Season 1, Episode 16: “Peace Over Panic: Mastering Your Money Mindset“

🎧 When life hits hard: divorce, business droughts, or global shutdowns, peace can feel impossible. In this episode, host Jana Marler shares how faith, structure, and practical money habits create calm in the chaos. You’ll learn the simple systems that helped her keep her home, her family, and her sanity when income disappeared, and how you can build financial peace that lasts. This isn’t about chasing wealth—it’s about stewarding what you’ve been given with purpose, wisdom, and faith.

💬 If this episode encouraged you, share it with someone who needs a little peace in their finances. Follow @thedreamdoers.podcast on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, and find show notes and resources at ⁠www.thedreamdoers.com⁠.

📝 Read all the Show Notes (full script) on our blog: https://www.janamarie.co/blog

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✨ Episode Highlights:

00:00 Introduction to Financial Stewardship
02:32 The Importance of Preparation and Mindset
04:56 Practical Steps for Financial Management
07:32 Building a Storm Fund and Digital Systems
10:17 Money as a Tool for Generosity
12:55 Creating a Legacy Through Financial Wisdom
15:15 Actionable Steps for Financial Peace
18:16 You Tube – Outro – Dream Doers.mp4

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Show Notes – “Peace Over Panic: Mastering Your Money Mindset“

Jana Marler (00:01)
Welcome back to the Dream Doers podcast. This is a space that I intentionally created to be authentic, where we can dive deep into doing life and business with purpose, even when the storm hits, because it’s inevitable it’s coming. I am your host, Jana Marlar, and today we’re diving deep into something that might make people squirm a little bit. Money. But this is not about greed or guilt. So

Don’t leave me just yet. It’s about stewardship, managing what we’ve been given in a way that not only honors God, but brings peace and builds lasting impact. Because financial peace is not just about wealth, it’s about wisdom. Joseph Sangl

says your level of expectation determines your level of preparation. Let that sink in.

If we’re expecting good things like blessings, success, growth, then we have to prepare for them and do our part. And when the storms come, because it’s inevitable that they’re coming, that preparation is what keeps you standing. If you have been around my podcast any length of time, you know that this is a place that I try to share very openly and authentically about my own journey.

So I want to share why financial stewardship matters so deeply to me. Here are the three main reasons. One, because the Bible tells us to. Proverbs 21.5 says, the plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. And I love this verse because diligence and haste are both action words. You’re either doing one or you’re doing the other.

managing intentionally or reacting to chaos. Two, I want to give back.

When we handle money wisely, we position ourselves to be generous. And I don’t know about you, but there is no greater blessing on this planet than to be generous and receive the boomerang effect of joy and needs being met because you’ve watched someone else’s needs be met. As Joseph Sangl says, when your success comes, give God all the glory because this success is meant to bless you.

and bless others.

That’s the heart behind all of this. Blessing others through wise stewardship. Three, because I want to leave a legacy. Not just for money, for my kids, but wisdom. I want them to see what peace, structure, and faith looks like in real life, not chaos and fear. Persistence is what I want to instill into my children. And if I’m careless with my money, my business suffers, and so does my family.

And that is not the legacy I’m called to leave. And I’m sure you’re not either.

Some of you have heard pieces of my story in previous episodes, but if you haven’t yet, go back and listen to those, especially the ones about navigating my unexpected divorce and its very long drug out process, COVID and the whole world shutting down and building systems that sustained me. My family, my home, my pets, my children, all by myself with the help of God, thank goodness, and my dogs. But.

Here’s what I want you to hear today. I was grateful that I had the financial systems in place before those storms hit. During 2020, every event I had booked was canceled. Why? Because I’m in the event industry. And as you all know, if you were living during that time, the world shut down. So for a full year, my business, including my photo booth business, my photography business and other businesses that we started had zero

income zero. At the same time, I was navigating that unexpected divorce and it’s long drawn out process that drained every bit of cushion that I had saved to protect my children first and foremost, but me also. But because I had been disciplined, because I had an emergency fund, separate accounts and a real plan for money, I was able to keep my home, feed my kids and pets and keep the lights on.

This is why I’m so passionate about helping you prepare because most people don’t have that buffer and I was very much on the edge of intense turmoil because the court systems had taken so much of everything that I had saved for, which is exactly what you want, right? You want to have your emergency. ⁓

pool and savings there for you, but none of us ever want to actually use it on those things. It would be nice had we been able to keep all that. But lo and behold again, I was safe. Thank the good Lord. So when the storm do hit, whether that’s a global pandemic, a legal battle or something else, if you’re not expecting them, then we will drown. This is why financial stewardship matters so much.

So here’s the mindset shift. Most people who don’t win with their money, it starts with their mindset. Money isn’t itself bad, it’s neutral. It’s what we do with it that determines whether it creates peace or pressure. if we believe money is stressful or that we’re not good at it, we’ll never take control of it. But when we see money as a tool,

something we get to use to create freedom, stability, and generosity, then everything changes. That’s what I learned from my mentors like Joseph Sangl, I was broke and now I’m not, and Dave Ramsey’s financial piece. Their system showed me that structure doesn’t restrict you, it releases you. Because when you tell your money exactly where to go, then your money’s not telling you where it’s going and you finally feel in control again.

There is a zero base budgeting, meaning every single dollar has a job system from Joseph single. And I’m going to share a little bit of what I learned about that today and how I’ve applied it to my life. One of the simplest, but most powerful habits you can create is this zero based budget.

Here’s how it works. One, write down your total income for the month. Two, list every category your money needs to go to. Three, give every dollar a job until you hit zero. Zero doesn’t mean broke, it means intentional, but every dollar is working for you. It shouldn’t be wandering off. So here’s an example, just hypothetically.

If your business brings in $5,000 this month, assign it like this. Hypothetically, $1,000, owners pay. $800, taxes. $600, business expenses and software. $300, equipment fund. $200, marketing. $400, giving. $600, emergency fund. $1,100, family expenses. And when you operate like this, you will always know where you stand and that…

is peaceful. So your income and your expenses and even if you don’t have as many expenses as income, you need to assign those dollars where to go. Here’s the next thing. Pay yourself on purpose. I used to say, I’ll pay myself when there’s extra or I know I run my business so I’ll just you know.

with my side income, I’ll pay my personal stuff, my business will run over here, but here’s the thing, I did the Dave Ramsey financial piece over a decade ago, and I was so obsessed with knowing where every dollar in my personal life went that I did not actually budget for my business. There’s sometimes not extra. And so now I pay myself on purpose consistently and unapologetically. ⁓

And even if you need to do that weekly or monthly, it’s the small amount of consistency that matters.

This one habit separates business and personal finances and it gives you clarity at tax time and reminds you that your work is valuable and that you’re an actual business. So work it that way. You’re not just running a side hustle. You’re running a successful business. Next up, build your storm fund. ⁓ I cannot stress this enough. This is what saved me when life went sideways.

It’s the difference between panic and peace. And here’s how you should start. Step one, save $1,000 for quick emergencies. And you should have that at all times. Step two, build one month of operating expenses to have for cushion. Step three, work towards three to six months after that one month that you have, that way you have six months of a cushion. It might take a year or more to get there.

And that’s okay, but don’t do anything else until you have done those first few steps. This is about diligence, not haste. Every deposit, no matter how small, is building stability for your future self. So just think about it like that.

Next up, the digital envelope system. Dave Ramsey’s envelope system still works, but I’ve modernized it for my digital life and for those of you who are living more in a digital world. And let me tell you, when I did the Dave Ramsey course, I swore I would never get a credit card. But then, if you’ve heard any of my previous podcasts talk about this, I learned the point systems through people like Southwest.

or members perks with Legal Shield or blue-green vacations, now Hilton. So I knew that if I could be disciplined enough, I could still learn these point systems, do things with credit cards or digitally, and save on flights and save on travel as long as I could pay my bills off every single month. But again, I was doing this in my personal life, not my business life also.

Here’s how I structure mine. For example, your income account, all client payments go there. Okay. Then have a separate taxes account. That’s 20 to 25 % automatically transfers over there. Then have your emergency fund that stays off limits until you truly need it. And if you ever do truly need it, then have your expenses account, your subscriptions, your software, your supplies, et cetera.

And then make sure this is so important to have your owner pay account, which is your paycheck that you pay yourself to your personal life every single month.

Keeping those accounts separate will keep your mind clear and also keep your finances safe.

Next up, money is a tool, not the goal. You don’t have to chase money to care about it. I have so many Christian friends that say I just don’t care about money. But money’s not the goal here. It’s the tool that helps you serve your goals. If you’re generous, money will help you be more generous. If you value family, money gives you time and space with them. If you want impact, money expands your reach. You don’t have to chase money.

but you do have to respect it because when you respect it, you can redirect it towards purpose, people, and peace. That is real wealth to me. Next up is healing your money story. A lot of us carry unspoken money trauma. Maybe you grew up in a home where money meant arguments or fear. Maybe you saw debt or scarcity modeled for you and it’s time to change your story. So I want you to ask yourself.

What did I first believe about money? What do I want to believe now? This work matters because if you don’t heal your relationship with money, then no system will stick. Money mindset isn’t about loving money, it’s about loving peace enough to stop letting your money control you. Pause right there and let that sink in too. Next up is creating a legacy, not just a lifestyle.

So let’s go a little bit deeper. Let’s talk about legacy. Wouldn’t you rather be living your legacy instead of always trying to build one? I don’t want my legacy to start after I’m done. I want my kids and my friends and my community to see it now and I want to experience it now. Every time that we give or plan or choose peace over chaos, that’s us living our legacy.

Legacy isn’t about what’s written in your will, it’s what’s lived out in your daily habits. So here’s how you climb to financial freedom. One thing that Joseph Sangl teaches that I’ll never forget is don’t skip steps on the way to financial freedom. And I’m speaking to myself here, so many of us want to jump the gun, we just want to be there, but don’t skip your steps. We all want the mountaintop, but the lessons are in the climb.

Even if you feel deep in debt or overwhelmed, you can still get out. I have had friends who were $50,000 deep in financial debt with their college loans and they got out of it. It’s the snowball effect. A little snowball turns into a medium size and then a bigger one into a giant one and then the momentum will just keep going. You cannot skip the process and the steps. So start small. One debt at a time.

one right decision at a time because the higher you climb, think about this, if you’ve ever been on a ladder before, the higher up you get, the better you can see around you. And then you begin to see and spot those obstacles before they’re even coming, before they even hit.

That’s when you’re not just surviving the storms, you’re anticipating them because good and bad things happen to all sorts of people.

That’s the power of preparation. So here is the next thing. The view from higher ground is so awesome. Have you all ever been up in a plane and you look down and you can see everything so much bigger than you can when you’re right in front of it? When you reach the higher ground, you think bigger, generationally, not just month to month. So ask yourself this, how can my business outlive me?

What assets or systems can I leave behind to bless my family? Who can I mentor now so that they’re more prepared later? That’s willable wealth, not just dollars, but wisdom. Real wealth isn’t what you leave behind, it’s what you pour forward. Here’s the overflow principle. When you get your finances in order, you move from survival to overflow, and this is the best part.

Overflow is where generosity lives. Start a giving fund. Even $20 a month can change someone’s day, and it keeps your heart open and reminds you that your money serves a mission.

Joseph Sangl says, when your success comes, give God all the glory because this success was meant to bless you and to bless others. That’s what success looks like, blessing others from a place of peace, because you can.

Here’s what I challenge you to do this week. So if you’re a note taker, pull out your pen and your notebook or write it in your phone notes, or you can go back to my show notes and I’ll have everything in there. But one, track your spending for seven days at least. And that’s every penny. If you’re a nerd like me, you might go back six months, but you could also do two weeks if that makes you feel better or even the last month. And then two, open a storm fund.

Three, create a zero-based budget, Four, pay yourself something. Five, start a small giving fund, even if it’s tiny, And then six, pray over your finances. Ask for wisdom, ask for peace and preparation. I don’t think we pray over money enough because we’ve been shamed to think that money is evil.

and we shouldn’t be thinking about money or putting money first, but God has called us to be disciplined with our money and that starts with prayer and it starts with discipline and diligence.

So when you’re faithful with what you have, you build the foundation for more. And when you prepare for the storms, they don’t knock you down because you expected them.

Your level of expectation determines your level of preparation. That is my favorite Joe Sangl quote. So expect blessings, but then prepare wisely. Be diligent, not hasty, and keep building your legacy right where you are. Not someday, but today. It’s doable.

So if this episode encouraged you at all, can I ask, will you share this with someone who needs to hear that financial peace and generosity are possible no matter what season they’re in? Even if you or they feel like you are so stuck and so low, I would love if you could share that with them. You can follow along on all the social media handles at thedreamdoers.podcast. And you can also visit my website at thedreamdoers.com for resources and more show notes.

Until next time, stay grounded, stay grateful, and keep doing the dream.