Meet Our Financial Coaching Cats Team
Become a Peer Coach with Financial Coaching Cats
Take Control of Your Money with Financial Coaching Cats
Managing your money as a student can sometimes feel overwhelming. Between tuition, rent, groceries, and everyday expenses, it's easy to feel like you're just trying to stay afloat. That's where Financial Coaching Cats can help.
Our program pairs you with trained peer financial coaches - fellow University of Arizona students from our Personal and Family Financial Planning degree program - who provide a supportive, collaborative space to explore your financial goals, identify challenges, and develop strategies that fit your life.
Coaching is student-driven and judgement-free. We're not here to lecture or give advice. Instead, we help you reflect on your choices, consider your options, and build the skills and confidence to make financial decisions that align with your goals.
Whether you are trying to make sense of your budget, save for unexpected expenses, navigate student loans, or simply feel more confident managing money, Financial Coaching Cats provides the guidance and support to help you take meaningful steps toward financial well-being.
Working with a Financial Coaching Cat Can Help You
- Take control of your monthly budget and spending
- Build an emergency fund for unexpected expenses
- Understand and manage student loans, credit, and debt
- Set achievable short- and long-term financial goals
- Strengthen your confidence and decision-making skills with money
How it Works
- Schedule a Coaching Session: Sign up for a session with one of trained Financial Coaching Cats. Your first session is just the start of a conversation about your money goals.
- Complete an Intake Form: If this is your first session, you'll fill out a quick form to help your coach understand your current financial situation, goals, and any challenges you'd like to focus on. This helps make your session more productive and personalized.
- Meet Your Coach: Sessions can be scheduled online or in-person - whatever works best for you. During your session, you and your coach will explore your finances, reflect on your goals, and develop strategies that fit your life.
- Take Action and Reach Your Goals: Walk away with practical skills, confidence, and a roadmap for managing your money. Each session is collaborative, so you leave with actionable steps that make sense for you.
Schedule Your Free Financial Coaching Session
Frequently Asked Questions
Financial Coaching Cats is a peer financial coaching program where trained student coaches help you explore your financial goals, challenges, and options. Coaching is student-driven and collaborative, focusing on skill-building and strategies - not advice.
No! Coaching is for all University of Arizona students, whether you are just starting to budget, wanting to build confidence with your finances, or are figuring out big decisions like student loans, savings and financial transitions.
Coaching covers any money-related topic you want to explore, including budgeting, saving, credit, student loans, and even "non-traditional" topics like financial stress, money relationships, or balancing spending with social life.
Peer coaches are trained to guide conversations, explore your goals, and help you develop strategies, but there are some topics - like detailed investing advice or tax planning - that go beyond their scope. If you bring up questions like these, your coach will help you understand your options, point you to trusted resources, and guide you toward the right experts. The goal is to make sure that you get the support you need, even if it means connecting with a specialist.
Absolutely! You are welcome to request a specific peer coach if there's someone you feel would be a good fit. If you don't have a preference, that's totally fine - we'll match you with a trained peer coach who's available and can support your goals. Either way, your sessions are confidential, supportive, and completely focused on what matters to you.
See our team of peer coaches here [link to peer coach page].
Peer coaches won't tell you what to do or make financial decisions for you - that's not the role of coaching. Instead, your coach will ask questions, help you explore your options, and guide you to make decisions that fit your goals and life. Think of it as having a sounding board and a strategist in your corner: you bring your challenges and questions, and your peer coach helps you clarify your priorities, consider the pros and cons, and develop actionable steps.
Coaching is all about empowering you to make confident decisions, not giving you a prescription. You leave each session with practical strategies you choose to put into action.
Your first coaching session is often more exploratory, as your coach will get to know your situation, help you identify challenges, and discuss what you want to focus on. We recommend that you plan 45 - and up to 60 minutes if you come in for a drop-in session (so you can fill out an intake form) for this session, giving you enough time to explore questions, reflect on your goals, and work with your coach to develop strategies that fit your life.
After your first session, we encourage at least one follow-up to keep the conversation going and build on what you've explored. For most students, 3 or 4 coaching sessions per topic or goal are enough to make meaningful progress and feel more confident in their financial decisions.
Follow-up sessions are typically shorter that your first coaching session, often around 30 minutes, but can be adjusted based on what you want to cover with your peer coach. These sessions are designed to check in on your progress, refine your strategies, and tackle any new questions.
Nope! Financial Coaching Cats sessions are completely free for University of Arizona students. Our goal is giving you the support and tools you need to feel confident about your money - without worrying about the cost.
Why Financial Coaching Works
You might be thinking, "Why not just figure this out myself?" Here's how a peer coach can help you make sense of your finances: in a way that's supportive, student-centered, and collaborative.
- Relatable Guidance: Your coach has faced many of the same challenges you're navigating as a University of Arizona student. They understand the realities of tuition, balancing work and classes, and managing everyday expenses.
- Personalized Support: Coaching isn't one-sizes-fits-all, and it's not about being told what do. Your coach helps you reflect on your situation, identify options, and explore strategies that fit your goals and values.
- Safe & Confidential: All conversations are private. You can be honest about your concerns without judgement.
- Skill-Building: Coaching sessions focus on helping you develop practical tools, strategies, and confidence so you can make informed financial decisions that work for your life.
What Happens in a Coaching Session?
In your first 45- to 60-minute coaching session and during any follow-up appointments, you'll have the opportunity to:
- Explore your current financial situation in a supportive, judgement-free space
- Build strategies for topics like budgeting, saving, building credit or managing debt
- Discuss non-traditional areas where your money and life intersect - navigating financial stress, balancing social life and finances, managing money in relationships, or planning for transitions like graduation or moving off of campus.
Coaching sessions are student-driven and collaborative. They are your space to ask questions, explore challenges, and create a plan that works for you.
Not Sure What to Talk About in Your Coaching Session? Start Here!
Money Basics
Start here if you want to explore your everyday finances and make them work for you
- Budgeting: Reflect on your income/spending patterns and explore strategies to align your money with your priorities.
- Saving & Emergency Funds: Consider what a financial cushion could look like for you and identify ways to make it achievable.
- Spending Habits: Examine your money habits, discover patterns, and explore choices that feel intentional and realistic.
- Cash Flow Awareness: Think through how money comes in and goes out each month and identify opportunities to optimize your flow.
- Financial Reflection: Discuss what "being financially well" means to you and how your current habits support or challenge your goals.
Debt & Credit
Think about how to manage obligations and build financial confidence
- Building Your Credit: Learn what factors affect your credit score and explore small steps to strengthen your financial reputation.
- Loans/Credit Cards: Reflect on how you use loans/credit and discuss strategies to stay in control without feeling restricted.
- Student Loans: Explore your options, understand repayment considerations, and consider what approach algins with your goals.
- Managing Debt Stress: Discuss ways to reduce anxiety related to borrowing and explore problem-solving approaches.
- Understanding Credit Terms: Break down jargon, clarify confusing terms, and build confidence in navigating credit.
Planning & Goals
Set yourself up for success by thinking through what matters most and how to get there
- Short-Term Goals: Identify priorities like trips, electronics or big purchases and brainstorm ways to achieve them.
- Long-Term Goals: Explore your vision for graduation, moving off campus, or other milestones, and reflect on steps that support these goals.
- Decision-making Skills: Practice evaluating options and building confidence in choices that fit your life.
- Goal Alignment: Consider how your spending, saving, and borrowing choices reflect your personal values and priorities.
- Tracking Progress: Reflect on your wins, challenges, and adjustments to help you stay on course.
Life & Money
Explore how money connects with your overall wellness, relationships, and life.
- Financial Stress: Reflect on money-related anxiety and identify strategies to feel more in control.
- Balancing Social Life & Finances: Explore ways to enjoy college life while keeping your finances in check.
- Money in Relationships: Discuss how to communicate about money with roommates, romantic partners, or family.
- Major Life Transitions: Reflect on upcoming changes - your first year as a college student, moving off campus, graduation, new jobs, etc. - and consider approaches that fit your needs.
- Life Events & Planning: Explore how events like internships, travel, or gap years can affect finances and your goals.
Taboo & Tricky Money Topics
Talk about money issues that are hard to discuss but important to explore
- Money Shame & Guilt: Reflect on feelings of embarrassment around spending, debt, or financial choices.
- Family & Money Dynamics: Explore how family expectations, support, or conflicts shape your financial decisions.
- Cultural or Peer Pressure: Discuss how societal norms or friends influence spending, saving, or borrowing habits.
- Hidden Costs & Lifestyle Pressures: Identify pressures that affect your money and explore strategies to align your choices with your goals.
- Uncomfortable Conversations: Build confidence to approach sensitive topics, from splitting bills with roommates to discussing finances with parterns and family.
Money Skills & Strategies
Focus on building tools, confidence, and habits you can experiment with:
- Student-Friendly Tools: Explore apps, spreadsheets, and systems that might help you manage your money more effectively.
- Problem-Solving: Work through tricky financial situations in a supportive, exploratory space.
- Confidence Boosters: Leave sessions with actionable ideas and a plan for your next steps.
- Mindset & Reflection: Reflect on financial habits and experiment with new approaches without judgement.