Meaning Over Money

Sometimes, life feels like one never-ending journey with no stopping point.  Nowhere is this more true than with our job.  Our current reality feels like it will live in perpetuity.  That's great if it's something awesome.  But what if it's not awesome?  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton shares an idea he implemented in his own career more than 15 years ago.  When we put an a...

Inflation.  It's a word everyone has been talking about.  We can't go anywhere without someone dropping the term or throwing out some opinion.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton explains what inflation is, discusses how it impacts each of us (probably more than we realize), and provides some simple steps to combat it in our own lives.  Inflation is real, and it's hurting a lo...

As much as we'd like to think we can always keep kicking butt and moving forward, sometimes we fail.  There's really no way to sugarcoat it.  It's not all roses and sunshine, regardless of what people on IG try to tell us.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton gets real about a multi-week stretch that felt like a whole lot of losing.  He discusses his experience, the feelings behind it, and how...

As we predicted all the way back in Episode 13 (linked below), people are freaking out over the stock market falling 10%+ just 24 days into the new year.  Yeah, it can be scary.....but it shouldn't be.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses how the recent stock market slide compares to past events and puts it into a bigger perspective.  In short, this is nothing new and it shou...

As host Travis Shelton always says, getting out of debt is the easy part.  The hard part is staying out.  We get this question a lot.  One of our listeners has made tough decisions, acted intentionally, and made the necessary sacrifices in order to pay off the debt.  Huge win!!!  But life continues, things happen, and we and we can quickly find ourselves right back where we started.  In today'...

Sometimes life gets a bit too intense.  Sometimes it gets overwhelming.  Sometimes it gets flat-out tough.  When that happens, we tend to let our finances slip.  The loss of a loved one, relocation, sickness, job losses....so many things can cause life to feel chaotic.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton dives into this topic and offers some advice on how to get a grasp on finances when life...

There's an irony about money and relationships.  The big, scary, needle-moving decisions typically don't cause as much relational tension as the small day-to-day purchases.  It can wreak havoc on marriages, regardless of whether you have a low income or a high income.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton walks through a small but powerful life/money hack that can relieve so much friction in re...

A lot of us hate our job.  We dread it, it causes stress, and we're in an overall bad mood before, during, and after.  For others, it's literally killing you.  Migraines, back pain, hair loss, constant sickness, insomnia.....some of us are battling some crazy physical ailments not realizing they may be job-related.  When we talk about how 70% of Americans dislike or hate their job, we don't use th...

Sometimes good things can become bad.  Paying off debt is one of those things.  There has become an entire movement based around the pursuit of becoming debt-free.  We're all for it, but there's a toxic underside to this at times.  For some, the journey to pay off debt can become an idol that blocks out all the other good things in life.  Faith, relationships, meaningful work, serving, generosity,...

Whether we know it or not, we pay fees when we invest.  Sometimes these fees are obvious, but usually they are somewhat behind the scenes.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses the importance of minding fees and how detrimental they can be to your long-term investing performance.  This one nuance can literally equate to $1M+ for a young adult who is early in their investing career.  I...

When it comes to investing, we tend to have a certain expectation of what we should make per year in the stock market.  Some say 6%-8%, some say 8%-10%, others say 10%-12%.  Regardless of what your expectation is, it causes something to happen in us.  If the annual performance of a given year is above our number, it's a "good" year.....and if it's below our number, it's a "bad" year.  In today's e...

In episode 79, host Travis Shelton shared five of the best pieces of life advice he's ever received.  After receiving a lot of positive feedback from that episode, we're giving you the next five!  Many of you have shared your best advice as well, so we will definitely feature yours on a future episode.  Speaking of, we want to hear from you!  Please share with us some of the best life advi...

There's one thing that will stop progress before it even has a chance to start: an excuse!  We all have them.  It's easy to point to our excuses and use it to justify not doing something.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses his young friend Olivia and her recent accomplishment of paying off $37,000 of student loan debt in just 20 months.....all happening during her first...

Wow, what a year!?!  In March, we thought it would be fun to start a podcast.  9 months and 80 episodes later, here we are!  It's been a fun and educational ride, to say the least.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton and producer (and Meaning Over Money co-founder) Cole Netten reflect back on how all this happened, discuss the most popular and controversial episodes, share their most...

During a recent coffee date discussion, host Travis Shelton's friend Kylie suggested we do an episode about the best life advice we've ever received.  At first, it didn't seem like there was any connection between this idea and the general concept of Meaning Over Money.  But after some contemplation, it actually aligns perfectly!  After all, this is meaning OVER money!  In today's...

There's a narrative in our culture that says we need a lot of money to start a business.  And we are lucky to have it, or we need to go borrow it.  The other narrative told to people is they need to create an LLC in order to start their business.  Both of these are lies, and in many cases can create artificial hurdles that prevent someone from starting what could be an amazing business.  In to...

Do you ever look at someone in your life, see how wealthy and put together they are, and get a bit jealous?  Well fear not, it's often not what it seems.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses his experience seeing what's behind the curtain for families who seemingly have it made.  Spoiler alert: it's not usually what you'd expect.  Some people put so much effort (and money) into portr...

In an impromptu interview, host Travis Shelton sits down with Kate Netten to discuss navigating major life changes as a young adult.  Kate is the wife of Cole Netten, co-founder of Meaning Over Money.  In just a short 7-month timespan, Cole and Kate experienced four significant life changes that rocked their understanding of "normal".  In today's episode, Kate discusses how they made...

Recently, host Travis Shelton had the opportunity to host a workshop for parents and teens on the topic of launching young adults into the world without student loan debt.  Rampant student loan debt is crushing this young generation, crushing aspirations, dreams, and opportunities with it.  We believe young adults deserve better than this.  However, many of us had to feel the burden of college deb...

Paying off debt is simple.  If there is extra money each month, there's only one place it goes: to the debt!  It's a tough journey to become debt-free, but it's also a very simple one.  Something happens when we get out of debt.  We think life will get easier and simpler.  Truth is, it becomes more complicated.  Instead of having one very clear option on what to do with extra cash, the...

We love generosity!  We believe all year long is a season to give, but the holidays tend to be the time where many people start to think about generosity.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses why it's so important to exercise what he refers to as the "giving muscle."  After all, generosity isn't something we do, but rather who we are.  That may not feel like you...

The culture tells us to pursue the easy path, the comfortable path, the path of least resistance.  We choose the comfortable path in our careers, in our relationships, in our money.....everywhere!  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton talks about how a recent speaking engagement affirmed once again how doing the hard thing ALWAYS wins!  Comfort is the enemy of progress.  It can often feel l...

As we move further and further away from 2008's Great Financial Crisis, memories fade and a younger generation has risen to adulthood.  With that comes mountains of new debt.....record levels of debt!  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses some of the newly released information about household debt and shares his thoughts on the situation.  Just like 2008 and every meaningful r...

The idea of changing jobs is scary!  Especially when it feels secure.  Especially when it pays well.  Especially when you've been there a long time.  But many of you need to leave your job yesterday.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton shares the 5 signs you might need to get a different job.  You may relates to some of these and haven't even considered them signs.  Why?  Because...

One really deep question we often get asked is, "is it ok NOT to find meaning in my work if I have meaning outside my work?"  The short question, is of course, yes.  We aren't here to tell people what to do and everyone needs to find their own way in this crazy life.  However, we think people deserve better.  It's awesome to have meaning (lots of meaning!) outside of work!  But w...