Liz Hagg's Finance Blog

Hi Friends- How many of you wing Christmas spending? 🎄 Buy what you want, then try to make it fit into your budget? Or maybe there isn’t a budget - you put it on credit and figure out how to pay for it later. It’s easy to get caught up in wanting to make the holidays special. Giving gifts, keeping traditions and saying yes to celebrations can come from a place of love. Before we start shopping, let’s pause: What are the holidays really about for you? Time with family and fri

It's time for another round of Money Trivia! 🎃 With Halloween just around the corner, I thought we'd have a little fun looking at how much Americans spend celebrating this spooky holiday. Here's your question: How much does the average American celebrating Halloween expect to spend on costumes, candy, decorations, and other Halloween purchases this year? A. $45 B. $75 C. $115 D. $175 Got your answer? Keep scrolling! 👇 👇 👇 👇 👇 👇 The answer is C - $115! 🎃 According to t

A little money trivia - something fun, maybe surprising, and hopefully something that gets you thinking. Here's your question: In 2025, what percentage of America's food spending went toward eating out, takeout, delivery, and other food prepared away from home? A. 25% B. 38% C. 56% D. 72% Got your answer? Keep scrolling! 👇 👇 👇 The answer is C - 56%! 🍔 According to the USDA, 56.3% of U.S. food dollars went toward food away from home. But here's what I found even more inter

Last week, we reframed the story: “We make good money. We should be able to afford this.” This week, we’re continuing with something I hear in my coaching conversations: “I don’t want my kids to feel left out.”“I don’t want them to think we can’t afford it.” Reframing can help us feel more hopeful and capable of making choices. Before we reframe these stories, let’s start here: What do you want your kids to learn and know about money? What do you wish you had been taught abou

Last week, we reframed: “I’ll never be able to afford a home.” into: “Buying a home may take longer or look different than I expected. What choices could help me move closer to that goal?” This week, let’s look at another common money story: “We work hard. We make good money. We should be able to afford this. We deserve it.” Wow - that was a mouthful. 😂 You get the drift. These phrases are all part of the story we tell ourselves about working hard, earning a good income, and

Last week, we talked about how the words we use can shape our perspective and the choices we make. Reframing doesn’t mean ignoring the facts or pretending everything is affordable. It means replacing a discouraging or absolute story with one that is honest, hopeful, and helps us recognize the choices we still have. Over the next three weeks, we’re going to reframe three common money stories: “I’ll never be able to afford a home.” “We work hard and make good money. We should b