Cara Croxton, Atlanta, GA (2026)

07/07/2020

So, what is a zero based budget???

Isn't the goal to have money LEFTOVER?💵💵💵

NOPE!

A zero-based budget is a budget that "spends" all of your money. No, that doesn't mean you get to go on spending spree with the leftovers, so let me explain...

A budget is a PLAN for your money... ALL of it. So you start with listing all of your income and expenses, including minimum payments on your debts if you have them.

Depending where you are in your journey, is where you allocate that "leftover" money.

So, for example, if you are on baby step 2 and rapidly trying to pay off debt, then all your excess money should be "spent" on your lowest debt balance each month until that debt is gone.

If you are on baby step 6 and trying to get rid of your mortgage, all your excess funds should be allocated to your house payment.

Make sense?

The key is that your monthly budget should equal ZERO when you subtract your expenses from your income. That way you will have a PLAN for EVERY DOLLAR! 💵

Questions??? Please share your questions or your personal experience with Zero based budgeting in the comments!

06/23/2020

Where do you want to be FINANCIALLY and in LIFE in 5 years???

This is such an important question to ask yourself, but more importantly… to answer with as much CLARITY and SPECIFICITY as possible!!!
But why? 🤔
When you are crystal clear about where you want to be, you become laser-focused and make better decisions to get you there.
So, let me share with you a few of my 5 year financial goals that I am working towards:

1️⃣ Finish funding college at 75% for each of my kids.

2️⃣ Pay off our house

3️⃣ Save 60%+ of our household income for retirement (we are gradually increasing this percentage)
So, share with me some of your accomplishments that you want to achieve in the next 5 years .

06/05/2020

Time to spend some cash!!!💵💵💵

As we emerge from quarantine, my husband and I have been trying to figure out the right time to start back to using cash. During the quarantine period, we decided to use DEBIT CARDS... 💳

Hello, budget buster!!!!💣💣💣

Using any card (credit or even DEBIT), allows us to buy things with a simple swipe. Using cash engages the brain on a different level and makes us more concious of what we are spending.

So, we are starting back to using cash this month!💵

So, share with me.... Who here is going back to cash spending this month? Who here is thinking about using cash for the first time? If you are, give it a shot! It is a game changer!!

06/03/2020

We're finally starting to see the LIGHT ✨ at the end of the quarantine tunnel!!! (Well, sort of!)

Now that the world is starting to re-open I have been thinking of the changes I've made over the last couple months.

The pandemic has served as a wake up call to so many people (myself included) to make changes in their lives. Whether it be fixing their financial situation, exercising more, concentrating on their families more, focusing on work/life balance etc.

But what changes are we going to keep????

For me, I am keeping two things:

1️⃣ Making rest and fun a priority. Sometimes I get so caught up in the daily hustle that these two areas get put on the back burner.

2️⃣ Continue to make our HOUSE a HOME. For years we have been undecided about where we ultimately want to live and retire. What that has done is put house improvements and enhancements on hold. That has all changed recently by getting better clarity on what we want and, as a result, our house is becoming a more of a home.

So, tell me, what changes have you made that you are taking forward coming out of quarantine???

06/01/2020

When we first started our debt free journey, we started with a simple paper and pen budget and started to pay cash for things we overspent on.

We have since upgraded our budgeting system, but the principals are still the same.

I remember when we first started our initial snowball was $95K. It was so overwhelming, but when we started getting in attack mode and saw significant progress each month, we were able to quickly pay off our debt in 18 months.👏🏻

That was only 1.5 years guys, simply by taking one baby step at a time! Little did we know what a life-changer it would be.

Since than we have been fortunate to move through our baby steps and currently working on paying off the mortgage! Our current plan has us set to pay it off in less than 5 years. I can't imagine not having a mortgage payment!

This post isn't to highlight our achievements, but rather to inspire and give you hope that it is possible. Small daily, consistent changes equal up to life altering events.

So share with me are you on a debt free journey currently? What is your projected debt free by date? What is your biggest accomplishment so far?

05/27/2020

So, what exactly are sinking funds???

If you have been following me for a minute, you probably know that I am a HUGE fan of sinking funds. But, what are they???

Sinking funds are budget categories that allow you to set aside money in each month to save for the unexpected, larger items or quarterly bills.

You can use sinking funds to plan for eventual car and house maintenance items by setting money aside each month for that UNEXPECTED expense. This is a huge budget saver and prevents you from dipping into your emergency fund.

Things such as CHRISTMAS (hello!) sneak up on us before we know it and can totally blow our budget. Using something such as a sinking fund each month to save for Christmas lessens the blow at the end of the year. It also allows us to ENJOY the holiday more now that we aren't worried about how much money has been spent.

So tell me... do you use sinking funds? Which categories do you use them for?

05/21/2020

What was the game changer with money in your relationship?
For me and my husband, hands down, it was when we got SUPER specific about what goals we wanted for our future. Specifically, we set goals for 5 years out, then 10 years out and then got crystal-clear on what our retirement dream looked like.
Because this was such a powerful exercise for us, I have my clients do the same thing.
Have a DREAM MEETING! This meeting should be free of distractions with the goal to of defining what the two of you want to accomplish in life and put it down on paper.
EACH OF YOU answer the following (be as specific as possible) and then share with each other:
1️⃣ What are your top 5 financial goals?
2️⃣ What does your ideal life look like in 5 years?
3️⃣ What does your ideal life look like in 10 years?
4️⃣ What does retirement look and feel like for you?
5️⃣ What are 5 things that YOU are willing to sacrifice NOW to make these goals and vision a reality in the future?

Have you had a dream meeting with your spouse? If single, have you done one yourself and shared it with someone? Tell me about it! 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

05/19/2020

Are you having trouble getting your spouse on board with money? 😫
You are definitely not alone if you are! ❤
I've had a lot of clients that just can't seem to get their spouse engaged to pay off debt and get on the right path with their money. Talk about stressful!
Here is what I tell couples to do...
Sit down with your spouse and have a true heart-to-heart... without distractions. The goal of this discussion is for the spouses to have a better understanding of each other’s mindset and understanding of their current situation.
Here are a few key discussion items that I have the couple cover during the discussion:
➡ What did money look like growing up for you and your spouse? We all have our own histories with money and it is important to understand what happened in your spouse’s history to better understand what could be affecting their views on money now.
➡ How does your spouse view the current money dynamic in your family? The goal here is to listen… REALLY listen! Hear the perspective that your spouse has on the money conversations (or lack there of) in the house. It might be very eye-opening!
➡ If the money problems in the family were resolved, what would change? This is a really important question to dig into together. Would a weight be lifted off your shoulders? What goals could you achieve as a family? If money weren’t an issue, what kind of things could you do as a family? Be as specific and clear with these examples as possible.

This is such a powerful conversation to have with your partner. Tell me... have you done this? If so, what have you learned? Share with me 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

05/15/2020

Why did you start your debt-free and personal finance journey?

For me and my husband, it was because we were sick of living paycheck to paycheck. We wanted a better life for us and our family. We wanted to be have the freedom to do what we wanted and live life on OUR terms.

What we learned along the way was so much more than budgeting....

✨ We learned what truly mattered to us... family and freedom were more important than things and what other people thought

✨We learned that once we started building debt-free muscles, they were easier to flex. Small steps every day add up to large success over time.

✨ We learned that financial freedom was no longer a destination, but it was a lifestyle and who we ARE.

Share with me... what have you learned along your journey?

05/13/2020

If not NOW, then WHEN?

I talk to so many people that are sick of the way the way they are handling their money, yet they keep doing the same things.

WAIT!!!!🖐🏼🖐🏼🖐🏼

Isn't that the definition of INSANITY? Doing the same things and expecting a different result?

If you don't start doing things differently, learn NEW ways to manage your money, how will you ever get out of the rut that you are in right now?

Choose NOW. Make a CHANGE. Its that SIMPLE, my friends!

Go to the link in my bio and set up a FREE consultation with ME! Its FREE and it could be the first step you take to fix your relationship with money and start to cultivate the life you have dreamed of. ❤❤❤

05/11/2020

Who here has ever gotten tired while on their debt-free journey! 🙋🏼‍♀️

I have definitely been there. While tackling $95K debt, sometimes I just wanted to quit. It was EASIER to just scrap the budget, throw things on credit cards and deal with it later!

BUT I also knew that by doing that we were going to compound the problem for later and we were going to have to deal with it some day. I also wanted to stop living the way we were living.

So, for those of you that are feeling like that right now this is for you....

➡ Keep Going!

➡ It will SOOOO be worth it!

➡ Small progress is still PROGRESS!

➡ PROGRESS is important, not PERFECTION!

➡ I'm here for you!

So, let it all out here... what is frustrating you the most right now? Share with me in the comments!

05/07/2020

Lets get honest here… did you SAVE money during the quarantine?

There were many people that were fortunate enough to keep their incomes during this crisis. I have heard so many stories from folks that are actually SAVING money.

But HOW??? 🤷🏼‍♀️

The quarantine has put a stop to so much in our lives... including frivolous spending. Because of shortages in the stores, we are more INTENTIONAL about our shopping. We are spending less time in stores making impulsive purchases. This results in us saving a lot of money!

So, use this as motivation to take a harder look at your pre-pandemic spending patterns. Bust out your budget, bank, and credit card statements and look with more clarity on how you were spending.

What newly acquired crisis habit should stay that will allow you to have more financial traction for the rest of the year?

Cara Croxton

07/07/2020

06/23/2020

06/05/2020

06/03/2020

06/01/2020

05/27/2020

05/21/2020

05/19/2020

05/15/2020

05/13/2020

05/11/2020

05/07/2020

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