MIDDLE GROUND - Real Conversations on Faith, Identity & Becoming — Through an LDS Lens of Curiosity, Love and Doubt

In this episode I talk with financial psychologist Karina Pribil-Corbett about something most of us were never taught, how our emotions drive almost every financial decision we make. Karina walks us through what money scripts are, how they form by age seven, and how to start uncovering the beliefs about money that might be quietly running your life. We talk about the five tools she uses with clients to shift those beliefs, how to have productive money conversations with your partner, and her genius concept of the money date. We also get into the stay at home spouse question and how to think about contribution when you're not the one bringing home the paycheck. This one is empowering, practical, and honestly kind of life changing.

Brynne’s Social:
-Facebook: @Brynne Erickson - my public page
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573316550355
-Instagram: @brynne_erickson
https://www.instagram.com/brynne_erickson/

Karina’s Resources:
-Instagram: @getemotionallyinvested
https://www.instagram.com/getemotionallyinvested/
-Website: https://getemotionallyinvested.com/
-Money Script Questions: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-OIoJ9Aee11y2uWethZ-X6lKhQ3542Nq/view
-Book an Appointment: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ2bTlqHNGMLAA3-AHeOpf1rVPabnryvpmJkWtGExIMVDR6AjOLu11YQP534_QPLqyEMtep5WxxJ


Takeaways
Understanding your relationship with money is crucial.
Emotions play a significant role in financial decisions.
Money scripts are formed early in life and influence behavior.
Self-compassion is essential in financial wellness.
Setting boundaries can help manage spending habits.
Money dates can improve communication between partners.
Recognizing non-monetary contributions is important for stay-at-home parents.
Financial wellness is a holistic approach, not just about numbers.
Awareness of spending triggers can lead to better financial decisions.
It's normal to struggle with finances; seeking help is a positive step.


Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Financial Psychology
02:31 Karina's Journey to Financial Psychology
06:52 The Impact of Emotions on Financial Decisions
11:39 Understanding Money Scripts
19:24 Tools for Changing Money Scripts
28:45 Empowering Conversations About Money
30:42 The Impact of Financial Mindset on Relationships
34:05 Navigating Different Money Beliefs in Relationships
37:17 The Importance of Open Financial Communication
39:17 Tools for Overcoming Money Beliefs
46:46 The Role of Intentionality in Financial Decisions
47:42 The Concept of Money Dates for Couples
49:27 The Power of Gratitude in Relationships
50:43 Transforming Money Conversations with Positivity
52:36 Navigating Chaser-Avoider Dynamics in Money Talks
54:31 Structuring Effective Money Dates
57:28 Understanding Money Beliefs and Communication
58:55 The Role of Contribution in Financial Dynamics
01:06:05 Redefining Family Values Beyond Finances

What is MIDDLE GROUND - Real Conversations on Faith, Identity & Becoming — Through an LDS Lens of Curiosity, Love and Doubt?

If you're a spiritually-minded person in the beautiful, messy process of creating your life and asking the hard questions then you just found your people. Middle Ground is hosted by life coach and mom Brynne Erickson, and is a space for the real, honest, sometimes uncomfortable conversations about faith, identity, relationships, health, personal growth and much more. With roots in Latter-day Saint (Mormon) faith and culture, this show explores the full, multidimensional experience of being human and becoming more with genuine curiosity about the many other ways of living and believing. Because the more honestly we see each other, the better we love ourselves and the people around us.

Brynne Erickson (00:29)
Hey everybody, tonight I have another new friend with me. I have Karina Pribble Corbett. Did I say it right? ⁓ yay! Karina is a new friend of mine. She is iFinancialPsychologist. This is a new term for me. And I actually love how Karina and I met. She did the smart Instagram move where she liked a couple of my posts and got my attention.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (00:37)
Yes, you said perfectly. Thank you.

You

Brynne Erickson (00:56)
And I went and checked out her Instagram and was incredibly intrigued when her Instagram name is Get Emotionally Invested. And I was like, what? Emotions and investing? Right? So juicy. So I was so excited and I looked at her up and I reached out to her. was like, Karina, I am so excited about what you're doing. And we just had to do a podcast about it.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (01:05)
Yes, that's right.

How could those two things possibly come together?

Brynne Erickson (01:24)
and she's gonna teach us how to better understand our relationships with money tonight. So Karina, how do you feel about being on middle ground?

Karina Pribil-Corbett (01:32)
I'm so excited, obviously a little nervous, but whenever my clients feel nervous about something, I try to remind them that nerves means that it's important to you and that you wouldn't get that anxious energy if you didn't value it. So I very much value.

Having this conversation about money, it's very much a value of mine to educate people on how to have a better relationship with their money. So I'm just feeling extremely grateful that ⁓ we get to have this conversation and that hopefully we'll be able to ⁓ help people develop some tools that they can use.

with their own finances and with their own relationship. So I'm excited to get started.

Brynne Erickson (02:31)
Excellent, let's get into it. So I would assume that something in your life has led you up to this moment. So what in your life has influenced you becoming a financial psychologist?

Karina Pribil-Corbett (02:38)
Yes. ⁓

Yeah, great, great question. ⁓ I, you know, I don't think the average person when they're asked as a little kid, what do you want to be when you grow up? I don't think any kid answers I want to be a financial counselor. Like that's just not most people don't even know what financial counseling is, right? It's a relatively new field. So

Brynne Erickson (03:02)
Thanks.

Yes.

Mm-hmm. Right.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (03:13)
a little backstory. ⁓ You know, I was the classic child where have conservative parents who listen to Dave Ramsey, you know, on the radio. That was kind of like my first exposure to finances. And that's kind of who I held as like, this is the gold standard of like how you should treat money is kind of like the Dave Ramsey baby steps.

Brynne Erickson (03:26)
Mm-hmm.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (03:42)
Debt is bad, credit cards are bad, right? All these different kind of scarcity mindset. And it really didn't impact me until I was married, graduated from college, had my first job out of college, and it was not a good job. It was a very toxic work.

situation that I was in. was sexually harassed. The hours I was working were really intense and it even started to impact my health. So after six months of working, I quit my first job. And that like felt like such a defeat to me just because I've always been, you know, straight-A student.

go after what I want, for I am a very ambitious person. ⁓ But when I left that job, I had this new fire in me that wanted to make sure I was never in a work situation like that again. I never wanted to be in a situation where I worked with creepy men who said creepy things.

never wanted to be in a work situation where I couldn't, you know, have a say in my hours and what I did. ⁓ And so then I just became obsessed with the financial world. And I just started like reading as many resources as I could, right? And naturally, I turned back to what I knew in my childhood, right, which was Dave Ramsey.

And so I started consuming a lot of his content and a lot of other reading a lot of other books like Rich Man Poor Man. ⁓ And even though my finances got better, my OCD, I have scrupulosity, which is I kind of I obsessed whether what I'm doing is morally correct or not, right? I basically obsessed whether if I'm a good person or not and

As I was getting better with money, my OCD was getting heightened. now with the education that I have, I realized that, you know, that black and white thinking that Dave Ramsey preaches, That's very ⁓ fueling for OCD, ⁓ If you do this, you're a good person, If you have no debt, that is a sign.

that you are a good person, If you don't have credit cards, Then you are a good person. You are not only handling your finances correctly, but like God is proud of you for like not even putting yourself in the realm of temptation of going into credit card debt, right? And so I just kept noticing all this anxiety coming up and...

Brynne Erickson (06:41)
see that.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (06:52)
So I started to do a little more research and I discovered financial counseling and financial psychology. And I learned that there is actually an approach to money that focuses on your financial wellness as a whole. So not just the amount of money that you have in your bank, not just your credit score, right? Not whether if you have a house or if you own property or not, but whether...

your values are actually aligned with your financial habits. And so that's when I totally ditched the Dave Ramsey mentality and I just became just totally, I just totally fell in love with financial counseling. And it hit me like, okay, if I struggled with the typical financial gurus,

that everyone else turns to, know, Susie Orman, There's so many of them. It's not just Dave Rans. Like there's a lot of finance. They're all for, they're not for, right, like totally. Like if they, if someone works for you, love that for you. Love if you're able to find financial peace through them. I wasn't. And I have a feeling that other people struggle with the all or nothing mentality that's presented on social media. ⁓

Brynne Erickson (07:52)
And they're all great, but they're not for everybody, right?

Mm-hmm.

and they think

what's wrong with me, Like why isn't this working? This should be working for me.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (08:20)
Like why, like why can't I budget, right? Like a budget should be the easiest thing in the world, And then it becomes, right. And then it becomes not like, I'm, it's not just, I'm bad at budgeting. It's, I'm bad at money. And then, ⁓ I'm a bad person, It's so easy for that domino effect to happen. And so kind of a long-winded story, but I think it's an important one.

Brynne Erickson (08:23)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. So we say.

So true.

Yep. Yeah.

Yes.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (08:48)
to tell because I think a lot of other people follow in a similar path, They go, ⁓ right? When you're looking up financial resources, you're automatically gonna gravitate to the big names out there, ⁓ which is why I'm so passionate about financial counseling is I wanna make room for people who need a little bit more.

Brynne Erickson (08:55)
Absolutely.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (09:16)
of a holistic approach to their finances. I write, I'm here for the people like myself who need to consider their mental health in addition to their financial health. And so that's why I bring those two worlds together.

Brynne Erickson (09:18)
Absolutely.

⁓ this is going to be so beautiful. And I just think it's such a shame how often we let inanimate objects or things determine our worth.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (09:41)
Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Brynne Erickson (09:45)
and value and how harmful and damaging that is and how many people in my own life have made decisions around money that have like resulted in them harming themselves because they don't know what to do,

Karina Pribil-Corbett (10:00)
Yeah.

I think sometimes people can, what's the phrase, like turn up their nose, They can kind of sneer at the thought of like, you let money affect you, really? Like how shallow can you be? Like can't you rise above that, Like can't you realize there's more to life than money? Like why are you letting this affect you so much?

Brynne Erickson (10:22)
Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (10:29)
don't think people realize is that everything to do in life involves finances at one point or in some form, right? Even religion, Your ability of whether you can get to church or not determines on your finances, Can you pay gas to get to church, Can you afford that day off of work to go to church,

Brynne Erickson (10:39)
In some form. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes.

Amen.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (10:58)
or even like think about like your family, right? The activities you do with your family, the date nights you're able to go on with your spouse, whether or not you're able to hire a babysitter or you know, have to rely on family. Do you even have family in the area? Right, there's so many factors that determine the life choices we make and it's just the harsh fact of life.

Brynne Erickson (11:10)
Mm-hmm.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (11:26)
that money is a dominating factor in our decision-making abilities.

Brynne Erickson (11:31)
Yeah, absolutely. Okay,

so what do emotions have to do with finance?

Karina Pribil-Corbett (11:39)
Yes, great question. Okay, so our finances are I like to think of our finances as a reflection of our values, right? And a reflection of how we're feeling. So if I were to dig into your bank account, and I were to go through all your spending, and I go through all the purchases you're making,

Brynne Erickson (12:06)
Mm-hmm.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (12:10)
I could probably identify or take a pretty good guess of what emotion you were feeling when you were making a certain purchase, So for example, like if I'm seeing that you are buying a lot of clothes, Multiple, right? Right? We're going on a lot of shopping spree. I'm kind of curious with my...

Brynne Erickson (12:32)
Yes.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (12:38)
Little red flag goes up and I say, okay, pause, like what's going on here? What is the driving factor to purchasing all these clothes, Is it cause we're trying to explore our self-expression and we're having curiosity or is it cause we're feeling self-conscious and we feel the need to compensate with our wardrobe?

Maybe we're feeling some jealousy and we're wanting to mimic what our girlfriends are wearing, So what emotions have to do with money? Emotions are more often than not the deciding factor in our financial habits and in our financial decisions. And this can be anywhere from as simple as going out to eat on a Friday night to purchasing a home.

We like to think that money is all mathematical and it's all logical, but in reality it's our emotions that are driving our decisions on what we do with our finances.

Brynne Erickson (13:49)
So how do we better understand our emotions when it comes to money then?

Karina Pribil-Corbett (13:56)
Yes, love that. So there is something in the financial world called money scripts. And that's just basically a fancy term for our, the beliefs we have around money. So in order to understand our emotions around money, we need to understand our money scripts that we have. Money scripts are developed by the age of seven.

So at a very, very young age, we form these subconscious beliefs around money. Let me give a couple examples. One common belief around money is that money is evil, right? If I have a lot of money, then that says something is wrong with me, right? So if I'm working with a client and we discover that they have this money belief that...

money is evil, they're probably going to be feeling guilt a lot, right? If they're making a lot of money, they might be feeling some guilt. So we're going to work on unpacking that guilt and where that guilt is coming from. Why do we believe that money is evil, You could also, if someone has that belief that money is evil, they might avoid making certain decisions, They might not

Brynne Erickson (15:21)
Mm-hmm.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (15:23)
be willing to negotiate for their salary. Cause they'll feel that they're like, don't, I don't deserve to have this money, Money is evil. I don't want to partake in that, right? Or they might not even look at their budget or go invest, All these other decisions come from this money bully. That money is evil, And so the best thing you can do is learn more about your money beliefs and a great question you can ask yourself.

Brynne Erickson (15:30)
you

Karina Pribil-Corbett (15:51)
to get started is asking what is my first money memory?

that because remember your money beliefs develop at a very young age so the sooner we can go back in time and identify when those patterns started the more we'll be able to understand why we have certain beliefs.

Brynne Erickson (16:13)
So then once you've identified them, what's the next step?

Karina Pribil-Corbett (16:16)
Yeah, the next step is going through a journaling process to see when these money beliefs come up. I actually have a really hard time with a lot of budgeting templates because they don't account for these money beliefs, You just have these numbers on a page, How much money you thought you wanted to spend.

how much money you actually spent, which is a great place to start. Don't get me wrong, doing something is better than nothing. But what I find is missing is taking some time to evaluate when certain money scripts come up. So one thing I like to implement in my budgeting practice is I'll literally add another column that says, did any money scripts come up with this purchase, right?

Brynne Erickson (17:08)
Okay.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (17:08)
And so

if I have a line item like grocery shopping, I'll think to the past month and I'll think about was there any, did I experience any anxiety, any intense emotions during while I was making this purchase? And I'll ask, okay, what money belief was coming from that emotion, right? I usually start that with clients who are a little bit more self-aware.

who are a little maybe it's a maybe a little easier to recall certain experiences. If you're like, Karina, that was not my strong. You want me to think about the past month? Are you kidding me? Like, I can't even think about like what happened yesterday, right? Like that can feel a little overwhelming. If you're totally new with like, uncovering your emotions and becoming more emotionally aware, literally, I ask you to either get a little notebook.

Brynne Erickson (17:42)
Mm-hmm.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (18:07)
or always have your notes app quickly available. And I want you to start documenting the emotions that come up while making certain financial decisions, whether this is going shopping or whether this is even just having like a conversation with someone and money comes up, Just start documenting what emotions start bubbling. And maybe you do it like when you're at the checkout line.

And you just take a moment to jot down, ⁓ while I was, ⁓ while I was comparison shopping different cereal brands, I noticed that I was getting a little frustrated. Write that down. Or you are hanging out with some friends. You're noticing that you're feeling some anxiety. You run to the bathroom and just write real quick. Right now we're talking about rent prices in our area.

I'm feeling a little anxious right now, So in the moment documenting what the event was, what you were talking about, we're experiencing, and then the emotion that came with it.

Brynne Erickson (19:16)
Okay, so then you've identified the emotion or the script. So then how do you change that?

Karina Pribil-Corbett (19:19)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. ⁓

Yes, that's the most important thing, It's one thing, yes, it's one thing to become aware of it. It's another thing to do something about it, To change the emotion. So there are five tools that I would like to recommend. And you know, honestly, Brynn, we could spend a whole podcast episode talking about each of these five tools, but just to give it like a top level summary. So let's start.

Brynne Erickson (19:31)
Mm-hmm.

I love it.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (19:53)
with my favorite one, which is self-compassion. So self-compassion, yes, it's not just like going and giving yourself a little treat, right? Even though it can look like that, there's so many layers to self-compassion. In fact, there's three components of self-compassion that I really like people to focus on. The first one is self-awareness. Now, when most people think

self-awareness. ⁓ They think of just like naming the emotion, which is an important part, but self-awareness also includes like recognizing what's like the physical sensations that are happening in your body when you're feeling that emotion. So it's not, I'm feeling angry, it's I'm feeling angry and my like face is getting red, It's

I'm feeling anxious and my hands are getting sweaty, We're trying to like anchor ourselves in the moment that it was happening. ⁓ So we have this self-awareness component of self-compassion. The next is something called common humanity. So common humanity is recognizing how this moment is part of the human experience.

How does this moment make me human? So an example would be, you know, I think at one point or another, everyone feels insecure about their job, At one point or another, I'm gonna feel maybe a little embarrassed about the income that I make, I think it's...

Like part of being human is not knowing what certain terms mean. Being human means not knowing certain investment terms, If something's confusing to you, that's part of the confusion is part of the human experience, And so.

Brynne Erickson (21:54)
of that.

Yes.

And I love that

because you're experiencing it, so it's real. Like it's like acknowledging your truth and showing compassion to yourself at the same time. I love that.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (22:08)
Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Right, exactly. I feel like

that's what's missing often with self-awareness. I once had a therapist tell me that self-awareness without self-compassion is just self-harm. And you even see this in the media today, Where we're so, I think our generation is so hyper aware of our emotions. And it's great to be aware of your emotions.

Brynne Erickson (22:30)
Mmm.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (22:43)
But if you are constantly saying, man, I am sad all the time and that's just so dumb. Like my life is so great. Like why is it so hard for me to be happy? Like why am I just this like mopey little girl all the time, right? That's not, okay, full stop. That's not helpful, no. So that's why when we talk about self-compassion, we have to have common humanity and self-awareness together. Otherwise it's not true self-compassion.

And one other tool that can help is self-kindness or talking to yourself like how you would talk to a friend, So like if your friend came to you and said, like, I just don't understand insurance. Like it's so confusing to me. Like most friends would probably be like, girl, like...

me too! like when i start under like looking through those terms like it can be so overwhelming like no good friend would be like you don't know insurance terms you don't know the difference between a premium and a deductible like that's so dumb right like no friend would say that right

So that's self-compassion. First tool for us to move from certain money scripts, I love these self-compassion for money scripts that are very targeted on self. So money scripts that are like, I'm too dumb to understand money or I'll never have enough money. Those,

Brynne Erickson (23:59)
Okay.

Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (24:24)
because we're very much grappling with a sense of self. So having self-compassion can be very nourishing if you have ⁓ those types of manuscripts. So that's the first tool. The second tool is boundaries. And how I like to envision boundaries is like a gate, It's not that you have to say no to everything.

but you decide when you open the gate and when you close the gate. So for example, sometimes you'll hear financial gurus say, you can never have a cup of coffee. You can never go out and buy your swag,

That's all or nothing or thinking and honestly, it's not very helpful, right? No, no, it's not. In order to have a healthy budget, you actually do need to have some room for what I call guilt-free spending. You have to have some room for fun money in order for your budget to last, And so a boundary is deciding, okay, when am I going?

Brynne Erickson (25:13)
It's not sustainable either.

Mm-hmm, I agree.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (25:36)
to engage in these purchases and when am I not, And so a boundary might look like, okay, I will go out and get drinks with my friends on the weekend, but I'm not going to do it during the weekday, Setting some type of perimeters, some type of time for that gate to open and close,

Brynne Erickson (25:53)
there you go.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (26:00)
When we think of Disneyland, we love Disneyland, right? We want to go and have fun, But the park's not open 24-7, There's a time and place to go, right? And that's the same thing with making financial decisions, So that's maybe a boundary with going out with friends, We might have certain boundaries about more like abstract concepts, like conversations,

Brynne Erickson (26:03)
I was just there.

True.

Hmm, okay.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (26:25)
having

a boundary where in order for me to be unified with my spouse, I need to know how much money you're making, That's a boundary, We need to be honest about the income both of us receive. So I want a boundary where we talk about our income. I want to have either a budget or a conversation where we see the money coming in every single month,

It's not going out and making a specific purchase, but it's an expectation that you have. That's another way of what boundaries can look like. Does that make sense?

Brynne Erickson (27:00)
Absolutely, and I love how boundaries kind of help you accountable to like your goals and what you value. It's like, this is my plan. Like I actually want to have money to spend so that can go to Spain. So in order to do that, I'm going to hold myself to these boundaries so that I can still have some freedom and enjoy this life rather than just enduring it until I get there. But it helps remind me that actually I...

Karina Pribil-Corbett (27:05)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yes, absolutely.

Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Brynne Erickson (27:27)
I'm not spending as much money here because I really want to do this thing. I want to pay off my mortgage. I want to get a new car. I want to take my kids to someplace, right? So I love the concept of boundaries. I think that's really healthy.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (27:32)
dry.

Yes. Right.

Well, sometimes it can be intimidating to enforce boundaries. I actually find that people are really receptive when you're honest. When you say like, hey, like if friends ask you to go out, if you say, hey, I'm really trying to prioritize building an emergency fund, nine times out of 10 people are going to be like, that's so cool. Like way to like take care of you.

Brynne Erickson (28:04)
Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (28:06)
If you're honest, that's the reason why you're saying no. It takes a little vulnerability, but people respect the boundary more.

Brynne Erickson (28:12)
Absolutely.

Yeah, on the vulnerability, I think it's funny that we haven't talked about money for so long. Like I'm, my parents were always very candid. Like we sat and had talks about our family will. Like when I was like 10, 12, I bet I was 12. And...

Karina Pribil-Corbett (28:19)
you

How?

Brynn, you are, that's amazing. That doesn't

happen. Like.

Brynne Erickson (28:37)
I know.

And I realized that pretty early. Like my parents were really on top of it with us and telling us where the money would go. And I loved it. Like

So we've always talked very candidly about money and finances and my parents gave us a Roth IRA as like a wedding gift and stuff. So I, yeah, I know it's not normal for most families to have very candid conversations about money, but man, it has empowered me and both of my siblings. ⁓

Karina Pribil-Corbett (28:52)
Wow.

Brynne Erickson (29:06)
And just, it's funny, we are all very different with our finances and with our money, but none of us are like resentful about money or afraid of money. In fact, we're all very empowered by it. And I think it's because of the awesome example our parents set for us.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (29:10)
huh.

Mm-hmm.

Right, well,

I think something key that your parents demonstrated is not to be afraid of money because that, I think, is the dominant emotion that I see across all my clients is there's some type of fear that's happening when they're dealing with money. And so the fact that your parents were able to instill this sense of curiosity and wonder and excitement with money, just

Brynne Erickson (29:29)
Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (29:52)
I can only imagine how far it's taken you. Yeah. ⁓

Brynne Erickson (29:58)
Yeah, it was very much an abundant mindset. Like,

like if we know that if we share and we give, we will be taken care of and we work like it's not like it's going to magically fall from the sky. We are going to do our part and we're to take care of people and we're going to save and be frugal where we can, but we're also going to be have fun and splurge sometimes. So it was just a really healthy balance of like, if we can save a buck, we're going to save a buck. But if this is something we really want to do, let's do it and go all in on it. And it was just.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (30:04)
Yeah.

Ray.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah.

Brynne Erickson (30:27)
Yeah, it was a really cool growing up.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (30:31)
So, okay, so the financial counselor in me wants to ask, how do you feel like this financial abundance affects your relationship today?

Brynne Erickson (30:42)
Um, I, I personally am more willing to like take risks, like big risks with money. Um, because I'm just not worried. Like if we were to lose it, I'm like, that's okay. We'll, we'll figure it out. Like we'll make it back or like, I, I'm not afraid to go back to work. I'm a smart woman. Like, and, I think a part of it too is I have always just believed I'm pretty awesome. So the value, like what I think about myself.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (30:47)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Brynne Erickson (31:10)
And what I

value in myself has also reflected my relationship with money, I think. But of course, bringing in my partner, my husband, that is a different matter. There has been some struggles there because we are very different people when it comes to spending money and handling money. So on my own, I'm pretty confident and I'm not afraid. But my sweet husband is definitely more the like cautious one.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (31:14)
I have.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Mm-hmm.

Brynne Erickson (31:39)
which is really

good because I would probably be like, let's do all this with our money. Let's go big here. And he's kind of like the, whoa, let's rein it in a little bit. Yeah, let's slow down. So we balance each other out really well.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (31:47)
Slow down. Yeah.

I love hearing that. think a good point you brought up is when you're in a relationship, right? And I think this is one of the questions that you have later is right. Like you have your set of money beliefs, but then you have your partner's money beliefs as well. And so how can we in a relationship navigate both of these money beliefs?

Brynne Erickson (32:12)
Mm.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (32:20)
that are happening at the same time, which is why going back to the tools, something like boundaries can really help, because it can help you articulate, I am right now, I am coming from a place of fear, I am really nervous that if we go on this trip, that we're not going to have savings in the future, And so then,

you can as a couple navigate an appropriate boundary, Not saying that the person who's coming from a place of fear should get to decide, you know, your savings amount, but it's a good conversation starter for figuring out like, what's a good middle ground, right? What's a boundary we want to set as a couple that works for the both of us,

Brynne Erickson (33:07)
Yes.

like you said, it's not black and white. It's not either or it's how can we even do both? Like how can we honor both of our desires and our perspectives rather than I'm right. You're wrong.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (33:15)
Mm-hmm. Right. Yes!

Right, exactly. And that's how ultimately you find financial unity is by being able to recognize and accept both of your perspectives as true. that's really the true sign of maturity is being able to hold maybe like two contradictory ideas.

Brynne Erickson (33:38)
Yeah, yes.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (33:47)
and realize that both of them have value and both of them have merit, So if you have a spender and a ⁓ saver, Real financial maturity is realizing like, okay, I can save and spend, not just one or the other.

Brynne Erickson (34:05)
I love that. like,

you saving as a priority is true for you. And I can see that and I can accept that. But that's not necessarily how I see life and how I approach it. And that's true for me. Isn't that fascinating? Okay, let's get to work on figuring out how to make this awesome. Right? Like it's bringing everyone's perspectives and strengths and weaknesses to the table and rising with all of it together.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (34:11)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Well, like an additional tool that might help in a conversation, Like that, Isn't just saying like, you're a saver and I'm a spender, But it's actually maybe identifying a core value that both of you share and recognizing how your different approaches might honor that value. So let's think of, yeah.

Brynne Erickson (34:59)
working towards the same thing.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (35:02)
Right, so let's say like your value is freedom, I've really encouraged people when they're trying to discover their values to focus on like abstract concepts. like things like love, curiosity, ⁓ safety, security, Things we can't physically touch, but these abstract values, So if you value freedom,

Brynne Erickson (35:19)
Mm-hmm. Right.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (35:26)
Try figure out ways how both of your maybe natural inclinations honors that value of freedom, Being able to like go explore and have an amazing trip, that might be how one person expresses freedom, but for another person, having a strong and solid emergency fund, that gives them freedom to quit their job whenever they want,

Brynne Erickson (35:34)
Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (35:54)
And so it's finding different ways of how you can honor that value that you both share.

Brynne Erickson (36:02)
Yeah.

And in fact, now I'm thinking about it. When I started taking budgeting really seriously like three years ago, ⁓ my husband and I had some uncomfortable financial conversations. And he's definitely a typical saver. But I also, like I told him, I was like, I don't want to just work on saving and paying off debt. And then our children are grown up and we haven't done anything. And so.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (36:07)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Brynne Erickson (36:29)
For me, I guess it was kind of more like freedom and experiences, but for him it was too. But the means of getting there was the saving and paying off so then we could pay. we kind of, we realized that we needed to take both of our mindsets and split them in half. So we'd put half of it in savings and half of it towards the vacation fund, right? And maybe it doesn't, the vacations don't happen as quickly as I would want them to, but they're still happening.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (36:34)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Yes.

Mm-hmm. Right.

Brynne Erickson (36:58)
And it's because we did have those hard conversations and we came to the conclusion like, ⁓ we both are kind of working towards the same thing and actually do value the same things. We just approach it differently.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (37:08)
differently. How do you feel like the dynamic in your relationship changed after having those conversations?

Brynne Erickson (37:17)
Well, there's no more guesswork or assumptions, which is so freeing because then you just know. And it's that vulnerability and that willingness to step into the uncomfortable. But I, I believe on the other side, it's worthwhile because then you can work towards something together rather than just always avoiding it or tiptoeing around it or pray, living on a prayer, right?

Karina Pribil-Corbett (37:19)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah.

Brynne Erickson (37:45)
And to me, it's taking control of your life and creating the life that you actually want to live rather than just hoping and praying that you'll get there one day.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (37:50)
Mm-hmm. ⁓

Right. I think from what I'm hearing, right, it's being intentional, There's much more. ⁓ There's there's much more intentionality when you have open discussions with your partner about finances rather than going 10, 20 years and being like, how did we end up here? Right. It takes the guesswork out of it. I realize

Brynne Erickson (38:17)
Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (38:22)
I brought us on a total tangent. Let me just give you the last... You all look so good. No, there's so many... Like I said, could talk about this for hours. Let me just wrap up quickly the other tools that can help you ⁓ move away from money beliefs. So we talked about ⁓ self-compassion, boundaries. One I like to call space. And sometimes people are like, how is space different than boundaries? Like, I don't understand.

Brynne Erickson (38:25)
I think I did. Sorry.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (38:52)
the difference. And so I like to think of boundaries as like...

kind of having a certain point, a certain limit, right? Space is giving yourself like ultimate freedom or ultimate, like there's no parameters with it. So in fact, they're actually kind of like opposites of each other.

So boundaries, right, we're setting a certain limit. Space, we're giving us the freedom to move.

Typically, when I see people needing more space, it's when they're feeling pressure to make a certain financial decision, right? They feel like, I have to buy this car now or otherwise I'm gonna lose out on a deal. And it's really like, no, if you find yourself making these

Brynne Erickson (39:44)
Mm-hmm.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (39:51)
financial purchases that feel like impulses, then maybe we need to give ourselves more space, some more time to make these decisions. So giving ourselves space can look like time, but it also could mean like physical space, So if you are noticing that you go to a certain store and you just can't help yourself,

You just love to spend there, right? For me, I know that I can go to a thrift store and I can just spend, like I love thrifting. Thrifting is so much fun for me, So maybe sometimes I need to give myself a little space and I need to, move away from that area. Or it might be having a conversation with our partner, Maybe our partner is always bringing up investing.

Brynne Erickson (40:29)
Okay, awesome.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (40:47)
And maybe we just need a little space from the conversation for a little bit. We just need to give ourselves a breather so that we can both maybe settle down, take a few breaths, re-center on our values, and then we can come back together. So space is another tool. If you have the money belief of anything tied to urgency, like I'm gonna lose something or

Brynne Erickson (41:15)
Mm-hmm.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (41:16)
I'm at risk, Like I'm gonna be exposed, right? Any type of money beliefs that have that, that needs that instant gratification, I really encourage my clients to maybe give themselves more space.

One of them also is actually just congratulating yourself and I call this aligned. This is just telling yourself that you know what? I feel really aligned with my values and some people are like, how is that like a tool to move yourself like away from money beliefs? It's actually extremely important to recognize the times we feel like we had a financial win, right? The times we feel like

we were aligned with how we want to spend our lives. Because if we don't take times to recognize when we did it right, it's going to be much harder to replicate it in the future and to replicate it with other things. So maybe you have a hard time talking about finances with your spouse, but you find it really easy to talk about finances.

with your friends, And so if you can recognize that financial win and see like, okay, what makes it comfortable for me to talk about finances with my friends, then you're able to maybe take the ease of conversation. Maybe there wasn't a lot of pressure. Maybe it was the time of day, right? Any of those components that helped us with our friends.

Brynne Erickson (42:30)
Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (42:57)
maybe let's try applying that to our spouse. So making sure that we're aligned, that's another great way to overcome any type of money beliefs. ⁓ I like to suggest people feeling aligned when they're actually really good at something else, but they're struggling with their finances. So like, if you're really good at working out, okay, let's figure out what makes you so good at working out.

and we can apply that to your finances, right? Maybe you're like so good at baking or like making sure you're eating healthy, Okay, let's figure out what makes you like such an amazing nutritionist and let's apply that to your finances, So anyone who's already having like a super strong skill somewhere else, let's apply that to your finances.

Brynne Erickson (43:27)
There you go.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (43:51)
And then our last one is intentionality. So how can we be more intentional either with the conversations or financial decisions that we're making? So many times I'll be working over people's budgets and I'll ask them, OK, why did you make that purchase? Why did you buy those groceries that you bought? And a lot of time I'll be like, well, that's just what we've always done. Right. My mom

Brynne Erickson (44:20)
Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (44:21)
bought this brand of butter so I'm going to buy this, Or we've always gone, we've always had date nights on Fridays so we're just gonna keep having date nights every single Friday, However, when we take time to analyze, okay, am I making this decision because it's aligned with my values or...

Brynne Erickson (44:27)
Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (44:48)
Am I doing it because it's rushed or because it's something we've always done? Then maybe we can analyze maybe a little more on how to have a little bit more intentionality with our finances.

Brynne Erickson (44:54)
Mm-hmm.

That's really good. I'm thinking

of some of my own grocery spending habits in this moment. I'm like, hmm, maybe I don't need to have a drawer full of snacks that are convenient to grab. But I was thinking like that word came to my mind. was like, well, I value convenience, especially it seems like with each baby I have when they're a newborn face, like I'm just surviving. Right. So I think that's important too is acknowledging that.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (45:08)
Mm-hmm. Like, why? did it?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah.

bright.

Brynne Erickson (45:34)
our money habits and expenditures can evolve and change and they are going to. But the awareness is the key factor to recognizing that. like my convenience phase is kind of fizzling right now. I'm like, okay, I'm actually wanting to make more dinners rather than buy frozen and prepackaged stuff and eat out so much because now I'm 15 months postpartum and I'm feeling a lot better. And so,

Karina Pribil-Corbett (45:38)
absolutely.

Mm-hmm.

Bye!

Mm-hmm.

Absolutely.

Brynne Erickson (46:03)
that compassion, that awareness, ⁓ it's definitely critical.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (46:10)
Yeah, absolutely. I love that. That different phases in our lives are going to mean different financial decisions, Which is why there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all when it comes to money. That's why personal finance is personal because depending on the stage of life you're in, I can't give you the same advice if I was talking to someone in their 60s or someone who's starting college for the first time.

The decisions we make have to be different because we're in a different circumstance than our lives.

Brynne Erickson (46:46)
Yeah, but I love that these five skills, what do you call them? The five tools that are applicable in any phase of life though, to like better understand your financial wellness. So good. Okay. I know we've kind of talked about this, but do you have any more like tips or on ways that we can have productive conversations with our spouses and partners about money?

Karina Pribil-Corbett (46:51)
Yeah, like five tools, yeah.

Mm-hmm, yeah.

Yeah.

Yes, something I'm so passionate about is ⁓ if you're in a relationship, you need to go on a money date on a regular basis. Have you ever heard of a money date or am I the first? Okay, let me spread you the gospel of money dates. my gosh, I honestly think money dates can be one of the most life-changing tools for couples.

Brynne Erickson (47:24)
Okay.

I have not.

I'm here for it.

Okay.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (47:42)
So

on a regular basis, whether this is once a month, every couple weeks, you decide the frequency. You and your partner are gonna get together and you're gonna start with something fun that you both love. What are the odds? Getting sushi or getting smoothies or even keeping it more low key and lighting candles in your living room.

and having some music playing. Anything that like gets you pumped and both of you just like so excited to do something, we're gonna start with some type of activity. I think last, and it can change, one month, my husband and I, we got pizza. And that was our activity that got us excited. For a while, we were really obsessed with...

these Nutella milkshakes that like a local restaurant was sold. And so we would go get that for our money dates. Yeah, so something fun. And then you're gonna start with some type of acknowledgement, some type of gratitude towards the other person. So saying, thank you so much for taking care of the utility bill this month. That took it off my plate or.

Brynne Erickson (48:44)
happen.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (49:06)
Thank you for taking care of the kids so I could work on my passion project. Like that, that meant a lot to me. So starting on a tone of gratitude. I'm curious, why do you think I even suggest starting off with those two things?

Brynne Erickson (49:27)
Well, I'm thinking in this moment, like how often I've like looked at my partner and be like, thank you. Like in passing, I'm like, oh, thanks for doing that. know, but like to just genuinely look at them and take a moment to acknowledge something that they did. That seems really powerful.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (49:32)
Right, right.

Mm-hmm.

It is. It is incredibly powerful because it makes one, makes the other person feel seen. Two, you're able instead of thinking about like, oh, you're doing this and it's driving me crazy. Like, can we please work on it? Right? You're recognizing the good in your spouse. The third thing is we start to associate positive things with money by starting with this tone of gratitude and by doing some type of fun activity.

Brynne Erickson (50:02)
Yeah.

There you go.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (50:13)
So many people have the money belief that money is scary or money is uncomfortable, And so going on these money dates is training our brain to recognize like, money can be fun. Money can be like a time to express gratitude, right? We start forming these positive connections with money. So that's why we wanna start out with having some type of fun activity and expressing gratitude towards each other.

Brynne Erickson (50:15)
you

Yeah.

mess.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (50:43)
The next thing that we're gonna do on this money date is we're gonna talk about our wins, our financial wins. So whether that we are even going on this money date, that is a financial win right there. We're starting to talk about money or we stuck to our budget for this month, Finding something, it doesn't matter how big or small, but finding some way.

to acknowledge a win for the month, And that's similar to using that tool of alignment before, We're wanting to start recognizing positive patterns, strengths that we already have in finances, so we can build momentum off of those wins. That's the third part to the money day. The next is you're each gonna bring something you wanna talk about.

Brynne Erickson (51:32)
Yes.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (51:40)
with money. And we want to keep this to only two items per person max. The reason why is money can get overwhelming, right? And something that I, ⁓ a pattern I see a lot with couples is a chaser-avoider dynamic where one person really wants to talk about money, they're the chaser,

Brynne Erickson (51:54)
Yes.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (52:09)
They're the one that's always bringing it up. They want to have conversations all the time. They want to make sure we're sticking to the budget, right? Their money is always on their mind. And then we have the avoider in the relationship where anytime money gets brought up, they want to shrug it off or talk about it later or they get they put their hands up in the air and say, this is this is too much for me. Let's circle about this later. Having

Brynne Erickson (52:21)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (52:37)
only up to two items per person, one reassures the chaser that things will get talked about at some point, while the avoider knows that the conversation isn't going to be two to three hours long. They're not gonna be overwhelmed by it. In my relationship, you can probably guess I'm the chaser. I'm the one that always wants to bring finances up, because it's my passion and I love talking about it.

Brynne Erickson (52:51)
There you go. Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (53:05)
And my husband, while he is very much on top of his finances, just in our dynamic, he's the avoider because I'm always trying to find solutions and he's like, Karina, like we're good. It's fine. Like we're in a good finance. Why are you trying to make a good situ? Like, why are you trying to mess with a good situation? Right. And so when we have these money dates, it gives me the relief like, ⁓ OK, I can like

Brynne Erickson (53:18)
You

Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (53:33)
say any, like, what is most pressing to me, what is top of mind, and he knows that what I'm saying is most important, Because, because if I, could talk to him about money all day long, but he doesn't know what the real priority is, if I'm always talking about it 24 seven. But if I bring the top two things, he knows that those things really do matter to me.

Brynne Erickson (53:40)
Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (54:03)
That's why we want to have one to two items. These items can be anything from, I want to figure out our Christmas budget, how much money we're spending on presents, to I don't really like how we talk about money in front of our parents. Can we adjust the language reuse? Any concerns that you have, that's when you're going to bring it up. Yep. And then you're just going to do a quick overview of your budget.

Brynne Erickson (54:03)
Awesome.

Mmm.

Okay.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (54:32)
This is not you filling out your budget and putting in the line items. This is just an overview of what did we spend next month? What do we anticipate for next month? And then you're gonna end it. And that's it. That's a money date.

Brynne Erickson (54:45)
Okay.

That is so clever. And I love it. And again, it takes out like all the assumptions and the tiptoeing and awkwardness and frustration, like all those emotions that we tend to just avoid, but end up feeling all the time, Because we just aren't addressing what's causing it.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (54:51)
Mm-hmm.

Right. Yes.

Right, you're not addressing the core issue of it. And doing it on a Monday, it helps take the heat of the moment away, Because you you started out on a good foot, You both know that you love each other. You both know that you're in a safe environment. One of the key.

components to having tough conversations. This isn't just with money. This was any tough conversation that in order to talk about hard topics, we first need to establish a place of safety. The other person needs to know that they're not going to be threatened, that I'm not coming from a place of cruelty, And so that's why money dates are so powerful is because it creates this safe environment.

Brynne Erickson (55:45)
Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (55:56)
to talk about those heart topics.

Brynne Erickson (55:58)
Yeah. And you don't blindside your partner. Like,

hey, let's talk about your spending habits. Right?

Karina Pribil-Corbett (56:05)
Right, right, absolutely. Right. And

even this is going to sound so nerdy, but I promise it helps. I even tell couples to make an agenda item before their money date. So that way your partner knows the things you're going to talk about before. Yeah. So like to take away that blind set component that you talked about. If you want to talk about 401ks.

Brynne Erickson (56:23)
I think that's brilliant.

Mm-hmm.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (56:34)
your partner can know beforehand and maybe do a little research if they want to, right, to get a little bit more educated on the topic.

Brynne Erickson (56:41)
I love that.

So good, so good, so empowering, all of it. I am curious though, can you help normalize for all of us who struggle with our finances? What are some of the main points that you tend to address with your clients?

Karina Pribil-Corbett (56:48)
Ugh, things!

Mm-hmm.

yes. ⁓ The number one, having conversations with your partner about money. That's the number one struggle I see. It's how do we have effective communication? How do we avoid just talking in circles without being superheated, without blaming each other at the end, right?

Brynne Erickson (57:07)
Okay.

Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (57:28)
And so really the first step, it's similar to what we talked about before, just like how you have to understand your money beliefs, you got to understand your partner's money beliefs. And I actually have like a whole questionnaire set of questions you can ask your partner on how to, like how to uncover your partner's money beliefs to understand where they're coming from. I'm happy to put that.

to send you that link if you want to put that in the shell notes. I'm happy to share that with everyone so they can start to understand where their partner's coming from.

Brynne Erickson (58:07)
Excellent. Yes. So if you are feeling alone that you and your sweet other are not getting this and struggling and frustrated, you are not alone and it really can get better and it can become fun. Like money is fun. It really can be. I think it's fun. I think it's powering. I think it's fun. It's awesome.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (58:15)
Thank

No.

Yeah.

Yes, money can...

It can bring you so much joy, right? I often think of the scripture, right? Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy. Guess what? That includes your money. That includes your finances. You are meant to have joy with your money and have joy with your partner on money, right? So you're totally...

Brynne Erickson (58:42)
Love it.

Agree.

Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (58:55)
right, you're not alone if it's if the joy isn't currently there but it can get there.

Brynne Erickson (59:04)
Yep. Okay. One

last thing. I thought about this for Karina, cause this is something I've been stewing over and trying to figure out for myself. So the question I have for you is, ⁓ how does a couple think, how could a couple think about their financial finances when only one of them is bringing money in? So like I'm a stay at home mom, right? And I, and there's

Karina Pribil-Corbett (59:08)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. huh.

Brynne Erickson (59:31)
lots of thoughts and feelings that people have about being a stay at home mom. And I don't bring much money in. I have a little Etsy shop and I bring in like one to $200 a month. But I've been like, what is my role? What is my contribution? And all of this. So like, is your, do you have any thoughts on that?

Karina Pribil-Corbett (59:33)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

so you actually said the golden word that's behind this question, which is contribution. So many couples struggle with this and really at the core of it, the non-working spouse really just wants to feel like they're contributing to the relationship. That's the core fear is, ⁓ I enough in this relationship? Am I?

contributing enough? Am I bringing value to our relationship? And let me say this isn't just for stay at home moms or non-working spouses. I feel like this is even true when there's an income discrepancy between spouses where one spouse might be making way more than the other and the lower income partner is like, am I, it's what I'm bringing even

Brynne Erickson (1:00:22)
you

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:00:48)
making a difference? Is it like, would my partner even notice if I stopped working? Do I make an impact? But again, we're going back to that the core fear is contribution, And I ⁓ am really it's a fear of am I enough? Am I I doing enough? So what I would invite the two of you to talk about

Brynne Erickson (1:00:49)
you

Yeah.

Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:01:16)
is recognize ways that the non-working spouse is contributing to the household in other ways. So whether that's

whether that's the housework, right, that you're doing or the picking kids up, right, all the other things that stay at home moms do that they don't get paid for, all the labored tasks that doesn't get accounted for. So, for example, I'm the spouse that doesn't make as much money.

as my husband, my husband, he's in software engineering, he's in tech, way more money than I make in like the social services arena, And so when I'm feeling down on myself, I will even, even outside of having conversations with my husband, I try to recognize okay, like, I'm the one plugging the numbers in our budget, right? I'm the one going to the bank.

Brynne Erickson (1:02:07)
Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:02:26)
to make sure that our utilities gets billed and it gets paid, I'm the one going and making sure everyone gets a present on their birthday, And if you think about it, like, if you paid someone to go do all these things that a stay at home mom does or that the non-working spouse does, it adds up over time. Do you know how much money it would be?

to pay someone to cook for your family, to pay someone to chauffeur your kids around. I know it might not seem intuitive, but that's money you're saving your family by you doing that. It's kind of like a reverse salary that you're bringing. So I don't know if that was helpful at all. ⁓ But I would one, try to identify ways that you...

Brynne Erickson (1:03:06)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:03:21)
just manage your household as a whole and acknowledge the work that you do. But on top of that, recognize ways that you are enough and that maybe, let me rephrase that, maybe recognize. ⁓

recognize what you bring to your relationship as a whole, even on the emotional end. When I think of like the family proclamation, something that I think a lot of people get hung up on is like, men need to provide, right? Men are the provider. And we often think of that in like an economic sense, like they bring home the money. But there are other ways that men can provide.

Brynne Erickson (1:04:00)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:04:11)
They can provide a sense of safety. They can provide stability. They can provide empathy. They can provide kindness, And it's the same thing for the non-working spouse. What you're providing might not be the income, but you might be providing reassurance. You might be providing kindness. You might be providing ⁓ excitement.

Brynne Erickson (1:04:35)
Hmm.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:04:40)
in the relationship, And so there are, when it comes to family and finances, this is where emotions come in again. It's not just the physical money that matters in your finances, it's the emotion and the tone that you bring to the relationship as well.

Brynne Erickson (1:04:54)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Well, I'm thinking in this moment too, I'm going back to like, well, what is it that we're both even working for? Like, why is he going to work every day and why am I even doing what I'm doing? what is it that we both value? And that would be a good conversation to have. And, but I'm thinking it's probably like our family, like our unit and just taking care of each other and finances are a part of that.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:05:09)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Brynne Erickson (1:05:32)
and we both are taking care of our family in different ways.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:05:36)
Mm-hmm, right? You might take care of your family by, you know, listening to your kids talk about the adventures that they had at school or some drama that they're having with their friends, But taking care of your family could also look like being able to pay for the different activities they wanna go do. I do want to provide one...

Brynne Erickson (1:05:49)
Mm-hmm.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:06:05)
maybe word of caution. ⁓ I hear a lot of people say that the reason they work for their finances or they work so hard at their job is for their family, which I love family. Family is great. However, a lot of times families, the value of family can be misconstrued to

Brynne Erickson (1:06:07)
Okay.

Okay.

See ya.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:06:34)
guide us to some unhealthy behaviors. I want you to think what advertisers do, right? They'll have a product and they'll say, want to be the coolest mom? Buy this toy, buy this Paw Patrol toy for your kid, And of course, everyone wants to be the coolest mom. Every dad wants to be the cool dad, And so advertisers

might use certain messages to say for you to be a good provider for your family, you have to buy this, We see that in the shopping area, but we can also see this with money beliefs, If I work all day, if I work super hard, then I'll be a good dad, I'll be enough, I'll be a good mom.

Brynne Erickson (1:07:11)
Mm-hmm.

yeah.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:07:29)
but it's not just working hard, right? There's so many other components, ⁓ like if I spend money on my kids and on nothing else, then I'm a good mom, right? If I ignore investing, if I ignore savings, but I spend on my kids, then I'm a good mom, And so a little tweak I like to suggest is,

Brynne Erickson (1:07:41)
Hmm.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:07:56)
Okay, let's not make it about your family. Anything that can be taken away, That's not a concrete value that can last us a lifetime, And so I like to suggest maybe is it connection that you're striving for? Do I value connection? If you value connection, that's a totally different thing than saying I value family, So if I'm trying to connect with my sweet niece,

And I'm evaluating what I'm gonna purchase her for her birthday, If I truly value connection, I'm not just gonna buy like a random toy that she might use once. I'm not just gonna, I might not buy her a Barbie, Cause I'm not sure how that's going to fuel connection, but maybe I buy like, I'll tell her for her birthday, let's go get our nails done.

as like aunt and niece, right? So that time we're spending, we're forming a connection with each other, Are you hearing like the differences? Yeah.

Brynne Erickson (1:08:53)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, I love that. I think that was really good. And you've mentioned a couple of times how values are, they're abstract. Like it's not something you can tangible. And I like how you said, if it was, it can be taken away like physically. So.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:09:15)
Right? Right.

And I know that sounds so terrible to think about, but like it's the sad truth that like family members can be taken away from us, whether that's through death, divorce, or people moving away, Family members can be gone. And so if we form ⁓ our entire identity on a single person,

Brynne Erickson (1:09:27)
Okay.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:09:45)
we're not going to have the self-confidence to guide us through all our different phases of life. And also, us humans, we're multifaceted human beings, You are a mother and a wife and a daughter of God and a creator, There's so many different parts of you that deserve to be recognized and that deserve to be valued.

Brynne Erickson (1:10:04)
Mm-hmm.

that's so beautiful. Thank you, Karina. This has just been so beautiful. And I appreciate your work and your honesty and what you're contributing to the world. And I mean, how old are you?

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:10:25)
I'm 26.

Brynne Erickson (1:10:26)
Yeah. You, I'm just like, so excited to see where your career takes you and the, all the people that you're going to impact and free and liberate and empower. And cause money is such an integral part of our lives. And I just a reminder that it is, it can be fun. Like I do think that we will experience both. We're here to have hard and heavy and, also the, the light and the freeing and the fun.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:10:29)
You're so sweet.

Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Brynne Erickson (1:10:57)
But ⁓ yeah, money is a big part of this life experience.

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:11:02)
Well, thank you so much for having me on and giving me a space to ramble and have all my all my different money thoughts. But really, I just totally want to echo what you said that if you're currently struggling with money, I want you to know how normal it is. It's so easy for us to talk about religion, politics, even sex.

We sometimes feel more comfortable talking about those things than money. And so if you're struggling to talk about it, just know you're not alone and that there are resources like financial counseling.

Brynne Erickson (1:11:31)
Mm-hmm.

Okay. Yeah.

Awesome, so how can we find you?

Karina Pribil-Corbett (1:11:49)
Yes, so I am on all the socials, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, at get emotionally invested. I also have a website with that same name. And if you want to set up a financial counseling session with me, go ahead and head to my website or you can DM me on Instagram. Either one is great. All my first sessions are free.

⁓ Just because I like to give people a chance to figure out if I'm a good fit. And so that's, yeah, that's how you can connect with me.

Brynne Erickson (1:12:22)
Awesome. And make sure you let her know that you heard her through the middle ground podcast so that you'll have that connection and she'll know kind of what you're aware of. So beautiful. Thank you so much, Karina.