Your 2025 Money Wrapped: Real Family Wins, Tough Lessons & Budgeting Truths That Changed Everything | 92

All right. Hello and welcome to the Year in Review A So 2025 is coming to an end and I spent some time with families this year that are working on their debt elimination journeys, creating those budgets that align with what matters most to them. And one of the things that I heard early on is that they just felt like they were hustling super hard and trying to make more income, and they still felt broke. And so now on the other side of this year, I want to share some things, share some wins with you of things that I have learned as I've coached throughout this last year.

And if you had a chance to listen to the last episode about just some mindset shifts that have even changed for myself. So stick around today. Today's episode is like your Spotify Wrapped, but not of your bad decisions, bad purchases or anything like that. It is about the the wins and celebrations within our community and that hopefully can be an encouragement to you and maybe it change the way you see your money. So stick around. Hey there, I'm Jules the budget nerd and welcome to the Debt Rebel show.

This is the place where working families like yours learn how to stop living paycheck to paycheck, crush debt for good, and build a life where money actually works for your family. In about 15 minutes, I'll share practical family budgeting tips, love strategies, and actionable steps to move toward debt free living without the fluff, the shame, or the confusion. And I know a thing or two about this. My family and I have eliminated over $107,000 in consumer debt. And that was after I got my degree in economics.

So stay tuned. This is going to be a great episode. So grab that coffee, your planner, whatever you need to make this a great experience. Maybe a snack if you're like me. And let's make your money work for your family. All right this year. So in 2025, the, in 2025, the US government shutdown, several listeners, a lot of listeners of the show and a lot in my personal sphere were affected by that. And so I had a lot of conversations about the importance of having an emergency fund. And I ourselves, like our family had to dip into that.

And I remember putting on my like vision board, my goal board for 2025. I have accomplished all of them except for a couple. I didn't get new floors for my house yet, but one of them was it was a picture that showed an emergency funds. When I put that picture on there, I thought it was going to be for we are going to continue to build a bigger emergency fund. And what I didn't know at the beginning of the year is that we were going to actually have to use some of our emergency fund this year. And so while I'm not happy that we had to, I'm so grateful that we had it because it's just a perfect example of controlling the controllable.

And that was something that was out of our control. But the thing that we did have control over was how we spent our money. And so I got to put into practice a lot of things that I have been teaching. So yes, everything I teach is based on my lived experience. But I was right there with you this year in in that having to use that emergency fund when life hit the fan. So couple other things that I hear a lot about, especially as we end one year and go into a new one, is just the cost of living and raising a family and what it can do.

Yes. And this is where I'm going to put on my little economist hat because when we talk about like the, you know, cost of living and the things things are, you know, housing is getting more expensive and foods getting more expensive and you know, gas and all of these things, all those things, yes, they are increasing. They are different from they were last year. They're different than they were 10 years ago. They're different than they were 20 years ago. And that is one, that is one thing. It's not always promised.

We say, you know, death and taxes are the two things that are promised in this life. But we can, we can almost always predict. I would say it's a good hypothesis that things are just going to be getting more expensive. Now do we have control over that? The one thing that we do can't that we can control is how we spend our money and how we line it up, how we create that plan and creating some margin for ourselves. So the other thing that we can do is being consistent with our with our budgeting. And so yes, as those prices increase is making sure that we're making those adjustments within our budget so that we're not following the same budget that we had last year.

So we can review the same time last year to kind of see because you know, different expenses at the end of the year than there are that are in the summertime, right? But our lives are constantly changing and evolving. And so having having a budget that we consistently refer to and that we that we plan is going to help create those financial successes. And so one thing that I saw with members of our community or they were consistent with our budgeting and they didn't give up, where a lot of families will give up mid year because it just life gets crazy.

And so I think that's a really, really cool thing because I got a message from one of our alliance members and she's like, I cannot believe how all of this has played out. She did like a, you know, month by month what what's happened and I like a timeline of things. She has very, very large life expected things happen and the way that it affected her finances could have been huge. But it turned out that because she had a plan that she was following, things turned out really well on the financial side for her and her family.

And so I think when it comes to being consistent, we're going to have moments where things aren't things aren't perfect and things aren't great. And it's about progress, not perfection, but being consistent. Those that's the one thing that I have noticed this last year with either listeners of this show, because thank you so much for listening to this show. For one, I can't necessarily see every single person that listens, but I can see there is a consistent audience. And so I so appreciate if this is the first time you've listened or if this is episode 92 and you're and you're still listening from the very beginning.

I appreciate you because it is being consistent in life sometimes can be really challenging, but it's these little wins here and there and just applying the things to our lives that we learn along the way is so it's so great. And so I appreciate you listening. And if you do want to share something with me, I would love to hear it. You can go to my website and you can adapt rebelpodcast.com and there's a spot probably about midway, I think that you can record a voice note to send to me and I might play it here on the show.

But I would love to hear how this year has, how these episodes have been helping you and any wins or any questions that you have. So another theme that I saw this year was just how the emotional load of managing our money as a family can kind of make or break us. And so one thing that I have seen within that I've learned from my clients is that we can, if we don't have a plan, we can get into these cycles of maybe panic budgeting or overspending because stress creeps in or just pushing it into, I'll fix it, I'll fix it next paycheck, right?

And so I that's like coming into coming into the coaching relationship and then seeing the piece that they have when they have a plan and then they know like one of one of our alliance members had a plan, like her company was going to provide tuition reimbursement and then it didn't happen. And so she had a backup plan because that happened, but previously would have been one of those moments where she panicked and would start putting things on credit cards. And so it's things like that that might seem like, OK, that's great, but the ripple effects of those things are so huge because, for instance, she didn't go to those credit cards.

So she wasn't adding to her debt load. She had a plan and she was confident in what to do because she had been putting in a little bit of effort, putting in a little bit of work, listening to the show and doing the things. And so that when that time hit, because we don't know when those times are going to come up, but being prepared for them is going to allow somewhat stressful situation sometimes to be weathered so much easier. So I think that's awesome. So what are some things that you need to take into 2026?

So I think one of the one thing that's really important is and you'll you'll be hearing this I'm sure a lot as the end of the year is, you know, people pause and reflect on the last year. It's just kind of a natural time for us to wind down a little bit, but is to just think about your finances. So what, what has drained you in 2025 that you don't want to drain you financially in 2026? What's something that's given you margin so you know, has reduced the amount of expenses that you have in your life?

And then what is something that you would repeat or maybe something you never want to do again? Can you apply the, the SWOT analysis to your finances for 2026? So you know, what are some things that are going well? What are some things that maybe aren't going so well? And then what are some opportunities to make some changes? And then is there anything that you foresee coming in 2026 that can be a threat to your finances? And so I know something for, for my family is we are going to press hard on that emergency fund and growing it a little bit bigger because we don't know if there's going to be another shutdown in the future or some, you know, some other reason why we are going to have to go, you know, a period of time without getting paid.

So that kind of stuff is just doing a little bit of analysis of where your finances, where your finances are in 2025 and how you want them to look in 2026. So some of the boys that I see people get stuck the most when it comes to this analysis part is they don't want to look at the numbers. And unfortunately, I would say this is one of those things that's kind of unavoidable, but it's really empowering also because we can't change what we can't see. And so when we look at our numbers and what I mean our, our number, just look at your bank account and not look at like the balance, but like look through at some of your spending and see, hey, are some of these things things that aren't providing my family value anymore?

And if they aren't, then they need to go. Sometimes they just need to be paused. And then sometimes they're like, you know what, I still got to feed my family. So yes, do not hear me say don't feed your family. Absolutely feed your family because I think that's one of the most important things you could do for your family is making sure that they have food. And so that's why it's part of the survival mode budget. I'm going to get off on a tangent on that one, but sometimes we can also look at our our finances and think that we're not making enough money.

And so that is also that's a very common thing that I hear and that I see. But it's really that we might not be spending our money the way that we could be, that it's kind of that we might need to be making more money or we think that we need to be making more money, but we could be spending it a little bit wiser and differently to accomplish our goals. And that's another reason why I think that debt is just part of that part of that equation and part of that problem because it gives us that sense that we are aren't making enough money.

But really it comes down to we're just using a tool that that is expensive to buy things that we could just be paying cash for. And that's why the budget comes in. So and then not we another place that people get stuck is just not tracking things long enough to see the change. And so this way, I have the 12 week success guide within the alliance because it takes the average family about 3 months to see the changes that they make and to create a budget. That's going to be like, okay, this is kind of this is the structure of it.

And yes, it's going to change every single month because of what matters most to you and your family. But if you've never made a budget before, it takes about 3 months so that you can kind of see your spending patterns. You can see some of those irregular bills come up, enough pay periods so that you can kind of get into a rhythm of, you know, the income coming in and then the money going out. You can get into a rhythm. And so it does, it does take some time, but tracking that and staying and staying with it, that's why I built the alliance.

So is that we're there for you to help you and I'm available to coach you through that. So, OK, so that is my review of 2025, some of the things that I have learned and some of the things that I continue to see. So that's why I'm so excited for 2026 and something that we're going to be doing here on the podcast and within my e-mail community is the $1,000,000 debt rebellion. So I am so excited to share this with you and your family because it is designed for your family so that you can rebel against the financial overwhelm and be done with it and pay off $1,000,000 in debt.

So you might be thinking, Jolt, I don't have $1,000,000. I know because we're all going to do this together, right? So I'm going to walk you through it. I'm going to help you through it and other families that listen to this show. So whether you have $1000 or you have $100,000, this is the year that you're going to get the support and the encouragement to pay it off, pay it down, get rid of it, and start living a life that aligns with what matters most to you and your family. So the best way to jump into that and get started, we're going to be officially launching that in 2026.

But you can jump on my website, thatrebelpodcast.com and grab your free starter kit there and that'll get you on the e-mail list so that when we when we do start that it'll be in your inbox. So that's what I have for you today. I hope that 2025, as we move away from that into 2026, that is a amazing year for you in the new year. And also that it is the year that you finally say, you know what, I'm done with that debt thing and I am here for you. We're going to do this together. So happy New Year and we'll see you in the new year.

Thank you for tuning into the Debt Rebel Show today. Ready to take your family budgeting to the next level? Stop that paycheck to paycheck grind and start living debt free. Head over to my website debtrebelpodcast.com. That's DEBTREBEL podcast.com to grab resources, tools and tips to make it happen. And don't forget, subscribe, leave a review. And if you know another family that will love hearing today's episode, it would be such a gift for both of us, your friend and me, if you share this episode and remember your debt free life starts with one brave step and I'm cheering you on every step of the way.

We'll talk soon. Debt Rebel.

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