need.

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Now, the money I keep in my High Yield Saves Account, I don't necessarily need access to.

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so it works for me.

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Keep in mind of the opening deposit and balance requirements.

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Like I mentioned, some might charge you a fee if you do not keep the minimum balance in
there.

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So be aware of that.

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Make sure you read those terms.

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So I wouldn't say you're necessarily looking for the best.

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I think it's just personal preference.

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Most of the time you're gonna get a pretty decent interest rate.

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You're gonna get an account that's FDIC -insured.

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And then that other stuff is just really personal, how you're going to access it, that
convenience that we talked about.

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So I would say my personal favorite is Ally.

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I'm not sponsored by them.

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I don't partner with them in any single way.

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I personally use them in my real life.

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I'll make sure to put a link in the show notes of the one that I choose and use every
single day.

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Okay, so next question, what's your next dream to conquer?

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I've always been a really big dreamer.

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And I feel like I always, once I hit a goal, I feel like I always have one lined up that I
want to work for.

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And it's usually like big and crazy and people look at me like I'm just nuts.

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But after I bought my dream home with cash, the next thing that I really wanted to focus
on was early retirement was my next big one.

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I'm already on track to hit my goal with that, which I'll be talking later in another
episode, what early retirement looks like for me.

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but also is growing and building a homestead and being more self -sustainable in our lives
and figuring out what that looks like and how that works for us.

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I'm kind of just learning as I go with homesteading and what that truly means.

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feel like homesteading has gotten really popular, especially since COVID.

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And I've just kind of been

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shuffling through all this information and really looking at how is that work in our
unique lives and You know, it comes down basically to time I do a lot my time is very

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limited and I feel like you know being more self -sustainable especially with like produce
and food and All the things it all takes time, right?

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If you're going to be doing a garden that takes time to plant and maintain

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If you're gonna get goats, it's going to take time to go down and milk them.

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It's gonna take time to take care of them.

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With more animals means more vet visits and pet expenses, so everything gets a lot more
costly.

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So I'm in the middle of just kind of weighing the pros and cons, but I would say early
retirement and learning to use our property that we do have in a way where it gives back

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to our family.

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What are your thoughts on the buy now pay later options like after pay in a firm?

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I don't like them.

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I think people can get in a lot of trouble with them.

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If you don't have money to pay for something, don't buy it.

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I have literally heard and work with people who get on a website like Lululemon or
Anthropologie or Free People.

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You these really expensive clothing brands or stores or even like wayfair maybe they're
purchasing some furniture for their living room.

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You know that comes up like five hundred bucks and they use one of those programs where
you can buy it now and then make payments on that purchase going into the future until

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it's paid off.

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And I've always, and one of the things that I really worked on on my financial journey was
learning to be a patient spender.

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And what that means is I know what it feels like to want instant gratification.

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I know what it feels like to want something and to want it now.

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But I've also learned the importance of sitting back, learning how to save and purchase
something responsibly.

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I don't like the buy now, pay later type of apps or programs.

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I don't feel like for what they're being used for, they're not necessary.

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If you want to buy a $300 Patagonia jacket, save for it.

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Set aside $50 a month.

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Buy it later.

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I feel like right now in the age and the world that we live in with Amazon Prime same day
shipping and instant gratification and getting something immediately, we kind of just hit

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buy and figure out how we're going to take care of the payment later when it should be the
opposite.

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So my thoughts on that is no, we shouldn't be using them.

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And I feel like, especially for the things that I'm seeing them being used for.

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Favorite Peloton instructor.

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That is so hard because I truly do love them all.

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And I have taken classes from every single one of them.

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I would say Jess Sims.

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I mean, if you want to talk about like a true therapy session as you're working out and
like, I don't know about other people who do her workouts, but I come out feeling so

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amazing about myself.

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She's like your hype girl, but she also puts things into perspective where when you hear
it, you're like, my gosh, that is so true.

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I needed to hear that.

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The whole workout, like I said, is just this amazing therapy session where you get out of
the workout and you feel not only good physically, but also mentally.

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I would say my favorite strength training instructor by far is Rebecca Kennedy.

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I have taken all of her strength training splits.

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I've taken her five days split, four days split, and I'm on my sixth week of her three
days split right now that I am working on with side by side with my marathon training,

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half marathon training through Peloton as well.

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I love Rebecca because I like her style of instruction.

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There's no bull crap.

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She gets the point.

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She tells you why you do the moves that you're going to do.

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And I don't know, I feel like I've seen the best outcome with my body.

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doing Rebecca Kennedy's.

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She's also very positive.

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I love how she loves dancing.

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I like the instructors that make me feel happy, right?

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Because you're doing something you don't really want to do.

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I don't know about a of you, but I don't, you know, wake up every day like super excited,
jumping around the living room because I'm about to work out.

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So being able to get an instructor that lifts you up, that makes you feel good mentally
and not just physically is really important to me.

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So those are my two favorites, Jess Sims and Rebecca Kennedy.

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What is the hardest thing you do?

210
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By far without a doubt, being a mom.

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Being a mom is fricking hard, especially when you feel like you weren't born to be a mom.

212
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And I know a lot of you mamas out there understand what I mean when I say that.

213
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Took me a long time to admit that out loud and literally be okay with it.

214
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I struggle because I'm selfish with my time.

215
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And I'm horrible at time management and I'm selfish with I want to do what I want to do
when I want to do it.

216
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And if you are a mom, then you know when you have kids, you don't get to decide the
schedule.

217
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You don't get to just up and leave and do what you want.

218
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Everything revolves at least for the first 10 years.

219
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Everything revolves around their schedule, their wants and their needs.

220
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And so.

221
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You know, that's one of the things that I've struggled with this transition of having an
older child where I feel like I was just getting back some of the freedom that I had and

222
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then having to start all over and then losing that freedom all over again.

223
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It's just kind of this transition that I'm working on.

224
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It's the hardest thing I do, but also the best thing I do.

225
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And a lot of the times it's just me having to put things into perspective that being a
mom,

226
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in the season of life that we're in, especially with Dante just being one, this is
temporary, right?

227
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Dante, I feel like we have to remind ourselves the hard seasons that we're in and having
one year olds hard, it's temporary.

228
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It's a season of our lives and we'll never have it back.

229
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And so I learned when I'm in those moments of frustration,

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You know, I read someone's Instagram that said the best piece of mom advice that mom
advice she ever got was when you're in the moment of frustration with your toddler, look

231
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at their little hands because it reminds you how small and precious they truly are.

232
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And then it's like impossible to be frustrated or mad anymore.

233
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And it's so true because when I am frustrated, I don't get to do what I want.

234
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And I have all these things I want to go out and do, but I can't and I'm frustrated.

235
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I sit back and I tell myself, this is only temporary and I'll never have these moments
back again.

236
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And then all of a sudden that frustration kind of just floats away.

237
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So I would say definitely right now in my season of life, in this moment, being a mom is
the hardest thing I do.

238
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But like I said, it's also the best.

239
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Is it bad to have so many start overs on your budgeting debt -free journey?

240
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No.

241
00:20:07,224 --> 00:20:11,676
girl you start over as many times as you freaking need to.

242
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Starting over is better than not starting again ever.

243
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I cannot tell you how many times I have had to start over on many journeys in my life, not
just finance.

244
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I've had to start over with my running journey.

245
00:20:28,443 --> 00:20:35,926
I had to start over with all my budgeting and financial journey many, many more times than
I can count.

246
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It's

247
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to feel like you're starting over because sometimes the truth is you're not really
starting over.

248
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You're just starting again with more knowledge than you did before.

249
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So I wouldn't look at it as starting over.

250
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I would look at it as starting again, but more powerful, more knowledgeable, better able
to do it better.

251
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this next time around.

252
00:21:08,396 --> 00:21:13,879
Never ever put yourself down for having to start over.

253
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Because I feel like what happens is we start to look at ourselves as failures and then we
stop.

254
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And the only way you truly fail on any journey in your life is when you give up, when you
put in zero effort to make any progress or any change.

255
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That's when you fail.

256
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Starting over, that's a fricking win.

257
00:21:40,599 --> 00:21:50,667
Because you are choosing to continue to strive for growth and to make progress in whatever
goal you have for yourself.

258
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So, is it bad?

259
00:21:52,969 --> 00:21:54,950
Absolutely not.

260
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Start over as many times as you want.

261
00:21:57,082 --> 00:22:04,558
Okay, if you could start again with all the knowledge you have now, what would you do
differently?

262
00:22:04,706 --> 00:22:08,259
don't know what context this is for.

263
00:22:08,259 --> 00:22:11,972
Like, are we talking about my financial journey, my life in general?

264
00:22:11,972 --> 00:22:19,949
I'll tell you right now, if I could start all over again with what I know now, I would
have loved my mom deeper.

265
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I would have showed her more.

266
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I would have spent more time with her.

267
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There are so many things that keep me up in the middle of the night that I think about
that I wish I would have done differently with my mom.

268
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and we were close, close.

269
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I'm talking like best of friends.

270
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She was my go -to.

271
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I talked to her about everything.

272
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I don't think we could get any closer than what we were.

273
00:22:44,962 --> 00:22:54,762
I told her I loved her every single day, but I feel like I lay awake at night and I was
like, I think, man, I wish I would have told her 50 times a day.

274
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I wish I went and visited her every single week.

275
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I wish I would have planned more trips with her.

276
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You just...

277
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If I had the knowledge I have now, I would have made it more of a priority in my life to
spend more time with my mom.

278
00:23:12,463 --> 00:23:24,192
And now after she's gone, after I've lost her, I've made it a point and a priority to
spend more time with the people that I love and I care about making memories and being

279
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truly a hundred percent present with the people I value in my life.

280
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And for my financial

281
00:23:31,890 --> 00:23:38,386
No journey with the knowledge i have now i don't think i would change anything.

282
00:23:38,386 --> 00:23:48,996
I don't think i would do anything differently even when i think about all the mistakes i
made along the way with my dad like you know taking money out of my 401k and using a debt

283
00:23:48,996 --> 00:23:57,664
settlement company and you know riding around in a motorcycle and getting a huge
motorcycle accident without any type of insurance.

284
00:23:57,870 --> 00:23:59,951
No motorcycle insurance, no health insurance.

285
00:23:59,951 --> 00:24:03,493
I mean, I made a ton of mistakes on my journey, but it's those mistakes.

286
00:24:03,493 --> 00:24:10,156
I feel like that shaped me into the person I am right now and has gotten me to where I am
with my finances right now.

287
00:24:10,217 --> 00:24:12,578
They're learning opportunities.

288
00:24:12,578 --> 00:24:20,082
It gives you the ability to make course corrections and do it differently later on.

289
00:24:20,082 --> 00:24:25,115
And so I don't feel like I do anything differently.

290
00:24:25,115 --> 00:24:27,826
I wish I would have started sooner.

291
00:24:28,556 --> 00:24:33,829
I wish I wouldn't have waited until I was divorced to figure out my financial crap.

292
00:24:34,150 --> 00:24:36,802
You know, that might bring up something that I would have done differently.

293
00:24:36,802 --> 00:24:43,456
I probably would have learned to have my own money because during my first marriage, I had
nothing for myself.

294
00:24:43,456 --> 00:24:46,678
And so when I went through a divorce, I left with nothing.

295
00:24:46,879 --> 00:24:53,713
So I wish I would have taken better care of myself financially.

296
00:24:53,713 --> 00:24:58,146
But as far as doing anything differently, I would just say,

297
00:24:58,476 --> 00:25:03,569
Loving on the people in my life more and with my financial journey, absolutely nothing.

298
00:25:03,569 --> 00:25:08,831
I really have learned to embrace the mistakes I've made along the way.

299
00:25:09,372 --> 00:25:12,163
How do you make time for half marathon training?

300
00:25:12,163 --> 00:25:14,384
Those long runs take me a while.

301
00:25:14,693 --> 00:25:16,135
I am so with you on that.

302
00:25:16,135 --> 00:25:17,816
I'm also a very slow runner.

303
00:25:17,816 --> 00:25:22,158
So, you know, I usually when I'm doing my long runs and I'm not, you know,

304
00:25:22,158 --> 00:25:23,978
pushing myself extra hard.

305
00:25:23,978 --> 00:25:26,298
I'm usually around 11 or 12 minute mile.

306
00:25:26,298 --> 00:25:30,078
In fact, most of my running is around that time.

307
00:25:30,078 --> 00:25:37,538
And so you're looking when I'm out doing a long run, sometimes it can take three or four
hours for me to get done.

308
00:25:37,538 --> 00:25:39,878
And that's exactly right.

309
00:25:39,878 --> 00:25:44,258
It's a very, very, I mean, it takes up a lot of time right now.

310
00:25:44,258 --> 00:25:48,078
I'm getting anywhere between 20 to 25 miles a week.

311
00:25:48,078 --> 00:25:48,658
Okay.

312
00:25:48,658 --> 00:25:50,534
And so what

313
00:25:50,534 --> 00:25:57,990
I've had to do, I've had to break up my runs into twice a day just to get in my mileage.

314
00:25:57,990 --> 00:25:59,392
That's what I'm currently doing.

315
00:25:59,392 --> 00:26:08,669
I get up in the morning super early, I put in a four five mile run, and then I do another
workout in the evening after I put my little daunted bed.

316
00:26:08,669 --> 00:26:19,214
And in fact, I'm recording this episode after I just did a strength training session
tonight because I also value my strength training and I don't want to lose that either.

317
00:26:19,214 --> 00:26:22,464
And so I'm having to work out twice a day.

318
00:26:22,464 --> 00:26:26,834
I know it sounds a little crazy, but you know, I won't be marathon training forever.

319
00:26:26,834 --> 00:26:34,054
And so I am just learning that I have to be able to break up my mileage during the day.

320
00:26:34,054 --> 00:26:41,534
Now I do take, I pick one day where I know my husband has a pretty long big block
available so he can watch Dante.

321
00:26:41,534 --> 00:26:48,878
I'll go out and do, you know, my 10, 15, 18 mile run, be gone for three to four hours.

322
00:26:48,878 --> 00:26:53,098
and I do one long run every single week.

323
00:26:53,098 --> 00:26:59,638
But here's the thing, I don't beat myself up if I can't put in a super long run during the
week.

324
00:26:59,638 --> 00:27:10,618
Now, I truly believe that if you're doing a half marathon or a marathon training, your
long runs, those long runs are the most important part of your training.

325
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Getting and learning and adjusting your body and your legs to what it feels like to go
into nine, 10, 11, 12, 15 miles.

326
00:27:18,956 --> 00:27:26,659
I feel is really important because it teaches you also how to feel your body properly,
what it's going to feel like when you're under fatigue.

327
00:27:26,659 --> 00:27:30,791
Those long training runs are super important.

328
00:27:30,791 --> 00:27:32,401
Now I'm not a running expert.

329
00:27:32,401 --> 00:27:37,073
I'm just talking about what I have learned on my journey so far.

330
00:27:37,154 --> 00:27:43,206
But I will be bringing on an ultra marathon and running expert here very, very soon to
talk about things.

331
00:27:43,206 --> 00:27:46,057
And I got questions, but that's what I've been doing.

332
00:27:46,057 --> 00:27:48,408
Breaking up my runs during the

333
00:27:48,408 --> 00:27:58,145
the weekdays into two, four, maybe four in the morning, four at night, that gives me eight
a day, and then doing one extremely long run on Saturdays.

334
00:27:58,166 --> 00:28:02,529
Do you have any advice on managing finances while struggling with ADHD?

335
00:28:02,529 --> 00:28:04,371
It's a struggle to keep up.

336
00:28:04,371 --> 00:28:13,498
So I've always said, you know, when people come and they start working on my budget by
paycheck process, they kind of are feeling like they have to do everything all at once.

337
00:28:13,498 --> 00:28:18,538
I really want people to focus on bite -sized chunks.

338
00:28:18,538 --> 00:28:20,078
of this method.

339
00:28:20,239 --> 00:28:22,729
You do not have to do everything all at once.

340
00:28:22,729 --> 00:28:28,341
fact, you don't even have to complete a single step in one sitting or at one time.

341
00:28:28,341 --> 00:28:39,364
Instead, what I want you to focus on is learning more about yourself and building up as
much knowledge of your financial situation as possible.

342
00:28:39,364 --> 00:28:43,305
So maybe, you know, step one is figuring out your why.

343
00:28:43,305 --> 00:28:47,156
If you're struggling and feeling overwhelmed with this step,

344
00:28:47,254 --> 00:28:54,119
Maybe you just sit down and maybe today you write a couple sentences on why you're on this
financial journey.

345
00:28:54,539 --> 00:29:01,604
And then the next day we can break that down even further and maybe hone in on some more
specific reasons.

346
00:29:01,604 --> 00:29:04,126
We can ask the additional why, right?

347
00:29:04,126 --> 00:29:08,259
We're asking why to our questions again and again and again.

348
00:29:08,259 --> 00:29:13,513
And so maybe, you know, that step takes you a couple of weeks.

349
00:29:13,793 --> 00:29:15,430
If you're struggling with

350
00:29:15,430 --> 00:29:23,494
overwhelm or feeling like it's all so much, give yourself permission to do it in itty
bitty chunks.

351
00:29:23,915 --> 00:29:36,401
And not I even tell people sometimes cover up the rest of the steps cover up the rest of
your workbook only focus on one little thing at a time you will get there.

352
00:29:36,422 --> 00:29:38,823
Doesn't matter how slow you go.

353
00:29:38,823 --> 00:29:44,578
I'd rather you focus on maybe not so much of the overwhelm of tasks.

354
00:29:44,578 --> 00:29:52,142
to be done, but instead focus on what you are learning in the moment about your finances
and about yourself.

355
00:29:52,142 --> 00:29:56,874
Because at the end of the day, it's that knowledge that's going to make you successful.

356
00:29:56,874 --> 00:30:03,717
Yes, taking consistent action, forming really good healthy habits in your life, that's all
important.

357
00:30:03,717 --> 00:30:10,610
Learning to lean on dedication instead of motivation and being self -dedicated, all that
is really important.

358
00:30:10,712 --> 00:30:17,347
but it's the knowledge you gain that's going to keep you in financial success and out of
debt in the future.

359
00:30:17,347 --> 00:30:19,618
So I'd rather you focus on that.

360
00:30:19,618 --> 00:30:29,655
And even if that's overwhelming, like a lot of people get overwhelmed when they either get
on my step about figuring out their debt story or tracking their spending, because that is

361
00:30:29,655 --> 00:30:35,499
all really overwhelming information if you haven't looked at the big picture for those
things ever.

362
00:30:35,499 --> 00:30:37,420
It can seem very overwhelming.

363
00:30:37,420 --> 00:30:40,802
So sometimes I tell people step one,

364
00:30:40,822 --> 00:30:43,424
might just be printing off your statements.

365
00:30:43,424 --> 00:30:44,425
That's it.

366
00:30:44,425 --> 00:30:49,969
Not highlighting anything, not tracking anything, literally just gathering the paperwork.

367
00:30:49,969 --> 00:30:54,631
And maybe it's just gathering the paperwork from one single element of your life.

368
00:30:55,352 --> 00:31:03,838
You know, so give yourself permission to handle the bite -sized chunks that you can and
then move on the next day.

369
00:31:04,038 --> 00:31:07,901
Do you consider life your lifestyle as a minimalist?

370
00:31:07,901 --> 00:31:09,102
I wish.

371
00:31:09,730 --> 00:31:20,663
So I'm kind of struggling with, I've been in this kind of situation in my life where I
want to take a really big giant broom and literally brush everything out of my house.

372
00:31:20,663 --> 00:31:22,293
That's where I am with stuff.

373
00:31:22,293 --> 00:31:24,314
Stuff is driving me nuts.

374
00:31:24,314 --> 00:31:28,235
It's making my anxiety like crazy high.

375
00:31:28,235 --> 00:31:37,227
I have too much stuff, especially I think for me, because, you know, before we had Dante,
I wasn't used to having like all these toys around and all these different baby stuff and

376
00:31:37,227 --> 00:31:39,688
items and these little cars and all this stuff.

377
00:31:40,066 --> 00:31:44,607
And so now I'm just like to compensate for all the other baby toys and crap.

378
00:31:44,607 --> 00:31:48,168
I've been like trying to get everything else out of my house.

379
00:31:48,168 --> 00:31:54,090
And one of the big projects that I've been wanting to work on and get done is cleaning out
my garage.

380
00:31:54,090 --> 00:32:05,183
When I say my lifestyle is a minimalist and no, but I try to be, I'm not a super hoarder,
but I probably have more stuff than I actually need.

381
00:32:05,183 --> 00:32:06,683
I definitely know I do.

382
00:32:06,683 --> 00:32:08,054
So with

383
00:32:09,612 --> 00:32:14,944
That being said, I feel like I'm learning to let go.

384
00:32:14,944 --> 00:32:21,767
My biggest thing here, and I think we all do this, is like when you're about to get rid of
something and you say, what if I wanna wear that later?

385
00:32:21,767 --> 00:32:23,968
Or what if I wanna use that later?

386
00:32:24,028 --> 00:32:28,090
It stops me from getting rid of things and it drives me absolutely crazy.

387
00:32:28,090 --> 00:32:34,183
And then here we are, a year later, I'm looking at it and like, okay, I never used you,
but what if I'm about to?

388
00:32:34,183 --> 00:32:35,423
It's just dumb.

389
00:32:35,423 --> 00:32:36,394
So.

390
00:32:37,442 --> 00:32:44,056
I working on one, cleaning out my garage, but I'm also working on like one room at a time.

391
00:32:44,056 --> 00:32:55,733
It's very overwhelming when I think about the amount of space that I actually have to go
through in order to get the stuff down to a level that I'm going to feel comfortable with.

392
00:32:55,733 --> 00:33:02,627
They always say the more stuff you have, the more maintenance, the more things you have to
take care of.

393
00:33:02,627 --> 00:33:03,277
So.

394
00:33:04,738 --> 00:33:13,470
Like I definitely need to go through Dante's things and get rid of the stuff he no longer
wears, no longer plays with, because right, babies grow so fast.

395
00:33:13,470 --> 00:33:15,911
They go through things so incredibly fast.

396
00:33:15,911 --> 00:33:20,543
And I feel like I just have garbage bags up to my ears and things I need to donate and
give away.

397
00:33:20,543 --> 00:33:22,373
So I'm working on it.

398
00:33:22,373 --> 00:33:26,704
I've never felt this much anxiety around the amount of stuff that I have owned though.

399
00:33:26,704 --> 00:33:28,385
And I will say that.

400
00:33:28,505 --> 00:33:31,796
So I definitely know I need to take action in steps.

401
00:33:31,796 --> 00:33:32,922
But like I said,

402
00:33:32,922 --> 00:33:37,024
one room at a time because I will not let the overwhelm win.

403
00:33:37,024 --> 00:33:48,571
I will break it down into chunks and I don't care if I have to start with one cupboard at
a time, but I want to get to a point where I can say I have some minimalism in my life.

404
00:33:48,611 --> 00:33:50,592
We're just still working on that.

405
00:33:50,672 --> 00:33:56,415
Okay, so last question I'm going to answer is once you pay your bills, what's left?

406
00:33:56,415 --> 00:34:00,217
Do you apply your money to your debt until your account is zero?

407
00:34:00,217 --> 00:34:01,678
I'm confused.

408
00:34:01,934 --> 00:34:04,975
So this comes down to your financial goals.

409
00:34:05,055 --> 00:34:10,596
Anytime someone asks me, Miko, I just got a huge tax refund, what should I do with it?

410
00:34:10,596 --> 00:34:13,827
Or I just got a huge bonus at work, what do I do with it?

411
00:34:13,827 --> 00:34:20,899
Or Miko, I just paid all my bills, everything's taken care of, what do I do with what's
left over?

412
00:34:20,899 --> 00:34:22,920
It tells me one single thing.

413
00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:26,661
You have not figured out your financial goals.

414
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And I'm talking about getting real clear and descriptive about what you want

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to do and accomplish with your money.

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Now, I always say your goals should be put into three terms, long, medium, and short term.

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And within those different terms, you might have many different goals, right?

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Maybe in like the longer term, so long term would be seven plus years, you want to buy a
house and save more for retirement.

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So those two things can live under the long term goal.

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but one's more important than the other.

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00:35:03,193 --> 00:35:14,869
And you're gonna do that for each term, which means that you can be working on more than
one goal at a time, but where you're throwing your money needs to be going to the priority

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goals in your life based on term.

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00:35:18,351 --> 00:35:24,293
So let's say in your short -term goals, now short -term goals are, I would say, to three
years.

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medium term goals you know for to say six plus years and then long term seven plus years
and i wrote about all about this i have a whole chapter dedicated to how to accomplish

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00:35:39,335 --> 00:35:50,766
goals when everything feels important in my money my way book i'm best selling book i have
an entire chapter because i really want people to understand.

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00:35:50,786 --> 00:35:56,909
that the advice of you should only work on one financial goal at a time is old and
outdated.

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In your life, it is more likely that you are gonna be working on more than one goal than
not.

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So let's say in your short -term goals, you want to build an emergency fund and you know
you're gonna need a new car with say in the next year, okay, the one you have is breaking

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down, you're gonna need a new car.

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So your emergency fund is important, but the new car is important.

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00:36:20,046 --> 00:36:22,186
you have to make a personal decision.

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What is number one priority out of those two?

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Or for me, it'd be my building my emergency fund.

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So maybe 30 % of your bonus goes towards your emergency fund.

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The rest goes towards the car.

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You're just ensuring that wherever you are throwing your money, most of that money is
going towards your number one priority goal.

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And then you can throw the rest towards other goals that you feel are important.

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So

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If you're confused on what to do with the money you have after, you pay your bills and you
take care of your variable expenses, it's time to sit down and get really clear on your

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goals because if you knew your financial goals, you would never be wondering where your
money needs to go.

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You will have an exact game plan written out on what to do with your money.

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00:37:09,094 --> 00:37:14,138
So that is another episode of Ask Me Anything.

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I've been trying to do it once every four episodes, but we'll see.

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how it goes and if we'll continue on this schedule, but I'm just really happy to be able
to have the opportunity to answer your questions, because I don't get to every single one

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00:37:27,421 --> 00:37:36,594
on Instagram and I've been writing down questions that I've been seeing too that I can
answer for these if I can't get a message back or I can't answer it on social.

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I'm hoping to answer more of those questions here on the podcast.

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So until next time.

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If you are enjoying the podcast, make sure to subscribe, share this podcast with your
friends and leave a review wherever you are listening.

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00:37:52,368 --> 00:37:56,995
Your support helps me reach even more listeners and keeps the conversation going.

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00:37:56,995 --> 00:38:00,108
Until next time, keep feeding your curiosity.