Testimonials

Whether as a money personality test, a money management game, a conversation starter or a financial ice breaker, Money Habitudes has been well received. Because it’s such a flexible activity and opens up so many important discussions about money, it’s used in a great variety of ways by many different people and professionals.

Money is the number one cause of conflict in marriages—even good, solid marriages. Money Habitudes is a great tool and innovative way to help couples address their money issues.

Diane Sollee, MSW
Founder of the Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education (CMFCE)
Director of the Smart Marriages Conference

You could literally pick this deck of cards up with no training, with no investment in staff time except for the deck of cards and figure out how to do it – and do something meaningful with it. People are always looking for tools that are plug-and-play. And the cards are just ‘play’ – there’s nothing to ‘plug.’ It’s that fast. To have something that’s a quick pick-up tool, but is this effective is very rare. It’s a minimum investment for a maximum return.

Robin McKinney, MSW
Director and co-founder
Maryland CASH Campaign

I used the cards for every one of those Money + Divorce sessions and, of all the classes I taught, only two couples said that they were still going to get a divorce … The money issue was the biggest issue and it was the biggest reason for the divorce for all of those other couples and they decided, ‘You know what? This is overcome-able stuff. We don’t have to get a divorce because we’re not comfortable with the money situation!

Kent Thompson
Financial Program Manager
Army Community Service
Fort Drum, NY

It’s just one piece of what we do for finance, but it’s a great, hands-on piece. It gets them active. It’s not just a lecture but an activity which gets them involved with the subject.

Valerie Conzett, D.Min., LPC
Director of The Family Life Office
Archdiocese of Omaha

Yes, we want them to be able to manage their budget and be able to understand, financially, where they’re at and be good stewards of their money. But our ultimate goal is they’ll be able to see how their finances are affecting how they’re treating their spouse, or maybe why they’re not communicating well or why there’s conflict … Money Habitudes was really the thing that cracked the nut for them. When they could finally understand why their husband or wife did what they did, then they could come to the table and talk about the budget; before that it, they’d just get in a fight about the budget … That was a really huge breakthrough.

Noel Meador
Director of Communications
Stronger Families
Washington

Generally speaking, women are communicators. They want to talk about things…Guys typically don’t, so having a hands-on activity— especially for someone who’s a non-communicator and doesn’t want to be here but was dragged in by his partner—it makes it very easy to get them going … What motivates someone to change? I do think it [what people discover through Money Habitudes] is an epiphany. And once you have that awareness and once you’re able to put a label on it and have an understanding of where it comes from, it’s the first piece of then being motivated enough to make the change to do something about it.

Kelly Chicas, LPCC
Albuquerque Family Counseling
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Where I would position it is along the aspect of ‘Know your client’ and ‘A better way of understanding your client for better compliance’ because if I’ve gone through the Money Habitudes and I’ve documented this with the clients, I’ve done more due diligence with that client in the first sitting than probably most advisors do with a client they’ve had for 10 years.

Tony Owings
Certified Financial Planner
A.R. Owings Financial Strategies

When they look at what they come up with on those cards, they’ll suddenly realize, ‘This is why I’m in financial trouble all the time!’ … It’s more meaningful for them than for someone to stand in front of them and try to talk about money.

Beverly Mercer
Bankruptcy Educator
Waco, Texas

Money is one of the biggest issues the inmates face. One guy did the cards and for the first time realized that all the pressure he put on his wife to put money on his books meant that much less money for food, clothes and stuff for his kids.  It changed him.

Ron Brewer
Director of Education
People of Principle
Midland, Texas

We use the Money Habitudes cards in many different venues. The teen cards are mainly used in high school health classes, talking about how finances affect our lives, as well as with 4-H groups. The adult cards have been used with pre-marriage couples in group settings and with individual couples who express an issue with finances. We also have used them with individuals who live in government housing to meet some of the financial education requirements they have. We have a Healthy Families Coalition and the members expressed interest in being trained to use Money Habitudes. The members participated in the program and are now going to share with Head Start parents, Girl Scouts, the SPOKES academic/job preparation skills program, and those working on their GEDs. In addition, several of our coalition members just borrowed the cards to use with their spouses — and one person even borrowed several decks to do on a trip with her girlfriends. In all the groups we have used them with, there are always great evaluations and comments.

Cheryl Kaczor
Extension Agent
Marshall County
WVU Extension Service

The [Money Habitudes] cards change the tone of a meeting-from a serious discussion to a more interactive learning experience. It opens the door to a back-and-forth conversation that much more fully involves the client. This not only brings the client fully in to the experience, it also deepens the relationship and bolsters trust.

Liz Donaghey
investment manager
Clark Capital

There are lots of good things out there if couples are just looking to do things like eliminate debt or try to apply for a better job or whatever. But what I think Money Habitudes does is give couples a way to have conversations that are going to help them be ok, no matter what the circumstances are.

Ben Vos, LPC
marriage therapist
Brentwood, Tennessee

As teachers, we’re constantly being challenged to come up with activities like this that are interactive, that keep kids engaged and spark conversations. And the cards were so easy to work with it.

Stephanie Licata
Immaculate Heart Academy

Part of the reason I do it is it’s fun and it’s a hook that gets them interested and gets them thinking about themselves and money … It’s not the most exciting topic so you have to have some buy-in and I think this helps.  Before I used the cards, we talked about the idea that ‘You’re each going to have different views about money.’ But talking about it and actually doing an activity are so different! I think the cards make it easier for them to talk …And it seems that with the cards, they aren’t as defensive. It facilitates the conversation.

Lori Scharmer
Family Economics Educator
North Dakota State University Extension Service

People love to use the cards.  People who have done them 6 months ago … ask to do them again to see how they are now.

Margaret Ferguson, AFC
Business Counselor, Micro Business Development Program
Central Vermont Community Action Council

The Money Habitudes church workshop was a huge success and very well received.  The cards are a great tool for teaching and communicating how our habits and attitudes affect our choices. Thank you and I look forward to making Money Habitudes a part of my financial counseling practice.

Lisa J. Gamble, AFC, MBA
The McGriff Burrus Alliance
Birmingham, Alabama

I really don’t know that I’d be using anything else [in their absence] because I really haven’t seen anything else that does the same thing.

Carol Allison
Financial Program Manager
Naval Support Facility Dahlgren

I was one of the “beta test” users of the first edition of Money Habitudes cards. Now a “power user,” I have found that the deck of cards she created to help begin the money conversation to be a very powerful tool. I recommend Syble’s cards and her training on how to use them to anyone seeking to help others begin to transform their relationship with money.

Steven Shagrin, J.D.
Certified Financial Planner™ Practitioner
Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor
Certified Retirement Counselor®
Certified Money Coach (CMC)

I was amazed that I saw the card immediately that gave my issue a voice.  And then how quickly it started to alter all the ideas I had previously formulated about myself and money.

Sue W., workshop participant

Money is a really deep issue. It’s a scary topic for people. It’s a stressful topic. It’s a very private topic. And people don’t like to share that they’re struggling or having problems. So it’s like, ‘Let’s break the ice here and let’s see where we’re going with this.’ It’s like getting people on the bandwagon. I have just found Money Habitudes to be a really great piece.

Nancy Reigelsperger
Extension Educator
Cornell University Cooperative Extension

I have used your cards on and off for several years now.  They truly are brilliant for all the insights they have given my clients.  Thank you for creating them.

Stacy N. Cossey
Vice President/Wealth Management 
Financial Planning Specialist
Smith Barney
Spokane, Washington

As an experienced counselor and social worker, I am writing to you to express my deep appreciation and thankfulness for developing such a useful and insightful money management tool … Recently, I played the Money Habitudes cards with my colleagues as well as those university students who come to our center as placement practice. The experiences are amazing both to me and my colleagues. It is powerful and insightful to those players.

Mo Ching Anne Cheng
Hong Kong

After doing the cards myself, I don’t find that I judge as much as I used to. I really just understand where the client is coming from.

Alan Frank
Financial Services Lead Instructor
Bow Valley College
Calgary, Alberta

This may be the BEST tool for individuals as well as couples to start with because it is simple and feels “safe.” Kind of like a game; but it can be a door way to serious dialogue about financial matters.

Rev. Robert A. Ruhnke, C.SS.R., D.Min.
Author of For Better & For Ever (Christian, Catholic marriage prep)

Very informative and creative!  Great job!

Laneia McCrea
Financial Counseling Student

Money Habitudes cards are a versatile tool. I always take them with me because, invariably, I can make them work in the situation I find myself in.

Madeleine Greene
Personal Financial Counselor
Department of Defense

I love Money Habitudes because it is a hands-on program and easy to use. Both teens and adults love it.

Andrea Bennett
Extension Agent
Families and Health
Mercer County, West Virginia

 

There were so many aha’s and oh, my’s.  I still have people calling me telling me … ‘Oh gosh, I never realized how these Habitudes impact my whole life!’

Paige Armstrong
Licensed Clinical Social Worker

A fabulous tool that has made a significant difference in working with clients in financial coaching and insolvency counselling!

Patricia White B.A.Sc. P.H.Ec.
Executive Director
Credit Counselling Canada / Conseil en credit du Canada

I think this product is incredible! It’s fun, engaging and encompasses all three main learning areas … visual, auditory and touch.

Nicole Allore, CFP®
Ontario, Canada

Thank you from our whole office. We have 
all enjoyed the Money Habitudes cards. What a great tool!

Kate Murphy
Frame 360, Business Strategists
Columbus, Ohio

It’s interesting when couples realize the strengths each other has and how that plays out. One couple had enough income to get a house and should have been able to manage, but they still couldn’t afford the house. When they did the cards, the husband came out as a spontaneous type. When they were dating, he would routinely bring her flowers and surprise her with gifts of jewelry.  She loved that and didn’t object when he continued to do that after they were married. However, once they did the cards and started talking about his spontaneous spending, she was able to say that she was willing to give up receiving the spontaneous gifts so they could save more to buy a house.

Angela Northern, Program Manager
One-on-One and First Accounts (Money Work$) Programs
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, New York

Your Money Habitudes cards are an interesting and valuable educational tool to help people understand their money personalities and how to succeed in their personal finances.

E. Thomas Garman, Author and Advisor
Fellow and Professor Emeritus
Virginia Tech University

My department chair, a student and I used the materials and found them to be excellent for various community initiatives in Tucson … They are comprehensive, varied, non-judgmental and, above all, fun. Each person using the cards gained important insights in an interesting and yet personal manner. Kudos on developing a great instrument that helps individuals explore what is usually a very dry and tedious topic.

Dr. Michael S. Engs
Pima Community College

For 44 years I have served the family business community. Some of those families are among the wealthiest families in the world. The Money Habitudes cards are an excellent vehicle to facilitate discussion of money matters which are often charged with a range of emotions. This week I will use it with a couple, part of a larger family, to discuss financial matters.

David Bork
Family Business Consultant

We just used the cards for the first time this past Saturday and they were such a hit that everyone wanted to keep them! We have found the cards easy to use and easy to tailor to use with any group. Thank you for all you do and for empowering people to take control of their money habits with such a wonderful resource!

Tonya Rogers, M.S., FDC
Program Director
Life is Fun Together (LIFT): A Relationship and Marriage Enrichment Program
Family Guidance Center of Alabama

I have used them 4 or 5 times within existing presentations on budgeting and credit. The response was fantastic.

Anita McKinney
Extension Educator – Personal Money Management
University of Florida/IFAS Extension-Duval County
Jacksonville, Florida

We loved them! Because it’s engaging. It’s active learning. It’s participatory. It’s not just us talking to them or at them – it actually engages them in the process. And it’s fun.

Leslie Tomlinson
Student Support Services
Northwest-Shoals Community College
Muscle Shoals, Alabama

“I like the classification of the Money Habitudes cards. I think it helps people see the positives and the challenges, to think, ‘I’m not bad and I’m not good; I just have to think about it.’ It gets them involved because they’re looking at themselves as they’re doing the cards; they’re doing some good self-examination. It’s like a mirror that shows someone what they’re like.”

Rebecca Phipps, LPC
Coordinator of the Between Us program
Catholic Charities Oregon

Money Habitudes is a much friendlier, non-judgmental way for people to get at their core issues. That’s why it’s more successful than what we did before having the Money Habitudes cards.

Donna Stallings
Case Manager and VIDA Coordinator
Virginia Supportive Housing

Everyone who has participated in my first few groups has referred me to someone else and indicated they liked the process. Well worth the purchase cost!

Becky Bey
Director of Programs & Agency Relations
The Center for Children & Families

It’s a good way to open up a conversation as opposed to just doing the interrogation, the fact-finding. It opens up a different category of thinking.

Robert Cain
Investment Advisor
Arque Capital Ltd.

My husband and I have been doing the cards and the Couples Guide. We do an exercise each morning with the cards laid out on our dining table. We have had some amazing breakthroughs and awesome discussion. We have been married for 18 years and it wasn’t until now, after playing Money Habitudes, that we have realised what has been going on around money with us. It is so true that it is not about the money but about the money habits. As a life and relationship coach I know that many of my clients will benefit from using the cards.

Toni Barnett
Relationship Coach
Perth, Western Australia

Because we don’t have a way to talk about money and think about money because it’s so taboo, that’s where the cards really come in. The cards really help people along the path of becoming the expert in their own lives.

Meghann Shutt
Program Manager for Financial Security
Baltimore CASH Campaign

It’s really crucial that it’s not just about, ‘Let’s do the math!’ It’s about, ‘Let’s understand what you have to deal with already. And Money Habitudes is an engaging, non-threatening way to help people recognize patterns and perspectives on money.

Sally Massey Wiebe, BHEc, AFCC
Financial Counsellor
Community Financial Counselling Services
Winnipeg, Manitoba

There used to be a lot of class discussion around, ‘I do this because it’s what my friends do’ or ‘I want to have what my friends have’ and I don’t hear so much of that anymore. It’s more like ‘This is what I’m thinking about’ or ‘This is what makes sense for me as opposed to what’s cool or what someone else has.’ I think Money Habitudes helps with that.

Tarin L. Washington
Program Associate
The Collaborative
Raleigh, North Carolina

When I went through evaluations from our independent evaluator and looked at the progress of learning in the area of budgeting and finances, the teen classes were always about double the knowledge level of the adults … and the difference was that the teens were using the Money Habitudes cards! From that, I made the decision that Money Habitudes would become the standard budgeting and finance piece we’d use in every class. [The study found that 89.6% of participants gained budgeting and financing skills and 95.0% said they gained communications skills.]

Deborah Gunn
Program Manager
First Things First
Chattanooga, Tennessee

I have incorporated the Money Habitudes cards in my ‘Get the Money Monkey Off Your Back!’ series and the participants (mostly low income) loved them! One participant said about the Money Habitudes card sort, ‘It stopped me cold in my tracks and gave me the biggest reality check. It made me look at what I value most.’

Joan Reid
Extension Agent, Family & Consumer Sciences
NC Cooperative Extension, Granville County Center
Oxford, North Carolina

It’s been a good fit for us. It seems like people are more receptive to our other financial education materials after we do Money Habitudes. It’s been very positive for us.

Joanie Davis
Community Initiatives Director
United Way of Henry County and Martinsville

I know first hand that it isn’t always easy or fun to open up about such difficult money conversations, but try to face your fears head on. The only thing scarier is to not deal with the unspoken problems and their roots. To help make it easier and to add a little fun to your talks about money in your remarriage and with your blended family members, I personally recommend using Syble Solomon’s Money Habitudes cards to help you tackle the serious business of talking about money in your life.

Paula Bisacre
Founder
RemarriageWorks.com