How Moms Can Build a Healthy Money Mindset in Their Teens || A Chat with Nicole Mitchell, Financial Literacy Coach

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Welcome to the Real life Real Kitchen podcast. So I am continuing on the theme of motherhood and money, money and motherhood.

And this week I've got the lovely Nicole Mitchell who is a financial literacy coach specializing in. How do you phrase it? You're. You're finding your girlies. What do you. How I loved it.

Yes, yes. I. So I like to say I teach the real life money skills that we weren't taught in school.

And you know, I've created this wealth, you know, wealthy girl brand, create wealthy futures. That's that. Yeah, that's, I think what you're thinking of.

Yes, I love it. And you've got this fantastic Facebook group as well, which is just so many women in there asking lots of really interesting questions.

You're popping up regularly, giving encouragement. You have your. Every two weeks as well. You have your kind of free zoom chat that people can come and have a conversation with you.

It's a fantastic resource for women who really are saying, I need to make a change. It's well needed and it's wonderful.

Thank you.

But Nicole, how did this happen? How did you get here? So your background, how did you start off? Clearly not an artist or a long suffering poet. You've.

Yeah, I, So I always like to say there's a two part answer to that question. So on paper, I have always been a numbers nerd, right? I graduated with an accounting degree. I'm a certified public accountant.

So numbers have always just made sense in my head, right. On the flip side, I kind of have a personal money story, right?

I came out of college and I had student loans, I had to buy a new car, I was $50,000 in debt. And Yep, yep, that's. We, many of us have been there, some of us are still in it.

And so I, all my friends were, you know, in living in the city, going out to rent and I was like, I gotta pay this off. I ended up staying at home for two years and I was paying debt off like it was rent.

Like when I tell you $1,500 a month, like all my money towards my debt, I was like, this has to go.

And so I was able to, you know, before I, you know, within a few years, before I even turned 30, I paid off that $50,000 and I saved six figures, right? And that's. Some people are like, how the heck did you do that? Right?

And I noticed myself answering those types of questions for my friends and hey, did you know that, you know, if you save this much, you can.

So long story short, Having that, you know, numbers, nerd book, book smart energy over here of being a cpa, but also actually doing it myself, I noticed that gap, right. Like we weren't taught. And I credit a lot to my dad. He was, he was very good at teaching me kind of those financial literacy basics.

But not everyone got that and we didn't get it in school. So being able to kind of take, take a blend of that and kind of have that calm approach of, you know, do you're not bad because you have debt.

You know, you're not wrong because you have debt. If, if you're not taught something, it's very difficult to kind of move through that.

Yeah, exactly. If there is, if there is an ignorance as a big word, but it's not your fault, not much you can do.

I think the thing is, when you realize, ah, yes, there's a gap here. Oh, right, now it's time, now it's time to fill it.

And money's an interesting one because there is quite a lot of shame attached to it, even though we're not taught it, even though within families, different families will sort of teach it, pass it on kind of culturally, shall we say. But there's still an expectation that everybody should be able to handle their money. It's just like, of course you should, you should.

So that adds a sort of interesting element to it. What, what, what, what are your observations on that?

Yeah, so there's this saying that I, that I say frequently is your mindset is more important than the math. Right.

Because if we were to zoom 20,000ft, all handling your money is, is how much income is coming in, how much expenses are going out and what's left. Right. And that is grossly simplified, of course. Right.

But, but that being said, I think when I say mindset, you know, it's the way we talk to ourself, it's the habits. It's. There's a lot of psychology behind money where, you know, spending habits. I'm bored, I'm emotional.

You've heard, like the spending, the emotional spending, the impulse spending. You know, it's so easy now with social media, right? So easy with technology.

You don't have to walk anywhere, you can order food, you can order clothes, you can do anything. Right? So I think it's having that knowledge of, like you said, you're not bad. It's not wrong to spend and to enjoy your money.

But it is difficult when you have that knowledge of, oh, shoot, like I should really pay off this debt or how did I get here? And it's like, I'm too nervous to look at my bank accounts. I'm overwhelmed. This is scary. Scary.

Like all the buzzwords, right, of how we can feel and just like acknowledging like, hey, it's okay. There is always an answer. Like there's. The math is always there because the math can always fix it, I'll tell you that.

But until you get your mind on board of okay, you know, maybe if you're always telling yourself, I can't save for the life of me, you're not, you're not going to save because you're telling yourself that. Right.

But if you say, I may not have been able to do this in the past, or I may not have been taught how to save, but if I start slowly and educate myself, I know I can do it.

Yeah, yeah. We can change this as well.

I think also you're going back to your story about when you left university, when you left college and you had all the debt, you made an active choice there, where you said, I'm going to have a couple of years of being frugal back home self denial when everyone else is off and doing all the glamorous, fun things. And you say, no, I, I'm going to pay this off. Because something that a lot of people, we don't again, because we haven't been taught it.

Interest is a terrible thing if you're in debt. Yeah, yeah, that's, that's not good. That builds up. That builds up.

And we're having at the moment here in the uk, there's some real problems with the student loans happening here.

Debt, interest levels have changed and there are people who are just going, I've got more debt now than when I left university, even though I've been paying a certain amount every month.

Right.

Whereas by having that focus for those couple of years, that's gone. That's gone.

Exactly, exactly. And I think there is, you know, to play devil's advocate a little bit too, when we think of debt. Debt doesn't need to be bad, per se. Right.

So it's like, you know, student loans, even like a car loan, you know, you, you want to get educated. You want to, you know, if you want to be a doctor, you probably have to, you have to go to college. Right.

Like certain professions, if you're interested in doing things, that is an investment in yourself. Right. On the flip side, when we talk about credit cards, that's when I kind of put my coach hat on and say, hey, what are we doing? Right.

Like being able to at Least, you know, understand that credit card interest, like, that's, that's the crazy part of interest. Right. So being able to kind of, you know, I have.

Have people say, like, but I'm earning points and I'm earning rewards and travel, like, travel things. Right.

And it's like, okay, yes, but if we're carrying a balance and the interest is there and you don't realize how much, you know, credit cards can be over 20% interest, those points are useless at that point. Right. So just understanding, you know. Yes. Interest is like, oh, gosh. But some of them are necessary if it's, you know, a car or college debt.

But I, I like to, you know, warn on the credit card aspect of, you know, that's the. That's the kicker when it comes to interest. But it's definitely worth understanding. And to your point, like, I.

Even though my interest rates weren't too crazy when I left college, I still was like, I need this to go away. Like, I'd rather this not be here.

So it is just kind of puzzle, piecing together your decisions and your goals and understanding what that yields in the next year or two or, you know, five, 10 years, if you want to go that far into your future.

And I think that's also part of the education piece, isn't it? It is, yes. Because I'm all about. I'm all about choice in that you say, you know, you really have your options ahead of you.

It's like, right, so you can pay off this debt. It's a couple of years of things being hard, however, reaping the rewards by the time you're 30.

Or you can go and have a blast, have a great time, be up to libels and debt.

Yes.

Maybe in five, six years, you have your two years of frugality. You just have to make a. But you need to be aware of what the payoffs are.

And I think my sense is, I don't think it helps with sort of all the social media and things, the comparison being the thief of joy.

Yes.

A lot of people, not just people in their teens and twenties, but people maybe in their forties, are making dreadful comparisons and saying, but I want that now. I want that now. And it's a really. Yeah, it's hard. It's. It's. It's a challenging thing. Yeah, it is.

And I'll also say too, you know, being at home, the frugality in my head was the. The rent aspect. Right. To be very clear, I was going to stay with my friends in the city every Weekend, I was buying lunch at work.

You know what I mean? So it wasn't like this. I can't do anything. It wasn't as, you know, extreme restrictive, if you will.

Like, I am always saying, you can get your finances together and still treat yourself right. Like, I like to teach. There's room for both. So it's. It doesn't go to say, you know, I'm.

I'm going at home, and I'm doing nothing, and I'm staying at home, and I'm spending no money, right? Like, it's. It was more just a balance, right? And so I have like a. A little example there, right, where I was going to work every day.

This was pre Covid, and I was taking my train into the city, and I was buying a sweet green, like this great salad place here. Here in Boston every day. And I was probably, honestly Zoe, spending, like, $15 a day.

And when I sat down to, like, do my budget, I'm like, I am spending, like, $300 on lunch each day. And again, I was home, so I'm like, all right, I'm saving on rent. But I'm like, wait a second. This. This is not what I want to be doing.

So in the spirit of both, right, I'm like, you know what? We're gonna bring lunch Monday through Thursday, and I'm gonna treat myself, and I'm getting lunch every single Friday.

I love it.

And then it's like, you know, we're going. I want to go to happy hour, so I'm going to budget fun money into what my plan is, right? And like, I always like to say, I.

A budget again, it's like, oh, like restricting. Oh, I don't want to. I can't go get coffee. I can't do this, can't do that. Where I've been calling it a spending plan recently.

Love that.

Right? Because it's like a spending plan. Yes, I have bills.

Yes, I have responsibilities, but I'm still going to go get my nails done, and I'm going to include that. And I want to take a trip next year, so I'm going to save a little bit, put some aside for that. So it's being able to kind of.

When you think of budget, it's not as restricting, right? It's like, let's just plan for everything, for everything going on, and then you can kind of figure out, you know, moving pieces. Can this happen?

Does this have to happen next month instead? And it's not as budget restrictive, right?

There's no joy in it. So it's. Yeah, it's. And I think it's also, yeah, it's quite powerful to say that there are some things, you know, getting the nails done.

Friday is my day. Something to look forward to.

Yes.

Yeah. To still have that joy in there. So it's not completely miserly. So why is it that there is this kind of dearth of financial knowledge? What's happened?

Have you got any sort of thoughts on that?

Yeah, I think we touched on it a little bit. Right. I think social media makes it. Social media and technology generally umbrella. I'll give that. Right. It's very easy to spend money. Right.

We, we have, we have plastic now, we have cards linked up to our phones. We don't have to physically hand over cash at a physical location for things necessarily anymore. Right.

So I think with the times like that makes it so much easier to, you know, you hear people be like, oh, I have a hundred dollars in my Venmo account. That's fake free money. Right? Where it's like, okay, you can think of it that way, but it's, that's, that's the attitude that some people can have.

It's like, oh, you know, I use my credit card, so it's, it's out of sight, out of mind. Right. So I think that that's part of it.

And you know, you hear these kids are going to college and as soon as they turn 18, credit card companies are sending them, apply for this credit card, you have this $500,000 limit and the kids don't understand it's not free money and you have to pay it back. And the interest is, can be bananas.

Right.

So I think that's what kind of gets people stuck in that cycle if they're not made aware of it. Right. And I think it's, it's not why, like we've been saying, these real life money skills aren't necessarily taught in schools.

I know some are starting to introduce some, which is wonderful.

But it's, you know, these generations of if, if, you know, moms are like, I don't know, I'm nervous about my money, how are they supposed to teach their kids? And it's not even their fault because they probably learned or lack thereof, knowledge from their parents.

So it's this like cycle of, you know, trying to insert that knowledge where, you know, no one has to be this crazy New York City investment banker millionaire. Like it could be baseline things. You know, it's like I said, income, expenses, what's left?

And it's the real life Situation, real life examples that we can share and we can teach. That can really help bridge that gap we're talking about.

Yeah, yep. And I think also it's lovely that coming into this space you have different faces who appeal to different groups and societies.

So I mean, I'm thinking of, you know, your good self. Ladies in their twenties, teenage ladies are gonna go, yes, Nicole, she does look terrifying. And then you're gonna have more of your.

Dave Ramsey's is attracting a different group and I think we were talking about. Was it Caleb Hammer who's quite. Yes. Brutal. Brutal to some of his guests who. Come on. Anybody listening to this? Just, you can go and have a look.

He gives the financial advice, but it's quite, it's quite strong. It's quite strong. Yeah, let's put it that way.

He gives, it's like very reality TV vibes of, you know, they're sucking you in. They're sucking you in on that.

Yeah, but I mean what he is saying, he's just like, you know, as you say, income, expenses, what's left? But it's, it's the style. So. So this is the. I mean this is one of the wonderful things about the Internet.

Yes, the money can go because you're not using gold and silver and coins and notes anymore. But the education is. There you go, right. I've got this gap, I need to find it. And then off you go.

And your people will be there who can impart the same information, but in a way that's relatable to you. And I think this is one of the wonderful things.

So, yeah, it's an interesting one because it does strike me that we're leaving school with qualifications in, I don't know, calculus if you're lucky, or history, which I still think is important. But you then are launched into the world and you're like, I don't know what a mortgage is. I got my first PayPal. What's tax. What's this? What's that?

You know, it's quite astounding that this is not considered an important thing to have a thriving and successful society. It's a fascinating. Yeah, it's really fascinating. You'd think it'd be a fundamental. But so what? So the mums.

Because one of the kind of the packages you offer as well is coaching and support for the teenagers, isn't it? So that they can learn it. What sort of age is that that you're doing that with?

Yeah, so typically that program has been 15 to say, 19, even 20 year olds giving Them. And you know what, Zoe? It's meeting them where they're at too, right?

So if I'm Talking to a 15 year old, they don't have rent, they're not paying bills yet, right? So it's very, excuse me, it's very difficult to. Not difficult.

You can share that example and they'll, you know, understand logically what you're telling them, but it's not relevant to them yet. Right? So it's, it's funny because I've learned as I've been coaching these kids, I'm like, okay, this is the example we're doing and I'll tell you.

So I had one girl, she's 15, I'm like, okay, income. How are we making money? Do, do we have a job yet? What are we doing? And so she babysits and she teaches violin lessons.

So she makes whatever it is, 15, $20 each session, whatever, whenever she's babysitting or doing her violin lessons. And I'm like, wonderful. So what do we think, you know, if you had to estimate how much, how much money do you make in a month?

And she's like, I see her calculating in her head. She's like $150.

Right?

And so if we're a 20 something year old and we're in real life for like 150, that's groceries for a week, right? Yeah. But when we're Talking to a 15 year old, $150 is a lot of money, right? That's their money.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And so, so, so, and now here's the funny part, right? I'm like, okay, amazing. That's our income. So our expenses, right? What are our expenses? Starbucks Ulta. It's all their fun money, right?

And there's nothing wrong with that.

Yeah.

But I'm like, amazing. That's great. So how much do you want to save? She's like, I think I could probably save half of it. And I'm like, amazing.

So all of a sudden this 15 year old understands, wow, I could, as soon as I'm getting paid, put half away. So easy math, you know, If I were to just make it easy math, I'm going to save $75 every month and I have $75 to spend however I want.

And that now empowers them. We're not saying you can and cannot buy whatever. I so choose. You get to decide. But it's this bucket of money and it's teaching them. It's this.

But I have this much. I'm going to put this much over here, I'm going to pay myself first. I teach them that, right? We're not, we're not spending everything.

And now looking at our checking account and saying how much can I move over to my savings account? Right? It's nope, we get paid, we're moving it over, we have our goal, we hit that. Right? And obviously things change.

You know, something comes up, there's a birthday party, maybe they spend 100 and save 50. That's okay, right?

These aren't like strict rules but I think having those examples from a 15 year old's view, they understand it even more because they can relate to that. So when I coach them, you know, when I'm teaching them these concepts, of course I'm running them through a 25 year old example that just graduated.

They just have a new house, there's all these bills, I'm showing them that. But when the light bulb comes on is oh, I can spend 75 at Chipotle and Starbucks, you know what I mean?

Like they, they see their, themselves in that example. And it's the same mechanics, it's the same mechanics for whatever dollar amount we're talking about.

And I think also as well, coming to the savings side of things, you know, you've shifted half, that's $900 over a year. Mm, yep. That's like, and if you were to tell, mind blowing amount for a teenager, 900 bucks plus. Oh, let, let me tell you about what interest does.

Absolutely, exactly. Exactly. And that's the thing when you tell a 15 year old, hey, do you want almost a thousand dollars by the end of the year?

They're like, where do I sign?

Yeah.

And it's like, hey, 75 bucks. That's it, right?

Yep, yep. Just put that on the side. So, and, and that, that gives such a sense of pride and encouragement as a young age.

It really a sense of, you know, I can do this. And the fact that it's also. She's essentially a freelancer. She's not in employment, she's doing these things and she's found that work herself.

It's, it's so encouraging. Yeah, it gives a lot of that kind of confidence. Yeah, it's huge. It's huge. Really, really important. Really important.

It's good.

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And I'd love to share, if it's okay. One other example with that too, as we're saying. So I also try and touch upon that money mindset aspect, right?

Where I say you are actually in control of everything we're talking about, right? So it's like if you have a goal, you want to save however much it is, or you want to make however much it is, go figure out a way to make that.

How are we, how are we going to be creative? It's almost. We talk about, you know, a little entrepreneur hat. Put, put one on. What are you going to do? Right? What could you do?

Yes, you could go work at, you know, a coffee shop. You could go work anywhere. That's absolutely an option. But I had one student, his mom, it was so sweet.

His mom signed him up with me for his 15th birthday. Lovely, right? And so he's like, I eventually, he had a little entrepreneur bone.

He's like, I eventually want to do a landscaping company and all that comes with, you know, having to purchase a lawnmower and all these things. And so eventually what happened was he ended up starting a car washing business in the meantime, right? That's not as.

As heavy investment of like, okay, landscaping. I have to buy all this equipment and stuff to go do that stuff. And it's like all of a sudden, it's like even $20.

When a kid I can remember, you have $20 in your hand and you're like, whoa, this is awesome. I want more of this, right? So being able to kind of again, use that word, empower them of like, you can go, go make money. Go ahead.

Yeah.

What? Who's stopping you? Right? Like, there is no limits. There's no limits for you.

And I think that really gives them the freedom to dream a little bit bigger. Oh, what? You know, just putting on that creative hat. What could I do? How could I make money? What. What's a problem I could solve for someone, right?

And I think that's really important.

I think that's hugely, hugely important because we are living, obviously. I sort of, I've got the children, I've got a teenager, and it's things like university, careers, jobs, all of this sort of thing.

And we are living in an age where you just do not have the career, where you're going to be in the same business company for 35, 40 years. You don't have that security. But we still have an education system.

Things are still set up where people are thinking like that rather than having this encouragement of, yeah, being creative, this entrepreneurial flair. I was listening to something the other day. It was really fascinating where they were talking, I'm going to talk about communism.

Two things about communism. First thing, fall of communism. There was a contrast between what was happening in Poland and in Russia.

Not so when everything fell down and it was like a wild west of capitalism, a lot of the Russians, unless they've been involved in the black market, where you could be entrepreneurial, just it all went to pot. Awful, awful.

In Poland because there had been actually quite a big connection with America because so many had cousins and family who'd emigrated to America. So it was more of this kind of entrepreneurial side of things.

And I think also because communism was post war, there was more of a tolerance for the small businessmen and for people to sort of gently crack on and sort themselves out. So when communism fell, Poland, yes, there were struggles, but people were like, I can still make money, I'm going to be okay.

And they had that creativity. But that was very much kind of a cultural mindset shift. And making money was a. And having a business was a positive thing rather than in Russia.

It's like, well, you're an oligarch and you're in the Mafia. Not so good.

Right? So.

So I think, yeah, having this and inculcating that at an early stage, saying, look, if you want a career, go for it, but no, there are other options and having that at a young age. So my thoughts on communism and Eastern Europe. Second thought on communism.

So I saw something the other day that said pocket money is like communism because you're essentially giving them benefits without them having to. To work for it. And I went, oh, that's an interesting thought. I'd never thought of that.

And we give our children kind of, you know, we give our children pocket money and every couple of months we sit down, they have their giving for charity, their saving and their spending and their little cash books and all of this. But yeah, I went, oh, that's an interesting thought. Do you have any comments on that? Pocket money, what are your.

Or allowance, I should say, what are your thoughts?

Yeah, I mean, it depends, right. It's always. You hear different stories and I don't have children myself yet. Right. So I can't personally, but I didn't get an allowance.

I Think it was these are the chores or responsibilities around the house that you are part of this family. You know, we are. We're doing that. Right. But at the same time, hey, mom, my friends want to go out to lunch. You know, they'd give me 20, right?

So it's.

It's this, like, unique balance of, you know, you don't want to have your kids need to work to make money, right. Like, they're young, you still want them to have a childhood. You don't want them to be like, oh my gosh, I have to do something to. To make money.

Right. And then to the point of entrepreneurism, you don't necessarily need to equate time to money.

And I think that's what, you know, can be inherent if that starts happening.

But that all being said, I think it's so important, like you were saying, is having these different pockets where they go, right, Saving, giving and their fun money. So it's, it's really just being able to teach, like, hey, life. Life, no matter how old you are, is going to cost money.

When you're in middle school or high school and you want, you know, a new pair of shoes, they cost money, whether that mom and dad is paying for it or you're paying for it.

Right?

So I think it's really just understanding that that exists. And it's not bad that that exists. It's really just kind of that. Does that answer your question?

Like having that baseline I'm seeing, rather than being a sort of communism and miniature pocket money can be. Or allowances. It can be a tool as long as it is. Yeah, a tool. So sort of saying, we're okay. This is a tool to help, to teach you how to do the.

The spending plan rather than the budgeting. The spending plan. And the bonus is there is money at the end of it. I mean, also, what has really struck me are the different temperaments.

I have a particular child and the money just like flows through the hands. Yes, there is enforced savings, because I am going, no, you've got to put some money over there.

Right.

But the money goes. Whereas I have one who is just deeply uninterested and then will occasionally go, mother, mother, may I buy something?

And there's like £10,000 in an account. I'm like, where did this come from? I did nothing. I spent nothing. So I think it's quite interesting. There's different temperaments in there.

I mean, how do you deal with. How do you deal with this when you're coaching what teenagers, your women in their 20s. That's quite an interesting thing.

Yeah. So it, it always comes down to, you know, what they feel safe with. Almost right where it's like, okay, I want to, or safe isn't the right word.

It's more like comfortable. Like what feels good.

Like, I think whenever we're thinking about money, what's helpful is understanding our emotions behind it and kind of being aware. Right. So if someone is like spending all their money and then they feel guilty, then there's a disconnect. Right.

If someone is saving all their money and also feels guilty buying things, also a disconnect. Right. So understanding that mentality of. And this is, this is a quote my dad used to always tell me, save some, spend some. Right. Both are allowed.

Both are a good option. Right. So understanding where that may come from. Right. Like, am I spending it all?

Because I just don't know to say, like, there's so much, many deeper layers behind that, that, that come into play.

Yeah. It's just so interesting. So interesting.

So with the college students, because we were speaking before the podcast began talking about you are developing a program for college students. So the kids who arrive at college and they go, oh, I got a credit card and I got $5,000 in debt. Oh, now what? And then Nicole appears. So what.

Tell me a bit about this program that you're putting together. Because it's still early stages, isn't it?

Yes, it's early stages. And I'm working with a potential company partner that would create this course.

Right.

And kind of plug it into colleges. So it would be ideal, best case scenario if they could take it through, like through the actual curriculum. Right. And even get some credits for it.

But it's almost like what I'm teaching the young high school teenagers on steroids a little bit. Right. Because they're entering, you know, they're about to enter adulthood. They're much closer to adulthood, potentially.

They're, they have help from parents or, you know, who. Guardians in their life that are contributing towards their education. Maybe they're not.

Yeah.

A lot of people go off to college and they have to work through college to pay for their books, to pay for rent, having extra private loans in addition to their, you know, whether it's federal or private loans and understanding what they're getting into a little bit. And again, not making it wrong or bad, but hey, this is how, like you mentioned, this is how interest works. This is our totals. This is the plans.

You know, like they put you on like 20 year plans when you come out of College to pay off your loans, right? And I was like, I'm not, I'm not, I don't want to do that. And not everyone has that option, right? So that was a privilege.

I say that in a privileged position. So being able to understand, you know, hey, we're in this almost transitional period. College is such like a wonderful find yourself.

What am I, who am I? What am I doing? What is going on? Like, that is such like a pivotal time for kids and I'm calling them kids, right?

Like being able to understand, like so much life is happening, but then also to understand money can support you. Right? Like money supports my goals, money supports what I want to do, you know, like, and when kids are 21, like, go have money for the bars.

Go out, enjoy yourself, right? Like go meet, go meet a nice.

Young lady or a nice young gentleman. You know, you. So absolutely, go have fun.

Yes, Date, have fun, enjoy yourself.

And in again, I think having the math education that I'm teaching, but also making sure that they understand there's nothing wrong with spending money.

Because I think a lot of the times when we talk about budgeting and investing, it's like it, which is important, but you're thinking long term and supporting myself later, right? And it's like, you want to enjoy your life now too.

So to answer your question, what I, what I teach the college kids and a lot of what I teach the teenagers too, but more in depth examples is, you know, spending plans, right? Spending plans, saving money, basics of taxes, right? Like I had one of. I had a 15 year old student come in and.

And his mom was like, he just got his first paycheck. And his mom was like, you gotta talk to Nicole. Because he's like, where'd all my money go?

And like, well, there's federal and there's taxes and there's, you know what I mean? So it's like just knowing that exists, right? Takes the sting off a little bit. I'm gonna have less than my $20 an hour times 10 hours.

You're not getting 200 bucks. Right? Taxes. Understanding credit, understanding credit cards. Teach them basics of investing, right?

I'm not saying go invest in this stock, that stock. Just what is the spending? What is the s and P? 500.

Exactly.

What, where do you, you know, where do you invest?

What is an ETF? All these sorts of.

What is an ETF?

Yeah, exactly.

Does your company offer a 401k? Like all these, like, I'm not acting as a financial advisor and it's not go do X Y, Z, it's. These are definitions and terms.

So when people are speaking to you or you're reading something, you're not like, oh, geez, what is this even mean in the back of your head? Yeah, I always tell them, I'm like, Nicole. I'm like, you're gonna remember, Nicole told me something about this before. Like, what was that again?

Like, it's at least not the. I like to teach them things. So when they go in the real world monetarily, it's not the first time they're hearing about it.

Exactly. Because then you feel. That's when you feel like a plonker. You're like, oh, I should know this. Whereas at least it's been coming in.

I'm doing a maths course with the children and it's an American homeschooling one. It's hilarious because the guy who's written it, as soon as you get onto percentages, he's like, let me talk to you about taxes.

Let's talk about sales taxes. I'm going to compare between Maine and Nevada and California. Here's the federal tax. You can't get rid of that, unfortunately.

Although, should they be taking our money? I'm not sure. And then he says, you know, whatever. Sales tax in Nevada is like, nothing. He said, this is why I moved to Nevada.

So consider this in your future children. And you're like, this is for a nine year old.

Yeah. You're like, hold on, hang on.

But it's. He's like, planting the seeds. Planting the seeds. Yeah. So, yeah, no, no, I think the taxes is. Is a really. Yeah, it's an important thing.

I mean, here in the uk, it's just bonkers. At the moment. I think there are people who are on 40, 50% tax rates.

Wow. It is tricky.

We'll see. Give another three, four years and maybe things will be different. But, yeah, things are a bit tricky at the moment.

But taxes, no, that's a really important thing. And yeah, for the college students who are about to go out into the world, that has a huge, huge impact. No, it's just brilliant, Nicole.

I think this is.

I think it's wonderful because you have the personality and engaging character that means people can ask you these questions and not feel like a plonker.

Thank you.

Yes. Best compliment I can give you. So. Yay. But also, you've got the financial. You know, you're not just like a spreadsheet warrior.

And this is so important. Yeah. As well for the teenagers and for the college students. It is good it is good, right? Nicole, mainly mums listening to this.

If you could give a tip, I know you're not a mum yet, but you're working with the mums to help them grow these wonderful teenage adulty people.

What would be your one tip aside from them coming to you and the kids doing the coaching course, but what would be the one tip that you could give them?

Yeah, and this, this is going to probably be unexpected, right? Because this isn't going to be, hey, mom, this is what you're going to do for your teen.

I'm going to challenge and say, hey, mom, what are your current money beliefs? How do you handle money? How do you speak about money in front of your children? Are you saying, oh, that's too expensive, I can't afford that.

Ah, that's not realistic. Like what words are you using? Right. And you know, because you think about it, they kids are absorbing everything.

Yep.

So if mom's always saying, we have no money, I can't afford it. Like, that's obviously a negative example. But on the flip side, just bringing awareness to yourself. Right. How are you nervous about money?

Are you overwhelmed by money? Are you in a really, really great place with money and you learned and you feel secure and confident? Try and emanate that talk.

If, if you feel good, talk about it more. Hey, you know what? I, we are so lucky.

I have, I don't have any credit card debt, but I like to use my credit cards because I'm earning points from them. Right. For example, or, you know, every time we go to the grocery store, wow.

Groceries may have gotten a little bit more expensive, but I am so grateful that we can afford this to feed our family. And we are paying the salaries of these people behind the cash register.

Right.

Like having this, you know, outside yourself awareness of what you are thinking and feeling and passing on to the kids. Right. Like I said, mindset's more important than math.

I think you know, what you're doing with your kids with, you know, the envelopes and the different categories. That's of course a practical thing moms can do.

Being able to kind of like, again, come to me, but just, you know, having those concepts in your, in your mind.

Right.

Because I always joke, like teenagers, I say to my mom, I love you. I'm so sorry. As a teenager because you don't listen to your mom, they're the last person you're like, I'm busy, I'm doing, you know, everything.

Right. So, but you know, as much as kids will listen, like give them little Bits and pieces, right? Like, hey, this is why, hey, this is our family account.

Right. Like if you're giving allowances, hey, there's, there's a family tax, there's 10%. I'm giving you $100, we're giving $10 into a pot.

And this family tax we're going to go on vacation with next year, you know, using that as an example. But I digress. It's really just challenging the you as a mom to understand your stuff. Right.

Because you're passing a lot of that down, whether it's subconsciously and you don't even realize. They probably don't even realize. A lot of it happens under the surface.

But as much as you can proactively, you know, watch how you speak about it, watch how you think about it. Turn your relationship with money into something positive is one of the best things you can do for your kids.

Brilliant. Brilliant. Now that, that's such a good one. That kind of rather. It is practical, but it's not a hands on practical. It's like self reflection.

It might be quite painful for some, but also really powerful because you go, ah, I can see this wound, I can see this struggle. How can I improve? You become greater and then you're passing that greatness onto your children.

This is excellent. Absolutely excellent.

We like.

Good. I'm so glad.

Yeah. Nicole, where can people find you? So aside from here, Real life, Real kitchen podcast, but you have a little corner of the Internet. Where is that?

I do, yes. The website is under construction. There's a lot of different things going on. So I would love to direct people right to Instagram. So I.

My Instagram is reatewealthyfutures. So that is exactly where you can find me. That's where all updates are happening. You can DM me. I'm happy to stay connected there.

Great, fantastic. I'll have a link in the show notes. I'll also put your Facebook group, is that all right to pop that in there?

And then some of the ladies can join if they so wish and have a look at that. So. But Nicole, this has been, this has been a delight. Thank you so very much.

And I would like to say to all the listeners, if you know of another mum who's struggling or you just found this interesting, you want to tell the world. Do like share, subscribe, get the word out. All the usual things would be wonderful. All right, until next time on the RealLife Real Kitchen podcast.

Bye. Dropping. Love the podcast and want to help keep the kettle on.

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