Episode 123. The Shame-Free Guide To Budgeting | Lexa VanDamme, The Avocado Toast Budget

Episode 123 is the shame-free guide to budgeting featuring Lexa VanDamme, creator of The Avocado Toast Budget!

Lexa VanDamme (she/her) is a queer personal finance coach and creator of The Avocado Toast Budget (The ATB). Her mission is to teach people how to save, pay off debt, invest, and finally feel confident with money.

Lexa provides shame-free personal finance education via Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

You can enroll in The ATB’s Financial Survival Guide here.

Episode 123 Highlights:

• The importance of financial self-care with your budget—Lexa breaks this down in such an eloquent way that we can definitely relate to. Financial care is different for everyone. We are not the same and that is beautiful. Focusing on your life goals change as you evolve. Priorities change. People grow. And it’s okay to change your money habits as you change yourself.
• Shifting the narrative around money and budget—Ask yourself this question the next time you think about your money habits… What’s important to you right now? Lexa explains this in a way that we know you can apply to your own life.
• IT’S OKAY TO MAKE MISTAKES!!!—Y’all…we need to stop acting like it’s the end of the world when we f*ck up! That is a part of life! It’s how we evolve and grow as human beings. Do you know how boring life would be if everything was sunshine, rainbows and butterflies everyday? THAT AIN’T REAL LIFE, SIS! Lexa shares this very vulnerable narrative she had within herself for years before she finally decided to make a change to improve her money habits.
• What was her “aha” moment when she realized she needed to make a change—We love how Lexa called this instance her “financial rock bottom”. Listen to what she went through and more importantly, how she got out of it. So inspiring and so relatable!
• “There is NO ROOM for shame in your budget”—We love this quote Lexa told us during this episode. You need to change the narrative within yourself when it comes to how you view money and budgeting. Like Lexa said, you can budget “avocado toast” in your budget! (See what we did there?😉🥑)
• Struggles, secrecy and negativity around $$—We absolutely LOVE the fact that Lexa brought up the fact that she struggled with money growing up and how that affected her into adulthood. This is a narrative we typically see a lot in our communities (WOC and BIPOC). As someone who doesn’t identify as being a part of our community, she grew up with the same struggles. Money mindset affects EVERYONE, regardless of your race, gender, orientation, etc. The internalized narrative is still the same. And something we continue to work through every single day.
• Trying to live a similar lifestyle as her parents once she became an adult—Lexa lets us know how this quickly led to her building up a large amount of debt in a short amount of time. The narrative of “saving face” and pretending like you can afford certain things to make society think everything is okay can get pretty ugly, pretty quickly. Can you relate? We sure can!
• The correlation between mental health and money—Money is an extension of who you are and how you feel. There is such a powerful connection between our minds and our money habits. Lexa shares some very personal and vulnerable aspects of herself during our conversation that definitely needs to be talked about more. We are so humbled for such and raw and real conversation! Here at YQD™, we truly believe that when it comes to bridging the gap for financial literacy, you have to first focus on your mental health. Someone who has poor mental health will never be able to manage their money well. Money isn’t the root of all evil…not knowing how to manage your money is.
• And much more!

We appreciate how Lexa was so open and honest about a topic that, truth be told, is super uncomfortable and something many of us don’t like to talk about! Let this episode give you the permission to stop being so damn hard on yourself. Learn through what you go through. And let’s start breaking down those walls of money, budgeting and shame! Thank you for an amazing conversation, Lexa!💎

Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel!

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Until next time, stay empowered, stay inspired and #staypoderosa ✨

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