The Brands + Bands Strategy Group

What if your weekly money advice felt more like a voice memo from your financially responsible friend?

That’s Fumbled To Funded.

Every week, I’m bringing you money conversations in plain language — the stuff happening in the economy, budgeting, spending, saving, building wealth, and the real-life decisions that happen in between.

I'm not giving you “just stop buying coffee” nonsense.

Just weekly money insights, practical moves, and context — straight to your inbox.

And when you subscribe, you get freebies, too.

If you’re ready to make better money moves without needing a finance degree first:

Join Fumbled To Funded. Here's the link to subscribe: https://www.thebrandsandbands.com/newsletter

Business owners, hear me on this:

YES, we need more money.

But we also need the infrastructure to grow with intention.

I’m graduating from the Intuit IDEAS program in September, and it has been such a valuable experience. You get a $5K grant at the end, business + life/executive coaching throughout the program, and access to Intuit products like Mailchimp, QuickBooks and TurboTax at no cost during the program.

If you’re a business owner ready to build the business behind the business, applications are OPEN.

Applications close September 11.

Apply here: https://values-partnerships.wizehive.app/program/ideas/applicant/application/info

If your money feels like it should make more sense than it does, we should probably talk.

I help people get out of the “I make money, so why does this still feel so hard?” cycle by looking at the whole picture — your budget, spending, savings, goals, and what you actually want your money to do.

No shame. No “just stop buying coffee.” Just a real look at your numbers and a plan you can actually use.

If you’ve been meaning to get your money together, start here: thebrandsandbands.com/services

Dassit.

Remember this?!

We’re talking about bankruptcy in today’s email!

Hurry and sign up, so you get in on the resend: https://www.thebrandsandbands.com/newsletter

What if your financial life is bigger than your budget?

That’s the idea behind The Wallet!- a 45-minute financial wellness workshop from The Brands and Bands Strategy Group, happening at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library Sugar Creek location.

Instead of starting with spreadsheets and asking you to squeeze your life into a budget, we’re starting with LIFE—and using your wallet to explore four essential areas:

Budgeting. Spending. Saving. Investing/Retirement.

Throughout the workshop, we’ll keep coming back to one question:

What is my money supposed to be doing for me?

Because building wealth starts with building a foundation. One that helps your financial habits support your goals, your priorities, and the life you actually want to build.

Whether you’re just getting started or ready to make more intentional money decisions, this is a practical, interactive conversation designed to help you look at your money differently.

And here’s what has us excited: registration hasn’t even been open a week, and we’re already almost full—and the workshop isn’t until next month.

Clearly, Charlotte is ready for this conversation.

📅 Tuesday, September 15, 2026
⏰ 6:00–7:00 PM
📍 Charlotte Mecklenburg Library — Sugar Creek

If you’ve been looking for a place to start—or a fresh way to look at the money you already have—come join us for The Wallet!

Register here: https://cmlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/6a5a6431f213992f00c5087b

Your algorithm already told you something was coming with your student loans. I'm here to tell you what to actually do about it.

SAVE is ending. Servicer notices are rolling out right now through March of next year, and once yours lands, you've got 90 days to pick a new repayment plan — or one gets picked for you. Doesn't matter if you're on SAVE, IBR, PAYE, or something else. If your loans are federal, this is for you.

New video + blog post are both live and they walk through the same thing: the snapshot to take before you touch anything, the call to make, the real math behind the new RAP plan, and exactly what to do with your next 90 days. No panic, no politics — just the plan.

"Your algorithm already told you something was coming with your student loans. I'm here to tell you what to actually do about it.

SAVE is ending. Servicer notices are rolling out right now through March of next year, and once yours lands, you've got 90 days to pick a new repayment plan — or one gets picked for you. Doesn't matter if you're on SAVE, IBR, PAYE, or something else. If your loans are federal, this is for you.

New video + blog post are both live and they walk through the same thing: the snapshot to take before you touch anything, the call to make, the real math behind the new RAP plan, and exactly what to do with your next 90 days. No panic, no politics — just the plan.

Watch the YouTube:
SAVE Plan Is Over: What To Do In Your Next 90 Days (Student Loans 2026): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sUQev3kEr4&t=416s

Read the blog: "The SAVE Plan Notification Is Coming. Here's What To Do Before It Lands In Your Inbox.": https://www.thebrandsandbands.com/blog/student-loans-save-plan-90-day-deadline

Did you get your notice yet — or are you noticing that you've forgiven yourself for not knowing all this sooner? Either way, you're not behind. Drop it in the comments.

Be loyal to your wallet.

Dassit.

As many of you all know, many will tell you to start a business.

But it looks and feels different when you're establishing your business for growth — where you can be paid and build your wealth from it. Excited to share that we launched our signature talk series, The Wallet, with different versions. The first one was to a group of creatives and entrepreneurs we're in community with, called Creatives Of Faith. So last night we hosted the workshop around Business and Being.

Here's the play: we open with POW — Point of Wallet — because your messy middle isn't the whole story, it's just where you're starting from. Then we work the Folds: Budget (your real number, not your best-month number), Spending (the gap between what you think you spend and what you actually do), Saving (buckets with a job, for you AND the business), and Investing/Retirement (funding the actual life, not just the account). There was a ton of questions, but amazing takeaways for us and those attending. Also plan on bringing this to the local libraries in Charlotte as we grow the scope of it.

Our plan is to continue to bring not only The Wallet for your ERG, nonprofit, or small groups, but also more financial wellness workshops/speaking opportunities.

To learn more about what this can look like, check out our Workshops: https://www.thebrandsandbands.com/book-me-to-speak