Meet Tina
Certified Financial Coach for Couples

My husband Zach and I were buried in debt. We avoided talking about money because every conversation turned into a fight. It wasn't just stressful, it was putting a real strain on our marriage. We didn't have a plan, and without a plan, we felt completely out of control.

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We finally hit a breaking point. His work slowed down, the money wasn't coming in, and we knew something had to change. It was either find a solution or watch our finances — and our relationship — fall apart.

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I was reluctant. I honestly didn't think a budget would make that much of a difference. But I agreed to try. We sat down together, built a plan, and committed to it, as a team. In about 15 months, we paid off nearly $50,000 in debt and built a fully funded emergency fund.

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But the real change wasn't the number in our bank account. It was how we talked to each other. We stopped fighting and started working together.

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Here's the part I don't always say out loud: I carried a lot of shame around money, going back to when I was a teenager. I spent more than I had and didn't know what to do differently. And I hid it, even from Zach, for a very long time. I never had an example growing up of what a healthy relationship with money looks like, or how two people are supposed to talk about it in a marriage. My parents struggled with money and with each other, and they finally divorced when I was 19.

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So when Zach and I finally broke through, it wasn't just relief. It was the first time I saw what was actually possible, for us, and for our kids.

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That's why I became a financial coach. Not to help people build a perfect spreadsheet, but to help couples become a team, so they get the marriage I'm still working toward every day, and so their kids get a different story than the one I grew up with.