REPLAY: Happiest of Happy Hours with all the Guests
Every August, I take a sabbatical from podcast recording to enjoy vacation time with family and friends and allow you to enjoy for the first or second time four previous podcast episodes that I found tremendously helpful and entertaining.
Other than travel and family time, I’ll also be doing A LOT of prep work for some exciting changes happening to Financial Gym this Fall. You will not want to miss my September 1st podcast episode. I will have a lot to update you on as far as the podcast but also as far as the Gym. So I hope you enjoy this month of replays and stay tuned for very exciting updates in September.
REPLAY: Today is the last Friday of the month, and my regular listeners know that on the last Friday of the month, I host the happy hour on the podcast, where I gather great friends with me to drink cheap drinks and talk about money topics. This is the last episode of 2022, and for the 7th straight year in a row, we are going to share our highs and lows for the year; we’re going to review the goals we set last year and set some new goals for 2023. Other than being a special year-end Happy Hour, today we have an extra special, supersized Happy Hour event that I am so excited to share with you. We have some returning Happy Hour ladies to update you on their years; we’re saying farewell to a Happy Hour regular and sharing what’s to come for Happy Hours in 2023. It is a super special not-to-miss episode.
What are we drinking?
Melanie Lockert from The Mental Health and Wealth Show - Chai Tea
Joy Liu Head of Trainer Academy - Personal Mug of Mulled Wine
Liz Frugalwoods from Frugalwoods.com - Hot Cocoa
Tonya from tonya-stumphauzer.com - Arkansas Black Heart Cider (Oak Glenn Cider Company)
Kassandra from www.kassandradasent.com - Canadian Ice Wine
Shannon McLay - Botabox Nighthawk Red Wine
Podcast Notes
Reflecting on 2022:
Liz Frugalwoods: 2022 has been really good for Liz. Having the kids back at in-person school has been transformational. During the height of the pandemic, the kids were home for 18 months. This is the first time in years Liz has had the opportunity to work uninterrupted during the day. Mr. Frugalwoods is retired, and he has drop-off and pickup duty. He’s been volunteering more around town in his retirement.
This fall, she launched her 1:1 coaching program, which has been fantastic. In addition to the Uber Frugal Month she runs each January, she’s adding mastermind groups this year. It’s something she’s dreamed of for a while, and she now has the bandwidth, capability, and infrastructure to make it happen. Her work feels meaningful to her, and it’s fun. She feels lucky. Life is really good right now. There aren’t too many lows she can point to in 2022 other than having to buy a new car.
Tonya: Overall, Tonya is thankful because she had a pretty good year. In February, she was diagnosed with superficial skin cancer on her face. She had surgery to remove it, and it’s barely noticeable now. She didn’t hit her financial goals, but instead of dwelling on that, she’s making a plan for next year. Tonya started taking tap dancing lessons this year and spent a month living in Austin, which was a blast.
Melanie: Melanie spent 2022 traveling and catching up with friends and family. Shannon prepared a gluten-free brunch, and she got to meet Vinnie. She has officially made it to her first anniversary of being alcohol-free! The lows of 2022 were all around Melanie’s physical health. During the first six months of the year, her Celiac Disease was undiagnosed. Once the diagnosis came through, it was a relief but a huge life change she was not expecting. Things she used to enjoy, like traveling, eating out, and eating in general, all induce anxiety now. The gluten-free diet has been really working since September.
Kassandra: At the beginning of this year, it started to hit Kassandra that her mom had passed away. She spent 2021 trying to keep busy and repressing those feelings. This is how Kassandra responds to trauma. At the beginning of this year, she started fully processing her feelings. Her goal was to heal, and she was able to find the light. The rest of the year was awesome. Starting at the end of February, she and her husband started traveling. She saw 11 countries and 16 cities in one month, all with her husband. It was better than her wildest expectations. It was a period of pure joy for her and helped with the healing process.
Joy: 2022 was a really good year for Joy. She’s learned in her spiritual awakening things aren’t always okay, but it’s okay to not be okay. Come Springtime, several people close to Joy will be moving away. Even though this is common in a military community, it has been hard for her. She became a yoga teacher this year and bought a boat! Shannon visited, which was lovely because she loves to open her home. 2022 was about career growth. She stepped into the executive team at The Financial Gym.
Shannon: Shannon is closing out 2022 with many lows, as it was a pretty dark year for her. It started with closing the physical Financial Gym locations, which was incredibly painful. All year, she’s been fighting with her board about finding a long-term partner for The Gym. She felt the ultimate lows, felt trapped and opened up with Melanie on the podcast about the dark place. She has a glimpse of what this new partnership will look like and is so excited about the future of The Financial Gym.
Reflecting on 2022 Goals: Listen to the episode!
Joy’s word was expansion
Kassandra wanted to downshift and create more time for herself.
Tonya’s word for the year was peace.
Melanie wanted to lean into health and wellness.
Planning for 2023:
Melanie’s word for 2023 is pivot. She’s in the middle of a career shift and unsure exactly where she wants to take it. She’s trying to figure out what is both fulfilling and brings her joy. She started writing about personal finance when she was broke but no longer wants to focus on money as she feels like she lost part of her old self.
Tonya wants to build her business. Instead of focusing on the future, she’s taking it step-by-step. She wants to make serious adjustments to her finances by increasing her income and building her savings.
Kassandra’s word of 2023 is exploration. Now that she has more time, she wants to make it count. It’s a season where she wants to be good to herself and put herself first.
Liz’s goal is to goal with the flow, not try to plan every detail of her life.
Joy wants to step into her own power. As an Enneagram 9, she likes to keep the peace by making sure the needs of everyone else around her are met. Next year is about learning about her needs and wants, and being more of a pain in the ass when needed, instead of being the easiest person in the room.
Shannon’s goal for 2023 is to spend as much quality time with Will as possible. He dreams of going to school in Oregon, so she knows her days with him are numbered. She’s also excited about finding the right partner for The Financial Gym. It’s bringing back everything she dreamed about nine years ago, and she is excited for the opportunity to grow again.
Kassandra thanks Shannon for bringing all of them together and being the amazing woman, CEO, friend, family member, and connector she is.
This is Kassandra’s last Happy Hour, and in 2023, a rotating list of guests will join the seat.
Takeaway: My biggest takeaway is the importance of friendship. I feel so incredibly blessed to call all of these women friends and I am so thankful that we have opportunities like this to catch up with each other. If you were like me, 2022 was a really challenging year for you, and hopefully, you’re like me and you were able to get through it with great friends. Cheers to friends!
If you have any topics you would like me to cover on this podcast, or if you’d like to get in the financially naked hot seat, I encourage you to email me at Shannon@fingyms.com, or join the private Martinis and Your Money Facebook group, and let me know what you want to hear.
We are fast approaching the end of another year and we need to start preparing for a new year. If you or someone you know would like to have a supportive best financial friend along the ride with you for this journey, please check out financialgym.com. With memberships starting as low as $35 a month, we are the inflation-proof source for financial wellness for anyone. So head over or send friends to financialgym.com and schedule a warm up call today. As a reminder, our warm up call team is staffed with amazing and current Financial Gym clients that can answer any of your questions about our program.