2. Reach 2020 Goals with a Spending Plan and a Yearly Theme

Michael kicks us off on a serious note by discussing opportunity cost, how to create a spending plan, and various tools like eMoney, Quicken and Mint to help you track your expenses. It's time to take the word "budget" out of your vocabulary and replace it with "spending plan" to help you focus on what's important to you and spend accordingly. It allows you to be aware of your financial health and keep you on track with your goals. From there, Alisa shares that she's been loving on Food and Wine's Instagram (How to Cut an Onion). Additionally, Alisa's new guilty pleasure on Netflix is Virgin River, which has a very slow start but gets good at the end (and is renewing for season 2 in 2020!). Very different from Michael's affinity for Cheers and Frasier. Seriously though, Michael dives a little deeper into the financial planning process and the importance of setting multiple financial goals and aligning them. He's often asked, "Should I pay down debt or save for the future?" Spoiler alert: the answer is BOTH. Your financial plan should be the direction you take to achieve your short- and long term goals. Speaking of goals, Alisa discusses the importance of having a yearly theme. This is the time to reflect on the past year by asking yourself what worked, what didn't, what do you want to leave behind in 2020, and what do you want to take with you. You use your yearly theme as a guidepost to keep your actions aligned with your goals and desires. She's a huge fan of Ink & Volt's Yearly Planning Sheets. These take hours to complete, but they are worth the time, reflection and effort! One of the exercises included is determining your "yearly theme". Her 2019 theme was "Foundation." She'll share here 2020 theme in a future episode. She will walk you through everything if you'd like, so DM her on IG! At the end of the day, planning is a crucial step to creating a future full of financial and emotional direction and freedom. All links: Seriously Though Podcast on Instagram Food and Wine on Instagram How to Cut an Onion Virgin River Ink & Volt's Planner (Alisa's fave!) Ink & Volt's Yearly Planning Worksheets Bolt Wealth Management  Alisa.Coach  Michael on Instagram Alisa on Instagram (see "?s for Reflection" on her Stories) To schedule an introductory coaching session, visit Alisa.Coach. For more information on financial planning, visit Bolt Wealth Management.