Meaning Over Money

Whether we want to believe it or not, using debt has many psychological and emotional effects, and it alters our decision-making process. We think it’s a clever tool to do what we would have otherwise done anyway, but with extra side benefits. However, it’s not that simple. In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton explains the psychological warfare we subject ourselves to by using debt, and one ver...

Most fun things we can spend money on fall into one of two categories:  memories or things.  Experiences or possessions.  Doing things or having things.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton makes his case for why memories are always better than things.  It's not to say things are bad, but given the choice, memories win every single time.  Younger Millennials and Gen-Z already know this...

Do you ever find yourself comparing yourself to someone else and wish you were as far along as them?  Whew, we're glad we weren't the only ones!  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton shares a lesson he learned from Jon Acuff about keeping things in perspective.  It's easy to (unfairly) look at someone else's accomplishments and feel like we aren't good enough, but we for...

Can we be honest? We really don’t care about money. Seriously. It may seem ironic for a financial podcast to explicitly state they don’t care about money, but it’s true. In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton explains why he really doesn’t care about money…..and the four primary (and awesome) repercussions that naturally happen when you stop caring about money. This will most certainly be a count...

One of the biggest psychological hurdles we face with money is we subconsciously spend our money in accordance with the world's values.  When we do this, it robs us of our joy because we are spending money on things that don't truly add value to our lives.  Every time we spend a dollar on something we don't care about, it's one less dollar we get to spend on something we do care ab...

Sometimes we make mistakes, screw up, let people down, and embarrass ourself.  It happens to all of us.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton confesses in real-time about making two embarrassing mistakes in the same day.  These mistakes are equally as embarrassing to talk about as they are to make in the first place, so why not just discuss them publicly with thousands of our clo...

In a world filled with financial illiteracy, we unknowingly find ourselves taking financial and career advice from people all around us who struggle with money and hate their jobs.  It's no wonder why so many people struggle with these things.....we're walking the same shaky road so many others are following.  Friends, family, co-workers, and many more.  In today's episode, host Travis...

Teachers (and the teaching profession) get a bad rap in our culture, and we think it's unfair and unwarranted.  Specifically, we want to address something we refer to as "the teacher myth."  The narrative in our culture tells us teachers don't make much and will always be poor, thus discouraging current and future teachers from using their unique gifts to bless our children.  In...

In episode 25, host Travis Shelton explained why he believes women are generally better at handling money than men.  In that episode, he argues men are indeed more emotional with money, for two primary reasons: 1) men use money as a scorecard, and 2) pride and ego.  We've received a lot of reactions and responses since that episode launching into the world.  In today's episode, we share so...

Have you ever asked someone a question where their words and their tone gave two completely different answers? In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton explains why this often happens when we talk about our jobs, why we often lie to ourselves, and how others can spot the real truth. This may sound like a trivial topic, but really engaging in this exercise has the potential to change everything!  Th...

No matter how good we're doing in a particular area of life, there's one thing that always has the power to knock us down:  comparing ourselves to others.  Unfortunately, there's always going to be someone smarter, funnier, better looking, making more money, having more opportunities, and one step ahead of us.  It's so easy for us to have a pity party and get frustrated.  In today&...

"My spouse and I are on the same page with finances, but he/she isn't engaged with the budget."  This is one comment we hear over and over.  In fact, this is a very common trend in families today.  Even for couples who budget and are on the same page, some spouses exclude themselves from the process and instead put all the trust and responsibility on the other spouse.  Big mistake!  ...

Young couples today are facing two really important questions: "Do we want one spouse to stay at home with the kids?", and "Can we afford for one spouse to stay at home with the kids?"  The first question is a deeply personal one, and every couple needs to seek out the right answer for them.  But the second question is a lie our culture tells us.  Staying at home with kids isn&...

One of the stories we tell ourselves is that our financial stress would go away if only we made $____ more money.  So we work, work, work, for that next raise or promotion.  Then when it finally comes, the financial stress lingers.  So we think to ourself, "ah, it must require $____ more to reduce the stress."  Thus the cycle continues.  Bad news: no amount of income can eliminate your f...

Studies show 4PM on Sunday afternoon is the most depressing hour of the week.  Our weekend is almost over, and we're starting to dread what tomorrow will bring.  Sound familiar?  Considering 70% of Americans either dislike or hate their jobs, there's a pretty good chance this idea of dreading Mondays may hit a bit close to home.  Here's the good news:  it doesn't have to be this wa...

We live in a culture that's obsessed with small things.  "Quit buying those coffees", "you don't need that extra pair of shoes", "that concert is wasting money", "get rid of Netflix".  We think this is ridiculous....and short-sighted.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton explains why we need to stop obsessing with the small things and start p...

This is going to sound backwards, but we don't think decisions should be judged based on outcomes.  Sometimes good decisions have bad outcomes.....and sometimes bad decisions have bad outcomes.  Truth is, when we make a decision, all we can do is make the best decision with the information available to us at the time.  Hindsight is always 20/20, so it can be easy to beat ourselves up and play...

We live in a culture that obsesses with credit scores and the idea of "building credit."  We think it's ridiculous, unhealthy, and ultimately a fool's game.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton explains why he thinks we need to stop worrying about credit scores, why not having a credit score can be a good thing, and some of the implications (positive and negative) involve...

Let's talk about the elephant in the room.  There's a common belief in our culture that we need to choose between pursuing meaning and pursuing money.....and conventional wisdom says to pursue meaning.  Or if you identify with the FIRE movement, we're led to believe we should pursue money today so someday after we've selfishly hoarded enough money, we can pursue meaning.  In today&...

Sacrifice is hard!  A sustained period of intense sacrifice is even harder!  This is one of the main reasons why people are unable to gain meaningful traction in their finances and careers.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton explains how we can shift our perspective of sacrifice, and view it through a different lens.  When we look at life in terms of seasons and wrap our head around the...

We're coming at you with another Q&A session.  This time, we answer questions about host Travis Shelton's experience as a financial coach.  We share stories of the best and worst parts about coaching, the hardest advice to give, and some of the best accomplishments by his clients.  He also reflects on a a few questions about his podcasting experience so far.  We hope this episode adds...

Sometimes when we're trying to do this money stuff right, it can feel like so much pressure.  Things like "what if I mess up?", "what if I make a mistake?", and "I'm scared to have a setback" start going through our head.  Bad news: you are going to mess up, make mistakes, and have some setbacks." Good news: that's ok!  We can't do this stuff perf...

There's a well-known saying that goes something like this: you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with.  This applies to in-person relationships, but we also believe it applies to online connections.  One of our favorite things about young adults is their willingness and desire to absorb other people's ideas and perspectives in the name of personal growth.  YouTu...

Whenever we try to do this money stuff well, especially budgeting, things seem to go pretty well until the moment it doesn't.  And that moment is usually tied to an unexpected expense that hits us out of nowhere.  We can have all the momentum in the world, then wham (!!!), something unexpected stops us in our tracks.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton explains how sinking funds can m...

There are a lot of generalizations and stereotypes about the differences between men and women.  Some are good, some are bad.  When it comes to money, we think our culture has mislabeled and misidentified these gender-specific generalizations/stereotypes.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton shares his experiences working with hundreds of men, women, and couples, and tries to clarify commo...