Budgeting: When you decide to move forward with financial coaching, when you decide that you want to win with money, the first thing that happens is you receive access to an online platform that will walk you through building your first monthly budget step by step. During your first full session we will go line item by line item through the spend plan that YOU created. I will ask probing questions throughout the process as we try to unravel how you think about money and the thought process you used to come up with your numbers. This is often a tedious exercise and can really be exhausting, but it’s an incredibly important step. Once we understand how you work with money and understand how you think about allocating your money, we can start to build a plan around that.

Debt Elimination: The most common goal for new clients to Grayson Stalvey Financial Coaching is to become debt free. This is a great goal! Debt represents risk, and 99% of the time that risk is unnecessary. There is no “easy button” that we can press and voila, you’re debt free. It takes hard work and dedication, but with a little bit of intentionality you can pay off all of your debt. ALL OF IT! Including your student loans (don’t forget to grab your free Top Tips to Paying Off Your Student Loans faster). When we work together you’ll learn about the basic approaches to paying off debt: minimum payments, shotgun approach, debt snowball, debt avalanche, and hybrids of those approaches. We will figure out what’s the right approach for you and then you’ll be off!

Goal Setting: One of the most important things we do with new clients is to set goals and priorities. What is driving you? What is the most important thing to you? Your proactive budget will cover all the basics: food, shelter, transportation, utilities. But what do you do with what’s left over? That’s where having a clear idea of what’s important to you comes in so handy. With a clear list of priorities, you don’t even have to think twice about what to do with extra money. You simply pull up your list and put your extra money towards the next priority. Being intentional with your money is such a powerful tool. If you put this into practice you’ll be amazed at the results that you can achieve.

Emergency Fund: So many people are stuck in a paycheck to paycheck cycle. Look around you. four out of every five people would be in a world of hurt if their next paycheck didn’t come on time. It’s a scary situation to be in. On top of that, two out of every three people wouldn’t be able to deal with a $1,000 emergency without borrowing or going into debt. So how do we protect ourselves when Murphy comes knocking? How to we ensure our security if our next paycheck suddenly didn’t arrive? We build up an emergency fund, that’s how. An emergency fund turns mountains back into molehills. They turn emergencies into speed bumps. Establishing a basic emergency fund should always be one of your top priorities. Something reasonable like $1,000 - $2,000. Just enough to cover deductibles if something were to happen to you, your car or your home. Later in the process you’ll want to build your emergency fund up large enough to cover three to six months of living expenses. Then you’ll really have that security!

Grayson Stalvey Financial Coaching has worked with clients all over the financial spectrum. From couples stuck in a payday loan cycle who were thousands of dollars in the negative every month to those who are already debt free but want to make sure they’re making the right money choices now. Financial coaching is a process, not an event. It’s not quick and easy, but it will get you to where you want to be financially.  

Do you think you’re ready for financial coaching? The first step is to sign up for a free Discovery Session, where we’ll talk about your specific situation and goals and about how financial coaching can help you. We’ll make sure that you’re a good fit for coaching. Why? Because coaching is intense, but the rewards are awesome. You have to be ready to work and want to win, or else you won’t be successful. Your success directly correlates to your effort and desire. There’s no way around that. And I want to work with clients who want to win.

Grayson Stalvey Financial Coaching is local to Jacksonville, Florida and serves people in the area (Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Orange Park, St Augustine, Palatka, Lake City, Gainesville, St Marys, Kingsland, Brunswick, St Simons). I also work with people from Savannah, Georgia and the surrounding areas. Not local? I help people across the country budget and win with money through virtual coaching. Schedule a meeting now and we can get started!