Today's episode is a quick-hitter, and one that will surely anger some. It seems like everyone is talking about passive income income these days. Frankly, we don't believe there's such a thing as "passive" income. Either it's not nearly as passive as one would let on, or if it does have an element of passivity to it, the work it takes to create it is as far from passive as imaginable. In other words, if someone is trying to sell you on the idea of "passive income", it's either because a) it's a ...
Feb 23, 2022•11 min•Ep. 96
From time to time, we talk about the importance of having an emergency fund. You know, the thing that protects us when life throws a major curveball our way. It's when, not if. Without an emergency fund, these curveballs can cause detrimental financial and relational turmoil in our lives, which can lead to a spiral of negative consequences. With one, however, these situations are often downgraded to a frustrating inconvenience. Recently, host Travis Shelton experienced his own curveball when his...
Feb 21, 2022•31 min•Ep. 95
It's been a while since we did our last Q&A episode. Today, we answer three questions we recently received through Instagram. Thanks to everyone for your questions and feedback. It means the world to us. If you have any questions, be sure to hit us up with a DM or an e-mail. We will address it privately or through the podcast. Here are the questions in today's episode: 1) How do I get back on track with my budget if I overspend? 2) How does your money mindset impact your financial life? 3) 1...
Feb 16, 2022•21 min•Ep. 94
Sometimes, life feels like one never-ending journey with no stopping point. Nowhere is this more true than with our job. Our current reality feels like it will live in perpetuity. That's great if it's something awesome. But what if it's not awesome? In today's episode, host Travis Shelton shares an idea he implemented in his own career more than 15 years ago. When we put an arbitrary deadline or ending date on something, it gives us the motivation to keep going, the energy to see it through, and...
Feb 14, 2022•16 min•Ep. 93
Inflation. It's a word everyone has been talking about. We can't go anywhere without someone dropping the term or throwing out some opinion. In today's episode, host Travis Shelton explains what inflation is, discusses how it impacts each of us (probably more than we realize), and provides some simple steps to combat it in our own lives. Inflation is real, and it's hurting a lot of people right now. Hopefully this episode gives you some tools to navigate it in one piece and with far less stress....
Feb 09, 2022•20 min•Ep. 92
As much as we'd like to think we can always keep kicking butt and moving forward, sometimes we fail. There's really no way to sugarcoat it. It's not all roses and sunshine, regardless of what people on IG try to tell us. In today's episode, host Travis Shelton gets real about a multi-week stretch that felt like a whole lot of losing. He discusses his experience, the feelings behind it, and how he tries to rectify things when he lets people down. For some of you, this may hit a little too close t...
Feb 07, 2022•13 min•Ep. 91
As we predicted all the way back in Episode 13 (linked below), people are freaking out over the stock market falling 10%+ just 24 days into the new year. Yeah, it can be scary.....but it shouldn't be. In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses how the recent stock market slide compares to past events and puts it into a bigger perspective. In short, this is nothing new and it should be expected. We try to zoom out to show you why this isn't nearly as scary as it seems, and why patience/dis...
Feb 02, 2022•15 min•Ep. 163
As host Travis Shelton always says, getting out of debt is the easy part. The hard part is staying out. We get this question a lot. One of our listeners has made tough decisions, acted intentionally, and made the necessary sacrifices in order to pay off the debt. Huge win!!! But life continues, things happen, and we and we can quickly find ourselves right back where we started. In today's episode, we discuss why this happens and how we can structure our life in a way for it to NEVER happen again...
Jan 31, 2022•16 min•Ep. 89
Sometimes life gets a bit too intense. Sometimes it gets overwhelming. Sometimes it gets flat-out tough. When that happens, we tend to let our finances slip. The loss of a loved one, relocation, sickness, job losses....so many things can cause life to feel chaotic. In today's episode, host Travis Shelton dives into this topic and offers some advice on how to get a grasp on finances when life feels a bit too much. Here are 7 things we can do to help keep things under control......and keep our san...
Jan 26, 2022•16 min•Ep. 88
There's an irony about money and relationships. The big, scary, needle-moving decisions typically don't cause as much relational tension as the small day-to-day purchases. It can wreak havoc on marriages, regardless of whether you have a low income or a high income. In today's episode, host Travis Shelton walks through a small but powerful life/money hack that can relieve so much friction in relationships.....and is honestly pretty fun: each spouse having their own dedicated spending each month....
Jan 24, 2022•19 min•Ep. 87
A lot of us hate our job. We dread it, it causes stress, and we're in an overall bad mood before, during, and after. For others, it's literally killing you. Migraines, back pain, hair loss, constant sickness, insomnia.....some of us are battling some crazy physical ailments not realizing they may be job-related. When we talk about how 70% of Americans dislike or hate their job, we don't use the word "hate" lightly. For some of us, our work is literally killing us. In today's episode, host Travis...
Jan 19, 2022•16 min•Ep. 86
Sometimes good things can become bad. Paying off debt is one of those things. There has become an entire movement based around the pursuit of becoming debt-free. We're all for it, but there's a toxic underside to this at times. For some, the journey to pay off debt can become an idol that blocks out all the other good things in life. Faith, relationships, meaningful work, serving, generosity, fun. These are all good things, important things. But for some, paying off debt becomes the sole focus i...
Jan 17, 2022•20 min•Ep. 85
Whether we know it or not, we pay fees when we invest. Sometimes these fees are obvious, but usually they are somewhat behind the scenes. In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses the importance of minding fees and how detrimental they can be to your long-term investing performance. This one nuance can literally equate to $1M+ for a young adult who is early in their investing career. It's hard to put a dollar amount value on a lot of our content, but this one is clear. This one decision,...
Jan 12, 2022•14 min•Ep. 84
When it comes to investing, we tend to have a certain expectation of what we should make per year in the stock market. Some say 6%-8%, some say 8%-10%, others say 10%-12%. Regardless of what your expectation is, it causes something to happen in us. If the annual performance of a given year is above our number, it's a "good" year.....and if it's below our number, it's a "bad" year. In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses the problems with this mindset. He explains the truth behind the h...
Jan 10, 2022•15 min•Ep. 85
In episode 79, host Travis Shelton shared five of the best pieces of life advice he's ever received. After receiving a lot of positive feedback from that episode, we're giving you the next five! Many of you have shared your best advice as well, so we will definitely feature yours on a future episode. Speaking of, we want to hear from you! Please share with us some of the best life advice you've ever received. We'd love to hear it! If you have questions or would like to connect with us outside of...
Jan 05, 2022•19 min•Ep. 82
There's one thing that will stop progress before it even has a chance to start: an excuse! We all have them. It's easy to point to our excuses and use it to justify not doing something. In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses his young friend Olivia and her recent accomplishment of paying off $37,000 of student loan debt in just 20 months.....all happening during her first two years of teaching (yes, $37,000 of debt payoff as a single teacher!). Olivia didn't do anything special.....sh...
Jan 03, 2022•20 min•Ep. 81
Wow, what a year!?! In March, we thought it would be fun to start a podcast. 9 months and 80 episodes later, here we are! It's been a fun and educational ride, to say the least. In today's episode, host Travis Shelton and producer (and Meaning Over Money co-founder) Cole Netten reflect back on how all this happened, discuss the most popular and controversial episodes, share their most surprising learnings about starting a podcast, and give a sneak peek to what 2022 will bring. Thanks so much to ...
Dec 29, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 80
During a recent coffee date discussion, host Travis Shelton's friend Kylie suggested we do an episode about the best life advice we've ever received. At first, it didn't seem like there was any connection between this idea and the general concept of Meaning Over Money. But after some contemplation, it actually aligns perfectly! After all, this is meaning OVER money! In today's episode, Travis shares the first five pieces of advice that changed the trajectory of his life. We will have a few more ...
Dec 27, 2021•16 min•Ep. 79
There's a narrative in our culture that says we need a lot of money to start a business. And we are lucky to have it, or we need to go borrow it. The other narrative told to people is they need to create an LLC in order to start their business. Both of these are lies, and in many cases can create artificial hurdles that prevent someone from starting what could be an amazing business. In today's episode, host Travis Shelton explains why we probably need far less than we think to start a business....
Dec 22, 2021•17 min•Ep. 76
Do you ever look at someone in your life, see how wealthy and put together they are, and get a bit jealous? Well fear not, it's often not what it seems. In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses his experience seeing what's behind the curtain for families who seemingly have it made. Spoiler alert: it's not usually what you'd expect. Some people put so much effort (and money) into portraying a certain image, it hinders their ability to actually have financial stability. However, this isn'...
Dec 20, 2021•18 min•Ep. 77
In an impromptu interview, host Travis Shelton sits down with Kate Netten to discuss navigating major life changes as a young adult. Kate is the wife of Cole Netten, co-founder of Meaning Over Money. In just a short 7-month timespan, Cole and Kate experienced four significant life changes that rocked their understanding of "normal". In today's episode, Kate discusses how they made some of these decisions, how they stayed healthy and focused through it, and how it's changed them as people and as ...
Dec 15, 2021•38 min•Ep. 76
Recently, host Travis Shelton had the opportunity to host a workshop for parents and teens on the topic of launching young adults into the world without student loan debt. Rampant student loan debt is crushing this young generation, crushing aspirations, dreams, and opportunities with it. We believe young adults deserve better than this. However, many of us had to feel the burden of college debt ourselves. It sucks and we've had to figure it out. With that in mind, here's a profound thought: our...
Dec 13, 2021•18 min•Ep. 75
Paying off debt is simple. If there is extra money each month, there's only one place it goes: to the debt! It's a tough journey to become debt-free, but it's also a very simple one. Something happens when we get out of debt. We think life will get easier and simpler. Truth is, it becomes more complicated. Instead of having one very clear option on what to do with extra cash, the world opens up and there are so many amazing opportunities in front of us. In today's episode, host Travis Shelton ex...
Dec 08, 2021•16 min•Ep. 74
We love generosity! We believe all year long is a season to give, but the holidays tend to be the time where many people start to think about generosity. In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses why it's so important to exercise what he refers to as the "giving muscle." After all, generosity isn't something we do, but rather who we are. That may not feel like your reality today, but by practicing and exercising our giving muscle, we can work our way up to so much more generosity than we...
Dec 06, 2021•14 min•Ep. 73
The culture tells us to pursue the easy path, the comfortable path, the path of least resistance. We choose the comfortable path in our careers, in our relationships, in our money.....everywhere! In today's episode, host Travis Shelton talks about how a recent speaking engagement affirmed once again how doing the hard thing ALWAYS wins! Comfort is the enemy of progress. It can often feel like some people are born to do hard things and some aren't. We believe it's an acquired taste and a learned ...
Dec 01, 2021•16 min•Ep. 10
As we move further and further away from 2008's Great Financial Crisis, memories fade and a younger generation has risen to adulthood. With that comes mountains of new debt.....record levels of debt! In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses some of the newly released information about household debt and shares his thoughts on the situation. Just like 2008 and every meaningful recession before it, so many people will get crushed in due time. Lucky for you, you don't have to be one of the...
Nov 29, 2021•18 min•Ep. 71
The idea of changing jobs is scary! Especially when it feels secure. Especially when it pays well. Especially when you've been there a long time. But many of you need to leave your job yesterday. In today's episode, host Travis Shelton shares the 5 signs you might need to get a different job. You may relates to some of these and haven't even considered them signs. Why? Because they're so common in our culture it just feels normal. This episode is going to hit pretty close to home for some, and w...
Nov 24, 2021•18 min•Ep. 70
One really deep question we often get asked is, "is it ok NOT to find meaning in my work if I have meaning outside my work?" The short question, is of course, yes. We aren't here to tell people what to do and everyone needs to find their own way in this crazy life. However, we think people deserve better. It's awesome to have meaning (lots of meaning!) outside of work! But why not have both? In today's episode, host Travis Shelton explains why you don't have to choose between meaning in work or ...
Nov 22, 2021•11 min•Ep. 69
Often, people will share financial advice and conclude with the line, "well, it worked for me." It's great if a certain way of doing things "works" for someone, but it doesn't mean it's good advice. In today's social media world, bad advice is flying at us left and right, disguised as sound wisdom. In today's episode, host Travis Shelton rants about this cultural phenomenon and provides some tips on how to assess whether or not to apply the advice you're hearing (including the advice coming out ...
Nov 17, 2021•11 min•Ep. 68
After a decade of the stock market going up, up, and up, people are starting to see the end of the run is coming. Well, the wise people are anyway. After all, there are lots of things to be nervous about in our country and our economy. With that naturally comes the question, "well then, what should we be doing to prepare?" In today's episode, host Travis Shelton unpacks this question and explains some of the risks and perceived risks we face. In short, there are two groups of people: 1) those wh...
Nov 15, 2021•18 min•Ep. 67
