231 | Take Charge of Your Finances and Enjoy True Peace of Mind with Elizabeth Hansen

Explore how simplifying your finances can reduce stress and help you reclaim your sense of self. In this episode of the Moms Without Capes Podcast, I sit down with Elizabeth Hansen, financial expert and Executive Vice President at Five Rings Financial as we dive into practical financial tips designed specifically for busy moms, covering ways to gain control over your budget, build financial confidence, and create space for personal growth. Tune in to discover how managing your money effectively can lead to peace of mind and freedom to focus on what matters most—yourself.

To learn more about Elizabeth Hansen, visit https://elizabethhansen.mylivingbenefits.com/about or follow her on social:

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/FiveRingsFinancialTheBigSkyAgency

To schedule a 15 minute consultation to see if therapy could help with your journey, go to www.momswithoutcapes.com/start (This is for moms who live in Montana ONLY)

Transcript

[00:00:00] Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the never ending task of managing your family's finances? Between budgeting, paying bills, saving for the future, and maybe even trying to tackle debt, does it sometimes feel like there's just no end in sight? Are you constantly juggling financial decisions, wondering if you're making the right choice for your family?

Money worries have a way of sneaking into every corner of our lives, keeping you awake at night, adding stress to your day, and making it harder to enjoy the moments that matter most. If you've ever felt that knot in your stomach about the what ifs of money, like how to afford future vacations, emergencies, or even retirement, you're not alone.

And today we're here to talk about how you can break free from that mental burden, take control of your finances, and find peace of mind once and for all. Welcome to Moms [00:01:00] Without Capes, the podcast where you'll get practical strategies for reclaiming your sense of identity beyond motherhood.

I'm Onnie And my goal is to help you prioritize your needs and carve out space for yourself so that you can discover who you are beyond your role as a mom. For years, I was buried under piles of dishes and endless loads of laundry, constantly putting my family's needs above my own. I was overwhelmed.

Exhausted, and I felt completely invisible. It seemed impossible to carve out time for anything that didn't revolve around my family. But everything changed when I finally decided to move myself up on my own to do list. I started prioritizing things that brought me joy and fulfillment, allowing me to reclaim my sense of worth and take ownership of my life instead of feeling like I was constantly just managing things for everyone [00:02:00] else.

And as a mom of six, I know firsthand the struggle to juggle it all. But through years of learning, growing, and shedding the super mom identity, I've discovered how to live in alignment with my needs without guilt. Now I'm here to help you do the same. You don't have to lose yourself in motherhood.

Together we can hang up the super mom cape and embrace a more balanced, joyful life. This is Moms Without Capes. At the end of today's episode, I'll share how you can get even more value from the Moms Without Capes podcast, so that you are armed with the mindset and action steps to make the journey back to yourself even easier.

But first, we're sitting down with Elizabeth Hansen, a financial expert and mom, to talk about how simplifying your finances can give you the freedom to focus on what truly matters. [00:03:00] Whether you're drowning in bills or simply want to feel more in control, Elizabeth shares practical tips and empowering insights that will help you take charge of your financial future and reconnect with yourself beyond motherhood.

You don't want to miss this conversation because peace of mind isn't just possible, it's within your reach. So without further ado, Let's dive in.

All right, 1st question. Why do you think financial literacy is important for moms and how can it help them reclaim their sense of self? 

Big question, Onnie. 

We start right in. I know I like it. 

It. 

Think. 

I don't know about all other moms. I know for myself and for a lot of the moms that I've talked to it's that decision overwhelm can be huge.

And if we don't have our finances under control, making decisions on where our money is going all day, every day, that can be really stressful and [00:04:00] can really deplete, Are calm. You know what I mean? And I think the more that we know about our finances and feel comfortable with where they're at and what they're doing the more that we can feel confident in moving forward with that.

And that really does help with yeah, with all of our mental well being, let's say I think. Have being prepared, which I'm a procrastinator extraordinaire myself. I think the more we can prepare for things, the more again, we feel calm about that. It is it's 1 more thing to add to the to do list, but and thinking about holiday spending coming up, if we're trying to figure this out last minute, it's a lot more stressful than if we just.

Take a minute, write it down ahead of time. And yeah, protection to protection is a big part of our financial plan so that you don't have to worry about it. 

Ease the anxiety and the stress around it. And you had mentioned the decision fatigue. Always having [00:05:00] to make decisions and choices and as moms, we especially need to like, because we are those project managers and trying to make all of these decisions throughout the day.

If we improved our financial literacy, it sounds like what you're saying is we wouldn't feel decision fatigue wouldn't be as taxing. It would be one less decision that we need to make in all of the many decisions that we make each and every minute of the day. Yeah. And being prepared. 

I think of the Lion King, be prepared. There's something to be said about. Having a plan and being prepared because it will help you feel more confident in so many different areas. 

Yeah. 

Yeah. 

Yeah. 

How can managing money effectively help us experience more freedom and joy in our everyday lives?

Aside from the decision fatigue, if we're managing our money [00:06:00] effectively. 

I think if we start in reverse, if we're not managing our money effectively, I don't think I know I've been there, right? That is stressful. That weighs on you day in, day out in every decision that you're making, whether you're at work, whether you're with your kids, whether you're with your spouse.

With yourself, that's that constant ticker that's running through our brain. So if we're not managing that effectively, it gets louder. Yeah. So I think, really knowledge is power. So the more that we can understand that, the more that we can feel again, confident with what we're doing, the better that.

We'll feel prepared for what's coming ahead for the decisions that we have to make. 

Yeah. I know for myself I use, you need a budget. We'll talk about the B word in a minute. I use you need a budget and there are times where I can be very consistent with okay, on Friday, I mark it out on my calendar and I write finances.

And I sit down and do it. But then when I get away from that, when I start entering into being [00:07:00] inconsistent with it, it is that one more thing that is underlying everything else that I'm like, okay, why do I feel so out of control right now? And being able to go back to that piece to say It knowledge is power and I need to know where I am financially because otherwise I feel like I'm just out of whack in other areas.

It definitely runs into the other areas of my life when I feel out of whack with my finances. Let's talk about the B word, right? Tell us a little bit about budgeting and what role that plays in, or actually before we even get into that, let's talk about what financial literacy is and why is that important to us?

Yeah, I think if we take big overview and this kind of weaves into the budget to financial literacy and just culturally, I don't think we've done [00:08:00] a good job of Thinking well about money and finance and how things work, right? We get a lot of really weird ideas about money about how it's bad and how if you have money, you're bad.

And budgets are bad because they tell you what you can't do and, restriction, it's all about restriction. 

I teach a class about how to teach your kids about money and the research that I've done for that has shown that, even though women are making leaps and bounds for equality across the board, there still is a financial gap between boys and girls.

So we are still teaching our boys more about money than we are girls, which means we weren't taught as much about money as girls. Our spouses or the boys around us work. So I think that we feel it's one of those things where you feel like you should be great at it, but nobody's teaching you how to do it.

And you can't talk about it [00:09:00] cause it's not good to talk about. It's taboo. So financial literacy is really just understanding how money works and the options that are out there so that you can make informed decisions for yourself. And 

that confidence moving forward with what you're doing financially, makes you a better mom, a better person, a better human being because you're not having to constantly worry about it or think that you're doing things wrong. 

Yeah. 

Do you think is a common thing, especially 

you mentioned about these beliefs about money. A few weeks ago, I went to a conference. It was a cognitive behavioral therapy conference and 1 of the speakers was a financial counselor. And it was super interesting to hear from her because it's very niche down, but it was all, and cognitive behavioral therapy is all about examining your beliefs and your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

And so I was curious when I saw that she was on the schedule about what, how did she bridge that like mental health and finances? What, and so one of the. First thing she did when she came [00:10:00] on was she put on a slide of all of the money beliefs that people can have. It wasn't all of them.

I'm sure, but it was a. Probably like 20 on this list and we had to go through and just write down the ones that we have adopted in our own life or the ones that we live by or fully believe. And it was interesting to see one, like the amount, the number of beliefs you don't really think about what you believe about money.

And so that was something that I felt was very eyeopening and something that was helpful to realize. So we hold these beliefs like I'm, I was like when I'm counseling somebody, the beliefs that you hold about yourself and others and your role and how you should in the world and like all of the things, but like our money is something we use every single day.

And so of course, we're going to hold beliefs about it, whether it's good or bad, or, the good, the bad and the ugly of [00:11:00] money. 

Most of our beliefs are set when we're little, when we're seven years old and we're Forming these beliefs based on a percentage of the actual information.

If we see our parents fighting about money, we make these odd. The correlations are like relations. 

Inferences that we draw. And then we hold 

on to that for our entire lives based on something that happened when we were in elementary school. 

Yeah. Yeah. I noticed even when I'm talking to my kids, I'm like, they'll ask for something.

And I'd be like, no, we just don't have the money for that. Having to watch the words that I'm saying, because it's not that we don't have the money. It's just, let's talk about like, Why I am not willing to put the money towards that what are our values? What do we value here? Because that same day they could see me pull out money for something else and in their minds, right?

They're like trying to make these connections and [00:12:00] figure out like how come you had money for that and not for this? And so trying to figure out what beliefs am I, instilling in my kids based on the words and the actions that I'm taking around money. It's an interesting concept. Yeah.

All right. So let's talk about budget and how that falls into, and do you, do I'm assuming you suggest a budget, but tell us, so talk a little bit about that and how that fits into. Being improving your financial literacy. 

Yeah. So I think again, before you even start with creating a budget, we've got to think about how we feel about budgets because a lot of people hear the word budget and they shudder.

I don't want to do that. Yeah. And it's just a name, but. When we change how we think about it and how we feel about it, it makes us more apt to do it and to follow through with it. So it could be [00:13:00] that you call it a budget. I call mine a budget just because it's easier and I've done the work of getting around this.

But if you need to say that this is my plan for financial freedom. That's a lot easier to nurture than a lot easier to chew on. Yeah and so I think if you can realize that budgets aren't telling you what you can't do, because I'm also a stubborn human being. A lot of times I don't like being told what to do, which I think is why I resisted budgets for so long.

I think that. If you realize that it's not telling you what you can't do, but giving you the path to do the things that you can and want to do, again, you're more apt to follow through on it and to do it. As far as what budget, I think everybody's a little bit individual on that.

You need a budget is great. There's a lot of apps out there that can help you with this. There's QuickBooks. You can go as simple as a spreadsheet. That's what I use. 

Yeah. 

I'm a creature of habit too. I've just done it for forever and that's what I do. But just having a [00:14:00] system and having a frequency of checking it and managing it.

It is, maybe not like a baby, maybe like a plant though, right? This living thing that we got to nurture and water and give it some love it'll give back to us, as long as we can just continue to to nurture it. It's not going to be perfect. I don't know about you, but I have problems if it's not perfect.

And I have gone through the years on different software, like trying to find what works for me. And it's not that one didn't work for me. It's only as good as if you're going to use it. And so finding what works for me, what works for my family and being able to continue to use that as a system, because systems help with that automation process, which helps to.

Combat the decision fatigue, 

and it's 

just having that finding what works for you in the season of life that you're in. 

System that I do really is splitting your budget into [00:15:00] bank accounts, right? So having an account for your bill so that, that the bills are going to get paid and we don't have to worry about it.

And having an account to save because money is for spending and also for saving and then also having that spending account and that too helps with that decision fatigue because most of us aren't looking at our budgets every single day, right? We're not managing it every 2nd of every day.

Most of us, what we do is look at our phone and see, is there money in there? Is there not money in there? Can I spend it? Can I not? Yeah, and if that's all in 1 place, it's hard to say. Yes, maybe no, maybe, but if it's there, you know that is money for spending and if there's not money there to be spending, then we don't spend that day.

Sure. Yeah. That's helped. I've done. I do profit 1st for my business and that has really helped me to see, do I have money to spend on this? And you go to my bank, I'm like, yeah, I have 20 accounts. It's a little confusing, but at the same time, like it's working for me, like I've been doing [00:16:00] it for the past year and I found that it works.

And so just finding that system is super important. And there are a lot of apps, just like I equate a budget Like a diet, right? Just what, calories in calories out kind of thing and seeing what is your plan for the day? Similar to a meal plan and then working from there and deducting and adding it just.

I don't know. It for me, like that just made sense in my mind to be able to get over that word budget. And instead of feeling restricted, feeling like this is what I'm allowed, like this is then. And I found that I was able to, it improved my beliefs about money and like it to beliefs that actually served me once I was able to.

Get into the group of it. 

Yeah. 

And 

just like meal prepping helps you with your diet, budget prepping helps you with your finances. It takes that weight off your shoulders because you don't have to think about it. You don't have to make those decisions day in, day out.

Yeah. So [00:17:00] let's go into a little bit about your story, right? Because you are the VP of five rings financial and. What challenges did you have along the way? Tell us a little bit about your story and what brought you to in this whole world of finances, where you born, knowing all these things about money and family business.



Perfect. A hundred percent of the time. 

Amazing job, grow, like 

raising you. It's perfect all the time. No. My feelings about money, my struggles with money started when I was younger, just like everybody else. When I was 10, my sister was nine she got really sick. She she had a strep throat infection, which, started affecting her central nervous system.

She went through rheumatic fever and then a disease called Sydenham's chorea. So she had essentially a three month long seizure, which was very stressful. On everyone, it was also [00:18:00] financially stressful because my parents didn't have health insurance, which was very smart of them. That's part of that protection piece, right?

And she's fine now, but my parents had to file medical bankruptcy. And we really at a young age, we both saw our family struggling financially and, um. Started with some of those beliefs of money is hard. And so I just swung wildly in the other direction and said, okay, I am going to do this straight and narrow thing.

And I'll be a doctor. And I will never have to worry about money. To be fair, part of me seeing my sister go through a big medical event. I actually was intrigued in the medical professional as well. But I ended up becoming a physical therapist.

So I did four years of college and then three years of graduate school to get my doctorate degree in physical therapy. And while I was there, I met my husband as well, and we went to Regis University in Denver, which is 1 of the most expensive schools in the nation. And I'm transparent with everybody about this.

We have together over 300, 000 dollars of [00:19:00] student loan debt. We pay more in student loans than we do towards our mortgage every month. And I'm grateful for the education that I had and grateful that I got to meet my husband there. And I spent 11 years as a physical therapist and again, I didn't hate my job.

But when we moved, we lived in Southern California for quite a few years, and then when we moved back to Montana. It was a great move for our family. But, cost of living is significantly less expensive, which means incomes are less. And it should even out unless you have a huge amount of student loan debt hanging around and they don't care where you live.

They want their money back. So we ended up just getting in a really bad spot financially. And I did what every self respecting 35 year old woman does. I called my mommy crying.

So my mom is on a branch of five rings financial in San Diego for Years, and seeing as she's my mom, I didn't pay attention to anything that she did. So [00:20:00] I started out just wanting to, file on the cipher, make some extra money so we could pay off our student loans. And I ended up just falling in love with it because of the educational piece and the aha moments that came from me and learning it.

I wanted to give back to everybody else that was going through the same thing, because again, we all make mistakes financially and we all feel like we shouldn't. And I think the more we can have these conversations and talk about it, the better we are all together. 

So tell us more about that educational piece, right?

I know you do a lot of that in your position and through five rings. what are some of the programs and is it just in San Diego and Billings that you are able to help women or is it all over? 

So we, yes, we are all over. We are nationwide. We have branches everywhere, but we do a lot of things virtually too.

And we host 3 different events every single month. our flagship event is called Money 101 and that is for anyone and everyone that wants to learn a [00:21:00] little bit more about how money works. The stuff that we probably should have learned in high school, but probably didn't learn in high school.

And we do that event in person virtually, and we host a 2nd event called wine, women and wealth, which is. of my most favorites, historically speaking, women have been very underserved in the financial industry. So this is an opportunity for to get together to network with each other, support each other.

We talked about all kinds of different topics. We talked about a lot of books to a lot of resources for financial education. And again, it's that collaborative, supportive community that we're trying to build. And then we host a third event called money, mommy and me, and that is for moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles and anyone that wants to teach the next generation about how money works so that they can have a better headstart than what we had.

Thank you. 

So the wine, women and wealth was actually, I just want to put a shout out to that one because that was when I was originally [00:22:00] introduced to you. I went there as a way of a networking event. I had heard some really good things and got the invite and went and I enjoyed it. I've gone a few times.

I think maybe 3 or 4 times. And they've always been really good events. And I think that it's a great way to. for moms, there was a lot of moms there, even though the event wasn't for moms, there was a lot of women both parents and not parents, but as a way to be social and get out there.

And then, as a bonus, you learned all about, we learned all about finances. I think actually, it was funny because I went. I had gone and I think I went to one or two that year and then I didn't go back until the next year and it was also on risk. There was, and I was like, I swear that I felt like so much of it was for me.

I'm like, how did I land on the exact same time? Like the topic was very similar, but I know that you do a whole different, a whole bunch of different [00:23:00] topics. So very cool. Okay. So what can you, Do you have any final advice or anything that you would like to share with those listeners who are struggling with their finances or would like some help?

I think the best advice that I can give is to don't go it alone. I think so many, especially moms, we try to just handle it all. And we try to just figure it all out ourselves. And if you can get help with somebody that you really trust and you like, and you can have honest and open conversations with, delegate some of this.

And have somebody come help you. That's the best advice that I can give. There's a lot of information out there, but it's hard to know what's good information and what's not good information. And find somebody that can help you with this. And I'm more than happy to do that, but there's a lot of us out there too.

Yeah. All right, Elizabeth. What do you do for fun? I know golf, piano, and travel rank high on [00:24:00] your list. 

They do. They

what do I do for fun? When I have the time we got to make the time we got to make it. We do. We do. And piano has been one of those things that has been really good for me. Cause I have to say what I need. And that's also 

not 

always easy. But I just started learning piano about a year ago and it's been really great for me because again, I have to tell my family, I need the living room for an extended period of time.

Go. And I need you to not interrupt me. Cause this is really an interesting study on how my brain works. Been great. And it's something that I can do. Are you taking lessons? I am. Yeah. 

I actually took lessons about two years ago. Yes. I did it just for about a year. I took a year lesson. So like enough cause I was like, I just want to be able to like, just play some songs.

And so I took it and I could have continued, but life got busy and I took a break from it. But yeah, it was something that Just two years ago, I was like, [00:25:00] I think I want to learn to play the piano. 

It's something that I always wanted to learn. And I think I just never spoke up about it.

Never took the time to sit down and do it and, make that phone call or figure out how to do it. And my grandmother passed away about a year and a half ago. 

One of 

her, she was a piano teacher in California. 

And 

one of her pianos came to my house and it started collecting dust. And I said, no, we can't do this.

And my kids weren't interested. And I actually, I met my piano teacher at wine, women, and moms. She came and she said, you help me with finances. I'll help you with piano. And I said we'll be really uncomfortable together. Yeah. 

Yeah. I enjoyed it. Like it does use a whole different part of your brain and I found it so relaxing though.

Like even when I had no idea what the song and I'm just Practicing the same 3 lines over and over again, but I just found it very relaxing. 

Yeah, 

Good way to unplug. 

Yes. So do you have a book that you can recommend either on finances or something [00:26:00] completely different that you think other women would enjoy listening to 

or reading. 

I listen a lot to books. Okay, you asked me this ahead of time and I thought how many books can I actually talk about? Oh, I know, 

that's always the hardest question. 

But I do, professionally at least, and as far as finances go, a book that I really like in a whole series is the You Are a Badass books by Jensen Cheryl.

She has, you are a bad ass. That's the first one. These are her words, not mine. I know she even has the money one. 

You are making 

money is great. And it really does dial down on those concepts and how we feel about money. I think that's really where we've got to start to be better at money is figuring out where we feel about it.

But I did also, I just started reading a new book. Personally, it's called untangled Lisa D'Amore and it's about raising teenage daughters. I have two daughters that are just running the corner on some teenagers and it's been really interesting and 

yeah, no, I'll have to check that one out.[00:27:00] 

And then finally, where can listeners find you? 

So I am of course located here in Billings, Montana. The best way to find me though is on my website and there's all kinds of. Education there too. And all my contact information. Do you want me to say it out loud? 

sorry. Okay. So you set the website just are you on social?

And I'm also on social media. Yeah, so my Facebook page by brings financial dash, the big sky agency. That's me. And all of our events are on there and links to all the other things. And then we are also on Instagram as well. 

Okay, and all of your information is going to be in the show notes of today's episode.

So Elizabeth, I want to thank you so much for coming on the show today and sharing with us your wisdom. 

Yeah. I want to thank you, Onnie. You have been such a wonderful addition to my life in general. So so much.

If you want to hear from more amazing guests like Elizabeth, then go leave a review for the Moms Without Capes [00:28:00] podcast. The more positive reviews we have, the more awesome the guests and the better the guests. The better the quality of information you will receive along your journey to reclaiming your sense of identity beyond motherhood.

All you have to do is head over to Apple or Spotify, click on the stars, scroll down to the reviews and leave your own. And if you haven't already, be sure to follow Moms Without Capes so you don't miss what's to come. Thanks for listening to this episode of Moms Without Capes. 

Simplifying your finances isn't just about numbers. It's about reclaiming your peace of mind, reducing stress, and creating the freedom to focus on what truly matters to you beyond motherhood. With small, intentional steps, you can take control of your financial future and build the confidence to pursue your personal goals and passions, knowing that you and your family are on [00:29:00] the right path.

You are 100 percent responsible for your own life. And for creating the joy that you want to feel, stop living on autopilot, slow down, check in with yourself, and please, above all, take care of yourself because you, my friend are worth it.