A Week In Her Wallet: A 41-Year-Old Teacher Who Pays Off Her Credit Card Daily

Summary

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HerMoney with Jean Chatzky

Episode: A Week In Her Wallet: A 41-Year-Old Teacher Who Pays Off Her Credit Card Daily
Date: September 12, 2025
Guest: Shannon – 41-year-old teacher, mom of two, intentional spender

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Overview

In this episode of “A Week In Her Wallet,” host Jean Chatzky sits down with Shannon, a 41-year-old instructional coach and mother of two from the Washington DC suburbs. Shannon takes listeners through a candid, day-by-day account of her spending and financial management strategies. The conversation explores her motivations, the roots of her money habits, her focus on intentional spending, the emotional triggers behind her budgeting style, and how she moved from financial chaos to greater control and confidence. Listeners walk away with practical ideas for tracking spending, creating savings “buckets,” and conquering the “credit card float.”

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Shannon’s Background: Structure Born from Experience

• Shannon works as an instructional coach, supporting new teachers.
• She’s deeply structured with her finances, a habit born from financial uncertainty in childhood after her parents’ divorce.

  “When my parents got divorced when I was in high school, it really changed the financial landscape… I grew up thinking, like, I don’t want that to be my reality.”
  — Shannon [07:47]

2. Recurring Expenses and Unexpected Charges

• Shannon tracks all recurring charges using Google Calendar, deleting items daily to keep tabs on her balance.
• She expresses frustration over an unexpected $198 lawn service bill (normally $99, increased for seasonal work), disrupting her careful budget planning.
• She shares that even with structured planning, unanticipated charges can feel like setbacks and trigger financial anxiety.

3. The Credit Card Float: Conscious Cash Flow Management

• Despite paying off her credit card weekly, Shannon realized she was “floating” between paydays, using cards for expenses before covering them with the next check.

  “Even though I pay my credit cards off every Friday… I’m actually floating myself weekly with my credit cards… I want to get to the point where I’m not doing that.”
  — Shannon [06:02]

• Since July, she started paying off her credit cards daily, striving for a zero-float approach to minimize money stress and prevent overspending.

  “I actually pay them up every day now, Jean.”
  — Shannon [10:11]

4. Savings ‘Buckets’ for Peace of Mind

• Shannon uses Capital One’s high-yield savings accounts to create multiple buckets:
  • House, car, summer pay (since teachers don’t get paid over the summer), travel, emergency fund, summer camp, birthday, Christmas, and more.
• Each is funded monthly or by paycheck via automated transfers, calculated by dividing annual expenses into manageable monthly amounts.
• This system delivers security and reduces anxiety around large, irregular bills.

  “I love having these savings buckets. So if I need new tires, I just go get new tires… It brings me a sense of calm and safety.”
  — Shannon [11:12]

5. Joyful Spending vs. Guilt and Anxiety

• Shannon admits joyful spending is hard for her; she allocates “fun money” from each paycheck for guilt-free treats, but still struggles to let go and enjoy.

  “I think I could get better at the joyful spending… I would say that’s kind of one of my things is trying to work to spend more joyfully and not so anxiously.”
  — Shannon [16:29]

6. Her Money Journey: From Debt to Education

• Shannon didn’t fully realize she was overspending in her 20s until tracking unveiled a disconnect between income and outflows.
• At 32, inspired by a friend and Dave Ramsey’s content, she and her husband paid off $17,000 in debt.
• Now, she uses a mix of financial podcasts (including HerMoney), sinking funds, and retirement plans (457, 403B) to manage and grow her wealth.

  “I dove headfirst into the Dave Ramsey philosophy… But then I wasn’t really sure what to do. I didn’t realize at the time but Dave Ramsey doesn’t really provide education or guidance on those next steps. So I kind of got away from him and found Jean.”
  — Shannon [19:56]

• She recognizes the downside of anxiety-driven savings, repeating her personal mantra:

  “We are wealthy beyond money.”
  — Shannon [21:26]

7. Retirement Readiness and the Value of Pensions

• Both she and her husband have pensions and contribute to Roth 403Bs and 457 plans, using target-date funds through Fidelity.
• Fidelity’s planning tools help project future income and confirm they’re on track (“in the green”) for retirement.
• Lack of resources for people with pensions makes it hard to project future security, so visual tools are reassuring.

8. Nurturer Tendencies & Boundaries

• Shannon identifies strongly as a “Producer” money type (HerMoney quiz), with “Nurturer” as a secondary trait.
• She tends to prioritize family, sometimes ignoring budgets to enable her children to participate in enriching activities:

  “With my kids… I’ll ignore the budget altogether. ‘Oh, they want to take ballet class. Okay, well, just figure it out.’”
  — Shannon [24:42]

9. Tracking Spending: Eye-Opening & Actionable

• Participating in this week-long spending tracker made her face spending habits head-on.
• She realized how mental “rounding down” and not tracking small purchases add up, especially in family contexts (e.g., footing an unexpectedly large breakfast bill).
• Most significant change: transitioning to daily credit card payoff, eliminating stress and improving clarity.

  “The change I made is that I’m paying the credit card off every day so that I’m not trying to, like, float myself between paychecks.”
  — Shannon [28:22]

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Memorable Quotes

• “I think those kind of comments [from divorced parents] have an impact on you. I want to make sure, like, my kids, if they need something, we’re able to afford it, and they don’t feel bad or like they’re causing a strain on the family.”
  — Shannon [11:12]

• “We are wealthy beyond money. It’s just this reminder that we’re fine, we have everything we need, and our wealth is really in our two healthy girls and our family and our friends and our personal health.”
  — Shannon [21:26]

• “Close your eyes, swipe and pray.”
  — Jean (to Shannon, laughing about kids and budgets) [25:12]

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Notable Moments & Timestamps

• [04:12–04:34] — Shannon introduces herself: teacher, instructional coach, mom of two, 41 years old.
• [06:02–07:04] — Shannon details her Monday expenses and the frustration with surprise charges, recurring bills, and the credit card float.
• [09:10–10:11] — Breaking down the “credit card float” and the move to daily payoff.
• [12:35–13:21] — The ins and outs of Shannon’s “savings buckets” system.
• [13:54–14:33] — How automatic savings and savings buckets drive her “tight” yet intentional spending.
• [16:29–16:59] — The struggle between joyful spending and financial anxiety.
• [19:56–21:26] — Shannon’s debt journey, discovery of financial podcasts, and how she rebuilt her plan post-debt.
• [22:12–22:51] — HerMoney Money Type Quiz results and how they reflect Shannon’s habits.
• [23:16–23:55] — Utilizing Fidelity’s retirement tools with pension.
• [25:12–25:18] — The “close your eyes, swipe and pray” parenting spending moment.
• [28:22–28:44] — Shannon emphasizes the positive change of daily credit card payments post-tracking.

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Practical Tips Shared

• Automate savings into multiple “bucket” accounts to prepare for irregular and seasonal expenses.
• Track spending daily or weekly for genuine clarity—mental rounding isn’t enough!
• Pay off credit card balances as soon as possible (even daily) to avoid “floating” and keep spending within true cash flow.
• Dedicate “fun money” for guilt-free enjoyment and creative pursuits.
• Use financial planning tools that include pensions and supplemental accounts to gauge future retirement security.

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This episode offers an empowering, relatable perspective on women taking control of their financial futures—demonstrating that structure, self-compassion, and ongoing education are the keys to money confidence. If you relate to spending anxieties, credit card floats, or nurturing others above yourself, Shannon’s journey and Jean’s practical advice will resonate and inspire action.

Transcript

[A]

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[C]

Welcome back to Her Money. I'm Jean Chatsky. Today we are bringing you another episode of A Week in Her Wallet, our intimate look at how real women spend, save and reflect on their money day by day, dollar by dollar. This week we followed Shannon. She's a teacher, a mom of two girls, a thoughtful spender who is as intentional as she is honest. She brings her own brand of humor and humility to everything from trying to thrift a sparkly pink outfit to be Glinda the Good Witch for a work event to navigating a $198 lawn service charge that she forgot was scheduled this month. Sounds familiar. Let's dive into Shannon's week and how tracking her spending helped her face some habits, celebrate others, and plan for a brighter, more grounded financial future. Here's something scary but true. The average adult unknowingly consumes over 150,000 plastic particles every year. And over 70% of the cookware sold in the US is still coated in PTFE. That's the same toxic chemical used in traditional nonstick pans. Caraway is on a mission to make cookware safer and way more stylish. I've been using my Caraway set on repeat. I gotta say, everything moves around the pan so much easier than in traditional cookware. And it's so beautiful that I don't mind just leaving it sit right on top of my stove. Caraway's cookware set is a favorite for a reason. It can save you up to $190 versus buying the items individually. Plus, if [e-mail] hermoney you can take an additional 10% off your next purchase. This deal is exclusively for our listeners, so visit carawayhome.com hermoney or use code hermoney at checkout, Caraway Non toxic cookware made Modern Cozy Earth's pajamas and blankets are so soft, so breathable and so cute that you'll start planning your evenings around them. These are not your average loungewear pieces. They're bamboo, stretch knit pajama, have a lightweight feel, a beautiful drape, and they actually sleep cooler than cotton, which means you stay at just the right temperature through the night. And here's the best part. Cozy Earth stands behind every product. Their apparel is backed by a lifetime guarantee and their blankets come with a 100 night sleep trial and a 10 year warranty so you can truly rest easy. Go to cozyearth.com and use code hermoney at checkout for up to 5 40% off your new favorite pajama set and blanket. That's cozyearth.com code hermoney. And if you get a post purchase survey, do me a favor, let them know you heard about Cozy Earth right here. Elevate your downtime with Cozy Earth. Shannon, welcome. Thanks for being here.

[D]

Thank you for having me.

[C]

Just tell me a little bit about you.

[D]

I'm a teacher. I actually am an instructional coach right now, so I support new teachers and I live in a suburb of Washington DC. I have two kids.

[C]

Yeah, nice. How old are you?

[D]

I am 41.

[C]

Excellent. So you mentioned feeling frustrated with your finances right off the bat this week because of some surprise recurring charges, huh?

[E]

Hi, Happy Monday. This is Shannon. Today I went to Starbucks and got a coffee. It was 5:25, but I put money on my Starbucks card at the beginning of the month. So that was already in budget for me. We had a recurring expense come out today for our lawn Service. It was $198, which kind of annoyed me because it's normally 99 and twice a year it's more because they do like a seating. And I kind of forgot that was this month. Our Verizon bill was due today. That was $78. That's also a recurring charge. Yesterday I bought hairspray. It was expensive, it was $55. But I usually buy that hairspray just once a year. And I also yesterday bought a skirt on Poshmark with shipping. It was $27. Both of those came out today. So I feel right now a little frustrated with the finances because I learned in May about this idea of the credit card float. And I realized that even though I pay my credit cards off every Friday and I don't carry a balance, I'm actually floating myself weekly with my credit cards and I want to get to the point where I'm not doing that, where I can use my credit cards for things like gas and groceries and get the points, but then I can immediately pay it off and not wait till Fridays. So our mortgage was due yesterday, so I feel like I'm gonna have to do the credit card float again this week. And I'm a little annoyed with myself about that. But I think once I can build up enough of, like, a cushion in my checking account, then I can stop the credit card float. Anyway, those are my thoughts for Monday.

[C]

What happened? And tell me more about that feeling.

[D]

I'm very structured. I have all of my recurring payments on my Google calendar. Every day I go in and I delete the ones that come out. And I kind of always know, like, how much should be in the checking account. So I was annoyed because we have a lawn service, and I said in the recording, twice a year, they charge about a hundred dollars more because they do an extra, like, seating, I guess. And so I was bummed because that was $100 less than I was hoping to have.

[C]

And that seems like an awful lot of control that you maintain on an everyday basis. Where'd that come from?

[D]

I think it came from the fact that when my parents got divorced when I was in high school, it really changed the, like, financial landscape. My mom had, like, less money to help with prom and help get me a car. And so I kind of grew up thinking, like, I don't want that to be my reality. I kind of want to have these savings, these little buckets of savings. And also, like, my. My husband and I, we both graduated college with debt. And then we took on credit card debt and car loans and kind of did all those things you do when you graduate from college. So.

[C]

And the debt, how'd that feel?

[D]

Do you know, I didn't actually realize that we were in debt. I think in my 20s, I was just like, okay, everything's fine. I'm paying my bills on time. And I was able to get an apartment and everything. It wasn't until I totaled it up and realized that we were spending more every month than we brought in. That. That was kind of like the wake up. So that was like, mid-20s, I feel like your mid-20s. Yeah. Yeah. We're both the same age, my husband and I. Yeah.

[C]

So you've been doing this a long time. Yeah. Early in the week, you brought up the concept of what you called a credit card float. That's not a. Not a term that we hear a lot, but it's something that I think a lot of our listeners might be doing without realizing it. Talk to me about that. What. How do you define it?

[D]

I guess because I am tracking, like, each purchase on my Google calendar, I kind of know what's coming up. But I was noticing that I was having to wait until Friday to pay off the credit card. And then because I did that, I had, like, less money for the week going forward, so I had to do the same thing again the week before, like, kind of charge the gas, charge the groceries, which I normally do for points, but couldn't pay the credit cards off, like, safely until the next Friday. So even though I don't have any debt except for my mortgage, I was needing my credit cards to, like, get me to Friday. And so I realized I needed to kind of reduce my spending for a little while to build up a bigger buffer in my checking account, if that makes sense.

[C]

It totally makes sense. I think a lot of people don't understand that they can pay off their credit cards as often as they want.

[D]

Yes.

[C]

I mean, you pay them every Friday. This. It's a very structured. A very structured way of approaching things.

[D]

I actually pay them up every day now. Jean.

[C]

Really? Okay. All right, we're gonna have to. We're gonna have to unpack this. So how long have you been doing this? And. And why did you start doing this?

[D]

I started doing this in July because of that credit card float thing. I was like, I don't want to get back into this comfort zone of, like, oh, yeah, I can buy that. I can get this extra thing. It's like, no need to pay it off. So just open all. I had three credit cards. Open them in the morning if there's a balance. I just paid off things with your.

[C]

Mom when your parents got divorced. Must have been really, really tough. I mean, you're smiling and you're laughing, and I totally appreciate that. But I was in credit card debt when I came out of college, and I know how rough it is. Yeah, I mean, this must be. It must be really, really difficult for you to. To wrap your arms around. Can you talk to us a little bit more about that?

[D]

Yeah, I think, like, also my dad had, like, his own money, you know, money mindsets or whatever. So he was kind of telling me that the college I chose was too expensive. I was going to an. In state school, and I had some scholarships, so it wasn't really that expensive. And I guess to him it was. And I know my mom had to borrow some money from a friend to pay for me to study abroad. Which was a privilege. So I recognize that in the divorce, my dad blamed my mom for, like, spending too much money. And so I think those kind of comments have an impact on you. And I want to make sure, like, my kids, if they need something, we're able to afford it, and they don't feel, they don't feel bad or like they are causing a strain on the family. I also like to be prepared for, like, emergencies. So I remember for my mom, like, if that car needed something, you know, it's very stressful, or if there's something broke in the house, she was like, oh, we have this big bill, you know, we can't, we can't do much this month because we had to pay it off. And so I love having these savings buckets. So if I need new tires, I just go get new tires. If something like our chimney is leaking right now, had the guy come out, I'm going to be able to pay for it. So it brings me a sense of, like, calm and, like, safety being, like, if something happens, you know, we can probably pay for it.

[C]

So how, how do you have those savings buckets set up? Where are, how, how many different ones and how are they structured for people who are looking for a system? How does yours work?

[D]

Yeah, I use Capital One has a high yield savings account. It's 3.5 right now. I think you can get higher elsewhere, but once your money is someplace, I guess it's like a pain in the butt to move it. But I think I have six buckets right now. So house, car. I'm a teacher, so we don't get paid in the summer. So I have, like a bucket where I put some money to live off of in the summer. We have a travel one. We have an emergency fund, and, oh, we have a summer camp, birthday and Christmas. Maybe it's more than six. Yeah.

[C]

So all those separate?

[D]

Yes, they're all separate. So Cap Capital One, once you open one account, they let you open as many high yield savings accounts as you want. And it's easy.

[C]

Oh, I know.

[D]

It's very quick. Yes.

[C]

I do this too. I mean, I, I, when I have a special vacation that we're, we're going on, I'll open a separate account or a home renovation account if there's something that I'm looking for because I want to have the money there. How do you fund those accounts out of your, out of your paycheck? How do you decide how much goes into each one? And how does your husband do that, too?

[D]

So similar, like Christmas you know, it's 12 months, so I just take what I want to save for Christmas. Divided up by 12. We belong to the pool. So same thing. Divide that up by 12. So that's $65 a month. So they're like all auto savings accounts. Same thing with the summer. Like, I know how much money I need to live off in the summer. So I divide that up by 10 months, not 12. So, yeah, it's just a lot of, like, auto savings that go over every.

[C]

Paycheck, and then you live on what's left. Is that. Is that the money? Yeah. So that's how. That's why the spending is so tight. You're saving for so many different things.

[D]

Yes. Yeah.

[C]

Day three of tracking for us was your first day of summer break.

[E]

Happy Wednesday. So I'm a teacher, and today was my very first day of summer break. And my kids go to school in a different county, and so they still had one more day of school. So I got the whole glorious day to myself. I got an iced coffee at Dunkin. I went to cvs, but I used my flexible spending account, so that didn't cost me anything out of pocket. I had a free coupon for chicken strips at Chick Fil A, so that didn't cost me anything. I went to the thrift store and got my husband some T shirts and.

[D]

A couple odds and ends.

[E]

That was about $40. I went to the local nursery and got a plant and some mulch, and.

[D]

That was about $50.

[E]

I paid for that out of my.

[D]

I have a house sinking fund. And.

[E]

I went to the library. That was free, of course.

[D]

And, oh, our Disney plus subscription came out today. So overall, I spent more money than.

[E]

I normally do on a given day. But it's been really nice.

[D]

And I'm ending my afternoon at the pool. Kid free.

[E]

So happy summer.

[C]

You had what sounded like a dreamy first day of summer iced coffee, a thrift run, plant shopping, a solo afternoon by the pool. But you said you spent more than usual. How do you. Well, first of all, besides that iced coffee and that, those plants, what did you. What did you buy? And how do you balance joyful spending with staying on budget?

[D]

I think I could get better at the joyful spending. I get fun money every time I get paid, and so does my husband. And so I do use that money for, you know, going to thrift, Going to the thrift store or going to Michael's or if I want to go out to dinner with a friend. So that money I can kind of spend guilt free. But I would say that's kind of one of my things is trying to work to spend more joyfully and not so anxiously.

[C]

How do you do that?

[D]

I do like to travel. My husband and I like to travel. So because we put money, every paycheck into the travel fund, there is money there and I don't feel bad about spending that because I know that's what it's there for. So that's fun. So we have a trip planned in the fall and then we have another one planned in January when it's like cold and dark and yeah, terrible. So yeah, that's probably where I spend money with the least guilt is untravel.

[C]

We're going to take a very quick break. Shannon. When we come back, I want to talk a little bit more about your money journey in your 20s and how you got to where you are today. Back in a sec. I've had term life insurance since my kids were little. It was one of those decisions I made early on. Not because I wanted to think about those worst case scenarios, but I wanted to know they'd be protected no matter what. Fabric by Gerber Life is term life insurance you can get done today Made for busy parents like you, it's all online on your own schedule and can be done right from your couch. You could be covered in under 10 minutes with no health exam required. Fabric's policies are flexible, high quality and affordable. We're talking a million dollars in coverage for less than a dollar a day. Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their families. Apply today in just [e-mail] hermoney that's meetfabric.com hermoney m e-eetfabric.com hermoney Policies issued by Western Southern Life Assurance Company not available in certain states. Prices subject to underwriting and health questions. You know what doesn't belong in your summer plans? Getting burned by your old wireless bill. While you're planning beach trips, barbecues or long weekends with your girlfriends, your phone plan shouldn't be the thing that's draining your wallet. That's where Mint Mobile comes in. For a limited time, Mint mobile is offering three months of unlimited premium wireless service for just 15 bucks a month. That means you get the coverage and speed you're used to on the nation's largest 5G network, but for way less. This year, skip breaking a sweat and breaking the bank. Get this new customer offer and your 3 month unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a [e-mail] hermoney that's mintmobile.com hermoney upfront payment of $45 required, equivalent to $15 a month limited time. New customer offer for first 3 months only. Speeds may slow above 35 gigabytes on the unlimited plan. Taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details. We are back. We're talking to Shannon on day four. You shared with us a little bit about your money history.

[E]

Happy Juneteenth. I thought today maybe I would share my journey with money. In my 20s, I loosely budgeted, but I wasn't really aware of my total debt or my net worth. But when I was pregnant with our second daughter at 32, a friend told me that she got fun money every month for pedicures. And I was like, oh, tell me more about this. And she introduced me to Dave Ramsey. I dove headfirst into the Dave Ramsey philosophy, got the book, listened to the podcast. At the time, we had $17,000 in debt. That was student loans and credit cards. And so I got us out of debt and built an emergency fund and made sure I was investing in retirement. But then I wasn't really sure what to do. I didn't realize at the time, but Dave Ramsey doesn't really provide education or guidance on, like, those next steps. So I kind of got away from him and I found Gene. And I also listened to about five other financial podcasts on a weekly basis. And now I have sinking funds and I have a 457 as well as a 403B. And I'm aware of our net worth. And we're also debt free except for our mortgage. But I think that something that was created, like through the Dave Ramsey thing or maybe through childhood, was this anxious attachment to money. So I'm still working on that. I have a mantra that I try to repeat, which is we are wealthy beyond money. And it's just this reminder that we're fine. We have everything we need. And, you know, our wealth is really in our two healthy girls and our family and our friends and our personal health and, you know, those everyday moments. So I'm working to worry less about money. Have a great Thursday.

[C]

I know that you took hermoney's money type quiz, which is something that we're asking people who track with us to do. You were 97% producer. I'm a producer also. 47% visionary, 43% nurturer. Did those attributes line up for you? Is that sort of how you see yourself?

[D]

Yeah, when I was reading through the, like, the little descriptor bubbles, I was just Nodding my head. Yep.

[C]

I mean, producers, we know we like to make money.

[D]

Yes.

[C]

But we also like to hold on to it. Right. We have to push ourselves to take risks.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

When you are looking ahead towards your retirement, are you making sure that your money is working for you?

[D]

Yes. My husband and I both have pensions, but we also contribute to a 4.3B as well as recently started contributing to 457s. So we use Fidelity in the county that I work for. So I just use a target date fund.

[C]

Yeah. How does that feel?

[D]

You know, it was nice because Fidelity lets you type in your pension as well as your spouse's pension. And then what it does is it also considers the 403B and 457. So it help has that little, like, arrow that tells you if, you know, you're in the green or whatever. And I wasn't sure if we were in the green until I did that because it's hard to. There's not a lot of information or resources out there for people with pensions. So it's hard to know, like, am I going to have enough? Can I sustain, like, the same lifestyle so when I retire? So that was helpful.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. For people who are not familiar with Fidelity system, being in the green is basically, are you on track to meet your retirement goals to be able to replace enough of your income when you retire to live basically the way that you are now? And the fact that you're in the green, it means you're 100% on the right track. You've got a strong nurturer value as well in your money type, which means that you prioritize others. Sometimes we find our nurturers put more of their money toward taking care of other people than they do taking care of themselves. Taking. Do you have to be careful in order to rein it in when it comes to spending on your kids or other people?

[D]

Yeah. I think it helps now having the savings bucket for gifts because then I don't have to, like, if someone's graduating or there's a wedding or something. I'm like, okay, I can spend more than I would have in the past because I have this there. But with my kids. Yeah, I'll ignore the budget altogether. Oh, they want to take ballet class. Okay, well, just figure it out. You want to go to soccer? Okay. You know, so, yeah, I tend to kind of like, close my eyes and just. Yeah. Purchase those kind of things.

[C]

Close your eyes. Swipe and pray.

[D]

Yes. And then get. And then get irritated later, you know, with myself.

[C]

So on day five you mentioned you're preparing for a work presentation. You're dressing up as Glinda the Good Witch. You're on the hunt for a work professional pink sparkly outfit. First of all, amazing.

[F]

Happy summer solstice.

[D]

Yay.

[F]

It's the first day of summer. I love all the sunshine. Today. I bought my husband and I iced coffees at Dunkin. I went to the thrift store because I'm looking for a pink sparkly outfit for a presentation I'm doing in July. We are each members of the wizard of Oz and I'm Glinda. So just trying to find a work professional pink sparkly outfit. Anyway, I spent $19. I booked our two night hotel stay for the summer. It was $443 for a Marriott. I paid for the that out of a travel sinking fund that we have. We went to the pool again and the kids got french fries. So that was $5. My daughter's automatic payment for braces came out. That was $145. My husband got paid, so I paid off all of the credit cards and that felt good. I think that's about it. All right. Happy summer.

[C]

Do you have a budget for creativity, for self expression, for things like this? A bucket?

[D]

No bucket for that. I have some Michael's gift cards that I have like in a little envelope from different, like birthdays. So I'll just go and use those. But no, that's not a bad idea. I guess I just use my fun money. It's like if I want like the plants, if I'm in the mood to decorate the house, if I want to go shopping, I just use my fun money because then I don't feel like I'm taking from like the family's fund.

[C]

Clearly you pay a lot of attention to your finances on a regular basis, but I don't think you usually track your spending on a regular basis. How did this feel?

[D]

Yeah, I think I said this in the video recording. I didn't realize how much money I was spending. You know, I think it's like, oh, coffee here, this or that. Because I have a coffee line in my budget, so I don't really like kind of nickel and dime it. But say like you were saying about the nurturer piece. We went out to breakfast with my family and I knew ahead of time that I wanted to pay because my parents, we had invited them. But then I was not anticipating it being over a hundred and then it was. And so then I had to kind of figure out, okay, what we went over. So that extra money has to come from somewhere. So, yeah, I think there's like a lot of mental rounding. I know that's common for people. Yeah.

[C]

So how did you feel about your overall spending for the week and have you made any changes in the time since?

[D]

I felt like I spent more that week than I normally do, which might not be true because maybe because I was tracking it, it was more evident. The change I made is that I'm paying the credit card off every day so that I'm not trying to, like, float myself between paychecks. And that's actually been nice because I don't have to worry that I won't have the money for the next week.

[C]

Amazing. Shannon, thank you so much for doing this with us.

[D]

Thanks, Gene. I appreciate it.

[E]

It was fun.

[C]

Absolutely. Always fun to meet people in our community and. And we appreciate you opening up. Enjoy the rest of the summer.

[D]

Thank you.

[C]

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[G]

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