Saving up that first emergency fund can be hard - especially if you don't make a lot of money, if murphy keeps knocking on your door and stealing from your savings, or if you have variable income. So we asked listeners to share their stories of how they saved their first emergency funds. Here are different methods: -The automatic sneaky savings method - including using an app - The shoebox under the bed method - The side hustle method - The tax refund method - Ramping down debt repayment while s...
Jun 26, 2019•27 min•Ep. 107
WTF is a 529? Should you use one for saving for education or is it easier to just have a savings account. Abby Chao from CollegeBacker walks us through what one is, how to set it up, and why it makes sense to use one for college savings. About Abby Chao Abby is a Co-Founder & COO ofCollegeBacker, an online service that makes saving for college simple, smart, social and most importantly accessible to everyone! CollegeBacker, has designed a service to help parents open a tax-advantaged 529 col...
Jun 21, 2019•23 min
It's pride month! And here at Oh My Dollar!, we're queer af, so we're here to talk all things under the rainbow. I thought in the midst of this historical pride month - the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riot - we share the things that we still have to work on in the world of finance and money for GLBTQI+ folks. Reminder you have 3 days left to support Oh My Dollar!'s kickstarter. We're in our 2nd stretch goal and every dollar now goes to expanding our financial literacy programming with GLBT...
Jun 12, 2019•19 min
You "should" do this [unpleasant money thing.] Sound familiar? I know many of you admit to financial procrastination, but often perfectionism is a the root of procrastination. Sometimes it's things like overgeneralizing, all-or-nothing thinking, mental filter (harder on yourself than others), should statements. We're Crowdfunding a Book and Need Your Help You can find out about our campaign for the reprint of my cat-filled purrsonal finance book "A Cat's Guide to Money" at - ohmydollar.com/cats ...
Jun 05, 2019•33 min
Some hobbies are pricey, some hobbies actually save you money. The OMD community tunes in to share how much their hobbies cost them. Plus, Lillian shares the costs from her new figure skating hobby. We talk about these things:The costs of brewing beer and if it saves you moneyThe marginal cost of hobbies ($3 per use or not)Limiting the cost of "Trying new hobbies" as a hobby - and how to avoid spending all the money on itWhat Will considers a "hobby" vs "not a hobby" Having kids in expensive hob...
May 29, 2019•48 min
Big announcement! Oh My Dollar’s cat-filled purrsonal finance book, A Cat's Guide to Money, is going into the second printing, and we need your help to make that possible. But don’t worry, this episode isn’t just going to be about the book - it’s also about why I chose to go the crowdfunding route again, and what that has to do with risk and money. We talk about these things: The definition of risk and how our risk tolerance variesThe Myth of effortless success: "We believe people shouldn’t see ...
May 23, 2019•27 min•Ep. 102
Figuring out car insurance can be an absolute hair-pulling nightmare. What is comp & collision? What does 50/100/50 mean? Do red cars really pay more? Guest Andrew Rose of Compare.com helps us make sense of it. We answer these questions: Collision vs. comprehensive: what’s the difference? How do you know which one you need?How can you tell if a car insurance company is "too good to be true"I know men generally pay more - and I know that economists generally pay less. What are some sneaky fac...
May 08, 2019•33 min•Ep. 101
For our 100th Episode, we turned the mic on our listeners and asked: If I handed you $100 and you had to use it in the next 24 hours in a way it would have the biggest impact on your life, what would you do with it? Thank you so much to everyone who listens, everyone who has *ever* submitted a question to the show, our amazing forum community, our 75 wonderful monthly supporters on Patreon that make so much of this possible, and all 8 stations, especially our mothership XRAY.FM, that carry the O...
May 02, 2019•28 min•Ep. 100
Are you thinking about taking the plunge into the world of e-bikes or cargo bikes? At $1,000 – $5,000, it can be hard to justify the expense. We hear from people about their own choice to get an ebike and why the expense made sense for them, and share some tips on figuring out if it’s right for you. Thank you SO MUCH to the over 100 people who submitted their stories about getting an e-bike on the Oh My Dollar! forums and the PDX Cargo Bike Gang page. I couldn't use all the amazing stories and k...
Apr 24, 2019•40 min•Ep. 99
How do you choose which things to spend more more money on - and what things can you cheap out on? Listeners write in with their best consumer investments and how these splurges improve their lives. People splurge on cooking equipment, knives, shoes, bras, and gym memberships. Please come join us Much of this conversation came from the rad folks at our forum! Join us at forum.ohmydollar.com is a great non-judgemental place to ask questions or participate in our daily check-ins, personal financia...
Apr 17, 2019•33 min
If you haven’t been following - and who can blame you - the law is an absolute mess - the Affordable Care Act, the law that provides health care coverage and protections for millions of Americans, was invalidated by a judge in Texas late last year. But this month, the Justice Department said they now have the position that the entire law should be scrapped. This is a big deal. This could affect, at a minimum, 21 million Americans. So what does this mean for you, if you're an American? This could...
Apr 15, 2019•34 min•Ep. 97
This is rebroadcast of an episode from our archives. Back to new episodes next week! The episode originally aired on February 13, 2017. Lillian answers all the questions you’ve been too scared to ask about investing for retirement. This guide is especially meant to help if you if want to get started investing in your 20's or 30's, but is applicable to anyone looking to get started who is a US resident. In this episode we cover 401ks & IRAs, explains how you choose what to invest, and what yo...
Apr 04, 2019•30 min•Ep. 96
Alright, so you got a tax refund. Or some other fun chunk of money. How should you use it? Save, splurge, or...? Maybe cash it into twenty dollar bills and fill your bathtub with it and flop around like the rich magical being you are? Here's our ideas, ranging from creative to not: Pay off debtSave your one-month buffer or emergency fundStock up and freeze fancy cheese so you're never out of fancy cheeseFill in your sinking funds or known unknown categoriesSave for retirementBuild out your stupi...
Mar 27, 2019•22 min
There's so many options out there for small business retirement plans for employers! How do you choose one you can afford and that won't cause headaches to administer? Marcel wrote in: I’m a small business owner, who has recently expanded to have 8 employees. We’re doing well as a business, and I’d like to encourage my employees to save for retirement. What are my options? Almost all these plans will require you to make any eligible employee able to use it, which means you can't set up one just ...
Mar 20, 2019•28 min
Lillian travels to 2-13 countries a year, and mostly flies and stays in hotels for free or cheap - through credit card travel hacking. She walks you through how to do it as a hobby- and why you might not want to. There are no referral links in this post, because I don't want you to think I'm doing this for the points. I do a lot of things for the points, but getting my audience into my weird hobby is not one of those things! Steps to adventuring on travel hacking through credit cards as a hobbyI...
Mar 13, 2019•35 min•Ep. 93
Clothing - it can be a luxury item but it's also a necessity, if you live in polite society. How much should you spend on clothing in a year? How do you balance your budget with your values if you don't want to buy fast fashion items? Do you need to buy high-end sustainable fashion? Do you have to thrift everything? How do you calculate cost-per-wear? How long are socks really supposed to last? Lillian (4'11") and Will (6'5") talk about the differences in budgeting for clothing based on your hei...
Mar 06, 2019•35 min•Ep. 92
Balancing your checkbook- is that an adulting skill you should have? What exactly is a checkbook? Do you still need to do this? What is the digital equivalent? We answer your hot questions about checkbook balancing, how to do it, and whether or not it matters. Lillian goes also on a bit of a rant about how antiquated the US financial system is. In our mailbag are two listener questions: Tomas shares his debt payoff victories, and Don tells us how his wife negotiated to be moved to a W-2 employee...
Feb 27, 2019•34 min•Ep. 91
Are you tired of eating and drinking your money away? Lillian and Will (plus some helpful listeners) share their tips for spending less at restaurants and bars. Some strategies include: Involve your friends or co-workers in a "no eating out" challenge Start a lunch packing clubIdentify your big "triggers" for eating out and plan around themFind fun things to do that aren't bars or restaurants - invite friends over!Have your "I'm depressed/busy/unmotivated" meals ready in the fridge so postmates ...
Feb 20, 2019•32 min•Ep. 90
Something we always say on this show is that money is highly personal. Well, one thing I’ve learned is there’s no specific “accomplishment” moment for when you are in control of your money. For some people it’s being able to buy whatever kind of cheese they want at the grocery store, for others it's the feeling of not worrying about the next paycheck. Today is the first episode of our new regular listener stories series, with The Billfold editor Nicole Dieker, where we feature listener's creativ...
Feb 13, 2019•38 min•Ep. 89
Do you have a profitable side hustle? Are you entirely self-employed? Do you send invoices to get paid rather than than get a paycheck with tax deductions taken out? It’s entirely possible you should be paying quarterly estimated taxes then. Paying quarterly estimated taxes can be annoyingly scary - not only are you like “WHY ARE YOU TAKING MY MONEY, GOVERNMENT?” you are responsible for keeping track of how much you get paid. The government website isn’t super fun. The IRS likes to believe they ...
Feb 03, 2019•33 min
It’s the time of year where I just get MAD at one thing in my life: receipts. They just suck - they're crinkly, they pile up, but theoretically you need to save them for tax purposes for 7 years. And theoretically “scan receipts” is a thing you can do, but what if you just end up with pictures of hundreds of receipts on your phone? So I used EVERY SINGLE receipt scanning app to find out which one is best for you. Enjoy. Things we discuss on this show - When you need to save receipts and when you...
Jan 03, 2019•26 min
Before 2018 closes out, we give you a list of a few things you should do wrap up your finances before the end of the year. Here's a few things to try to handle before the clock strikes midnight: - Make sure to review your charitable giving priorities, if you’re likely to itemize your tax deduction. This is where things are different than previous years. Remember that the standard deduction this year doubled - now $12,000 from $6,350 and for married filers to $24,000 from $12,700 - meaning the 31...
Dec 29, 2018•20 min•Ep. 86
It can be hard to choose a financial goal when it feels like you need to be doing everything - Pay off debt! Get a new job! Get a side hustle! Save for a trip around the world! Travel hack! Clip Coupons! We talk about how to choose a financial goal to focus on when it feels like you should be doing everything all at once. Ask us a question! We love hearing from you! Email us your financial worries or victories at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar This show is made...
Dec 26, 2018•27 min•Ep. 85
I’m really excited to have on reporter Dan Weissman to talk about his freshly-launched show, An Arm And a Leg podcast, which dives into the unique stories that come from the hellscape that is American health care. But it’s not depressing – it’s a nice conversation about everyday people vs American health care. As Dan puts it “ We’re like all blind people with this giant elephant – this giant terrifying fanged venomous elephant. And we got to get our get our picture of it together.” You’re not go...
Nov 28, 2018•39 min
Are you ready for a cute, heartwarming, and thought-provoking interview this week? I hope so, because after a month of American health care on this show, I’m ready for an uplifting story. John Schneider and David Auten of DebtFreeGuys.com and Queer Money podcast help queer people live fabulously, not fabulously broke. David and John join for an interview talking about their own money stories, how they paid off $60,000 of credit card debt in 2.5 years, how to find non-homophobic companies to inve...
Nov 21, 2018•28 min
We have two listener questions this week for health care month: Anna wants to know how to fix an accidental over-contribution to her HSA without getting a penalty (time stamp 01:34), and Allison wants to figure out how to switch health insurance when the open enrollment periods don’t line up between the two plans (timestamp 5:32) We talk about why navigating the open enrollment stacking is kind of like playing magic or playing Dungeons & Dragons with a drunk Dungeon Master (timestamp 10:34) ...
Nov 07, 2018•16 min
Just in time for halloween, we have an episode about some of the spookiest health insurance plans of all – “junk” health insurance plans, or “short-term” health insurance plans. The President must’ve heard that we’re talking about health insurance all month, because the administration just pushed through last-minute rule change that could mean that much, much cheaper health insurance plans are available. Reasons you might want to get a short-term health insurance plan They’re cheap.You’re health...
Oct 31, 2018•17 min
Teeth can be expensive! Lillian breaks down some unexpected ways you can save on dental – from taking a trip to Hungary to opening a FSA account, and helps explain why dental isn’t quite like regular health insurance. In this episode I say “out of pocket maximum” a few times when I meant maximum. Ways to Save on Dental Costs Step 1, actually get preventative work done if you can – it will save you money in the long run If you have access to dental insurance, make sure you go in-networkDo the mat...
Oct 24, 2018•21 min
Today we look at how to choose a health insurance plan – should you get a PPO, an HMO, or a HDHP? What is an HSA? And what do those acronyms mean anyway? What if you get free money from work? Open Enrollment is starting for many people! This is the time of year when you can enroll, so we are devoting multiple episodes this month to untangling the mess of American health care bureaucracy as part of our Health Care Month 2018. If you’re a non-US listener, here are some cute cat videos to watch ins...
Oct 17, 2018•23 min
Even if you have poor or no credit, that doesn’t mean you’re stuck living in your parent’s basement forever. Here are some strategies for finding housing when you have poor credit, and also some strategies for repairing your credit after missed payments. Listener Blair asks what to do after she missed some payments when underemployed, now ready to get out of her parent’s house and into a place of her own. This Show is Brought to You by our Listeners This show is supported by generous listeners l...
Oct 10, 2018•17 min
