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Almstrom Financial Coaching, LLC, Lebanon, NH (2026)

10/07/2026

Let's clear up a myth: paying off your credit card is not the same thing as fixing your relationship with it.

You can pay a card down to zero in December and watch it creep right back up by March. I know because I did this more than once before I figured out what was actually going on.

The balance was never the real issue. My dependence on the card every single month was.

Once I understood that, everything changed. My free guide breaks down exactly how to shift your focus from "pay it off" to "stop needing it" — which, it turns out, is the part that actually sticks.

9 Ways to Break Up With Your Credit Cards. Link below, go get it!
https://www.katyalmstrom.com/9-ways

10/05/2026

"Just save more" has to be one of the most useless pieces of money advice out there 🙃especially in this economy.

Groceries cost more, gas costs more, rent costs more. Basically everything costs more than it did even a couple years ago. But for a lot of us, the paycheck didn't get the memo.

So when people toss out "just save 20% of your income" like it's simple, I get why it makes you want to close the app and never look at your bank account again.

Here's what I actually believe about saving money in this economy: it's not about willpower, and it's definitely not about cutting out your coffee. It's about being realistic with yourself about what's possible right now…and building from there.

A few things that actually move the needle:

💰 Start smaller than feels impressive. $10 a week beats $0 a week, every time. You're not trying to win a savings contest, you're trying to build a habit that survives contact with real life.
💰 Automate it before you can talk yourself out of it. Money that moves to savings the day you get paid never has the chance to quietly disappear into "stuff." You can't spend what you don't see sitting there.
💰 Save for something specific, not "just because." "I'm saving $500 for Christmas" is a lot easier to stick with than "I'm saving because I should." Give the money a job.
💰 Stop comparing your savings account to someone else's highlight reel. You don't know their income, their expenses, their help from family, or their debt. Comparing your real numbers to someone's curated numbers will only ever make you feel behind.
💰 Look for the leaks before you assume you need to earn more. Subscriptions you forgot about, fees you're paying out of habit, a plan that's bigger than you actually use…you get the idea.
Oftentimes there's money already in your budget, just not going where you'd choose if you really looked!

In this economy, saving money is genuinely harder than it used to be. That's not you being bad with money necessarily, it’s just math.

But harder doesn't mean impossible. It just means the plan has to be realistic instead of aspirational, built for the paycheck you actually have and not the one you wish you had.

I can’t say it loud enough: Progress on $10 a week still counts. Progress on $25 a month still counts. You don't need a dramatic number to be doing this right.

What's one small, realistic savings goal you could actually stick to this month?

10/02/2026

A Sustainable Debt-Free Journey Can Be JOYFUL 💸

If you’ve been working on paying off debt for years and it’s felt anything but joyful, you’re not alone.

I hear it from my clients all the time. They come to me saying, “Paying off debt just isn’t possible for me.”

Why? Because so many of us have been taught that the only way to become debt-free is to sacrifice everything, to put life on hold in the name of DESTROYING debt.

But here’s the truth:
You don’t need to ignore your life to reach financial freedom.
You do need a plan that actually works for you and your family. One that makes progress without making you miserable.

A sustainable debt-free plan allows you to live your life joyfully while paying down debt every single month.

It helps you trust yourself to spend money on what matters…without guilt or shame.

And yes, it’s possible for you.

4 Simple Steps to Start a Sustainable Debt-Free Journey:

- Commit to no new debt. This is the key to a lasting debt-free lifestyle.
- Give yourself fun money—every single month! If your plan feels like punishment, you won’t stick with it.
- Get your family involved. What do we decide is most important to spend money on? Aligning as a team makes a huge difference.
- Give yourself grace. If you don’t pay off as much this month as you did last month, that’s okay. Keep going. Progress is progress.

These steps are built into every single one of my clients’ plans.

Because if you run yourself ragged, isolate from loved ones, and hate every moment of your debt-free journey...then by the time you reach the finish line, your relationship with money won’t be any better than when you started.

When you reach debt freedom sustainably, you’ll be ready to save, invest, and steward your money well.

And that’s exactly what we do inside the Done With Debt Bootcamp.

For 30 days, I’ll walk you through a simple, doable plan to break free from debt...without sacrificing your life in the process.

Join here! 💸 https://www.katyalmstrom.com/bootcamp

10/01/2026

A few weeks ago, I shared on the Debt Payoff Podcast how my husband, Scott, and I each get our own fun money every month, no questions asked.

Now I'm putting my money where my mouth is - literally.

In this week's episode, I'm walking through exactly how I spent my fun money in September.

Every category, every purchase, no filter.

You'll learn:
—> Exactly where my fun money went this September
—> What surprised me when I added it all up
—> What guilt-free spending actually looks like in real life, not just theory
—> How this system has actually helped Scott and me communicate better about money

If you've ever been curious what "guilt-free spending" actually looks like in practice (not just in theory), this one's for you.

Tune into Episode 190 🎧 💵 https://pod.link/1594671912

09/30/2026

Tomorrow is October 1st! 🎃Which means the holidays aren't "coming up" anymore, they're officially here. And I already know what some of you are thinking: "I should've started planning my spending for this months ago. It's too late now."

But let’s look at it this way: You still have three full months before the credit card statement in January makes you want to cry. It’s never too late to make your situation better….you just have to start today instead of waiting until December and panicking your way through it on a card.

Here's the pattern I want you to avoid: no plan in October, a little denial in November, and then full-blown "just put it on the card, I'll deal with it in January" by December. That's how a totally manageable season turns into three months of stress you're still paying off come spring.

So let's not do that this year. Here's how to start now:

👻Get honest about your number. Not what you wish you could spend, but what you can actually spend without touching a credit card. Write it down.

👻List out everyone and everything: costumes, gifts, cards, teacher/hostess gifts, ugly sweater party, the ingredients for the dish you always bring, shipping costs. Presents aren’t the only thing and that’s what gets people (including me!) Get it all on paper so nothing sneaks up on you.

👻Divide that number by the weeks you have left. Even $25-50 a week set aside now adds up fast, and it’s going to feel a whole lot better coming out of savings than off a card with interest attached.

👻Decide your holiday spending is separate from your everyday spending. Give it its own little savings bucket if you can. Out of sight, earmarked, untouchable for anything else.

👻This might be my biggest one: Give yourself permission to do less. A smaller, intentional holiday you can actually afford will feel so much better in January, and it can still be just as special if not more!

Let’s reframe our mindset about the holidays, because they really aren't the problem. The problem is letting them creep up on you without a plan of attack. And now you have one!

What's one holiday expense you know is coming that you haven't planned for yet? Let's get it on the list 👇

09/25/2026

"I'll just put it on the card this once."

Famous last words, right? We've all said it (I said it for years!)

The problem was never really the ONE purchase. It was the pattern underneath it, the quiet agreement I'd made with myself that the card would always be there to catch me.

But breaking that agreement was the actual turning point in my debt-free journey.

Not a bigger paycheck or a stricter budget or beans and rice for years on end. Just ending the relationship with the card itself.

If "I'll just put it on the card this once" is a sentence you've said more times than you'd like to admit, I made something for you.

9 Ways to Break Up With Your Credit Cards: free, practical, and judgment-free. Grab it below!

09/24/2026

What would it take to pay off $50,000 in consumer debt in just 8 months?

In this week’s episode of The Debt Payoff Podcast, I'm talking with my friend Morgan Brophy - President & CEO of the Upper Valley Business Alliance - about exactly that. Morgan shares her real, honest debt payoff story, including what actually changed to make this kind of progress possible.

We get into the "envelope method" Morgan grew up using (and still uses today, just with bank accounts instead of literal envelopes) - including how she pays herself an "allowance."

We talk about the financial education she got as a kid, including being handed a small inheritance at 21 and being pushed by her dad to research and understand her own investments before she could touch the money.

And we dig into how she and her husband manage money together - full transparency, without micromanaging each other, while both maintaining financial independence.

This episode is for you if:
🎧 You want to hear a real, specific debt payoff story - not just theory
🎧 You're curious how other couples split and manage money together
🎧 You didn't grow up with much financial education and want to know what actually helps
🎧 You're ready to start thinking beyond debt payoff toward saving and investing
🎧 You want practical systems (like the envelope method) you can actually use

Morgan is refreshingly open about numbers, mindset, and the fact that there's no secret to building wealth - just time, consistency, and starting now.

Listen to the episode here: https://pod.link/1594671912

Then come back and let me know your thoughts!

09/23/2026

There's a difference between feeling shame about your money and feeling responsible for it, and mixing the two up will keep you stuck.

Shame says "I'm bad with money. I always mess this up. Something is wrong with me."

Responsibility says, "This is my situation, and I get to be the one who changes it."

Shame keeps you avoiding your accounts because looking feels like confirming you're a failure. But that doesn't have to be your story (trust me, I've been there!) Responsibility is actually the saving grace here because it gets you to open the account anyway, knowing that looking is the only way forward.

Here's the thing about shame: it doesn't actually motivate change, it just makes you want to hide. It builds and builds over time the more you don't address it head-on. We can't fix what we're constantly hiding from, right?

I say all of this with love, and because I know you are capable of making this change.

You are not your credit card balance and you are not your past decisions; you're just a person with a number that can change, starting whenever you decide it does.

Which voice do you hear more often, shame or responsibility? Share with me in the comments!

09/17/2026

If you've ever sworn you'd meal plan this week and then hit 5pm exhausted and ordered takeout again... or said yes to one more commitment because saying no felt impossible... this week’s Debt Payoff Podcast episode is for you.

I'm talking with my friend Valerie Recore, a productivity coach for moms, about something we don't talk about enough: the connection between overwhelm and overspending.

We dig into why "doing it all" - as a mom, in your career, in life - quietly drains your bank account through convenience spending.

The takeout you didn't plan for. The subscription you signed up for because you were too tired to figure out another solution. The money that leaks out when you're just trying to survive the day.

We also talk about saying yes to the right things and no to everything else - and why that skill matters just as much for your money as it does for your time.

This episode is for you if:
- You feel like you're always "on" and never catching up
- You've noticed you spend more when you're overwhelmed or exhausted
- You say yes to things you don't have room for (and then feel resentful or drained)
- You want to feel less scattered - in your time AND your money
- You're a mom trying to do it all and wondering why it feels so hard (and expensive)

This isn't a typical money conversation. It's about the overwhelm underneath the overspending, and how getting a handle on one helps you get a handle on the other.

Tune in here! https://pod.link/1594671912

09/16/2026

Everyone wants the fastest possible debt payoff. I get it because I wanted that too. Who wouldn’t?!

But just like with weight loss or completing work projects, fast isn't always sustainable. And unsustainable plans have a predictable ending: burnout, followed by a "screw it" spending spree, followed by starting completely over (been there, no thanks!)

Sustainable doesn't mean slow though. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking this way and it stops them from even starting in the first place. What it really means is going at a realistic enough pace that you're still following the plan after month nine, and not quitting after week two.

Ask yourself honestly:
✅ Can I actually maintain this pace for the next year?
✅ Does this plan account for the version of my life that includes birthdays, holidays, and bad weeks?
✅ Am I white-knuckling this, or could I explain it to a friend without wincing?

Progress you can sustain beats perfection you can't. Remember that and your debt payoff goals are inevitable, I promise!

Be honest: does your current plan feel sustainable or are you gritting your teeth through it?

Almstrom Financial Coaching, LLC

10/07/2026

10/05/2026

10/02/2026

10/01/2026

09/30/2026

09/25/2026

09/24/2026

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09/17/2026

09/16/2026

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