As a Business Insider Personal Finance Insider, I share tips, strategies, and info every month to help readers manage their finances.

 
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Podcast: Spending, Saving and Living your Values

In Episode 36 of The Mom Hour Voices Podcast, Natalie sits down with host Sarah Powers to unpack some of the myths surrounding the process of getting unbiased financial advice, address specific listener questions about spending and saving, and dive into what it means to make financial decisions based around your values. 

 

Podcast: Unlocking freedom in your budget

“It’s not the actual amount of money you make that determines your abundance, it’s about having the infrastructure in place to know how you will spend the money you have. Your finances are about living with intention.”

 
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is the cost of beauty worth it?

“You might think that if you can just lose 10 pounds, you’ll feel happier, people will be more attracted to you, and you’ll like yourself more,” she said.“But the truth is that liking yourself for who you are and what you look like now will help you feel happier and more confident, which will, in turn, make you more attractive to others, none of which requires you to lose 10 pounds!”

 

PODCAST: How to align your finances with your values

Natalie joined the Savvy Sauce Podcast to share more about how she helps people cultivate a plan for their finances based on their values and goals so they can not only make progress, but find confidence, balance, and peace along the way.

 

3 Crucial Money To-Dos for Every Decade of Life

“Instead of renting, you’re now going to buy a house, or you’re combining finances with a partner, or you decide to have a family,” Taylor explains. “All that extra money that seemed like it would make things so much easier suddenly isn’t there.”

 

How to Confront and Conquer 7 Big Financial Fears

"You just have to take it one bill at a time. If you keep letting them stack up, it’s just going to get worse. Once you get started, you’ll build up momentum and want to keep going."

 

5 Pieces of Classic Money Advice That Stand the Test of Time

“Many of my clients feel like living below their means will get easier once they make more money,” she says. “[But] once they make more money, they’re living in a nicer apartment, have a mortgage or have kiddos—all of which make it more challenging to live below your means if you haven’t started already.”

 

A financial planner analyzes the holiday spending of a family of 4

"The splurge holiday could be Christmas, but it could also be Valentine's Day, birthdays or your anniversary," she explains. "Just be sure to keep it to one per year, and consider a price limit on the non-splurge holidays."

 

6 Financial Planners Spill: 14 Tips We Tell Our Friends

For small costs that can quickly add up over time—like that daily Starbucks habit or iTunes purchases—consider buying yourself a gift card and load it with a set, budgeted amount at the start of each month. Then go ahead and enjoy those lattes, scones or apps until your card runs out.

 

The Trick to Actually Saving Money When You Say You Will

“Focus on the activity of saving money, not the outcome,” says Taylor. “Your win is to save $300 a month for retirement. Don’t worry about the $4 million you might need when you’re 65.”

 

The Common Ways People Sabotage Short-Term Money Goals

Expecting to reach your goal in too-tight a period of time is a common stumbling block. It’s the same reason crash dieting never works: You think you can handle the drastic sacrifices for a few weeks or months, but the terms are too harsh, and your efforts falter.