Hey Reader,

Our steady plodding continues on YouTube.

We've got a new video for you. Plus, a bit of encouragement for your money journey.

🎥 What's New

I Reviewed 674 YNAB Budgets — Here’s What I Found

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⚓︎ Craft Your Money Story - From Hanna

I often joke that I have every woman's dream job...
​Critiquing my husband. 😛

When I first accepted my position as Chief of Critique at Mapped Out Money, mine and Nick's communications went something like this:

• Nick: Sitting in front of the camera, transferring ideas from his head into organized principles and systems to help other people
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• Me: Sitting behind the camera, interjecting things like:
  • "That didn't make any sense."
  • "That story was boring."
  • "Do you actually think this will work."

I know what you're thinking — and you're right.

I was great at my job.

And yet... neither Nick, nor our content, nor our relationship was better for my efforts.

By the grace of God (and thanks to Nick being a gracious husband and boss), I eventually realized that my real role isn't Chief of Critique at all.

It's CEO — Chief Encouragement Officer.

Now (most of the time), our conversations sound more like this:

• Nick: Still sitting in front of the camera, doing the hard work
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• Me: Sitting behind the camera, suggesting things like:
  • "Can I explain what I think you're trying to say here, you tell me if I'm right, and then we can figure out how to restate it more clearly?"
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  • "Your story makes this way more interesting, but I got lost in the details. If we focus on this part, I think it will tie into your point better."
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  • "You're so confident in this plan, but I'm feeling discouraged. Will you explain your thought process and share some of your confidence with me?" (Nick's my CEO too 😉)

So I have a question for you:

If we don't make a conscious effort to do otherwise, most of us serve relentlessly as our own COC. And while critique finds the flaw, encouragement fuels the work.

When the budget gets off track, the Chief of Critique sounds like (to ourselves... or to our spouse 🙃):

• "I knew you couldn't do this. You've always been terrible with money."
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• "Seriously, you thought spending on that was a good idea?"
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• "What's wrong with you?! This money stuff isn't rocket science — you should have figured this out by now."

But here's the thing: you're the CEO now.

You're done shrinking your money story into a misadventure of
frugality failures.

Instead, you're crafting a grand adventure of values-based spending! And that sounds more like:

• "Budgeting has been a difficult skill for me to practice and master. Maybe I need tactical help to get and stay on track. Or maybe I just need clarity on why budgeting is important to me in the first place. I'm going to figure out my next right action tomorrow morning while I drink my coffee."
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• "I thought I really wanted that thing, but now I regret spending on it. I'm going to type my quarterly goals into my Notes app and look at them before every purchase. That way I can think more clearly in the moment about whether or not I want to buy something."
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• "This money stuff is hard. I can tell from the national statistics on debt that lots of people agree with me. I'm going to connect with other people who care about their finances so that we can learn together and encourage each other."

Encouragement doesn't ignore problems; it helps us move through them productively.

So if your money story feels stuck or discouraging right now, don't fire yourself.

Promote yourself.

Step into the role of Chief Encouragement Officer — and keep going.

Until next week,
Nick + Hanna