Buying a house will likely be the most expensive purchase you’ll ever make, so it’s no surprise that it can be an intimidating process. But this is the very same reason you should be a well informed buyer- so much money is on the line! Today we’re covering several steps everyone needs to take before purchasing to make sure that you’re getting the best deal possible on a house that you love. During this episode we enjoyed an Ink Imperial Stout by Rhinegeist Brewery which you can learn all about o...
Feb 27, 2019•41 min•Ep. 65
The fact is that everyone wants to travel, but nobody wants to pay more than they need to for airfare. Who doesn’t want a deal?! Our $Pro today is Scott of Scott’s Cheap Flights, and he’s going to explain how we’ve been going about booking our vacations all wrong. It’s time to turn the way we plan for trips completely upside down! Listen as we discuss ways to save money when booking airfare. During this episode we enjoyed a Penguin Blonde Stout by Rhinegeist Brewery which you can learn all about...
Feb 25, 2019•35 min•Ep. 64
Weddings are expensive, but they don’t have to be! Spend your money on the things that truly matter to you and your fiancé and let the rest go. Cutting out elements that don’t mean much to you, however traditional or expected, will save you a ton. Once you’ve decided on your most important elements and it is time to spend some serious money, do it wisely! Listen as we cover a variety of ways to plan a beautiful and meaningful wedding, without going broke. During this episode we enjoyed a Juice P...
Feb 20, 2019•33 min•Ep. 63
Networking is one of those things you may not think is necessary- until it’s too late. Our $Pro this week, Jordan Harbinger, is here to explain how vital it is to network now, even if you’re an introvert or if you’ve felt smarmy about it in the past. What’s important is that you’re genuine and interested in helping others now, before you need help yourself! Listen as we hear from Jordan and then break it all down to provide some specific and actionable tips. During this episode we enjoyed a Bloo...
Feb 18, 2019•32 min•Ep. 62
Since personal finance is not taught in most public schools, the job falls squarely on parents and caretakers. Hopefully this means we are intentionally teaching our children through lessons and examples in order to shape their perceptions of money. Listen as we cover the foundational money principles that we feel will have the biggest impact on the way our kids view money. During this episode we enjoyed a Peanut Brother by Great Notion Brewing which you can find and learn all about on Untappd. ...
Feb 13, 2019•40 min•Ep. 61
You don’t have to be a millionaire to be a successful real estate investor. Chad Carson, our $Pro this week, is here to explain how even a small, effective real estate portfolio can lead to reaching your financial goals in a short period of time. He illustrates this with an example of a couple reaching financial independence with only five properties, not hundreds! Having greater financial freedom and flexibility with your time will be the natural outcome of focusing on your goals, and carefully...
Feb 11, 2019•36 min•Ep. 60
Last week we covered the pros and cons of whether you should renovate or move- and so this week we’re discussing specific pointers when it comes to renovating on a budget. We spend a good amount of time on general contractors as they likely have the largest impact on all aspects of your renovation- financial but also the quality of work and your overall experience. In addition we cover the high points of financing, architects, whether you should attempt any DIY, as well as some of the other fine...
Feb 06, 2019•34 min•Ep. 58
Trading our time for money will only get us so far. So many of us are programmed to believe that we have to allocate a large percentage of our time to making money in order to ever consider retirement. Grant Sabatier, this week’s $Pro, is here to say otherwise. Grant wants to disrupt the linear model where time equals money by arguing that our time is actually much more valuable than money. Listen as Grant shares his thoughts on our inability to reclaim lost time, and as we discuss what steps we...
Feb 04, 2019•40 min•Ep. 58
For whatever reason, you might find yourself outgrowing your house and needing more space. Maybe you’re now self-employed and need a home office, or maybe you have a quickly growing family! With these changes come different needs and wants that we have for our homes and the most popular solutions are to either stay and renovate, or to sell your home and move. With home prices at all time highs, renovating might seem like a slam dunk if you’re running out of space, or maybe you’re the type who wo...
Jan 30, 2019•39 min•Ep. 57
Today our $Pro, Paula Pant, is going to reframe what it means to be an investor - does investing some money make you an actual investor? And what role should your emotions play when it comes to investing? Paula has broken the shackles of paycheck-dependence and has been sharing her expertise and experience with others on her wildly popular site AffordAnything.com, where she has given a TON of thought to how we should approach personal finance. In this episode, Paula specifically covers 3 pitfall...
Jan 28, 2019•36 min•Ep. 56
Are we ready for a recession? The economy has been roaring for close to a decade and corrections are inevitable. We’re not saying to pay uber close attention to the news cycle and the different predictions of the market tanking, but it is good to be prepared. But even if an actual recession never occurs, getting our personal finances in shape will allow us to be prepared for short-term bumps in the road- whether they’re market related, or purely personal. Give this episode a listen to hear our t...
Jan 23, 2019•36 min•Ep. 55
***We are pumped to start releasing an additional episode every week that we’re calling our money pro episode, or $Pro for short! Every Monday we’ll hear from a $Pro as they discuss a topic that they’re passionate and knowledgeable about, and then we unpack it even further and discuss the impact that topic has on our financial lives.*** Too often in life it’s like we’re sleepwalking- as if we’re drifting through life without any clear guiding principles. Due to that, our day-to-day is filled wit...
Jan 21, 2019•42 min•Ep. 54
Should you itemize your deductions or take the new increased standard deduction this tax season? Answer carefully as thousands of dollars could be on the line! Most folks will opt for hitting the easy button and take the standard deduction- however if you own a house, had some big medical bills last year, and gave money to charity, you should consider itemizing! Listen as we cover it in more detail, plus we break down the best way to make the most of your deductions through bunching. We also tou...
Jan 16, 2019•36 min•Ep. 53
The new tax law nearly doubles the standard deduction which means even fewer folks will be itemizing deductions on their tax returns this year- however, there is still an important way to massively cut our tax bills! Regardless of whether we take the standard deduction or if we itemize deductions- we can still reduce our tax bill by ‘above the line deductions’. These are technically not actual deductions but adjustments to arrive at our adjusted gross income which we typically want as low as pos...
Jan 09, 2019•42 min•Ep. 52
Happy New Year! As we’re all looking ahead and setting goals let’s not forget about money- we need a money roadmap! Now is the time to decide what we’re doing with our money this year. When we know exactly what it is that we’re saving for, we have a clear mission to keep us pumped and on track. Listen as we cover the practical tips that help guide us when it comes to creating our own money roadmaps for 2019! During this episode we shared a Thicc Coffee Porter by Urban Family Brewing Company whic...
Jan 02, 2019•37 min•Ep. 51
Every once in a while we like to step back and think about our work. Why do we do it? Are we doing a good thing? There are a lot of misconceptions of work floating around the internet and our workplaces today. There’s the generally more millennial-ish, romanticized view of work as a calling and a means of personal fulfillment, and on the flip side there’s the end goal of a stable career where your loyalty and daily grind results in a predictable paycheck but maybe not much else - many of us fall...
Dec 26, 2018•46 min•Ep. 50
How amazing is it that we live in a world where there are so many ‘free’ things all around us? And how unfortunate is it, that we don’t even see these ‘free’ resources because we’re so used to purchasing and consumption- we don’t even think to make use of them. Our technology and culture steers us in the direction to spend. Chances are there are times when we're not taking advantage of this ‘free’ stuff and we're overspending because maybe we haven’t thought about it recently or there are some t...
Dec 19, 2018•49 min
There are secondary costs associated with almost all purchases that we make in our lives. It’s important to consider all of these additional costs that tag along when making purchases, and not just the initial sticker price. In this episode we explain how there are hard secondary costs and then how there are soft or lifestyle secondary costs which are similar to lifestyle creep. And then finally, we go over some helpful and specific tips to remember when making purchases or financial decisions. ...
Dec 12, 2018•49 min•Ep. 48
Money oftentimes feels like a topic that is off-limits when it comes to discussions you have with your friends. Is it because it’s too personal? Maybe you feel it’s none of your business? A big part of why we started How to Money is because we feel that money conversations need to happen more often. Talking about money shines a light on it and brings about awareness, which can ultimately lead to improvement as we all have room to grow. Listen as we discuss some of the major ways you’re likely mi...
Dec 05, 2018•47 min•Ep. 47
Buying new stuff makes us happy, right? Yeah for a minute, but you may have noticed how quickly you get used to all that new stuff! Hedonic adaptation, or the hedonic treadmill, helps us understand the effect of consumption. Coming to grips with that can help us end unhealthy cycles of mindless consumerism and set us on a path to a healthier way of thinking about money, spending, and saving for the future. Listen to the full episode to learn how hedonic adaptation can be terrible, how it can act...
Nov 28, 2018•46 min•Ep. 46
Shopping and overspending dominates the holiday season, and we want to make sure you’re not rolling into the new year with that holiday shopping hangover. Honestly, how much more stuff do we really need?! Consumers are expected to spend over 1 trillion dollars during this Christmas shopping season. It’s unfortunate how much emphasis is placed on high ticket gifts to supposedly prove how much you care. Listen as we cover some overall strategies that will help you become a better gift giver, how c...
Nov 21, 2018•50 min•Ep. 45
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Nov 14, 2018•2 min
You’ve gone through all the hard work of saving your money for a down payment, you’ve spent countless hours searching for the right investment property, and now it’s time to find the right tenant! It can be pretty tempting to cut some corners on that last step, but the type of tenant who signs your lease can be the difference between that rental being a blessing or a curse. The good news is that as a landlord, it’s much easier than you think it is to take the right steps to ensure that you do a ...
Nov 07, 2018•41 min•Ep. 44
Nobody ever wants to be called cheap- it’s an insult and brings all sorts of negative connotations with it. However, being frugal is a badge of honor and something worth striving towards. There is a temptation to become cheap when you are looking to get your finances in order, but instead we would encourage frugality over being a cheapskate. In this episode we break down the differences between the two as well as share some stories from when we’ve attempted to be frugal but it ended with us bein...
Oct 31, 2018•42 min•Ep. 43
Over half of Americans don’t have a will- and this is a huge problem. You might think you don’t really need a will, but if you have any assets, a spouse, or kids you most definitely do. Wills aren’t just for old people! Most often people feel that they can always put it off until a little bit later, but the best time to go ahead and create a will is right now. It can be an unsettling topic as most folks don’t enjoy talking about their mortality, but having the peace of mind in knowing that your ...
Oct 24, 2018•33 min•Ep. 42
Imagine that you have a well paying job but otherwise it sucks and you wish you could leave. And now imagine that an amazing opportunity comes along for you to start your dream business- that thing you’ve always wanted to do, but the problem is that you know you won’t be able to pay yourself for a solid year. What you need is peace out money to keep you afloat! Or maybe some family or health issues have come up and you want to be able to spend time with family, or maybe you just want to take som...
Oct 17, 2018•34 min•Ep. 41
Most folks are paying more than twice as much as they need to for cell phone service! The biggest reason for that is because they haven't shopped around- they're blindly paying the overpriced plans from 5 years ago. The average monthly cell phone bill is $73 and by the end of this episode, you’ll know how to get that down drastically- closer to the $25 per month mark which is the new golden standard. Plus, you’ll be able to do that without having to be on a massive friends and family plan like w...
Oct 10, 2018•35 min•Ep. 40
The newest iPhones that were just released are anywhere from $1,000 to $1,500 - that is a ton of money!!! With all the different functions and duties that our smartphones are able to perform, it’s no surprise that the prices are continuing to climb but don't pay full price! Regardless if you’re getting the latest and greatest iPhone release, or if you’re buying last year’s Moto, you want to be getting a deal. In this episode we cover a bunch of different ways to save on your phone upgrade includ...
Oct 03, 2018•40 min•Ep. 39
After the Equifax data breach where 148 million people’s personal information was compromised, it's especially easy to see how vulnerable we are as consumers. So now more than ever, is the time to freeze your credit! A new federal law has made it completely free to freeze and thaw your credit, so you don't have any more excuses. In this episode we talk about why this is so important, we cover what a freeze does (and what it doesn't do), and then we tell you exactly how to do it. Seriously it's s...
Sep 26, 2018•32 min•Ep. 38
You feel rich! The stock market is up and you might be wondering if now is the time to sell. Even if you don’t keep up with any financial news, you’ve likely heard how we’re in the longest running, bull market in US history. Your investment portfolio is looking pretty fat because you’ve purchased low and now it’s time to sell high- that’s how the old adage goes right? Or at the very least maybe you shouldn’t continue to invest because we’re at the peak, the top of the market, right? But then the...
Sep 19, 2018•31 min•Ep. 37
