Founding test run · the $197 price ends Sun Oct 11 at 11:59pm CT · we start Mon Oct 12
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A 6-week money challenge with Mal · @MoneyTalkMal
Walk into 2027 financially unbothered.
In six weeks you'll know exactly where your money goes, get back money you've been overpaying, get your partner on the same page, protect your family, and set up 2027 to run on autopilot.
You'll do it one move a week, with a plan written for your stage and a community of women checking in on you every week, so it's all done before the holidays hit.
I'm in. Save my seat →
250 founding seats · $197 test price (or 2 × $98.50) · doors close Sun Oct 11 at 11:59pm CT
// sound familiar?
If you've said any of these lately, this challenge was made for you.
“
I make decent money, so why does it feel like it disappears every month?
“
I know I need a will. I just haven't gotten around to it.
“
I'm the only one in our house who knows where anything is.
“
Every January I swear this is the year I get it together.
// this is for you
Tired of feeling behind with money, no matter how much you make? This is for you.
- You have a list of money to-dos you've been putting off since 2024, and it follows you into every January.
- You carry the financial mental load for your household, and nobody else knows the plan (or whether there is one).
- You're doing okay on paper, but you don't feel confident about what you should be doing next.
- You keep meaning to deal with the will, the beneficiaries, the kids' accounts, and the insurance, and life keeps getting in the way.
You probably already know a lot of what you should be doing. What's been missing is a plan for your stage, one move at a time, and people checking in so it actually gets done. The Head Start gives you all three, and we finish before Thanksgiving.
I'm in. Save my seat →// six weeks from now
From “I really should…” to done.
Right now
- You're not totally sure where your paycheck goes each month.
- You're overpaying on at least one bill and haven't had time to call.
- You're the only one who knows the money plan, and it's exhausting.
- Open enrollment and year-end deadlines sneak up on you.
- The will, the beneficiaries, and the kids' accounts are still on your someday list.
- January starts with a resolution and a December credit card bill.
By Thanksgiving
- You have a spending plan that fits your real income, and you know which goal comes first.
- You've negotiated at least one bill or rate and logged the money you got back.
- You and your partner have held a real money meeting and split up who owns what.
- Your 401(k), HSA, benefits, and year-end tax moves are handled before the deadlines.
- Beneficiaries are checked, your estate plan is started or updated, and your kids' accounts are open.
- 2027 runs on automations, and your holiday spending number was set before Black Friday.
// you won't be doing this alone
Built inside a community, so you actually follow through.
Most of us already know what we should be doing with our money. Doing it when nobody's watching is the hard part. The Head Start runs inside the MTM Millionaire Room, and accountability is built into every single week:
- Live Office Hours with me, every week. We alternate times so you can make it: Tuesdays at 8pm CT one week, Tuesdays at noon CT the next. Replays post within 12 hours.
- The weekly Check-In doc. Every week you enter your win and your check-in, so you can watch your progress (and the group's) stack up.
- Stage-based pods. A small group of women at your financial stage for the questions you'd never post on Instagram.
- Receipts Friday. Post your win in the challenge thread and you're entered into that week's $100 drawing.
- Me, in the Room all six weeks. I read the check-ins, answer questions, and cheer for you loudly.
Logging all six weekly check-ins also unlocks the Found Money Guarantee.
Save my seat →
// how we'll get you there
One problem solved each week, in the order that makes the next one easier.
Each week opens with a PDF playbook written three ways (Foundation, Growth, and Legacy), a 10-minute video, and an audio version for the carpool line. Office Hours are live every Tuesday, alternating between 8pm CT and noon CT, and every week you log your check-in and post your win.
01 Week of Oct 12 · Know
Know exactly where your money goes.
If your paycheck seems to disappear and you're never sure what you can afford, we start here. You'll compare what your household actually brings in to what it actually spends, build a spending plan that fits, map every account, and calculate your net worth (even if it's negative).
You walk away with a spending plan and a clear order for your goals.
02 Week of Oct 19 · Recover
Get back money you're overpaying.
If you've been meaning to call about a bill for months, this is the week you make the call. Pick one negotiation (a medical bill, your insurance, a subscription, a credit card APR, or, for Legacy, the conversation with your manager that sets up your year-end raise) and use my scripts.
You walk away with real dollars back, and a “no” still counts as done.
03 Week of Oct 26 · Align
Stop being the only one who knows the plan.
If you carry the money mental load for your whole household, this week shares it. You'll hold a 45-minute Money Meeting with my agenda, plus a script for the partner who “doesn't care.” Fri Oct 30: live hot-seat with a couples & money therapist.
You walk away with a partner on the same page and a written split of who owns what.
04 Week of Nov 2 · Optimize
Beat every December 31 deadline in November.
If open enrollment and year-end tax moves always sneak up on you, this week handles them early: your 401(k) match, HSA, FSA, 529, and a 15-minute investing tune-up, by tier. Live hot-seat with my CPA on year-end tax strategy.
You walk away with every deadline handled and no money left on the table.
05 Week of Nov 9 · Protect + Provide
Protect your family and set up your kids.
If the will and the beneficiaries are still on your someday list, this week checks them off. You'll confirm the beneficiary on every account, take your next estate step, and open the right account for each child with my Raising Money-Smart Kids by-age guide.
You walk away with your family protected and your kids' accounts open.
06 Week of Nov 16 · Lock in 2027
Make January run on autopilot.
If every January starts with a resolution and a December credit card bill, this week changes that. You'll set three automations, set your holiday spending number before Black Friday, and write your 2027 One-Page Plan. Finish Line Live, Friday Nov 20.
You walk away with a 2027 that runs itself.
Then in December: the estate planning attorney comes back live to finish what you started in Week 5. It's inside your 90 days.
// wherever you're starting
Paying off debt or managing millions, every week has a version written for you.
Foundation
You're paying off debt, building your first emergency fund, or working with variable income.
Your version: a spending plan that frees up cash, an APR or bill negotiation, a will and guardianship for your kids, and a debt payoff milestone for 2027.
Growth
You have a positive net worth, you're investing, and you wonder if you're doing it right.
Your version: find your savings rate and your sleeping cash, requote your insurance, max out your HSA and 529 moves, book the estate consult, and automate your raises.
Legacy
You're a high earner or high net worth and already working with pros.
Your version: an advisor fee audit in dollars, the manager conversation that sets up your year-end merit bump, Roth and tax-loss moves to bring to our CPA, and a trust and beneficiary review.
// the math on one phone call
Your first negotiation could cover the whole challenge.
Week 2 is one real negotiation, with scripts, done before Halloween. Here's what a single move has done for women who follow me:
- $170 a month: what one follower saved by requoting her insurance (over $2,000 a year).
- 32¢ to $700: where another follower's savings interest went after moving to a high-yield account.
- $600 to $125: what a third follower got a personal loan cost down to with one call.
If one move saves you $17 a month, the $197 pays for itself within a year. And if your total doesn't reach $1,000 by Nov 20, the Found Money Guarantee has you covered.
Individual results from real follower DMs. Your results will vary.
Save my seat →// the person teaching you this
Hey, I'm Mal.
Millennial mom, wife, and the financial educator behind Money Talk Mal, and, as I like to say, a bit of an anomaly in the personal finance space. I bring a fresh, relatable, occasionally unfiltered perspective to a topic most people find painfully dry, and I've been lucky enough to have that perspective featured in The New York Times, Business Insider, The Cut, Morning Brew, and U.S. News Money.
My husband and I run our money the way I teach it: an annual money date, a plan we actually follow, and zero shame about where we started. Over the past several years I've helped tens of thousands of women learn to invest, negotiate, and budget without giving up the life they want.
I built The Head Start because the women in my community kept telling me the same two things: “I feel behind,” and “I know what to do, I just don't do it.” Six weeks of one action at a time, done together with weekly check-ins, is how I'm fixing both.
YOU MAY HAVE SEEN MAL ON
// + included with your seat
And you also get all of this.
Bonus 01
The Scripts Vault
My full Negotiation Navigator course plus every challenge script: HR benefits questions, the manager priming conversation, the beneficiary check, the insurance requote, the disengaged-partner invite, the 529 birthday ask, the kid allowance contract.
$197 → FREE
Bonus 02
The Spending Plan + Money Map Tracker
The Google Sheet that shows income vs. expenses, every account you own, and your net worth, and updates in 10 minutes each quarter.
$47 → FREE
Bonus 03
Three expert hot-seats
A couples & money therapist (Oct 30), my CPA on year-end tax strategy (November), and the estate planning attorney (December).
$397 → FREE
Bonus 04
Raising Money-Smart Kids
The by-age guide, 0 to 18: which accounts, which conversations, and one activity a month. Plus the Kids' Account Decision Tree.
$67 → FREE
Bonus 05
Stage-based pods
A small group of women at your same financial stage, so the “dumb questions” have a safe place.
$97 → FREE
Bonus 06
Audio + PDF of everything
Every lesson in 10-minute audio for the carpool line. Every week's playbook printable.
Included
FAST-ACTION BONUS · FIRST 48 HOURS ONLY ($450 value): entry into a drawing for three 30-minute 1:1 strategy calls with me.
// here's the math
Add it all up.
| THE CORE | |
| The 6-week Head Start Challenge (6 playbooks, 6 lessons, 6 audio) | $297 |
| 6 live Office Hours with Mal (alternating Tue 8pm CT and Tue noon CT) + the weekly Check-In doc | $597 |
| 90 days inside the Millionaire Room community | $111 |
| THE BONUSES | |
| The Scripts Vault (Negotiation Navigator + challenge scripts) | $197 |
| Spending Plan + Money Map Tracker | $47 |
| Three expert hot-seats | $397 |
| Raising Money-Smart Kids guide | $67 |
| Stage-based accountability pods | $97 |
| TOTAL VALUE | $1,610 |
| FOUNDING TEST PRICE | $197 |
That's 88% off the total value. $197 is a test price for this founding round. If I run The Head Start again, it will cost more.
// founding round · test price
Lock in the test price.
This is the first time I've ever run The Head Start, so $197 is a test price for 250 founding seats. If I run it again, it will certainly cost more. Doors close Sunday Oct 11 at 11:59pm CT, and we start Monday Oct 12.
Already a Millionaire Room member? The challenge is free for you. Check the community for your access.
// the found money guarantee
Find $1,000 or I'll refund you.
Log all six weekly check-ins in the Check-In doc, and if you haven't found, saved, recovered, or protected at least $1,000 by November 20, email us and I'll refund your $197. You keep your 90 days in the Room. The only condition is doing the six weekly actions, because doing them is how the money shows up.
// let's level set
Expect real work and real results, minus any get-rich-by-Christmas promises.
For six weeks you'll do the boring, high-return things most people put off for years. You'll make a few phone calls, look at numbers you've been avoiding, and have at least one money conversation with your partner that you've been putting off. It takes 15 minutes a week at minimum and about an hour if you go all in.
If you're looking for a passive course to get to someday, this one won't fit. If you're ready to stop feeling behind, you're in the right place.
// This is for you if
- You feel behind no matter what your net worth says.
- You follow through better when someone's checking in.
- You're the one who “runs the money” and you're tired of being the only one who knows.
- You have a list of financial to-dos you've been avoiding since 2024.
- You want to walk into January with it handled instead of with another resolution.
- You have kids and want to set them up without sacrificing your own retirement.
// This is not for you if
- You want information without action. You've got Google for that.
- You can't give it 15 minutes a week.
- You're looking for a stock tip or a get-rich-quick anything.
- You'd rather keep feeling behind than have the conversation with your partner.
// still deciding?
Here are honest answers.
I've tried budgeting before and quit.
I don't have time for this right now.
How does the accountability work?
What if I can't make Office Hours live?
I'm in debt. Is this for me?
I'm already doing well. Is this too basic?
I'm single. Is the Money Meeting week for me?
What happens after the 6 weeks?
I'm already a Millionaire Room member.
Is there a refund?
Will there be another round?
// last call
You can keep feeling behind, or you can start on October 12.
Six weeks from now you could have a spending plan that fits, money back in your account, your partner on the same page, and a 2027 plan you believe in. Or you could be Googling “how to fix my finances” on January 2nd again.
I'm in. Save my seat →$197 test price ends Sun Oct 11 at 11:59pm CT · We start Mon Oct 12 · 250 founding seats
// p.s. if you only read one thing
I know what it's like to swear “this is the year” and then let the holidays win. If you feel behind, it's because nobody ever handed you a plan and a group of women to do it with. I'm handing you both for six weeks, one move at a time, with a check-in every week so it actually gets done. Let's walk into 2027 unbothered.
XX Mal
Get in →Mal is a financial educator, not a licensed financial advisor. The Head Start is educational and not individualized financial advice. Results vary. Found Money Guarantee terms are stated above; the guarantee requires all six weekly check-ins logged in the Check-In doc by November 20, 2026.
