This episode is part of our Client Seat series, where financial coaches get real-time financial coaching from Kelsa. It’s a great opportunity to showcase what goes into a financial coaching session. If you’re a financial professional, you can apply to be a guest on a future Client Seat episode.
Michelle Kopp came to her coaching session with a specific problem: her money felt out of control. As a CPA and financial coach herself, she knew what good money management looked like. She’d had it before. But now, living in Guatemala with her husband and three young kids, everything felt chaotic and unpredictable.
The Challenge: When Context Changes Everything
Before moving to Guatemala, Michelle had her finances dialed in. The Plan Ahead Method (now called SpendFirst™) worked perfectly. She had a dedicated spending account with clear boundaries. Sinking funds for future expenses. A spreadsheet that let her see months into the future. She didn’t have to track every penny, and she still felt completely in control.
Then they relocated internationally, and the entire system fell apart.
In Guatemala, most transactions are cash-based. Bills for electricity, water, and internet arrive as physical papers that have to be taken to stores and paid in cash. The banking system works completely differently. Her spending account approach didn’t translate and her spreadsheet couldn’t account for the unpredictability of cash withdrawals.
Michelle found herself doing the one thing she hates: tracking every single dollar in a Google form, desperately trying to figure out where the money was going.
The Hidden Problem: The Comparison Trap
As we started the session, I asked Michelle what she liked about her previous system. Not to praise the Plan Ahead Method™, but to understand what had been working for her and why. She valued having a set spending amount that didn’t require category tracking. She loved the clarity of seeing her finances months in advance. She appreciated the sinking funds that covered unexpected expenses.
These weren’t just logistical preferences. This revealed how Michelle naturally manages money: she wants clear boundaries without micromanagement, she needs to see ahead to feel secure, and she values preparation.
But something else emerged as we talked. Michelle kept mentioning that things in Guatemala cost less. So she expected to be spending less. When she looked at her tracking data, she saw they were spending about the same as before, and it frustrated her.
This was the real problem: comparison. Michelle was measuring her current spending against what she spent in the U.S., and that comparison was making her feel like she was failing.
I named it directly: “A lot of what you’re describing is comparison. You’re comparing what you were doing then to what you’re doing now and those things can’t be compared. You didn’t lose control. The context changed and what you’re doing is rebuilding with different types of stability in place.”
Michelle’s response was immediate: “Yeah, that’s really good. I need to stop comparing what we’re doing now to what we were doing then because it’s totally different.”
That shift opened everything up.
Setting Realistic Expectations: Stabilize First
Before jumping into solutions, I needed to set a realistic expectation. We weren’t going to create a perfect system for every aspect of Michelle’s money in one session. That would be overwhelming and unsustainable.
Instead, our goal was to create stability. To address the biggest chaos creators so Michelle could at least feel like “I can work with this.” Once that feels settled, she can add more elements and refinements.
Progress needs to feel sustainable. If we try to fix everything at once, nothing sticks.
Michelle was relieved by this approach. She’d been tracking everything and hating it, but not knowing what else to do. Just knowing we’d tackle the big picture first took pressure off.
Understanding the Current Reality
I asked Michelle to walk me through how bills and spending actually worked in Guatemala. Some bills, like rent, could still be paid online from their U.S. bank account. But electricity, water, and internet required taking physical bills to stores and paying in cash.
For daily spending, they’d been guessing. They’d withdraw what they thought they’d need for groceries that week, then realize they needed more. Multiple ATM trips meant multiple fees. There was no predictability.
When they tried withdrawing a larger amount upfront (about 3,000 quetzales ($400 USD) per week for spending), it disappeared fast. Michelle had no idea where it was going. Her husband wasn’t buying things for himself. She wasn’t either. It just vanished.
That’s when they started tracking everything in the Google form. After about three weeks of tracking, two things stood out: they were eating out more than they thought (though it was inexpensive), and groceries were still a significant expense even though individual items cost less.
The Solution: Weekly Cash Rhythm
I proposed creating a weekly spending amount. Every Monday, Michelle’s husband would withdraw a set amount in cash. That amount would cover all their spending for the week: groceries, eating out, household needs, everything that required cash.
No tracking individual transactions. No categorizing every purchase. Just one number, one routine, one decision point per week.
Michelle immediately saw the value. It would make their spending more intentional, especially around eating out. They’d have freedom to decide how to use that money without tracking every transaction. And she could plan ahead with her spreadsheet again, which gave her the clarity she’d been missing.
But she also thought through the potential challenges: What if they ran out? What if they spent less than expected? She was already engaged, already problem-solving.
Building in Flexibility
I emphasized that Michelle needed to give herself permission to be imperfect with this number. For the first several weeks, maybe even a couple months, she’d need to make modifications. Maybe $500 feels comfortable but by Thursday they’re dragging and really need milk. That’s okay. Bump it up a little.
The goal is to land somewhere that feels sustainable. Not so restrictive that they’re constantly running out. Not so loose that there’s no intentionality. Somewhere in the middle where it works.
Michelle would need to check in with herself and her husband each week: Did this feel like enough? Did we feel restricted? Did we have so much left over that we weren’t being thoughtful about spending?
Through modifications and communication, they’d find the right amount. That’s the process of figuring out what actually works.
From Comparing to Creating
At the end of the session, I asked Michelle what one thing she wanted to commit to doing differently. She wanted to take everything we’d discussed and make it concrete. Create the spreadsheet. Look at the tracking data to establish a starting number. Give her husband a set amount to withdraw every Monday.
She wanted to move from an idea to a plan. From something abstract to something concrete she could see week by week.
Her motto going forward: From comparing to a plan we make work.
She’d stop measuring against what used to be. Instead, she’d commit to building something new and making it work through weekly adjustments, staying curious about what was working and what wasn’t.
The Coaching Behind the Session
Several key coaching moves made this session effective:
Starting with what worked. Before addressing what wasn’t working, I asked what had worked about Michelle’s previous system. This was about understanding her natural preferences and strengths so we could build on them rather than against them.
Naming the pattern. Michelle couldn’t see that comparison was keeping her stuck. Once I named it, she immediately recognized it and could move past it.
Setting realistic expectations early. By establishing that we weren’t trying to solve everything in one session, Michelle could focus on creating stability first without feeling like partial progress meant failure.
Honoring her instincts. Michelle wanted to see things planned out. She wanted concrete numbers and a spreadsheet. Instead of telling her to be more flexible or less structured, we created a solution that gave her that clarity while also building in the flexibility her new context required.
Emphasizing process over perfection. Michelle needed permission to adjust the withdrawal amount week by week without feeling like she’d failed. Treating the first several weeks as a discovery process rather than a test removed the pressure.
Creating one clear routine. We didn’t try to address bills, sinking funds, and daily spending all at once. We focused on the biggest chaos creator: unpredictable cash spending. One weekly withdrawal, one routine. Once that stabilizes, everything else becomes easier to address.
The Bigger Lesson
Michelle’s challenge isn’t unique to international moves. Clients experience this pattern constantly. They have a system that works. Then something changes: a new baby, a job transition, a health issue, a divorce. The old approach doesn’t fit anymore, but they keep trying to force it to work.
As coaches, our job is to help them see they’re not failing. They’re rebuilding. And rebuilding requires different types of stability than what worked before.
Sometimes the most helpful thing we can do is simply name that they’re in a different season. Stop comparing to what was. Start building what fits now.
If you’re a financial professional, you can apply to be a guest on a future Client Seat episode.
