HerMoney with Jean Chatzky

A Week In Her Wallet: How One Woman Turned Divorce Debt Into a Bulletproof Budget, and a Savings Surplus

HerMoney with Jean Chatzky

Show Notes

Nicole is 56, single, and living in Raleigh, North Carolina, and she has a spreadsheet for everything. After her divorce left her saddled with debt, she spent two decades building a budget system so airtight she hasn't carried a credit card balance since. Now she's earning over $100k a year, paying off every card in full, and chipping away at a student loan she could settle tomorrow if she wanted to.

But when Nicole spent a week tracking every dollar for A Week in Her Wallet, she made a surprising discovery: she has far more money left over each month than she ever realized, and she’s ready to put it to work.

In this episode, Jean and Nicole cover:

The medical billing maze that's costing Nicole more than it should

The three-debit-card system Nicole built

Why a diagnosis changed how she thinks about spending on her own wellbeing

The student loan she's been carrying strategically

What Nicole's retirement dream actually looks like

Pre-order Jean's new book, The Forever Paycheck — your guide to building a secure, steady income stream for the retirement you've worked so hard for. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More from HerMoney with Jean Chatzky

Oct 23, 2026

How much do you need to retire, not just comfortably, but happily, in 2026?

Oct 21, 2026

The ten years before retirement are your last, best chance to get it right. In this episode, Jean and Anne Lester, author of Your Best Financial Life, former head of Retirement Solutions for J.P. Morgan Asset Management, and a fellow with LIMRA’s Retirement Income Institute, break down what the ten years before retirement should really look like and everything you need to tackle to enter retirement with confidence.

Oct 16, 2026

Financial literacy isn’t just a problem for young people — it spans every generation and income bracket, and the numbers have only gotten worse over the last decade. So what actually works?

Oct 14, 2026

Sixty percent of Americans say they feel scared when they think about the future, and women are more likely than men to feel that way. If your instinct is to push that fear down, breathe through it, or just try to be more fearless, Farnoosh Torabi wants to stop you right there. Because fear, she argues, isn’t the enemy. It’s actually one of the most powerful tools you have, if you know how to listen to it.

Oct 9, 2026

Have you ever stopped to think about how nearly every product in your life — the car you drive, the shoes on your feet, the chair you're sitting in right now — was actually designed for men? Because cars were designed for men, women are 73% more likely to be seriously injured in a crash, and 17% more likely to die in one. And it doesn't stop at cars; even your sneakers were likely modeled on a man's foot first.

See all episodes →