Nerdy budget enthusiast
Emily Blain (she/her)
- I’ve been our family CFO since Day 1 of marriage (or before…). Our teamwork enabled my husband (primary breadwinner) to quit a stressful job that was mentally and emotionally draining him before he had an official offer on the table from the company he was interviewing with.
- Accredited Financial Counselor® and YNAB Certified Coach
- I’m passionate about individualized teaching. I’ve been teaching private, one-on-one viola lessons for over 10 years and doing one-on-one financial coaching since 2019. I love being able to meet my students and clients where they are rather than trying to cover “most” situations and knowing that some are falling through the cracks.
Expertise
Founding Member of the
Financial Coaches Network
Accredited Financial Counselor®
YNAB Certified Coach
MBC Certified Coach
My Story
When my husband and I got married in 2012, we were fresh, naive kids straight out of college. Through a combination of nurture (both pairs of parents did an abnormally good job at teaching us about money), nature, and definitely some luck, we muddled along for a few years, keeping on top of our bills and slowly, almost lackadaisically paying down student loans.
In 2017, when our daughter Rebekah was born, we (I) got behind on tracking our expenses in Quicken. I finally decided to switch to YNAB–a program I’d tried twice before, but never really figured out. But I kept hearing about it and how amazing it was (and the pretty UI compared to Quicken made my millennial heart go pitter-patter!)…so I dove in!
Fast forward to 2025, and we paid off both car loans early, paid off our student loans early, bought an almost-new Chevy Bolt in cash in May 2024 (hello EV life!), and are currently saving for a trip to Iceland in October! I became a YNAB Certified Coach in 2024 and an Accredited Financial Counselor® in 2025. I’ve helped dozens of people gain financial confidence for the first time in their lives. I LOVE getting updates about paying down personal lines of credit (and keeping them paid off for the first time!), saving for and going on vacations without any money stress (even before debt is paid off!), and having the flexibility to say an enthusiastic YES when something fun and unexpected comes up.
When I’m not coaching, I teach viola lessons and proofread board games/rpgs. When I’m not doing THOSE, I hang out with my husband and our crazy daughter, read fantasy (and romantasy) books, guiltily watch reality TV, and play tons of board games and video games with my husband. We are major nerds and proud of it! In fact, our joint YNAB “fun money” categories are split into “Campaigns” (things like board and video games) and “One-Shots” (things that are one-time experiences like eating out or tickets to events).