Why does it matter if you live in a high cost of living (HCOL) vs. a low cost of living (LCOL) area? With the rise of remote work, the proximity of family and the price of everything from gas to a gallon of milk on people's minds, it can matter a lot. But just because you can afford a mansion in West Virginia doesn't mean you should move there right away. In this episode we talk about what you really want out of the place you're going to live, why it makes sense to put down roots when you have a...
May 26, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Here we go with part 2 – What's the kid's responsibility and what's the parent's responsibility? How much do we need to tell our kids, and how to gauge whether to say something to our kids ("is it true/kind/necessary and will it help your child feel secure?"). We talk about stories from Kim John Payne's book, including the story of a mom going to a new park with their 2 year old, and how a group of parents in New York fell into the "peer-parenting" trap. We talk about how to stop a kid from inte...
May 11, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Join me as we discuss the power in Simplicity Parenting, a way to streamline your life and family values so that you can raise kids to be "calmer, happier and more secure". We'll talk about ways to increase rhythm and regularity in the home, how to deal with media and marketing to children, how kids actually do better with rules, and even tips on how to help your kids not watch too much tv. This book is filled with so many great ideas that I'll be doing a second part next week, so stay tuned! Si...
May 05, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 44
How many kids do you want in your family? It's only been in the past 100 years or so that women and partners have even been able to ask this question of themselves. Today we're going to talk about some of the reasoning why people may want or not want to have children and 4 key tips to figuring out how many kids you want to have. We'll talk about the majority of family's "ideal" number, and how their own upbringing can effect their choice. Please reach out if you have any comments or questions - ...
Apr 21, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 43
What does it mean to pace yourself with your goals? It's knowing your limits, avoiding overwhelm, and taking action when necessary. But it's also knowing when to unplug from the things that are causing you to worry. Much like a guitar amp being left plugged in, our sources of stress are unconsciously making it harder to focus. If we set smaller, automatic goals into our routines, then we'll free up our minds to be less burdened by stress. Let me know if you liked this episode by leaving a rating...
Apr 06, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Is it ever a better financial choice to be a stay-at-home mom? Aren't two incomes always better than one? Today we talk about the top insights from "The Two Income Trap" by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi, both powerhouse working mothers who detail why the post 1980s era has been worse for the average family's finances. Basically, the fixed costs in a family's budget have increased while the income gains have been nonexistent, which means that even with two parents working its harder to...
Mar 29, 2023•19 min•Season 1Ep. 41
What's the antidote for wanting to buy something? Today I'll give you a 2-step approach to making buyer's desire go away without paying a cent. We talk about why people buy when they do, how to sit with uncomfortable feelings and get at the root problems we're trying to address. 5 Overwhelming Desires That Can Urge You to Buy More The Growth of Online Ordering Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Mar 22, 2023•23 min•Season 1Ep. 40
What does it take to NOT spoil your kids? In today's age of materialism, consumerism and overspending, that can be a hard question to answer. Today I'll summarize my favorite points from "The Opposite of Spoiled" by Ron Leiber, a financial columnist at the New York Times and father himself. We'll discuss the key things that define a kid as spoiled (hint: it's not all about money!), how to avoid spoiling as much as possible, and ways we can get our kids involved in the process. So join me as we m...
Mar 15, 2023•12 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Yay! Your kid is going to college! Now, how are you going to pay for all this? Today we discuss college costs, including room and board, and how to save money by getting scholarships and financial aid for tuition. We'll talk about how prevalent a college education is, how many high school grads go to college and what other avenues might be available. From Pell grants to the $100 million of unclaimed sholarships, we'll get you and your kids closer to signing up for less (or no!) student debt in t...
Mar 08, 2023•12 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Yikes! College is expensive! Surprise! Well, maybe not that big of a surprise. Now the question is, how do I save to pay for my kid's college education? If you've decided you want to pay for some or all of your kid's education expenses, now is the time to get started. In this episode I'll talk about how we plan to pay for our kid's college in a 529 plan, how much we saved in the beginning and how much we plan to save per month to reach our goal of $150k for the 3 of them. We'll talk about the ta...
Mar 01, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Decluttering and the organization movement is an admirable ideal that can seem really hard for young families to apply. The more people in the house, the harder it is to contain everything and keep it from spilling out the closets. But I'm here to tell you that it can work in even a "small" house like ours. Many times, it takes some foresight into what you actually use and putting it where you need it WHEN you need it. In this episode I share my favorite spots for things and how you can simplify...
Feb 17, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 36
We all compare ourselves. It's human nature! In this episode we learn about the social comparison theory made famous by Leon Festinger in 1954, how to compare ourselves in a less judgmental way, what it means to make temporal comparisons and how we can learn from the comparison tricks people use with money. Instead of trying to stop the comparison tide completely, this episode is about using our natural ability to compare in a way that is more helpful for you and your finances. As always, I love...
Feb 10, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Ever wish you had a plan for your financial future? But it seems impossible to even start? Here's a quick rundown of how to get started – beginning with your values and visualizing your life in the future. We'll go through the spreadsheet I use to make sense of where and how to save, what our top goals are right now, how that will likely change in the future and how we're trying to front load our savings to hit coast FI, semi-retirement and retirement. As always, feel free to reach out by leavin...
Feb 03, 2023•15 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Are you a planner? Do you wish you were? I'm here to tell you that planning can be powerful for your family, and as simple as writing out the values that you want to guide you and and your family. We'll talk about a child centered vs. value centered home, who makes the decisions, and how you can make decision overload less burdensome for your kids. We talk about value trade-offs, how your season of life will change your family's priorities and time focus, and what to do when your kid is having a...
Jan 27, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Morgan Housel is a New York Times contributor who's written about finance since 2008. In 2020 he wrote the book, The Psychology of Money, which has sold over 2 million copies. In this summary, I detail out the main points of what he writes are the top 20 reasons we don't do well with money. Many times there's a difference between what we know we should do with our money and what we actually do, and here's why. If this review piques your interest, be sure to check out your own copy here or at you...
Jan 20, 2023•11 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Today we're talking about the power of language in our self talk. Whether you have one big goal for the year or lots of little tiny ones, you'll benefit from using this trick to shift your self talk. With saying "I don't" you make the choice yourself and cultivate who you want to be. By saying "I can't" it makes you feel at the mercy of some other force or rule, even if it's self-imposed. As always, you can reach me at onelessthingpodcast@gmail.com, or leave a rating or review. Thanks! The Amazi...
Jan 13, 2023•9 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Here are the ways I've been making the holidays more simple, so I can enjoy more Christmas magic with my kids. Key word is simple! We've kept and added to our family traditions, but tried proactively to not overwhelm ourselves. While this time of year can feel like financial burnout, in this episode we talk about opportunity costs, working with a holiday budget, simplifying your workload by delegating to other people, and helping your kids get involved in charitable giving. Hopefully this infuse...
Dec 14, 2022•16 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Ever heard of a Favorite Things party? This is one for your finances! I'll take you through my favorite things that I wish more people knew about and took action on. We talk about how to save for your kid's college, how to freeze your credit, where to fund retirement accounts even if you don't work a full-time job, and some ideas for fun family dates. Have your own favorite financial things? Please let me know! Any and all comments are welcome by leaving a rating or review, or send me an email a...
Dec 07, 2022•16 min•Season 1Ep. 29
In the past 20 years online shopping has gone from being a sketchy ebay purchase to one of the pillars of commerce. And it's only going to get more intrusive. Here are some ways to stay ahead of the game, especially with holidays right around the corner. Whether you're shopping on a computer, or your phone, or directly through social media, the easy road is not always the best. Online Shopping and E-commerce - Pew Research Study, 2016 10 Online Shopping Statistics The Pandemic has Changed Online...
Nov 30, 2022•14 min•Season 1Ep. 28
It's that time of year when a lot of families want to look their best in front of the camera. But how do you do that? And why is someone always crying? Well, I can't fix everything, but as a family photographer for the past 7 years I've learned a couple things. These 20 tips will help the most amateur parent and the family paying for the top-tier photographer understand how to take better pictures. For more picture examples, poses and general info, feel free to visit my work on instagram @kaeliw...
Nov 23, 2022•11 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Life can be uncomfortable. The car breaks down, our kids make a mess (only about 100 times a day), we never seem to have enough time, money or satisfaction. The remedy? Do something hard! In this episode, we talk about the Japanese concept of Ikigai, how we can derive meaning from being uncomfortable, challenging ourselves and discovering what we love. We talk about the many health benefits to ikigai, feeling okay with boredom and even the secret to life! It might have something to do with hard ...
Nov 16, 2022•12 min•Season 1Ep. 26
If you've ever been so confused by investing that you've never wanted to start, this is the one episode you should listen to. What do you do when you have a little extra money in the budget? Should you spend it all or put a little towards the future? In this episode I go through the steps of opening a taxable brokerage account and tell you my story of why that was so influential for our family 6 years ago. We talk about picking a brokerage , picking a low cost index fund and automating your inve...
Nov 09, 2022•17 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Budgeting will change based on your goals, income, spending and saving. When you know there's a big expense coming up, like saving for a trip or down payment, I call that expectant budgeting . When there's not as much income coming in but you still have the discipline to stick to a budget (go you!) I call that a lean spending budget . And when you know that saving can be kicked up a notch to achieve a big goal, I call that a full savings budget . So let's figure out which one you're in! We also ...
Nov 02, 2022•10 min•Season 1Ep. 24
How do you make budgets fun? Sometimes budgeting can feel like a drag and budget burn out is a real threat to your financial future. But oftentimes we just need a quick refresh as to the who, what, when, where, why of budgeting to keep us on the budget bandwagon. In this episode we'll talk about 3 ways I've made budgets more fun. We talk about annual vs. monthly vs. daily budgets, why I don't expense every dollar, and some ideas for family fun budgets. As always, feel free to reach out by leavin...
Oct 26, 2022•11 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Budgets can make anyone feel uncomfortable but they are one of the best tools to getting your spending under control. I'm here to tell you that budgets don't need to make you feel claustrophobic, but can actually give you more breathing space when it comes to your money! In this episode we'll discuss how to budget more effectively, 4 different budgeting methods, and why budgeting doesn't have to mean tracking every penny. As always, please feel free to reach out by leaving a review, emailing me ...
Oct 19, 2022•15 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Tools can be helpful, powerful, dangerous - money is the same. But if you focus more on how to use the tool safely and effectively, you have less room to focus on how scary, or unknown something is. Too often we seem to forget our plan. Or we don’t even make a plan in the first place. That's where money becomes overwhelming and we come at our finances from a place of stress. In this episode we talk about Morgan Housel and Harold Pollack's advice about The Index Card , and how financial expertise...
Oct 12, 2022•15 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Ever had the thought that money is too intimidating to get started? That it's someone else's job or too complicated to understand? I used to think that too. This episode, I'll show you how using The Model from life coaching can apply to financial coaching too. It's a powerful tool to figure out why you might be thinking, feeling and acting the way that you do, and getting the results you have. We'll talk about what it might look like when you're "good with money", how those thoughts can get in t...
Oct 05, 2022•9 min•Season 1Ep. 20
How do you get your toddler or preschooler interested in money? Chances are, they already are! Most kids will consciously or unconsciously assume your attitudes and beliefs about money. This is your chance to help them learn great money management skills that will benefit them throughout their lives. We'll talk about how to introduce your kids to money with piggy banks, cash registers and counting money, to how to increase their "patience muscles" with delayed gratification and the infamous Stan...
Sep 28, 2022•17 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Today I'll walk you through how to save on your mortgage payment by getting rid of pesky Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI). We'll talk about why banks use PMI, how it can affect your mortgage payments, and how to use home improvement projects to strategically increase the value of your home. So whether you own a home already or want to some day, I'll give you the tips we used to get in the door to our first home (spoiler - we didn't put 20% down) and how we've been able to drop PMI to decrease ou...
Sep 21, 2022•17 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Many times we're too afraid to set big goals because we're afraid to fail. We think everyone else must have an easier time than us and that we don't have the time, natural ability, resources, whatever to make our goals a reality. But I'm here to tell you that big goals are meant to encourage you – not discourage you – in your progress. The key is to judge whether a goal is right for you based on its achievability, challenge and enjoyment . Here are some of the lessons I've learned training and r...
Sep 14, 2022•15 min•Season 1Ep. 17
