Ashley Feinstein

Laura: [00:00:00] Hi, Ashley, welcome to watch your next podcast.

Ashley: Thank you. I'm so happy to be here.

Laura: So happy to have you here. So this is a different we're going to talk about books. We're going to talk about like the regular books that we don't really talk about. We're going to talk about how we can afford, a book collection and pursuing book related hobbies and just, Hobbies itself, I know that we're in a financial interesting time.

Laura: There's inflation, there's like different expenses, things are more expensive than they were. We may not be earning enough, to cover. We may be pursuing hobbies that are a little bit more expensive. And so how can you manage it all? So actually tell us a little bit about yourself.

Ashley: Yes. It's such a great question too. I'm excited to dive into how to manage it all. Right. That's a big one. So I'm Ashley. I founded a company called the fiscal femme where I help people de stress their money and reach their money goals, which are really their life dreams and goals. So I'm, it's an honor and privilege to get to [00:01:00] do that every day.

Ashley: And a passion of mine is getting people wealthy, women wealthy. And I've been doing it for now, like 14 years, which was wild and started out working in finance, but still knew nothing about my own money. And it all started when I was sharing my own journey as I was figuring it out.

Laura: We've known each other for as long as you've been doing this business, I think, and you were in my first podcast 10 years ago or nine years ago, which was like, like that podcast no longer exists, but you were early in that podcast journey. Cause I was like, I knew money was an important part of my journey.

Laura: I didn't think I, because it's same thing you deal with food, you still deal with like, work. Yeah. Yeah. Money is just like another driver and I've been paying attention to money, but I've been living the girl math world too. And so it's interesting to see, like, now I'm part of the money club and I'm seeing so much more progress because.

Laura: [00:02:00] At the foundation of, like, the knowledge, but now I'm able to put together the specifics to talk to us about the money first. And then we'll get into the, the thing about money.

Ashley: Yes. And it, to your point on how long we've known each other, I was thinking about how did we meet, but it's been so long that we've been connected and watching each other's careers and journeys, but it is a money journey. It's like, it's the good news and bad news is you don't have to have it all figured out.

Ashley: But the bad news is you're never done. And so that is one of the reasons that I'm obsessed with the new money club that I launched because It's a lifelong thing. And so we might as well make it fun. We might as well do it together. We might as well have some accountability and lifelong learning along the way.

Ashley: And so the, I came up with the idea because I was thinking if I could only give 3 pieces of financial advice for the rest of my life, what would it be? And it would be to pay yourself 1st, which is, setting up an auto transfer, no matter how small to [00:03:00] just set aside money per paycheck to your savings, because for most of us, if we don't do that, there's just never going to be money left over.

Ashley: No matter how much we earn. There are unicorns out there who can save that way by just seeing what's left. But for most of us, having the auto transfer is really helpful. But that is something you don't really you can set that up and forget it and check in on it. But the parts that kind of are forever are the other 2 pieces of advice, which is why I started the money club.

Ashley: It's to have money parties. Which are time we set aside every month to track our spending to check in on our goals to handle any of. The money to dues that have come up, and that's kind of a forever practice. And then also to have investing parties and get investing to build wealth because unfortunately, we can't really save our way to wealth.

Ashley: We want to be having our money grow and work for us. And when we're even investing small amounts each month, they can really grow and compound to tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and millions of [00:04:00] dollars over the long term. So we in the money club, Have lessons on budgeting on putting together financial plans on investing.

Ashley: And then there's time each month for having our money parties, actually setting aside time to invest. And then there's the clubhouse where we're all kind of hanging out and sharing our wins and asking questions. And I've been throwing in some other fun events like office hours. And we have a nerdy money series this week on just the behind the scenes of how I think about certain financial decisions.

Ashley: This month we're talking about how I decided between two different types of mortgages. So it's been really fun, especially because it's brand new. The founding members, I've been able to implement what your all's feedback is. And so it's driving like what the events are, what the topics are, how we structure it.

Ashley: And so it's been really fun to see it evolve and grow and have you be a part of it.

Laura: yeah, it's been a lot of fun. I think it's okay. I was intimidated by the money party. I was like, it's going to take me so long. It literally took me. [00:05:00] The money party, essentially, you put what you have spent on the past month into a spreadsheet. You just see where things are, where the money's going. And it took me literally, like, 20 minutes, like, going through all the different accounts and just putting it in one place and seeing the categories and seeing the shifts.

Laura: Like, I've shifted, I'm moving away from eating out a lot to actually eating in, shift it, and I was able to see the number change from, like, a high amount to, like, a lower amount in a very simple aspect. Like, it's just, so I can celebrate a win. So it's not, Like, it was intimidating at first to realize I was like, oh, I'm tracking my spending.

Laura: It's just, it's like a diet, it's like tracking your calories, but it's really not. It's actually just giving yourself like, pat on the back, you did a good job, or maybe something like, oh, maybe I can try something different next time. I'm a strong believer, like, you don't need to have a case of the buckets.

Laura: Like, you can just go, like, just be like, okay, I made a mistake. I can just move on and just keep going from, start from that [00:06:00] moment on.

Ashley: Yes. It's, and it, yes, as much as possible, if we can to remove the judgment of it, because it's literally just what we spent, right. And we're just looking at it. We can just everyone has different values and priorities with their money and it ties in perfectly to this hobbies conversation because. We often think of budgets or plans as restrictive, but if, let's say, you want that book collection, or we were starting to do some gardening here on our roof deck, like, when you build that in, and it works with your financial plan, you can actually not feel guilty about it and enjoy it more because.

Ashley: You built it in and it's part of it. So I think often we think it's less stressful to not have a plan and to not have to look at it, but then we're kind of always worried. And anytime we're spending on something that's not a need, we might feel guilty about it or like we shouldn't be able to do it.

Ashley: Whereas the whole point of having money is of course to have stability and peace of mind, but also to enjoy your life.

Laura: Yeah, and let's talk about hobbies. So hobbies is something [00:07:00] that I know we think about life and it's like you you work, you maybe have kids, you may have different spaces, but there's something I think a millennial and Gen Z er, like the younger generation, like, have pursued this idea of hobbies, to pursue this idea, I think 2020 made us stop and realize like, we have all the time in the world and pursue the sourdough, the work.

Laura: The Tik Tok, the books are reading for fun. And so, books is something that I pursue. I'll talk about my experience. I am childless by choice. I don't have kids. I. lived in a very expensive city. I've been living in a very expensive city. So it's very like, it's, and I've been under earning for most of my time, just on a conscious, unconscious way of under earning.

Laura: And so I had to be very mindful about my spending. And I started reading in 2016. And I was in a job that was only paying 20 an hour. And I had like no free, like I had a lot of free [00:08:00] time, but I have like no interest in pursuing something to make more money. And I started to read, and I started to read cheaper books because I didn't really, I could have access to the library, but I didn't want to get the books in the library.

Laura: So, I was paying 99 cents, but I was reading a book a day. So, 99 cents to 199 to 299, they all like, a little those little expenses or not. So it would just. Yeah, and so I had to realize I was like, okay, how can I meet this on a budget? And one of my passions to teach you how to read on a budget, but there's a lot of sponsors like, you love this book, you want to buy this special edition, you want to buy this other edition, you want to have it in audio and all these different memberships and all these different streaming.

Laura: So it all adds up and you're like, how to afford this? So talk to us about how can we revisit the place of, we can buy the books, we can have the things that we want, but not have the guilt, but at the same [00:09:00] time be more mindful about this. Yeah.

Ashley: Yes. Oh my gosh. So many things come to mind. So, and that's incredible. A book a day, like you probably have so many fun ideas and new stories in your mind and it must've been so enriching. So a few things. So the first thing I think something that I like to think about is being fabulously frugal and it's getting clear on what about something is important to you and letting go of the other part.

Ashley: So, and then that way you can honor the part that's important, but not spend on the parts that aren't. So, for example, if I love travel, and the really important part for me is quality time with a friend and exploring a new place. Then I can kind of skip the expensive hotel or the trendy neighborhood, but maybe someone else that's really important.

Ashley: They want the luxury of the hotel. So, knowing what's important and not doing things just because other people are doing them or because it's what we've always done. [00:10:00] So, really zeroing in on, I want to spend on the parts that are important. So, if it that might mean for some people, it is library books.

Ashley: For others, if it's a collection that's important, they don't want to be returning the books, right? They want to be keeping them and seeing them and having a reference to the wonderful experience of reading it. So there's different. So really thinking about what about this hobby is important and what are the parts that I think it's worth spending on and letting go of the rest that can really reduce the amount we spend right off the bat.

Ashley: I think also when. We start a new hobby to try to, I think there could be a tendency to, we're really excited and we want to invest a lot in this new hobby. Like, I haven't played pickleball, but I'm going to buy all the equipment, right? I'm ready to go. And then we start playing and realize, oh, I didn't actually really like this or I'm not doing it.

Ashley: So whenever I try to start something. I say, is there a way I can do it for free or little to no money, just to make sure that this is something that I'm interested in and enjoy. And some [00:11:00] hobbies. Don't have a high cost of entry, right? You can just get started. But others there's equipment, there's products, there's things that we need.

Ashley: So to try to say, is there a way that I can test this. For a slower, minimal cost, and that could be borrowing or 2nd hand or trying a freeway 1st, even if it's not as ideal. That way, as we're experimenting with different things, we're not necessarily going all in and investing. And it's almost like, as I prove to myself that this is something I'm going to keep up with, then I really start investing over time and trying to do it as slowly, just to make sure that I'm, But it's just very easy to get caught up on an impulse, especially when it's something we enjoy.

Ashley: And that we're very excited about. And so I think those two things and then building it into the plan, like you mentioned, and of course there are levels of income where the plan just won't work, but I still think it's important to have the plan, even if it's not saying [00:12:00] something that we want to see, because then we can do something about it.

Ashley: Whether that is shift something else or CEO, if I earned more, I could really. Afford to invest in this hobby, and then maybe get that motivation or just know what's that number. I'm trying to increase my earnings by, like, is there no, is there a way I could earn that? So, regardless of if it's currently workable, I do think putting it into that spending plan is valuable just for our brains to get to work on figuring out how to make it work.

Laura: Yeah, and how can you build something fine? So is it just basically looking at your fixed income, your variable income, and then maybe put up to maybe put some buckets of money?

Ashley: Yes. So I can say. And a template that that I used to get started, but basically in your spending plan, I like to look at the full year because at least like one to two years, but just because there are things that happen in certain months that aren't happening every single month. And when we plan for just the month, we miss things.

Ashley: So looking [00:13:00] ahead for the, like the next 12 months, next 24 months, but to make it accurate, I do like to look at the past. So, being at the last month at a minimum, once you get that, maybe look at the month before, even scanning through old statements. It could be quick just to see. Was there something that happens once a year that I might forget about that?

Ashley: It's not happening all the time. So that the historical numbers and knowing what happened helps us decide what's realistic for the future. And then, yes, I like to look at income. So you could have and when you look at income, what actually hits your bank account, because that's the money you have to allocate.

Ashley: Unfortunately, it's different than our 12 or 24. So, and looking at that, putting that at the top, any variable income you have as well, doing your best to estimate it and. I usually would estimate, for your, you can have a version of your goal, but then also a more minimal amount so that it just [00:14:00] feels.

Ashley: Like, in a down month, it feels more realistic and then yes, what you spend. And each line is a different spending item. Like, it could be groceries, shopping, dining out your bills, different bills and keeping it as simple as possible at 1st. And you can always make it more detailed later if you want to see something broken out, but like you said, at 1st, it can feel daunting.

Ashley: And so as simple as we can make it for ourselves so that we, and then once you do it, and you see, oh, this didn't take too long. I'm really curious about understanding. What of my shopping is for, like, household goods versus. Fun shopping, so I'll break that out and you can get more playful with it.

Ashley: Once you catch the bug and enjoy doing it. But at 1st. Keeping it as simple for yourself

Laura: yeah,

Ashley: is helpful, I think, and I know people who do it by hand to, if, like, having a Google sheet. Or a spreadsheet feels daunting the, what we really want to do is just know [00:15:00] where our money's going and it sounds. Simple but so many of us don't and when we estimate we're really off.

Ashley: So, sometimes higher and sometimes lower. So knowing where our money is going and in the money parties, that's why we don't say, okay, what's my phone bill? I'll go look and put that in. We actually log into our bank statements and start with the first of the month and go through line by line, because then it's, we don't miss anything.

Ashley: If we're saying, if we're just trying to remember bills and then we go search for it. We're going to miss a ton of things that way. So that's why we did the money party that way.

Laura: I got to talk to about. So, social media is you can love it or hate it. But there's a lot of like, triggers that push you to spend more money. Like, a good example, we're recording this on Prime Day. And, everyone, the mother, influencers, non influencers, friends, family, they're all posting their, their Prime deals.

Laura: Like, there are deals you can go. Yeah. And so, especially within the book world, [00:16:00] there's a lot of like triggers or like, you want to get the shiny object that it's there, do you have any tips or, ideas of how we can actually be more mindful about this as opposed to being like, just so trigger happy of like, just click, get out of Instagram, go buy the thing, come back to Instagram and set and repeat the cycle over and over.

Ashley: Oh my gosh, it's very, it's a real struggle. I have a quiz actually called, should I buy this? I can send it to you. So anytime you want to buy it, you can go through and answer the questions time. But I would say the, for the, especially for the sales. So especially for sales to give yourself as much time as possible, because there can be that, like you mentioned the trigger and like, I need this, I didn't even know about it and now I need it.

Ashley: But when we give ourselves time and sometimes with sales, it's not possible to give ourselves a full 48 hours, but it gives us time for that impulse to kind of wear off and then see if this is something we really want. And [00:17:00] you can use sales to your benefit. If there are things that you need, I just would plan in advance.

Ashley: Like if you're not, if you weren't going to buy it anyway, buying it on sale is actually, even if it's 40 percent off, you're spending 60 percent more, than you would have. So it's not actually benefiting you. But if you do have a list of things and that you need and you've been waiting for and that you consciously and intentionally want kind of wait for them to go on sale and use the sale, but it's when the sale kind of comes into our space and makes us want something that we don't already.

Ashley: We don't need or we won't want in 2 days is when when we get into trouble. And I would have a lot of compassion. For ourselves in these situations, because these companies, they know so much about us from our behavior and we're targeted for a reason. And it's hard. And so I think to have compassion for when it does happen and then try to take a step back and see, okay, what could I do differently next time?

Ashley: What happened? Was I in a certain [00:18:00] mood? Was I bored at work? Was I, could I have, Or do I, could I think about how will I feel about this purchase in one week, in one month when I'm paying off the credit card bill for it? Will I be regretting it? So trying to think through some of those points as we're going through even having a buddy, like, I think that is one of the beauties of the money club is you can go on and say, I really want to buy this.

Ashley: This is really hard. What do you all think? And when someone else in your life, Knows what your goals are. They can remind you of them. And I think that's another one of the downsides that we don't talk about money enough is that your friend might think, Oh yeah, you love it. You love books.

Ashley: You should buy it. But they don't know that like, you also really want to save and you really want to start building wealth and you really want to pay off X, Y, Z credit card or whatever the goal is. If they knew that they might not encourage you or they might talk through it a little bit more instead of being like treat yourself, you deserve it, so. I think that's, it's a testament to talking about [00:19:00] money, not necessarily. You don't have to say this is what I have in my bank account, but you could say, I really am trying to save more money, or I'm really trying to be more mindful. Of my spending, and so our friends and family can support us in that.

Laura: Oh, this is so helpful. So talk to us and read your books, because you do have two published books and you want to tell us all about them and why you should pick them up.

Ashley: Yes, so my 1st book, the 30 day money cleanse. It was my first program, so I was, I started out just sharing about my own journey and then people said, can you help me? And so I was helping people. Coaching them, I got certified as a life coach. And then I started to realize I was saying the same things over and over, regardless of if someone was making 30, 000 or 500, 000, like, a lot of the same complaints.

Ashley: And so what I decided to do is create a program. And this was the 30 day money plans and I ran it live for 5 years and the results were really incredible. [00:20:00] The average person saved 950 dollars during the 30 days. And, like, mostly didn't feel restricted, and they felt like their life was still really full and good and they weren't having to say no to everything because the whole point of the cleanse is that we.

Ashley: Let go of all wants essentially for a week, and then we add back things based on our values, based on our relationships. And what's important to us. And so it feels really good. And the spending that we leave and the new lifestyle we have, it just feels good. And so people saved a large portion of that nine 50, even going forward.

Ashley: And so we turned that into my first book. It's colorful, it's workbook. It has like those workbook elements in between the book pages. So it's a very special book that I love all around budgeting and money mindset. And then my second book, financial adulting, That one kind of fills the gap of everything else.

Ashley: So it covers everything under the sun around money. Like it goes [00:21:00] from goals and taxes, estate planning, debt, investing, retirement. So it, it's oh, this is great. I have this plan and I have a really powerful money mindset from the money plans. But now I have specific questions about like, what is a traditional 401k and how do I choose an investment?

Ashley: And that's really where Financial adulting comes in and how I view it is I want it to like sit on someone's wall. Of course, I want them to read it. But if they ever run into a question or they're like, oh, I left my company. I need to roll over my 401k. Let's see what the book says about that. Almost like a reference guide because everything's not happening all at once in our money life, but it's there for you.

Ashley: When you need it.

Laura: Oh, this is so exciting. So, Ashley, tell us what you're finding online.

Ashley: I am on all the socials at the fiscal fem, it's T-H-E-F-I-S-C-A-L-F-E-M-M-E. And my website, I have a lot of free [00:22:00] resources at the fiscal femme.com. So there's a lot of templates from like budgeting templates, net worth template. We have a moving budget. So if you're moving and want to plan for that, and then also just fun guides, like revamp your finances in 48 hours, or take a step a day to help your finances, or there's a guide to money parties and high yield savings accounts.

Ashley: So there's lots of goodies on there for for free.

Laura: Yeah. So thank you, Ashley, for having me on the show.

Ashley: Thank you for having me. This was so fun.