Marriage Kids and Money: Personal Finance for Families

Tomorrow is the 241st anniversary of the United States of America declaring its independence from Great Britain. While I’m preparing to spend a fun family day filled with hot dogs, beers and fireworks, I remembered that I also made a declaration of my own at the beginning of the year about my goals for 2017. … Continue reading "37 | How Are Your 2017 Goals Going?" The post 37 | How Are Your 2017 G...

The magical, mystical and all-powerful credit card … If we want something really bad but we don’t have the money for it, credit cards solve our problems immediately. Don’t they? If we’re jonesin’ for some new threads, we want to buy a fancy dinner or even treat ourselves to a tropical vacation, we can swipe … Continue reading "36 | Obliterating $51k in Credit Card Debt and Empowering the LGBT Comm...

Student loans have become so commonplace in our country that everyone seems to be living with them. According to Forbes in February 2017, there are over 44 million people in the US living with student loans. Those loans amount to over $1.3 trillion dollars! And it’s not just the nation’s millennials that are carrying around … Continue reading "35 | Destroying $87k in Student Loans by Avoiding Life...

Last month, I threw down a challenge to start living on a monthly budget. This wealth building habit gives a purpose to every dollar you earn so your money doesn’t go wandering off. That is the essence of a zero-based budget. Every dollar gets a job whether it is for spending, saving, giving or investing. If … Continue reading "33 | Budget Your Way to Wealth (Results) & Protect Your Family’s Futur...

It seems the more we earn, the more we spend. There is always something new to buy, a service we want, or an upgrade that is an absolute must-have. We see our neighbor’s new boat. Now, something inside of us “needs” that new boat too! And even if our income isn’t enough to buy it, well that doesn’t … Continue reading "31 | How to Crush $52,000 in Debt in 7 Months" The post 31 | How to Crush $52,00...

In my endless pursuit to chat with all the most interesting people in the world, I started studying travel bloggers. These folks spend their days traveling across the US or globetrotting around the world. They capture their adventures through writing, photography or video.  Some of the more popular travel bloggers do this full-time and their vagabond … Continue reading "30 | How to Travel the Worl...

It is the first Monday of the month my friends! That means, we’re throwing down another MKM Challenge. For you “personal challenge types” out there (like me), this can be a lot of fun and, if you stick to it, quite rewarding. Last month, I challenged myself to develop a chore and reward system for … Continue reading "28 | MKM Challenge: Budget Your Way to Wealth" The post 28 | MKM Challenge: Budge...

I am continually amazed by the amount of talent we have in our world. Designers, creators, entrepreneurs, artists, and developers — these are people who push the bounds of what is possible to create a product, service or business that revolutionizes their respective field. While these folks might be masters of their craft, the creative class … Continue reading "27 | Transform from Starving Artist...

The cost of college is completely out of control. Every year, the cost to attend a 4-year university increases by twice the inflation rate. To put it in some more personal terms, by the time my 5-year-old little girl goes to undergrad, we’ll need around $200,000 to make a 4-year in-state university a reality. … Continue reading "26 | Skip the Toy and Give the Gift of College" The post 26 | Skip th...

Life is precious. One day, we’re spending quality time with our family and making beautiful memories together. And the next day, we’re diagnosed with inoperable stage 4 brain cancer. I don’t say this to be flippant. I say this because we truly don’t know what tomorrow will bring. That is why we need to protect our family’s financial … Continue reading "25 | Why You Need Life Insurance Today" The p...

Today, I’m throwin’ down another MKM Challenge. We’re talking about how we can get our kids to help out with the daily chores around the house. Our goal is to get them to understand that with hard work comes reward. But first, I want to recap last month’s challenge and share how the Hill Family fared … Continue reading "24 | MKM Challenge: Create Chores and Rewards for Kids" The post 24 | MKM Chal...

Over the last 6 months, we’ve reviewed a lot of ways that you can win with money. We’ve discussed debt elimination, investment strategies and how to increase your income.  And today, we’re going to review a topic that is important to a lot of people out there. We’re going to chat about how you can have a career … Continue reading "23 | How to Have Your Best Career Today" The post 23 | How to Have...

When my daughter Zoey was born we met with a financial advisor to discuss her future college needs. He advised us that for Zoey to attend an in-state college like Michigan State University, we’d be looking at a price tag of about $200,000. 4 years of college would cost us $200,000! Since then, we’ve been … Continue reading "22 | How to Get $126,000 in College Scholarships" The post 22 | How to Get...

Lately, the shows and interviews I’ve been doing have been focusing on decreasing your expenses and increasing your income. When we make improvements in these two areas, it’ll allow us to become experts in increasing our net worth and our opportunities for financial independence. Today, we’re diving into increasing your income through real estate. I had a … Continue reading "21 | How to Make $7k P...

Every day, I look for ways to better myself. And this blog has been my medium for that betterment over the last 6 months. It has kept me honest when it comes to being the best husband and Dad I can be as well as with growing our family net worth. I thought it’d be fun to throw down … Continue reading "20 | MKM Challenge: Reduce Your Grocery Expenses by 1/3" The post 20 | MKM Challenge: Reduce Your...

I’ve been doing a lot of research and interviews lately about financial independence and early retirement. I guess I’m inspired! The idea of not having a full-time job eventually sounds pretty appealing to me. Well, you might say, “There’s no way I couldn’t have a full-time job in the area I live in!" I have to … Continue reading "19 | How to Retire in Northern California at 43" The post 19 | How...

The other day I emailing with Heath, a listener of the podcast. Heath commented that the Marriage Kids and Money podcast has a family-focused tone to it, but it can really be enjoyed by single guys (like Heath) who don’t quite yet have a family as well. The compliment was extremely appreciated – thank … Continue reading "9 Pieces of Advice For My Former Single Guy Self" The post 9 Pieces of Advice...

For decades, Vanguard has been a trusted name in the investment community. In this financial blogger world that I’ve entered into recently, it’s a resounding theme that Vanguard is the way to go when it comes to investing for your retirement. Billionaire Warren Buffett thinks Vanguard is an excellent choice. Personal Development Coach, Tony Robbins … Continue reading "17 | Smart Retirement Investi...

Audi of America took a bold stance this weekend with a Super Bowl commercial focused on the importance of gender equality. The 60-second spot entitled “Daughter” shows a father watching his daughter in a boxcar race where she’s competing mostly against other young boys. The father contemplates how he’ll teach his daughter that she is worthy … Continue reading "5 Ways I’m Promoting Gender Equality...

Being a Stay-at-Home Mom can be incredibly difficult. Long days, no contact with adults and repetitive tasks that feel like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic can make you lose your marbles. Yes, it is incredibly rewarding and you develop an unbreakable bond with your children, but raising small kids can be physically, mentally, and emotionally draining. … Continue reading "How to Make a S...

How would you like to retire at the age of 35? Sounds impossible, right? Well, our guest today, Steve Adcock, figured out how to do it. Think. Save. Retire. Steve and his wife Courtney have had a dream of early retirement for quite some time now.  Together, they have been tirelessly planning, diligently saving and … Continue reading "13 | How to Retire at 35 with Steve Adcock" The post 13 | How to...

The grind. The 9-5. As average Americans, we work at our jobs 40 hours per week … 50 weeks per year … for 40 years of our lives – and that’s if we work hard and have a cool supervisor! I’m one of these average Americans. I work 2,000 hours per year to provide for my family and … Continue reading "12 | 4 Easy Ways to Stay Healthy at Work" The post 12 | 4 Easy Ways to Stay Healthy at Work appeared f...

Building wealth is a lot like building a strong marriage. Both require determination, passion, and the ability to communicate effectively. Marriage is not a spectator sport. Neither is building wealth.  You must be determined to be in the game and make certain you’re not taking your current status for granted.  Don’t take your eye off of the prize. ACTION: … Continue reading "11 | How to Talk to Y...

2017 is right around the corner! I’ve made some exciting and challenging goals for myself for the new year. Some are short-term and some are long term.  I like to dream big with my goals, but also infuse some reality into the process. 2017 is my “M&M&M” year … Marathon, Mortgage and Millionaire. Goal 1: … Continue reading "10 | 2017 Goals: Marathon, Mortgage, Millionaire" The post 10 | 2017 Goals:...

We work hard. We earn money. We buy stuff. Then, that stuff requires repair, maintenance and software updates. Before you know it, your stuff is out of style. You’re on version 3 when the rest of the world is on version 7. We work harder. We earn more money. We buy more stuff. Are we … Continue reading "9 | Freedom Through Minimalism" The post 9 | Freedom Through Minimalism appeared first on Marri...