Whole Person Health with Finance Coach Teri Slater
INTRO: Welcome to healthy, sexy nutrition with me, Michelle Fox, culinary nutritionist, health coach, and your host for this podcast. I teach busy professionals how to get more nutrition in their bodies and how to have more fun in their home kitchens. If you struggle with consistency or sometimes forget to make your needs a priority, or you avoid planning your meals, you, my friend are in the right place.
Join me each week for inspiration to increase your energy. Discover new recipes. Manage your hormonal woes and so much more. You are a busy professional, but that does not mean your nutrition should suffer. You deserve to live in a body and have a life that you love. Let’s dig in.
MICHELLE: Hello hello. Oh, my goodness. I am so excited to share my new friend with you. Her name is Teri Slater. And let me let you know a little bit before we jump into this episode. Teri Slater is a financial coach who helps you clarify your goals and priorities, then helps you align your daily spending decisions to reach those goals while still having the freedom to spend on what you value. My kind a girl! Teri understands that even if, you know what to do with money, human behavior can derail progress. We know this happens with eating as well. Even with a finance degree and a career helping others with money,
Teri and her ex-husband had accumulated over $200,000 dollars in debt. Yeah, that's five zeros in debt. It took six years and a lot of self work to pay it all off and shift to a mindset that focused on financial freedom. Teri's own life experiences and commitment to personal growth have given her the ability to listen without judgment and help her clients achieve their goals. I can't wait for you to hear this conversation. So without further ado, let's listen in.
“Hi Teri. Oh my gosh. I'm so excited to have you here. How are you?”
TERI: I am good, Michelle. Thank you so much for inviting me. I've been looking forward to this. I know it's really fun to connect with you. So I'm looking forward to our time today.
MICHELLE: Yay,yay, yay. My pleasure and ditto.
I know as I was talking to you about having you here on the podcast, I mentioned that I would love to share your wisdom with my community, because I truly believe in whole person health. As you know, I could talk 24/7 about nutrition if you let me. I might not have any friends if I do that. So, you know, I've tried to hold it back a little bit.
TERI: Oh, that's great.
MICHELLE: But with that, I've noticed with a lot of the—I was gonna say women, because most of my audience is women, but I'll just say participants in my programs—I will say most of us, cause I'll include myself, there can often be a hiccup as far as knowing that we're worthy to take that time, to make those extra steps, to take care of ourselves.
That can also be the hiccup of like, fondly say, the excuses of saying “I'm too busy to meal plan,” or “I don't have enough money to buy organic,” and again, we can go down that route. I'll be talking about this stuff all throughout my podcast episodes, but for you where I find that your knowledge and know how would be helpful is just to talk a little bit more about whole person health.
So just to begin with, and of course I have a million questions for you. I'll try to, you know, again, begin it in and maybe just ask five. But to start off, what is your title for one? And then what is your approach that you typically take with your client?
TERI: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Great question. So I am a financial coach and I do like to explain the difference between financial coaching versus being like a financial advisor.
So I really help people much more with like their day-to-day money and financial decisions and helping them to, you know, look at anything at all that might be getting in the way of their progress of reaching their financial goals. So, you know, typically when you meet with financial advisors, they're gonna be looking at, you know, your longer term planning. Planning for the future, for retirement, estate planning, you know, all those kind of things where it's all very future and then they're looking at managing investments for you.
Whereas with a financial coach, I'm really digging into again, kind of the day-to-day actions, if you will, that help people understand like why they do behave the way that they do with money. And it's, I know that we've talked about this, but I feel like finances and health are so closely related because we often know what we should be doing. But why don't we do it, like how come we're not hitting the goals that we want? And a lot of it is just really looking at like all of these little micro decisions that we have to make on a day to day basis.
So that's what I help with.
MICHELLE: I absolutely love that and I love that you use the term micro decisions, because I do like to talk about that in a lot of my programs that, you know, yes, for optimum health, we are going to release the sugar, the dairy, the wheat. And at the same time, when somebody's coming to me, specifically my new clients, I'm not gonna say we're dropping everything overnight. We're talking about, you know, baby steps. Like let's just try adding in more water this week and yeah. Just checking in with our body to see how that feels. Right.
And so with you, when you're coaching somebody, when they're coming to you saying, “I don't know I might be thinking of Michelle 20 years ago.” So yeah. Let's think of Michelle 20 years ago. I'll come to coach Teri. I'll be like, “I've got credit card debt. I'm working, I'm saving, but how come I can't get ahead?” Like clearly, I'm thinking that's how I've come to you. I wouldn't necessarily say I have a money problem I don't think, but I would know something was off. I would see your shining face saying, “let me help you.” I mean, is that typically how people find you? Like, we're like, we're kind of off and I think you have some answers for me or do people come straight out and say, “I struggle with money” or “I'm bad at money.”
TERI: Yeah, no, usually it is. It's usually people have had some kind of a pivotal moment that has been kind of like, I don't know if I would necessarily call it like a wake up call cuz it's not always like a really like negative thing, but sometimes it's almost that realization of like, I don't wanna continue like this.
Right. Like I can't afford to like make a job change or, you know, stay home with the kids or, you know, it can be decisions like that too. So the presenting problem. It's varied and it's not always like a 911 emergency. Right. It's just kind of like you slowly sort of realize that, “Ooh, all these decisions I've made for a really long time are just really starting to weigh on me.”
Yeah, so really the start of it is just, we really have to identify what their goals are because Interestingly enough, like, I will have a fair amount of clients that come to me and they have debt, but to them, like debt is not necessarily a presenting problem. It's something else it's, “Hey, the way that we communicate about money, like isn't good. It always ends in a fight or you know, I just, I feel like I'm just working and working and working just to keep up with the bills.” And like you said, like can't get ahead. Right? So we do have to do a little bit of a deep dive just to find out like, Like, if we were successful, like if whatever the problem was, we're fixed tomorrow, what would that look like? What would that feel like? Cause then we can start to really identify, if it's bigger, you know, bigger things that need to be tackled versus do you just need a debt payoff strategy? Cuz I can do that in my. Sleep, like let's write you up a plan and like, here's how you're gonna, you know, tackle the dollars and cents of it.
But it often goes a lot deeper than that too. Yeah. So we just have to dig into like, what is the, the actual problem. And a lot of times, you know, it's just behavior modification. But you know, obviously I don't present it necessarily in a way of behavior modification, but it's little things, like you said, incorporate more water into your day.
Mine is like, can you take your credit cards off of like the digital wallet, right? So when you go to your computer to buy something, you have to get up, go get the card number, type it in. It slows you down, makes you think a little bit more. So I do a lot of different tools like that with folks just to kind of help them, you know, make smaller changes.
MICHELLE: That is brilliant. I had never thought of that before. I am taking notes as you talk
TERI: Right. Well, we have to, like, we have to figure out how to like break these habits. There's so much when we talk about behavior change of, you know, instilling new habits or changing your habits, but sometimes we have to also kind of break down the habits that we don't even know that we have, which just means putting up a barrier in front of yourself sometimes, you have to almost expect that these are the kind of things that, you know, I, if somebody comes to me and they've got, you know, a particular, like let's just. Pick on Amazon, right?
Like Amazon is just like, I don't even know where all that money goes. It's like, okay. So how can we address that part? Right. Like take the Amazon app off your phone, you know, get your, your wallet, you know, take the credit card off of there. Those kind of things. It's just little things you have to put up a barrier for yourself if you need to.
MICHELLE: Oh, that is powerful. I wanna go back to something you said a couple sentences ago, which is what would that look like? So I love that you're sound, and I might be putting words into your mouth, but what I heard you say is, you would have a client envision what their life looks like. Yeah. And then you work towards that.
TERI: Yeah. Yeah. Or it's identifying if this problem were solved, then what? Right. Mm-hmm . And so that almost kind of gets deeper at you know, it may not, again, it's, it's not always that the, the money is presenting its self as like the primary problem, but there just might be all these other decisions that you really—it's like, everything is on the table to look at.
So if you say, okay, if this problem were solved tomorrow, then I would be able to, you know, leave work at three o'clock on a Friday, or I would be able to, you know, take a three day weekend, you know, once a month in order. Go take the family on a camping trip or, and so you're getting at like what kind of life would you be living if this problem were not present for you, cuz then it kind of, we need to get you into the dreaming state.
Right? Because when things feel heavy is really, really hard, I think to kind of dream about what a positive future will look like. And sometimes if it feels out of reach, then you just feel kind of stuck in the trenches too. I think it's also important to say that, you know, when it comes to money, like reaching financial goals, doesn't always have to mean restriction.
It doesn't mean that you have to like stop spending extra money on these things, or you can't go out to eat ever. I mean, there's certain, you know, personal finance professionals that will say, you know, you should never be going out to eat if you're in debt. But also if that's what brings you joy or if that's the only time that your family connects then it go out to dinner, but you may have to look at how often you choose to do that. Right. So, you know, I don't wanna tell people, you, you know, you really shouldn't be spending money on this, that or the other. I want them to identify what are the core things that make them really happy. And like, where are you?
Cuz maybe you're not willing to change one thing, but you're totally willing to change something else. Somebody may rather, you know, give up a vehicle and start riding a bike, but they would still like to be going out to eat. It's like, that's your choice. Like you get to choose. So envisioning what you want that like happy life to look like when this problem is solved is really important to kind of dreaming bigger.
MICHELLE: I'm also hearing the energies of empowerment as well.
TERI: Yeah.
MICHELLE: Because when I feel like I have more choices, then I feel more empowered to make the choices that work for my life. So I absolutely love that approach.
TERI: Yep. Yep. Absolutely. Nice.
MICHELLE: Yeah. It's very similar to actually in some of my programs, as I mentioned, we do baby steps.
TERI: Yep
MICHELLE: With that said, I. Love this idea as far as how do I wanna say it? Well, I'll back up. I will say one of the frequently asked questions is, is this a diet? And am I going to starve? Right. And I'm always like, no, it's not a diet. And nobody starves when they're in my kitchen. Right. AKA my programs. Right.
But what I love about what you're saying and similar to what I do is that yes, we plan out these meals and then I try to stay realistic, meaning there are gonna be meals that I call blow off meals. So if it's like a dinner out with one, okay. If that's something you love do that on Saturday night with your beloved, but then get right back on, you know, Sunday morning, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
So it's the blow off meal versus the blow off day or the blow off week. And it sounds like you might be saying the same with money. Like.
TERI: Yeah
MICHELLE: Let's look at ways that I can. And actually I'm trying to bring that home more personally. Like what do I spend more money on? Ah, yep. Massage. That's that's my one kind of—I was gonna say non-negotiable—but then I think my kids might. If, if, and when they listen to this, I'll be like, yep. She's bougie. , that's great. There, there, she has bougie again, but ill say I don't do the other things like you can say, I don't do my nails. I don't spend a lot on makeup or actually I don't really spend a lot on anything, but that's my one
TERI: Yeah.
MICHELLE: Treat that. It's like, it feels good. Right. And I don't have any guilt paying for it because I know I'm saving money in the other areas.
TERI: So exactly. And it's like just kind of part of your plan, right. If you can start to look at things as, you know, just like the, the one meal, right. Not a whole day, but the one meal it's like if people could stop telling themselves that they've, you know, “oh, I've fallen off track.” No, no. It's like we, sometimes we just, you, a foot can slip to the side, but you just keep walking one foot in front of the other. And so I feel like if we, if we have the ability to not beat ourselves up for, you know, making certain decisions or you know, allowing yourself to kind of, you know, Just divert for a minute so that you can keep up the steam.
Right. Because I think that is a lot, you know, especially in, in health and weight loss and, and journeys like that too. It's, you know, you can like drive hard, hard, hard, hard, hard, but at a certain point you can start to feel like, Ugh, I'm a little bit tired of this, like hard driving, like clean eating at the gym, you know?
And so it, it does feel really good to just sometimes like take a day where it's like you unplug, I am just gonna sit back and today, and I might have a Reese's peanut butter cup and that is okay. cause tomorrow I'll be right back to my grind. Right. So I've been there.
MICHELLE: I get it. Oh my gosh. It's like you're reading my mind or something. That is my favorite chocolate.
TERI: Me too. Me too.
MICHELLE: Oh, there you go. Fall sisters.
TERI: Yeah.
MICHELLE: I love it. All right. And now earlier I was saying, you know, 20 years ago, Michelle, but as I was doing the math, as we were speaking, I'm like, More like 30 years ago, Michelle, which is right after college. I remember getting a credit card and I just thought, Ooh, that is my ticket to freedom. I can do what I want, when I want. Yeah. Nobody can tell me nothing. And then at the time, you know, I was still dancing professionally in New York and I had a part-time job. I could barely pay for my rent.
TERI: Yeah.
MICHELLE: But somehow I felt going to shop on this credit card for a whole new wardrobe made sense. Again, 20 year old, Michelle.
TERI: Yeah.
MICHELLE: Kinda sounds very wild to me right now at almost 50 year old Michelle, but I just wanna put myself in somebody else's shoes, if they might be listening and might be thinking the same thing. Well, like. Well, Michelle, you say blow off meal, so I'm gonna have a cheesecake for dessert. So, you know, coach Teri blow off spending spree I'm gonna spend $500 at Nordstrom. Like
TERI: Yeah.
MICHELLE: How do—how would you approach that? Like, how could I bring that back in and perhaps not spend that $500 at Nordstrom?
TERI: Yeah. Yeah. That's I mean, that's a great question and yeah, I'll just go on record too. Because you know, a lot of my story is I've, I've been like in and out of debt multiple times. The the last time that I got out of debt my ex-husband and I, we had accumulated $200,000 in debt and that did not include our house. So, I mean, it took us six years to pay that off. And the reason I really like to kind of tell the story behind that is because I was already working as a financial professional and still was living with credit cards, being an extension of our income.
Right. And it was like, well, “I don't have the money to pay for this now, but I sure do have a credit limit and I haven't hit the limit yet.” So, you know, and I think that what you're looking at is whether or not it's kind of like a you know, a, a problem that presents itself multiple times or when you can't pay the balance off at the end of the month, or even in a reasonable timeframe. Right.
Within like a month or two. And then when you start losing money to interest, that's when you have to look at it and kind of go, okay, am I, am I just like spending outside of my means. And if so, that's gonna have a lot of other trickle down effects, right. Because if you're spending more than you're earning, then chances are, you're also not saving.
And even sometimes people will justify well, but I am saving money and I'm like, but you're also paying interest on a credit card. So are we like we seeing the math here that like those two things are, are negating each other. Right. So I think that really, again, it kind of comes down to you have well self awareness.
I think, first of all, like if you're not self aware, then this can be an uphill battle. And really, I wanna work with clients who like recognize, okay, this has been going on. I know it's been going on and I need to stop, or I need to change or something's gotta change. You know, and sometimes there can be, you know, issues where there's, you know, spending addiction, which of course, then I'm gonna refer that out to a professional. Like if there's certain situations where, you know, a therapist is going to be the best professional for you, then hands down, I will you know, provide that referral.
But if you are just looking at, I don't know, I just went to the store and I just like blew $500 and I didn't, I wasn't really thinking about it. It's like, okay, well, again, it, it was that your cheat meal was that, that one time where you kind of stepped off or is this a pattern of behavior? And if so, what's the pattern intercept.
So is it, is it who you were with, like, did something else happen that day that triggered this you know, was there like a sale and you got an email notice cuz let's unsubscribe from those emails, you know, so there's different things like that. And I think there's a ton of different tools that you can use with people.
And honestly, one of the first tools that I will pull out for people, if they are really having a hard time controlling their spending is, I will just say you, you might just need to stop using credit cards. I'm not gonna say, close the accounts, you know, put 'em in the freezer. No, no, but just get them outta your wallet and just only use a debit card.
And that is because the psychology that has been proven with credit cards is number one. Shopping is a dopamine rush too, right? Just like sugar. So there's a lot of psychology behind the impacts to your brain when you use credit cards versus like spending with cash, which I know a lot of us don't do that anymore, but.
I was telling this story to somebody recently. I said, think about it. When you use your debit card, you watch your bank account balance drop. When you use a credit card, you watch the balance increase. Now like the numbers go in different directions. And somehow I really feel like that plays into the psychology of things too, because we just don't seem to get us stressed when the number is growing as when the, the dollars in the banks start dropping. So I do think that if you need to just get credit cards out of the wallet and just switch to, you know, using a debit card only, until you start to, you know, make sure that the shopping has been addressed.
So, yeah, there's a lot of different tools that you can kind of pull out with that.
MICHELLE: That is amazing. I already, as you were speaking, I have two friends that I will be sending your way, as soon as we get off this call because they could definitely use even those two tools alone. So yeah. Thank you for sharing that.
TERI: Yeah, of course. Of course.
MICHELLE: And as far as working with clients, I know in my programs, I say, “you know, let me work with you 30 days just to get some habits in place, but then it's up to you to keep the work going.” And it's usually long term. And I look at long term goals and with your work.
Do you do your work? Is it like we meet with you weekly? We'd meet with you yearly, like how does that work?
TERI: Yeah, that's a great question. So I do offer just a single session. So if someone wants to meet with me just one time, that is something that I will offer. And what happens is I actually ask them to provide a lot of different information to me up front.
So not only do I wanna know, what does your typical spending look like? So I just kind of have 'em fill out a spending form, but then I also ask other, you know, qualitative questions, like, you know, how confident are you that you could handle a financial emergency? How do you manage your money now?
Especially with couples. If they have, you know, three separate bank accounts, his, hers, and the combined one you know, I wanna know how do they currently manage money? How many different accounts do they have? Because sometimes people have multiple bank accounts. And so if I'm working with them to help just organize, I need to know what they're doing now and what hasn't worked up to this point.
So with that first initial session, they give me a lot of homework ahead of time. And then I just come in on that first session, ready to go with a lot of questions clarifying, and then I just have an action plan. And so I really gauge from them whether or not they feel like they're going to need help implementing the steps on the action plan.
I'm sure, you know, some people it's like once they get the information, they're like, I got this and they're often running and that's great. But if someone feels like. This feels overwhelming, or I just, I, I don't know. They're not confident in their ability. Then I do offer a three month program. And so in that program, I work with someone once a week for the first month, because I don't want them running into any hurdles and getting stuck. If they run into any problems, I'm like, let's make sure we're talking frequently so we can work through whatever that is. And then we just meet every two weeks for the next two months. And so that way it's like, again, we're getting systems in place. We're fine tuning, you know, three months, sometimes a lot of like the ebbs and flows of money can happen during that time, too.
Right? Like sometimes holidays will happen or vacations will happen. Things that aren't normal spending. So it gives us an opportunity oftentimes to get to see. Hmm. Okay. What, how did that play out? What did that look like? Yeah, so a three month program is for those that really feel like they're gonna need some extra support.
MICHELLE: I love that. And it's also an extra level of accountability as well. Cause I can just, again, put myself in somebody else's shoes and say, oh, coach Teri. Paying attention, like,
TERI: Yeah
MICHELLE: Maybe I don't need that extra latte next Saturday. Oh, that's funny. Right.
TERI: But you know what that's it's to that's your awareness. Right. And just like I was talking about like, just having a level of awareness around what you feel like, maybe you should change that's way better than somebody telling you, you know, you really shouldn't have caffeine, right.
Because just, it lands differently when the idea is yours, when the incentive is yours. You know, and I, I really feel. I feel like people are, are smart and resourceful, and I feel like they have their own answers. So really, I feel like a lot of what I do with clients is I just ask the right questions, cuz I just need you to kind of dig deep and figure out what it is that how are you going to solve this problem.
Like what, and it's not that I'm gonna let someone stumble along and not have an answer if they need guidance. For sure. That's what I'm here for, but I feel like oftentimes, you know, you can just ask the right questions around, you know, what happened there or how did that make you feel when you went out and bought another latte.
Right. And you could just dig into that a little bit and kind of figure out it there's a lot of touchy feely feelings involved as well.
MICHELLE: That is so compassionate and just the little bit that I know of you and that I continue to learn is that yes, you have that compassion and you want to help, which I think would help people feel more—what's the word, probably safer. I imagine people feel very safe being vulnerable with you because money can feel very vulnerable. I mean, a lot of us are not grown up or raised to talk about money. And so for sure, being a full grown adult, you can feel like, you know, either you're in control or I'm just gonna talk to my partner about that, but talking to, you know, quote unquote stranger about money that's that can feel very open and like you're kind of naked.
So I love that you dohave this compassionate approach.
TERI: Absolutely. Yeah. I feel like there's, there's no shame in acknowledging, you know, kind of where you've been and, you know, what needs to change. I feel like as long as you are invested in your own personal growth that is a win-win all the way around.
MICHELLE: Mm. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Love that. Well, as we wind down one, the probably the biggest question I have is around. Well, and then I have a fun, personal question after this, but okay. The biggest question around money is. The word “budget”. Mm-hmm I know that can also be an inflammatory word for some, right. I don't mind sharing.
I have done a lot of work around that. And so I actually love having a budget now. Yeah. I can tell you 10 years into having a budget, sticking to the budget. It's something I look forward to. Yeah. And I'll also share before I let you talk, is that having a spouse. And having a weekly conversation with your spouse.
Like, I cannot recommend it enough. I learned that from Kate Northrop and Mike Watts and some of the work that they do, but ever since I started implementing it, like not only does it get Steve and I closer just as far as talking about our values. Cause I think our values do center a lot around money.
Totally. Meaning, I think the way you spend money shows a lot of what you value. Right. But also brings us closer because we can trust each other. Cause it's like, oh, well he knows if I'm spending money on this. It's because I either really need it. Or I really desire it. And vice versa, like just having that open door conversation.
I just, I love that we have that. And also I'll add, again, to use that word fully grown adults. You know, when Steve and I met, you know, eight years ago, we did have our own pretty much everything. You know, we had our own properties, we had our own money, we had our own children, you know, and bringing all that together. It did take a lot of conversation. And I'm so grateful. We were vulnerable in the beginning to do that because once we combined assets yeah. Like compounds like compound interest, you know, it was like two plus two did not equal four, two plus two equaled, like 10, which I'm like thank you, God.
You know? Because we had the trust, we had that extra level of accountability and I also truly believe on the spiritual level, I think saying yes to each other and yes, to being vulnerable, definitely brought in that energy of, okay, I see that you can be responsible with this amount. Let's continue to increase that.
Yeah. So that is my like, praise to the budget and praise to open communication and praise to being vulnerable around money. How did you approach the word budget?
TERI: Yeah, that's a great question. Thank you for sharing that story, because I, I do think that, you know, when working with couples, like oftentimes the communication skills is also something that we need to work on.
Because we often not only are a lot of us not taught anything about money. I think a lot of us are definitely not taught about proper communication either. And so I think that's also kind of a skill that a lot of us need to either like hone, learn, or practice frequently. So kudos to you two for doing that.
I will say that, you know, when it comes to budgeting, you know, a lot of people think about the term budget as restrictive and it, it does not need to be that. And, you know, so, I really here's the way that I generally approach it with people. I say a budget is just a plan. And if you're not going to stick to that plan anyway, then why would you budget. Right. Because that's really what it is.
And so, what I advocate for is actually tracking your expenses. I'm way more concerned that you actually know what's happening, then what you planned for, because if you plan for something and you've never tracked your expenses, like the first time I ask a lot of my clients, you know, “tell me how much you typically spend.”
We later realize once they start tracking that those original numbers were way wrong and it's like, no wonder people feel like they fail when they're budgeting, because they didn't really have an educated guess to begin with. So I feel like I'm more concerned that you're tracking your expenses or that you're at least in, you don't have to keep every receipt.
Like I'm a receipt nerd. I get a receipt with every purchase that I make and
MICHELLE: Love it.
TERI: I document it. And then I sync it with my bank account. And like, if there's a penny off in my bank account, I will notice it. So, you know, but I know that I'm different in that way. And I don't expect my clients to be. We need a system that's going to work for you.
And so, whatever that is, and I will say that I think that sometimes it takes a lot of trial and error with folks to find a system that's gonna work for them. And, and I will say also too, cuz like I said, with a budget, that's just a plan and you've gotta have a way to stick to the plan. So this is part of that.
You know, where I was talking about a lot of my clients do all their spending on a credit card and then just, you know, pay it. But sometimes they're not paying it in full. But they, you know, everything that goes from the bank account is just paid on the credit card. And so I'll say, “okay, if we feel like we need to reign and spending here, like just on groceries or dining out or something, let's just no longer use a credit card for that.” Right? Like that's, “let's maybe pull out some cash or just use a debit card only for that particular expense so that we can just be better paying attention to what's actually happening there.”
So as long as people have a system for tracking what's happening. I feel like I'm more concerned with that than budgeting. I feel like budgeting is great once you get to a place where you able to plan ahead. Because again, I mentioned this briefly in the beginning too, but a lot of us have, you know, there's birthdays, there's back to school time. There's, you know, I mean, obviously holidays and birthdays and things we can plan for. You can plan for back to school time, but a lot of times, you know, we just have, sometimes we get bumps in income. Sometimes we have bumps and expenses and, and these things are not level all the time.
So really getting organized and planning ahead is sort of like an advanced skill set that my clients will get to. A little bit later, it's not always right away that people get to that like advanced planning organization. But once you get that dialed in, it can really be super empowering. Right?
I'm like you, I love budgeting now. I do it every single month at the end of the month. I just look ahead to what's coming and then I've got it documented. And I know, and I also save first before I spend. So, you know, there's like there's yes, yes, yes. Little hacks like that. Right. So, yeah, I, I do think tracking is more important than budgeting.
MICHELLE: Nicely done. And thank you for sharing that. That makes all the sense in the world. And again, I love that you focus on the behavior first. And so, I know that that leads to more empowerment. And then once you feel empowered, then it does feel fun to create the budget or. Win wink, do the meal planning. Right. So I love that you’re speaking my language.
Well, sweet. Well, as we wrap, I love my guests just to bring it back to nutrition.
Could you share one of your favorite memories as a child in the kitchen?
TERI: Oh my goodness. Yeah, I, I was gonna. I almost, maybe I, I, this is a two part answer maybe. Cause I was—
MICHELLE: Oh yeah, bring it.
TERI: I was gonna immediately jump to, I had a next door neighbor that taught me how to decorate cakes when I was like 10 years old.
And that led to a very long career of being in the cake industry. So I used to have my own cake business also. I was—I did a lot of weddings.
MICHELLE: Amazing.
TERI: That was something that like my neighbor actually instilled in me. And I mean, that was like over 30 years of, of really doing cakes.
And I do still love that. But I would say one, this is kind of a funny thing, but I—we grew up not very close to our extended family, but I do remember one time when my grandma had come out to visit she just taught me how to make scrambled eggs. And I just feel like that was one of very few moments where it was like I was in the kitchen with someone learning something.
And I was, you know, very young at that time. But that is still really an impactful memory.
MICHELLE: I know our listeners can't see your smile, but it's like a beautiful grandma loving smile. Yeah. Thanks. Awesome. I love that. Well, okay. And where can my audience find you if they wanna learn more?
TERI: Yeah, thank you. So you can, of course find me on all the social platforms, which are all linked on my website as well, which is terislater.com. And I will also say that right at the top of my website, I do have a money personality quiz. That's a super fun who doesn't love a quiz. Right. But this one's very psychology backed.
So it's not just some fun internet quiz that I made up. It's based on a lot of psychology around money. But if you do take that personality quiz, not only do you get, you know, a big PDF of your results, but I will also offer a call with me to kind of dive in and talk about it. And that's no charge at all.
I just, I think it's really fun to kind of look at that and figure out for people, you know, what surprised you and also, you know, how does your personality impact the way that you are with money and how you handle money as well.
MICHELLE: That is incredibly generous of you. How amazing. Okay. Well, I will be sure to put all those links in our show notes so that my community can come find you and get enriched with their financial plan as they are being enriched with their nutrition plan.
Because as we know. Whole person health. Absolutely. I know you're, you're one of my soul sisters in that, in that belief that, one contributes to the other.
TERI: Absolutely absolutely.
MICHELLE: Big circle of health.
TERI: Yes. Yes.
MICHELLE: Wonderful. Well, coach Teri, thank you so much for joining us. It's been an absolute pleasure talking to you and I am so excited to have you, and to be able to call you a friend. And I look forward to getting to know you even better as time moves on. Yeah.
TERI: Thank you so much, Michelle. This has been so great. And I look forward to seeing you again too.
MICHELLE: Thanks so much for listening to Healthy Sexy Nutrition.
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