Sacred Wealth Podcast Transcription
Episode 8 | Money Management + Mindset with Sarah Lynn Co.
PODCAST INTRO:
You are tuning in to the Sacred Wealth Podcast, I am your host Meaghan and I am so excited to have you here. Throughout my ten years in finance, I have come across so much anxiety and fear surrounding money. It is now my purpose to help women become rich unapologetically. The goal of this podcast is to empower you to love your debt, to be so ecstatically grateful for what you have, and to feel safe to ask for more. Together we will figure out what your luxury is and get you on the path to financial freedom. Let’s fucking go.
EPISODE INTRO:
Hi everyone, welcome back to the Sacred Wealth Podcast. This episode is a super fun interview that I did with Sarah Lynn last year. I think it was in June maybe of 2020 and I just can't wait for you to listen to it. There is some amazing nuggets of information and I just know that you're going to get so much out of it. Um, sorry, my cat is rubbing up against my microphone at the moment.
But Sarah was so sweet to facilitate this interview inside of her Facebook group and I just really value her questions and allowing me to kind of riff on my favorite things to talk about. Which are money mindset, debt, profit first, all of the things that I love to teach my clients on, so I really hope that you enjoy this episode.
Today is Wednesday when this episode is airing and I will be doing a free group Bank Account Blessing on Friday, the 29th of January, 2021, and there's going to be a special announcement of a new offering that I'm going to be doing at the end of that group Bank Account Blessing. You can register for that event down in the show notes and I hope to see you there. You’ll get a special discount on this new offer and I know you're really gonna love it.
And if you only come for the Bank Account Blessing, it’ll be so transformative and fun for you. We’re gonna check our bank balances as a group, we're gonna do a little dance party to shift some energy, and we're gonna pull Oracle Cards. I’m gonna pull an Oracle Card for everyone on the call and it’s just gonna be so much fun.
So yeah, I hope you enjoy this episode, and if you do make sure to leave me five stars. Share on your Instagram and tag me @sacrednumbers.co and I’d love to pull you an Oracle Card as a thank you. Bye.
SARAH:
Okay. We are Live. This is going to be such a fun conversation. I am here today with Meaghan, who has a business called Sacred Numbers, and she um- is somebody who I have followed for a couple of months now on Instagram, more than a couple of months. And what I love about Meaghan is she mixes money and, kind of, that mindset, energy, spiritualities. So it's, like, a good mix of practicality and then that spirituality piece, to really come together and put a really powerful mix around money and abundance. So welcome Meaghan, I'm pumped that you're here.
MEAGHAN:
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
SARAH:
Well, we are pumped to have you. So we're going to spend some time talking about Profit First and how you use it because that has something that has come up on our last group call. We're going to get into that, but before we do tell us just a little bit more about yourself, your business, and how you help your clients.
MEAGHAN:
Yeah. So I have been in business for myself for about two years now. I've been in finance for almost 10 years. I have worked at a CPA firm in Manhattan and subsequently got fired, which led me to building my own business and taking and acquiring the CFO and bookkeeping clients for myself.
And, actually, I've gone through a little bit of a transition in the last couple months of, you know, transitioning out those CFO and bookkeeping clients. And I'm mainly doing money coaching instead of actually being in the books and being in the numbers as much.
So I'm really excited about this new phase and all of that. But yeah, I'm originally from Alabama, have been in New York for three years and just loving life.
SARAH:
Well, I love it. And we'll have to maybe talk some other time about that transitioning cause some of us in here are doing minor pivots and transitions a little bit too, so this might be a good future podcast topic conversation.
MEAGHAN:
Yeah.
SARAH:
But for today, what I want to get into specifically is kind of money mindset, money management. And before we get into that, I want to talk to you about a post that you shared on Instagram, which is really good cause I keep calling it money mindset, but you had shared something about money mindset versus abundance mindset.
MEAGHAN:
Yeah.
SARAH:
And can you tell us the difference?
MEAGHAN:
Yeah. So for me, and this is my own personal experience, but abundance mindset is much more about, you know, green and lush and mother nature and being in the blessings and the gratitude, more than being in the numbers.
And so money mindset for me is a very masculine energy. It's a very left-brained, "I think about money. I think about the dollars and cents and where I'm going to spend it and how it's going to serve me." And then being in abundance mindset is very, you know, "I'm surrounded by my family. I have great friends, I have food in my pantry." It's a much more feminine mindset than the being in the numbers and being in the money.
SARAH:
Okay. I love that and there's something too, when you just say abundance versus, like, money. This is a taught topic, just in all areas of our life. And I know that sometimes it can cause saying the word money, which is why I love abundance, because that seems to have this like natural, like positive, uplifting term.
But then money, sometimes we can put fear and anxiety and worry to that word and kind of have these stories, these beliefs, maybe past experiences. So with this coaching work that you're doing, how do you help people, kind of, deal with some of that worry around money and anxiety?
MEAGHAN:
Yeah. The conditioning that we all have around money is that, you know, it's either there or it's not, which means that we have to struggle for it, we have to fight for it, and we have to hold onto it so tightly if we have it, and make sure it doesn't go anywhere. When, kind of, the mindset that I work on with my clients is that even when you spend the money, it's still there working for you.
So even when you're paying your bills or buying your groceries, it's serving you. So it's still there, present in your life, maybe not as a number in your bank account but as a service bringing in abundance. Which is why you can't really have a positive money mindset without a positive abundance mindset. So they're very interconnected and having the gratitude for your abundance directly leads into having more money.
SARAH:
Okay. Somebody just said, and I can't see who it is, Oh, Christie. She said, "Oh, that's so good, about abundance being feminine energy. I literally loathe talking about money with my husband but it's only when he wants to talk specific numbers and figures. But the dream abundance vision, I could sit with that conversation for way longer." I feel ya.
MEAGHAN:
And that's, kind of, why we have to, especially as women, we- it's harder for us to get into the money mindset. Whereas men just, kind of like, are born being in that very masculine, worthiness around money. They ask for what they want, they get what they want. Whereas we are more about the vision. We're more about the family, the green, the lush, the abundance.
SARAH:
Yesss.
MEAGHAN:
Yeah.
SARAH:
Well, and you know what, I love that we're even having this conversation. Christie and I have actually had this conversation offline, more than once, around, like, a lot of times women don't always talk about money and it is the men that are talking, like, numbers and money.
And for some reason, I don't know if we feel like it's taboo, but we're reading a book right now called, From Mopping Floors to Making Millions, and the first part of this book is all about stepping into, like, a CEO role, not just, like, marketing and that kind of thing. So putting that hat on. And so we're really trying to, kind of, talk more about managing our money, that money or abundance mindset now. So getting into that, you follow a system called Profit First.
MEAGHAN:
Yeah.
SARAH:
Um, Bridget is in our group and she is a bookkeeper and she also has her clients follow the Profit First system. But she's probably the most familiar with it, the rest of us have maybe heard of the book or maybe have no idea. So can you tell us a little bit about that system and then how you apply it to your business or help your clients apply it?
MEAGHAN:
Yeah. So the system itself is not exactly- it's not a bookkeeping system. It's more of a banking system, almost even a budgeting system, if you want to think of it that way. I don't love the term budgeting, I use money schedule or money mapping. But as you set up the separate accounts, these different buckets, and even, like, Dave Ramsey uses a modified version of the Profit First system. He uses envelopes.
So it's just, um, 21st century way of using the factual, physical envelopes instead of having to get cash out and putting them in different envelopes, labeled bills or, you know, taxes or groceries, you know, these different types of things. You actually have them in your bank and you get to see them digitally, which I think is super fun. And I honestly have, like, 10 different bank accounts, which is a little overkill for the simplicity of the system. You can really get away with four or five accounts and be totally set.
So I use it both in my personal and my business and also with my clients. And it's really super customizable. You can name your bank accounts whatever you want, taxes, you know, operating expenses, your owner's pay account, all of those things. And you can have separate accounts for different things that you're saving for. So if you're saving for a high ticket coach that's going to cost you $10,000 for the year, you can start putting a percentage into that account every time you get paid and start building up for that goal.
So it's really, like I said, super customizable. I think it's super fun. And a lot of my clients receive a lot of joy from logging into their bank accounts and being able to see the different bank accounts filling up and allowing them to get closer and closer to their goals.
SARAH:
Okay, I love feeling joy when you're looking at your bank account. So I know Bridget does this. Anybody else that's watching this live or when you watch this on the replay, does anybody else use the Profit First system right now? I know that it was pretty popular and most people have at least heard of the book. You'll have to let us know what your experience is, if you have used it.
So for the buckets, what are some of those buckets that you have set up for? If we haven't read the book or maybe we're not going to, what type of buckets should we have?
MEAGHAN:
Yeah. So for my own business, I use the recommended buckets in the book. There's your income account, your profit account, which is your emergency fund. Which just, if you don't end up needing your emergency fund, you actually take that home as a bonus for yourself at the end of the quarter, which I think is super fun. Also your business expenses, your owner's pay. And so those are the main accounts that I use for my business.
And then in my personal life, my Fiance and I both have an expense account because he's off in the world, driving around, has to buy lunch from work, and all of that. And so I also have an expense account for myself, even though most of the time I'm here at home. We have a home expenses account. We have a savings account. We have an investment account, which gets a smaller percentage, I think it's, like, four or five percent. But just putting away that money and being able to invest it in stocks or our retirement funds, anything like that.
SARAH:
Okay. We also have a wealth coach in here, Irene, and I don't think she's on the call right now, but she would love that you said that, I think, about investing. So I started reading Profit First and, just so you guys know, we're going to tackle that book in August because it does keep coming up. Chris said she hasn't implemented the system yet, but it keeps coming up. So maybe it's a sign. It keeps coming up for me too. So we're going to get into it in August.
And I started reading the book and you know what, if- and maybe you can comment on this, and this sounds so ridiculous because we all have businesses that are in this group and have money coming in and money going out. And I have a separate checking account and a separate business credit card, but I've never felt, like, fully in control, like a CEO. You know what I mean? Is that- if that makes sense. And just by reading that book, and whether you implement, I think, the exact buckets or implement it exactly, I think just taking charge feels so good.
MEAGHAN:
Yeah. Seriously. The system itself is so counterintuitive to what I learned taking accounting in school. So, you know, you take home at the end of the day, after you've already paid all of your expenses, you've already paid all of your contractors and everything like that. But with the system, you are purposefully setting aside what is meant to come to you, even before you pay everything else. So I mean you profit first.
And a lot of entrepreneurs don't even pay themselves and they rationalize, "Okay. Once my business starts making more money, once I reach this milestone, I'll start paying myself." And the philosophy of the book is that you should be paying yourself from day one and you should be allowing your business to support you. And that is going to be the fuel to allow you to continue doing the business. Because if you're not seeing any profit from your business, directly into your own bank account, it becomes tiresome. You get burned out. There's no fire left after two years, you know?
SARAH:
Yeah. You know what, you said the best thing and I don't know if I can find it. Oh, I love what you said. Okay. And by the way, I'm going to include Meaghan's Instagram link, but she's @sacrednumbers.co. Um, and she had this post and one of her points in the post was, the biggest and the best thing you can do is to get rich.
MEAGHAN:
Yeah.
SARAH:
And I loved it. I loved it. We have so many big-hearted people in this group, women and one really cool guy, and I don't know that we always think about it that way. What are some common misconceptions or maybe it's either mindset-related or practicality-wise, like mistakes or unhelpful thoughts, unhelpful things that we do to maybe sabotage that ability to get rich and to feel in control and powerful with money and abundance?
MEAGHAN:
Yeah. So one thing that automatically comes to mind, that I always heard in my life growing up, was that you have to work really hard for money. And you know, congruently, if you haven't worked hard, that money that you got, you don't deserve it. You didn't earn it.
So if you, I don't know, like won 50 bucks from a lottery or like a scratch or something, that money is not as valuable as you cutting lawns for $50. You know, because cutting lawns is hard work. It's, you know, manual labor, but you just scratched off a ticket at the gas station and got $50 in this other scenario.
So there's this worthiness component of receiving money and how we receive it, based on what we've been told as we've grown up. And especially if you have immigrant parents, the money mindset around people who come to this country and have to pretty much start from the bottom up, you have to work so hard. And every single dollar you get is, you know, scraping and just pulling at every fiber of your being. And money gets to be easy.
And the best thing I can tell you to allow it to be easy is to not judge where it comes from. Open multiple, multiple portals for money to come through, and don't judge where it comes from. So this is something that I've personally done, I used to nanny all through high school and even into my early twenties. I lived in Ireland as an au pair. I've been a nanny for, like, most of my life.
So recently I had some downtime, I didn't have as many clients as I normally do, so I kind of just had the idea that I should post on care.com, or something, and try to find a nanny job. And it's just something that, like, I am not better or too old or too far past any form of flow of money to me. So not judging where the money comes from and allowing the portals to show themselves to you as well as allowing money to be easy. Definitely.
SARAH:
I love that. And I- Christie said, "Yes, those beliefs are so real when you're talking about hard work." Does anybody else resonate with that belief, that you have to work hard to make a lot of money? I have definitely felt that. And we had this conversation, the last group call too, and then even just like in the chat here in the group, about being productive versus being busy and, like, sometimes just being busy feels like you are working hard. So I guess when the money does come, we feel like you do deserve it.
Chris said, "Love that mindset around allowing. Yes. And that money gets to be easy." I don't have it with me up here, I thought I did, but I started keeping a list of money flowing in effortlessly, all the ways that I received money. And, like, one example that just happened last week was, I had no idea why, I didn't call, but my home insurance and my car insurance company deducted $47 a month from my fee for like a COVID "here's some help."
MEAGHAN:
Yeah, like a relief.
SARAH:
Yes. And I don't know- I don't know why it happened. I don't know what prompted that, but like, that's kind of significant each month. And so I wrote that down. I literally didn't have to do anything and I basically was given $50 a month. I've had other things like with my health insurance, like different things happen and it may not be, like you were saying, directly like "Oh, I got $50 from a client" but it's like you're saying these different portals.
And for me, whoever is watching this you'll have to let me know if this resonates or you felt this way, I have not counted it in the past. Like if this didn't come from a client, I was not doing good and that money didn't count for some reason.
MEAGHAN:
Yeah. And it's so crazy because that money contributes to you living your lifestyle. Even still, like, even if it doesn't come from a client, you are absorbing it into your day-to-day life. You're using it to buy groceries, buy gas, all of these things and allowing it to be just as significant in your life as something that has come from a client.
And specifically, people that I work with that have a nine to five job or have a salary job, they feel like there's no way for them to make extra money or like they have a very narrow mindset of where their money comes from. And there's no thinking outside the box when it comes to that.
SARAH:
Yeah. Yeah. So I love what you said about, like, opening different portals. Like that was such a great way to look at it. Chris was saying she totally agrees. She has immigrant parents and what you were saying about every penny has to be saved is so true. And then she has a list of money coming through as well. So I love that.
The other thing I wanted to ask you about your money rituals. So what are some things, again, they can be practical or just energy-wise, how do you, like, take care of your money? Or I've heard like date your money. I love that idea. What are some things that you do on a regular basis to cultivate, like, a more positive relationship with the money in your life?
MEAGHAN:
Well, daily, every single morning I log into my bank accounts. I log into my QuickBooks, which is where I track my income and expenses. And I sit with my money and I sit in gratitude and I put my eyes on every single account. Like I said, I've got like 10 accounts. So my dashboard is, you know, very long and I don't have money in all of those accounts.
So even sitting in gratitude with the zero balances, sitting in gratitude of my credit cards that have balances on them, just being very aware and thankful that the money is there keeping the accounts warm or is out in the world doing my bidding or is coming to me. I do that every single day.
And then other things that I like to do, I like to listen to like old school like nineties rap, where they just, like, talk about having money and having cars and, like, they're all about the money. And, like, there's a time and a place.
And I also wanted to just speak on the judgment that we have for wanting money. So, like, you get into a field of work, like if you want to be a doctor, because you know the money is good. Somehow that also means that you don't care about the people that you're helping or that you have lost your connection or like your down to earth-ness or whatever it is. Like you have somehow become this vapid person just because you care about the money and they can't be coexisting, they're somehow mutually exclusive, which is so untrue.
SARAH:
I'm so glad you said that. Cause I don't know if I'm the only one, I don't think so, but I definitely felt that too. It's like, gosh, I feel guilty for wanting money. But I love that you can help, you can be of service and you can also want money and want to be abundant and prosperous. Are there any other weekly or monthly rituals that you practice or that you would recommend, additional check-ins, or just anything else?
MEAGHAN:
Yeah. So I've recently been trying to connect my self-pleasure practice with my manifestations and with my abundance. So doing money masturbations and intentions for when my partner and I have sex and saying, "Okay, this is going to be the money sex, right?" So, like, we're actually, like, bringing in physical money with the sex magic.
And I think it's so powerful because sexuality and money are so intertwined and love and money are so intertwined. And so loving yourself in turn allows you to bring in more money. And that's also kind of what I was speaking on about not judging where the money is coming from.
So I do a lot of things that would be considered sex work. So I do phone sex, which is super fun, honestly. You know, playing out role-play and stuff like that. And you get paid by the minute, like, who doesn't want to get paid by the minute, right? Like a hundred dollars an hour. And so it's just allowing the judgments and the preconceived notions to fall away from where money can come from and allowing yourself to play.
SARAH:
You know, I love what you said about just loving yourself because I think that comes down to a lot of this, like, being good enough to earn a certain amount of money, to be worthy, to be whatever. And then once you do have it, being capable of managing it.
Cause that's something else that I know I've experienced myself when I've seen others struggle with, like, even when you do hit that goal or hit that number it can be easy for it all to go away because, like, you've told yourself this story, like you're not capable or you're unworthy of this. So then you end up losing it. It's like a cycle.
Chris says, "You're speaking my language with the nineties hip hop." And then she has a client that uses that process for healing. Maybe that was just what you were just talking about.
Um, I'm gonna wrap it up with Meaghan in just a second. So if you have specific questions around anything that we've talked about that you want her to dive in a bit deeper or just anything that we haven't covered that you have questions, drop them in the comments live or on the replay and I'll circle back with you, Meaghan, and we'll get your feedback on that.
The other thing I want to ask you, and then I'm going to give you a chance to say one more thing after this, but the other thing I wanted to ask you about is your Instagram strategy. And I know this is a little unrelated, but you had shared this awesome post about how you 3x'd your views. And just because we're reading this book about Instagram, would you be willing to share those three ways or if you want me to jog your memory, I know I'm calling you out on this. I didn't prepare you.
MEAGHAN:
Yeah. You can jog my memory a little bit because I feel like it's changed a lot since I made that post.
SARAH:
Okay. So what you were talking about, you shared three things that helped you around collaborating on Instagram lives, being a guest on podcasts, and then just showing up consistently. Is there anything else you would add to that or that you want to share that's been working well for views or getting more followers or how you've landed podcasts to join you over on your Instagram feed?
MEAGHAN:
Yeah. So the podcast topic I think is important just because when you get on someone's podcast, their niche audience is already so dedicated to them that they're already loving the content that is being put out. So if they're vibing with the content, they're going to follow you on Instagram, they're going to sign up for your offerings, as well as it's fun.
And I like to hear myself talk and every podcast interview is such a different experience and everyone asks different questions and we get on different tangents. Truly podcast interviews is probably my best Instagram strategy or my best growth strategy in general, not just Instagram, but on Pinterest and Facebook, even though I don't really use Facebook that often, but still.
And the consistency is definitely key because I took off about a month between May and June, when all of the Black Lives Matter movement was happening, it was very heavy in the world.
And so I just kind of stepped back and made sure that I was doing what was in alignment for me. And I was losing followers like crazy, even though I wasn't even posting anything political or anything about what was happening. But just the lack of my presence online, people just were finding other avenues.
And the-the Instagram algorithm as it is right now, the more you interact with a specific account, the more they show that account to you. So if you interact with four or five accounts, all of your other accounts are going to be way back in your story, you know, highlights or whatever.
But yeah, so I've been more consistent recently and have been building up my views as well as joining other communities, joining Facebook communities, joining communities, like I ha- I have a friend who just created a whole social media platform. So joining her platform and letting everybody know what my Instagram is, everybody follows me on Instagram. So it's just, uh, like I said, not judging the avenues.
SARAH:
Yeah. Well, and that's such a, I think just in general, that's such a great point that, like, sometimes we can get so focused on, like, what we're doing on Instagram and then forget that, to do things off Instagram, to lead people back to us on Instagram, like your podcast interviews, and like you said, connecting in Facebook groups, other social media platforms. So I love that reminder. Any tips that you have for landing podcasts?
MEAGHAN:
Um, don't be afraid to ask. I've asked Almost 30 podcast if I could be on their podcast, she was like, "We're booked out for, like, the next three years," but she was like, "Definitely circle back". So, I mean, I talked to Lindsey Simcik and she was just so sweet and was like, "Absolutely, we would love to have you but, like, it's going to be a while." So just don't be afraid to ask.
And if you have friends- like I was also on a podcast that talks about, like, paranormal stuff, like, I'm really into aliens and ghosts and stuff. So one of the women who was in one of my programs was like, "Meaghan we would really love to have you, we don't really talk about business or money or anything, but we have this paranormal podcast." I was like, "Hell yes, I am down."
So that's another thing of, like, not judging, like not feeling like you're too good for anything. And that podcast was so fun. And, um, I don't know. It was an experience.
SARAH:
I love it. I love-love-love it. Yes. And just asking, just asking. Okay. So we could talk a long time, I'm sure, about money and all this stuff cause it is a big topic. There's multiple books written about it. Is there anything else that you and I have talked about today that you want to just say anything else about or anything that maybe I left off asking you in the context of this conversation, that you definitely want to bring up to consider this conversation complete?
MEAGHAN:
Well I love talking about debt and reframing debt, but that's like- I have a whole day in my program about talking about debt. So if you’re interested in, like, reprogramming your mindset around debt, definitely check out some of my posts. I have blog posts on my website and on Instagram, but I guess let's see, like, wrapping up comments.
Um, you are worthy of having all of the money that you desire and having an abundant life, and giving back to the community. Like there's no either-or here, it's everything and everything. So whatever your priorities are in life, you get to have the money to fuel those priorities.
And I think that's the most important part is figuring out what your priorities are.
So some people are put on this earth to live a low-key lifestyle, a low-impact lifestyle in, like, a van, you know, on a five-acre plot out in the middle of nowhere. Some people want the luxury and the multimillion-dollar house. And neither is right or wrong, neither is better or worse. They're both just as valid because it's important to you, and figuring out your keywords. Like if luxury is one of your keywords, your true self that aligns with that word, then embrace it. Don't be embarrassed about it.
SARAH:
I love that. I know, I think we have some people in here who- who like luxury as well. So just embrace it. Don't feel guilty. And I just kinda think overall it's like you can have it all. You can have the giving, the charitable acts, and also be rich and powerful and wealthy and abundant and prosperous. It doesn't have to be either-or.
And then I do think your insight on just, kind of, how you reframe debt could be really helpful. So I'll have to find, maybe, that specific post or get with you and just- that could be like the gateway into learning more about that perspective. And I'll include that in here.
So thank you so much for hopping on, this has been really good. And I'll also include your Instagram handle. Is that where you hang out the most?
MEAGHAN:
Yeah. Oh yeah. Instagram is my preferred platform of choice.
SARAH:
Okay. Okay, cool. So we'll make- we'll make sure we, we get hooked up with you over there. So I appreciate it, lady. Um, hang on. I'm going to end the broadcast, but if you don't hop off, um, right after this. And um, ladies thanks for, yeah, go ahead.
MEAGHAN:
Thank you for having me. And I just appreciate your questions and you reaching out to me. And, um, I'm also doing a free full moon ceremony on August 3rd, where we're gonna get super witchy and, you know, there's going to be meditation and movement and music and we're going to semi-nude or nude. And we're just going to connect with our inner witch.
SARAH:
You know, I'll have to hook you up with my friend Winifred. I think she would love what you're doing too. So I'll make a note of that, but um, okay. So August 3rd, I know we have some people who are into the full moon and just like the moon cycle and all that stuff. So we'll have to check out your profile for more information on that. And, um, I appreciate all that you shared and we'll see you around Instagram.
MEAGHAN:
Okay. Bye.
PODCAST OUTRO:
Thank you for listening to the Sacred Wealth Podcast. It would mean so much to me if you would subscribe and leave a five-star review. And if you choose to share this episode on social media and tag me. I would love to pull you an Oracle Card as a thank you. See ya next time, Sacred Galaxy.