Adulting Is Easy: Making Personal Finance & Real Estate Easy

Most families could do a lot more with a lot less with a bit of financial know-how and discipline, and that’s why Brad is passionate about personal finance. A big goal of parents is sending their kids to college. College kids basically can’t work their way through anymore. Parents can start saving generally and later earmark that savings for college. Lauren asks about having to choose between savi...

Gary graduated with a degree that didn’t allow him to make the kind of money he wanted, so he got into nursing to make more money. And then, he made more doing travel nursing. Now, he’s growing his income again by becoming a nurse practitioner. Making more money at work is great, but he learned during COVID to make more money on the side as well, when his 403b (like a 401k) match was paused while...

DJ kicks off the interview by telling us how he became DJ the Money Coach. He became passionate about money because his mother was a victim of predatory lending and identity theft. Furthermore, DJ did what many of us have done: signed up for credit cards not really realizing he had to pay them back. His credit score was very low, and this impacted him in getting mortgages and business loans for a...

Hi guys, Lauren here. First of all, thanks for being with me for nearly 5 years. Time has flown and this has been one of the best decisions I've ever made! That said, I'm buying a house and going on some vacations coming up. So, for the forseeable future Adulting Is Easy is going to do episodes every other week instead of every week. The House Money Podcast is going on a summer break, but...

Lauren invited her sister Jenny back from a mid-year episode.  Lauren created a list of small expenses that add up over time. Take a look at your budget or spending and see if you can cut any of these low hanging fruit: Subscriptions Delivery memberships (Prime, Instacart) Bank fees Data storage Physical storage Insurance and warranties Pricey gyms Cigarettes and other vices Eating out or takeout...

They kick off by defining what net worth is and talk about why it matters. But they’re sure to point out that net worth isn’t self-worth. It’s just a part of your wealth. Since net worth is the value of your assets, less the value of your debts, they discuss some examples of assets and debts. They all agree that your primary home is an asset. Understanding and tracking your net worth helps you mak...

Before we talk about selling stock to buy a house, we must understand what a stock is, and how you can buy and own them, so that’s where Lauren and Landon start. They also go over what a brokerage account is, versus your retirement accounts. Sometimes, even for long term investors, short-term needs and wants start to outweigh long-term needs and wants. For example, it may become more important to...

Lauren and Rocky open up the conversation talking about what success means in business. Most business comes down to math, and simple math at that. If you sit down before starting a business and do the math, you should have an idea about whether the business can be successful. The conversation takes a turn towards cash washes, which Lauren welcomes. Is this really becoming as oversaturated as it se...

First, Lauren needs to know why people call him Rock/Rawk. Then, she asks about the “accidental landlord” thing. It turns out, what happened to Rawk and his wife is a tale as old as time: they bought a house thinking they’d stay a while, but then a job offer took them elsewhere. Lauren and Rawk dive into the numbers of that “deal”: purchase price, interest rate, and rent. Then, the conversation tr...

Lauren needed a vacation, so we're replaying one of her favorite episodes in which she and her friend Kurtis absolutely destroy the beloved self help book Think and Grow Rich. Note that the sound wasn't as good back then, but it's still very easy to listen to. The original episode was posted October 12, 2021. The book Think and Grow Rich was written by Napoleon Hill and published in 19...

You can’t talk about Bitcoin without starting with defining cryptocurrency. When you think about it, even the US dollar is somewhat digital. What makes cryptocurrency different is that it’s decentralized. Bitcoin started as a cryptocurrency, but it’s morphed over time to a store of value and hedge against inflation. Andy emphasizes that Bitcoin is very much in its infancy. He goes on to explain mi...

Lauren kicks the interview off asking about how Alex and his wife got into the wedding venue space. Their interest in the wedding space started when they were planning their own wedding over 5 years ago. It was important to them that they go away from the barn look that so many venues have now. They have both a groom and bridal suite. And they wanted it to be close to the airport. They do offer so...

Lauren throws Andy a curveball right at the beginning by asking WHY he paid his house off. This is a very controversial topic in the personal finance world. Turns out, he had an OK reason, but the interest rate was pretty low…. Next, she asks how much money people need for retirement. Andy has a different take than she’s heard before. There’s a difference between wanting to retire after 59.5 and w...

Allie is so passionate about young professionals succeeding. She kicks off by telling us about how she started a PR firm and ended up hiring a lot of young professionals. Allie started teaching them things they didn’t learn in school, like how to request PTO or set a meeting, for example. Eventually, she built a company around this passion, teaching and training young people. Not long after that,...

Devine got tired of being tired. That’s when he decided to take the financial reigns and start preparing for an early retirement at 45 or 50 years old. His cousin encouraged him to get into computer engineering, which is a great career. But when he started out, although he was making good money, he had student loans, then he added auto loans, then some credit card debt as well. On the bright side,...

Lauren opens by asking Andrew why he started The Personal Finance Podcast. He started it in 2020 to share his passion with others. He loves hearing about people’s “lightbulb moments” when they unlock an ability to build wealth and therefore unlock some time freedom. Then, Lauren and Andrew transition to discussing ways to grow your income passively. There’s a spectrum of income from active to pass...

Lauren opens by askingBrian how he came to the conclusion to change paths from the business path to the missionary one. He truly felt God was leading him in that direction. That was the best way for him to have a positive impact on the world. Then, they dive into how people can invest on low incomes. Don’t wait until you make more! And remember, wealthy people buy luxuries last. Then, they dive in...

Lauren starts by asking why Vanessa dropped out of college. It turns out, she’d be considering it for a year, but she felt she wasn’t learning anything she couldn’t learn in the real world. Vanessa’s father had asked her to join his real estate business, and she’d finally made the decision to follow in his footsteps. Vanessa then shares her father’s story, who invested in real estate on the side w...

BOY DO WE HAVE A TREAT FOR YOU THIS WEEK! Lauren puts out 2 weekly podcasts, one of course being Adulting Is Easy. The second is called the House Money Podcast. Here's episode 26! House Money Weekly In this week’s House Money Weekly segment, Lauren and Alan have a special guest, Chris Luger from Heavy Metal Money where they discuss blog 125, which is about the 3 essential skills every real est...

What makes Chris the self-proclaimed Gas Biz Guy? Chris shares his origin story. It turns out his family was “in the business.” The name comes from his uncle’s plate from his Corvette. Lauren wonders what “gas biz” really means, and Chris breaks down all of the businesses in that sphere, many of which he has personal experience in. In short, Chris was born an entrepreneur. Then, the 2 transition t...

Lauren and Cody kick off the interview by talking about what a CFP® is, and how someone becomes one. The curriculum covers a wide range of financial information. Cody describes financial planning as a bridge between your financial ecosystem and your family’s goals and values. Cody argues that financial planners get a bad rap because of some financial advisors trying to take over management of your...

Lauren comes out of the gate hot, asking exactly how Lindsay accumulated her $100k of debt. Basically, when she started making money, Lindsay blew through it, and ended up with all of her income going towards payments. Most people think of personal finance through payments. Lindsay didn’t know what she should be doing. How did she eventually get on track? This is gut wrenching. Lindsay and her fam...

Brendan defines house hacking as making income off of a residence you live in. He took his first house hacking step around the age of 22. He started by playing defense with his finances. Then, he bought a duplex in a college town near where he grew up. Brendan and his buddy bought the place for $110k, then put a bit of sweat equity into it. They rented the top unit to students and also got 2 roomm...

Happy almost Valentine's Day! This week, Lauren brings her husband Aric back to discuss an apropos topic. Using an Equifax article for inspiration, the two go back and forth asking each other financial questions. The topics range from income, credit, expenses, debt, goals, kids, and retirement. This episode brings a lot of levity and laughs between the two, who realize after almost 5 years of...

Justine opens by telling a gut-wrenching story about giving VERY honest, public feedback at her corporate job. This left her feeling vulnerable to being canned, but she got a lot of respect from others in her role. The wheels of change had started to turn, but they started turning in earnest when she attended a personal finance training session. That’s when she started investing in index funds. In...