Let’s dive into the week with some fresh listener questions we have lined up for you! And don't just stand on the sidelines- if you have a question you’d like us to answer, toss your voice memo our way. It only takes about 90 seconds to record and you can find a step by step guide over at HowToMoney.com/ask . Regardless of how random or bizarre you might think it is, we want to hear it! 1 - How do you financially justify investing more in your house as opposed to investing in the stock market? 2...
Jan 20, 2025•52 min•Ep. 934
Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like: vetted LA wildfire charities, awful AI advice, booming BNPL, finding happiness in all the wrong ways, spending to please others, cra...
Jan 17, 2025•35 min•Ep. 933
SMART goals are out, CRUSH money goals are in! We’re joined today by expert money coach Bernadette Joy, who we met for the first time last year at the nerdy personal finance and media conference that we attended. We actually gave a talk, while Bernadette was the host for the entire conference, and there may not be anyone else on earth with as much personal finance enthusiasm as Bernadette. She’s a breath of fresh air to the world of personal finance and is featured monthly in Forbes, CNBC, and C...
Jan 15, 2025•54 min•Ep. 932
Let’s dive into the week with some fresh listener questions we have lined up for you! And don't just stand on the sidelines- if you have a question you’d like us to answer, toss your voice memo our way. It only takes about 90 seconds to record and you can find a step by step guide over at HowToMoney.com/ask . Regardless of how random or bizarre you might think it is, we want to hear it! 1 - How should the Sahm Rule Recession Indicator impact my investing? 2 - Why would my financial advisor recom...
Jan 13, 2025•52 min•Ep. 931
Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like: low cost insulation, best months to buy new and used cars, thousand dollar car payments, bougie extra bedrooms, what medical debt?, ...
Jan 10, 2025•36 min•Ep. 930
What does it mean to pursue joy and purpose in your life? Is it some sort of never-ending scavenger hunt, where we’re hoping to find something that is just out of reach, hidden behind the next corner? Or is it something that we’re able to achieve because it’s something that we’ve created? Our guest today would argue that it’s more of the latter! We’re joined by our friend Dr. Jordan Grumet to talk less about the what and the how behind personal finance, and more about the why, and how our money ...
Jan 08, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 929
Let’s dive into the week with some fresh listener questions we have lined up for you! And don't just stand on the sidelines- if you have a question you’d like us to answer, toss your voice memo our way. It only takes about 90 seconds to record and you can find a step by step guide over at HowToMoney.com/ask . Regardless of how random or bizarre you might think it is, we want to hear it! 1 - When is it finally time to ditch an old car and upgrade? 2 - Is it frugal or cheap to live off of only my ...
Jan 06, 2025•50 min•Ep. 928
Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like: trad hobbies, getting fit on the cheap, gig economy update, Social Security reliance, accessible financial advisors, AI stock tips, ...
Jan 03, 2025•36 min•Ep. 927
We’re going all-in today on budgeting with our special guest Jesse Mecham! There are a number of folks listening who might recognize his name, but I’m guessing even more folks are familiar with the company he started back in 2003 while he was still in college: You Need A Budget, or YNAB as it’s commonly known. Millions of individuals have used YNAB to get on a budget which has allowed them to achieve their life-changing financial goals. Whether that’s simply paying off debt or the complicated en...
Jan 01, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 926
For a year that was dominated by headlines of destructive hurricanes, cyberattacks, and political uncertainty, we think it’s more important than ever to highlight some of the good things that happened – and no, we’re not talking about Joel’s Costco rebate check! Not only do we get to share our personal financial wins from 2024, but an incredible number of How To Money listeners have achieved major milestones with their money this year. Creating this episode always fires us up, and we hope it doe...
Dec 30, 2024•53 min•Ep. 925
Sitting on your butt is killing you! According to the Heart Foundation, folks who sit the most are 90% more susceptible to dying from cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes. And while taking a load off and having a seat isn’t going to immediately harm you, the accumulation of years and decades of a more sedentary lifestyle could lead to an earlier death! And we feel similarly when it comes to consumer debt. Paying a little interest this month isn’t going to completely wreck your fi...
Dec 27, 2024•52 min•Ep. 924
We hope that you’re having a wonderful holiday season. And if you celebrate Christmas, or any holiday that involves the exchange of gifts- isn’t it so much fun giving presents and seeing the faces of your loved ones light up? And while that might be the case on Christmas morning, it’s a different story later in the day for many adults and kiddos alike. There’s frequently a post present letdown that many of us experience. Either there was something we wanted that we didn’t get, or the gifts that ...
Dec 25, 2024•56 min•Ep. 923
Talking with your parents about their finances might prove to be a very difficult conversation- discussing religion and politics may even seem like a walk in the park compared to breaching the topics of retirement, long term care, and wills. Which is why we’re so thankful to have Cameron Huddleston join us to explain how we can go about having these essential conversations with our parents. She has recently published her book “Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk” and she is here to walk us through init...
Dec 23, 2024•57 min•Ep. 922
Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like: Costco Instacart HACK, stockpiling before the tariffs, travel trade-offs, working from HELM, international stock exposure, fake T-Mo...
Dec 20, 2024•38 min•Ep. 921
Imagine this: you wake up after a restful night’s sleep, not to the crash of toys in the playroom, but to the soft chime of your alarm or maybe even sunlight streaming through your window. You ease into your morning by getting ready for a run or some work without negotiating with kids over what they can or can’t wear to school. You enjoy a delicious breakfast, again, without an argument with any kids. For us, this scenario feels like a distant dream. As our listeners know, our homes are filled w...
Dec 18, 2024•59 min•Ep. 920
Let’s dive into the week with some fresh listener questions we have lined up for you! And don't just stand on the sidelines- if you have a question you’d like us to answer, toss your voice memo our way. It only takes about 90 seconds to record and you can find a step by step guide over at HowToMoney.com/ask . Regardless of how random or bizarre you might think it is, we want to hear it! 1 - I feel awkward about haggling with locals while on an expensive cruise- help! 2 - Should I really invest m...
Dec 16, 2024•51 min•Ep. 919
Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like: exorbitant EV charging, overrated walkable neighborhoods, ruined coffee crop, more expensive YouTube TV, tinkering for worse returns...
Dec 13, 2024•35 min•Ep. 918
Today’s episode offers a peek into what your favorite personal finance podcast might be like, if only it was hosted by two ladies! Jen Smith and Jill Sirianni are hosts of the Frugal Friends podcast which is all about embracing a more intentional and frugal lifestyle… but not THAT kind of frugal. They challenge the idea that frugality is about deprivation and instead highlight how it can empower you to achieve financial independence while living a life filled with joy and purpose. Jen and Jill d...
Dec 11, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 917
Let’s dive into the week with some fresh listener questions we have lined up for you! And don't just stand on the sidelines- if you have a question you’d like us to answer, toss your voice memo our way. It only takes about 90 seconds to record and you can find a step by step guide over at HowToMoney.com/ask . Regardless of how random or bizarre you might think it is, we want to hear it! 1 - My grandparents set me up with an UTMA… what should I do with that money? 2 - Are the student loan repayme...
Dec 09, 2024•49 min•Ep. 916
Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like: car loan deferment ripoff, keen on cash, speedy deliveries, porch pirate insurance, hoarders vs minimalists, AI granny, billions in ...
Dec 06, 2024•38 min•Ep. 915
For this episode we might need to adopt a new, honorary name for our podcast – maybe How NOT to Money since this is going to feel at odds with what we typically discuss here on the show! And that’s because ‘budgeting’ is almost synonymous with ‘building wealth’ and living the kind of life you want, but our guest today is offering an alternative to traditional personal finance advice in favor of empowering and flexible strategies. We’re joined by Dana Miranda, author of the new book “You Don’t Ne...
Dec 04, 2024•53 min•Ep. 914
Let’s dive into the week with some fresh listener questions we have lined up for you! And don't just stand on the sidelines- if you have a question you’d like us to answer, toss your voice memo our way. It only takes about 90 seconds to record and you can find a step by step guide over at HowToMoney.com/ask . Regardless of how random or bizarre you might think it is, we want to hear it! 1 - How do I convince my in-laws that they’re wasting money by financing a car when they can pay cash? 2 - Wha...
Dec 02, 2024•49 min•Ep. 913
Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like: Joel’s price match win, egregious store card rates, brick & mortar shopping, physical catalog resurgence, generous happy people,...
Nov 29, 2024•32 min•Ep. 912
Why aren’t there more millionaires? The basic formula is straightforward: spend less than you earn and invest the surplus in low-cost, diversified index funds. It’s not an exaggeration to say that if you stick to these simple steps, you could be sitting on millions by the time you retire. It’s truly that simple – but simplicity doesn’t always mean it’s easy. As it turns out, the biggest obstacle to building wealth isn’t external factors, it’s us. We are often our own worst enemies when it comes ...
Nov 27, 2024•56 min•Ep. 911
Let’s dive into the week with some fresh listener questions we have lined up for you! And don't just stand on the sidelines- if you have a question you’d like us to answer, toss your voice memo our way. It only takes about 90 seconds to record and you can find a step by step guide over at HowToMoney.com/ask . Regardless of how random or bizarre you might think it is, we want to hear it! 1 - Can you help me crunch the numbers to determine: lump sum or a monthly pension? 2 - How should I invest do...
Nov 25, 2024•53 min•Ep. 910
Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like: car stereo hacks, auto IRAs, abysmal hedge fund returns, Travel Tuesday, unlimited vacation clubs, gave up the Spirit, skiplagging t...
Nov 22, 2024•34 min•Ep. 909
Isn’t there a universal metric we can use in order to compare one charity to another? Not according to our guest today who says that we have to use the head AND the heart to determine what organizations we’re going to support. And when it comes to our motivation to give, I think it could be easy to dismiss our own efforts as just a tiny drop in the bucket. Maybe you’re giving when prompted at the checkout register, so it’s five bucks on occasion. Or maybe you are a little more disciplined or sys...
Nov 20, 2024•53 min•Ep. 908
Let’s dive into the week with some fresh listener questions we have lined up for you! And don't just stand on the sidelines- if you have a question you’d like us to answer, toss your voice memo our way. It only takes about 90 seconds to record and you can find a step by step guide over at HowToMoney.com/ask . Regardless of how random or bizarre you might think it is, we want to hear it! 1 - What’s the best no-restrictions account where I can save money for my baby for any purpose? 2 - How do I t...
Nov 18, 2024•49 min•Ep. 907
Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like: direct home sales, content to rent, defund the HOA, affordable manufactured homes, mi casa es su casa, $50 million in TGI Friday buc...
Nov 15, 2024•36 min•Ep. 906
Real estate investing is a topic that we don’t spend nearly as much time discussing compared to the early days of the podcast. And even then we were both less enthusiastic about it compared to a decade ago! Back before we started the podcast it was pretty much all that we talked about but does it make sense to continue investing in real estate today ? Well our guest thinks so! We’re joined by long-time real estate investor Dave Meyer. Dave is the Head of Real Estate at BiggerPockets which is a s...
Nov 13, 2024•54 min•Ep. 905
