Ellie Kay

The holidays stretch our budgets and our clothes if we’re not careful! You’re planning to cut back on some calories so you can indulge in your family’s comfort-food favorites this season with less guilt. Do the same thing with spending! Ellie Kay, author of The 60-Minute Money Workout, describes the biggest hurdles to getting back in control of our money, any time of year. She knows about the out-of-control part. She and her husband were $40,000 in debt early in their marriage. Within two and a half years, they were debt free, paying cash for cars, saving for their kids’ college and supporting orphans in Third World countries -- and all of this on her husband’s military income of $55,000.

I asked what holds us back from improving our money management habits. She advises us to be honest about our situation and, especially, to stop pretending it’s better or worse than it is. Then she goes on to explain her “financial workout,” including warm up, strength training, cardio burn, taking your heart rate and cooling down -- all in financial language to achieve financial freedom.

I found her convincing when she said we do not have to be in debt and a slave to our money. Her point is that having and saving money isn’t just about the dollars. It’s about the things in life your money touches: the products, the people, and the purpose. Her attitude comes out of her personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Kay saves money to have more opportunity to give, as Christ calls us to do.

“60 minutes a week can completely revolutionize your finances!” Kay says. Now a TV network and Fortune 500 company consultant, she’s written 14 books on money, and she wants you out of debt and staying out of debt. Tune in to this Woman to Woman conversation on her financial workout to see how all things money-related can change.