New Year Reflection - Money Podcast

Speaker 1 0:00

Feliz Año Nuevo , hola , hola , welcome to the Money Chisme Podcast . I am Violeta , your host , y , oh my god , it is the new year , it is 2025 . Y la verdad que I'm so excited because 2025 is a big year of change , of pivoting , of starting a new chapter in my life . You know no más with my personal life , but with money chisme , and there is so much that I want to share and tell you , like what's going to happen with money chisme , what's going to happen with me , and reflect on 2024 and kind of make a few goals for 2025 . And I did create a guide . It's a free guide , bingo style , because this year I am going to do a bingo style , I guess tracking of my goals instead of a vision board . Uh , I guess tracking of my goals instead of a vision board . Like I'm going to make a huge bingo card , similar like a vision board , but using a poster . Uh board este voy a hacer un bingo card y ahí voy a poner todas mis goals and I'm gonna be checking them off y a ver si I get bingo at the end of the year . So , if that is something que quieres hacer también , you know the link is down below . It goes through a reflection which , again , you know we'll go through that in this episode . Pero if you want to follow along , because I'm not going to go through the whole guide , go ahead and download it , pause this podcast y este go get it and then come back and here we go , all right , so first , before we dive into the guide , I just want to wish everybody that hopefully they had a good New Year's .

Speaker 1 1:59

Did you have a good time here ? Very boring , because I don't really do too much for New Year's and I have my baby and she's just recovering from COVID , and my husband had COVID as well and I don't know if I got it or not , because I feel a little off , but not sick , sick , so like I don't know right , and so we didn't do anything , but we just spent time with family here , just us , our little family . But hopefully y'all had a much more interesting New Year's Y también , hopefully y'all had a great Christmas , a great holiday Este I wanted to put out a episode , pero , with everything with my family , between my husband , he got hurt his leg and ended up in crutches , meaning I had to be the only one taking care of the baby , and then , apart from that , he got sick with COVID on Christmas Day , and then the baby she got sick right after and had to take her to the ER and all that stuff . So , like it's been just so chaotic , I didn't even get a chance to make tamales . So everybody that ate tamales this year , like I'm so jealous , porque no alcancé to eat tamales this year to make them ? Y so me quedé con el antojo . Maybe I'll make it , I don't know , in the future . I don't know .

Speaker 1 3:25

But yeah , let's get into this guide . So it's called the 2025 new year glow up , a fun guide to reflect reset . And you know , I didn't intend to like , actually create this guide . I was just , you know , wanting to create like a template for myself , uh , so that way I I could reflect and then also create my bingo card and everything like that . But as I was doing that , I was like , you know what , let me just go ahead and write this down for someone that might be interested . And so that's how this guide came about .

Speaker 1 4:01

But it's broken down in three sections the uh . La primera , we're going to go through reflecting over 2024 y luego . Section two , we're going to start setting our goals for 2025 y luego . You know , in section three , you um create uh your bingo card um , pero like that one y'all could do kind of like on your own . I'll give you uh some some of the things that I'm thinking of putting on mine , pero um , it's uh broken down in those three sections . Y te tengo un example of a bingo card template . That way you could just , you know , use it to either you know , print it out and use it as your bingo card , or lo puedes usar like a rough draft um para que , if you want to do like a big bingo card , like I plan on doing , with a big poster board and everything este , lo puedes usar like a rough draft , because that's what I'm doing .

Speaker 1 5:03

Y este , when you download this guide , tiene the link for the Canva version . So if you are like a digital person y lo quieres hacer allí , like ahí , lo tienes . It's linked on the second page , so I have it pulled up on my phone . So if I pause a few times's because I'm here like looking at it , uh , but yeah , okay , so that's pretty much all the logistics . I think um see if something comes up or if you have any questions . Don't forget que me puedes mandar mensaje um . It's a little link uh down below . I think it says like send text or something , o también mándame email or just DM me on Instagram si tienes any questions or algo . No está sirviendo , you know , let me know .

Speaker 1 6:01

Pero let's go ahead and get into the first section of reflecting on 2024 . So , yeah , this section tiene like five categories on you know what to reflect on , y so la primera is like wins and highlights and you know , just you know , reflect in 2024 . What are some of the good things that happened ? Y para mi , number one is que nació my daughter . She was born in March , so that was , of course , the number one highlight Y , I guess towards the end of the year , in December , compré another duplex . So slowly , you know , growing my portfolio . I guess the third big win I kind of want to include is que , you know , I technically started going to therapy at the end of 2023 .

Speaker 1 6:58

But 2024 is the year que me empezó a hacer efecto right , like it started , like improving my mental health . Yeah , like I don't have as much of dissociation , la depresión is more controlled , también con la ansiedad , porque 2023 , like la verdad , it was really hard , Tenía muchos mental breakdowns because I was going through , like through my infertility journey , trying to get my daughter and then , in the middle of the year of 2023 , if you didn't know we went the surrogate route with my daughter , and so it was around the summertime when you know , um , we did that , and so then there was anxiety , um , throughout that whole pregnancy and , yeah , there were a lot of things and and , but towards that time I started getting a little bit better because I actually went to therapy . But this year , um is cuando I actually started doing so much better . Yeah , I don't , um , I think I probably had maybe a few kind of breakdowns , but they're kind of like simple breakdowns , like , for example , when I took my daughter to the ER . That was very traumatizing , so I had a little mini breakdown , pero me recupero más rápido because I was able to learn the tools and learn how to like get me out of that mindset .

Speaker 1 8:36

Y también con la depresión , I used to like get really depressed y no me acuerdo , like the last time that I have , and if I did otra vez , I'm able to pull myself out of that mindset . Y también es que I don't disassociate as much anymore . I used to disassociate a lot , donde hasta se sentía like I was in the matrix , I wasn't here and everything . It's very weird . So if you've gone through something like that , uh , you kind of understand what I'm talking about . And so si no has hecho terapia and you're dealing with all these things like I'm , you know a living example que you know , uh , it works . It does take time , este , and you you're never gonna be a hundred right , pero like you learn how to manage , which improves the quality of your life . So all those things were big wins for me . I got my daughter , I grew my finances Well , my investment portfolio , and I got my mental health in check . I kind of went off on a tangent a little bit there , but those are my big three wins .

Speaker 1 9:50

The next one is lessons learned . Some of the lessons learned was with my rental properties . I learned a big lesson of doing things at the front end versus like putting them off . So with some of the maintenance items I was like , ok , I'll buy this property Y tiene unas cosas , but like I'm going to wait a year and save up for it because I didn't want to like use up my money at off the at the beginning . Pero like that bit me in the ass the uh , uh middle of last year and this , well , 2024 , because now , technically , 2024 is last year , but 20 at the end of 2023 and todo like beginning of 2024 , like , oh my god , it was just like thing after thing , I had to replace two water heaters , like , and then plumbing and all this stuff , like , usually it's a little bit more spread out and you know , and like , when you calculate your cash flow , like these things are included , but usually you have time to like build up your little e-fund and everything like that . So , uh , just like you know some lessons learned on that .

Speaker 1 11:10

And also to uh pay more attention to like contracts . Um , nothing necessarily bad happened , but , um , with the latest property is like I thought the bottom unit wasn't rented out but it was , and so it was just kind of like I mean , it's a win for me , right , because both units are are rented out , but it could have been bad too , because what if I got caught ? Uh , I got stuck with a bad tenant or algo así . So , uh , a little bit more uh paying attention to contracts . Uh , y luego , with you know , just trying to um build up money , chisme , there's a few lessons learned there too , with uh mostly time management and uh learning to not take too much on , porque there was times where , like , I was doing a course and then I was doing something at work as well that was taking up my time . Y luego , I was trying to create the course for the rental property bootcamp .

Speaker 1 12:16

Y estaba bien atrasada and I was like so stressed out because , like I didn't have a timeline , I didn't like do an outline , I just was just like winging it and doing it as I went and everything . And so I learned a different way to kind of do outlines before I go and actually start like recording and everything like that and creating the PowerPoints . And creating the PowerPoints , because it's hard and really a lot of the logistics of how I schedule , like , interview guests or how I schedule out blog posts and podcasts and stuff like that . Like it's just a very hard . Lesson learned is to learn more time management and planning , because I was doing too much of reactive planning , I guess , if that's a way to say it , because I work and then I had my daughter and so that was harder than what I thought it was going to be . I thought I was going to be able to have a good balance of taking care of her working . Y luego este working on Manichisme after work and stuff . Pero that's not what happened . Pero I created some systems and I managed to outsource , like video editing and stuff like that and just you know , following more timelines and more time management , planning things out more , outsourcing things and getting really into the habit of how I do the logistics side of money chism . So all of that I will be taking to 2025 and improving and building on that .

Speaker 1 14:23

Social relationships honestly , 2024 was such a great year to build on social relationships . I've been able to build a lot of friendships , um , through social media . Like some of these people haven't even met in person but like Just the support and just like the behind the scenes chit-chatting and learning from each other and network and so that's growing . And and I've met more , uh , women real estate investors eat . I mean podcasts . I'm in a group for that , so it's really I really feel like um , as far as every , I guess , uh niche or um category of what I'm doing . Like the podcast , I have a group for that that we meet on a monthly , bimonthly basis , and then I have real estate investing . I have an all women group that I joined and then I have the military side of real estate investors . So I have a pretty good support group there that I can bounce off ideas and and stuff like that .

Speaker 1 15:52

And then for business side , I have a lot , a ton of new relationships and friendships that I've built on and met , and many Latinas that are out here building businesses and , you know , helping me , and I get to like just um , get the support and bounce off ideas too . And the same with finances and stuff I've . I've grown a great network of of different types of things . So if I want , like bookkeeping , este I tengo somebody , a few people that uh could do bookkeeping and , matter of fact , I I one of the interviews and that's coming out in 2025 and is a bookkeeper . I mean with tax strategies , I mean with like um business and Facebook ads , all like marketing , all that stuff . Like I've , you know , met so many people and really have built my network and so that's been awesome .

Speaker 1 16:57

También , con my friendships I just did , there was one friendship that was kind of like hanging by a thread that we kind of fixed . One friendship that was kind of like hanging by a thread that we kind of fixed and then with my husband , um building our relationship and and um trying to do more like date nights and stuff , because we kind of like with the baby , like we just were kind of in survival mode for so long and then with him leaving the navy , starting his new job , it's just been kind of like a hectic year . That , um , our relationship has been not necessarily in the back burner because we do spend time like watch movies and stuff like that , but we really need to go out outside of the home to actually have dates and stuff like that . So that's been , um , my social relationships .

Setting Goals and Practicing Gratitude

Speaker 1 17:45

And the last one is gratitude . Uh , just checking in and just saying what you're grateful for , um , which kind of like to to tie it back is . You know , I'm grateful for my therapist help me for that . I'm grateful for , you know , my daughter being born , the people that I've met , the people that I've interviewed . I learned so much . It's one of the reasons that I love doing this podcast it's a selfish reason , right Because I get to interview and pick the brains of other experts , but I get to share that with the community and la verdad . I'm just grateful to have , you know , enough financial stability to be able to do my passion project , which right now , to turn it into a business , and then , of course , the ability to outsource a lot of things , not just , you know , like video editing and podcast editing and things like that , but being able to outsource things like meal prep so I don't have to cook , I just pop the stuff in the microwave . Being able to afford a babysitter to come here at the house so that way my daughter's not in a random daycare , and things like that , and so just like a lot of things that I'm grateful for that I've been able to accomplish in 2024 , or at least get it going in 2024 . So one of the things I have to start doing more is actually taking time to be grateful about things , because I have a really negative mindset , which is one of the reasons I have so many issues , is because , like , I'm always go , go , go . What's the next thing and , you know , stems from anxiety and all that stuff . So definitely need to practice more gratitude . So I definitely wanted to include that in this guide .

Speaker 1 19:41

All right , so section two is where we go into setting our goals for 2025 . So , si quieres , you could pause the episode or whatever , or just follow along . And también , I broke it down into five categories on what I thought . Right , this is what I was thinking for me me , and hopefully it helps to you and applies to you as well of five areas where you want to create goals for each area for overall growth in 2025 . So I broke it down into mental , emotional , financial , social and spiritual mental , emotional , financial , social and spiritual . So for mental , I include things like growing your mind and your mindset and basically education , like learning , so , for example , reading , taking a course and things like that . So my goal , some of my goals off the bat right , because I haven't sat down and brainstormed everything Um , it's to , uh , I'm finishing up a course for entrepreneurship women entrepreneurs Um , it is the course that's um through bank of Americaica .

Speaker 1 21:04

Uh , with cornell it's . It's a free course , so if that's , um , something you're interested , definitely check that out . It's free . There is a wait waiting list , so just get on the wait list and then they'll email you when it's open and you go ahead and enroll and so should be finishing that up in 2025 .

Speaker 1 21:24

I'm also taking a course for I forget the name , like the full official name , but it's basically a money trauma course and that is to expand my knowledge and ensure that I am sensitive to money trauma that our community has , money trauma that our community has . It's very important to me to ensure that when I'm out here talking about , like , finances and real estate , investing and all that stuff , that I'm not contributing to the problem . So I want to ensure that I'm aware and empathetic because , as you like , heal your trauma and , you know , start being financially stable and , uh , financial freedom . A veces , mucha gente , like they forget where they came from and they forget the struggle and um , they become that's when you see , like these influencers or whatever , you can't relate to them or they become insensitive to , um , regular people's struggles , right , and so I want to avoid that and so it was important to me to take this course , so I'll be taking that . As far as um , mental growth E , I'm trying to think what else . There was something else . I do have another like , uh , I do have another like mastermind that I'm going to be doing that is for money , cheeseman , it's just like building the business and stuff like that .

Speaker 1 22:54

But overall I'm going to read more books . I started off strong last year but then I kind of fell off towards the end , so definitely want to make sure that I read more books . I don't have a set number of books yet . I need to figure out . I need to make my book list for 2025 . So if you have any recommendations , let me know so I could add it to my reading list . And , by the way , I just remembered , I do have a kind of running reading list . It's in my links page and it's on Amazon . So if you want to go see what kind of books I've been reading as far as like financial and mindset books , you could check that out . It's linked in my bio and stuff of my Instagram and all that . It's linked in my bio and stuff of my Instagram and all that . But , yeah , reading is going to be a priority for me in 2025 .

Speaker 1 23:52

The second one is emotional goals and this is like taking time for myself , making sure that I'm doing self-care , and for me , uh , of course , continue going to therapy . I go once a month now to get deep tissue massages , and one is to reduce the stress of life . And two is porque me duele la espalda and I got like freaking nerve issues and hip issues , all that shit . So , uh , so I go get massages . Um , one thing I'm gonna get back to I used to get like monthly pedicures and I I fell off of that because , like it's like I always fucking no tengo tiempo . Like in the evening and uh , like I would forget , and then after a while , like I just stopped doing it . So I want to get back to that , because that's a little small thing , cause I can't wear like cute nail polish or anything like that at work , cause you know it's against you know the military rules and shits . But , um , it was a pick me up to do my toes in pretty cute little colors , so that , so that I need to get back to that .

Speaker 1 25:08

Same thing with my eyebrows , cause I mean , have you seen me on Instagram ? I was just like I let my eyebrows like be all bushy and shit . So , like I want to get back to like going to an eyebrow lady I found I found a good one , uh , so , um , she'll be going to go get my eyebrows threaded and the last thing I want to do is start journaling . I really need to start to learn how to put like my thoughts and work out my emotions and things like that via a journal . So I'm going to be on the lookout for some journal prompts . Again , si alguien tiene like a good one , let me know . I'm looking mostly for uh prompts for , like reflections and gratitude and grit and things like that , so I could like stop and get a lot of my uh , my brain siempre tiene muchas cosas going on in there , so I really need to like learn to like release them and put them down on paper so that way my brain doesn't feel so overwhelmed all the time .

Speaker 1 26:16

So I will be leaving the navy towards the end of the summer , so that means my steady paycheck that I've been receiving for 14 plus years Este ya no lo voy a tener right . So um a lot of changes . We're moving back to Texas , so at least the cost of living is going to be lower . My husband got out of Navy as well , so it's a lot of um changes financially and luckily we've already kind of like downsized was one of the reasons we sold our house on top of wanting to pay off the second loan . Um , and as they , so we kind of um cut back a lot of costs . We've paid off a lot of debt . The only debt we have right now is his truck , so his loan , and we bought this bed that I plan to pay off with taxes , so it should be paid off at the beginning of the year , and so all of that just needs to be taken into account along with the pay cut , be taken into account along with the pay cut . Y tengo que ver .

Speaker 1 27:51

Like , what do I want to do as far as a job ? The idea is that I am saving up enough to not work for at least six months because I really need a break . I've been like go , go , go for 14 and a half years with the navy , so like I really just want to like enjoy , uh , my , my land and just enjoy Sofia and just really focus on Maniches , man , stuff like that , and set myself up for success and then figure out what I want to do . So there's a few things that I'm thinking about of doing , but I had a plan but also , like I don't know , it went out the window because now it's like crunch time . So I need to figure that out .

Speaker 1 28:37

But for the most part , I am mostly saving the whole , uh , first year you know a little bit past , um , not the first year , but the first half of the year he just to make sure that we fatten up our emergency fund . And then I , as far as real estate investing , I'm still saving up for that as well . So I should have enough , if I stay on track , to buy another property at the end of 2025 . The problem is that now , since I don't have my stable income , it's going to be harder to get a conventional loan . So now I'm going to have to look into creative financing and again back to kind of like the social relationships . I've already networked and found a lender that does a certain type alone , and I also found some private lenders . So that's gonna be an interesting thing at the end of next year if I end up going that route and buying another property at the end of 2025 .

Speaker 1 29:46

I keep saying next year , but you know it's 2025 . Yeah , and then for social , I want to um implement more date nights with my husband , of course , like actually going out , like and not taking the baby , cause we go out , we go , do things , but right , so then we have to like be stressed about like her naps , feeding and all that stuff . So more uh time , uh by ourselves to just like connect and and talk to each other . Uh , because we did notice that we kind of like uh we , we do like talk and things like that , but we used to have some like really deep conversations about just life and things like that , and we really don't get the chance to have deep , meaningful conversations as much because we're so busy like doing all this other stuff . So we're going to like make sure that we set time for that .

Speaker 1 31:00

The last thing is that I want to ensure that I am nurturing my friendships , especially in my network , that I have met online and social media through the podcast and things like that . So one idea and feel free to steal this is that I'm going to set a reminder on my phone , on my calendar , a reminder on my phone , on my calendar . So , um which , by the way , that is one habit that I forgot to mention that I use my calendar on my phone for everything . If it's not in my calendar , it's not going to happen . So I'm doing the same thing with ensuring I'm gonna pick a weekend out of the month , because there's no way I'm gonna do it in in just one day , but I'm going to make sure that I pick a weekend , set it on my calendar , to go and just ensure that I DM people or text people or maybe call , depending on the person right , to ensure that , like , I check in on them , say hi to them and everything .

Speaker 1 31:50

Still , you know , maintain the , the , the friendship and relationship right and same thing with family . Um , I was just , you know , like we get lost in the sauce and it's that we forget about family and everything especially . Uh , for me , uh , specifically , would be my dad . He works a lot and so I have to really make sure to remember , to make a an effort to call him . My mom and my sister are easy , like , I talk to him basically almost every day . So , uh , just those types of things is what I'm gonna add .

Speaker 1 32:24

As far as relationships , and the last thing is spiritual . Now , this doesn't necessarily mean religion , but if you are one , a person that like believes in a God or something , a specific religion or whatever , that brings you , um , the comfort and purpose of life and stuff like that , like that's , um , that's perfect , but for me it doesn't really apply . So for me would be more kind of like taking the time to meditate , and I don't really mean like I'm gonna sit down , close my eyes and kind of like hum to myself or whatever . However you meditate , it's more of like I'm going to go more out in nature . So that was one of the biggest drawbacks of selling my house and moving into a two bedroom apartment is that I don't have the ability to just go sit outside , like how I used to in my backyard with my chickens and like , put my feet in the dirt and all that stuff , or or be in my garden and feel the dirt . That really energized me and kind of grounded me and everything like that . So I've been slacking on finding a way to um , to have something similar . So now I think I'm gonna make sure that I go to the park or something right and and get back in tune with nature and uh , kind of like find my purpose in life and continue , uh , building upon that .

Goal Setting and Affirmations Guide

Speaker 1 33:58

All right , so I talked bastante . I didn't expect to talk so much in this episode . I really thought this was going to be like a short um episode but like and everything I always feel so like motivated to like chismear with y'all , and so I ended up chismeando more than I intended to . But as far as the bingo card there , como estaba diciendo , there's like two ways is like you can use the one that I provided on the guide y puedes ponerles pictures . You could just put text or whatever and then print it out and just have it , or you could use it as a rough draft and then go to like Dollar Tree or the dollar store or whatever , and get you like a big poster card and then just make a big giant bingo card , y luego , print out pictures and stuff like that and do it that way . That's what I'm going to be doing , and then I haven't figured out what I'm going to use as the tokens I don't know what they're called , but to mark off the goals .

Speaker 1 35:02

But before you do that , you want to make sure that you brainstorm . So I covered some of the categories , but you want to make sure that you take some time , brainstorm your goals and then set your goals . You in , because the bingo card is I think it was I made it five by five . Yeah , it's five by five it's . Then you want to uh , create five goals for every category that we went through and just make sure just a few tips and make sure that you're specific with your goals . Follow the smart method , um , for setting your goals .

Speaker 1 35:41

Make sure that you track your progress . So , for example , me , I'm probably gonna do like a monthly check-in for my goals , but you could do like daily , weekly , I mean , because again , it really depends on your goals . If your goal is to like work out every day , then every day , you're going to have to , like , track that goal . So it really depends on what your goal is . But you want to be specific . Don't just say you want to work out every day . Be like , okay , I'm going to do yoga on Tuesdays and Thursdays , and then Mondays and Wednesdays I'm gonna go to the regular gym and do weights or walk or whatever . So be specific on what you want to do . Make sure your bingo card is somewhere where you could actually see it and you can be motivated by it and everything , and so make it look all cute or como quieras , to help you stay on track and be motivated .

Speaker 1 36:36

Y every time you , you know , like , fulfill a goal or whatever , celebrate , like you know , buy yourself some ice cream or whatever . Lo que sea , go get your nails done or whatever , and just really make sure that you enjoy the journey . Don't get hyper fixated , like us first gens love to do . We hyper fixate on just accomplishing a goal and then , okay , next goal , y , no tenemos , and we don't take the time to just enjoy accomplishing something . Right . So that's , that's going to be me . I'm going to make sure that I enjoy something . I haven't figured out what I want to . Um , treat myself with you , know , and so , and then the last thing is um , yeah , I included some affirmations , so that's a bonus for for you .

Speaker 1 37:30

Um , because , again , este , I was doing it for myself , so los quería , I wanted to share that with y'all and , honestly , I went to chat GPT and I asked , like I want affirmations , which , by the way , if you're not using chat GPT for things like this , like definitely do it . But I basically did 12 months of affirmations and I really like what it spit out , um , that each month has a def , uh , a certain theme , for example , february , valentine's day , so it's self-love and confidence , and then it has affirmations . So , um , I included that for y'all as a bonus . But other than that , like , hopefully y'all enjoy the guide , let me know , share your bingo card . If you end up doing a bingo card , like tag me on Instagram , send it to me or whatever , and I'll post mine sometime in , like this week or next , porque I have to go get the supplies and then I got to sit down and print out my pictures , which I I have to go get the supplies and then I gotta sit down and print out my pictures , which I'm gonna go use the work , uh , printers , you know , because aquí es , the printer doesn't work . It always runs out of ink too fast , so I gotta wait until I go back to work to print all the pictures and all that stuff . So , other than that , I hope you have a great 2025 .

Speaker 1 38:50

There's a lot of things happening with Money Cheeseman a lot of interviews that I have lined up to release the first quarter . That was another habit that I was able to accomplish is that I batch my interviews now so that way I'm not like scrambling . So now I have my first quarter ready to go . I have lots of great guests that I'm excited for y'all to hear their expertise and tips and things like that . And Money Chisme is going to keep growing networking a lot , so feel free to send me your suggestions on what you would like to see with

Social Media Consistency Plans for 2025

Speaker 1 39:32

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Speaker 1 39:32

As far as money chisme Going to get back on the ball of being more consistent on social media , I think I got pretty consistent with my posting on the podcast , except you know I took a little mini break at the end of the year because of , you know , the family going through COVID and all that stuff , because of you know , the family going through covid and all that stuff . But yeah , uh , can't wait to see what 2025 has in store for us . I will see you in the next episode . Bye .