How To Fix Your Money Problems and Get Out Of Debt - Mills Bender - Mills Knows Bills

SPEAKER_01 0:04

This is the Beyond the Story Podcast, a show that goes way beyond the story. And now, Sebastian Frost. I can't believe it's taken this long to get you on the show. It's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Hey, it's all in due timing.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

It really is. You know, it isn't all in due timing, but you and I met, gosh, I don't, what, four years ago?

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Uh three and some change, yeah, something like that.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

And you were working for your family print business here in Miami. You joined our B and I chapter. So there's something different about this girl. She's got the hustle. And then I met your dad, and I'm like, ah, it all makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Yes, I'm my father with hair.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

100. And then uh we we ended up meeting down there and uh we started talking about just some initial, but you had like this this like uh you know, just like just a dull look on your face of like there's got to be more from my life. And you started teasing it through like talking about well, you know, I'm really passionate about helping people with their finances, especially young and teenagers. And what about a YouTube channel? And I was like, hey, check out Sunny Leonardozy. She's got a course for like five or six hundred bucks. I hear great things about it. Um, and you should probably call your company Mills Knows Bills. And I think that was the end of the meeting.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

And here we are pretty straightforward.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Yeah. And here we are. I'm just going where I'm led. And here we are, some three, three years later. Uh, we're you're in the same mastermind group together. Um we're great buddies. We got the the the big brother, little sis dynamic uh pretty pretty nailed down. Um, and um and Mills knows bills is a thing, it's alive and well, and thriving, and masterminds and clients, and revenue, and growth, and team members. So um let's back up before we dive into all of Mills knows bills. If you're tuning in right now, you're thinking, I I press play because I need to understand how I can unlike unscrew my entire non-existent budget and money program. We're gonna break down some incredible. I I went through Mills' program, so I highly endorse it. Um, but I I I firmly believe in what she's doing in addition to that. So we're gonna dig into some gems on you know, how do you start? How do you start with nothing? How do you start today? How do you put a budget together? How do you stick to it? So we're gonna get into all that. But before we do, Mills, let's back up to the beginning of the story and help people kind of understand, you know, because you're and again, I don't I don't wanna I don't wanna put you out, put you out there, and I'm never supposed to talk about a woman's age, but I mean my goodness, you're 28 years old. 26. 26. Okay, I'm just kidding. Why did I get 28?

SPEAKER_00 2:55

Joe's 28, and I'm not 28 percent. That's what it is. Okay, I blame Joe. I live today, too.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

So okay, there we go. Fair enough. Um, 26 years old, and yeah, you're married, got a little one on the way, you're running your own business, uh, got investment properties, investments. I mean, you live what you teach. Um, this is and it's no mystery why your business has grown uh as fast as it has. And this is just the beginning. Uh, but let's back up a little bit and how this all started.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Yeah, I mean, well, first, thanks for having me on on your show. I'm super excited to have this conversation. I've been looking forward to it for a while. But my journey really started from some not so great roots about seven and a half years ago. I had just started college. I was maybe six weeks into my freshman year, and I wanted to grab dinner with my roommates and friends, check my bank account so I could see in advance what I could afford at dinner that night, right? You know how you kind of like filter the menu and see anything $10 and below is what I can get for dinner.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

Oh, it looks like green appetizers. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Well, I had a dollar fifty cents in my bank account. So it's like I wasn't going. We're not going to dinner that night. We're just gonna see what we have in the refrigerator. Um, but yeah, that was my oh my goodness moment. It was my come to Jesus moment of uh clearly something I was doing was not working financially. And I had all the all the emotions and questions like, how did I get here? How can I make sure I never get here again? I had guilt, shame, embarrassment. But what really bothered me the most was the fact that I didn't know what I didn't know about money, and I also didn't feel comfortable enough talking to somebody about it because money's taboo. So I kind of sat in this rut by myself and uh kind of just lived with it for a few months while I slowly but surely started my own financial journey of learning about money management, taking all the puzzle pieces that I learned and forming a picture myself.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

And what did that picture look like?

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Well, for me, it looked like being able to stop living paycheck to paycheck, paying off debt or avoiding bad debt in general, and then start reaching my financial goals, like buying a house, having an emergency fund, investing, making sure I was prepared for retirement, making sure I could afford a 529 plan for my child when I got to that age, whatever it may be. Um, but for me, it looked like finding my version of financial freedom and being able to figure out what I needed to do financially to afford that.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

And so where did you perfect segue into so how do you start all that? I mean, where does that even begin? Because I think a lot of people think, yeah, sure, I should maybe you listen to this and you do live on a budget and you manage your finances. Great, fantastic. Maybe you're just looking for one nugget of information, or maybe you got a friend, family member, somebody you care about that you want to share this information with. But if you know, a majority of people, and that's why you're in business and why your solution works, a majority of people do not have a budget. They don't live within that budget. Um, and they don't even, like you said, you don't know what you don't know. They don't even know that they probably should have it, yet they're curious why they have no money at the end of the month. So, where does that all begin? Where does that process start?

SPEAKER_00 6:18

So for me, I was still in college. So I actually decided to use my college experience as an opportunity to get a skill set rather than a degree for a career. So I decided to use that time to soak up as much knowledge as possible. Mindset is really what it boils down to. Um, I decided to get out of my own way of telling myself I wasn't smart enough, I wasn't capable enough, I was never gonna be able to do it, right? I just decided to soak up as much as I could and then slowly start implementing what I was learning. I just so happened to fall in love with finance along the way. So, one thing that I encourage anybody who's starting their financial journey or maybe still kind of in those beginning stages is don't worry about not understanding every single aspect right away. You're always going to be learning. Finance, your financial journey is a journey for life. I'm still learning new things every single day about money management. But rather than getting overwhelmed with everything that you feel like you need to learn, just be a sponge. Soak up as much as you can. Don't tell yourself that you're not smart enough or that you're not going to be able to do it because you haven't done it before. You're learning something new and just slowly start implementing what you do learn so you can see how it works in your life and you can fine-tune it along the way.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Love it. So do what works for you. But sometimes people don't even know what works for them. So, what are some tactical things people can let? Are there some tools or do you put do you bust out a spreadsheet? You know, what's the best approach for being able to say, okay, today is Tuesday and I am no longer not having a budget. We're gonna set the budget today.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

I love it. Well, I do love the fact that it's not a, you know, you're not waiting for a Monday or you're not waiting for January 1st, right? The best day to get started is today. Right. Because the longer you put it off, the the more you're gonna get yourself anxious over it. So, number one, start today and start with a budget. Budgets aren't glamorous, let's be honest. No one sits there unless you're a nerd like me, it's like, ooh, I'm gonna work on my budget or my Excel sheet or whatever, right? The point is budgeting is just the tool to get you to the glamorous results that you want, whatever that may look like in your version of financial freedom. So establish a budget. You need to know where your money is coming from and where it's going. But more importantly, you need to know where you want it to go, right? A budget is just a monetary reflection of your priorities. So set a budget. The second thing you need to do is look at all of the goals that you want in your life and see how you can, how you can translate those goals into monetary units within your budget, right? Break it down into bite-sized pieces. You want to buy a home and it's gonna cost $24,000. See if you can afford $1,000 a month of savings for 24 months. If you can't, fine-tune it, right? Prolong the timeline, have a cheaper house that you want to get, right? Maybe find more income. There are so many different things that you can do. But until you actually sit down and set that budget and then look at your goals within that budget, you're gonna be stuck in the same place, letting your money control you.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Yeah, I mean, that's key. And I think a majority of people, unfortunately, money does control you. You don't control the money, but there's a lot of freedom on the other side of that. So let's talk about some things that you're doing at Mills Nose Bills as far as what you do to help a client. I know you're doing retreats. I know you're doing some group stuff, I know you're doing some one-on-one coaching, but somebody comes to you today and says, Listen, I got some serious money issues. I have no budget, I want to hire you. What does that look like? And how can you help?

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Right. So our um our main clientele base is anybody that is a variable income earner. So salesperson, realtor, MLO, entrepreneur, right? Anyone whose income is fluctuating. And for them, we like working and partnering with them in our programs because their financial problems are amplified by the fact that they don't have a consistent income coming in, right? If you say set a budget and you start with income, for them, they don't know what they can put for their income. So we actually uh we have a flagship program called Master Your Money. It's a 90-day coaching program where we work with them one-on-one. It comes with six one-on-one coaching sessions, supplemented with a six-chapter online course. And throughout that, we give them financial organization and clarity. We help them establish a budget both in their business and personal life, but then we automate that bad boy as much as possible so that way it's working for them rather than them working for it. By the end of the program, they have a they have a financial plan that helps them stop overdrafting on their bank account, pay off debt twice as fast, and getting on track to reaching their financial goals simply because they have a business strategy that aligns with that financial plan.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

Amazing. And a part of your program, I mean, what you really emphasize is that, you know, if you, you know, if you join my program, um you're you're the money that you're gonna save by the time you're done with the program will will pay for the program in and of itself.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Absolutely. And the the average ROI that my clients get is is double. So it's it's truly a return on your investment. It's not necessarily a cost. Our unofficial motto is use us and lose us because we actually educate you on our processes of how we get to those end results. So as you grow, as your business grows and your finances change, you can fine-tune it along the way to make sure that it keeps fitting with you.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

Awesome. So, and you got a podcast too.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

I do. I do. 50th episode comes out next week.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

Let's go. And what kind of stuff are you teaching on this podcast?

SPEAKER_00 12:10

Uh, yes, anything money related. Um, normally it's around those that are for variable income earners, but you know, things like tax strategies for the self-employed, how to master your money, retirement strategies for the self-employed, how to get out of your own way, how you choose your own obstacles, all those different things. So it's all things money. And it's, you know, the the range of time is anywhere between five minutes to 45 minutes, depending on on the topic, but there's something for everybody in that podcast.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

I love it. I love it. So um do you recommend any tools for people to to to leverage? I mean, outside of hiring you, that's tool number one. But when someone, when someone uh says, you know what, I want to start today. I'm listening to this podcast episode. I want to start today. What what are some what are some like tactical tools or is there an app or website to go to?

SPEAKER_00 13:03

Sure. Um, first thing I would say is download my free budget setting tool from my website, Mills Nosebills.com slash resources. It'll be the first link at the top. That's a great place for you to get financially organized and just have a game plan. If you are already in the place where you then have a budget and you just want to see where your money is actually going and see how closely it is related to the budget that you've set, I really like the mint app. It's not going to be your end all be all, but it does give you a general idea of where your money is going so you can see the categories that you're overspending and where you can start reeling that in a little bit to alleviate some cash flow for other areas that are of more importance to you.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

I love it. So um time we're recording this, it's the almost the end of July, which is a little crazy in and of itself. Uh what what are you excited about for the rest of the year?

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Oh my goodness. Well, my little nugget, my little baby is gonna be. Oh, that's right. You are you are procreating.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

I am procreating. I'm a human incubator right now. Um, baby's gonna be here in 12 weeks or so. So that's pretty cool. Um, we are actually planning out the second launch of our our mastermind slash retreat that you mentioned earlier. That's gonna be kickstarting in the new year, January or February. So we'll be pre-selling that, which is pretty cool. And then during the time that I'll be on maternity leave of sorts, I'm planning on doing a lot of stuff on the back end because you know me, I love working and it's my moment of sanity. But we'll be we'll be relaunching our master your money program with some additional courses. We have some other courses that we're gonna be working on, like investing 101, other fun things like that. So lots is coming on the back end. We have a book in place, an app in place that we're we're kind of in process with. So lots of moving parts, but it'll be it'll be a good rest of the year.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

I'm excited for you. This uh this this sounds like a good time here. Uh, and you're you're literally off to the races with your business. So exciting year for you. Having a baby, business is growing, growing the business, helping clients, you know, radically uh change their their their financial landscape, which I think is so, so important. Doing work uh that matters. Where's the best place for people to connect with? I know you spend a lot of time on on LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

I do spend a lot of time on LinkedIn. You can find me at Mills Bender, um, also Instagram. You can DM me there at Mills Knows Bills. But yeah, I mean, reach out to me on any of your favorite social platforms. I'll see it. I'll respond. But I just, you know, want to make sure that you get your questions answered.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

I love it. I absolutely love it. I'll put all of Mills links in the description of this podcast episode as well. So you'll be able to check it out. You can get her free budget sheet there. I'll put her social links in there. Reach out to her. She'll drop you a link. You can schedule a call, explore what's possible with her program. I'm telling you right now, having gone through the program, it's an absolute complete game changer. I was able to take paying all everything, my entire life out of my business to separating my personal and my business expenses. Uh, only took me 12 years to go and figure that all out only. Uh, but the important part here is that I was able to do that. So make sure you connect with her. Mills, you're awesome. I believe in you and what you're doing. I continue. Just want to encourage you to continue uh the great work um of doing work that matters, helping people uh discover what they don't know that they don't know about their doll bills. And uh that's it. Come back soon, will you?

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Of course. Thank you so much for having me, Sebastian.

SPEAKER_01 16:33

Thanks, Mills. Until next time, friends. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of the Beyond the Story podcast. Be sure to appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. If you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. We're sure to appreciate it. Signing off from the podcast, launchlab.com studios. We'll talk to you next time.