Let’s kick off 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 hard should I push to be a landlord if I’m able to buy our next house without selling the current house...
Aug 18, 2025•58 min•Ep. 1024
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: ridic Peloton fee, housing boom bust, where home prices go from here, realtors slowly fading away, medical debt to be aware of, cont...
Aug 15, 2025•37 min•Ep. 1023
We’re glad to have friend of the show and newly married, Nick Maggiulli back on the podcast! He’s been given the nickname Nicky Numbers because he has a special gift for conveying wonky money information in a straightforward and digestible way. We’ve been fans of his blog, Of Dollars & Data, for years now. This episode is for everyone out there who wants to grow their net worth while finding more spending freedom which is our focus today. We discuss plenty of great issues like investing as a...
Aug 13, 2025•50 min•Ep. 1022
Let’s kick off 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 calculate whether it’s worth it to jump back into the work force? 2 - Should I take out a HELOC on...
Aug 11, 2025•51 min•Ep. 1021
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: a 100 year old’s purchasing power, passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, boosting SALT deductions, waning EV tax credits, bad R...
Aug 08, 2025•38 min•Ep. 1020
Finally… a freshie! We’re done with bestie episodes for the summer and are excited to sit down and fill everyone in on what we’ve been up to for the past six weeks. We recount how lucky and blessed we are to be able to take a break from our 9-5, share some of our favorite ways we saved money while traveling (somehow in our first episode back we managed to discuss Aldi and Costco for those playing HTM bingo at home), and we only begin to touch on some of the lessons and takeaways from our time of...
Aug 06, 2025•35 min•Ep. 1019
We’re glad Ikea exists. The ability for a vast majority of the population to get their hands on some incredibly functional, well designed, and affordable furniture is a good thing. But, you’re also unlikely to pass Ikea furniture down to your kids or for that matter, use it for more than a handful of years. Compare that to a campaign dresser from the 1800s! It’s true that they don’t make them like they used to. The same is true when it comes to modern financial advice. There’s a lot of ‘wisdom’ ...
Aug 04, 2025•47 min•Ep. 1018
Have you ever renovated a home? If so, then you remember all of the decisions that you had to make that initially were a lot of fun. Paint colors, light fixtures, tile, even the kind of toilet you wanted… but eventually it gets old and you just want it done. If you can’t relate, even picking up a loaf of bread at the grocery store can be overwhelming- “Should I get honey wheat, 100% whole wheat, 13 grain, the stuff with flax?!” While it can be nice to have options, complicating things doesn’t al...
Aug 01, 2025•48 min•Ep. 1017
We’re stoked to be talking with our friend Chad Carson, aka Coach Carson, which is also where you can find him online: CoachCarson.com. We’ve known Chad for years now but just because this feels like a more casual conversation to us, that doesn’t mean that he’s not going to bring the heat! We tout the benefits of small-time real estate investing, but Chad has made it his mission , and it’s the focus of his new book: Small and Mighty Real Estate Investor. During our conversation today Chad descri...
Jul 30, 2025•56 min•Ep. 1016
Cinderella is such an absurd story! Seriously, when you stop and think- it’s pretty messed up: a prince dances with a girl he’s never met before for one night, and then he sends his goons around town to find her so they can get married. There’s a reason you go on dates for at least a few weeks before proposing. You’ve gotta kick the tires and perform some due diligence! Similarly, you might be completely obsessed with the idea of early retirement upon first hearing about it. And articles out the...
Jul 28, 2025•56 min•Ep. 1015
Have you seen the meme of the guy on a bike who puts a stick in his spokes and then crashes? There are literally hundreds of different versions based on this goofy comic. For instance the first frame on one says “15 holes of good golf,” then followed by “my brain realizing I’m playing well,” as he puts the stick in the front wheel before writhing in pain on the ground. The truth is, it’s not all that hard for us to become our own worst enemy. And that reality is what makes those memes so hilario...
Jul 25, 2025•53 min•Ep. 1014
We’re joined today by Yanely Espinal, who is also known as MissBeHelpful in the online world of personal finance. Yanely was born in Brooklyn, she is a first generation daughter of immigrants, and even though she went to Brown University it didn’t take long for her to rack up over $20,000 in credit card debt. Academic performance doesn’t automatically mean that you know how to handle your money, and Yanely knew that she needed to make some changes! Before long she was sharing her experience onli...
Jul 23, 2025•57 min•Ep. 1013
“Spend less than you make.” This is a maxim that is not only true but, if followed, will allow you to accomplish so many other goals that you might have in life. It’s a foundational concept. Similarly, we also think the same can be said for biking. Get this one thing right in your life- pedal your way to wherever you need to go, and so many other aspects of life will automatically fall into place. And we’ve actually been able to put our commitment to biking to the test since we’ve moved out of t...
Jul 21, 2025•54 min•Ep. 1012
Have you ever eaten so much dessert that you thought you might puke? Or maybe you find yourself at the end of a shopping spree with too many clothes in your closet than you could ever possibly wear? In both cases we’re talking about the diminishing marginal utility that we receive from each additional item we consume- the first cup of water after a run is wonderful, but the fifteenth... less so! Diminishing returns is a common way to describe this phenomenon, and we want you to know that this ap...
Jul 18, 2025•55 min•Ep. 1011
We had the pleasure of sitting down with our friend Brandon Ganch, who is The Mad Fientist, while we were recently traveling in Scotland! Brandon started his career as a computer programmer but then quickly added blogger, podcaster, musician, and producer to his expanding list of pursuits and interests. This is a more casual conversation but listen as you’ll learn a lot about Brandon- life events that may have shaped his view of money, how he discovered and then became a leading voice in the Fin...
Jul 16, 2025•49 min•Ep. 1010
You’ve gotta wait 30 minutes to get back in the pool if you’ve eaten! Don’t pee in the pool- it’ll turn red! There are a lot of things we learned in childhood that we’ve likely discarded as false or at least irrelevant at this point. But there are probably some things we still believe because they were ingrained in our brain at an impressionable age. Similarly, there are a lot of folks clinging to the ‘American Dream’ that they should have that house surrounded by that white picket fence, why? W...
Jul 14, 2025•53 min•Ep. 1009
Whether you saw some crazies doing it on TikTok or read about it in a fitness magazine, it seems like a lot of folks are giving ice baths a try. Evidently it’s supposed to be good for your health, but regardless, there are hordes of people who are intentionally soaking in ice cold water around the 55 degree range. Of course this goes completely counter to what ‘normal’ people subject themselves to. Most folks like their showers warm or even hot, and in the rare instance when you run out of hot w...
Jul 11, 2025•51 min•Ep. 1008
“Work will always be work. Some people work doing what they love. Other people work so that they can do what they love when they’re not working. Neither is more noble.” This is a quote from Simone Stolzoff’s new book The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life From Work, that’s set to publish in a couple weeks. And regardless of where you fall on that spectrum, whether you live to work, or work to live, Simone makes the argument that there are too many of us who are looking to our jobs to provide fulfi...
Jul 09, 2025•55 min•Ep. 1007
Over 1,000 years ago, somehow, the Vikings were able to sail from Norway to Greenland. Without relying on any special instruments or any rudimentary technology, they were even able to reach as far as North America! Evidently they relied on the polarization of the sky, whales or birds they came into contact with, and the color of the ocean- quite remarkable. It seems unlikely that any sailors would be able to pull that off today with modern day technology. But that’s often what it feels like as y...
Jul 07, 2025•54 min•Ep. 1006
Are you ‘credit card FI’ or are you ‘sabbatical FI?’ But maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves… First, does anyone else remember the home run obsession back in 1998? In an attempt to beat the single-season record, home runs became the only metric that anyone watching baseball seemed to care about. But what’s interesting is that most MLB games aren’t won by someone sending a 450 foot bomb to center field. It’s an all-or-nothing approach that most often leads to a strikeout and taking a seat back...
Jul 04, 2025•50 min•Ep. 1005
Everybody has heard of a consumer advocate before- someone who helps to make sure that individuals are getting the best deal possible. Or to make sure that the quality of the products is up to snuff. For instance think of Consumer Reports and the countless reporting and tests they perform on the different items we use as consumers. But you likely haven’t heard of a ‘non-consumer advocate’ before and that’s who we’re talking with today; our friend Katy Wolk-Stanley! Katy’s site is TheNonConsumerA...
Jul 02, 2025•52 min•Ep. 1004
Do you know something that we’re all currently doing? Breathing. It’s something we rarely actively think about, but it turns out that there are ways to improve our technique- by breathing through our nose instead of our mouths, or by taking deeper slower breaths. Well we’re talking about another basic subject today: buying groceries. This elementary practice seems simple on the surface, but just like breathing there are tactics that you can implement in order to save more money at the supermarke...
Jun 30, 2025•52 min•Ep. 1003
Close your eyes and think back to high school. No matter if those were the best years of your life or if you were more of a wallflower, you were likely told that you needed to get good grades- but why? Was it because you knew that you needed a particular GPA in order to get into a specific school? Maybe, but a lot of high schoolers just know that it’s generally a good idea to get high marks because it’s going to give you more options down the road (not to mention personal development, growth, ya...
Jun 27, 2025•54 min•Ep. 1002
There’s more to successfully handling your money than just figuring out the financial nuts and bolts. Money has emotional and psychological components to it as well, which is at the core of what our guest today focuses on. We’re happy to be joined by Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, who happens to be the first financial therapist in the state of Michigan. She is a social worker-turned-financial therapist. She’s also the author of the book, The Financial Anxiety Solution, which is a workbook to help folks s...
Jun 25, 2025•57 min•Ep. 1001
Join us as we celebrate our 1000th episode with an AMA!!! We are incredibly thankful and fortunate that we’re able to create a podcast for listeners who are looking to better their lives by improving how they handle their money. Of course at the core of the show are ways to earn, save, spend, and invest more effectively… all with a little bit of Joel and Matt sprinkled in. And that will continue to be the mission of How To Money. But for this episode, we wanted to take things in a different dire...
Jun 23, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 1000
*Special Episode Alert*... take a peek behind the curtain as we have an intimate, candid chat with our friend Jillian Johnsrud, a master of intentional career breaks and author of the upcoming book Retire Often (out in September). As we take a summer hiatus from new podcast episodes, we dive deep with Jillian into the art of stepping away from work. We explore overcoming the fear of pausing, navigating boredom, the stages of a meaningful break, how to discuss time off with others, and much more!...
Jun 20, 2025•59 min•Ep. 999
Today’s guest, Doug Lynam, has lived an extraordinary life! From overcoming bankruptcy to achieving financial security, taking vows of poverty as a Benedictine monk to managing over $250 million in assets as a wealth advisor, and graduating top of his class as a Marine to spending 20 years in monastic life, Doug’s journey is as diverse as it is inspiring. We have plenty of questions about how his unique experiences shape his approach to money and life, and what we can all learn to improve our ow...
Jun 18, 2025•51 min•Ep. 998
Let’s kick off 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 - Is Matt planning to take his old clunker on his 2 week road trip? 2 - After getting married, what are the p...
Jun 16, 2025•52 min•Ep. 997
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: matched 529 funds, luxury dumpster diving, the apps are spying on us, insurance dodging, wealthy home chefs, fresh Costco perks, God...
Jun 13, 2025•41 min•Ep. 996
Will our guest today convince us to ditch digital payments?! Listen to find out! Because here’s something that we hear all the time: “You can just Zelle me” or “Venmo me!”. It’s sort of like “I’ll just Uber to the airport” – once a company name has become a verb, is it possible to decouple it from culture? And of course the fact that they’re incredibly fast and easy makes the various payment options very attractive. They certainly make life easier when it comes to paying rent for our little offi...
Jun 11, 2025•51 min•Ep. 995
