The Profit Letters

This is our first year living in Utah, and on December 27th — the morning we celebrated Christmas with all three of my daughters, my son-in-law, and our three grandchildren — we woke up to a light dusting of snow. It hasn’t snowed much since we moved here. In fact, this little snow didn’t even […]

#38 What a snowman taught me about money

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to avoid your finances?There’s no deadline.No one’s waiting on it today.No fire to put out. So we tell ourselves: I’ll do it tomorrow. Stephen R. Covey said it best: “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” As business owners, […]

#37 Why do we avoid our finances?

As many of you know, I own a short-term rental business in Lake Arrowhead, California — we own a big, beautiful home we host for family reunions, birthdays, events, and even church retreats. This week, a property manager friend called me asking about insurance for her cleaning company. Totally valid question — but as we […]

#36 Filing an LLC alone won’t protect your business

Okay — if you’re reading this, I’m going to assume you either: a) already opened your Relay account, orb) you’re about to… because it takes less than 10 minutes. Seriously — you only need: No long appointments. No endless paperwork.No “bring your firstborn” requirements like Chase. If you haven’t opened Relay yet, do that first […]

#35 Okay… you opened Relay. Now do this.

Karen here — coming to you from our new home in Utah! We’ve been here about 5–7 weeks now, and we really love it. The neighbors have been kind, our church community has been incredibly welcoming, and it’s already starting to feel like home. But let me confess something… Even though the house was move-in […]

#34 Are you saving… or just spending? (A Profit First reminder)

I’m buried in boxes, bubble wrap, and packing tape this week because…we’re officially moving to Utah! Our movers have been amazing — they literally rolled out the red carpet to protect the floors (I love that touch!). We leave this week and move in on the 13th, so it’s all hands on deck here. I’ll […]

#32 Quick hello before the big move!

Last Sunday at church was our last Sunday in Orange County, California. We stood up and announced: we’re pulling the plug, the movers are coming Tuesday, and we’re leaving Wednesday for our new adventure in Utah. And it made me think about banking.Sometimes we treat our bank accounts like moving out of a house. We […]

#31 Relay > Chase (why I switched for good)

Quick update from our Utah house hunt… Last week, I shared pictures of three homes we put offers on. A few of you thought all those photos were from one house (which, to be fair, would’ve been quite the mansion). But nope—those were House #1, House #2, and House #3. And the winner is… Drumroll […]

#30 Not one house… three houses (and we chose our favorite!)

The house saga continues…You remember House #1 — the one we’re a backup offer on? Well, it still hasn’t fallen through. Technically, it’s supposed to close this Friday. But there’s still about a 10% chance it might fall out of escrow Thursday. (So yes, we’re still waiting!) Meanwhile… enter House #2. Same exact floor plan, […]

#29 Why we walked away from $900K

If you’ve been following me, you know we’re in the middle of moving from California to Utah. We’ve looked at 40+ houses (yes, 40!) and made four offers. Our favorite house? We’re the backup. The first buyers are trying to get what’s called a bank statement loan—which basically means they run a business but don’t […]

#28 When Plan A Falls Through (and Plan B too)