Sprinting Towards Savings: Balancing the Budget on the Run with Coach Christine and Debra Jacobs

Ever wonder why your running hobby, which started with just a pair of sneakers, seems to be sprinting away with your wallet? Join me, Coach Christine, and financial coach Debra Jacobs of Money Smart for Life, as we lace up to chase down the unexpected costs that come with pounding the pavement. Together, we dissect the financial impact of everything from the latest gear to those coveted race bibs, and how to keep your bank account as healthy as your stride. Want to get started on tracking your running expenses? Get your FREE tracker here.

In this episode, we get real about finding the sweet spot between managing money and chasing dreams, proving that financial planning isn't about tightening the belt, but rather, fueling the life you're running towards. We'll share tips on creating a budget that doesn't feel like a fiscal straitjacket but instead empowers you to allocate funds for the experiences that truly make your heart race.

The finish line of our conversation is all about practical advice for runners who don't want their love for the sport to outpace their financial goals. From comparing the true costs of local races versus international marathons to the importance of investing in safety gear, we cover how to save without sacrificing the joy of the run. Whether you're a casual jogger or a marathon enthusiast, this episode is packed with actionable guidance to ensure that when it comes to running and finances, you're setting the pace, not playing catch up.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Ask any runner who's jogged around the block once or twice before how much they have spent on this low-cost running hobby of theirs and they'll tell you it's actually quite the fortune. They'll also follow it up and let you know that it was worth every single penny. But how many pennies are we spending on this running love of ours? Well, today's episode is gonna uncover the hidden cost of running racing and the potential hidden cost of running racing and the potential hidden cost of deciding to sit it out on the sidelines. Join us and learn all about how to make your pennies count and how you are worth the investment Time for brunch. Empower, inspire, connect, ignite your journey. Welcome runners, dreamers and health enthusiasts. I'm Coach Christine, your seasoned guide through the exhilarating world of running, with over 200 races or so to my name, countless miles under my feet. Today we're going to take a deep dive into the financial heartbeat of our running lifestyle. We're going to embark on a journey through the highs and lows of budgeting for the long run, contrasting the cost of two distinctly different marathons in our final segment. Today, it's a tale of dollars and distance that may just change the way you lace up your sneakers. As a level two RRCA coach, I have not just counted steps and breaths, but pennies and dollars too, understanding that every star we take towards our big, audacious goals is also a financial footprint. So grab your favorite running shoes and let's sprint into the fiscal side of our passion for pounding the pavement. Because, again, so many of us come to running thinking that it is a very low cost entry into our fitness and it is. However, there are likely costs that you didn't even consider when you first got laced up, or even maybe now, years of tackling your favorite races and running experience. So utilize that link in episode notes, friends, for one of the most extensive running specific budgeting spreadsheets you could ever hope for.

Speaker 1: 2:04

Today's episode is jam-packed because we're also bringing in a guest, deborah Jacobs, a financial planner, who's helping you plan for the long run pun intended and to consider all of the financial decisions that you can make today to help set you up for a much better retirement. Before we get to that, we're going to discuss a little bit about those hidden costs that you're going to find in that budget spreadsheet for running specifically, and maybe how to make some tweaks to make sure that it works better for you and your financial plans. Additionally, we're going to talk about the hidden cost of sitting out some of the running adventures that we want for our lives, and if you tune in all the way to the end, I'm gonna open up my bank account. I am quite literally going to show you the receipts, my friends, and we're gonna compare two very different racing experiences, both marathons, and how we can make this racing experience still happen at a fraction of the cost.

Speaker 1: 3:00

Now, with that, friends, let's get into some of the expenses that maybe folks don't take into consideration. I will. Let's get into some of the expenses that maybe folks don't take into consideration. I will let you know right out of the gate that I created a very formal poll that I added into the Time for Brunch community page and by very formal I mean totally informal and I asked people to kind of guesstimate how much they spend annually on their running love and hobby. How much they spend annually on their running love and hobby, and by far the number one answer was about $1,000 to $3,000, which is actually very close to what a majority of runners report spending. Generally. It can be anywhere from about $500 upwards of $5,000, depending on how we choose to pursue our running hobby and goals. However, even with that, I still think there's some costs that we don't really always take into consideration.

Speaker 1: 3:55

So in the spreadsheet you're going to find several categories. The first category, right out of the gate, is running gear. This is probably the most foundational of all. We have to start off with our running shoes, training apparel, socks, hats, visors, sunglasses, belts. Of course, specialty gear If you're tackling different types of running, like track or trail running, seasonal gear depending on where you live, and then we get into some of the fancier stuff, like the GPS watches, fitness trackers, heart rate monitors and, of course very important to take into consideration as well, some of the things that we absolutely need that sometimes we don't take into consideration is the personal safety tools or subscriptions associated with making sure that we're safe while on the run.

Speaker 1: 4:36

The next category is probably the one that would actually make or break your budgets if you do not plan for it appropriately in its race-related expenses. So anywhere from race entry fees all the way to charity donations if you have to make up the shortfall if you're a charity runner expo purchases, race day expenses, travel expenses and everything in between associated with racing. We're going to also tackle the category of nutrition and hydration. I'm going to also provide you with a few different alternatives to make it a little lower cost Training costs, from gym memberships to personal coaching, entry fees for those tune-up races or local events and, of course, training apps and online subscriptions, just to name a few. We're also going to categorize health and maintenance, from physical therapy to foam rollers, medical costs that can be associated with running, if there's any potential injuries. We're going to tackle technology and apps all of the miscellaneous expenses that come into play from storage solutions for all of your runningcellaneous expenses that come into play from storage solutions for all of your running gear.

Speaker 1: 5:47

I know I just had to invest in a new storage solution from my running gear to some of the continuing education expanding our knowledge of this beautiful love of running that we may have. So I really do suggest that you utilize that link to download the spreadsheet and start keeping track to see if this hobby can make some tweaks to keep you running in the long run, as financially healthy along with physically healthy as well. So with that, we know that about one to $3,000, actually one to $5,000 seems to be the annual cost of running and right out of the gate, that sounds like a lot of money. It can add up pretty quickly, right, which is another reason why I want to discuss the hidden costs associated with not running.

Speaker 1: 6:39

Now, anyone who's listened to me for some time knows that I'm incredibly passionate about physical movement in general and, while running may not be your jam, getting out there, moving and grooving, making sure that you're as healthy as you possibly can be is incredibly important to me, and it wasn't always the case. If we would have had this conversation 20 years ago, I would have told you the only money that I wanted to spend was on costuming and going out and having a good time until my father had a debilitating stroke. So when we're talking about our annual expenses of running and racing knowing that the average annual household spends about anywhere from that one to $5,000, I will tell you that the cost of my father's first stroke and I will say first because he went on to have many more ended up being about $225,000. That's right. Between his extended hospital stay, his extended rehab, the additional home health aids that we had to have, loss of income, the continued medication that he needed, the continued testing he needed afterwards, the extensive speech therapy and physical therapy that he needed, the loss of income that we had as caregivers. It added up.

Speaker 1: 7:59

So when we talk about the investment of running, I want you to keep it in perspective. I don't want you to necessarily throw caution to the wind and YOLO you only live once not think of your financial future whatsoever in your pursuit of running. But I want you to have a balanced perspective, knowing that every time that you invest in this hobby, if it keeps you moving and grooving, you are continuing to make an investment to help minimize any of those physical factors that can creep up later on in life and also to give you a better quality of life. Because, again, ask any runner and they will tell you that, as hard as it may be to get in our runs, that it also means the world to us. Now, again, I promised you that I'm gonna open up my receipts and compare and show you, give you some ideas of how you can keep costs a little lower. We're gonna do that after we bring in Debra Jacobs.

Speaker 1: 8:56

So, friends, I wanna go ahead and welcome Miss Debra on in. She's an extraordinary guest. She's the visionary behind Money Smart for Life. Debra's not just a financial coach, she's a beacon of hope for those entangled in the web of financial anxiety and, if you're like me, sometimes you've actually literally run away from any of those budget planning sessions that you know you probably should have on your calendar or two. So we are going to sit down with Debra and really dig into it and how it can be something that helps to empower us with our running and our bucket list items. Debra, welcome officially to brunch.

Speaker 2: 9:34

Well, thank you so much. That was such a beautiful introduction.

Speaker 1: 9:38

I didn't even get into a majority of it, because there's still more. Because, of course, you have a background where you graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. You're an accredited financial counselor, you dedicated your life and you are so passionate about this because this is our. We had a chance to meet previously and you were just so excited about this conversation. It tends to be when we start to talk about money, tends to be a conversation that most people aren't quite comfortable about, so I'm glad that we're going to kind of rip the bandaid off. Before we do that, let's get into a little brunch conversation. Deborah, if we had the opportunity to invite whomever you would like to brunch, and what would you like to have served to them? Who would they be and what are we getting on this?

Speaker 2: 10:16

menu be with Michelle Obama. She is such an incredibly transparent person who is empathetic and an incredible leader, and I just admire her so much, so that would be somebody I would just like feel so excited that I would have the opportunity to have brunch with what would be the on the menu. Probably, since it would be Michelle Obama, it might be vegetables from the garden, something very healthy, so oh, I love that.

Speaker 1: 10:51

I feel like I would be so flustered I wouldn't even know what to say. I'd be kind of awestruck.

Speaker 2: 10:55

Probably I would be, too.

Speaker 1: 10:58

We'll have to practice in case that invitation actually comes to fruition. There we go. All right, my friend. One of the things that we talked about before we had a chance to sit down for this brunch conversation was the fact that running is what comes across as a very inexpensive and, in some circles, has been considered a free sport, but it's not necessarily for those that become madly in love with it Before we get into how we can make running something that becomes a bit more of our budget focus as well, so we're not necessarily spending all of our money on running shoes and races and then not left with the things that really really do matter. In a different regard, I'd love to chat as to like how did you get excited about finance specifically, and personal finance?

Speaker 2: 11:42

It's kind of a long story, but I'll try to keep it in a nutshell. Okay, so I'm a single mom by choice and I have two daughters who are now in their 20s, and when they were little I ran a preschool. It was a very nice life for us. I was able to be with them after school and put food on the table and all of that. But I told myself during that whole period of their childhood that I had brain width for two things my business and my kids.

Speaker 2: 12:14

And everything else kind of fell by the wayside, and that includes personal finances. I knew nothing about money. I was never learned how to manage it. I kind of just found my way blindly and didn't do a lot of the things I wish I had done now. I kind of wish I had somebody then like me now to guide me a little bit. I'd be in a better financial position. But bills piled up, I paid late fees on things. I got into some debt, not because I didn't have the money, but because I always said later, later, later, I'll get to that later. And then later never came.

Speaker 2: 12:50

And when my kids got a little older, a little space opened up in my life.

Speaker 2: 12:54

It was so overdue that I needed to learn about this. So I kind of held my nose and listened to some podcasts, read the books, took some classes, listened to some podcasts, read the books, took some classes, joined some groups and who knew? I mean, I surprised myself that I would love this so much, that I would be so fascinated by all things personal finances. I couldn't get enough, and so I started making transformations in my own life and got this little bug in my ear that this is what I want to do for my next adventure. This is how I would like to help people to feel more at ease, to be able to sleep at night, to be able to breathe easier, because money's intertwined with everything in life and if you can sort out your money and kind of feel a sense of control and know where you're going, then that opens up other pathways for other parts of life. So, anyway, that's basically how I came to my passion about all things money and I did eventually close the preschool and open a financial coaching business.

Speaker 1: 13:57

I have to ask what exactly of delving into it really excited you when you started to learn. Is it because you felt more at ease, or because you felt more empowered, because you understood it? It was no longer a super complex puzzle. What kind of really called to you?

Speaker 2: 14:14

All of the above Okay, and particularly for me, it's always about people and always about stories and always about. Numbers on a spreadsheet are fine I can deal with numbers on a spreadsheet, but there's so much more meaning, and things that scared the heck out of me became meaningful Like, wow, if I do this thing, then that opens the door for me to be able to do something I really want to do in my life and feeling less overwhelmed and less anxious about money. So that's really what it was for me.

Speaker 1: 14:49

I think that when anyone visits your website, moneysmartforlifecom, they'll see that your key slogan is master your money, achieve your dream, and dream mastery or actually going after our dreams and achieving kind of I like to call it the going from the dreaming to the doing really is one of the key things here at Brunch that we like to make sure to highlight, because we only have this one time to this merry-go-round. We want to make sure that we are able to have that bucket list come to fruition as much as possible, and I think that what I love and what I'm excited about this conversation is that you are aligning the fact that money doesn't have to be scary. It can actually help us to achieve these dreams. So, whether it is tackling the world marathon majors or being able to plan for retirement or all the above, mastering your money is kind of the key that helps us to do so. So with that, could you get us into, maybe, where are some of the basic misconceptions that people have when they first start digging into their personal finance.

Speaker 2: 15:53

I think a basic one is the idea that budgeting which is a bad word is going to mean sacrifice. It's going to be hard, it's going to mean I can't do the things I want to do and I'm going to have to live in a way. I don't really want to live, and I think we really need to turn that around. Yes, it can be like that, but it doesn't have to be. If we start rather from a place of oh, let's budget, because that's a good thing to do, if we start rather from a place of oh, let's budget, because that's a good thing to do, but instead start from a place of what do you highly value, what do you want the most in your life, and kind of work backwards from there to now. Let's look at spending and figure out how we can flow your money towards what it is you want to achieve. It doesn't have to feel like sacrifice. It can feel like moving towards something. It can feel like achieving something rather than stopping something or sacrificing something.

Speaker 1: 16:56

I love that because that, right there to me, is just a shift in our phrasing and our mindset and allowing us to really feel, as we spoke already, empowered by the idea of knowing where our money is and where it needs to go, versus kind of hiding from that budget word and not letting it become a unspeakable word at home. So, with that said, I love how you also discuss letting your money flow toward the things that bring you joy I'm paraphrasing a bit, but that really mean a lot to you that you prioritize. I know that you have quite a few adventures in your life with your passion for mountain biking and travel and, of course, you've got your kiddos, and so there's quite a few different things for you. How do you feel that it was essential for you to kind of start to create budget and earmarking the things that brought you joy that aren't necessarily considered must haves?

Speaker 2: 17:53

Yeah. So I mean, for me, I came to parenthood rather late in life. I really wanted to be a mom and so, even before I had my kids, I had to budget for the first time because, as a single person, I needed to figure out a way to make that work Single person, without unlimited resources, although at that time it did feel painful because I didn't understand it, I didn't know about it. It was only later, as I had said, once my kids got a little older. Then, when I started learning about money and started putting my thoughts and my actions towards hmm, really like to take a vacation with the kids. Hmm, you know, really would love to be able to do this or that with my home. Really would love to be able to.

Speaker 2: 18:45

For me, a lot of things are tied up with my kids. So I have a daughter who doesn't live in the same city I live in. I like to travel to see her. I like to take them out. I like to do things like that. I like to be with my friends. There are a lot of things I like to do and I did hear you mention some of the things I've done. I did an adventure quest a bit ago where I went dog sledding and I took a helicopter lesson and I did all sorts of things, and those things require some money too, so I wanted to blow money towards adventure.

Speaker 1: 19:18

Okay, I'm glad that you call those specific things out, because I think that, again, that to kind of chip away at the misconception that budgeting means that we're just going to sit at home and eat ramen noodles for the rest of our lives so that we can pinch our pennies for retirement or just have that emergency fund, aren't necessarily true. While, yes, it is important to have an emergency fund and we'll be talking a little bit about that it sounds like to me again that money and budgeting appropriately allowed you to do these things without putting yourself in debt, without necessarily being super concerned to how am I going to pay this adventure off? So I'd love to talk about it for the folks that are listening, and they likely do have some really big adventures on their list as well. Is there a guideline of how to allocate funds for these adventures, or a percentage should be taken into consideration?

Speaker 2: 20:04

So the first thing is, if you do have limited resources, like most of us have, you have to figure out where your money's going, and that's where that whole looking at what you want comes in and looking at what's not important. You know a lot of the things we spend money on. We spend by default. We spend because it's how our parents think we should spend, how our adult children think we should spend, how our friends think we should spend, how society thinks we should spend. We're bombarded moment by moment with messages of buy, buy, buy, buy, buy. How many times have you heard oh, you deserve it, just buy it. But if we think about what we really want, then those choices become more clear. So one example is I work with a lot of clients who have like $800 a month car payment and yet they're struggling to take that trip they really want to take or they're getting into credit card debt because of it. And so we really look at like what value does that car give you? Are you the kind of person who grew up loving cars, understanding the engines, always wanting a particular kind of car? If so, by all means, let's figure out how to spend the money on that.

Speaker 2: 21:20

But if you drive a car to get you from point A to point B in comfort and reliably. Do you really need an $80,000 car? Could you get a used Honda or Toyota that's in good shape, that's reliable, that can get you where you want to go without a lot of pain in your life? Like, what are the things that are most important? We can look at the really big things. Many of us have very large houses because this is what society tells us means being a success. Do you love, love, love, love, love that large house? Right, do you live in that large house because it's bringing you a sense of status? Nothing wrong with that. But what's more important to you? Maybe if you downsized a little bit or you rented out a room or two in that huge house or other things like that, we could take some of that money and put it towards travel for that running event or towards a few pairs of those particular running shoes that are very expensive that you really want.

Speaker 1: 22:27

I loved everything you said because it sounds like it's a really great detailed example of how not to live our lives in that comparison trap and trying to keep up with the Joneses I know it's a phrase that used to come to mind quite a bit but essentially and as you said, really starting to kind of audit the things that really mean a lot to us. Of course we still have to tackle in our financial responsibilities, but to see how much of it is self-imposed versus the things that really do bring us joy. And I'm going to call out specifically. I heard someone talking about this where they thought they loved traveling because everybody talks about travel being so rewarding and they figured out that they actually don't really enjoy traveling. But they didn't love being at home because they felt too cluttered with all of the things that they had purchased. So it wasn't until they started to kind of clear their space that they realized I love being home and cozy here and this is exactly what I need, so I don't need to earmark as much money for travel.

Speaker 2: 23:23

There you go. That is exactly the process that we work on, and we look at the big expenses and the small expenses Some of the small like low-hanging fruit things that people can do to raise more money immediately or fairly soon. For the things that they want to do are things like look at your subscriptions. Do you have a bunch of them? Like most of us do, I mean even I have to look at my. I have a system that I use that brings in all of my transactions and organizes everything. But I have to look month by month at hmm, that subscription number's looking high. What am I spending? And then go back and look and say, oh, I did sign on for Disney Plus because, or I have a membership to the wine club and I don't really need that anymore. Let me get rid of that. This one I love, I use it all the time. Keep that one, this one I don't. So just looking through subscriptions is one super easy way of cutting out a little bit of fat that you don't need.

Speaker 2: 24:28

And the question I tell people to ask three questions with every expense. The first question is the Marie Kondo one. Does this bring me joy or sometimes do you need it? There maybe are medical expenses or other things that may not bring you joy, but you need them. So the question is A does this bring me joy or do I need it?

Speaker 2: 24:48

If the answer to that question is yes, is there a way for me to get the same level of satisfaction for less? So one example of that might be you know, a lot of people are paying a lot of money for cable TV. Would a streaming service and picking a few like Netflix and a few things that you watch be a lot less money than paying for cable every month? I don't know. Do the research and find out. Can you get that same level of satisfaction for less? That's the second question that we ask. And the third question is this expense moving me closer to my goal or is it getting in the way of my goal and that makes it easier to cut out some things if you know that it's holding you back, it's not helping you move towards what you want.

Speaker 1: 25:34

Okay. So right there, I think that's an incredibly powerful three simple questions that can be asked in a myriad of situations, so that we can kind of start to really get in touch with what priorities we want. Let's say, we've gone through these things and we do know that we absolutely adore running, as I assume most folks do, or some kind of a movement practice, as you have quite a bit of adventure as well in your life. How do we then go into? What percentage of our income should we maybe earmark for our hobbies or the things that bring us joy? Is there a guideline, or is it more so just really having to dig a little deeper into how much joy does that specifically bring you? How do you put a price tag on the joy that we get from running?

Speaker 2: 26:20

I don't think there's a hard and fast rule that applies for everybody. We have this little saying that personal finance is personal, and that's true. You know, for everybody it's going to be a little bit different, that's not. You can't, you know, use the same cookie cutter formula for everybody. So you have to really decide.

Speaker 2: 26:40

So if there's a whole list of events that you'd like to go to in the next year, look at that event, ask yourself a bunch of questions, rank them. You know which event is more important to me and why? Maybe one of the things you want to do is like what city haven't I visited, you know? Is it in a city I'd like to see? That? Maybe one, or it may specifically have to do with what it brings you in terms of running, and you want to really look at that. You want to say to yourself which one could I let go and still be great? Could I let go and still be great? How many times a month am I going to enter one of these or spend a certain amount of money for my passion? Maybe, instead of you know, I have clients. For example, who but one client I can think of who snowboards all winter and golfs all summer Yay, this is something that he absolutely loves doing, although he was spending a ton of money. Could he still be happy if, instead of going every single weekend to snowboard, he went every other weekend? And so that's a question. Maybe the answer to that question is no, and that's okay too, but ask the question Like will I still be happy if I don't do this quite as much? Maybe it will make it feel more special when I do do it? So those are questions that one can ask oneself.

Speaker 2: 28:02

Now, of course, this all like if you're struggling to pay the bills, if you're struggling to keep the roof over your head and put food on the table, that's an income problem and you need to take care of the income before you can think about spending the money for a lot of these events.

Speaker 2: 28:22

And I would really caution people not to bill up credit card debt to feed your passion, because in the end, that's going to bite you in the behind and it's going to get out of, and that's going to bite you in the behind and it's going to get out of. So if you're really struggling, then really look at the income side as well as the expense side. If you have enough money to live comfortably and maybe have a little bit extra. That's when you have to decide what can I pull from other discretionary spending to feed this passion, what would I be okay with pulling from and what decisions do I have to make? Given that If you have a really good amount of money that you can spend on this, I would say it's still worthwhile to rank the events, to look at what you really want to do and to pick and choose. In that case, you have more freedom to do all of them if you want to, but you might want to just like go through that exercise, because it's very clarifying.

Speaker 1: 29:21

What I'm hearing you say is that we should approach this instead of from and I know that it's easier said than done, so I'm going to caveat that right here. I think we tend to approach personal finance from a very emotional standpoint. Of course, when we're talking about things that can personally bring us joy or that help us to feel safe and secure or, of course, put a roof over our head, it is going to be slightly emotional, but what I'm hearing you say is that to kind of take that step back, take an extra moment to allow us to approach it with more curiosity and maybe a bit more where there's a little tad of logic approach to it, and by that I just mean stepping back. Or what I'm hearing is step back and have that bit of just inner dialogue of do I really want to do this? Or, for example, there's a hometown race that I do every single year. Do I still absolutely love doing that exact same race course every single year? I mean, when I do the accounting of it, I know I don't need another race t-shirt, there's for sure on that.

Speaker 1: 30:16

So it's kind of what I'm hearing is just, let's not necessarily get swayed into the emotion as quickly, or maybe even great marketing. But allow us to see really, is this something that I still want to do? Does it bring me as much joy, or would I rather skip that race and maybe a few others, so that I could head to Sydney, australia, and run there in a couple of years? So it sounds to me like approaching it from a place of curiosity allows us to have a mindset where we feel again more in control, more empowered with our decisions, of how we spend our money for the things we love.

Speaker 2: 30:48

I think that's a really good summary of that. I would say one thing which is, rather than like taking the emotion out of it, notice the emotion. Money's emotional. We come with so many stories from our childhood, from our young adulthood, from our relationships, from our friendships, from our work situation. We might have the story people maybe who grew up in difficult financial circumstances, grew up in poverty, might have.

Speaker 2: 31:21

Sometimes I see two very different stories around that. One is I have to spend everything because you know, I didn't get to spend anything when I was a kid. On the other hand, we might have I can't spend anything because it could all disappear tomorrow and I don't feel safe if I spend anything. And I'm just saying that because there are a gazillion different stories we have about money and there are so many emotions around money. So I would actually look at that list of all the events and ask yourself not only which one do I want the most, but how does that feel? How does that one make me feel? How would I feel spending the money on that? How would I feel not spending the money on that? And kind of sit with that for a little while. And those emotions are all okay. We all have emotions around money.

Speaker 1: 32:05

This has been very enlightening because I hear quite a few and again, I'm sure everybody's going to insert themselves into this conversation, because I do believe, because so many of us have to take into account I don't think anyone necessarily that is listening may be completely independently wealthy or heir to that. They're going to be in line for the queen or king of England. I should say at this point. They're, at any point, all power to them if they are. So, if so, yes, wonderful. But I think most of us that are listening are inserting ourselves into this, and I hear what you're saying as to the inner dialogue that comes across from the story that I've had from growing up with money, or the story that I tell myself today, or working in a regarding like a scarcity mindset versus an abundance mindset, but also allowing ourselves to budget. So I'm loving this conversation, which I feel is a very in-depth conversation that folks can have with you, with your financial coaching.

Speaker 1: 33:01

So I wanna at this point ask a little bit more about that, Because you have not just found your passion in all aspects of financial coaching. You do have a very clear passion for working for folks over the age of 55. Is that correct?

Speaker 2: 33:16

I do work with people of all ages, all demographics, but well over half of my clientele are people who are 55 and over. My oldest client just turned 82. And I work with people in their 50s, 60s, 70s who are either in or approaching retirement. They have some assets, some income, but they're scared. There are certain things they want to do. They're not sure how they're going to make it happen. They maybe have never thought much about money before Money's come in. They've had enough to cover the bills. They haven't saved a lot. They haven't done.

Speaker 2: 33:55

Some of the things that, of course, we all wish we had done when we were 20 is, you know, start an IRA and fund it regularly, and all of that. Maybe they haven't done that. So the question is what do I do now? And so I work with people to create a spending plan, to look at values and goals. What is it they want out of this next phase of life?

Speaker 2: 34:16

To often I'm not a therapist, but walk through some of the emotions of it. I would say almost always there's emotion around the work I do with people not 100%, but usually and we create a spending plan. I get people set up with a system that pulls in all their transactions and has it all tracked so that it's easy to keep up with. I hold them accountable If they have debt. We make a debt pay down plan. We make a savings plan for the specific things that they're saving for, and we work on some big questions like housing when do I want to be? What do I want to do about housing? Location, work, even, like maybe I need a little extra income. What's that going in retirement? What's that going to look like? So we work on all of it and I also work with people on financial issues they may be having with their adult children, starting some of those conversations, that sort of thing. So all of it, it's fun.

Speaker 1: 35:21

I feel like it's such a great way of helping people not look backwards as much, because you pretty much started the conversation as to why this is something you're so passionate about with.

Speaker 1: 35:33

We all wish that we could turn back the hands of time and do whatever knowledge we currently have, but instead of looking at that rear view mirror, really feeling comfortable starting from where we're at right, here and now, and also embracing that it's never too late and to get this, I mean, as you said, you have an 82 year old client who is now on a great track moving forward, so it's never too late to get that comfort zone of knowing that you know where your money's at, where it's going and what you can do to continue empowering yourself through today and through all those passionate hobbies and for retirement. So, before we make sure that folks know exactly where to find you because we're going to make sure that's an episode notes and you guys can check out Money Smart for Life with Debra here I'd love you to maybe give us some other insight as to ways that we should consider looking at our money spending habits or money saving habits that you feel like everybody can actually start doing sooner rather than later, meaning when they're done listening.

Speaker 2: 36:35

Okay. So one thing often we think that we want to simplify our lives, so we have one checking account, one savings account, and that's great if you can manage that and that works well. But often I'll recommend that people have more than one account just to actually eventually make their lives simpler and clarify things. So let me give you an example of that. Let's just talk about running and all the costs associated with running. If you add up all of the events you want to go to and all the money you're going to spend over the course of a year and you divide by 12. If you're going to like bank money every month to pay for those things which I have recommend you do, I think that's a great idea.

Speaker 2: 37:22

If you just put that in the soup of your savings account, when you pull money out of that to spend to pay for plane tickets or to pay for whatever you need to pay for feeding that passion, it might feel painful. Oh, look at my savings dwindling. It might be hard to do If you have a separate account called running, a separate, maybe high yield savings account, so that it's earning a little bit of interest. When you pull money out of that, you feel good, because that is specifically what you're saving for. So it's both an organizational tool very clear how much money you're saving towards this one goal, and very clear when money comes out of it, how much is left and it's also an emotional tool because it's less painful to actually take money out. Because that's what it's for. It's for that it's not just general emergency fund savings.

Speaker 1: 38:23

I immediately think, when I'm hearing you say this, that it's like the digital version of having the envelopes that are earmarked for specific expenses. Exactly Okay, which is perfect, because most of us have all gone digital, so that traditional advice that may have been great back when we first started working on personal finance isn't quite as impactful in today's day and age. So I love the idea of having those earmarked expenses or sub accounts or accounts and high yield. That's a phenomenal idea. So, friends, if you're hearing these terminologies and you're really comfortable with this conversation, but you still want more, I am going to make sure that you have the location to reach Debra, of course, in those episode notes. Or if you're thinking I have no clue what you guys just talked about, but I think I need it You're also going to want to touch base with Debra because, again, you have been so gracious with this wonderful tips and steering us in the right direction that I'm excited to continue this conversation. So, debra, thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker 2: 39:22

It's my pleasure and I'm really happy to answer questions or talk with anybody who is interested in learning more.

Speaker 1: 39:30

Wonderful. Thank you so much. All right, thank you Appreciate it. I love chatting with Debra for a myriad of reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is because she is also living that very bold, audacious life herself and learning and teaching others how to prioritize, making those dream lives come true, but still living within a budget and finding a way to be empowering I really exceptionally love. One of my all-time favorite takeaways from that conversation was how to ask ourselves those three questions as to if this is something that we really want, need and need to prioritize in our budget. So I know that when you do sit down checking out Money Smart for Life with Debra, and then maybe you spend some time with that budgeting spreadsheet, specifically regarding running, you can start to ask yourself on those expenses that you've tracked in your spreadsheet Does this bring me joy? Is it needed? Is there a way for me to get satisfaction for less? And is this expense getting closer to my goal or getting me closer to my goal or further? And again, it's so important that we walk hand in hand or shoulder to shoulder, run hand in hand, both in our physical fitness along with our financial fitness, for that really great quality of life in the long run.

Speaker 1: 40:51

Now I promised you that we would talk a little bit more about my direct correlation are direct comparisons of running several different races, but specifically two. So I'm going to tell you a couple of the criteria that I came up with to make this determination. They both had to be quote unquote races that I had to travel to. They both had to be the same distance. Those were the primary comparisons, because I think for a lot of us what we have to ask ourselves is what compels us to race. For some people, the racing that they tackle is really for them to feel continued motivation, have something in the calendar to look forward to. They also get some laced up, maybe when they're not quite so motivated, and it's a lot of fun. For others, they just love the experience of traveling and combining that with running. Again, going back to Debra's conversation, there's no right or wrong answer. It's what works best for you.

Speaker 1: 41:50

For me, as I've mentioned, once upon a time I was very motivated by running races because I was living all about that bling life. It was all about I love me some big medals, and I cannot lie. That has shifted for me vastly over the years, but once upon a time. That was my big motivator and I wanted to see how many of them I could collect along the way. I've had friends and clients that I work with that are motivated by different big, audacious goals tackling the 50 states, staying very healthy, traveling the entire world whatever that goal may be is what's most important to you and then making that work. So again, comparing these two races they both had to be the same distance and they both had to be a race that I traveled to, so right out of the gate.

Speaker 1: 42:40

I want you to know that I used the spreadsheet and I compared just under the category of race related expenses. While likely, my training was very different, which means there was different associated costs for both of these races. I wanted to kind of keep it a apples to apples as much as possible. So, utilizing the spreadsheet, I went through the receipts and I compared a hometown small race that I still had to travel to with a world marathon major. And I can tell you that for the small hometown race that I traveled to, the entire cost for that runcation from literally leaving my front door to the time that I returned it was a three-day weekend and it was a runcation with friends cost the exact same amount as the race registration for the London Marathon. So let's get more into it Now. For me, the race entry fee for the Half-Field McCoy race was $55 in comparison with my race registration for London Marathon, which is $250.

Speaker 1: 43:51

I did run for charity for London. I did have to make up a shortfall on the charity minimum that I did not raise, so that does bring it up a notch for me in terms of quote unquote race registration. It was a charitable donation which is tax deductible, so charity donation that I had to make up for the shortfall was $2,500, bringing up essentially a really big chunk right out of the gate for me to tackle London. But all things aside, everything else, the meals for my entire trip to Hatfield McCoy cost $75. The meals for the same duration of time for my London marathon, leaving here in Orlando, making my way to London, staying there the night before the expo, the day of the expo, the day of the race and the day afterward, which I'm going to say was three days as well, was $425.

Speaker 1: 44:50

Post-race celebrations well, there's not a lot to do in Hatfield-McCoy, so I treated myself to some french fries at the Dairy Queen. I'm going to round that up, along with a beer, to about $15 versus my post-race celebration at London Marathon was a little bit more ostentatious and I spent a hundred dollars with dinner with friends that evening. Travel expenses I split it with two of my gal pals and we drove up to West Virginia for Hatfield McCoy. So along with gas and tolls and, of course, wear and tear in the vehicle, it was about $75, versus the airfare to get to London, which was $1,325 for a round trip ticket was not first class, it was just an economy class. However, I did also add in the luggage that I needed to take or that I chose to take with me and the cost of parking at the airport and the associated cost of travel once I got to London in terms of taking the tube and taking an Uber to and from the expo. Then we're going to talk about accommodations. I split my accommodations for Hatfield and McCoy as a two bed hotel room with three of my running buddy friends. It ended up being a whole whopping cost for two nights of $50 was my portion of that bill versus staying at London near Tower Bridge $600. I still think that was pretty good, by the way, for a large metropolitan city. I didn't have to pay parking fees at race events for either of the locations.

Speaker 1: 46:42

Hatfield McCoy started at the Piggly Wiggly. There was no driving to the start line of London Marathons. I didn't have to worry about that. I'm not a big fan of race photos or finishers merchandise that I have to pay for. I generally always skip out on those portions. So both of those were $0 for me, but something that you should take into consideration for you. And I'm also not a big expo purchase kind of gal. I very rarely purchase anything at an expo. So $0 for both of those, and I don't even really remember if Hatfield McCoy had much of an expo. I think it was a bid pickup. And again, the total for Hatfield McCoy, my entire three day runcation $270, including race entry fees. My total for London Marathon also three-day runcation, I'm not including any of the travel that I did afterwards to visit the area was $5,300, which included travel insurance that I always get when I travel internationally. So all of that to say my friends, if running and racing really speak to your heart, you have to sit down and ask yourself what type of races do you want? What are the goals that get you excited? What are the experiences that you want to talk about and that you want to share with your loved ones, and take that into consideration when you sit down and budget for yourself.

Speaker 1: 48:03

Now, if we're tackling the rest of the spreadsheet again, there's so many different ways of going really expensive if you want to and culling back the cost on a lot of these. I personally only buy the same pair of running shoes when they are on sale. I stock up during that time. I tend to not have tons of running gear that I feel that I need to continually buy or restock. I have my favorites. I stock up on those favorites whenever there is a sale. Same with my socks and sports bras. Now, you guys do know the one area that I tend to splurge a little bit more is those sparkly visors, because who can resist a little bit of sparkle? I tend to splurge a little bit more on sunglasses and have quite the variety. Again, these are two things that bring me a little bit of extra joy.

Speaker 1: 48:50

I have invested in really fantastic rechargeable reflective gear for nighttime safety. I do budget and have accordingly personal safety tools. I tend to not spend a lot of money on water bottles or hydration systems. I have one fancy one that works for me. It's really not that fancy but it works for me. I have one headlamp again rechargeable that I invested wisely in and haven't had to replace. I have one GPS watch. I've replaced it twice over the time of my running and I usually also drop some really big hints when it's time to have a GPS watch upgrade to everyone who's willing to listen to me, and there's a couple places that I can continue to save money. I don't need to worry quite as much about seasonal running gear. I don't tend to do a whole lot of different type of running, so I don't own any track spikes. I do have one pair of hiking boots and one pair of trail running shoes, but aside from that, majority of my running shoes are my old standby that I love and use and purchase when they're on sale. So those are generally how I've decided of the things that make the most sense to me.

Speaker 1: 50:00

But I will tell you I ran probably five years before I got my first GPS watch. I ran with an app prior to that in terms of keeping track of my distance, and that was way before Strava. So it was a preliminary app that was available to me at that time. I didn't quite care so much at that point about pacing. Distance was more of my focus at that point, just making sure that I went just one more step as I continued. And again I got into running and racing and that was a really big motivator for helping me stick with this, because it was part of my running community. It was part of my social life. It continues to be a very important aspect of what I do because I do love socializing with my friends getting out for those running races, and I now wish desperately that race directors would offer discounts for some of the swag, because I don't necessarily gravitate quite as much for the swag.

Speaker 1: 50:54

But again, even in running the World Marathon majors or pursuing the Seven Continents Club, there are ways to tackle it within budget restraints. You just have to be willing to plan for it. In my quest for the world marathon majors, it took me a decade. I could not afford to tackle it over the one year or two years that a lot of folks tend to do nowadays. It did take me 10 years to run the world marathon majors. I budgeted every other year to experience it. However, part of my experience of running the World Marathon majors is that I really want to explore that area as well and make it a runcation. I have near and dear friends that it's not a priority to them to travel and see the area, so they go in and out. They fly in within a couple of days to keep their costs low. So again, it's kind of having a little bit of a personal account as to what means more to you.

Speaker 1: 51:51

Let's talk about the next category. That can be vastly expensive. So, if you remember, there was a great series that I did with Coach Shelby where we tackled fuel tastings and a lot of that was to help you save money, because fuel for running and endurance sports can get really expensive between energy gels, electrolyte tablets, protein powders, sports drinks if you choose to work with a nutritionist or a dietitian and, of course, supplements. So this is another area where I will say that you can probably save the most amount of money by utilizing food that you already have at your disposal if you're willing to plan accordingly and pack a few more things with you. So we had dietician Amy on and she mentioned how a lot of maybe Halloween candy or Easter candy can double as those energy gels and chews and if you look at the nutritional aspect, they're very similar. You can also utilize more whole foods like dates or raisins. You can salt your drinks instead of buying the really expensive pre-made drinks. This is the caveat, though I would say that if you're preparing to race and you want to have everything that's on the course instead of taking stuff with you, please do invest in that during your running and your training so that you are prepared for race day. Supplements are another aspect that can get very expensive, so I would suggest that you shop those around as well and talk to your physician about what supplements are needed for you.

Speaker 1: 53:28

Training cost is where I tend to see people try to save the most money on. Of course, financially investing in personal coaching or virtual coaching feels like a very expensive part of your budget and a place where a lot of folks tend to make adjustments or reduce costs by not or forgoing a coach, and that's where I'm going to have you ask yourself are you able to follow a training plan? Do you have additional questions generally? Do you need that extra accountability? Are you looking to do a specific type of race, a specific type of time? Are you looking for more guidance as you approach this? Do you need more structure in your life. Additionally, knowing that if you are trying to find all of the answers for your running plan on your own, that that can be time invested and costly as well, where your run coach is doing all of that for you. So take into consideration, if you're spending thousands of dollars on your running and your races, that maybe a coach is not where you want to skip your budget on.

Speaker 1: 54:38

Additionally, of course, there's gym memberships, home gym equipment. This is where I would definitely say that you could probably save the most amount of money in terms of again knowing yourself. If you're not a gym person, get a couple of pieces at home. Body weight's incredible Resistance bands are incredible. Kettlebells. Go a long way in terms of lots of variety of movements and start looking for those discount codes. We shared Tia's discount code previously with her Facebook group. We're gonna suggest that you check that out again if you're looking for more race entries into like tune-up races or local events.

Speaker 1: 55:14

As we continue to go through our budget for running and races, another thing we need to take into consideration is our health and maintenance of our body during all of the rigors of training, whether it's physical therapy or scheduling and budgeting for sports massages, foam rollers, recovery tools, needing first aid supplies, preventing chafing. You could even save costs there. It doesn't always have to be the very expensive branded just for runners option. There are lower cost options that are available to you Additionally. Start to weigh and counterweight how making investments in some areas of this spreadsheet may help you to reduce costs in the other areas of the spreadsheet. So if you're an injury prone runner, making sure that you're investing in the appropriate footwear and working with a coach that knows strength training and has some prehab routines for you, may help you in reducing those costs for doctor's visits and MRIs and, of course, rehab. So you want to make sure that we offset that before you get injured and also potentially cause to yourself the inability to make it to that rest day experience feeling prepared and healthy and uninjured.

Speaker 1: 56:25

Last but not certainly least is a couple of other expenses that you may not consider. You may have increasing your water bill, electricity bill as you do more laundry I know that's not just me. You may also have more subscriptions that you don't take into consideration quite as much because they're on a recurring subscription cost kind of just as we heard Debra mention as well. So it's a time to kind of check into that as you continue to budget accordingly for this incredible hobby. My friend, we have had quite the run today and I want to thank you so much for being willing to talk about Bruno and our financial health.

Speaker 1: 57:04

We've had budget breakdowns, we've talked about how to prioritize our passionate hobbies, how to financially plan to stay the healthiest version of ourselves, and we want to continue to invest in our running journey as an investment of our health, while also weighing the costs of care. The price of prevention pales in comparison. So I want you to continue to lace up, keep leaning into both your financial and physical fitness. Let's continue to make each step astride toward a healthier, happier you. I wanna remind you that I am here if you have any questions and in this marathon of life, pacing is everything. Keep running to the rhythm of your heartbeat and within your budget. I'll see you on the running path. My friend, don't forget to check out Debra at Money Smart for Life and download that running budget spreadsheet. See you soon and stay sparkly.

Speaker 2: 58:03

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Speaker 1: 58:11

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Speaker 2: 58:15

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