Your Worth Beyond the Balancing Act: Simple Steps to Financial Peace

It was 10:30 p.m. on a school night, and I was staring at my then-freshman son, James. We were both exhausted. Earlier that evening, I reviewed a geography PowerPoint about France and destroyed a batch of crepes in the kitchen that were supposed to be for a France show-and-tell the next day. Now, we were battling Spanish vocabulary.

“Okay, James. Delante de,” I said, trying to summon enthusiasm.

He rubbed his temples, his eyes closed. “I can’t remember, Mom.”

Desperate to help him remember, suddenly, I experienced a lightbulb moment. In a high-pitched, squeaky voice, I excitedly shouted, “James! I’ve got it! Delante has an ‘l’ in it. Like ‘l’ for lawn. Your front lawn is in front of your house. Delante de is in front of!”

He stared at me blankly. Then, we both just burst out laughing. It was a terrible memory trick. It made no sense. But in that moment of sheer exhaustion, being tired from work, sports, cooking mishaps, and homework, laughter was the only fuel we had left.

Many moms know this scene well. Maybe you aren’t teaching Spanish late into the evening, but you are responding to emails in the carpool line, ordering groceries during your lunch break, or mentally calculating your bank balance while sitting in a meeting.

The Myth of Perfect Balance

We call this “work-life balance,” but often, it feels more like a circus act. We are desperately attempting to keep our plates spinning.  Plates of career, marriage, parenting, friendships, health, and more.  And we are terrified that one of them is going to come crashing down.

When we are in the thick of this balancing act, attention to our finances is often the first to go. Who has time to sit down and analyze a spreadsheet when you are just trying to get dinner on the table? It feels easier to swipe the card and hope for the best, or to ignore the budget entirely because the mental load is just too heavy.

Simplify Your Systems

When life feels chaotic, the best thing we can do for our finances is to simplify. Instead of trying to track every single penny in a complicated app every day, look for ways to automate your financial life. Set up systems that work for you.

One of the easiest tips I can suggest is to set up a “Bucket Budgeting” system:

1) Checking #1 (Fixed Expenses): Use this checking account for your fixed expenses like a mortgage or rent, utilities, and other monthly bills that don’t fluctuate much or at all.

2) Checking #2 (Variable Expenses): Use this checking account for day-to-day spending like groceries, eating out, gas, and gifts.

3) Savings (Future Goals): Use this savings account to help you stay on track with planning for goals like vacation or college.

You Are Worthy of the Journey

There will be days when at least one of the plates you’re spinning will shatter on the floor. There will be days when you overspend and feel like a mess, questioning whether you are worthy of managing it all.

In those moments, I want you to pause and take a deep breath with me.

Give yourself the same grace you would give a dear friend. I want women to know deep in their souls that they are worthy. You are worthy of being in the roles you are in, whether that is in the boardroom or the playroom. You have a reserved seat at the table, and it is no accident that you are there. We are often our own harshest critics, focusing on the one area where we are struggling rather than the ten areas where we are succeeding. But I’m here to tell you: your best is good enough.

Life is a Series of Seasons

Some seasons require us to lean hard into our careers; others require us to lean hard into our families. You don’t have to do it all perfectly at the same time. You just have to keep moving forward, finding the humor in the “delante de” moments, and trusting that you are exactly where God has called you to be.

You are a woman of worth, created on purpose for a purpose. You have what it takes.

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Bethany Frymire is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional and a Certified Kingdom Advisor® with Blue Trust.

The CFP Board owns the certification marks CFP® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® in the U.S.