10 STEP TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM WITH THE BUDGETNISTA

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Earn Your Leisure – "10 Steps to Financial Freedom with The Budgetnista"

Date: November 5, 2025
Hosts: Rashad Bilal & Troy Millings
Guest: The Budgetnista

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Episode Overview

This Earn Your Leisure episode features The Budgetnista, a renowned financial educator, discussing her holistic framework for achieving "financial wholeness" rather than simply chasing traditional financial freedom. Drawing from her personal experiences, business journey, and the principles outlined in her book Get Good with Money, The Budgetnista lays out ten fundamental steps designed to help listeners build lasting wealth and security, regardless of their starting point. The conversation blends practical advice with lively anecdotes and memorable metaphors.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Role of Fundamentals in Financial Health

• The Budgetnista positions herself as a teacher of foundational money principles, not just advanced finance.
• [02:30] “I don’t care how much money you make, if you don’t have the fundamentals, you can be wiped out just like that.”
• She emphasizes that wealth without financial basics is fragile, using an example of a high income client devastated by million-dollar medical debt.

2. The 10 Steps to Financial Wholeness

(Laid out between [04:00] and [12:52]; each step is explained with vivid analogies and real-life lessons.)

1. Budgeting

• “Budgeting isn’t sexy like GameStop options, but it’s fundamental.”
• It’s about knowing and controlling cash flow.

2. Savings

• Building a safety net.
• “You have to have savings. That’s your cushion.”

3. Debt Management

• “You don’t have to be debt free – the only debt-free people are usually broke kids!”
• Debt freedom ≠ wealth.

4. Credit

• “Credit is a lever — a small knob can swing a big door. Used responsibly, it opens access to larger sums.”

5. Learning to Earn (Increase Income)

• “Budgeting and saving alone won’t get you wealthy; you have to bring in more.”

6. Investing (Retirement & Wealth Building)

• Two parts: maintaining lifestyle in retirement and building wealth for the next generation.
• “Are we trying to eat cat food? No!”

7. Insurance

• “Insurance is a risk management tool. Most people are underinsured, and I was too.”
• Umbrella Policy Insight [10:25]: Adding $1 million coverage was just $400/year: “They don’t tell you these things in these streets.”

8. Positive Net Worth

• “Don’t tell me how much you made, tell me how much you keep.”

9. Money Team (Accountability and Advisors)

• Money is a team sport: have financial professionals and accountability partners.

10. Estate Planning

• Not just building wealth, but passing it on with intention.
• “Prince was wealthy but not financially whole—he never had an estate plan. Now his money might not go to causes he valued.”

3. Redefining Financial Freedom: "Financial Wholeness"

• [12:52] “You can be financially free and not be financially whole… Have all the money, but miss crucial things.”
• Holistic wealth includes protection, planning, and legacy—not just assets or cash flow.

4. Building a Lasting Foundation

• Shares her own story: devastated in the 2008 recession, rebounded by focusing on fundamentals.
• Striking metaphor:

  “Some of y’all are out here like electric poles—big, tall, flashy, but shallow. When the earthquake comes, the pole falls. The tree, rooted deep, stands.” [14:00]

• The aim: deep roots (fundamentals) support everything else—allowing your house to stand through adversity and be passed to the next generation.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On financial fundamentals:

  “I’m talking about fundamentals from a place of wealth you can keep.” — The Budgetnista [04:00]

• On debt freedom vs. wealth:

  “Debt freedom does not equal wealth. My niece just turned four—she’s debt free, but she’s broke!” — The Budgetnista [04:43]

• On insurance revelation:

  “She said, ‘Tiffany, you need an umbrella policy.’ I thought, ‘That sounds pricey,’ but it was only $400 a year for a million in coverage.” — The Budgetnista [10:25]

• On legacy and estate planning:

  “Prince was wealthy… but was he financially whole? He didn’t have an estate plan.” — The Budgetnista [12:52]

• On building roots:

  “Some want to be tall like electric poles, but I want you to be trees: it’s about the depth of your roots.” — The Budgetnista [14:00]

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Key Timestamps

• [02:30] – Role as a fundamentals educator and the story of medical debt
• [04:00]–[12:52] – Breakdown of the 10 Steps to Financial Wholeness
• [10:25] – Umbrella insurance policy tip
• [12:52] – Example of Prince, estate planning, and why "financial wholeness" is bigger than freedom
• [14:00] – Tree vs. electric pole metaphor for foundational financial health

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Episode Summary

This episode delivers a practical, motivational guide to personal finance, laced with humor and hard-earned insights. The Budgetnista’s “10 Steps to Financial Wholeness” push listeners to master the basics before pursuing flashy investments or headline-grabbing “financial freedom.” Her blunt, warm approach (“Don’t ever play yourself”) demystifies complex topics like insurance and estate planning, making them relatable and urgent for viewers at any financial stage.

Listeners are encouraged to take stock of their financial foundation, assemble a team, and look beyond earnings — focusing instead on what they keep, protect, and can pass on. The message is clear: Deep roots, not tall facades, create legacies.

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Transcript

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Financial Educator]

Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line.

[Narrator/Announcer]

But first.

[Financial Educator]

There the last one.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Enjoy a Coca Cola for a pause that refreshes.

[Financial Educator]

One thing that I see as my role, I feel like everybody has a role in whatever. Let's just talk about the financial space, financial education space. I see my role the same way I saw my role when I used to teach Sunday school as a teenager, preschool as 20, early 30s. And the budget needs to now that you know, like I'm here to provide you with the financial fundamentals because I don't care how much Money you make, if you don't have the fundamentals, you can be wiped out just like that. I've seen it wiped out. I'll give an example. I remember I was at speaking at this speaking engagement. This woman came up to me and said, I don't know what I do, I don't know what I should do. I owe over a million dollars. And I was like, what? And she had. Had cancer and that was her medical bill when it was all said and done. So how you out earning that? You know what I mean? Like you out earned the cancer. So like those are the financial fundamentals of this. I actually call it financial wholeness. Right? So these are the fundamentals. It's budgeting. People don't want to talk about. Like it's not sexy. Like gamestop options, right? Like the caveat is this, sis is wealthy. I have multiple. My net worth is multiple seven figures. I'm not talking about like theoretically in stuff. I'm talking about cash. I'm talking about investments. I'm talking about real estate. Like I have money. Just to preface it with that because.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Because you don't play like don't play like don't play yourself.

[Financial Educator]

Don't ever play yourself herself, third person. No, because. No, because sometimes people hear bro is wealthy first and foremost. Don't play yourself. Don't ever play yourself. No, I share that because I. Because when people hear the fundamentals, they're like wah wah broke. No, there's nothing broke here. Only am I wealthy. I'm debt free like a 5 year old. I don't owe nobody nothing, not even my businesses. Like I have five debt free mafia, right? We made eight figures last year, just over 10 million. I'm not saying that to brag. I'm saying that to set the stage for. I'm talking about fundamentals. From a place of. You can grow wealth from a place of fundamentals and wealth that you can actually keep. So let's go over the 10 financial fundamentals. I like to call it financial wholeness. It's a holistic view of your finances. 1. Budgeting.

[Narrator/Announcer]

2.

[Financial Educator]

Savings. 3. Debt. You have to manage debt. You don't have to be debt free. You know, I know people like debt free. Debt free. Guess who else is debt free? I told y' all like my literally today is my niece's birthday, right? And she don't have no mortgage, no car, no no, no nothing. And she's four. Happy birthday. Shout out to you girl. But you're still broke, you know, because debt freedom doesn't Equal. We mentioned that before. Debt freedom does not equal wealth. Right? So three, Debt for credit. Right. Credit is a lever. I don't think people understand that. Like, think about a door. A door is a lever. This small knob can twist a big door. That's what credit is able to do. It is this a small amount of money that's able to give you access to large amounts of money? Right. This is what credit is. 5. Learning to earn, increasing your income. I hope you're writing this down. Okay. You have to learn to earn. You know, like, it's not just enough to budget and save. You're not going to budget and save your way to wealth. It's great foundational stuff, but you have to know how to bring money into your household. 6. Investing for both retirement and wealth. I make the distinction because to me, investing for retirement is really investing in a way that will help you to maintain your current lifestyle. That's the bare minimum. Minimum, yes. Like, are we trying to eat cat food? What are we doing? No. You know, but investing for wealth is being able to increase your current lifestyle and leave money for your heirs. So I like to separate retirement and wealth. So that is 6, 7. Insurance. It is super important. Health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance. Right. Property and casualty insurance. Think of like home and auto. Are you insured? Insurance is a risk management tool. Insurance is there to protect you and your assets just in case you need it. Most people are underinsured. I know. I was like, I thought I was good. I'm like, oh, I'm good out here in these streets. I sat down with a friend of mine who's a CFP and she said, let me see your stuff. She was like, okay, everything's good, Tiffany, but you're in short, like you're 20.

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Financial Educator]

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[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Financial Educator]

Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line.

[Narrator/Announcer]

But first.

[Financial Educator]

There the last one.

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Financial Educator]

I was like I look 20. She's like, but you're not 20, right? And so she was like, you need an umbrella policy. I was like, oh, how much is that going to cost me? Because SIS is really the budget needs talk about that.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Can you talk about that?

[Financial Educator]

The umbrella Cover that please. Yes. And so the umbrella policy is like the low key secret. I was like, okay, she said, let's start off. This was like maybe two years ago. Let's start off with. So you have your normal basic insurance. Like, you know, I have homeowners insurance, I've got car insurance, but I also have business insurance. And she's like, just in case those things are maxed out because something happens, someone falls, and they. They see you for more than this other insurance can cover, you have this umbrella policy, right? And so for me, an additional $1 million, which I was like, oh, sounds pricey. It was $400 a year. It's cheap. Yeah. I said, what? They don't tell you these things in these streets. Yes. An umbrella policy is just a great way to make sure. So then I increase it as my wealth increases, I increase that umbrella policy. And it like, it's a lever too. A little bit of money gives you access to all this coverage. So, seven, get good with insurance. Eight, grow rich. Ish your net worth. Don't tell me how much you made, how much you keep, right? So that's cute that like, oh, I made $7 million last year. They won't tell you that they spent 8 million in marketing, right? Net worth is what you own, minus what you owe. If you owe a whole lot, it doesn't matter if you own a whole lot, because at the end of the day, if all the people that you owe come a call in, you're broke. Right? So maintaining a positive net worth, that's important. Nine, picking your money team. Y' all already doing it. Y' all listen to these fellows right here. You want to have financial professionals in your life. I believe in having the accountability partner because I think money is a team sport. But I also believe, like you might look into, you might look to insurance broker, but you want to have people on your financial team. And last but not least, estate planning, you know, planning your legacy. It doesn't make sense to do all of this and not to pass on. That's the problem that we've had a hard time. I've known black folks that have grown wealth. I've known brown people that have grown wealth. But sometimes the passing on is what we have a hard time with. The passing on of knowledge, the passing on of wealth, you know, from one generation to the Next. That's your 10 components. Like, here's the thing about financial freedom, right? I'm not a big fan of that phrase. Here's why. Because you can be financially free and not be financially whole. You can have all the money, you can have all those things, but you could Be missing. Like, for example, Prince financially free. We can all agree. Man was wealthy. Was he financially whole?

[Narrator/Announcer]

No.

[Financial Educator]

He didn't have an estate plan. So when Prince died, he. He used to give a lot of money to. To, like, music programs because he believed it saved him as a kid. So when he died, his closest relative was his sister. We don't know if she's big on music programs. You know, his money is gonna do what she wants it to do. So I say that. Not to say don't go after financial freedom, but I'll go for a holistic view of your money. And so literally, that's why, you know, because the fellows. Hello. That's why. Get good with money. 10 simple steps to becoming financially whole. It's [e-mail] not for real. I see myself as like the school teacher of personal finance. Like, I want you to get the fundamentals, so that way, no matter what, you build on this financial foundation. Yo, like, when this last, like the last recession, 2008, 2009, 2010, hit, you'll rock me to the core. I lost everything. I said, never again. This time when it hit, I made money. You know, Like, I made money. My business tripled because I said, I'm going to position myself to have such a strong foundation that when things happen and it's the difference between being a tree and being an electric pole, some of y' all out here, not y', all, but some of y' all out here so interested in being as big and tall and obvious as possible. Like, look at me. Look at me. And you're this pole, this electric pole. And it looks dope because it looks so high, right? It flung up quickly. And you laughing at the tree. Tree is going slow. You're like, ah, look at the tree. Then earthquake comes. That pole is this deep in the ground. Pole falls over tree got what roots, right? And so that's what I'm wanting for you. I'm wanting for all of us to have, like, this deep financial foundation. So everything you're learning in eyl, everything you're learning in Market Mondays, these are things that you're building on top of your financial. Your financial foundation so that house can stand, so you can. You can gift that house to someone else. My graduates from my school being Forbes. Bag, drop, bag drop A mic drop.

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Financial Educator]

Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line.

[Narrator/Announcer]

But first.

[Financial Educator]

There the last one.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Enjoy a Coca Cola for a pause that refreshes.

[Financial Educator]

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[Financial Educator]

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[Financial Educator]

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