Sometimes the things that feel the most responsible with your debt payoff are actually keeping you stuck. In this episode, I'm talking about "checking the box" - small, symbolic financial actions, including scattering extra debt payments across whichever card feels most urgent each month, that feel like progress but aren't connected to any real strategy. I'll walk through three real examples of this pattern (including one straight out of debt payoff), why it happens even to smart, capable people, and what to do instead: focusing your extra payments on ONE target debt instead of spreading them thin.

You'll learn:

• What "checking the box" looks like with your debt payoff specifically
• Why scattering extra payments across multiple cards feels responsible but doesn't work
• Why overwhelm leads us to choose whatever feels most urgent over real strategy
• How to shift from scattered extra payments to one focused debt snowball target
• Why this same principle applies to your whole financial picture, not just debt

Get 9 Ways to Break Up With Your Credit Cards

www.katyalmstrom.com/9-ways

Book a free consultation call with Katy: calendly.com/almstromcoaching/moneywisechat

The best way to connect with Katy online is in the Debt Payoff for Women Community!

www.facebook.com/groups/debtpayoffforwomen

If your income isn't the same every month, most budgeting advice doesn't work for you - and that can leave you feeling like you just can't plan at all. In this episode, I'm walking through how to build a real, workable money plan even with irregular income: finding your "floor" (your lowest realistic month), building your plan around that number, and deciding in advance where extra money goes when a good month happens. Irregular income doesn't mean no plan. It just means a different kind of plan.

You'll learn:

• Why traditional monthly budgeting breaks down with irregular income
• How to find your income "floor" and why it matters more than your average
• How to build a spending plan that works even in your worst month
• Why deciding where overflow goes in advance changes everything
• How your sinking fund becomes an even bigger safety net with unpredictable income

Get 9 Ways to Break Up With Your Credit Cards

www.katyalmstrom.com/9-ways

Book a free consultation call with Katy: calendly.com/almstromcoaching/moneywisechat

The best way to connect with Katy online is in the Debt Payoff for Women Community!

www.facebook.com/groups/debtpayoffforwomen

These aren’t big dramatic money mistakes. They’re small, quiet habits that feel responsible (or at least harmless) but slowly wreck your relationship with your own money. In this episode, I’m walking through five sneaky patterns I see all the time: letting someone else hold your money so you don’t have to look at it, avoiding your bank balance, only talking about money in crisis mode, comparing your money to everyone else’s without knowing your own numbers, and using shame as motivation. You’ll probably recognize yourself in at least one.

You’ll learn:

• Why avoidance often disguises itself as practicality or privacy
• How outsourcing awareness (not just tasks) hurts your relationship with money
• Why regular, boring money conversations matter more than crisis conversations
• Why comparison without your own numbers is always unfair to you
• Why shame doesn’t build sustainable money habits

Get 9 Ways to Break Up With Your Credit Cards

www.katyalmstrom.com/9-ways

Book a free consultation call with Katy: calendly.com/almstromcoaching/moneywisechat

The best way to connect with Katy online is in the Debt Payoff for Women Community!

www.facebook.com/groups/debtpayoffforwomen

A few weeks ago, I told you Scott and I each get our own fun money every month, no questions asked. Now I'm putting my money where my mouth is - literally. In this episode, I'm walking through exactly how I spent my fun money in September. Every category, every purchase, no filter. If you've ever been curious what "guilt-free spending" actually looks like in practice (not just in theory), this one's for you.

You'll learn:

• Exactly where my fun money went this September
• What surprised me when I added it all up
• What guilt-free spending actually looks like in real life, not just theory
• How this system has actually helped Scott and me communicate better about money

Get 9 Ways to Break Up With Your Credit Cards

www.katyalmstrom.com/9-ways

Book a free consultation call with Katy: calendly.com/almstromcoaching/moneywisechat

The best way to connect with Katy online is in the Debt Payoff for Women Community!

www.facebook.com/groups/debtpayoffforwomen

What would it take to pay off $50,000 in consumer debt in just 8 months?

I'm talking with my friend Morgan Brophy - President & CEO of the Upper Valley Business Alliance - about exactly that. Morgan shares her real, honest debt payoff story, including what actually changed to make this kind of progress possible.

We get into the "envelope method" Morgan grew up using (and still uses today, just with bank accounts instead of literal envelopes) - including how she pays herself an "allowance." We talk about the financial education she got as a kid, including being handed a small inheritance at 21 and being pushed by her dad to research and understand her own investments before she could touch the money. And we dig into how she and her husband manage money together - full transparency, without micromanaging each other, while both maintaining financial independence.

Morgan is refreshingly open about numbers, mindset, and the fact that there's no secret to building wealth - just time, consistency, and starting now.

This episode is for you if:

• You want to hear a real, specific debt payoff story - not just theory
• You're curious how other couples split and manage money together
• You didn't grow up with much financial education and want to know what actually helps
• You're ready to start thinking beyond debt payoff toward saving and investing
• You want practical systems (like the envelope method) you can actually use

You'll learn:

• How Morgan paid off $50K in consumer debt in 8 months
• The envelope method and how to "pay yourself an allowance"
• How financial education early in life shapes money habits for good
• How Morgan and her husband manage money with transparency and independence
• Why consistency - not a secret formula - is what actually builds wealth

About Morgan: After a 15-year career in the opera and classical music industry, Morgan moved back to the Upper Valley region of NH/VT from Washington, DC. She's now President & CEO of the Upper Valley Business Alliance, supporting nearly 500 local businesses. She's also co-founder of Artist Relief Tree, a mutual aid organization that raised and redistributed nearly $750k to 3,000 artists worldwide during COVID. Morgan lives in Claremont, NH with her husband and their three cats.

Get Morgan’s playlist here:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4dK24QigkhumcyRAqYKGN6

Get 9 Ways to Break Up With Your Credit Cards

www.katyalmstrom.com/9-ways

Book a free consultation call with Katy: calendly.com/almstromcoaching/moneywisechat

The best way to connect with Katy online is in the Debt Payoff for Women Community!

www.facebook.com/groups/debtpayoffforwomen

If you've ever sworn you'd meal plan this week and then hit 5pm exhausted and ordered takeout again... or said yes to one more commitment because saying no felt impossible... this episode is for you.

I'm talking with my friend Valerie Recore, a productivity coach for moms, about something we don't talk about enough: the connection between overwhelm and overspending.

We dig into why "doing it all" - as a mom, in your career, in life - quietly drains your bank account through convenience spending. The takeout you didn't plan for. The subscription you signed up for because you were too tired to figure out another solution. The money that leaks out when you're just trying to survive the day.

We also talk about saying yes to the right things and no to everything else - and why that skill matters just as much for your money as it does for your time.

This isn't a typical money conversation. It's about the overwhelm underneath the overspending, and how getting a handle on one helps you get a handle on the other.

This episode is for you if:

• You feel like you're always "on" and never catching up
• You've noticed you spend more when you're overwhelmed or exhausted
• You say yes to things you don't have room for (and then feel resentful or drained)
• You want to feel less scattered - in your time AND your money
• You're a mom trying to do it all and wondering why it feels so hard (and expensive)

You'll learn:

• Why overwhelm leads to convenience spending (and how to catch it before it happens)
• How to start saying no without the guilt
• Valerie's approach to prioritizing what actually matters
• Practical ways to create more breathing room in your day - which creates more breathing room in your bank account too

Connect with Valerie:

https://www.instagram.com/strideproductivity

https://strideproductivity.com/

Get 9 Ways to Break Up With Your Credit Cards

www.katyalmstrom.com/9-ways

Book a free consultation call with Katy: calendly.com/almstromcoaching/moneywisechat

The best way to connect with Katy online is in the Debt Payoff for Women Community!

www.facebook.com/groups/debtpayoffforwomen

I'm back! After a summer break, I'm easing back into the podcast with one of my favorite topics: fun money and how it fits into debt payoff. A lot of people think paying off debt means cutting out everything fun for years - but that's not how I've done it, and it's not how my clients do it either. In this episode, I'm sharing exactly how Scott and I handle fun money in our marriage - how much, how it's split, and what I actually spend mine on. Plus, I'm giving you a preview of what's coming: two interviews I'm excited to share (with my friends Valerie Recore and Morgan Brophy), and in a few weeks, I'll be back with the real, unfiltered breakdown of exactly how I spent my fun money in September.

You'll learn:

• Why fun money is a key part of a sustainable debt payoff plan
• How Scott and I split fun money equally and keep it separate
• What I actually spend my fun money on
• What's coming next on the podcast (two interviews + my September fun money breakdown)

Get 9 Ways to Break Up With Your Credit Cards

www.katyalmstrom.com/9-ways

Book a free consultation call with Katy: calendly.com/almstromcoaching/moneywisechat

The best way to connect with Katy online is in the Debt Payoff for Women Community!

www.facebook.com/groups/debtpayoffforwomen

Did you miss this episode last year? It was one of the most downloaded episodes pf 2025 and I want YOU to hear it!

Episode Description:

The journey from money chaos to money confidence isn't a straight line - it happens in stages. And understanding exactly where you are can help you focus on what you actually need next.

Fresh off our 3-Day Money Reset Challenge, I'm sharing the 5 stages every woman moves through on her path to financial confidence:

You'll discover:

• Stage 1: Money Avoidance (and why looking is always better than not looking)
• Stage 2: Money Awareness (when you have information but don't know what to do with it)
• Stage 3: Money Management (systems that work most of the time but you still second-guess decisions)
• Stage 4: Money Confidence (frameworks that work automatically without guilt or stress)
• Stage 5: Money Mastery (using money strategically to build wealth and create impact)

Plus, why these stages aren't linear, why you can't skip the foundation-building that happens early on, and how to identify exactly where you are right now.

Most women get stuck between Stages 2 and 3. They manage their money okay but never feel truly secure about their financial choices.

What if 2025 was the year you moved to Stage 4?

Ready to move beyond money management to true money confidence?

Get 9 Ways to Break Up With Your Credit Cards

www.katyalmstrom.com/9-ways

Book a free consultation call with Katy: calendly.com/almstromcoaching/moneywisechat

The best way to connect with Katy online is in the Debt Payoff for Women Community!

www.facebook.com/groups/debtpayoffforwomen

Get 9 Ways to Break Up With Your Credit Cards

www.katyalmstrom.com/9-ways

Book a free consultation call with Katy: calendly.com/almstromcoaching/moneywisechat

The best way to connect with Katy online is in the Debt Payoff for Women Community!

www.facebook.com/groups/debtpayoffforwomen