It can become extremely taxing on our mental selves to be constantly saying to different things or people all in the name of getting out of debt. It's difficult. Even more difficult when you're not feeling as if you're making progress on your debt. Remind yourself that your debt isn't a forever thing. That your sacrifice isn't a forever thing. Once your debt is paid off, you'll be more free to do as you please with your money.
Mar 11, 2019•9 min•Season 1Ep. 26
If your company offers a 401K program, plus a match to go along with it... you should be signing up for that right now if you haven't already. Getting a match on your own 401k investment is like getting free money. Ok, maybe not free but extra money from your company. Each company sets their own terms in which they payout out the match, so check with your HR department for more details if you're curious.
Mar 08, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 25
There are a lot of suggested methods out there, however, for myself personally I like to find an average of what I spend over a period of time for that specific category. This is often a much more realistic expectation of how much I'll likely spend in this category and can therefore make a better education decision to make any adjustments to it.
Mar 07, 2019•8 min•Season 1Ep. 24
While there are somethings I was able to justify spending my monthly paycheck on (Ie. Rent, Car, Gas, etc), but then... the remaining 50% of my paycheck goes unaccounted for. I couldn't tell you where it went or how fast it went or if there was something worth much value I spent my money. Until I started tracking my spending, I wasn't able to achieve any sort of savings goal or know how much extra I could put towards anything much less believe I had extra to save.
Mar 06, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 23
There are a lot of categories in Mint to choose from to track your spending, but I feel as if it's too specific... to narrowed, when it needs to be a bit more board and more along the lines of where we spend our money and not what we spend out money on.
Mar 05, 2019•7 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Mint was created by Intuit - the creators of Quickbooks, TurboTax, and T-Sheets. So, when it comes to linking bank accounts, I think they've got it figured out how to handle sensitive information. Furthermore, with Mint, you can't do anything with your bank other than import transactions.
Mar 04, 2019•8 min•Season 1Ep. 21
I like to create goals in Mint because it's an easy way to account for the extra money in my paycheck that isn't being used for my budget. I also like that Mint keeps track of how long it will take me to achieve my goals based on how much is in the account I've linked the goal to. I don't create Mint goals for anything outside of my base full-time job paycheck.
Mar 01, 2019•7 min•Season 1Ep. 20
I have different savings goals with very different purposes for that money. To avoid getting things intertwined with different goals, I keep money separate so that at a glance I know how much I have available to spend on travel or for an annual bill that just came due.
Feb 28, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Get at least $1,000 or, 1 month's salary saved. Once you have that, circle back and focus on your debt until it's gone. Being debt free, you can work on building up your emergency fund to have enough for 3 month's salary and then 6 month's salary. You never know when life will happen and having something set aside will be a lifesaver. The time to save for this is when you have a job and things are, well... going okay.
Feb 27, 2019•9 min•Season 1Ep. 18
When I was looking for ways to make some extra money every month to pay towards my loans, I wasn't too keen on the idea of working a second job because I wanted a bit of a social life and flexibility. So, I started donating plasma earning a few hundred dollars a month for just a few hours of my time a week. A lot less commitment than a second job and certainly no skills required and convincing job interviews. Not to mention, you're contributing to research endeavors designed to save lives throug...
Feb 26, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Some people will roll a balance on their credit card just so they can maintain their savings goals every month. When you roll a balance you are charged that insane interest rate, costing you more money than spent. If you have credit card debt, don't save your money until it's paid off. Once you have paid off your credit card debt, make sure that you're only spending money within your allotted budget for the month so that you can pay them off every month.
Feb 25, 2019•8 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Booking your hotel, rental car, and sometimes even your flights through services that offer free cancellation allows you the opportunity to rebook at lower prices should they go on sale after you've booked. This is a great way to save on travel if you're more interested in having experiences that don't involve the high prices of hotels, cars, and flights.
Feb 22, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 15
I'm not a big fan of surprises when it comes to money. Surprises usually indicate some type of setback and I hate it. Budgeting for trips and vacations usually involve a few different rounds to determine if I can afford the trip, how much the trip will cost, and then making sure everything is paid for before I leave. This method ensure that I have 100% of everything taken care before I leave so I can mentally enjoy the trip.
Feb 21, 2019•15 min•Season 1Ep. 14
A lot of credit cards come with additional benefits we often forget about or brush over when we first get our new credit card. One card benefit that will help save some money is Car Rental Insurance. This means you can decline car rental insurance the next time you rent a car when you pay for the rental using one of your premium cards that offer this protection.
Feb 20, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 13
There are a lot of travel credit cards out there and most them are really only good for the promotional sign up offer that comes with them. However, I think the Southwest Priority Credit Card is probably the best of them out there for many reasons.
Feb 19, 2019•8 min•Season 1Ep. 12
There are oh so many credit cards out there for a person to choose from. In this episode I talk about what I think are the 2 best credit cards are from a "daily driver" standpoint. These credit cards might not work for you depending on where you shop and spend money the most.
Feb 18, 2019•8 min•Season 1Ep. 11
They get people into trouble, but if used right they can have great rewards. My advice for you though, pay off your balance every month and track spending easily with Mint.com
Feb 15, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 10
My brother told me how cheap his credit card was. And, I couldn't help but *face palm* when I finally realized what he thought made it cheap.
Feb 14, 2019•7 min•Season 1Ep. 9
When I was evaluating my spending and categorizing it into my different budget areas, I had to ask myself the question, "How important is this to me? Are there alternatives?"
Feb 13, 2019•14 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Inspired by Dave Ramsey, I sold a car that I loved for a lower payment. It was very difficult for me, but I did it so that I could have even more extra money to put towards my loans.
Feb 12, 2019•13 min•Season 1Ep. 7
For myself, I put together several scenarios using spreadsheets to determine which loan needed tackled first so that I could get out of debt faster. Believe it or not, it was my highest interest loan which was also my largest loan.
Feb 11, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Knowing what I know, would I still have taken out my student loans? I'm torn over this because I've felt just as much hate as I have love for them. I learned a lot from it and that's something I can't ignore.
Feb 08, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Dave Ramsey suggests using an envelope system to help ensure that you don’t spend more than you have available. It makes sense to me, but that’s not what I did.
Feb 07, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Inspired by Ramit Sethi, the way I viewed budgeting changed when I learned about conscious spending.
Feb 05, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 3
There are a lot of budgeting apps and solutions out there but my favorite is Mint.com. #dreamcrushingdebt
Feb 04, 2019•7 min•Season 1Ep. 2
I think Dave has a lot of great ideas, but I didn’t follow his suggested path of getting out of debt. #dreamcrushingdebt
Feb 01, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 1
