Crushing Debt

How do you manage your feeling about money? How do you manage your habits around spending, saving, or investing money? How do you speak with your family and other relationships about money? This week, George and Shawn talk to Maggie Baker, PhD, a practicing psychotherapy for 30 years, who is passionate about helping folks put their minds at ease during stressful financial situations. Dr. Baker kno...

What apps or websites do you use to save money? On December 8, 2023, Shawn will be speaking at the More Entrepreneur Summit 2023.  You can get your tickets here: https://bit.ly/SYSummit23 While these podcast episodes last as long as George and Shawn have content, Shawn's presentation at the summit is only five minutes, so Shawn wanted some help narrowing down all of the great technology tips to pr...

How do you talk to your kids about money?  About saving, spending and investing? Do you pay your kids an allowance? On this week's episode of the podcast, George and Shawn talk to Maya Corbic, a mother and seasoned CPA, with a background as a CFO, tax accountant and auditor. Maya is also a newly published author with her book "From Piggy Banks to Stocks: The Ultimate Guide for a Young Investor" wh...

What strange purchases have you made online? What ridiculous things are available on Amazon? What absurd purchases did people make during (and post) the pandemic? This week, George and Shawn talk about some ridiculous purchases available online. You can read the articles that formed the basis of this week's eposide at: Our Most Ridiculous Pandemic Panic Purchases (and What We Did With Them) | Revi...

Welcome to our bi-annual Garage Sale lesson episode of the Crushing Debt Podcast! In this week's episode, we put it all together into one over-arching sales presentation. Each year, in October and May, Shawn's neighborhood hosts a community-wide garage sale. Shawn has tested and practiced different sales techniques at these bi-annual events in a low-risk, low-pressure environment! You can listen t...

Is it too early to start thinking about the holidays? Is it too early to start buying presents for the holidays? Nope! and Nope! This week Shawn & George talk about a few articles we found on the internet around ways to save on Holiday spending, whether gifts, travel or other holiday-related expenses. You can read these articles at:  29 Ways To Save on Holiday Gifts | GOBankingRates 12 cheap holid...

Do you have a voice at the table - the financial table? Do you have your financial house in order? Did you know that men and women view and treat money very differently? Have you been on a Money Date or planned a Money Party? Are you prepared for the unthinkable? For the windfall? This week Shawn (solo, George is back next week) has Cassandra Smalley, a Certified Financial Planner, holder of the C...

What is the best way to pay for college? How do college visits factor into the cost of college? What is the total price of college? Is it the same as listed on the schools' websites? What price should parents or students expect to pay for college? What is the real price difference between private and public universities? What is late-stage college planning? On this week's episode of The Crushing D...

When is the right time to start a new business? What should the economy look like?  Why do startups fail? What pitfalls should a new owner understand and avoid? In this week's episode, George and Shawn talk about these issues, with a focus on income, debt, financial statements, and other issues that may affect the new, small business owner. Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please...

When is something free? When can you spend money and make money? What is "Girl Math"? In this week's episode, George and Shawn delve into the strange Social Media trend of "Girl Math."  Yes, that's a real thing - there is a growing trend of social media influencers with millions of views and followers promoting rules that they believe help save people money. Under "Girl Math" in certain scenarios,...

What are some ridiculous, absurd, wasteful, dumb things you've spent money on? Certainly Shawn & George have purchased things that maybe were not the smartest buys, it happens. However, in this week's episode, Shawn & George talk about a few articles we found on the internet, having a little fun (and some serious talk) about items that are maybe not the most ideal buys, although some may be ... ht...

When is bankruptcy an option?  What if someone makes good money, but they just can't make ends meet? What options are available other than bankruptcy? This week George had a conversation with someone (not in Florida) who was asking questions about bankruptcy - how does it work, when should someone file, what chapter, etc. This week George asks Shawn these questions and we discuss: the emotions beh...

Why Will Most People Never Be Rich? What Will Rich People Never Tell You? Why are the Rich, Rich? What are 8 Secrets From Very Rich People? What are Steve Jobs's 10 Rules for Success? What Books Will Teach You To Be Rich? What are the 5 Rules to Business? Today, Shawn and George dive into the world of Memes and Infographics!  We found these seven memes while researching other topics for the show....

Is there any benefit to a reverse mortgage, or are they a scam? Is it a problem that a reverse mortgage has to be repaid when the borrower no longer lives in the home?  Doesn't that eliminate the inheritance that would otherwise go to the kids? Will a reverse mortgage create a deficit to the borrower if it is not repaid? What can you do with a reverse mortgage?  What can you use it for? What is th...

This episode will be published on the first day of school for most schools in the Tampa Bay area.  Are your kids back to school yet?  Did you survive the summer? What about "Back To School Shopping?"  How did you navigate with your budget and manage back to school shopping for your kids? In this week's episode, George and Shawn talk about back to school shopping, sales tax holidays, school uniform...

What is your biggest fear? Heights? Bugs? Public Speaking? IRS Audit? How (or what) is the biggest and baddest collection agency in the country (at least by perception)? What if you owe money to the that collection agency (i.e. the IRS)? On this week's episode, Shawn & George talk to Claudia Moncarz, owner of Moncarz Law, helping people to negotiate and settle debts with the IRS and avoid or resol...

As the July No Spend Challenge comes to a close, how did you do?  How many points did you accumulate?  How much money did you save?  Were there any other goals you accomplished? Thank you to Tiffanie Kellog, who asked on the Facebook page: "I was pondering a question for the podcast based on the no-spend challenge... what about a discussion on how to classify a NEED versus a WANT when it comes to...

How much credit card debt do you have?  At what interest rate? What happens if you can't communicate with your significant other? How do you protect money you inherit from a partner who spends? This week Shawn & George tackle these topics on the show, giving their takes on questions and headlines such as: Americans are hiding their credit card debt: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4068846...

There's been a bit of news lately on President Biden's plan to cancel student loan debt, especially after the United States Supreme Court ruled that the President has no authority to cancel the debt without Congressional action. What are your thoughts?  Are you in favor of cancelling debt?  Against it? Recently, the New York Times came under fire for suggesting that "death" is a way to cancel stud...

The Fourth of July was a few days ago! How did you celebrate? How did you say "thank you" to those that protect us and our freedoms? This week's guest on the Crushing Debt Podcast is C. David Cain, CEO and Chief Hero Evangelist of Heroes Home Advantage. He has 24 years' experience as a top-producing Loan Officer, and is on a mission to create brand awareness for the largest hero rebate program in...

What is the difference between a "want" and a "need"? Can you go one day without spending money? How about one week? One Month? One Year? Shawn & George talk every week about tips and tricks and strategies to help you save money, reduce debt, and become debt free. Now, they're "putting their money where their mouth is" and taking action to help you do just that. In this episode, Shawn & George tal...

What age groups tend to owe the most debt?  Boomers? Millenials? Gen X? Would it surprise you to know that credit card debt, on average, has returned to or exceeds pre-pandemic levels?   Why has it increased, and what can you do about it? How do you break the credit card cycle? In this week's episode, Shawn and George talk about the reason that credit card debt has increased and some tactics for r...

What is the Freddie Mac Exclusionary List, and why should you care? We done many previous episodes on the Freddie Mac Exclusionary List: Episode 32 - Freddie Mac List Episode 83 - Freddie Mac List Updates Episode 132 - Coming Off the Freddie Mac List Episode 179 - Freddie Mac's Policy Episode 262 - The Secret to Coming Off the Freddie Mac List Episode 277 - Top 5 Myths of the Freddie Mac List Epis...

What are the 14 steps to financial freedom? What is your financial personality? Your financial health? The TTCI Method? Today's guest on the Crushing Debt Podcast is a CPA, speaker, course creator, and passionate about helping people become financially free.  Bruce Scott is the territory leader of (senior partner) at PricewaterhouseCoopers Jamaica. He has an MBA, FCA, FCCA, CPA (Colorado), charter...

It's that time of year again!  Shawn's neighborhood holds garage sales twice per year, in May and October.  At each garage sale, Shawn practices some sales technique - what better low pressure enviornment to practice sales and negotiation skills? What sales technique did we practice at this year's May garage sale? Delegation! How? Shawn delegated the negotiations to his sons and allowed them to ke...