Meaning Over Money

Should married couples combine finances?  This has become an increasingly debated topic in the personal finance world.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton explains our position (very strong position!) on the topic.  In short, we believe strongly in the idea of spouses combining finances.....more so than most any topic we discuss on this podcast.  We explain why this has become an increasi...

When it comes to money, a common piece of advice you've probably heard is "live below your means." On the surface, this idea makes intuitive sense and indeed can create a debt-free life.  It's practical and it's intuitive.  However, as one of host Travis Shelton's friends recently explained, this mindset can lead us down a self-serving, entitled, and narcissistic path.  I...

Sometimes we are blessed with a financial windfall.  Whether it's a one-time chunk of money coming in (tax refund, bonus, extra paycheck, etc.) or a monthly expense that goes away (which in effect creates additional income), we sometimes have moments where there will be more money coming in than prior months.  When this happens, it can be easy to let squander the opportunity or make a poor dec...

One of the most common criticisms we receive about our content is our perspectives come from a place of financial privilege.  Translation: most people can't view and handle work/money they way we discuss it.  If we're going to be fair, let's go ahead and acknowledge host Travis Shelton probably does have some level of financial privilege.  That's not under debate.  What is under de...

In today's episode, host Travis Shelton sits down with Kristina Ellis, who is the newest personality at Ramsey Solutions.  Kristina has an amazing story, which includes earning $500,000 of scholarships that propelled her to attend her dream college debt-free.  This impacted her life so much she ultimately committed her career to helping others do this money and college stuff better.  She is th...

We recently polled our IG followers about what topics we should cover on the podcast.  Two people immediately asked about financially preparing for kids, so here we are!  It's a bit of a bad news, good news situation.  Bad news: yes, kids cost a lot.  Good news: they cost whatever we spend on them.  In other words, parents have a tremendous amount of control over what kids cost.  In today'...

Generosity is awesome!  For us, there's nothing better.  But whenever we start to think about generosity and giving, it can be easy to minimize ourselves.  "I don't have enough to make a difference."  "I'll just wait until I have more to give."  "Giving is something those other people are able to do."  Don't worry, we've done it too!  In today'...

Do you or someone you know struggle to keep spending under control?  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton addresses a question that came in from a listener who believes they have a spending problem.  Spending isn't bad (we've talked about this idea often), but an overspending problem can cause significant issues.  Financial issues, relational issues, psychological/emotional issues....

We discussed the idea of legacy in episode 106, but we didn't dive too deep into why we're talking about it now.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses his recent experience losing a close friend/mentor.  He shares a few memories, reflects on the impact she had on him (and countless others), and explains the profound impact legacy can have in the lives of others.  When we t...

Oftentimes when people are pursing a big financial goal such as paying off a bunch of debt, saving up for a car or house downpayment, or building their emergency fund, the process can start to get exhausting.  After all, this stuff is hard!  Doing the right thing isn't easy......which is why most people aren't doing it!  At some point in the journey, people can break.  We don't want th...

Whenever we decide to invest, of course we need to decide what to invest in.  This is obvious, and much discussed.  Mutual funds, individual stocks, ETFs, bonds, REITS......so many choices.  However, there's one major decision that often gets overlooked: where to invest it.  What type of account should our investments live in?  Conventional wisdom says to jam everything humanly possible into a...

Do you ever work hard, do the right thing, make the right choices.....only to find yourself waiting (oftentimes impatiently) for the resulting success?  We're glad we aren't the only ones!  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses how frustrating it can be when success doesn't come when we think it should, how common this phenomenon is, why remaining patient is vital, and...

Over the last few weeks, the 15-seed St. Peters Peacocks have made history in the NCAA men's tournament.  It has gone further than any 15-seed team in the history of the tournament, forever cementing its legacy in college basketball lore.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses the idea of legacy and why it's important for each of us to think about it.  We hope this episode...

Study after study shows the majority of humans struggle handling money.  This isn't a surprise to any of us, as all we need to do is look around us.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton shares a story about a recent experience teaching a group of teens.  There was a moment (or multiple moments) where something was quite visible.  A few of these teens had not yet been exposed to a lot o...

Whether we're talking about investing, buying a house, retirement, careers, or anything else along the journey of life, we have a series of choices to make.  Not only that, but each choice is connected to the other.  Further complicating matters, choosing one thing often means we can't choose the other.  We refer to it as a series of levers.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton div...

This will surely cause some controversy, but it's a hill we will die on.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton makes the argument your credit card points are actually losing you money.  No, not because you're "irresponsible" with your credit card and paying interest.  We're going to make the assumption you are perfect with your handling of your credit card......and sti...

We open the episode by talking about a recent survey finding 42% of Americans making at least $100,000+ live paycheck-to-paycheck.  This is a staggering statistic!  How can someone make that much money and still barely make ends meet!?!?  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses why income isn't the most important factor, how so many people end up in this position, why people from...

With spring break and summer coming up, we thought it would be fun to talk about travel.  Travel is one of those things so many people value, but it can often get neglected when the other bills start coming in.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses the importance of treating travel just like we would our electric bill or our groceries.  Why?  Because it's important!  We discus...

One of the most frequent questions we get asked is about host Travis Shelton's drastic decision to leave his career and take a 90% pay cut to do something different.  Why?  Why would someone do that?  Why would you take such a hit, especially with two toddlers and being the sole income of the family?  Well, the name Meaning Over Money isn't just a name.  It inherently represents who we are...

In past episodes (linked below), we discussed the best life advice we've ever received.  Some of it is money-related, and some is not.  But money's never actually about money, so it all seemed to merge together.  On the heels of those episodes, several of you shared some of the best life advice you've ever received.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton shares five relevant piec...

Whenever the topic of debt comes up, especially if we go down the road of talking about "good debt" and "bad debt", the conversation ultimately veers towards the direction of assessing interest rates.  We usually justify debt as "good" when it has a lower rate, and often classify it as "bad" when it has a higher rate.  In today's episode, host Travis She...

When we think about this money stuff, we often perceive those who are hurting or going through some serious financial issues as the most at-risk.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton explains why he thinks we have it backwards.  The people who are going through junk have a distinct inflection point to work through, whereas those who are ok most likely don't....and won't.  When thin...

Today's episode is a quick-hitter, and one that will surely anger some.  It seems like everyone is talking about passive income income these days.  Frankly, we don't believe there's such a thing as "passive" income.  Either it's not nearly as passive as one would let on, or if it does have an element of passivity to it, the work it takes to create it is as far from passiv...

From time to time, we talk about the importance of having an emergency fund.  You know, the thing that protects us when life throws a major curveball our way.  It's when, not if.  Without an emergency fund, these curveballs can cause detrimental financial and relational turmoil in our lives, which can lead to a spiral of negative consequences.  With one, however, these situations are often dow...

It's been a while since we did our last Q&A episode.  Today, we answer three questions we recently received through Instagram.  Thanks to everyone for your questions and feedback.  It means the world to us.  If you have any questions, be sure to hit us up with a DM or an e-mail.  We will address it privately or through the podcast.  Here are the questions in today's episode: 1) How do...