Your Money, Your Recovery

Francine Dick joins me on the podcast today to talk about her book - Enjoy your latte - A financial advisor's simple guide to Canadian money basics and designing a better life.    In this episode Francine talks about her experience on her own experience as a sole support mom of three children, she explains how to budget, saving money, making life changes, preparing for retirement, estate planning, and much more.    Francine brings expertise of Canadian finances but we also talk about the US equivalents and overall financial literacy to help you build a healthy relationship with your money.    To order Francine's book please do so here:    https://enjoyyourlatte.ca/the-book/   Here is Francine's website where you can learn more about her and book a consultation if you would like to talk to her about your money:    https://www.askfrancine.ca

It's the most wonderful time of the year, or is it?    The holidays are coming in fast and the marketing emails and marketing has already kicked up.    This week's lesson we talk about the guide that I created to help you navigate your Financial Sobriety during the holidays.    Some key things I explain to help support you is:    - Give yourself permission to keep it simple - Set financial boundaries - Focus on self compassion - Get clear on how you want to FEEL - Create a holiday spending plan   You can download the guide on my website here:    https://www.lindaparmar.com   I am also hosting a holiday spending support group this year! We start meeting on November 18th - December 13th, all the info here:    https://www.lindaparmar.com/holidayspendingsupportgroup   Happy planning! 

Experiencing a financial blackout these days in our instant gratification society is something that is actually quite normal. A financial blackout is similar to a blackout someone might experience with alcohol or drugs, but in the context of money. It's a state where you lose control or awareness of your financial decisions—spending or making financial decisions without fully being conscious and present of the consequences until you "come to" and realize the damage. Is this something you have experienced? In this lesson I walk you through what you might experience in a financial blackout and the tools to use to help support you through it and come out the other side.

Have you been asking yourself if loan consolidation might be something you want to do with your debt? In this episode I walk you through the questions to ask yourself before you follow through with a loan consolidation application or a balance transfer with your credit card company.  When it comes down to it loan consolidations can be a great way to make your payments more realistic but is it the best thing for you?  There are many things to consider when getting a loan consolidation and I give you all the information you need.  I also introduce you to the "Prince Charming Effect" of what loan consolidations do for us and it's one of the most important pieces of thinking through if you are trying to be rescued or not.  You will get all the info you need to consolidate or not consolidate! 

If you struggle with perimenopause and you saw the title of this lesson it may feel like a bit of a warm hug, but in saying that you don't want a warm hug cause the hot flashes have taken over, but you get what I mean.  I am talking about what alot of peeps aren't talking about, perimenopause.  Perimenopause has really affected my Financial Sobriety.  With the mood swings, hot flashes, feeling completely on edge my spending can be affected at times. The thing that has affected it the most is the cost of perimenopause.  Our system is so broken when it comes to women seeking help as we struggle with perimenopause.  Paying out of pocket is the only way I was going to get anybody to even take me seriously (and I live in Canada.  This weeks lesson I talk all about how it affected me and some tips for how to navigate this LOOOOONNNNNNG season of your life.  Here is the link to the sober spending course I refer to in the episode: https://www.lindaparmar.com/soberspending

Guest episode - Jake!  Jake is joining us from Ottawa Ontario to share his journey that he has had with his money.  Jake's story really spoke to me as the things he has dealt with in his life so far and focusing on his money has been something he keeps coming back to.  He shares his journey of being in recovery from cannabis use, ADHD and bipolar disorder. This journey brings him through many ups and downs and his story is really inspiring. Jake is also a trans male and I admire him so much to step into his truth and how he navigated his finances during this time.  Enjoy the guest episode! 

Lee is joining us as a guest on the pod today from Brisbane Australia.  It always excites me so much when I get to hear stories of recovery and money in countries all over the world as I am in Canada.  Lee shares her journey of her recovery and going through a divorce and how this has impacted her money and focusing on next steps to move into Financial Sobriety.  One thing that I really admire about Lee's story is how much work she has done on her recovery and how she is now ready to start her Financial Sobriety and explaining how she has been able to get to this place.  If you are looking to be a guest on the pod please feel free to email me at linda@lindaparmar.com

Summer Series is back with a guest episode ☀️ Tami from Seattle joins us today to share her story with the work on her Financial Sobriety.  Tami has done SO much work on healing her relationship with debt and overall spending.  If you need some inspiration on what making peace with debt, this episode is for you.  Such an honour to have Tami on the podcast and share her hope and inspiration with her Financial Sobriety. 

Summer is here and guest episodes are back!  Our first guest to share their story is Jenn.  Jenn is a client who I worked very closely with the last few years and I am so excited that she is our first guest as her story is SO POWERFUL.  When I think of someone who has been extremely dedicated to her journey with money I think of Jenn immediately. She remained so committed and accountable to her journey with money and most of all when things felt hard she kept going. Giving voices to you and supporting you and your Financial Sobriety is an honour. If you would like to be on the show please email me at linda@lindaparmar.com  

Consumerism and Capitalism are words that are referred to a lot in conversation in our world, but understanding it can feel overwhelming. Breaking it down into bite sized pieces was something that I wanted to do. Being armed with information about our money is SO powerful and helps us make decisions with our money and practice our Financial Sobriety.  Unfortunately Consumerism and Capitalism is something we deal with daily. The world we live in today is full of racism, sexism, colonialism, elitism, anti semitism, ableism and SO MUCH more. A lot of these movements are driven primarily by capitalism. It actually feels really hard to write this as I know I am a privileged white woman who is in recovery from many things. We are in recovery from capitalism and consumerism.  This weeks lesson will give you more insight into what this means for you and your Financial Sobriety. 

Building habits and routine for your Financial Sobriety is such a huge piece of following through with working on your money.  Today I share my routine that helps support my Financial Sobriety.  This routine has taken 7 years to work as a system and it is an ever evolving process, just like my relationship with money.  Here are some of the key pieces of my routine:  1. Create monthly spending plan.  2. Daily planning of my spending and tracking my spending.  3. Money dates/meetings.  4. Not using credit cards.  5. Auto transfers for my savings plan and debt payments.  6. Check-in with my emotions with money and spending.  7. Budgeting for things I want.  8. Celebrate In this lesson I dive into each piece of my routine and how you can make it work for you.  Here are links to previous lessons where I tell my story about my journey with my Financial Sobriety:  https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/your-money-your-recovery/id1493570547?i=1000462813534 https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/your-money-your-recovery/id1493570547?i=1000606259490 Here is a link for a lesson on Money dates/meetings:  https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/your-money-your-recovery/id1493570547?i=1000536841911

It's time to practice some sober spending this summer.  If you are anything like me the summer sun can bring out impulse to spend money.  This summer let's make it different and practice sober spending under the summer sun.  Sober Spending is one of the 7 foundations of Financial Sobriety School and in this lesson we focus on how to practice it the summer.  In this lesson Linda walks you through the steps to take to ensure that you are setting some financial intentions and following through and feeling proud of yourself when September hits.  New summer school group course starting for Financial Sobriety School on June 9th, all the details for the upcoming 3 month course is here:  https://www.lindaparmar.com/thriving

Do you think it's possible to save money even when you have debt? When we are working on our Financial Sobriety it is important to start to change some behaviours.  One of those behaviours can be saving money.  This is often something people talk about is that they really wish they had savings.  Starting the habit of saving, even when you have debt is REALLY important.  If you start to save you won't be reaching for a credit card when an unexpected expense comes up.  Intentionally saving is a habit that you won't be regretting!  Learn the tips and tricks that will support you, your wallet and your Financial Sobriety. 

Spending in sobriety.  Getting sober from your drug of choice is a HUGE milestone in life.  Sobriety is the biggest gift. Financial Sobriety is an even bigger gift.  It is important to balance out our spending when we are working on our Financial Sobriety.  This episode is probably not what you think. This episode talks about how important it is to spend our money in sobriety, with boundaries and a spending plan of course.  If we restrict ourselves to feel like we can't spend anything it will lead to a shopping spree. Cue the shopaholic!  Learn to enjoy your Financial Sobriety in this weeks lesson. 

This lesson felt hard to record and it may feel very uncomfortable to listen to.   It is also a lesson that is really important to understand.  Financial Infidelity is the topic of this week's lesson.  Overall financial infidelity is explained as when one partner in a relationship hides financial actions, assets, or debts from the other. It can also happen when you are hiding these from yourself.  This topic is something that happens often but it is not something we typically talk about because it is uncomfortable and brings up a lot of different emotions.  In this episode Linda helps you understand what it is and most importantly what to do if it is something that you have experienced or are experiencing.  Be gentle with yourself as you listen to this week's lesson. 

It is extremely common not to be taught about money as a child.  What were you taught about money as a child? What weren't you taught about money as a child? This is something I hear daily from people and it is often met with a lot of anger and resentment.  Our society as a whole has not been taught a lot about money and in this lesson Linda breaks down how that now can affect you with your relationship with money and your overall financial sobriety.  Sometimes making peace with our past of what we were and weren't taught about money can help support us to break free and start changing our money story. 

The amount we are spending in grocery store and eating in general is at an all time high.  Now is the time, more than ever, that we have to getting clear about our spending.  In Lesson 3 we talked about Sober Spending, if you haven't listened to that lesson go back and listen if you feel called.  Here is the lesson 3 that you can read: https://www.lindaparmar.com/blog/lesson3 In this lesson today Linda breaks down some tips and tricks to  be able to focus on planning your spending when it comes to your meals.  These come in the form of planning meals, both ordering out and making meals, planning your week, planning your menu and breaking it all down to create a list to get at the grocery store.  Being clear, mindful and aligned with our spending and coming up with a plan is what this lesson is all about.  Linda touches on some specific websites in this episodes, for links to the sites please find them listed in the blog here:  https://www.lindaparmar.com/blog/lesson22 Happy Planning!   

Have you ever thought about what is going on with your body, mind and spirit affects what is going with your spending and money overall? You have probably heard people talking about regulating your nervous system.  In this episode Linda helps you understand why what is happening with you physically and mentally is important for your money and your decision making with money.  Linda goes step by step on some tools that you can use to be more present, clear and aligned with the decisions with your money and in your overall life.  If you woud like to see the Window of Regulation tool that is spoken about in this episode please find it in the blog post here: https://www.lindaparmar.com/blog/lesson21 Use these powerful tools to ground, be present, clear and aligned with what you want to achieve with your Financial Sobriety.   

It's that time of year - GOAL SEASON!  2024 is quickly approaching us

How is the beginning of the holiday season going for you?  How is the spending going? How are your energy levels? What do you need right now to have a successful holiday season? These are just a few of the questions that Linda asks in today's lessons to help you to define some holiday boundaries for you and your Financial Sobriety.  Financial Sobriety isn't always about our money. Financial Sobriety is about taking care of yourself in many different ways so that you can take care of your money.  If you are feeling exhausted often times you will pay no attention to your spending. Everything will feel overwhelming and spending is one of the first things that doesn't get attention.  Here is a gentle reminder to fill your cup up first.  Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones xo   

The holidays are here!  Have you started to plan your holiday spending yet? Is planning your holiday spending something that you do?  Let's make the holiday season of 2023 the year that you plan your holiday spending and save your much needed energy.  The 10 steps to holiday spening are:  Step 1 : Set Expectations Step 2 : See how much you have to spend Step 3: Who do you have to buy for? Step 4 : Practice Presence over Presents Step 5: Have Crucial Conversations Step 6: Determine Needs vs. Wants Step 7 : Plan shopping the sales Step 8: Build your holiday spending plan Step 9: Track your holiday spending Step 10: Free & inexpensive holiday ideas Want to do the e-course that walks you through all 10 steps in great detail and gives you a template to plan your spending, track your spending and so much more?  Check it out here for $37 CAD:  https://www.lindaparmar.com/holidayspending  

Oniomania, also known as compulsive buying disorder or shopping addiction, is a mental health condition characterized by an overwhelming and uncontrollable urge to shop excessively and compulsively. When you struggle with oniomania you find it hard to control impulses to buy things and usually comes from an emotional need.  In this episode Linda breaks down what oniomania is and how it can affect your everyday life.  The next group class for Financial Sobriety School starts on October 16th and is all about breaking the cycle of addictive spending. Perfect for those who struggle with Oniomania.  Link to sign up for the group class: https://www.lindaparmar.com/breakingfree

When it comes to our spending we often don't even know why we are buying what we are.  When we are sober spending we are focusing on making mindful, clear, conscious present decisions with our money.  One question we can ask when we are practicing sober spending is: What am I trying to heal with my spending? What are you trying to numb out? What are you trying to escape from? What are you running away from? Why are you trying to feel different?  If we are stuck in an addictive spending cycle we don't even stop and think about this.  Next time you find yourself on a website, app or in a store and reaching for something you don't need and you don't have the money for it, ask yourself what am I trying ot heal with this spending? Free workshop being hosted on September 20th @ 4:00 PST/6:00 CST/7:00 EST.  Here is the link to register:  https://www.lindaparmar.com/whybehindthebuy  

Dopamine is a big word these days. Dopamine has ALOT to do with our behaviours and patterns with money.  This lesson talks about the how spending, dopamine and our brain are affected by our thoughts and actions when it comes to our money.  Our brain is absolutely amazing and the neural pathways that are made within it are really driven by dopamine. Dopamine hits the happiness button in our brain. With spending and hitting that buy now button or pulling out our credit cards we are often hitting that happiness button over and over and over again and that neural pathway is born and our brain loves this new behaviour.  Our society is so focused on getting dopamine hits and we just keeping wanting more and more.  Understanding how dopamine and spending are related is really helpful to bring awareness to the behaviours and patterns with your spending.  New Live classes being held on the last wednesday of every month. Next free class is on August 30th at 4:00 PST/6:00 CST/7:00 EST. Register for the class here:  https://www.lindaparmar.com/class  

Do you struggle with addictive spending? What is addictive spending? It is patterns of compulsive, impulsive, excessive spending.  Does this resonate with you?  Addictive spending is really normal these days. We have been conditioned to buy anything we want. The dopamine hit gets us feeling good and then the behaviour continues.  We are usually reaching for something to make us happy. We are chasing happiness in our purchases.  In today's lesson Linda walks you through step by step how to break free from addictive spending. Live class to identify your spending triggers is on August 30th at 4:00 PST/6:00 CST/7:00 EST. Sign up right here: https://www.lindaparmar.com/class  

Lesson 13 is all about the final foundation of Financial Sobriety School - Financial Sobriety Strategy.  Throughout all the previous lessons you have found what you needed to be able to get all the information together to make your Financial Sobriety Strategy. Overall what the strategy is about is creating a plan for your money. Money LOVES us to be specific about what we expect from it. This includes how much we will put in savings, debt repayment, expenses etc. It also incorporates the tools and the systems that you will use to create you strategy like tracking your spending, auto transfers, pre authorized bill payments etc.  In this lesson Linda will walk you through how to bring your Financial Sobriety Strategy to life and have a clear picture of what you are going to be doing for your money.  So excited to get CLEAR and sober about your Financial Sobriety! 

Lesson 12 is focusing on the 6th foundation of Financial Sobriety School - Surviving to Thriving.  This episode is an invitation to drop into your heart and start to move the dial from being in survival mode with your money to start to repair your relationship with money and thriving.  Here are the journal prompts that Linda gives in the lesson:  How do I feel about my money? How do I show up for my money? How do I want to show up for my money? What current habits do I have with money that are working for me? What am I grateful for with my money? What am I agraid of with my money? What are 2 small but significant steps can I take to thrive with my money? Linda answers why these questions are important for healing and also gives you her top tips to start to move the dial from surviving to thriving. 

Foundation 5 of Financial Sobriety School is - Financial Literacy.  In the last lesson we talked about your Financial Inventory and started to really look at your numbers, your expenses, your savings, your debt. Now what? This is where Financial Literacy comes into place.  Financial literacy refers to the knowledge and understanding of various financial concepts and skills that are there to help support you to make informed and effective decisions regarding yourpersonal finances. It includes many topics such as budgeting (savings plan), saving, investing, borrowing, and managing money effectively. In Lesson 11 Linda goes through the Financial Literacy that will help support your Financial Sobriety. 

Lesson 10 is alllll about looking at your money. The actual numbers. Yes, that is part of your Financial Sobriety!  Financial Inventory is the 3rd foundation of Financial Sobriety School.  Grab your free template here for your Financial Inventory: https://www.lindaparmar.com/financialinventory Have your login information ready for your bank accounts, credit cards, investments, mortgage etc; or paper statements if you don't have online access.  Putting together your financial inventory you will have all the information in one place listing your bank accounts, expenses (fixed and variable), income, savings accounts, investment accounts, credit cards, mortgages, line of credit and other debt accounts.  Linda walks you through how to gather this information and what it all means for your Financial Sobriety.  Your financial inventory is you collecting information. We have so many emotions come up with our money, remember you are just collecting information to work on your Financial Sobriety.

It is so important for us to have tools in our toolbox when it comes to Financial Sobriety.  Financial Sobriety Tools is the second foundation of Financial Sobriety School.  What are some tools you can think of that will help support you and your money?  In this lesson Linda gives some examples of tools that you can put into your Financial Sobriety toolbox for you to reach for when you need support. 

So many of us want so bad to start working on our Financial Sobriety.  We have the intention to start but we have no idea where to start and then we keep coming up against a big wall.  What is that big wall that is holding you back from working on your Financial Sobriety?  It is very common to feel paralyzed/frozen when it comes to our money. Our society is very focused on negative stigma's with money. What if we thought about how to turn that around.  What if we rebelled out against our consumerist, capitalist society and decided that negative stigma is no longer how we want to think about money?  What is one small step you can take to start your Financial Sobriety? In this lesson Linda will walk you through many idea's and intentions to get you started on moving forward in your Financial Sobriety.

Active addiction can have you living in survival mode. It is a cycle that keeps going and going as you struggle to break the habit.  In this episode Linda talks aboue how important it is for us to forive ourselves for what we did to survive in our spending addiction/overspending.  A huge AHA moment is had in this episode and being able to witness what forgiving ourselves for who we were in that moment looks like.  Our overall Financial Sobriety can feel really hard and when we can start to look through the lense of being in survival mode it can start to give us the permission to welcome forgiveness to ourselves.  Be gentle with your heart and your money. 

When we start our sobriety or recovery with our drug/substance of choice we can often think we are going to all of a sudden have more money since we are no longer taking part in our addiction.  In today's episode Linda breaks down ways that getting sober can result in having more money but more often than not it can also come at a cost. It never equals the actual cost that your active addiction will bring you. There is more cost than just financial.  There are many ways to have a look at Financial Sobriety when you are first entering sobriety/recovery from a drug/substance of choice without getting completely overwhelmed and balancing your life to keep your main focus on your overall sobriety.  Enjoy Lesson 6! If you love the show and episode please leave a review to bring others to the show and of course Linda would apprecait it:)

Living your Financial Sobriety is starting to dig under the surface and understand why you are taking part in the behaviours of addictive, compulsive, unconscious overspending.  There are so many parallels when it comes to the behaviours that we take part in when we are active in many addictions, including drinking.  In this episode Linda explains how the patterns and behaviours of your overspending are exactly how you felt/feel in your addiction of drinking, or any other behaviour you are in recovery from. As my friends at She Recovers say, we are all recovering from something.  The episode is an invitation to question what is really best for you, why the behaviours are showing up and starting to stand in your truth. 

Our feelings are a gateway to understanding our behaviours with money.  Have you ever checked in with your feelings when impulses to spend money come up? When we are stuck in the addictive cycle of overspending we are often trying to escape from reality and fill a void. We are reaching outside ourselves to feel something different.  In Lesson 4 Linda explains the first foundation of Financial Sobriety School - Understanding your financial feelings and giving you tips on how to do this and connect to yourself and your spending. 

One of the main foundations of Financial Sobriety School is Sober Spending.  Sober Spending is planning your spending and making clear, conscious, mindful, aligned decisions with your spending.  We live in a capitalist and consumer based society and we are encouraged to buy everything we see. We are inundated with advertising to purchase everything we don't need.  Practicing sober spending will keep you focused and staying within your spending plan.  Make decisions about your spending with a sober mindset!  Financial Sobriety School is hosting a free class from April 19-21st to teach you how to practice Sober Spending.  Link to sign up:  https://www.lindaparmar.com/soberspending Would love to see you there!

In the second lesson of Financial Sobriety School I share my Financial Sobriety Story.  I am extremely grateful for my story and even though feeling financially out of control and at the bottom I know that it all happened for me to be able to be here and share this to help support you.  Turning my mess into my message has been really important to me.  Removing the stigma of shame surrounding our money is crucial to be able to move forward in your financial sobriety. I wear my heart on my sleeve.  Enjoy my story! 

Welcome to Financial Sobriety School!  This podcast was previously known as Your Money, Your Recovery and with a new facelift of my business I have renamed the show to Financial Sobriety School with Linda Parmar.  In Lesson 1 I am going to explain what the Financial Sobriety School is and what the meaning of Financial Sobriety is.  School is in session and I am so excited to share all my expertise on Financial Sobriety with you!

Money can feel really hard sometimes; right now everything has increased in price. Just shopping for groceries right now feels like it eats up (literally) all the money you have allocated for the month/week.  It can feel overwhelming when everything is this expensive so focusing on what you can control with your money is really important.  In this episode, Linda breaks down what you can and can't control with your money and tips to get you through this hard time.   

Welcome to 2023! In this episode Linda talks all about setting intentions vs resolutions with your money. It's time to focus on how we want to feel with our money instead of coming from a place of shame and trying to change something that is "wrong" with us.  Link to sign up for the free workshop - Design your financial vision for 2023: https://www.lindaparmar.com/2023

It is that time to start planning for the holidays! Do you hear the jingle bells?  Linda breaks down how to prepare yourself for the holidays financially while honouring emotions that come up during this time of year.  Free guide to creating a holiday spending plan can be found right here: https://www.lindaparmar.com/holidayspendingplan Let's make this holiday season as stress free as possible!   

Linda has a HUGE money milestone announcement in this week's episode.  After over 6 years of financial recovery, Linda shares how she was able to pay off the last of her credit cards.  What a journey it has been and Linda shares the ups and the downs and what has led her to reach this milestone.  Financial recovery is a long road but it is so worth the drive! 

In this week's episode, Linda talks about her relationship with food and how it has impacted her life.  Trigger warning for this episode - please don't listen if talking about dieting, body judgments and specifics about losing weight is triggering for you.  Linda's relationship with money and food has been extremely parallel. This is often the case when the layers of recovery start to happen.  The group coaching program Linda speaks about in this episode can be found here - https://www.lindaparmar.com/reclaiming

Today Linda welcomes fellow She Recovers Coach Bronwen Thorburn to chat about the parallels of our relationship with money and food.  Our experience has been that restricting both food and spending can lead to binge eating/binge spending. Diet Culture and so many rules in our society teach us that there are good and bad foods; with money, we can label purchases good or bad.  The conversation we have in this episode is so beautiful in questioning what we have been taught and how we can move forward and trust our choices.  Link to Group Coaching program - Reclaiming: https://www.lindaparmar.com/reclaiming

Life is really expensive right now. We are experiencing inflation in our economy and it is making our wallets very sad.  This week Linda talks about what inflation is, what to expect and how to make the next right decisions with your money.  It is so important for us now more than ever to understand our spending and our money overall. This episode has all the tips and tricks to help support you during this time! 

Online shopping is escalating really quickly lately with the buy now pay later services that are creeping you when you are online shopping. Online retailers and these services are making it way too easy to break payments down and buy that item that you want.  Let's talk about if these services are really helping you or if they are actually costing you more money!? 

We are still in hard times when it comes to our money and the state of the world.  Pandemic, inflation, and debt is the highest it's been in years.  Today I talk about how to deal with hard times with your money.  I took a lot away from the She Recovers Miami conference and the messages from the speakers and how they related to money. Can't wait to share! 

Money Motivation are episodes that are bite-size and short to get you motivated with your money.  Today we are talking about how to be mindful with your money.  I give you a few tips and tricks to help you connect with your money, make intentional purchases with your money and start to heal your relationship with money. 

This is the first of the money motivation series where I give you bite-size pieces on how to motivate you and your money.  This episode is all about where to start working on your relationship with money!  Money can be really overwhelming, I give you a few items to get you started to heal your relationship with money.

Money Motivation are episodes that are bite-size and short to get you motivated with your money.  Today we are talking about how to save money on groceries.  Life is so expensive right now! The grocery store prices are soaring. In this episode, I give you some tips and tricks to help support you to save money at the grocery store. 

Your ears aren't fooling you! I am back with a new episode and giving you an update on my financial life and life overall.  Exciting things will be coming up for the show including different ways to connect with the content.  So excited to be back!