Hala Taha: [00:00:00] Money is one of the most emotional topics in our lives, yet we're taught to treat money like a math problem, and when things don't add up, we assume the problem is us. For a lot of people, the stress doesn't come from spending too much. It comes from not really knowing where their money is going, and that's exactly where awareness can change everything.

Hala Taha: Today we're tapping into insights from some of the most respected voices in personal finance who are gonna help us rethink how we see money. And ourselves.

Jean Chatzky: Most people have absolutely no idea where their money is actually going.

Tori Dunlap: I want your hard-earned

Suze Orman: money

Ramit Sethi: going to things that you actually love.

Ramit Sethi: Spend extravagantly on the things you love. As long as you cut costs mercilessly on the things you don't. Just be

Suze Orman: intentional. Money cannot do anything without you.

Jean Chatzky: When it comes to overspending in general, I think that this secret is.

Hala Taha: Hey, young profits. Welcome back to the show and welcome to episode one of the Money Reset series, a special three-part [00:01:00] series created in partnership with Experian.

Hala Taha: This series is all about hitting reset on your relationship with money. Today we're talking about how to understand your money without shame. Build smarter systems that don't rely on willpower and create real financial relief. Without overhauling your entire life, because the truth is money is one of the most emotional topics in our lives, yet we're taught to treat money like a math problem, and when things don't add up, we assume the problem is us.

Hala Taha: This episode isn't about budgeting rules or achieving financial perfection. It's really about awareness because you can't change what you can't see and you can't heal. What you don't understand. That's why today we're tapping into insights from some of the most respected voices in personal finance, including Dave Ramsey, Susie Orman, and Jade War Shop.

Hala Taha: Who are gonna help us rethink how we see money and ourselves. And when it comes to awareness, having better visibility into subscriptions and recurring bills can make a huge difference. [00:02:00] Experian offers tools like subscription cancellation and bill negotiation, which could help manage eligible recurring expenses and could help put money back into your pocket so your finances will feel more manageable and less overwhelming.

Hala Taha: Results will vary. Not all bills and subscriptions are eligible. Savings are not guaranteed paid. Membership with connected payment account is required. See experian.com for details. Alright, yeah. Bam. Let's get started. Before we ever talk about budgets or spending, we have to talk about fear because for most people, money, anxiety didn't start with math.

Hala Taha: It started with a story. A story about what money means, a story about what we're allowed to want, a story about safety, success, or failure. And the thing is, a lot of us carry these money stories around without even realizing it. We just feel the weight, the tension, the anxiety that shows up every time we check our bank account or think about our financial future.

Hala Taha: [00:03:00] Understanding where that fear comes from and how to loosen its script. Often starts with the emotional side of the story. Farish ROI is a financial expert and the host of the So Money podcast, and she explained to me why a fear of money is so rarely about the numbers.

Farnoosh Torabi: When people are afraid of money sometimes.

Farnoosh Torabi: Um, it has nothing to do with the money all the time. It has nothing to do with the money. It has to do with your relationship to money, the stories you've been telling yourself about money. And so when the fear of money shows up, your best assignment. Number one is to trace the root of that fear. Where did it actually begin?

Farnoosh Torabi: Where did you first adopt this fear? Because I bet you adopted it. It wasn't something that you were just bore feeling, you know, you experienced it, you saw it. And then somehow it became who you are and what, what you think. But it's important to zoom out and it's important to reflect on the, the root of our fears, especially when it's the fear of money, because it will tell you something very important usually about the way [00:04:00] you were raised, the influences that you've had then and still.

Farnoosh Torabi: So maybe still you're in. A relationship or you're in a community or you're in a household that is feeding you these fears, which are actually fallacies. They're not real. They're just these contrived perceptions, understandings, myths around money that we tell ourselves because money. Very emotional and money tends to poke at our sense of dignity and pride and ego.

Farnoosh Torabi: And when we don't like what money says about us, we sometimes create stories that aren't true. And so it's just important to examine that. It's the first step when you have the fear of money. And the next step is to, when you've recognized these, these patterns, these stories, these ways that you've been raised, that you don't really wanna continue to create a new narrative.

Farnoosh Torabi: Like, okay, that all that happened to you. It's, it's not to say that it [00:05:00] doesn't have validity or it didn't happen, but it's in the past and now you are an adult with agency, so what's gonna be your choice? Are you going to continue to. Lock arms with that fear, which is really what we've decided is fake. Or you're going to create a new narrative that says the opposite of what you have been told to believe.

Farnoosh Torabi: You've been told to be afraid of.

Hala Taha: What verus is pointing out is something really important. Once you recognize the story behind your money fear, you can start to question it, and that's where awareness turns into power, because not all money fears are created equal. Some are real and rational, but a lot of them are vague, emotional and way bigger in our heads than they are in real life.

Hala Taha: And when fear stays fuzzy, it keeps us stuck. That's where Jade Warshaw comes in. She's a debt elimination expert, finance coach and the co-host of the Ramsey Show, and she helps people figure out whether their money, fears are actually real or [00:06:00] just loud.

Farnoosh Torabi: First off, is your fear rational or irrational?

Farnoosh Torabi: Because there's two types, right? There are very rational fears out there, and I wanna validate that, but most of us, most of us, are in the irrational zone. And you know, when it's irrational, when it's kind of vague, like the vague idea of if I do this, then I'm gonna ruin everything. Or if I spend the money like that, then I'll never get to see my family.

Farnoosh Torabi: It's like, what are you saying? You'll never get to see your family. Let's drill that down. And so I'm talking about how to drill down those fears because if you can drill them and distill them down to what actually is, then we can actually find a solution for it. So I tell people all the time, for example.

Farnoosh Torabi: I'll say, Hey, uh, money is pretty simple. Uh, it's if you need more of it, you can either lower your expenses or increase your income. That's basically it. And so I tell people, if you're looking for ways to increase your income, yeah. Either pick up a side hustle, maybe start a small business. And right when I say that, [00:07:00] it's like, hold on, you're telling me.

Farnoosh Torabi: I need to give more time to this. Well, and now all of it. Well, what if I miss out on my kids' soccer game? Well, what if I miss out on this? Or what if my spouse thinks I'm neglecting them? And I'm like, let's distill it down. Tell me exactly, and then we can address it. If you're afraid that you're a newlywed and your spouse is gonna think you don't wanna spend time with them, then we can solve for that, can't we?

Farnoosh Torabi: We can have that conversation. We can say, here's what my fear is, because fear, the antidote to fear is light. It just needs to be put out in the open. We can see it for what it is, and then we can deal with it.

Hala Taha: Now this distinction is so important. Some money, fears are real and they deserve our attention, but many of these fears are undefined and distracting, and when we don't name them, they can quietly run the show.

Hala Taha: The moment you bring fear into the light, it just loosens its grip, and that's what Jade is really reminding us of. Awareness creates agency when you can separate what's real from what's [00:08:00] imagined. Fear stops driving and you get to choose intentionally instead of just reacting, and that realization leads to something even bigger.

Hala Taha: Money doesn't move on its own. It doesn't decide where to go or what to do next. You do. That's a message from Suzy Orman, and she's been teaching this for decades. She's one of the most trusted voices in personal finance and the host of the Women and Money podcast, and she's crystal clear about where real financial control actually comes from.

Suze Orman: You have to understand that the goal of money is for you to be secure. Mm-hmm. So all of you should stop right here and right now and answer that question. Are you secure? And if you are not secure, why not? And most of you will say, all I have is credit card debt. I have student loan. I don't know what to do.

Suze Orman: I am, I'm not. Right? Yeah. And so therefore, you [00:09:00] want to change your lives. What you have to understand about money more even important than should you do this? Should you do that? What should you do? Because what I've learned over these past 40 years, longer than most of you have been alive, or at least many of you, what I have learned is this.

Suze Orman: That you and your money are one. You are the one who goes out and earns a paycheck, opens up a business, creates an idea, brings in money for it. You are the one who decides what to do with that money. Do you save it? Do you spend it? Do you reinvest it? What do you do with it? Money cannot do anything without you.

Hala Taha: What Susie is really driving home is that money doesn't have a mind of its own. Every outcome starts with a decision whether we realize we're making it or not. And once you understand [00:10:00] that, the next question becomes what are you actually choosing? And that's where intentionality comes. For decades, Dave Ramsey has helped people understand how small unexamined choices can quietly lead to financial stress.

Hala Taha: His work centers on a simple truth. No one plans to end up overwhelmed by money. Most people just drift there.

Dave Ramsey: We've been teaching this stuff for, gosh, almost 40 years now, and I think the thing we've discovered more than anything else is if I can get folks or if we can get folks. To just be intentional.

Ramit Sethi: Mm.

Dave Ramsey: And just think about, you know, look at what they're doing instead of just, you know, uh, impulsing every single thing in the, in the financial arena. And, uh, not considering the unintended consequences. Not considering the downsides. When you're intentional, you automatically consider the downsides. And when you're intentional, that's gonna lead you to being on a budget that's gonna lead you to avoiding debt, that's going to lead you to, uh, investing.

Dave Ramsey: [00:11:00] Because no one says, Hey, I want to work. My whole life and have no money. That's not an intentional thing, right? Mm-hmm. Uh, I, I want to be broken deeply in debt and hundreds of thousands of dollars of student loan debt and card debt, and I can't breathe. No one says sets out for that to be their goal.

Dave Ramsey: Mm-hmm. They fall backwards into it from a lack of intentionality.

Hala Taha: Yeah. What Dave is really pointing out is that money stress doesn't come from one big mistake. It builds up quietly when you're not paying attention, and that's exactly where awareness can change everything. When we come back, we'll dig into what happens once you start seeing your money clearly, and why that moment alone can completely shift the way that you feel about your finances.

Hala Taha: Hey, yeah, bam. I know a lot of you are working hard to hit new financial goals this year. But it can be tough to get ahead when subscription creep is quietly draining your bank account. I can't tell you how many times I thought I canceled something, only to realize later they were still charging me, or how many times I tried to cancel, but it was so difficult I couldn't figure it out.

Hala Taha: And if you're like me, you have way too many [00:12:00] subscriptions and bills, and you're probably looking for a way to track and manage them all. Lucky for us, Experian handles all that heavy lifting. Check out Experian subscription cancellation and bill negotiation. Two powerful features that can help you save with minimal effort.

Hala Taha: Experian scans the accounts that you link, finds reoccurring charges, and puts the power in your hands. You can keep the subscriptions you want and cancel the ones that you no longer need or use. Experian can cancel over 200 eligible subscriptions from streaming services to entertainment apps and more, and it doesn't stop there.

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Hala Taha: Disclaimer. Results will vary. Not all bills or subscriptions are eligible savings, not guaranteed paid. Membership with connected payment account required [00:13:00] See experian.com for details. Okay, now that we've talked about why money feels the way that it actually does, let's talk about what's actually happening with your money day to day.

Hala Taha: Because for a lot of people, the stress doesn't come from. Bending too much. It comes from not really knowing where their money is going. We make guesses. We round numbers, we tell ourselves stories, and without clear visibility, it's almost impossible to make intentional choices. Jean Chasky is the host of the Her Money podcast, and she spent years helping people get clear on their finances.

Hala Taha: Here's how she explains why awareness is the real starting point

Jean Chatzky: when it comes. Overspending in general. I think that the secret is that most people have absolutely no idea where their money is actually going.

Tori Dunlap: Hmm.

Jean Chatzky: Uh, so when we teach budgeting and we have a, a program called Finance Fix where we teach budgeting and, and how to do this in a way that you can [00:14:00] actually save something, we put people through this process of.

Jean Chatzky: Figuring out where their money is going. We use technology to do it so you don't have to do it by hand. Um, and once you see where you've been using your money, then you have the tools and the ammunition to make changes about where you consciously want to use your money. And so it's not, don't buy the coffee, right?

Jean Chatzky: Mm. Everybody's least favorite example. It's. If the coffee is the thing that lights up your day, then by all means buy the coffee. But if you could care less and really. What you want is a little bit of caffeine to help you get out the door, then make it at home and have a sip and go about your day and spend your money on something that you actually value.

Hala Taha: Mm. Now, yeah, fam, this is such a relief to hear. The issue isn't [00:15:00] coffee or small treats. It's that most of us are making decisions without the full picture. Once you can actually see where your money is going, clarity creates choice. You stop guessing and you can spend in ways that reflect what you value instead of feeling deprived.

Hala Taha: And that awareness isn't just about numbers. It's about understanding why you're spending the way that you are. This is something Tori Dunlap talks about all the time. She's a money expert and the author of Financial Feminist, and she encourages people to get curious about their spending instead of judging it.

Hala Taha: One of the tools that she uses to do that is something she calls a money diary. Here's Tori sharing with me how it works and why awareness is so much more than tracking dollars. So speaking of another sort of tool that you, you talk about, you've got this concept of a money diary. Can you explain to us what that is and, and Yeah.

Hala Taha: Uh, the framework around that?

Tori Dunlap: Yeah. So it was a practice that I started doing when I would, you know, coach clients one-on-one, and it was this realization of, uh, you know, I would [00:16:00] ask people. Okay, what money's coming in? And they could total that up for me usually, right? Like, okay, I'm getting paid this amount during this time and you know, maybe I have this side hustle.

Tori Dunlap: Or if you're a business owner, right? That's a little harder to track. But like I have, you know, these four clients and these are my revenue streams. And then I would say, okay, where is that money going? And they would kind of be like, well, I think it's going to this. And then we would look at their credit card statements and they're like, uh, just kidding.

Tori Dunlap: I have no idea where the hell my money went. Like, I dunno. And if that feeling is your feeling of, I look at my bank account and I'm like, I don't know where my money went, then this is the practice for you. Um. It's literally writing down every purchase you make, especially discretionary purchases for a period of time.

Tori Dunlap: And it's not to shame you, it's more just to watch what behavior and what sort of mindset you have. So again, talk about this more in my book, but you do four things. You write down where you spent the money or what you spent it on. How much? So I went to Starbucks, I bought a $5 mocha. Right. And then why [00:17:00] you made the purchase and how it made you feel.

Tori Dunlap: I was meeting up with a friend and it made me feel great 'cause I haven't seen her in a while.

Suze Orman: Mm,

Tori Dunlap: the why and how it made you feel is the transformational part because again, money's psychological. It's emotional. I need you to understand why you're making this purchase. Is it? Um, I went out with my friends and I had a little too much to drink and I suddenly was buying shots for the entire bar.

Tori Dunlap: Cool. Um, probably wasn't a great use of your money. Maybe it was. I don't know, but like for me, probably not a great use of my money. Now, am I shaming and judging myself? No, a hundred percent not. I'm just like, interesting. Okay. I did that because I maybe wanted this feeling of belonging or I wanted this feeling of like, I am balling out and I can show people that I can buy an entire round.

Tori Dunlap: Maybe it's okay. I bought this shaded pair of shoes I didn't need and didn't want because my boss made me feel like shit today. Right. And I was spending to emotionally cope. Hmm. I think we can all, all, you know, find a place in our life where we did that. [00:18:00] But like, that's, that's the thing is you have to start understanding my purchases.

Tori Dunlap: Even the ones that are minor are psychological and emotional. And what'll start happening is before you lay down that credit card, but before you hit add to cart, you'll start going, okay, do I need this thing? Do I actually want this thing? Because I want your hard earned money going to things that you actually love.

Tori Dunlap: It's your hard-earned money. It doesn't mean don't spend it like we were talking about before. It doesn't mean don't spend money. It just means spend your hard-earned money on things that light you on fire and if it doesn't light you on fire. Yeah, we don't do lukewarm with spending with men. We don't do lukewarm like we don't do lukewarm.

Tori Dunlap: We do things that light us on fire.

Hala Taha: Yap gang. What I love about what Tori just said is how it reframes the entire conversation. This isn't about restriction or cutting joy out of your life. It's about making your money actually support the things that energize you, rather than quietly drifting towards things you don't even care about.

Hala Taha: And once you start paying attention not to just where your money is going, but why it's going there, [00:19:00] something clicks and changes awareness, stops feeling like deprivation, and it starts feeling like. A choice because if money is a tool, then the real question isn't how little you can spend, it's what you're intentionally choosing to spend it on.

Hala Taha: Ramit Seti has spent years helping people rethink that question. He's a personal finance expert known for challenging the idea that good money habits mean constant self, self-denial. Instead, he focuses on building systems that let you spend more on what you love. While cutting back on everything else without guilt.

Hala Taha: Here's how Ramit explains that idea through what he calls money dials.

Ramit Sethi: Love it. Alright, so let me explain what's going on here. So I call a money dial. A money dial because just like a radio dial, you can turn it up. I always wanna understand what do you love to spend money on? And then I wanna understand what would it look like if you could actually spend more?

Ramit Sethi: Why? Because I believe you should spend extravagantly on the things you love as long as you cut costs mercilessly on the things you don't. And [00:20:00] the sad fact is most of us have never actually thought of spending more on the things we love because what's the note that we're taught by everybody save.

Ramit Sethi: Mm-hmm. And so we do it so poorly, we save, we go, uh, I should probably save C. And I go, why should you save? They go, uh, you just should, right? I go, this sucks. So they go, oh, I tried to save 5% on um, beans. I tried to save 5% on parking tickets. I tried to save. I go, this is so ineffective. Why don't you take the area you love and spend more?

Ramit Sethi: And then once you know what you, what your vision is and you're excited and motivated by it, then suddenly it becomes much easier to look at your expenses and cut back on the stuff that's not serving it. So if I were to come to you and we were to really work together and I were to say, okay. You wanna buy this?

Ramit Sethi: I don't know, Birkin bag and uh, okay. And you go, oh my God. Yeah. I go, okay, let's not just say Birkin, show me the color. Show me the style, show me the website [00:21:00] where it's currently for sale right now. And you're like, oh my God, no money guys ever talked about this. So we're sitting there, we're going, and you're getting excited.

Ramit Sethi: And I'm like, look, this is a reality. It might take longer than you think, but we can model it all out. And you're like, oh my God, this could be mine. 'cause again, it drives you. Then I go, okay, now let's look at your expenses. If you wanna get that Birkin bag, this is what we need to make some changes. What would you do?

Ramit Sethi: And suddenly people are totally amenable to it.

Hala Taha: What REIT is really pointing to is motivation. When you're clear on what you actually want your money to do for your life, the behavior changes almost automatically. Cutting back stops feeling like punishment and starts feeling purposeful. Because money isn't just about dollars and cents.

Hala Taha: Money is not a math problem. It's emotional. It's deeply psychological. It shapes how secure or trapped we feel in our everyday lives. Tory Dunlap captured this beautifully. She shared with me how one of her biggest money goals wasn't really about [00:22:00] the number at all. It was about what that number represented in her life.

Tori Dunlap: It's very difficult sometimes to get somebody to care about money when they think it's just numbers, right? We know that money is psychological. We know that money is emotional, and so when I thought about that a hundred K and when, you know, shit started getting hard where I couldn't. Save or there was a period of time that I spent unemployed, so I was not only not saving money, I was spending the money I had already saved.

Tori Dunlap: I was trying to figure out like, okay, I set this arbitrary goal for myself. Like what's the point? The a hundred K meant that I got to quit my job? Like that was the promise I had made to myself is I attached the number to a goal and to a feeling. I literally imagine like, what would my life look like if I didn't have to make somebody I didn't respect Rich.

Tori Dunlap: What would my life look like if I didn't have to, you know, ask to take PTO and get it denied? What would my life look like if I didn't have to commute into a [00:23:00] job that I didn't feel aligned with my passions or aligned with the mission and values of my life? What did that feel like? And it felt amazing.

Tori Dunlap: Mm-hmm. And so that a hundred K goal, yes. Part of it was like seeing the a hundred k being able to see the headline, which of, you know, I'm grateful that there are many, you know, how does 25-year-old save a hundred k? But really it was about like, what, how does my life change? So if you're out there and you're trying to get yourself motivated, like, how do I become debt free?

Tori Dunlap: Right. Or how do I, you know, invest enough for retirement? Or how do I just like. Like, how do I make ends meet so that I don't feel panicked all of the time? Associate that and you with a feeling, right? What does it feel like to not have somebody demanding that you send them money every month for your student loans?

Tori Dunlap: What does it feel like to know?

Jean Chatzky: Mm-hmm.

Tori Dunlap: Oh yeah. I can buy this thing without guilt or shame because I've budgeted for it. [00:24:00] What does it feel like to know that you are going to be set for retirement? 65-year-old you is taken care of. Like what does that feel like? So I think that for me was really the driving force of like, how does my life change?

Tori Dunlap: And what is, what does it feel like to use money as a tool to get me there?

Hala Taha: Once you start seeing your money, clearly what it represents, where it's going and what you want it to support, something shifts, you're no longer just reacting, you're aware, and with that awareness comes a choice because clarity doesn't just bring insight, it brings responsibility.

Hala Taha: Not in a heavy or shame filled way, but in a grounded, honest way. When you can see what's really happening, waiting for somebody else to fix it stops being an option. Jade Warshaw speaks directly to that moment. She gets very real with me about what it means to take ownership of your finances even when the situation wasn't your fault in the first place.

Farnoosh Torabi: Oh boy, I, I could probably tell you a lot of different truths about money because there's so many things [00:25:00] that people don't want to hear, but I think the number one thing is it may not have been your fault, but it's your job to fix it. Like that. For me, that is the big one because like you said, I take calls from people you know, around the world all day every day on the Ramsey show.

Farnoosh Torabi: I mean, it's like 18 million folks a week that are listening to that, and everybody's calling in with different types of problems. But the feeling of it is the same, which is should I be the one that has to deal with this? Right. It's, well, my spouse, they're not the one doing it and they're, I'm trying to save money, but they're out spending, or, you know, my grandma took out a credit card in my name, or my parents are the ones that told me to sign for the student loans.

Farnoosh Torabi: Right? There's all of this reason that we kind of want to place the blame somewhere else, and I had a colleague and, and a mentor tell me once, he said, you can't blame your way to a better life. And it always stuck with me. You can't blame your way. And that's the thing. If we can take responsibility and say, Hey, there might be a very good [00:26:00] reason that this sucks, right?

Farnoosh Torabi: Like there might be a very good reason somebody may have done you wrong legitimately. Like you may have been divorced and now you're trying to rebuild and it's tough. Or some, you know, you worked at a job for 20 years and they fired you, right? All that stuff is real, but at the end of the day, that person is not gonna come back and fix it for you.

Farnoosh Torabi: The chances of that happening are so slim and we spend so much time waiting around for somebody to go, oh, I'm sorry. Let me come fix that for you. And they're not coming. Holler. Yeah.

Hala Taha: Nobody's coming to save you. You're

Farnoosh Torabi: the only one that can rescue you.

Hala Taha: What Jay just said is powerful and it's worth sitting with.

Hala Taha: You're the only one who can rescue you. I'm gonna say that again. You're the only one who can rescue you. That doesn't mean blaming yourself for how you got here. It means recognizing that awareness gives you agency. You don't have to fix everything today. You don't need a perfect plan, but now you can actually see what's happening.

Hala Taha: And once you see clearly, you're able to make intentional choices. [00:27:00] But awareness is just the beginning and it isn't enough to make the changes stick. In the next episode of the series, we're gonna talk about systems and how to set up support that works in the background and automatically. So progress won't rely on solely motivation or discipline because if change depends on willpower alone.

Hala Taha: We know that it usually doesn't last. And finally, seeing your money clearly shouldn't mean tracking every dollar by hand. Tools that surface subscriptions and recurring bills can help you understand where your money is really going. Experian offers services like subscription cancellation where Experian scans the accounts that you link.

Hala Taha: Finds recurring charges and puts the power in your hands. You can keep the subscriptions you want and cancel the ones you no longer need. Experian can cancel over 200 eligible subscriptions from streaming services to entertainment apps and more. Experian's Bill negotiation could also help put money back in your pocket.

Hala Taha: Their expert negotiators could help you by finding better rates on eligible bills You're [00:28:00] already paying the best part. You get to keep a hundred percent of your savings. Results will vary. Not all bills or subscriptions are eligible savings are not guaranteed paid. Membership with connected payment account required See experian.com for details.

Hala Taha: Alright, yap. Bam. Thank you so much for listening to this episode, and be sure to tune into episode two to learn all about financial systems and I'll see you next time.