How to Money

Kristin Wong is passionate about helping people understand money in an accessible way. She started Lifehacker’s personal finance blog called Two Cents and she also authored the book “Get Money” last year - which is a great beginner’s guide to personal finance. She has also been featured in other major publications like Refinery29 and Glamour Magazine and you can currently find her writing in Smart...

There are times in our lives as consumers, that we’re faced with a decision: even though I can’t afford it, do I buy this thing that I really want? “Ohhh, that new iPhone looks really awesome” or “It would be a ton of fun to take a trip to the mountains next month!”. We often already know that the answer to these questions should be “No, I don’t have the money” because we know it’s not worth going...

This week on the podcast we’re answering your questions! 1 - Should I make additional principal payments on my mortgage? 2 - I want to open a flexible account for my daughters- what should it be? 3 - Would you recommend a foreclosure or pre-foreclosure for us as first-time homebuyers? 4 - What do y’all think about investing in gold and other precious metals? 5 - While shopping for a house, should...

The price of college has gotten so incredibly expensive that we’re wondering if college is even worth it anymore. With the current total outstanding student loan debt totaling over $1.6 trillion, the return on your investment isn’t as obvious as it was decades ago. Now is the time to ask: Is getting a degree from a traditional academic institution the best course going forward? The answer isn’t go...

Our guest on this episode is personal finance writer J.D. Roth who started his blog, Get Rich Slowly in the early days of the internet- back in 2006! It’s grown to be one of the most well-respected personal finance sites around thanks to his honesty, superb writing, and desire to serve his readers. We hear all about J.D.’s history with money, whether politics belong in personal finance, the differ...

Most folks we know are big fans of Airbnb- they’ve either had a great experience while traveling or they’re considering it for their next trip. There’s a good chance this is also true for you, but have you ever considered hosting on Airbnb? There are countless ways that we can make extra money on the side, but we’ve found that most of them aren’t nearly as rewarding as welcoming travelers into you...

This week on the pod we’re answering your questions! 1 - How do I justify going on vacation while I still have student loans? 2 - Should I pay for an addition with a home equity loan or by draining my emergency fund? 3 - Is the rental car insurance provided by my credit card a good option? 4 - How can I drop PMI early? 5 - What should I do with my Roth IRA that is currently with a high cost broker...

Imagine that you have a well paying job but otherwise it sucks and you wish you could leave. And now imagine that an amazing opportunity comes along for you to start your dream business- that thing you’ve always wanted to do, but the problem is that you know you won’t be able to pay yourself for a solid year. What you need is peace out money to keep you afloat! Or maybe some family or health issue...

Liz Thames, better known as Mrs. Frugalwoods, is the creator of the award-winning personal finance blog, Frugalwoods.com and she’s the author of the book, Meet The Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living . At age 32, she reached financial independence and left a successful career in Boston to create a more meaningful, purpose-driven life on a 66-acre homestead in the wo...

In order to travel affordably, we have to keep our lodging costs in check! The money we spend on a comfortable place to sleep at night can be a huge expense, sometimes keeping us from traveling at all. Luckily there are some incredible ways to save more thanks to the internet and different apps created specifically to improve price transparency and to help you find the best deal online. We also ha...

This week on the pod we’re answering your questions! 1 - Should I negotiate my salary for an entry level position? 2 - As we begin to consolidate our debt, what effect will closing some credit cards have on the type of loan we’re able to get? 3 - Should I keep my HSA with my employer or take it somewhere else? 4 - Is a salvage title a deal breaker? 5 - How to save and invest effectively on a wildl...

Countless Americans don’t have a plan for how much they will spend or who they will be buying for this holiday season. What results is we end up with that all too familiar spending hangover with folks paying off those “unforeseen” expenses well into the New Year. Instead, we can avoid that debt by beginning to think and save now (even starting to save now for next year!), and creating a spending p...

For this episode, we’re excited to hear from David Greene who is a nationally recognized authority on real estate investing. David has been on CNN, Forbes, and HGTV several times and he’s also a former police officer and current co-host of the BiggerPockets real estate podcast. He is the author of best selling books like “Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat: The BRRRR Rental Property Investment St...

It’s vitally important to discuss financial optimism because a LOT of folks have negative money scripts floating around their heads. Their pessimism hurts their current view of their money and their future financial wellbeing. How can we combat that? Financial optimism. We need to understand the good that currently exists in our lives and cultivate a hopeful attitude towards our finances. When we’...

This week on the pod we’re answering your questions! 1 - What are some strategies to keep my healthcare affordable before Medicare kicks in? 2 - Financially speaking, should I be preparing to take care of my aging mom who is bad with her money? 3 - What kind of receipts should I be keeping up with as I manage my financial affairs? 4 - Are car subscription services, like Care by Volvo, a good way t...

With mortgage rates near all-time lows, now is a great time to consider refinancing. Pouncing on these lower rates can lower our monthly mortgage payment, allowing us to free up some money that was being funelled towards housing. But what else should we consider? Are you a good candidate for a refinance? And then on top of that there are also costs involved in refinancing that can make it prohibit...

This week we’re excited to have our friend Brad Barrett join us on the podcast. Brad is co-host of the podcast ChooseFI, but before that he was a CPA who left his job thanks to his pursuit of financial independence so he obviously knows a thing or two about personal finance. However, Brad’s favorite topic is leveraging credit card rewards to save more money, and take trips you never would have dre...

We have some really exciting news to share before introducing this Wednesday episode (and ironically enough, we discussed the cost of diapers at the beginning of this one)! Are we ready for a recession!? The economy has been roaring for close to a decade and corrections are inevitable. We’re not saying to pay uber close attention to the news cycle and the different predictions of the market tankin...

This week on the pod we’re answering your questions! 1 - Condos: are they a good investment? Should I consider one instead of a house? 2 - What are all the different types of auto insurance that are offered? 3 - I have whole life insurance. Should I cancel immediately or let it sit around to allow the cash value to grow? 4 - Unfortunately I’ve already signed up with a debt settlement company, but...

Over the course of our lives, our habits become ingrained and the small things we do day after day shape who we become. This is especially true of our money as simple routines can be life-changing, but don’t forget the door swings both ways. While positive financial habits can lead to massive wins for us down the road, negative habits can lead to some pretty grim consequences. In this episode we d...

Tiffany Aliche is also known as the Budgetnista and her mission is to make life-changing financial education accessible to women worldwide. She’s been featured on MSNBC, The Today Show, Forbes- and earlier this year she was instrumental in a new law that passed in New Jersey that will have a massive impact on financial education. We also dive into her history with money and how even though she was...

Housing costs are a significant expense, gobbling up around 37% of most American’s take home pay- other categories don’t even come close! Spending less on housing will have an inordinate impact on the amount of money you’re able to save and invest, and house hacking is one of the best ways to achieve this goal. House hacking is a tactic that everyone should consider- whether you pay rent or have a...

This week on the pod we’re answering your questions! 1 - What should I do with my old employer sponsored retirement plan? 2 - Where should I invest being fresh out school and in my 20s? 3 - Solar- finance and take the tax credit now or wait and save to pay cash? 4 - I’m receiving 8k from the Peace Corps once I complete my service- what should I do with that money? 5 - Should I extend a line of cre...

We talk a lot about investing- whether that be in the stock market, in real estate, or in bitcoin (JK don’t ever do that)! But it’s not often that we discuss investing in ourselves- our personal capital is one of the greatest assets we have! The power to grow our income based on our unique skills is crucial as we develop personally and professionally. While many folks stop growing their knowledge...

Kristy Shen has an amazing story- from growing up in China on $0.44 a day to becoming financially independent at age 31 and traveling non-stop around the world. Kristy writes about money on her site Millennial-Revolution and shares her story in the new book she wrote with her husband called “Quit Like a Millionaire.” In this interview we cover a number of topics that range from her remarkable chil...