House of FI

Latest Episodes:

You Matter - Prioritizing Your WHY Even When It's Hard Oct 16, 2019

Sometimes life can be so hectic and overwhelming. We get so involved in planning and checking off goals that the WHY of why we do it all anyway can get drowned out.

In today's episode, Wendy and Curtis will be sharing about their week at the FI Chautauqua in Portugal and how being in the quiet of such a beautiful country surrounded by like-minded fellow-FIers helped them come to some hard decisions.

Chautauqua also allowed Wendy and Curtis to look back and see how far they have come in the 365ish days since the last FI Chautauqua in Greece.

In this past year, they have made some pretty out-of the box moves and well as some HUGE progress on their financial goals.

They have paid off all their consumer debt. YES!
They have cut their expenses by about $6500.00 A MONTH. A MONTH! You read that right.
Wendy was able to close her law practice.
Curtis and Wendy are able to support their 8 family household on one income for the first time in their lives.
They are also under contract on four investment properties which will add another $1,100.00 of cash flow into their monthly budget.
And finally, Curt and Wendy have increased the amount of Curt's contributions to his 403b and his 457. They are committed to increasing his contributions quarterly until both accounts are maxed out.

What a difference one year makes. The difference is COMMUNITY.

It has been widely quoted that you are a compilation of the five people you surround yourself with. YOU are this community and together we can all make a difference in each others lives.

Lastly, Curt and Wendy share a major change for House of FI. We encourage you to listen to this episode and find out how you can stay informed about the future of the House of FI Podcast.

There are several ways you can stay connected with Curtis and Wendy.

1. Join their Private Facebook Group

2. Join their newsletter

ENCORE Episode Creating a $45,000 a Year Side-Hustle Oct 02, 2019

There is no one way to Financial Independence. However, if you want to speed up your timeline to Financial Independence and Early Retirement - one of the best ways to do that is to increase your income via a side-hustle or a small business.

Today we share one of our favorite side-hustler extraordinaires, Julie, from the Millennial Boss blog and The Fire Drill Podcast.

Not only is Julie killing it in her regular jobs, but she blogs, podcasts and has found multiple ways to add income into her budget via other side-business, like an ETSY shop.

We have been SUPER inspired by her story and hope you are too!

AND you are listening just in time to hear that the courses she has mentioned will be opening up again soon in November. If you would like to get on the list to be notified of when they open, follow the links below.

When you use our links, it is tracked and we get credit for a portion of the sale if you eventually decide to take one of their courses.

The proceeds help you support our show and we thank you in advance for showing us a little love.

As a show of our gratitude, when you sign up using one of our links, we will email you a copy of our printable Financial Planner Bundle for FREE.

(You must have a confirmed purchase via the link to receive the download for free.)

If you would like to purchase our Money Foundations Financial Planner Bundle, you can do that HERE.

1st Generation Immigrant - the Climb from Poverty to Financial Independence Sep 25, 2019

Patrick Aime grew up in poverty and unrest in Rwanda but he had a dream of coming to the United States to make his own destiny.

His pathway to the United States was via sports. First, he finished high school in Belgium and then came to the United States to play basketball in college.

In this Encore Episode, you will hear how Patrick achieved made his way to America - achieved success, made a lot of money and then lost it all. It was devastating, but Patrick used the grit and determination that got him to the U.S. to rebuild himself a second time.

This time he understood the value of money and what he needed to do to rebuild his future. He saved and spent well.

Now Patrick has retired in his forties, he is Financially Independent and spends his time between one of his residences in Cabo San Lucas and San Diego.

Encore Episode - From 70 Hours a Week to Stay at Home Dad Sep 18, 2019

This week, we speak with Dan Shaw. In this encore episode, we will hear how Dan engineered his retirement in just five years. He was working 60-70 hours a week and was miserable. He decided he had had enough and after a particularly hard day at work began executing a plan to become Financially Independent.

He and his wife buckled down on their spending, ramped up their retirement accounts, optimized their taxes and increased their income via rental properties.

He and his wife hit their goal in five years! Now Dan is retired and gets to spend most days with his two daughters as manage his rental properties and projects at home.

It's a really great episode to hear some excellent tactics you can apply to your own FI/RE journey.

Increase Your Savings Rate the Fourth Tenet of the FIRE Movement Sep 13, 2019

In today's bonus episode, Wendy and Curtis discuss the fourth tenet of the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) Movement - which is to increase your savings rate.

In previous episodes we discussed the previous three tenets which are:

1. Rejecting Consumerism

2. Redefining Retirement

3. Tax Optimization

A good portion of the United States population has saved less than $200,000.00 towards their retirement.

Many will simply have Social Security as their only means of income upon retirement.

In a recent CNBC article, they state that many experts recommend people save seven times their annual income for retirement. This is stark contrast to the minimum suggested by the FIRE community, which is at least 25 times your living expenses.

To achieve that number, it is not unusual for members of the community to save upwards of 40%, 50% or even 75%.

If you are not able to save that much, does that mean you are excluded from the FIRE community? OF COURSE NOT. The point is to strive to increase your savings rate as much as you are able to.

One step we have taken to increase our savings rate is to allocate all raises and extra income earned to our retirement. This automatically increases your savings rate.

We hope this episode has been helpful to you. If you want to help create a solid money foundation and get your financial house in order, we invite you to participate in our FREE 7-step Money Foundations Course.

Suddenly Single - Parenting and Financial Insecurity Sep 11, 2019

Eleven years ago Dawn Holley found herself single after the unexpected death of her husband. As anyone can imagine, her world was turned upside down. In this episode, we have a candid discussion with Dawn about the challenges of parenting and picking up the pieces of her life financially unprepared.

With no safety net, Dawn had to make very quick decisions about what items she could sell in her home - just to survive. She packed up what was left and moved herself and her son into her parents home.

As she and her son attempted to pick up the pieces, Dawn took the first job she could find, but the pay was not much and covered just enough for daycare for her son and for food.

Dawn knew that she needed to increase the income she was earning at the time, of about $20,000.00 to at least six figures.

From there she was very deliberate in deciding what type of career she wanted. Some of the requirements Dawn decided on were:

1. They had to be within driving distance of her parents so she could continue to live for free.

2. She had to have the ability to earn six figures.

3. The program had to be free - so she would not incur any debt.

Dawn eventually found an accelerated federal program that was one year and was free. (AMAZING RIGHT?)

She then treated every clinic she worked in while she was in the program as a job interview. Her thought was that she was building relationships that could help her after she graduated.

After several years of hard work and of strategically moving her way up - Dawn reached her goal of six figures.

She is now focusing on creating multiple streams of income as she pursues Financial Independence.

In addition to her income from wages, she is building her rental income portfolio and other business endeavors.

Where Can You Find Dawn:

Stepping Stones to FI

Dawn's Favorite Read:

The One Thing

Investing in Real Estate to Reach Financial Independence Sep 04, 2019

In this encore episode, we discuss how to use real estate investing as a means to Financial Independence. As we dive into our first go at real estate investing (well, really our second - but that's a whole notha' story), we thought this was a perfect show to come back to as we update you on our progress.

David Greene of Bigger Pockets was our guest on this episode and it is a great overview of the BRRRR method of real estate investing. It's a really great show.

We will see you all back here on Friday!

Where you can find David:

His Website

Instagram

Facebook

BONUS Episode - Redefining Retirement, How We Plan to Retire at 55 Aug 30, 2019

In today's show, we discuss the Second Tenet of FI which is Redefining Retirement. For some, that means retiring in the traditional sense and not working at all; for others, it simply means choice or freedom to do what you want. This may mean working on passion projects or just working less. It also means rejecting the traditional retirement age of between 65 and 75.

Choice, Freedom and Retiring "to" something were the common themes when others were asked what Financial Independence means for them. Financial Independence means you have enough passive income via investments to cover your living expenses when you choose to retire.

For many, that means they have saved at least 25 times their annual expenses. Then, based upon a safe withdrawal rate of 4%, you are free to withdraw that amount every year to live on. If you want to get a more in-depth explanation, this article from Kiplinger is one we refer back to often. It is important to remember that the 4% rule is simply a guideline and you may need to adjust up or down depending on a variety of factors.

Another way, and the one we plan to use to retire at 55, is to have income properties that generate an annual income at least equal to our living expenses. Our plan is to continue to invest in low-cost index funds but we do not intend to draw upon them if we don't have to. If all goes as planned, our index funds will be left as a legacy for our children.

How to Travel the World with Kids Aug 28, 2019

Is it your dream to travel the world, but the one thing that prevents you is that you have children? In today's episode, we talk to Vicki Van Essen, who has traveled the world full time with her husband and children for the past year. When asked if it was everything she dreamed of, she responded...

...you'll have to listen to the full episode to hear her response!

IT BEGAN WITH AN IDEA

The dream began percolating several years ago before Vicki's second son was born. She and her husband, who is from Morocco, each had family ties to other countries and really wanted to travel more. The more the desire grew, Vicki began researching whether or not it was even possible.

GETTING CONNECTED

One of the first things Vicki did was to get connected with other people who were traveling the world or who wanted to travel the world with children. She connected with other parents in a Facebook group. It was through this group that she began to develop the idea and really begin to think of what it would take to implement such a wild plan. Would her husband truly be on board?

DEVELOPING A PLAN

To her elated surprise, her husband very quickly was on board with the idea. They would need to think about several things:

Income
Cost
Housing
Visa/other travel restrictions
Healthcare and other insurance
Schooling
Lack of family friends
Alone time

In the episode, you'll hear how Vicki and her husband tackled each one of these issues.

We also discuss the most family-friendly countries as well as whether or not they had any cause for concern as a multi-cultural family.

VICKI'S TIP FOR MAKING THIS LIFESTYLE WORK:

It is important to check-in with every family member to make sure they are ok with the arrangement. Because if it's not working for one family member, it's not working for anybody.

STAGES OF FI

Before leaving to travel the world, Vicki and her husband were "Coast FI" this gave her and her husband assurances that they would be OK financially.

DO YOU WANT TO TRAVEL THE WORLD AS A FAMILY?

Vicki suggested checking off some of these boxes first:

Passports
Where you want to go and how long you can stay there
Health insurance and/or travel insurance
Know your budget and expected budget while traveling

VICKI ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS

Money lessons from childhood? Vicki remembers her mother asking, "do you really need that?" This has helped her in life and during travel.

Lessons she would like to pass on to her children: Money translates into freedom.

WHERE TO FIND VICKI

Instagram - onewayticketfamily

Onewayticketfamily.com

Other Resources Mentioned:

Worldschoolers Facebook Group

VICKI'S FAVORITE READ

Blog: Our Next Life

BONUS Episode - The Tenets of FI/RE Aug 23, 2019

As the FI/RE movement becomes more mainstream, explaining what the core values and beliefs are can be daunting. In this episode, Wendy and Curtis explain six of the core tenets of the community.

Each tenet also embraces specific actions, mindsets, and strategies that flow from the core tenet.

THE SIX FI/RE TENETS

1. Rejection of Consumerism

2. Redefining Retirement

3. Tax Optimization

4. Increased Savings Rate

5. Community

6. Life-Optimization

In this episode, we discuss the first tenet,

REJECTION OF CONSUMERISM

Embracing frugality - but not at the expense of things that bring value or joy (not deprivation)
Not keeping up with the Joneses
Minimalism
Materialism does not equate to happiness
Elimination of Debt
Reduction of Spending (cutting cable, reducing housing costs, buying used cars, cutting grocery/food expenses)

YOUR WHY

One of the first steps to embracing this journey is to really understand WHY you want to obtain Financial Independence.

What is your reason?

For us - it is Legacy and creating a different future for our children.

We are doing that by saving more, spending less and increasing our income.

The Future of Airbnb as a Short-term Rental Investment Option Aug 21, 2019

In today's show, we are investigating a hot topic in the real estate investing world, we are looking at Airbnb investing and asking the question, "is it still a viable option for short-term rental investing."

You cannot have a conversation about real estate investing without, eventually, having it turn to people wondering if they can take advantage of the popularity of Airbnb and VRBO as options.

Erin has been renting out properties as short-term rentals since 2014. At that time she and her, now husband, decided to serve the market and become experts in the short-term rental market.

We wanted to know if Erin thought the market is saturated. She says it really depends. You have to know your area and it varies from city to city.

One of the reasons for this is due to city codes and ordinances that prohibit short-term rentals (rentals 30 days or less).

If you are considering diving into the short-term rental market Erin suggests the following:

1. Do your due diligence.

Know the law
Contact your city planner office
know the HOA and other community requirements
Get insurance quotes for short-term investments
Include utilities and other services into the calculations
Know your upfront investment and long term costs

2. Research the Market

Research the vacancy rates
Research rental rates

OTHER TIPS

If you are going to be a "hands-off" - hire a property manager and KEEP THEM and TREAT THEM WELL if they are good at what they do.

Provide a 24/7 way to get in touch with you in case of emergencies

Make sure you have the correct insurance for short-term rentals

OTHER RESOURCES

AirDNA - is a paid service that can give you projections on Airbnbs

Mint - great for tracking your spending

Personal Capital - tracks your spending and track your net worth

ERIN ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS

One Money Lesson Erin Has Carried Over Into Her Financial Journey

Erin's Favorite Lifehack That Brings Her Joy

Be engaged with your hobby and if you can find a way to make money doing it - DO IT!

HOW TO REACH ERIN:

James Carlson Real Estate - erin@jamescarlsonrealestate.com

Denver Graffiti Tour - erin@denvergraffititour.com

Erin's Favorite Read

7 Habits of Highley Effective People

Second Chances in Life, Marriage and Money Aug 14, 2019

Brandon Cunningham has an incredible story of determination, second chances and of finding financial freedom after divorce and two close calls with death.

At 27 years old, already a husband and a father, Brandon had a devastating stroke. His recovery was slow. But he was still able to finish college without significant delay and then began a career.

Sadly, over the years he and his wife grew apart and the marriage did not survive. After the divorce, Brandon found himself in debt and raising two children.

It was at about that time that he found Dave Ramsey and he began working very hard, living frugally and making sacrifices and eventually paid off his debt.

He remarried and he and his new wife combined their family and finances. Unfortunately, his wife was still paying off debt, so Brandon found himself, once again paying off debt.

The fortunate thing was that his wife was on board with becoming debt-free and building a financially independent life.

Brandon suggests, that if at all possible, do not enter a marriage with debt. At the very least make sure you and your potential spouse are on the same page.

He and his wife worked very hard to become debt-free and invested consistently over the years to become financially free.

Last year, Brandon began feeling a pain in his shoulder that would not go away. Eventually, he went to the emergency room after some convincing from his wife. It was a very good thing his wife insisted he go because he passed out in the hospital and it was soon discovered he had a 99% blockage in his arteries. The blockage was serious, it is commonly referred to as the "widowmaker."

Brandon underwent surgery pretty quickly and thankfully made a full recovery.

Having two significant life-threatening health events, helped Brandon and his wife to understand the importance of having their affairs in order.

It has also given them an appreciation for life and the desire to experience time with their family.

Brandon spent a little time after his surgery getting his coworkers prepared for his departure and after about six months he was able to retire at age 49 - one year prior to a life long dream of retiring by 50.

What Bradon savors now are the special moments he is able to spend with his children and grandchildren. He appreciates the importance of being able to spend time with his family.

Financial freedom has given him the ability to spend whatever time he has left with the people that matter the most.

BRANDON ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS:

Lessons he wants his children to carry over into adulthood:

Take risks now while you are young. Be all in. Time is on your side.

Money lessons from his own childhood that he has carried over into his Financial Independence Journey:

He did not have good financial education growing up. However, he did learn that ignoring finances will not make things better.

Favorite Reads:

Automatic Millionnaire - David Bach

The Millionaire Next Door - Thomas Stanley

Where can you find Brandon:

beyondtherut.com

BONUS Episode - Let's Talk Numbers Aug 09, 2019

In this episode, we update listeners on how the sale of our home has added $2800.00 back into our budget and payoff all our consumer debt.

The decision to sell the house was difficult but after much thought and running the numbers, it was the one decision that could super-charge our progress and help us achieve our long term financial goals.

With the proceeds from the sale, we paid off all of our consumer debt. This included our cars and all of our credit accounts. The only debt that remains is our student loan debt.

Added back into our budget: $1700.00

The other big decision that came from selling the house was the decision to rent instead of purchasing another home. Not only would we be paying $790.00 less in rent, but we would also save on energy costs since the rental has solar and a whole house fan.

Added back into our budget: $1110.00

What remains in a fairly good chunk in our savings account.

Next Steps

For this next phase of our journey, we are focusing on two things:

1. Purchasing investment properties that cash flow, and

2. Increasing Wendy's income.

WHAT WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED IN TWO YEARS

In the two years since discovering the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) community, we have eliminated $10,000.00 from our monthly budget.

This has not only helped us increase our savings rate and pay off debt, but it has also allowed me to quit my law practice and be home with my kids.

Giving them the best of us and being able to leave them a legacy is what matters the most.

We are so grateful to this community for giving us hope.

If we can help you on your journey to become Financially Independent, we have several resources to help you.

RESOURCES

7-Step Money Foundations FREE e-mail Course

Our no-nonsense workbook, Shut-Up and Budget

Downloadable and Printable Workbook, Budgeting Sheets and Saving/Debt Payoff Trackers

Our Private Facebook Group

Episode 54 - Getting UNstuck, Creating Work You Love Aug 07, 2019

On this week's show, we have a wonderful conversation with Alan and Katie Donegan, who have reached Financial Independence and are now doing work that brings them happiness and fulfillment.

Alan and Katie tell us steps you can take to find that happiness for yourself.

Discovering the FIRE movement…..

Alan and Katie initially thought they would achieve financial independence through real estate investments. They read Rich Dad Poor Dad and began purchasing real estate.

As Alan became more involved in this own personal development, he read Tony Robbins, Money - Master the Game. This book introduced to him index investing. When he mentioned his investment plans to a friend, he introduced him to Mr. Money Mustache and, JL Collins, The Simple Path to Wealth.

Coming together to share a passion for FIRE….

Alan was always more open and entrepreneurial - able to try unchartered ideas. Whereas Katie needed to learn, digest and understand before coming fully on board with the FIRE concepts.

Likewise, Wendy identified with Katie’s desire to thoroughly dive into learning about new concepts. Curtis, on the otherhand, is more hands-on and learns by experiencing and doing.

DESIGNING A HAPPY AND FULFILLING LIFE

Alan suggests conducting Mini-Experiments. Try things out before you dive in 100% then it is not really a risk.

SUNSHINE - AVACADOS - AND CREATIVE PROJECTS

Now that they have freedom, do they ever worry about wasting time and not doing anything?

Alan says the more scary thing is unlimited choice.

For them - they chose to pursue creative endeavors. To them, these did not feel like work.

They say - "if in doubt - go to L.A." They find the creative energy and sunshine in Southern California has been very satisfying.

The solution to being overwhelmed by choice once you have reached Financial Independence is to understand, there’s more to be done than you can ever do and it's deciding what’s important and trying some balance of having fun.

The traditional mindset - Work is Work and relaxing is relaxing.

For Alan, work is fun. Now all of their work is projects that they want to do.

HOW DOES FIRE CHANGE THE RELATIONSHIP

It has forced them to confront things. Now there is no distraction - to avoid conflict. It's learning to communicate better.

Alan gives some great advice - Put your thinking on the outside.

CONDUCTING MINI - EXPERIMENTS

Lots of people view entrepreneurship as a risk.

Alan likes to conduct low-risk experiments instead.

For instance - set up a website, sell a service. If it sells, you have a business.

If you have an idea - what’s the ZERO financial risk version, ask people to buy and do the experiment to get a result.

What about being perceived as flighty - or as someone who cannot commit to one thing? Alan suggests changing the language to experiment.

If you endlessly plan without starting - you are going to be stuck forever

With an experiment - you are looking to see the result. It doesn’t matter whether it is successful or not

It makes failure more palatable - more an UNsuccess.

Getting Your Partner on the Same Page

On subjects that are important - you have to go on the journey together. Go to conferences together. Read books together.

ALAN AND KATIE ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS:

Katie’s one lesson from childhood she has carried over into her FIRE journey, don’t spend everything you have and to pay of your credit cards in full every month.

Alan learned from his father what was possible in business - but also what NOT to do.

Favorite Life Hack:

Being on the same page about projects, creating an action list, doing the action, then coming back after the step is complete. This has helped their relationship but also their productivity.

FAvorite Read

Katie

Miracle Morning

Six habits to make your life better:

Silence

Affirmations

Visualization

Exercise

Reading

Scribing/journaling

Alan

4 Hour Work Week

Simple Path to Wealth

Quit Like a Millionaire

WHERE TO FIND ALAN

Pop-Up Business School

alandonegan.com

We'll Be Right Back Jul 31, 2019

Hello House of FI Family! As you know we are on the move this week and beginning a new adventure as renters again. So, we are taking a week off. But, don't go anywhere!

We are excited to come back next week as we celebrate our One Year Anniversary! Woo Hoo!

In the meantime, we have several great episodes to go back and listen to - or if you have not, to give them a try.

Episode 32 with Curtis and I as we discussed his journey from Reluctant to Spouse to On Fire Fully Committed FIRE-walker.

Episode 39 with Tim and Amy Rutherford who travel the world just about FREE!

And finally, get some inspiration on your journey in Episode 41 with Patrick Aime. He is an immigrant - lost it all - and is now living the FI - life. This conversation was a lot of fun. Patrick is the nicest guy you'll ever meet.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK! WE WILL SEE YOU BACK HERE NEXT WEDNESDAY!

BONUS EPISODE - Our Weekly Wrap-Up and Celebrations! Jul 26, 2019

In today's Bonus show, we hear again from Chelsea Brennan of Smart Money Mamas and about the Mamas Talk Money Summit coming on October.

To stay in the loop about the summit, you can get on the waitlist for the here.

It's going to be an AMAZING event, so keep yourself informed about it!

WE HAVE SOME AWESOME NEWS!

We hit a HUGE milestone.....

WE CELEBRATED 100,000 DOWNLOADS!

....and we want to say Thank you! We could not have hit this milestone without all of YOU.

So to all of our listeners and guests - you get a huge sloppy hug from both Curt and I.

KNOW YOUR WHY!

The road to FIRE can be long. There will be hiccups. That's why it is so important to Know Your Why....

Why are you on this journey?

Where do you want to be in five years?

You can sit down and go through the process of finding your WHY in our FREE course, HERE.

AND ANNOUNCING OUR NEW ETSY STORE....

In our ETSY store, we have additional resources available to you to help you on this FIRE journey. The materials complement the 7-Step Money Challenge as well as our book, Shut Up and Budget.

Check it out HERE.

The Myth of the Modern-day Superparent - a Round Table Discussion Jul 24, 2019

The Myth of the Modern-day Superparent. No BECKY, you cannot do it all.

Today on the show we have an in-depth panel discussion between three busy ladies who tackle the question of how do we have it all? Is it even possible?

Likely possible - but not without some collateral damage.

WHAT ARE YOUR PRIORITIES

The first key to finding a balance is to first know what your priorities are as well as having an understanding that there are going to be "seasons" to each priority you may have in your life.

Also key is to make sure these priorities are communicated and there is an agreement reached between you and your spouse and/or your partner.

For single parents - these questions are still worth considering so that you can set expectations and allowances for yourself as you navigate through the important areas in your life.

Becoming clear about expectations was not easy. It was a process for Carla. She and her husband had to realize when things were not working. This allowed them to come together and to figure out what could be negotiated and to set deadlines for when the chaos will end.

WHAT IF THE ROLES WHERE REVERSED?

It is important to recognize and be aware of our own biases and gender-stereotypes.

As more women are tackling balancing careers and motherhood and the idea that we can do it all - it is worth noting that our male counterparts don't always have the same societal demands.

For instance, how are these two situations looked upon differently?

A male executive who must travel often for work versus a female. For the male, his absence may simply be perceived as "he is working hard to provide for his family."

On the other hand, the female may be seen as over-extending herself and neglecting her family. Of course, this is not always the case, but it is important to note that these biases are still prevalent.

At the same time, we also need to cut our stay-at-home dads some slack when they are carrying a bigger load in the household. An imprudent response would be to simply state they should, "deal with it" since traditionally, women have been bearing that load for generations.

Instead, if our spouse or partner has concerns or needs that are being neglected because we are being pulled in several different directions, it behooves the relationship to meet them halfway and come together to find common ground.

SELF-CARE

Self-care is a tough one when you are the breadwinner or if you spend a lot of time on a "passion projects." Sometimes, because we find so much value in our identities in these areas, we feel guilty taking additional time to exercise true self-care (like exercise, for instance).

Figure out what fills you up and renews your mind. Taking this time allows you to be a better parent, spouse, partner, friend and worker.

One way to make sure you take this time out for yourself is to build it into your schedule.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR SINGLE PARENTS

That depends somewhat upon what is being defined as a single parent. For a parent who shares custody. The time that their ex has their parenting time with the children can be used to focus on work.

For parents without the support of another parent, it becomes very important to lean on community; outsourcing, using family and friends to fill in the gap, childcare swaps.

It's OK to be vulnerable enough to ask for help and lean on each other.

Don't forget local community groups and work-play cafes.

It is also worth checking out your employer resources - see all of the benefits your employer offers. You may be surprised.

Since it is so hard to ask...don't wait for someone to ask for help. Be aware. Make gestures before being asked.

AN EXERCISE IN PERCEPTION

There is so much invisible work done on both sides. A great exercise to help each other see things from another perspective is to write down individually all the work that you do and then swap and compare.

SOME THINGS ARE WORTH EXCHANGING TIME FOR MONEY

For Carla, it was hiring someone to clean her toilets. She eventually realized she COULD do it herself, but it would take away time she had with her son.

Sometimes it means extending your FIRE timeline so that you can buy back time and experiences for your family. That's the choice both Wendy and Chelsea made. Sacrificing a few years to get to FIRE but getting back time with their children

CARLA AND CHELSEA ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS

Biggest money lessons:

Carla - The importance of saving.

Chelsea - It's not how much you make, but how much you save.

Lessons to pass on to their children:

Carla - Knowing the rules of the game, money management, tax codes and run a business. If you have the knowledge you can create the future you want.

Chelsea - They get to define what success looks like for them.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND CARLA AND CHELSEA

Carla can be found at wealthworhtwithin.com

Chelsea is at smartmoneymamas.com

BONUS Episode - Our Top Picks for Online Savings Accounts Jul 19, 2019

This week we focus on one of the steps in our 7-Step Money Foundations Course - we are talking about your fully-funded emergency fund.

We cover these steps in both our FREE online course as well as our new workbook, Shut Up and Budget.

On today's show, we are just going to hit some of the high points.

YOUR SAFETY NET

One of the most important steps in laying a proper money foundation is to have safety nets.

YOUR FULLY FUNDED EMERGENCY FUND IS YOUR SAFETY NET.

So what is a fully-funded emergency fund?

A fully-funded emergency fund is, at a minimum, 3-6 months worth of living expenses.

Notice we said EXPENSES. Not income. It is how much it takes for you to support your 4 walls in one month. What you need to live on.

3-6 months is just a ballpark and, my recommendation, if you are self-employed or expecting a lay-off or your income in sporadic - is to have 12-24 months saved.

This fund is for TRUE emergencies:

Job loss
Illness
Natural disaster

It is not for your family cruise to Cabo San Lucas or your daughter’s wedding….

WHICH ONLINE BANK ACCOUNTS ARE THE BEST

So where do you park this money?

The accounts should be accessible - not too accessible.

Lots of banks out there right now are advertising “high-yield” savings accounts.

The interest given is typically over 2.%

Curt and I decided to see if we could find the one with the highest interest rate and the best overall features….

OUR TOP PICKS

Curt’s Pick:

Discover Online Savings Account

Rate offered: 2.05%

Balance Required: $25,000.00 for $200.00 bonus

$15,000.00 for $150.00 bonus

(Bonus credited in Sept 2019 and you must have the balance in the account when it credits)

No monthly fee

For Comparision:

Interest earned on $25,000.00 at one year $517.34 + $200 = $717.34

Wendy’s Pick

Wealth Front Online Banking

Interest Rate: 2.57% Int

No fees

$1.00 minimum to open

For Comparison:

Interest earned on $25,000.00 after one year = $650.12

YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE HERE:

BANKRATE

NERD WALLET

RESOURCES:

7-Step Money Challenge

Book - Shut-up and Budget

Etsy Store - downloads and printables. Workbooks, worksheets, budgets, debt and savings trackers….based on our 7-steps and a great companion to the book.

NEXT WEEK - WE HAVE A SPECIAL SHOW!!!

Join our Round table discussion with Chelsea Brennen of Smart Money Mamas and Carla Titus from Wealthworthwithin…..it's awesome conversation about balancing it all as we journey to Financial Independence.

What is Your Money Language? Jul 17, 2019

This week we speak with Tarra "Madam Money" Jackson, author of The Four Financial Languages.

Do you know what your money language is?

Tarra describes that we all have a financial language. It's important to know what they are to communicate with each other. The dominant languages are below.

How do you know which one you are?

Saving - do you get anxious when your bank account gets below a certain dollar amount?

Spending - are you chasing after a deal or get a rush after a purchase?

Investing - do you chase the return on the investment?

Giving - is your sole purpose in life to help other people?

Each language has its own dialect, triggers, and pleasure principles.

1. It's very important to first know your own dominant financial language.

2. Then, learn the financial language of your partner.

If you are having difficulty in communicating about money in your relationship, it may be that you are both speaking a different language. That miscommunication will continue until you learn to speak and understand each other's money language.

For example, don't use the word "budget" with a Spender. Call it a Spending Plan, because that is what they enjoy doing is spending. The word "budget" however, communicates control and can influence a negative reaction.

Use words that will serve you in the conversations you are having with your significant other.

The goal is to eventually be multi-lingual.

In thinking about our future selves, we need to learn the languages that will serve our future selves.

Tarra provides the example of her future self (whom she has named Juanita). She doesn't want 70-year old Juanita to have to work. If that is true, then she will need to learn the language of investing, because saving alone will not provide Juanita with the life she wants her to have.

BIG IDEA: Immerse yourself in the Financial Independence community if you want to learn how to become Financially Independent.

Three Steps to Overcome Fears as You Are Moving Into a New Financial Culture:

Educate Yourself
Execute In Small Increments (the scariest is the first time)
Elevate or Expand

...and Bonus Step (Thank you Curtis!) - Enjoy it!

OUR FAVORITE QUOTE FROM THIS EPISODE:

Retirement is no longer an age, it is a dollar amount.

TARRA ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS:

One money lesson from childhood that has carried over into her FIRE journey: Saving change in a jar and when it fills up, taking it to the bank.

One money lesson she wants to pass on to her son:

Save early

TARRA'S FAVORITE READS:

The Secret

The Law of Attraction - the reality that what we give comes back to us. Be careful with our words and thoughts.

Want to learn more about your Financial Language or find where Tarra is next?

YOU CAN FIND TARRA HERE

Friday Recap - Adding $300 to Your Budget by Flipping Free Stuff Jul 12, 2019

In this episode, we recap Wednesday's show with Rob and Melissa, Flee Market Flippers, who turned a FREE chair into $115,000.00 in inventory. You can do the same on a much smaller scale and infuse your budget with quick cash.

It does not take a whole lot of effort or money to get started. In fact, a man in Canada turned a red paperclip into a house. How amazing it that?

Be sure to tune in to next Wednesday's show. We will be speaking with Tarra Jackson, Ms. Madam Money. We talk about our money languages and why knowing your money language helps your relationships with your loved ones

Creating an $85,000 a Year Business by Turning Trash Into Treasure Jul 10, 2019

In today's show we talk to Rob and Melissa of Flea Market Flipper!

Rob and Melissa have turned flipping items into an $85,000 a year full-time business that allows them to live a life of freedom.

They share with us several of their rules for how they decide what to buy to maximize their profits.

1. They typically only spend $20-$50 on an item.

2. If it is a bigger item, it needs to have a large profit margin.

3. Rob does not travel more than 2 hours to pick up an item.

4. They do not gamble. They research their potential purchases and have a really good idea of what they can get for an item before they buy it.

5. They try to sell higher profit items. This means they have to sell less to make more money.

6. They have built relationships with others who often bring THEM the deals.

7. They have learned the ins and outs of shipping.

ROB AND MELISSA'S BIG GOAL!

Rob and Melissa have a huge goal of flipping items to earn enough money to buy a rental property.

They began this challenge with one FREE accent chair. They have sold and flipped this one chair into a current inventory of $115,000.00.

This is inventory and profits over and above the profit for their business.

THEY TEACH OTHERS TO DO THE SAME

Rob and Melissa want to help others do the same. If you are interested in flipping property for profit, you can sign up on their website HERE.

They also have a FREE eBay book as well to help you get started.

ROB AND MELISSA ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS

1. The one thing they have learned about money from growing up is the value in hard work. You can always work hard to get ahead.

2. The one lesson they want to teach their children is that money is a tool.

FAVORITE READ

The One Thing

and I Will Teach You to Be Rich

Which is Better - Fidelity or Vanguard? Jul 05, 2019

In this episode, we take on one of the epic battles of the financial world, who is better - Vanguard or Fidelity.

Listener, Tracie, wanted to know why we only hear all the hype about Vanguard and not Fidelity. Tracie writes:

"I see many podcasts touting Vanguard index funds, but nobody seems to talk about Fidelity no-cost funds. Perhaps you can share your thoughts on that. I recently moved from a managed account to managing my own money again through Fidelity and they've done right by me. My previous custodian charged me management fees plus annual account fees for years. When I closed my account, they charged me $100 account closure fees (x 6 accounts) plus $50 in some other fee. Fidelity reimbursed me for the account closure fees and I've been doing well managing my own stuff. I can sit down in person with my advisor whenever I want to at our local branch as well. Everyone talks about how great Vanguard is...just think they should also consider fidelity...in case there is something I'm missing? I'd love to know your thoughts on the no-cost funds by Fidelity."

First, let me just say, $600.00 in fees to close your accounts?!?!? THAT'S CRIMINAL TO ME. Not a fee in my book, but a clear penalty - let's be real. Shame on them.

And KUDOS to Fidelity to reimbursing you those to you, when they really didn't have to. That's how you build some brand loyalty - FOR SURE.

But what you say is true Tracie, there does seem to be a bias; and, as satisfied Vanguard account holders, I am sure we have done our part to perpetuate that bias.

We opened our very first index funds with Vanguard shortly after discovering the FIRE movement and after reading JL Collins book, The Simple Path to Wealth, which we will link to below.

We had heard the words "Index Funds" before but really had no idea what they were or why they were so trusted by this community.

And if you are new to your journey and want to get a good overview, Jim's book is a great place to begin or you can take a look at one of his many posts on the subject, HERE.

So let's tackle the questions of which is better and see if Vanguard is deserving of all of the hype or not....

FEATURES AND BENEFITS

VANGUARD

FIDELITY

WINNER

ANNUAL FEE

$20.00

$0.00

Fidelity

TRADING FEES STOCKS

$7 (tiered based upon dollar amount)

$4.95

Fidelity

TRADING FEES OPTIONS

$7 (tiered) + $1 Per Contract

$4.95 + $.65 Per Contract

Fidelity

TRADING FEES ETFS

$0.00

$4.95 (But some $0.00)

Vanguard

TRADING FEES MUTUAL FUNDS

$20.00/$8.00/$0.00 (tiered)

$0.00 on Fidelity, $49.95 on Non-Fidelity

Tie

CUSTOMER SERVICE

M-F 8:00AM - 10:00PM EST

24/7 Phone and Live Chat, 140 branch offices

Fidelity

FINANCIAL ADVISORS

Balances over $50,000.00

Managed Accounts

Vanguard

INITIAL INVESTMENT

$3000.00

$0.00

Fidelity

CHECKING ACCOUNTS

YES

Fidelity

PLATFORM

NOT USER-FRIENDLY

VERY USER-FRIENDLY

Fidelity

If this were a boxing ring, the winner would be Fidelity after 10 rounds. But this is not a boxing match. It's up to you to decide what is important to you.

For instance, we have been very happy with Vanguard; however, I have personally experienced the frustration of their outdated and cumbersome platform.

Had I known more about Fidelity when I opened my accounts, I might have opened them with Fidelity because usability and east of access to me are very important, all other things being equal.

Both Fidelity and Vanguard each offer the same investments (stocks, options, ETFs, mutual funds, etc.) as well as the same options for accounts available (IRAs, 401(k), SEP, taxable and non-taxable accounts, etc.) so what it really boils down to is deciding what other benefits and features mean the most to you.

And the winner is...

When putting it that way, Curt and I have to declare the real winner is....YOU! You win with either. The most important thing is to just get started. Pick one and start growing your portfolio.

If you want to compare Fidelity and Vanguard yourself you can find them below...

Fidelity

Vanguard

Why Parent Plus Loans are the Worst Student Loans and Other Money Lessons Jul 03, 2019

In today's episode Robert Farrington, the College Investor, shares with us why he believes Parent Plus Loans are the worst student loans out there.

HOW ROBERT LIVES FRUGALLY IN SAN DIEGO

But before we did a deep dive into all things student loans and paying for college, we learned a little more about Robert, his money story and how he and his wife are able to live a filling frugal life in one of the most expensive cities in the United States.

Some of the ways Robert and his wife save money is by only having one car. A few years ago Robert's 10-year old car was on its last leg and looking at a few thousand dollars on repairs. So they decided to just go down to one car. Robert owns his own business and so his wife often drops him off if he needs to go somewhere and if their schedules conflict, he will take an Uber.

Another way he and his wife save is that they live in a walkable neighborhood. They can walk to the store or many of the other places they need to frequent.

Robert says the best way they are able to live frugally is that they attack their goals as a team and recognizing each other's strengths. His wife is the deal finder and the "nitty-gritty financial analyst.". Robert's strong suit is ways to make income and entrepreneurship.

ALL THINGS STUDENT LOANS

When it comes to student loans, the one area where Robert thinks there is a lot of misinformation is in the area of Student Loan Forgiveness.

What is so frustrating is to hear that "99% of people" get denied for forgiveness. The truth, Robert says, is that the programs are working as they should be and the problem is that people are applying for forgiveness when they are ineligible or have not followed the rules to apply.

People only began becoming eligible in 2017. In that year only 90 people qualified for forgiveness. As each year passes, more and more people become eligible. Robert estimates that by 2027, 400,000 people will be eligible to apply for forgiveness.

If you want to make sure you have done your paperwork correctly so that when it is your time to apply for the forgiveness, you can always check the status on your secure mailbox at the Fed Loan website.

Robert reminds us, "No one will care about your money more than you."

THE FIRST STEP IN GETTING OUT OF STUDENT LOAN DEBT

The very first step Robert recommends to get out of debt, not just student loan debt, is to get organized.

You must know where you are, what your balances are and what your monthly payments are.

Check your credit reports to make sure you have the current information for all of your loans. Make sure there are not any out there you have forgotten about or that are possibly going to an old address.

Then, he says studentloans.gov is a great resource to help figure out the best repayment options.

You can also check out his new site, loanbuddy.us as well.

PARENT PLUS LOANS

Robert advises that parents should NEVER, Ever, ever (one last ever for emphasis) borrow money to pay for a child's education and that Parent Plus loans are the worst thing you could do.

Robert believes parent plus loans are the worst for many reasons but primarily because:

Parent Plus Loans do not have the same forgiveness or repayment options as other student loans.
Parent Plus Loans have no income-driven repayment option.
The parent is the one responsible for the loan and the student has no legal responsibility for them.
If in default, the government can garnish a parents social security.

If a parent is having difficulty repaying the Parent Plus Loan there is one, and only one option.

They can consolidate the loans into a new Direct Consolidation Loan and that opens up ONE Income-Driven Repayment Plan, the Income Contingent Repayment (ICR).

With an IRC plan, the borrower's payment is 20% of the discretionary income. If the parent's income is extremely low, this could possibly be equal to zero.
If the parent is in default, they have one opportunity to get the loan out of default via the Student Loan Rehabilitation program. This is only available one time.

The other option is for the parent to wait it out at 25 years when they will be forgiven - or upon death.

ROBERT'S RULE OF THUMB FOR BORROWING FOR COLLEGE

Never borrow more than the total of your estimated first year of income. For instance, if your first career upon graduation pays $40,000, you should borrow more than $10,000.00 per year for four years of college.
Student loans should remain the LAST option to pay for college.
Look into other methods first:
- Scholarships and Grants
- Local orgs and non-profits
- Parents/family savings
- Self-pay/cashflow
- Work-study
- Then, once each of these are exhausted, student loans (keeping the first rule of thumb in mind.)

Robert also suggests if you have a special needs child, look into the 529(a) (529 Able plan).

APPLYING FOR SCHOLARSHIPS

Robert says the biggest mistake young people make when applying for scholarships is by not following the instructions and/or completing the applications incorrectly.

So, if you are applying for scholarships, take care to make sure you have followed all of the instructions and perhaps have another person double check your application/essay.

ROBERT ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS:

Robert's Favorite Childhood Money Lesson - If you want something, find a way to earn the money to pay for it.

The Lesson He Wants to Pass on to His Children - How to save and how to earn.

ROBERT'S FAVORITE READ

Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss

WHERE TO FIND ROBERT

thecollegeinvestor.com

Living the FI Life in Hawaii Jun 28, 2019

We love having conversations with our listeners. Every valuable lesson on this journey we have learned has come from the wisdom of others in this community.

In today's Friday Bonus Episode, Cathleen of Cooking Up Fire, gives us some practical ways she has been able to live frugally in paradise.

Take a peek at some of her tips!

Food and Grocery Lessons from Cathleen's Mother:

What foods are inexpensive

What foods are a good buy and when to stock up on them

What food you can pair together to make delicious dishes

Replant veggies with roots and grow them for food

Spices are super helpful in making food

Cathleen only spends $100.00 a week for her family of three. Her tips for keeping her food budget low while living in Hawaii:

She looks at sales BEFORE she meal plans

(Wendy's additional tip - also shop your own pantry and freezer as well, before meal planning)

Then meal plan!

Rules for buying "unnecessary items"

1. It has to be on sale or on clearance

2. Put all your necessary items on the belt first

3. Last, put the Then your extra nice to have, condiments etc. and watch the display. Purchase what you want from this group until you reach the end of your spending allowance.

How she and her husband did not pay for college or take out student loans:

Cathleen's husband paid for and received a vocational certification in HVAC. Then he worked and cash-flowed his education at university. He never took out any student loans.

Cathleen utilized several tools, that combined, made her out of pocket expenses minimal.

She knew how much money her parents had saved for her education and avoided applying to schools she knew were outside of her price range.
She knew she had to have good grades and extra-curriculars so that she would qualify for scholarships.
She took advantage of work-study.
In her second year, she applied for an receive a scholarship that paid for the balance of her tuition.

Another way she has reduced her expenses was to pay additional principle on her mortgage and then did a re-amortization with her lender.

All of these tactics combined allowed Cathleen to graduate without ever taking out any student loans.

Cathleen on the Final Questions:

One lesson she learned as a child she has carried over into her FIRE journey: Always comparison ship.

One lesson she wants to pass on to her children: To always educate yourself. Libraries are MAGIC!

Where can you find Cathleen:

At her blog Cooking Up Fire

We loved having Cathleen on and hope you enjoyed her tips. She has written a companion article to the show, you can read that HERE.

How to Create a $45,000.00 a Year Side-Hustle Online Jun 26, 2019

Would it change your life to earn an extra $40,000 a year on a side-hustle?

Today's guest has the proof that you can do it and do it will working a full-time W-2 job.

MAKING MONEY BLOGGING

Julie believes that people can still make money blogging and wants to help other people do it. She has figured out the secret sauce.

She first began taking monetizing her blog seriously in July of 2016.

It took her about six months to get it right; learning it all by herself by doing Google searches and trial and error.

Once she had it figured out, she started to make money, slowly but surely. Things clicked in January of 2017; that month she made $793.00. She continued at it and by December of 2018, she hit her highest month - $7,000.00!

WOW! In two years - she went from $793.00 to $7,000.00 a month. That is almost 1000% growth. Incredible.

She also believes that blogging and making money online does not need to be icky or spammy. Her philosophy is to create content that helps people. Doing it this way - everyone wins.

One of her very first money-making posts was her tips for a Themed Wedding on a budget.

One of her biggest saves at her own wedding was to order her flowers from 50flowers. By doing this, she paid $300 vs. the $4000.00 she would have paid with a traditional florist.

In her blog, she shares her Step-by-step portrayal of her $15,000.00 budget-themed wedding. As Game of Thrones fans, Curtis and I thought this was really cool.

ETSY STORE

One of the other ways Julie has succeeding in making passive income is through her Etsy Store.

Her first ideas were for bachelorette parties and she sold temporary tattoos for the bride and her party.

She would get the tattoos from temporarytatooes.com, then resell them on Etsy.

But that became a little cumbersome and so she wanted to try printables.

Printables are PDF files that can be duplicated over and over and be downloaded thousands of time.

Skills needed: NONE!

She says she is not creative, artsy or into bachelorette parties!

She encourages anyone with a better idea, to do it! So, if you have some fun ideas, what are you waiting for?

To promote your shop, Julie shares two secrets:

1. You need to get your first purchase and five-star review, and

2. Go after specific keywords.

JULIE'S COURSES

If you are interested in one of the three courses Julie and Cody, from Fly to FI, are offering, you can sign up for them below....

AND....if you sign up with our links, you will get our new workbook, Shut Up and Budget for FREE!

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BLOGGING FOR PROFIT, CLICK HERE

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ETSY DIGITAL DOWNLOADS, CLICK HERE

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN FREELANCE TOOLKIT, CLICK HERE

JULIE ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS:

Lessons she learned as a kid that she has carried over into FIRE journey. Money is not finite. It is an unlimited resource.

One money lesson she would like to pass on to her daughter: She wants her to be resourceful and be someone who can get back up when she gets knocked down.

Favorite read: Anything ocean-themed. Sea books.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND JULIE:

On her podcast, The Fire Drill

Taking Action and Minimizing Risk Jun 21, 2019

What a great episode on Wednesday with Doc Green of What's Up Next Podcast. Curt and I have both been mulling over some of the points Doc made.

The big takeaways for Curt and I were:

The importance of creating an environment for our children to be willing to take action and encounter risk.

Also, that risk should be calculated but also you can minimize risk by doing mini-experiments to try out your idea first.

We first learned of mini-experiments from Alan Donegan of Pop-up Business School.

Alan described mini-experiments as a way of trying something out without facing as much risk.

DON'T FORGET PLUTUS NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN UNTIL JUNE 30TH...

We would love it if you would nominate our show for Best New Personal Finance Podcast of the year.

CLICK HERE

Our mission is to help all parents know that they can achieve financial freedom. The more recognition the show receives, the wider audiences we can reach. We appreciate your support.

Finding Joy and Peacefulness After Financial Independence Jun 19, 2019

In this episode, we dig deep with Doc Green of What's Up Next. As someone who has reached Financial Independence, but who has also not fully retired, we wanted to know what keeps Doc continuing to work as a physician.

What Doc found is that, for him, it boiled down to purpose, happiness, and identity. After a lot of deep thought, Doc says he decided to continue working part-time because he finds joy and fulfillment in his work.

Not unlike many other professionals, Doc finds he is driven in a lot of ways by achievement; however, he acknowledges there is a dark side of the focusing on achievement. It can take over and encroach upon other areas of life that are important to you and that satisfaction can only last for so long.

On the positive side of things, his desire to achieve has helped him start businesses, become a professional as well as save and invest. When he finds himself venturing into those dark places, Doc tries to get really peaceful and listen to what he is feeling.

Since achieving Financial Independence, Doc has decided to structure his life in a way that includes those things that bring him joy but also drawing the line at not being so focused that these things overshadow the time he spends with his family.

BIG IDEA = achievement without joy and peacefulness, does not serve your purpose.

"Being lucky enough to be in a financially secure place does not mean your brain has caught up to this idea of being peaceful."

How do we teach our children?

Wisdom - Consequences - Modeling

As a kid, Doc watched his mom, who was an accountant and entrepreneur and his step-father who was an executive. They were also both business owners and real estate investors. He does not recall his parents sitting him down and teaching him about money or investing - but does remember watching his parents and modeling their behavior. He would go with his step-father to a property and watch as he repaved the driveway. He also observed as they collected rent checks but also saw what happened when tenants did not pay.

Because of these experiences, he was exposed to business people, real estate investors and stealth wealth practitioners and able to learn much of what he knows about finances from them.

Finding the FI community put a name behind a lot of what he had already learned from his parents. In addition, watching his parents and being exposed to their financial endeavors - lessened the number of experiential failures he might have otherwise experienced.

From an early age, Doc had an entrepreneurial spirit. One of his entrepreneurial adventures was selling paintings. In this venture, he made thousands of dollars in a secondary and tertiary artwork market. In spite of the success he experienced, he eventually lost interest and fell out of love with the artwork and also got too busy as a physician.

That is not to say that all of Doc's business ventures were this successful. As a boy, Doc started a baseball card business he was convinced was going to be the next big thing. In the end, he lost money and only sold 3 out of 10 boxes.

Even so, he learned valuable skills from his baseball card business.

He learned how to buy inventory
He cold-called vendors to find product (one of the hardest things to do in sales)
He also learned how to sell.

Docs says that starting new businesses and trying new things was just part of his upbringing.

Money Backgrounds

Doc and his wife came from two entirely different money backgrounds. Doc grew up in a fairly wealthy and privileged environment. In contrast, his wife's family were immigrants and fleeing persecution in Iran where they had been quite wealthy. In the process of finding safety, they lost just about everything they owned. In the States, they did not have the financial stability they had had before. As such, Doc's wife grew up in an atmosphere of extreme frugality and carefulness out of necessity.

Even so, as they came together as a marital unit, both ended up having a similar outlook about how to manage money.

We asked Doc how achieving Financial Independence had affected their outlook about money.

Doc was most surprised by about the stress achieving Financial Independence had created. However, not in the ways you might suspect.

For him, the stress was wrapped around a crisis of identity - walking away from being a physician - something he had worked so hard and long to achieve was extremely difficult. He knew as a child he wanted to be a doctor so the thought of losing that identity was something he still struggles to consider.

For his wife - it is still a crisis. A fear centered around not having enough. She grew up to be a professional with the ability to support herself doing work that brings her meaning The ability to care for herself well as giving her the ability to never worry about money.

So when Doc waltzed in and said, "Hey honey - we are financially independent and you don't have to work anymore." She was not as excited as he thought she was going to be. He now realizes that was because she did not relate to the world in that way. She grew up with the idea that she needed to create financial stability and becoming a professional was the way to do that.

Doc believes, one of the benefits of becoming financially independent is the control it brings. Whereas before you may have accepted that you have to work doing something you don't always enjoy, FI gives you control you otherwise would not have. One of the beauties of becoming FI is that you can begin cutting out the parts of your work that you do not enjoy.

How FI has changed Doc's relationship with his children and his marriage.

He is now able to walk his kids to school, he is home when they are home, and he is no longer interrupted by phone calls when he is trying to enjoy time with his family.

He has become that "funny guy" he was when he and his wife first met. The "funny guy" is who he really is and the seriousness of life and stress took that away from him for a while. It's good to be that guy again.

DOC ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS:

The one lesson he learned as a kid that he has brought into his FIRE journey. Stealth wealth - watching his parents save and knowing he didn't have to spend everything he earned.

The one lesson he wants to pass on to his children. Money is a vehicle to do things you want to do - but is not a purpose unto itself. Its a means to an end.

Favorite Read: White Coat Investor

Reflecting on Fatherhood Jun 14, 2019

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY HOUSE OF FI FAMILY AND SPECIFICALLY OUR DADS!

In this episode, we hear Curt reflect on parenthood and how his perspective on parenting and his experience as a dad has changed over the year.

We wish all of our dad's a wonderful day celebrating with loved ones and filled with joy and happiness....and doing so frugally!

Check back in next week for another wonderful conversation!

DON'T FORGET PLUTUS NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN UNTIL JUNE 30TH...

We would love it if you would nominate our show for Best New Personal Finance Podcast of the year.

CLICK HERE

Our mission is to help all parents know that they can achieve financial freedom. The more recognition the show receives, the wider audiences we can reach. We appreciate your support!

Utilizing Your Military Benefits and Financial Pitfalls to Avoid Jun 12, 2019

This week on the show we speak with Lacey Langford. She is the founder of LaceyLangford.com a personal finance blog and a boutique financial coaching practice specializing in the unique world of the United States military.

Lacey is also the founder and host of The Military Money Show, a podcast all about money and military. She's a U.S. Air Force Veteran, Milspouse, financial coach, speaker, and writer who changes people’s lives from being fearful of money to having control and confidence with it.

In today's episode, we wanted to focus on some of the common missteps she sees with young people entering the military and how she helps set them us for a secure financial future.

The most common mistakes she sees with young military personnel - lifestyle creep and overspending. As well as not saving their money.

She says - Cars are kryptonite! We absolutely agree.

A major pitfall for young service members is getting into a car purchase right away. Getting a vehicle with money that is not “cemented.” In spite of high interest rates and high payments. Then, when they are no longer deployed they can no longer afford the payments. It's a common problem and when she advises young services members avoid at all costs.

When Lacey is counseling military service members for the first time there are a few critical steps she discusses first. She recommends:

Create a Financial Layout - know exactly how much money you have coming in (pay and allowances) and what is going out. It’s simple but keeping it simple is the best way to go. That is the basic foundation of your financial success. You can then adjust from there.
Create boundaries. You cannot have a blank check for everything.
You don’t have to keep up with other people.
You have to save your money and spend less than you earn. You are saving for your current self and your 80-year-old self.

____

Tips for young people wanting to enlist:

Score as high as possible on the ASVAB - it will create more job opportunities for you.
Have your job choice solidified before you enter.

____

Some of the great resources available to service members:

Retirement benefits: Not only a pension after 20 years but a TSP (like a 401K) with up to a 5% match.

The benefit of contributing to TSP - get the match. That is a 50% ROI right off the top.

If you separate from the military, you can roll over the TSP account as a civilian.

On deployment utilize the Savings Deposit Program - available after 30 days “n country/in theater” and will pay 10%

Use all the services available: free trees, lending closets, taxes free, free financial counselors,

Military One Source - they will find you free counselors in your area

Take your installation tour! Valuable Intel. They are pointing out where all of these resources are.

------

Lacey on the Final Questions:

One money lesson from childhood = debt takes away your freedom

One Lesson She Wants to Pass on To Her Children: Spend less than you make, but don't forget to invest it.

Sometimes in Life - You Have to Do Things Scared!

Where to Find Lacey:

Laceylangford.com

Favorite Read:

Take the Stairs - by Rory Vaden

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Plutus Nominations -

To nominate our show for the Best New Podcast of the Year, click here and enter “Houseoffi.com” in the Best New Podcast of the Year category.

Click here: https://www.plutusawards.com/nominate/?new-postcast=houseoffi.com

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Join our Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/261017321186778/

Choosing Happiness on the Journey to FIRE Jun 07, 2019

We found the FIRE community in early 2016. And you all know how on fire we have been about FIRE ever since. But...that does not mean it has been all unicorns and rainbows. We've had quite a few rainclouds and donkeys make their appearances.

One of the things that keeps us from completely coming unglued and reverting back to old money behaviors is focusing on what is most important to us - filling our home with love and laughter.

This weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to attend the premiere of the documentary, Playing with Fire. The movie follows the Reickens family over the course of one year as they pack up their lives, make radical financial moves and pursue FIRE. Along the way they meet and have conversations with some of the experts in the FIRE community who share some of the tenents of Financial Independence as well as portions of their own stories.

Our biggest takeaways from the movie had really nothing to do with money, but really about two things. The importance of communication and focusing on happiness.

Curtis and I decided to share our top ten things that make us happy, for the first time with you as well as each other. Do you have any guesses as to what makes us the happiest?

Take some time right now to write down the 10 things that bring you joy. Do you see a common theme? What do they center around? Are you living your life in a way that you are already living out what makes you happy?

These are all great questions to reflect upon and a good way to make sure that as you continue on your journey you focusing on happiness. It will even out the hills and valleys.

The documentary is very well done and besides taking viewers on a transparent FIRE journey of this family, it provides lots of good information about the heart of what this community is about.

We highly recommend you find a screening in your city. And if there isn't one, guess what!?! You can sign up to host one. You can do that here.

The Power of Savings Rate and Compound Interest - Reduce Your Retirement Timeline by 20 Years Jun 05, 2019

As a new immigrant to America, Mark Perry - who will be the first to say it, was clueless about money. He describes coming to the states from South Africa with $200 in his pocket, the most money he ever had in his life, and blowing it all quite quickly, on hockey skates, winter jacket and a carton of cigarettes.

MARK'S EARLY JOURNEY

He was very fortunate that he had been able to secure a scholarship that paid for the bulk of his education and so he started off on the right foot in that area. Unlike so many students, he later graduated college with no student loan debt.

As his life progressed, he was married for a short time, then divorced but later, through some match-making and lucky coincidences he found and married his wife. Together they have four children and reside in San Diego.

THE FIRST FINANCIAL SPARK

Mark recalls that there were several "moments" that set him on his current financial path. Shortly after his divorce, and still very young, he was stuck in his apartment, very sick. This was during the time before remotes. The T.V. was stuck on PBS and he was forced to watch a show on finances by David Chilton, the Wealthy Barber. Mark says the information ignited something in him and he shortly thereafter met with a financial advisor.

Though he regrets the investment vehicle he was sold, a life insurance policy, it did start him on the path to regularly saving for his retirement.

THE BEST HOUSEHACK EVER

Fast forward several years later and Mark had remarried and he and his wife were on fairly solid footing, but were still not optimizing their retirement savings. The opportunity arose for Mark to pastor a church in San Diego. During the course of negotiating the position, Mark was able to secure housing as part of his compensation. For the past 17 years, Mark has been able to live in San Diego, on a pator's salary, rent free.

FINANCIAL SUPER-POWERS:

SAVINGS RATE AND COMPOUND INTEREST

What Mark's story shows is the immense power of savings rate combined with compound interest. In 10 years, saving a minimal amount, Mark was able to save $25,000.00. By increasing his savings rate to between 40-50%, in the next 20 years, he was able to accumulate $800,000.00 in retirement accounts.

What this means for Mark and his family is that he is now LEANFI. LEAN FI equates to 20 times your annual living expenses.

In this case....

20 x $40,000 = $800,000.00

THE NEXT PHASE OF INVESTING: REAL ESTATE

Mark is now branching out into real estate investing. He has opened a Roth IRA that allows him to purchase real estate through his Roth IRA. He now owns two investment properties, he owns outright in the Roth. One was purchased for $20,000 (including repairs) and the other $17,000 (with repairs) - together they are cash-flowing $750 a month, which is incredible!

MARK ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS

Mark's one lesson from childhood that he has carried over is to save something! It doesn't matter how much, just begin with something.

The two lessons he would like to pass on to his children are to increase your savings rate as much as possible and the incredible power of compound interest.

MARK'S FAVORITE READ

The Wealthy Barber, by David Chilton

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MARK

On Facebook, C.Mark Perry

or pastorfi.com

BONUS Episode - Weekly Wrap-Up - Recap of Wednesdays Show with Latrina Walden, Creating a Successful Business and Inter-generational Wealth May 31, 2019

WEEKLY WRAP-UP

On Wednesday’s show, we spoke with Latrina Walden. She’s an amazing mom, professor, nurse and business owner. When we asked her how she does it all, she says it takes a “good support system” and “GRIT!” We believe that.

Curt and were greatly impacted by this episode for a couple of reasons.

First, we identified with the enormity and the heavy burden debt plays in our lives. For a very long time, the debt left of feeling very hopeless and resolved that it would follow us to our graves.

Finding the Financial Independence community changed that and provided us a roadmap to financial freedom by spending less, saving more and increasing our incomes.

Latrina and her husband have done the same. At the beginning of this year, she and her husband were underwater with over $560,000.00 in debt. Having found the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) community last year, they began to get intentional with reducing their spending and putting their incomes to better use saving and paying down their debt.

At the same time, a side business Latrina started began to take off and, what felt like overnight, exploded and quickly became an over six-figure business in just five months!

With the added income this business has brought into their household, they have been able to pay off about $360,000.00 in debt and are on track to pay off the remaining debt by the end of the year. The business is expected to gross 1.5 million in 2019….INCREDIBLE!!!

Latrina (and Curt) both had an emotional moment talking about the change this business and the impact of becoming Financially Independent will have on their family. Latrina’s business has changed their family tree.

Creating Generational Wealth, particularly for families of color, is just one more step in leveling the playing field for families.

Wealth cannot make anyone happy but the lack of it can sure make you unhappy.

OUR TAKEAWAYS AND ACTIONABLE STEPS

One of your biggest resources to paying off debt and creating wealth is your income. If you can find a way to increase your income, you can accelerate your progress exponentially.

There is only so much you can cut your expenses. Once you have exhausted that - you are left with how to bring in more income into your household.

Take action now! Latrina and her husband didn’t wait for the business to grow to begin taking action. They worked with what they already had. The business growing so quickly was an amazing bonus.

Starting a business does not have to be hard. Latrina began with the two things she was good at. Started small and grew it organically as customer needs grew. All of her products are digital and she works with her customers remotely. These keep her overhead extremely low.

Service type businesses are often the easiest to start. On previous show we have talked to several people who perform services and have created successful businesses. We have linked below to just a few.

Clean Lots

Loan Signing System

Freelancer

OUR MONEY MISTAKES - WHAT WE WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY

This week we talked about businesses….

There are several things, looking back, I would have done differently when I started my businesses….

But since this is a Financial Independence Podcast, the one thing I would have done very differently had I to do it all over again, what had a year or two of expenses saved and not the three-six months typically suggested.

It can take quite a while to build up a business to profitability and having a much larger cushion would have alleviated a lot of stress.

I would also recommend this particularly is you work on commission or are in sales and your compensation is inconsistent.

It just gives you added peace of mind.

UPDATES ON SIDE-HUSTLES

May hasn’t been too bad… this month I have earned almost $800.00 with very little effort.

The fun part was finding those color-changing Starbucks cold cups and reselling them on eBay and Poshmark. I found Poshmark’s fees to be a bit much so I will probably not use them anymore.

I also cashed in on a bank account bonus, that was my biggest haul, in the amount of $350.00! All I had to do was open an account, keep it above $1000.00 for 90 days and have a minimum of 10 transactions in that time frame. EASY-PEASY

And the bulk of the remainder was doing a couple loan signing and courses.

Not a bad month at all.

I didn’t donate any plasma this month, not for any particular reason - we just had stuff going on the mornings I usually go.

We have our garage sale on Saturday, so that will go into the June update.

OUR HOUSE

The most exciting thing to happen this week is WE SOLD OUR HOUSE! Well, we have an offer. A full price offer in six days.

We agreed to an extended closing period so we will be in it until the end of July.

But we are really excited. This was Step One in our plan to begin creating our rental property portfolio.

HOUSEKEEPING

PLUTUS AWARDS

Plutus awards nominations open up on Saturday June 1st. If you enjoy are show - one of the ways we can reach more people and help the achieve financial independence is with exposure.

We would appreciate a nomination as a show of your support of our show and the work we are doing.

We will link the website in the show notes.

PODCASTERSU

PodcastersU is open for enrollment! If you have a podcast idea or a message you want to share with others? You want to start but just don’t know how to even begin with the task….podcastersU was made with you in mind.

At podcastersU, you will learn everything you need to know to launch your show in six weeks!

You can sign up on the website. Classes begin on June 6th, which is right around the corner.

ANOTHER MILESTONE!!!

Last week we reached 75,000 downloads which has blown our minds. We have a big goal and that is to get to 200,000 by the end of the year.

So how can you help us get to that goal? Share our show. Tell your friends. If you think what we say will resonate - let them know about us.

NEXT WEEK’S SHOW

Tune in to next week’s show! Do you think there is no way you can reach FI on one salary or while living in a high cost of living area or while raising a family? Well, then you are in for a treat. On Wednesday, we are speaking with PastorFI. He is just the nicest guy and a fixture in the FI community….and he has a really cool accent too!

The Impact of Creating Generational Wealth May 29, 2019

"Whatever it was, we were gonna stop talking about it

and we were gonna do it!"

Latrina Walden's money story is not unlike so many others in this country - Curtis and I included. She was smart, driven, and had an entrepreneurial spirit, the only problem is she lacked a solid money foundation and was swimming in six-digit student loan debt.

FINDING THE FIRE COMMUNITY

She felt the burden and was ashamed by the amount of debt she was carrying and through a fortuitous conversation with an old friend and fellow FIRE community member, Naseema McElroy, Latrina found the FIRE community about a year ago. And what a year it has been...

Latrina is a busy wife, mother, professor and Nurse Practioner. She and her husband reside in Atlanta with their two children. After finding the FIRE community, she and her husband resolved to finally start telling their money where to go and implemented a budget. For them, it was never an issue of income, but one of not being intentional with the way they spent their money.

$500,000 IN NEGATIVE NET WORTH

The weight of the amount of their debt was a heavy burden and it sometimes made Latrina question whether or not she belonged in the FIRE community. Debt shame is a real thing. But instead of shrinking from the overwhelm of their situation, Latrina and her husband started making swift changes. They decided to stop talking about taking action and to just jump feet first by taking immediate control of their finances.

FIND WHAT YOU ARE GOOD AT

Something incredible happened while they were going through this process, Latrina stumbled upon a new business. She saw a need and stepped in to fill in. She began offering tutoring services via the internet for nurses to prep for exams. She loves teaching and loves nursing and this business was a way for her to marry two of the things she was passionate about and REALLY good at.

To her surprise and amazement, the business took off organically mostly by word of mouth on Facebook. In a matter of five months, her business has grown to a six-figure online business that has already paid off over $360,000.00 of their debt and will pay off the remainder of it, including their house by the end of the year.

And if that were not amazing enough, her business is on track to bring in 1.5 million dollars by the end of the year. How incredible is that!

THE IMPACT OF CREATING GENERATIONAL WEALTH

What makes the growth of her business so special, is not just because it will allow her family to be Financially Independent in their lifetime - but it will change her family tree. The impact of building wealth on the lives of her children their legacy is far-reaching.

The thought of that is overwhelming - in a good way. Latrina and her family recognize the wonderful blessing this business has been for them and have plans to begin a non-profit to help struggling nursing students as a way of showing gratitude for what they have been given. Good people.

LATRINA ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS

What is One Money Lesson She Learned as a Child That She has Carried Over Into Her Financial Journey?

Have a plan. It's OK to blow up that plan, even if it fails. One day you will get it right.

One Money Lesson She Wants to Pass on to Her Children:

It's OK to talk about money!

WHERE CAN YOU FIND LATRINA

waldenexamsolutions.com

And coming in July, 2019:

latrinawalden.com

Latrina's Favorite Read:

Becoming - By Michelle Obama

BONUS EPISODE Our Money Mistakes - College and Student Loans May 24, 2019

We all have money mistakes. Some of us have more and bigger mistakes than others....(slowly raises our hands to both).

FAILING FORWARD

John Maxwell has a wonderful book called Failing Forward. What he emphasizes is one of the most valuable lessons one can learn in life and it is this...

Failure in and of itself is not bad.

The most important thing is how you respond to failure. You can learn from it and try again and get better or you can walk away and let it prevent you from growing.

Most of you know our money story and know we've made quite a few money mistakes. The biggest one of them being student loan debt. The stress and magnitude of our student loan debt has been a barrier, mentally, emotionally and financially for years. The enormity of our debt was also one of the catalysts for us to seek out help and eventually find the financial independence community.

We now have hope. Hope not just for ourselves - but for a different future for our children.

We have had lots of time to think about the things we would have done differently and steps we will be taking to ensure our children do not follow in our footsteps when it comes to debt.

OUR MISTAKES:

1. Lack of knowledge and options about how to pay for school without debt.

2. Taking out more money than we needed.

3. Not aggressively paying them off immediately after graduation.

4. Not taking advantage of the Public Student Loan Forgiveness programs (PSLF)

WHAT WE WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY AND WHAT WE ARE DOING DIFFERENTLY FOR OUR CHILDREN:

1. Talking with our children and educating ourselves about options with how to pay for college.

Scholarships
Extra-curricular scholarships
Military

2. Options for College.

Community College
Clep Testing
Trade Schools

3. Defraying Costs for College

529 Plans
Stay at home!
State College vs. Private Schools

Previous Episodes:

Episode 31 with Travis Hornsby, The Student Loan Planner

Episode 14 with Tinian Crawford, DIY2FI

Episode 12 with Grumpus Maximus

BOOKS MENTIONED:

Failing Forward, by John Maxwell

Making Unconvential Moves to Pay Off $100,000.00 In Debt May 22, 2019

Imagine living paycheck to paycheck and swimming in $100,000.00 of debt and working yourself into exhaustion - not seeing any way out of your situation.

No matter how hard you have worked - you just can't seem to make any progress. What do you do?

The reality is that this scenario is not uncommon in the United States. It can be overwhelming and feel hopeless.

In 2015, Kyle Renke and his wife were a young family and had become slaves to their jobs - not making any financial progress. They decided they had to do something different - they needed to make a big move and do something about their situation.

They decided to analyze a few different ways that they could begin designing a life that works better and more in line with the life they wanted to live.

One of the first moves Kyle and his wife made was to look at his wife's job and seeing if there was a way for her to work less. What they found that if she worked per diem as opposed to regular hours - she could earn more per hour. This allowed her to work less for the same amount of money. This one move allowed her to work several days less a week to be home with their children, without losing income. This also saved a big amount in daycare expenses.

Kyle made a similar choice and reduced his hours slightly which gave him the mental bandwidth to become a part-time Realtor in addition to his job as a speech pathologist.

The final thing they did was they decided to sell their house and rent instead. By selling their home they were able to unlock their equity and pay off a big portion of their debt.

By renting they ended up saving $1000.00 a month.

With the savings they have made by renting, reduced daycare costs, and the real estate income - Kyle and his wife have paid off $100,000.00!

In just three years they have gone from a negative $15,000.00 net worth to over $100,000.00.

Their plans for their future include saving money to pay cash for an out of state rental property and employ the BRRR method to Buy, Rehab, Rent and Refinance. If you would like to learn more about that you can listen to Episode 40 with David Greene.

Kyle on the Final Questions:

Kyle's favorite lesson he learned as a child was learning to know what he is worth and to not be timid when it comes to asking for a raise.

Favorite Read:

Kyle's most recent favorite read is Mastery by Robert Greene

Where Can You Find Kyle:

Instagram -

@kylerenke

@relentlessfi

Or on Facebook

Kyle Renke

You can also take a look at his blog RelentlessFI HERE

Listener Case Study - What To Do With an Unexpected Inheritance May 17, 2019

Often we get questions from listeners behind the scenes. This week, one of our listeners messaged us because she received an unexpected inheritance of about $29,000.00.

They still have some credit card debt and unpaid medical bills. She wants to save some and also put some money away for her grandson's college. They only have $400.00 in a small savings account.

Before I could begin there were a few things I wanted to know.

I wanted to know what the interest rates were on each of the debts. I also wanted to know how much paying off the debt would free up in her budget.

We discussed the benefits of both the debt snowball and avalanche methods of paying off debt and why one might prefer one over the other.

DEBT SNOWBALL VS. AVALANCHE METHOD OF PAYING OFF DEBT

In the debt snowball method, you pay off debts in order from smallest balance to largest. This is to give you momentum quickly and helps overcome mental obstacles you might have when it comes to paying off debt.

In the avalanche method, you pay off debt in order of highest interest rate to smallest. This looks purely with respect to the numbers. The higher the interest the greater it costs you every month to carry that debt.

After getting some of these questions we suggested the following:

Step 1: Put another $600.00 in a baby emergency fund to bring that balance up to $1,000.00.

Step 2: Pay off all the debt. This will leave a bit under $18,000.00 left of the original $29,000.00. This will also free up $600.00 a month that was going to debt service.

Step 3: Fund retirement accounts for this year.

Step 4: From the $600.00 take a small amount, no more than $25-$50 and begin a 529 plan for her grandson.

Step 5: Take what's left and fund a 3-6 month emergency fund.

Step 6: If the 3-6 month emergency fund is not fully funded, take the rest of what is left from $600.00 a month that was going to debt service and fully fund the emergency fund.

Step 7: If the emergency fund IS fully funded at this point, then the 529 plan can be increased and begin funding after-tax investments.

If you have a scenario, you would like our input - feel free to leave us a voicemail or send us an email at info@houseoffi.com.

ANNOUNCEMENTS!

PodcastersU is UP!! Woohoo! If you emailed me, you should have received an email - be on the lookout for it. In the email, you have a coupon code to enroll with a deep discount.

For anyone else interested, there will be another opportunity to enroll - stay tuned.

WE ARE SELLING OUR HOUSE!

Read HERE why we are making such a big move.

PodcastersU is open! Listen for more details next week.

Breaking Free of Poverty and Reaching Financial Independence May 15, 2019

Today we share another community member success story. Jeff, grew up extremely poor. It was not uncommon during his childhood for his family to worry about where they would be living, figuring out how to heat the house as well as meeting other essential needs.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Jeff's parents, who were factory workers, never had expectations for Jeff to attend college, there was an assumption he would enter factory work as well after high school.

However, it became clear very early to Jeff that the job was not for him. He was miserable. But he was also inquisitive and his search for information was the start of a journey that changed his family tree.

Jeff saw another gentleman at the plant who had a better paying, more skilled position that didn't involve standing at a machine for seven hours a day. He inquired about how he could do that job and learned that the community college had certificate programs that partnered with his employer for an apprenticeship. Unfortunately for him, there were not any open positions. Jeff did not let that stop him. He went ahead and began the certificate program and waited for his opportunity for an apprenticeship to open. Because of his drive and dedication, it was not long before Jeff landed the job.

After he completed his apprenticeship, he made more money and had opportunities for advancement. He has been working in the field as an industrial mechanic ever since.

A LESSON IN INTEREST

Jeff and his wife worked hard and eventually bought a home but at the time still knew very little about finances. After paying on his mortgage sometime, he looked at his balance and was extremely confused. There had to be a mistake. He knew he had paid much more than what was reflected as his balance. Interest was the culprit. Frustrated by his lack of knowledge he began to learn about interest and how it was calculated.

While on a business trip, Jeff noticed a book at the airport. The title intrigued him, Life Without Debt. He dove into the book, reading it in four days.

THE SPARK

The experience with his mortgage combined with finding this book changed everything for Jeff and his family. They dedicated themselves to frugal living, living within their means, and emulating people who lived on very little. They purchased investment properties which enable them to purchase their forever home with a substantial down-payment. By living on less, saving more and increasing their income, Jeff and his wife are now "lean-FI."

They have done so without every earning more than six-figures and with only one full-time income.

For those new to the FIRE community, there are a few stages used to describe where one is with respect to FI (Financial Independence) - all of which are based upon the Trinity Study. You can read more about that HERE. At it's most basic - it simply means you have saved twenty-five times your expected annual expenses at retirement.

Example: If you believed you could live on $40,000.00 a year at retirement, you would need $1,000,000.00 saved to be financially independent.

40,000 x 25 = 1,000,000

FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE IS FOR EVERYONE

We hope that you are encouraged today by Jeff's story. Our goal here is to educate others and show them that by making a few critical changes in your life with respect to your money, you CAN achieve Financial Independence.

If you need help or are just beginning your journey, we offer a FREE 7-Step Money Challenge that will help you build a solid foundation as you begin your journey.

JEFF ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS

The one lesson about Jeff learned about money as a child that he has carried over into his FIRE journey is that money cannot make you happy, but a lack of it can sure make you miserable.

The one lesson he would like to pass to his children is to begin early. Live like a broke college student for as long as you can, don't let life-style creep happen.

FAVORITE READ

Life Without Debt by Bob Hammond

WHERE CAN YOU FIND JEFF

If you have questions for Jeff, you can reach him at FIGUY9112gmail.com

BONUS EPISODE - We Are Weird About Money and That's OK May 10, 2019

If you have been in the FIRE movement for any amount of time, the sooner you realize this one fact, the better off you will be.

WE ARE WEIRD.

We are. We - the collective we - the FIRE community - are weird. We are going against the grain. We are a counter-culture. People will not understand us. We will be judged. Misunderstood.

And that's totally OK.

Let's all be weird together. We are all in the same Arena.

Those who have never stepped foot in the arena, who are not willing to do things differently, will never reap the rewards either.

There are a few things you can do when you are feeling judged and rejected for your financial choices.

You don't need to share your journey with everyone. Particularly those that will not understand or who are not ready to hear it.

Secondly, community is important. Surround yourself with like-minded people. Join a Facebook group. Join a local FI meetup.

You can join our group here.

Do you have a side hustle? Please call in and let us know about it.

Finally, we have a seven-step money foundations course, it's FREE, and its to lay a solid financial foundation.

In Pursuit of the American Dream, Immigrant to Millionaire May 08, 2019

Growing up in Rwanda without electricity, Patrick Aime, never felt he missed out on anything because he didn't know any better. He recalls his childhood fondly.

After Patrick's father died when he was a baby he watched his mother work hard to increase her income as a single mom. As her income grew, so did the conveniences of life. They acquired a TV when he was about 12 years old and no longer had to visit his "Rich Uncle's House" to watch American TV shows.

It was through these shows he had his first glimpse of what life was like in America. It lit a spark within him to come to America and pursue the American Dream.

He describes his first win at the "life lottery" when he was able to finish high school in Belgium where he also played basketball. Through basketball - he landed the opportunity to play basketball at the collegiate level in America. Even though he was injured during his sophomore in college and would never realize a professional basketball career - he still felt as though he had won, because he had made it to America - just as he had dreamed as a boy.

After college, he eventually started his own business and became very successful selling luxury sports packages to corporations to entertain their high profile clients. As his income grew, Patrick had some of the skills to manage his money - and he always knew not to spend more than he made - but he never saved - he simply spent everything he made.

The lifestyle inflation crept in and he began purchasing rental properties during the height of the market. Then the recession hit and he lost it all and had to file bankruptcy.

He describes what happened next as the real start of his financial journey. He learned the importance of frugality and saving his money and the hard-learned principle that "cash is king."

Patrick reinvented himself and quickly rebuilt his career. Though this time he kept his business small and reinvested his money in index funds as well as built up his emergency fund. He has since purchased properties for all cash that cash-flow and bring in enough passive income to cover all of his living expenses.

He has completely changed how he handles his money and has recently celebrated becoming a member of the "double-comma club" reaching a million dollars in his investments. Patrick's story is so inspiring and it is easy to see why he loves this country.

Patrick believes that in the United States the same is possible for anyone. His story is certainly a testament to this belief.

If you would like to reach and learn more about Patrick, you can find him at Frugal Safari.

Or on Twitter at @frugalsafari as well.

BONUS EPISODE - Side-hustles, Are They Worth It? May 03, 2019

How many of you are currently side-hustling or considering whether or not to side-hustle and wondering if it's even worth it or not?

Well, today Curt and I hash out all of the side-hustles we are currently trying out. We also share how much we have earned in March and April and discuss whether or not it has been a good use of our time.

We'll also tell you which ones are total duds and which ones we think are the best!

Here is a break down of our earning for March 2019:

March

Lyft - $0

Uber Eats - $3.96

Instacart - $106.40

Amazon Flex - $220.50

Doordash - $233.91

Loan signings/mobile notary - $285

Total March = $849.77

APRIL

Amazon Flex: $54

Instacart: $56.13

Doordash: $22.99

Plasma: $245 (4 times)

Curt Cans: $91

Total April = $446.15 (Did not work two weekends)

Not a pretty bad influx of cash to our budget for less than 30 hours worth of work, right?

It certainly helps evens out our income and stretches our budget in between real estate deals.

SIDE-HUSTLE FAILS - THE BAD...

Now to the nitty gritty....

Here are the ones I did not really care for and why:

Lyft and regular Uber - Believe it or not I (Wendy) am a total introvert and too much "peopling" can really drain me, so I would really rather not have people in my car and have to try to strike up a conversation. I learned pretty quickly that it was not for me.

Uber Eats: I have found I make more money with Doordash. I made a whopping $4 the one Uber Eats delivery I did and so I haven't tried that one since.

Amazon Flex: You can make pretty decent money with Amazon, I just found it was a PAIN IN MY ASS! The few delivery routes I had were a total nightmare and frustrating and so I have not done it for a few weeks. I think I have a bit of left-over trauma.

THE GOOD....

The following are the side-hustles I like the most and why:

Doordash and Instacart -

easy, in and out
usually averaging about $14 an hour
Able to stay around our neighborhood
Dislike: Both you have to schedule in advance and good shifts are taken by the people who do this all the time. So I have to get on it fast and hope there are busy times when they will open up more (on demand shifts).

Plasma Donation -

This by far is my favorite.
Can get up to about $420 a month.
Only takes about 1.5 hours of my time. Sometimes just an hour.
One of the better dollars per hour.
Clean, professional, very simple process after the first visit.
Averaging about $50 an hour so far.

Another Big-ticket is Loan Signing:

Getting about $80-95 dollars per signing through loan signing services.
Can make more an hour ($175-$200) if you are able to build up relationships with escrow offices/mortgage companies.
I have not had one last more than an hour and some are as fast as 10 minutes - depends how many documents you have to notarize.
If you are interested in becoming a loan signing agent, listen to Enrique Castro on Episode 30B
Dislike: Takes a while to get paid and usually a paper check, about 45 business days…..Also a pain in the butt.
...But for the hourly - it awesome.

CURT HAS GOTTEN IN ON THE SIDE-HUSTLES

Curt has his side hustle....he collects recycling. He has a pretty awesome system. Since he is a teacher and a coach and has access to the fields after events at the school. He takes our boys and his trusty grippers and picks up the cans and bottles after everyone leaves. He made $90 by basically walking around campus for 30 minutes or so after his shifts supervising events. Not bad!

WE HAVE A NEW SIDE-HUSTLE....

In May we will be trying a new side-hustle...flipping items for a profit. We are on the lookout for free items on Offer-Up and then going to re-sell them at a garage sale.

We found our first item, a nice sofa...it was FREE. We hope to get at least $50 for it. The goal for May doing the flipping is $500.

We'll keep you posted to see how we do.

IF YOU HAVE A SIDE-HUSTLE WE WANT TO KNOW!

If you have a side-hustle or an idea for one - go to the website and leave us a voicemail. It’s super easy and there are instructions there on the side-hustle spotlight page…

The BRRRR Method of Building Wealth with Real Estate May 01, 2019

Curt and I are so excited to be speaking today with David Greene from Bigger Pockets.

In this episode, we talk about why David believes that Real Estate Investing is "every man's" (and women too!) vehicle to wealth. He discusses who the essential team members he believes are necessary to help you build a successful investment portfolio as well as does a deep dive into explaining the BRRRR method of Real Estate Investing...Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance and Repeat.

David is a wealth of knowledge - this episode is essential if you are considering real estate as a potential means of building wealth.

His newest book, BRRRR, is releasing this month and can be pre-ordered. We will list the link for that below.

If you want to find David, you can find him on Bigger Pockets, as well as on his blog, greeneincome.com.

He can also be found on Instagram @davidgreene24.

Retired by 46 and Traveling the World Apr 24, 2019

Today’s guests Tim and Amy Rutherford - currently live a life that embraces travel, a healthy lifestyle and living with purpose. They host a successful YouTube Channel that follows their journey across the globe. And they are doing it all as early retirees, in their 40's!

THEIR MONEY STORY

This wasn’t always their life...

In 2014 while traveling - they had an awakening - a realization they were spending their money mindlessly and if they could stop spending so much money - they could realize their dream of retiring early and traveling more.

When they took a really hard look at their spending they found they were wasting over $115,000.00 a year with not much to show for it. So, they took action. They reigned in their spending significantly - ramped up their savings...and the result was that Both Tim and Amy were able to retire in their forties!

We are so excited to chat with them today and have them share some of their adventures - but also share with our House of FI Families - some of the actionable ways to get to Financial Independence faster!

KEEPING THEIR BUDGET IN CHECK

Amy and Tim have become super-savers and one of the best ways they shave money off of their expenses is to drastically cut their food budget.

Tim's tip: He uses the FLIPP APP

This APP is a repository for the grocery ads so you know what is on sale.

The next thing Tim and Amy do is to "shop what's on sale." They tailor their budget and weekly menus to what is on sale.

From there Amy suggests cooking from home and from scratch as much as possible.

She also suggests subbing in ingredients based upon what is on sale in your recipes. For example, if a recipe calls for broccoli, but asparagus is on sale - use asparagus instead.

TRAVEL HACKING

Tim and Amy host a popular YouTube Channel, GoWithLess. There, they chronical their journeys and the steps they have taken to get to early retirement. But also, they share their travel tips.

One of the ways Tim and Amy are able to travel so much is that they travel hack, using air miles and hotel/travel miles.

One of the other cool things they are known for is that they use house-sitting and/or pet sitting as a way to minimize their lodging expenses when they travel.

Amy suggests if house sitting or pet sitting is something you are interested in, to start sitting in your area first to build up good reviews and then try out of state and/or country jobs.

The site she uses to find sitting jobs is Trusted House Sitters.

Tim and Amy have a ton of great travel videos on their channel.

Two of our favorite videos are a video on packing - Curt and I both need some serious help in this department - and this video has some great tips on packing light.

The other documents a recent trip they took to try out a Dentist in Mexico.

TIM AND AMY ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS

Favorite financial lesson, growing up:

Amy shared the lesson she learned was to treasure the experiences. It doesn't take money to build memories.

Tim's favorite life hack is to live as much of their home life as possible when you travel. For instance, cooking in, instead of eating out.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND TIM AND AMY IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THEIR JOURNEY.....

THEIR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - GO WITH LESS

BONUS EPISODE - Protecting Yourself on the Web Apr 19, 2019

I am sure we have all heard horror stories about someone being scammed by criminals hiding behind a computer screen on the Internet.

This week the issue was too close to home when my daughter was almost taken advantage of by a very sophisticated scam while looking for an apartment.

What really struck me was the effort the criminals took to appear legitimate.

We recently had several people present in our local Financial Independence meet-up about Internet Safety and one of the presenters was my friend Jason.

He graciously agreed to come on today's show to explain some of the essential protections we can implement to keep our information and money secure on the Web.

Some of the key barriers he suggests implementing are below:

Raising Financially Savvy Kids Apr 17, 2019

On the show today we are getting tips from the Financially Savvy Accountant, Atiya Brown. With her is an extra special guest, her daughter Rayna. Rayna is one Financially Savvy Kid! She has absorbed all the money talks her parents have had with her and put them into a book to teach other children about savvy money habits. Her book is called What Are the Money Rules.

ATIYA'S MONEY STORY

Atiya did not grow up with much money. She was the oldest of five children and after her father past away when she was young. She watched her mom struggle to support her family.

Through a few experiences - Atiya began to have an awakening about how she was handling her money. This became more apparent when she discovered that she and her husband were not on the same page about finances when they decided to buy a home. She learned that unlike her husband, she had credit card debt.

She decided to make a change and paid off her credit card debt.

RAISING FINANCIALLY SAVVY KIDS

Atiya decided she wanted things to be different for her children. She and her husband decided to begin teaching her children all about money. It began with having open conversations with them from when they were little. From there, they also gave the children money jars to split all their money into four categories, save, spend, give and invest.

This knowledge laid the foundation for Rayna to write her book. Rayna decided to write a book to help her little brother learn all about the money rules. She loved to play "school" with him and figured a book would be a good way to help him learn. Rayna has been sharing her book with other children who are so excited to read a book written by someone their age.

ATIYA ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS

Her money lesson learned growing up: To talk openly with your children about money.

Her favorite reads:

She has two.

Rich Dad Poor Dad

The Biblical Principles of Finance

Her Favorite Life Hack: Ordering groceries online. Wendy totally agrees with this one. It's a great time and money saver!

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ATIYA AND RAYNA

Atiya can be found at,

https://thesavvyaccountant.co/

and on Facebook: https://thesavvyaccountant.co/

and Rayna can be found at:

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourfinanciallysavvykids

and you can learn more about her book:

https://www.whatarethemoneyrules.com/

Bonus Episode - Side-Hustle Spotlight Commercial Litter Removal Apr 12, 2019

On today's episode, we are speaking with Brian Winch of CleanLots.com. 35 years ago, Brian began his "side-gig" and in about two months and $200 later he was earning enough money to leave his full-time job.

He has since grown into a full-time entrepreneur who runs a business that generates $650,000 a year in revenue....but not only that, he helps others do the same.

If you would like to learn more, you can find Brian at cleanlots.com.

He also has a book available to help you begin your commercial litter removal business today.

BRIAN ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS

ONE LESSON HE LEARNED GROWING UP HE HAS CARRIED OVER INTO HIS FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE JOURNEY

To achieve what you want, you have to work for it. Nothing worth having comes easy.

ONE LIFE HACK THAT HE HAS LEARNED THAT BRINGS HIM JOY OR HAS MADE HIS LIE EASIER

Brian believes that your life becomes a lot easier once you understand that you cannot control what other people do, so it is pointless to get upset by things you cannot control.

Wendy totally agrees with this and teaches our children the same thing:

DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF, and

FOCUS ON THOSE THINGS IN LIFE YOU CAN CONTROL

WHAT'S COMING UP....

We have some great guests coming up, so be on the lookout for our new episodes.

Coming up soon...

Grant Sabatier, of Millennial Money. We will be talking to him about his new book Financial Freedom, and how he became a millionaire after hitting financial rock bottom and having to move back in with his parents.

David Greene, over at Bigger Pockets will also be joining us to talk ALL ABOUT real estate investing, how it changed his life and the BRRR strategy.

and several more as well as stories from our listeners who have reached FIRE and are on the journey, JUST LIKE YOU!

podcastersU

We are entering the last few days of being able to let Wendy know you would like to join our podcastersU class coming soon.

If you want to start a podcast, but have been afraid or overwhelmed and just not sure where to begin, this course is for you!

We will be launching the Beta version of podcasterU in the next few weeks.

Priority registration will be given to those who have sent us a message at info@houseoffi.com with "podcstersU" in the subject line.

After that, this course will be offered to the general public and will be closed once all spots are filled. Don't miss out on getting this course at a significant discount.

Rebrand and Revive Your Website to Get Results Apr 10, 2019

Rebrand and revive your website to get more sales. We all want more sales for our business, right?

Liz Theresa is a business coach, content developer, and website designer and we are so happy to have her on the show.

She's the person who helps you create pretty websites that don't make your potential customers cringe - but also that convert and do what you want them to do - sell YOU!

In this episode, Liz explains why branding and website copy, or "language," is SO important. We also discuss why if you are not making sales or converting - there are usually two reasons why, either it is the product or your messaging.

Liz works with her clients to make sure their brand and messaging are attracting the clients that WANT to pay for the product you are offering.

We also discuss when a person might want to hire a coach to help with their business and some of the important things to look for when you are looking for a website designer.

Lots of great information today as well as practical advice that's WICKED GOOD!

Liz on the Final Questions:

Liz's Life Hacks

Asking for Help

Returning Items She is Not Satisfied With

Liz's Favorite Read

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

Where Can You Find Liz

If you want to learn more about Liz, you can find her at Liztheresa.com

She offers a FREE CLASS as well:

freecopyvideo.com

And if you would like to listen to her podcast, you can find her on iTunes, Spotify and Google Play.

Liz on Biz

DON'T FORGET!

We will be starting our Podcasting Court, PodcastersU very soon. If you want to be included in the Beta class, email us at info@houseoffi.com with "podcastersU" in the subject line.

Information will be going out this week on how to sign up.

BONUS EPISODE Listener Progress Report Apr 05, 2019

The journey to Financial Independence can seem insurmountable to some. We totally understand! It is worth repeating, over and over, to remind us that this is a marathon and not a sprint.

What helps along the way is to know that you are not alone. One of our listeners, Maria Palacio, was gracious enough to take time to share the progress she and her husband have made on their journey.

Maria shares how she found the fire movement, mistakes along the way, changes they made and getting her husband on board.

She also discusses asking for help and how she decided to work with Ericka Young of Tailor Made Budgets. You can hear more about Erica in Episode 11

Also discussed in this episode:

Wendy's ALDI Challenge is a four-week challenge to plan seven dinners for eight people for $75 or under.

You can begin with week one HERE.

Finding a Balance Between Frugality and Happiness Apr 03, 2019

Today's guest at the House of FI is Liz Thames, also known to most as Mrs. Frugalwoods. In this conversation we talk about frugality, sustainability, smart money moves for kids in college, and well as a moment of bonding for Curt and Liz over their mutual hatred of dirt.

LIZ GROWING UP

Like so many of us, money was not discussed in Liz's home growing up. Even so, she was able to learn from her parent's frugality. She grew to appreciate that something does not have to be new to experience both its utility and ability to bring you joy.

She admits that when she and her husband first began pursuing their dream of leaving the city and purchasing a home-stead they did not know much about finances beyond a savings account. The first financial book she purchased was Personal Finance for Dummies.

A JOYFUL FRUGAL-FAIL

Recently Liz, the despiser of dirt, purchased a $260 Roomba. She explains the decision-making process for the purchase and how the purchase brings her joy.

She also explains that she believes it is important to spend on the things that matter - while always asking if there is a long-term benefit.

She advises to always be mindful of the following:

1. knowing where you need to be in the long term

2. knowing what you need to do with your money to get there

3. calibrate all your purchases against that long-term goal

FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE IS FOR EVERYONE

One of the points Liz has made ongoing efforts to acknowledge is that she did not have some of the hurdles others may have had due to some of the privileges she enjoyed growing up.

However, Liz also believes, that financial independence is for everyone. You can review some of the case studies on her site where she offers advice to people of diverse backgrounds and circumstances to help them on the financial independence journey.

LIVING A LIFE OF ONGOING LEARNING

Liz and her husband purchased their homestead and decided to approach their life from a viewpoint of learning. Since moving out into the country they have learned many new skills via building and discovering.

Wild fun things, like making maple syrup with maple sap found on their property.

She cautions - that DIY does not always mean less expensive both in time and dollars.

Another fun DIY project Liz's husband tackled was a "fizzy water" machine by attaching a tank to a soda-stream machine. You can see how he did that here.

LIZ ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS:

Liz's Life Hacks:

1. Her Roomba! Of course.

2. But also the Seltzer Water

LIZ'S FAVORITE READS

1. The Simple Path to Wealth - J.L. Collins

2. Becoming - Michelle Obama

3. Simplicity Parenting - Kim John Payne

WHERE CAN YOU FIND LIZ:

Would you like to know more about Liz and the life she and her husband have created for themselves?

You can get her book, Meet the Frugalwoods.

She can also be found on the website- frugalwoods.com

As well as all social media under the same name as well.

Bonus Free Family Fun Days Mar 29, 2019

One of the challenges, especially for larger families, is creating experiences that do not cost a lot of money.

Team Mays has gotten pretty good at figuring out FUN ways to spend time with our kids and not deplete our wallets.

On today's episode, we have two VERY special guests with us to discuss ideas for things to do with your kids that are FREE.

Some of the FREE activities that we have done in our family are:

"Drive-In" Movies - get a white sheet and a projector and invite the neighbors over.
Hiking
Smore's on the beach
Scavenger Hunts
Free Days at Local Museums
Picnics
Dance Parties
Game Night
Epic Rap Battles
Karaoke
Volunteering/Serving together

Our listeners provided several others:

Tea Parties
Cook and/or Bake Together
Off-grid Camping

This was so much FUN brainstorming ideas together! I am sure we have missed quite a bit too.

If you have more ideas...head on over to our Private Facebook Group and let us know your ideas. Maybe we will use them on an upcoming show!

Recovery and Money - The Parallels Between Money and Addiction with Ms. Fiology, Deanna Broaddus Mar 27, 2019

If there is one message Deanna Broaddus, who authors the blog Ms. Fiology, would like you to hear today, it is this....

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE!

And Deanna speaks from experience.

HER ADDICTION

Today Deanna shares her journey through addiction from a young girl experimenting with alcohol and how that evolved into drinking and drugging well into her 30's.

As a high functioning addict - it was not until the secret she had been hiding came to the forefront, that she eventually made the decision to seek help and, once and for all, fully address the root of her struggle with alcohol and drug.

THE TRANSITION

After recovery, Deanna's next battle was to tackle was her debt. She was not sure what to do and found herself very overwhelmed. She drew upon her experience from recovery and began attacking her debt very strategically.

In 3.5 years she was able to pay off $47,000.00. She did this by doing something a lot of people in the forties would not do....she moved back in with her parents.

It was a humbling experience - but it also allowed her to attack her debt fiercely, she was putting 90% of her income towards debt, and because of this BIG MOVE - she reached her goal of debt freedom 2017.

Deanna's Key Components to Getting Out of Debt

Budget - Zero-based Budget
Accountability
Method for paying off (Snowball/vs. Avalanche)
Intensity

The Importance of Community

Deanna also credits her sobriety and her debt-freedom journey to Community. She suggests that anyone new to Financial Independence seek out community.

Seek people and/or groups out.

Facebook.
Local Meet-ups.
Podcasts.
Blogs. Books.
FIRE community!

Why Community? It’s important to surround yourself with like-minded people. They provide you with encouragement as well as get advice and tips.

Deanna's Components to Success

Community

Accountability

Having a Plan

DEANNA ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS

One money lesson (good or bad) learn growing up that she has carried over into her FIRE journey:

Money equals freedom. Money is a tool that if used wisely it can help people and give freedom.

Deanna's Favorite Life Hack:

Time Blocking. Time blocking allows her to tackle tasks and not allow them to over-take her schedule.

Recommended and Favorite Reads:

The Wealthy Gardner, John Sevoric

The Profit Dare, Tim Kaiser

Simple Path to Wealth, JL Collins

BONUS EPISODE - Side-hustle Spotlight with Scentsy Independent Consultant Kristen Savee Mar 22, 2019

This weeks Side-hustle spotlight was such a treat. I am sharing with you my friend and neighbor, Kristen Savee.

Kristen is a military Momma of five...you saw that correctly...And she is killing her side-hustle.

She didn't always have a side-hustle, however. Kristen initially worked in corporate America for a large restaurant chain, but after the birth of her first two children, she felt the pull and stress of balancing being a mom and moving every few years.

BUILDING A HOME-BASED BUSINESS

She began strategically searching for a business she could build and stay at home with her children. She wanted a business with unlimited potential - but that also that appealed to most demographics. She found Scentsy.

The catch was - at the time she could not afford the $99 it took to begin her Scentsy business. So she saved whatever she could, a few dollars here and a few dollars there - until she raised the $99 to start.

Since beginning as an Independent Scentsy Consultant, Kristen has built her business and is on track to meet her goal of earning $2500 a month for 12 consecutive months.

This will be a huge accomplishment for her and will also put her on track to receive a large bonus at the end of the year and placer her among an elite group of people who have been able to make the same achievement.

KEYS TO BUILDING HER DIRECT SALES BUSINESS

Kristen shares several tips that have helped her grow her business.

Realize and go after SMART goals - this is not a business you will make a million dollars overnight.
Social Media is your friend - but just a post on your page is not going to bring you the business.
Focus on building relationships
Don't be Spammy. No one likes that!
HUSTLE!
Create dedicated times to work on your business around your family's schedule.

KRISTEN ON PARENTING FIVE CHILDREN

It takes A LOT to keep a household of five children functioning under ANY circumstances - but throw in the mix that your spouse is deployed often for long periods of time....Well, frankly, I don't know if I could do it.

Kristen has found several ways to keep her household and her sanity intact.

Chores - all of her children, even her four-year-old Addison has chores. For instance, Addison knows how to vacuum as well as help sort with laundry.

Her 10-year old, Madeline, help Kristen bathe the baby each night and Austin and Bryson, her 11 and 7-year-old, do the dishes after dinner.

She says that one of the key things she has learned is that it is OK for kids to not do things EXACTLY how we might do them. It's part of learning - but also allows them to grow and gain confidence.

Because her kids all pitch in - she is able to set aside time, just for them on the weekends, to do fun things and enjoy more time with them - which they love.

If you would like to hear how Kristen makes a weekly food budget of $175 work for her family - listen in to the episode above.

You will also hear how she has taught her children how to keep and balance their own checkbooks. HOW COOL IS THAT?

HOW TO REACH KRISTEN

It was such an honor to share my friend with you. I hope you all enjoyed her story and are inspired - not only by her HUSTLE - but how she manages her large family as a military Momma as well.

You can find Kristen on her website by clicking HERE.

or check her amazing family on Facebook, HERE.

Wendy and Curtis Share 15 Ways to Make Quick Cash Mar 20, 2019

MONEY OBSTACLES

One of the biggest barriers to beginning your Financial Independence journey is NOT MONEY! (Gasp)

Do you want to guess what it is....

It's your mindset. It's buying into the broken tapes we play in our heads - "I am not good with money." "I don't make enough." "But I live in a high cost of living area - there's no way I can afford to pay less for housing." "We owe SO MUCH - we will never be able to pay it all off." Do any of those ring true for you?

These beliefs can be overwhelming and lead to a feeling of hopelessness. And guess what? I believed a lot of those broken tapes for a long time too. Until...

Until we found the FIRE Community. (I like "community" much better than calling it a Movement - because that is really what this is - a community of people encouraging each other to reach their dreams.) But I digress...

When we found out other people, normal people, with normal jobs, living in every city all over the county - were financially independent in their 30's and 40's - it was as if we had found the hidden Fountain of Youth. It was that big of a discovery.

Did you have a similar moment?

MONEY FOUNDATIONS

If you can get past those old limiting believe and believe in what IS POSSIBLE - then you are ready to begin building your future.

So, where are you in your FIRE journey? We hear a lot of people talk about being in the "accumulation phase" and that is WONDERFUL. The accumulation phase is when you are saving for retirement.

But I would like to talk about the phase before that and that is what I am going to call the Foundations phase. Before you can begin building a solid financial foundation, you have to have a proper foundation laid. A solid financial foundation requires 4 things:

1. Debt Free (at a minimum - consumer debt free)

2. Earning More Than You Are Spending

3. Money Master Plan (A fortified budget)

4. Contingency Fund (for emergencies only)

We offer a FREE 7-Step Money Foundations Course to help get you started. You can sign up for it HERE.

LAYING YOUR MONEY FOUNDATIONS

If you are deficient in 1, 2, or 4 - then the reality is YOU NEED CASH.

Curt and I would like to give you several ideas of how we have given our budget quick infusions of cash over the years. In the past, we have used these methods to pay down debt, build up our contingency fund as well as save for big purchases.

Now, we have not tried all of these, but we have used many of them (and continue to do so). We would not list them here if we did not believe they were not a good way to put money in your pocket within a very short period of time.

We go over about fifteen ways to earn quick cash in the podcast, so if you want to hear all of them, click on the player above to hear them.

(And if there are some we have missed - let us know. Send us a quick message on our voicemail line on the right.)

Bonus Episode a House of FI Family Meeting Mar 15, 2019

HOUSE OF FI - FAMILY MEETING

Do you guys have Family Meetings in your house?

We do! And I thought it would be nice to call a House of FI family meeting.

In this episode, we discuss wins and losses for the week and reflect on Wednesday's episode with Angela Rozmyn of Tread Lighty Retire Early.

And.....

We have announcements!

FREE 7-STEP MONEY FOUNDATIONS COURSE

Our 7-Step Money Foundations Course is LIVE!!!!

This course is for anyone who wants to build a solid money foundation. Lots of tools, insight and support.

You can sign up for the course HERE.

DO YOU HAVE A SIDE-HUSTLE? OR HAD ONE IN THE PAST?

We are looking for more people to call in and let our community know of options for side-hustles.

It's SUPER EASY. Just click the "leave voicemail" button and record. EASY PEASY.

Lastly...

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN STARTING A PODCAST?

If you would like to get into the Beta Course for podcastersU, sign up HERE.

This course is intended to take you from concept to launch. We will share with you the systems we implemented to grow a podcast that ranks at the top of the charts every week.

We'll see you back here on Wednesday! We are glad you were here.

Spotlighting the Women of FIRE and Sustainability with Angela Rozmyn Tread Lightly Retire Early Mar 13, 2019

Angela began her blog, Tread Lightly Retire Early, with the idea that financial independence and sustainability were two ways of living that worked well with each other. She aimed to have an impact and spread her love of both principles.

In this episode, we learn practical tips on how we can transition our families to a more sustainable lifestyle without the overwhelm of such a BIG idea. Angela provides us with some of the changes she has made in her home to live a more sustainable life.

NO SPEND CHALLENGE

Have you ever thought of doing a "No Spend" challenge? Angela has just hit the two-year mark of her no clothing challenge. For two years, she has had a complete ban on clothing purchases. This includes shoes, jewelry, accessories....everything. An unexpected benefit is that she has also found she is also no longer wearing make-up, which is another budget-saver!

Another challenge she has done is to not spend money going out to lunch and instead focused on bringing her lunches to work. This challenge has helped her lesson her monthly food budget as well.

CAMPING HACK

Angela and her husband have always loved to camp. But the cold Pacific Northwest Winters made this sometimes difficult. So, with a little bit of trial and error - and experimentation, she and her husband came up with a great solution...A Truck Tent! Now they are able to bear camping in the cold winters snuggled up in the bed of their truck. You can read all about that here.

SPOTLIGHTING THE WOMEN OF THE FIRE MOVEMENT

Women make up a significant population in the FIRE movement. That is no secret. But want appeared to be a secret was how many women were contributing as authorities in the finance space. We are here - we have always been here - but it was really the perception and attention that was lacking. Seeing that need, Angela decided to do something about it. After seeing a major player post his favorite finance blogs - and only seeing one woman listed - Angela was on a mission to bring the women SHE KNEW were writing about finance to the forefront.

This mission has turned into its own little "mini-movement." Her blog post that catalogs blogs and podcasts by women remains one of the top posts on her site.

She also started a private Facebook group that has exploded to about 5000 member is a very short period of time.

Her efforts to bring women to the forefront is making a significant impact on the community.

ANGELA ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS:

1. One financial lesson growing up that she has carried over into her adult life has been the importance of teaching children to earn money to buy the things they want, even at a young age. It is something her parents taught her and she now is teaching her son.

2. Angela's favorite life-hack has been pitching to her boss an 80% work week. This allows her to come home early every day and gives her more time to do the things she would otherwise not be able to do (or be running around like a crazy person trying to accomplish.)

3. Her favorite/current read is a book called Nomadland. It describes a growing population of generally the Baby-Boomer generation that has been forced into a "nomadic" lifestyle due to a lack of financial resources after retirement - planned or forced.

Side-Hustle Spotlight Pet-sitting and Dog-Walking with Jen Tserng Mar 08, 2019

In this Bonus Episode Side-Hustle Spotlight, we hear from our listener Jen Tserng who is just killing it in her Side-Hustle as a dog-walker and Pet-sitter.

Jen currently makes $25 per half hour and on a good day, she can make upwards of $400.00 a day.

She informs us beginning dog-walkers can earn approximately $15 per half an hour and build their business from there.

Some of the PROS of this business are:

Freedom
Flexibility
Location Independent
Work in your own neighborhood (or elsewhere)
Work as little or as much as you want
Limited only by your own availability
Multiple ways to increase your hourly
You can work for a company or start independently
You get to LOVE on animals ALL day!

And the CONS...

You are an independent contractor/business owner and you have all of the responsibilities of one (taxes, tracking income)
You have to build your business
Uncertainty

But overall - your income is limited only by you!

You can sign up via various APPs. But the most popular are Rover and Wagwalker.

The Reluctant Spouse - Getting Your Partner on Board with FIRE with Curtis Mays Mar 06, 2019

Episode 32

So many times we get asked, "how did you get your spouse on board with FI?" Finances are one of those areas where a couple should really be on the same page. But it's hard enough to get on the same page about finances, but to then agree on such a radical concept as FI.

In this episode, Curtis discusses the evolution of his "FI" epiphany and how he transformed from a Reluctant Spouse to being "on FIRE" about FI.

He discusses how he watched his mom struggle as a single mom when he was growing up and not really ever having more than enough to put more than a roof over their head and foot on the table. In college, after he and Wendy met, he still didn't have any real knowledge of money. But he knew how to work and to be a provider and for many years - he simply accepted that was his role.

Struggle was a common occurrence during the early years of their marriage and he and Wendy had many years of ups and downs after that.

So, when Wendy came to him several years ago he, at first, just thought this was another one of her crazy plans. But it wasn't. It took a while, but after Curtis decided to listen to a podcast on his own, he began to understand.

Along the way, there were a few other moments for Curtis where things began to click for him. He was inspired after meeting JL Collins in Greece for Chautauqua last year. It was an incredible time being surrounded by others who all were on the same path.

Listen in to see how Curtis finally came around and is now 100% on board with the plan to achieve Financial Independence by age 55.

Mentioned in this episode:

Choose Fi - Pillars of FI

JL Collins - The Simple Path to Wealth

Christy and Bryce - Millennial Revolution

Alan and Katie Donegan - Pop-Up Business School

Side-Hustle Spotlight - How One Listener is Making $800 Writing in Her Spare Time Mar 01, 2019

Do you know one of the fastest ways to supplement your income and get paid well? It's to get paid to do something you already have the skillset for.

You can literally put yourself to work immediately, IF you have the hustle.

This week we hear from our listener Chris in PA. Chris wrote in to let us know how she has leveraged her writing skills into freelance work that is netting her $800 a month. That's a pretty great addition to someone's monthly income and can really accelerate your FI plans.

Way to Go Chris!

As with any business, there are some Pros and Cons. Here are a few that Curtis and I talk about.

PROS

Flexibility
Easy Start-up
Low start-up
Easy Entry-no additional skills
Work Remotely
High potential income
Work with who you want

CONS

Responsibilities that come with business ownership (Taxes, tracking expenses, etc.)
You have to go get your business
Tracking down payment from bad clients
Difficult clients

We hope that this episode has gotten your wheels spinning!

There are so many areas that you can do freelance work. Some of these great freelance side-hustles are listed below:

Podcast editing
resume writing
guest posts
writing for other bloggers
Voiceovers
Web Design
Social Media Marketing
and the list goes on....

The possibilities are limitless. Simply ask yourself, What skill do I currently possess that other people would pay me for?

Then go ask! (Remember what Curt's mom used to say, "Closed mouths don't get fed.)

Episode 31: Wanna Crush Your Student Loan Debt? Feb 27, 2019

Like a lot of people, Travis didn't always have money growing up. In fact, there were times when there just wasn't enough to go around. Even so, Travis took in the many lessons and stories his grandfather told him about the hardships his generation endured during the Great Depression.

It was through his grandfather's vivid story-telling that Travis gleaned the importance of saving and of frugality.

College and Career

After college, Travis entered corporate America as a bond trader. Because he followed the wisdom of his grandfather - he didn't let lifestyle creep take over but saved religiously and lived well below his means.

He experienced tremendous success as a bond trader. The problem was - he was not fulfilled. He grappled with the thought, before coming to the conclusion that the corporate world was not for him.

Deeply unsatisfied with his career - he took two years off, to his parents chagrin, and travelled Europe. But this wasn't a time of purposeless wandering for Travis; instead, he used this time to really think of the future he wanted for himself and getting rid of old thought patterns and beliefs that were holding him back.

Finding His Calling

Sometimes we find our calling by accident. That is what happened to Travis. He was helping his wife figure out the best possible scenarios to pay off her student loans and put a plan in place for her. Soon, her friends wanted to help too, and the seed was planted.

Student Loan Planner was born. To date, he’s consulted on over $300 million in student debt personally, more than anyone else in the country. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and brings his background as a former bond trader trading billions of dollars with him.

Where To Get Help For Your Student Loans

If you think you could benefit from looking at your options. Travis has provided the following resources:

If you're curious about refinancing student loans

Or if you need a plan for handling your student debt Here's details on consolidation: Consolidate your loans by logging into studentloans.gov. Click on the "consolidate my loans" section. You should see a long list of your loans. Check all the ones you want to include. You can see the titles of each individual loan by hovering over the question mark box with your mouse and the name should pop up. Any loans that don't say "Direct" should be consolidated. FFEL loans are the most commonly consolidated. You'll also be able to send your new consolidation loan to the servicer of your choice. Check what payment plan you want (REPAYE), and the whole process should take about 2 months at most for everything to transition over. You can call the Dept of Ed's Student Loan Support Center at 18005577394 if you have any questions or want help doing the consolidation.

Episode 30 Bonus: Side Hustle Spotlight - Loan Signing Agent Feb 22, 2019

If you knew you could earn between $75 to $200 for an hour or less of work, would you want to know how?

Well, that's exactly what we are going to be talking about today on a SPECIAL Side-Hustle Spotlight.

What began as a side-hustle late last year, for Enrique Castro or Go Notary, has turned in to a full-time business that has replaced his income.

He is now able to not only earn an incredible living, but he has the freedom and flexibility of business ownership - as well as unlimited income potential.

That is the stuff we like to hear! We think this business is a great option for some of you. But with that in mind, here are some of the pros and cons we think you should consider.

Some of the Pros and Cons:

PROS:

easy entry
small start-up costs
$75-$200 per signing
low over-head
flexibility
unlimited income potential

CONS

this is a business!
you are in charge of getting the business
fees associated with getting your notary
fees associated with fingerprint clearance
wear and tear on your car
housing market fluctuations

If you are interested in checking out Mark Wills Loan Signing System course, you can check that out HERE.

We hope you have enjoyed another special Side-Hustle Spotlight Episode.

If you have a side-hustle you want to spotlight, leave us a voicemail at: houseoffi.com

**If our website is down due to migrating to a new host, you can also find us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Houseoffi/

We Have a House of FI Announcement! Feb 20, 2019

We have some exciting changes coming to the show!

You'll have to listen to the episode to find out what they are. Then....

Come back here on Friday, for a brand new Side-hustle Show where we spotlight another awesome side-hustle, that could even turn into a full-time career for some of you.

Then, next Wednesday, we'll be back here for a regular episode to kick off season 2.

In the meantime, there are a few previous episodes that you show really take a listen to - they are so inspiring for wherever you are in your FIRE journey.

Episode 18 - with Jackie Cummings Koski - a single mom who has achieved a net worth of one million dollars, while never reaching six figures.

Then, in Episode 28, we talked to Dan Shaw, who was fed up and determined to reached Financial Independence. He did it and is now able to be at home with his daughters and focus on real estate investing.

Episode 30: Frustrated and Feeling Broke, to a Million in Net Worth Feb 13, 2019

It’s not every day you get to talk to one of the few people that supports so many of the great personal finance podcasts that we all gain insight from each week. Steve Stewart is a podcast editor, hater of debt, believer and a family man! His story spans from being burdened by debt, to massively shifting his net worth to more than a million dollars, with over $500,000 in liquid assets and a paid off home. Today he shares his story with our House of FI family, and we couldn’t be happier.

Money Story

Steve doesn’t recall any significant family lessons surrounding money when he was a child. However, he does remember always being relatively good with money. By the time he married his now wife at 33 years old, they were what he calls “average Americans”. They made money, they spent money and they paid on debt as they drifted along.

Marriage and Finances

The dreaded long commute gets such a bad wrap, but for many of us, it was the long commute that introduced us to either Dave Ramsey and/or the world of podcasting. In Steve’s case, traveling around for his day job led him to Dave - and things were not “love at first sight”.

While he disagreed with Ramsey at first, Steve soon started to realize that he and his wife weren’t actually doing as well as he thought they were. With a young daughter and wife he began making financial changes, but still didn’t have a light bulb moment until much later.

One example of sub-par financial decision making was in 2006 when Steve and his wife, though he listened to Dave Ramsey preach about the negatives of debt, financed a new car.

Steve felt an immediate, dreadful sense of buyer’s remorse as soon as he drove out of the dealership lot. It was that light bulb moment that he decided to get serious about managing his money. To right this wrong, and break the financial cycle, Steve and his wife proceeded to pay off the car in full by the end of 2007.

Finding a Calling

Much like many of us in the personal finance space, the power and freedom you feel once you gain control of your money led Steve to want to help and teach others. Long before he became a podcast editor, Steve started his own podcast. Money Plan SOS was a side project that grew out of Steve’s Financial Coaching side business.

At first, he freely helped others. But it was his always helpful approach and a stroke of luck that led to the formation of his podcast editing business. During his attendance of FinCon in 2015, Steve overheard Paula Pant - now owner of the Afford Anything Podcast - saying that she wanted to try her voice (hand) at podcasting. Steve offered to help. It was that podcast that opened the door to a never-ending source of referral traffic for Steve.

Today he is the podcast editor for ChooseFI, Afford Anything and many others. In fact, within 6 months of launching that first edited podcast, Steve was so busy that he had to retire everything else!

Preparing the Next Generation

As a family man and a knowledgeable personal finance expert, I was interested in knowing how Steve decided to pass his financial knowledge and his entrepreneurial spirit to his now 18-year-old daughter.

While she has not started a podcast, nor learned to edit podcasts like her dad, Steve’s daughter does have a cool YouTube channel! There she showcases her talent for drawing in a cool program called SAI. Check out her video here:

Steve On The Final Questions:

Money Lesson:

Listening to Dave Ramsey - “you make too much money to be this broke” - hit him to his core.

Life Hack:

Put everything in google calendar, tasks, podcasts, dates, birthdays anniversary, travel plan, painting the basement.

Favorite or Current Read:

On Writing by Stephen King

Dr. Thomas Stanley the Millionaire next door - reads every year.

You can find Steve primarily on twitter or on his website, Steve Stewart, or his twitter handle by the same name.

Episode 29 Bonus - Side Hustle Spotlight, How to Earn $700.00 in 14 Days Charging Scooters Feb 08, 2019

That was not a typo!

In this week's Side-Hustle Spotlight, our listener Andre called in to tell us how he has found a totally unique way to earn a pretty hefty sum charging scooters.

We have all seen them...those lime green or black scooters on the side of the road, right? Well, what if you were the one to pick those up and could earn about $5.00 a pop? You can....

LISTEN HERE TO HOW ANDRE DID IT

PROS

EASY STARTUP
FLEXIBLE
QUICK MONEY
LOW OVERHEAD
ABILITY TO "EXPENSE" SOME COSTS

CONS

WEAR AND TEAR
GAS
INCLIMATE WEATHER
YOU ARE YOUR OWN BOSS - ALL THE CONSIDERATIONS OF BEING YOUR OWN BOSS. (TAXES, OVERHEAD...)

If you want to learn more about how Andre did it, you can find him here:

https://www.themillennialsnextdoor.com/blog/how-i-earned-over-700-charging-scooters-in-14-days?fbclid=IwAR0r5a3kV_7kPebIeSRVP1IsQCcKf2qFMIBRpoNAe-EoTSB4AzoCoWP9Z-U

Episode 29: Casting a Vision for Your Financial Future Feb 06, 2019

House of FI, it’s time to get back to the basics of money management. The first month of 2019 is behind us. We’ve set our personal and financial goals but the newness of the New Year has worn off, and now it’s time to renew our commitment to the changes we know will inspire huge wins for our families.

This is the reason we spoke to Dan Shaw in the previous episode, and it’s why we are speaking to Tess Wicks in this episode. Tess Wicks is a personal finance coach and educator who breaks down the journey to financial independence into key action steps and makes the connection between our priorities, the things we acquire, and our life vision. Tess has a vibrant online community, and she is also the host of the Wander Wealthy Podcast.

Tess aims to empower her clients to get smart about their money while still being able to spend it on the things that bring them joy.

In this episode, we touch on her money story, her views on the cost of education, entrepreneurship and the concept of the Anti-Budget.

Money Story

Who we are and why we end up doing the things we do as adults can often be traced back to early memories and experiences we had along the way.

Tess Wicks is no different.

Tess grew up with parents that owned a very successful business. She was the fourth child, and because of her place in the birthline, Tess had the unique experience of growing up on the other side of their initial business struggles. Before she was born, they lived in a tiny house in another part of town. By the time she came around, they’d seen business success, they achieved a more stable money position and they lived in a nicer home.

What we loved the most about Tess’ experience of their increased financial stability was that her parents often drove back to the smaller home and revisited the way things were along the path to their success. Sometimes, in order to teach your kids where you are headed, you have to show them where you have been.

Charting Her Own Path!

Originally Tess was less than thrilled about following in the business ownership footsteps of her parents. At first, she planned to be a forensic pathologist. However, when college was all said and done, Tess actually excelled in the area of Actuarial Science.

While working as a pension consultant - valuing the pension plans of various agencies - it became clear to her that her time in actuarial work was limited. She needed something more and began to imagine a different future for herself.

She found a creative outlet in podcasting.

The corporate structure was repetitive, so while completing all of her data-driven work, Tess began listening to personal development podcasts. At the time, the podcasts were all male owned, and because of that, there were very few female guests for their interviews. So, Tess and a friend, in an effort to elevate the female voice started their own podcast together.

Today Tess owns the Wander Wealthy company, where she helps young people take control of their money, and grow their investments.

Tess On The Cost Of College

College costs are front of mind for many parents. The subject of how to avoid college costs, and also whether Tess felt college was helpful now that she is an entrepreneur came up. In the end, Tess was pretty torn about whether college (all costs included) is actually worth the money.

Reasons Why Tess is Torn on The Need to Pursue College:

The rising cost of college is crushing its participants.
Parents and families don’t always understand the implications of chasing the higher education dream.
Most people are going to get a higher salary by attending school, but sometimes it doesn’t happen this way.

To determine the need for college, Tess suggests that families sit down and map out their goals. After writing down everything you want to achieve through college, break down the math to see how much the goal is really going to cost you.

First Steps of Financial Stability

List your goals - this ties your starting place to your ending place.

Emergency savings fund - Starting with a foundation of an emergency fund help ward off budget problems later.

Create your strategy next - for this you may need help, but the key is to create a strategy that fits your personal experience

Live a little - it is important to give yourself some buffer to breathe and live. If you can't reward yourself for doing such good financial planning, what are you doing it for?

Tess has an awesome new course called the Invested Plan, where she teaches you how to save and invest for the future - something that can be so daunting for many of us.

Tess on the Final Questions:

Money Lesson :

Work with people and hire professionals that can make your life easier. Tess' parents had very smart people on their team that they were able to invest in. This pays off early and easily.

Life Hack:

Pursuing a more minimal lifestyle with additional spending on the items that positively affect her lifestyle.

It’s good to be frugal and save money, but have an area of your life that you are able to spend in. Be very specific about what you allow into your life and spend a little more for good quality items.

Book:

Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Defenza

The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

How to Find Tess:

Wanderwealthy.com where you can find free training on the site and a free investment training!

Episode 28 Bonus Side-hustle Spotlight - Make an Extra $1200 a Month Feb 01, 2019

Welcome to our first Side-Hustle Spotlight!!!

The three principle vehicles to accelerate a person's path to Financial Independence are to find ways to save more, spend less and/or increase one's income.

As all of our listeners are well aware, both Timika and I are big supporters of both the side-hustle and entrepreneurship. Whether it is a temporary side-hustle to pay off debt in a short period of time, creating a side business to grow into a full-time business or simply to work extra to infuse your retirement, each of these options are a great way to get you closer to your financial goals.

Our guest spotlight is Jammie. She drives on the weekends for both Uber and Lyft and can earn anywhere between $325.00 to $900.00 a weekend depending on how many hours she works and bonuses for high demand days or times.

Obviously, that is an incredible amount! How life changing would it be to your budget to have that type of influx of cash? Now, of course, these are one person's experiences and we cannot guarantee that you will earn the same amount we simply want to provide you with the experience of others so that you can explore options.

In deciding whether or not becoming a driver is for you or not, Timika and I would like to point out a few considerations.

PROS:

Quick start-up
Easy and quick payment
Flexible
Good earning potential
Meeting people
Tip potential
Potential expense write-offs

CONS/CONSIDERATIONS:

Wear and tear on the vehicle
Self-employed - all the ramifications of being self-employed
Responsible for taxes
Need a newer vehicle
Strangers in your car/possible safety concerns

This is not an exhaustive list - but some of the more apparent benefits and considerations.

This site may contain affiliate links. Which in simple terms means that we may receive commissions for purchases made through the listed links.

TRACKING MILEAGE:

There are many apps available to track mileage while you drive. The Lyft and Uber apps track the miles for actual passenger rides; however, if you want to track the total amount you are driving, you can also use your own APP. These typically run in the background and are very user-friendly. One Wendy recommends is MILE IQ, which you can get by clicking HERE.

SIGN-UP HERE

READY TO DRIVE?

Follow the links below to get started.

The process is fairly simple. You will typically have to upload via your phone or computer:

your driver's license
insurance
vehicle registration
agree to a background check
sometimes have your vehicle pass a safety inspection
sometimes and in-person orientation

I AM READY TO DRIVE! SIGN ME UP!

OTHER OPTIONS:

Timika recently wrote a review for Zemcar, which helps parents safely transport their children. It's just one more option if you are thinking about driving.

Are you currently driving for another service? WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! CLICK THE LEAVE A VOICEMAIL LINK AND ANSWER A FEW QUESTIONS HERE.

Episode 28 - A FIRE Success Story Jan 30, 2019

Sometimes, on this FIRE Journey, we need a little inspiration. We need to hear the stories of others that are ahead of us - those that are willing to reach back and lend a helping hand or a thoughtful word. We need to feel a connection to another person in a similar situation that is doing the extraordinary in order to change their financial path.

Today we are sharing our interview with Dan Shaw, a member of the House of FI private group. Dan recently FIREd with his wife and his two little girls.

Here is a copy of the post he shared when he reached his FIRE goal:

“Four years ago, watching my girls play in the surf at Lake Michigan, after some world-class bullshit at work, I made myself a promise that I would retire as soon as I possibly could. I never would have dreamed that I could get there in just four years. FIRE’d today!”

In delving further, Dan shared that there was one thing he was missing all along - it was the practice of being frugal. Frugality proved to be the final piece of the puzzle that allowed him to spark the FIRE.

I had the rentals, had the max saving at 66%, had the side hustle remodeling real estate, had the puffed-up 403b, but was still blowing through money like a sailor on shore leave. I grew up poor, so cutting back was just like putting on an old, comfortable suit again. Flipping that one last switch has now bought me 6 years at home with my oldest, and 10 (!) years at home with my youngest. ...The FIRE is spreading all around us!..... 🔥 🔥 🔥”

His words speak for themselves, and because of that, we had to invite him onto the show to learn more about his story.

We hope, after listening, that you are inspired to take action!

Dan’s Early Money Story

Dan remembers his childhood in Maine and Georgia fondly, even though his family grew up poor. In his early years he was home-schooled by his mother, but as he grew older, he eventually made his way into public school. His parents were “average” with money, but his strongest impressions are of the fact that they led with strong moral values about being a good person, and about the importance of education.

Still, poor was poor. Early on, Dan knew that in order to access the education that was gravely important to his values, he would need to find a way to cover the cost.

He worked hard and was rewarded with scholarships for his undergraduate degree. In Grad-school he decided to pursue mastery of the English language, a degree that is often referred to as a poor investment choice. In order to offset the cost of his degree, worked as a Teaching Assistant and then as an Adjunct Professor for the English Program, which afforded him tuition benefits as well as a $16,000 stipend.

Who Says You Can’t Make Money With An English Degree?

Dan studied English, and Dan's salary nearly reached $200,000 in the corporate world of Standardized Testing. He is not the only one that is putting his liberal arts degree to excellent use. There are 6-figure bloggers, there are editors, there are content creators that are using their love of words to increase their financial income to impressive levels. In the world of Financial Independence, we often point out that getting out of debt and reaching FIRE is made easier by the "size of your shovel" - meaning the amount of money you make. In Dan's case, this is true, but the revelation to be had here is not that high income earners can reach FI more quickly. The revelation is that no matter what size your income, you must, Must, MUST make the right decisions - you MUST tell your money where to go. Let's be clear. While having a HUGE "financial shovel" can certainly rescue you from big debt, it can also lead you deeper into a bigger hole.

Real Estate Investor Clause

Dan's Holy Grail advice for rental real estate or landlord law:

The Real Estate Professional Qualification changed Dan's tax situation from not ideal to fully optimized. This provision works if you can qualify for the three requirements:

You must spend more than half your time on real estate
You must meet the 750-hour rule for the year
You must have 5% ownership in the real estate business/entities

Qualifying means you are allowed to take deductions in the current year as active deductions against income - not as passive deductions that are limited and carry over to the following years.

Read more on The Real Estate Professional Provision Dan on the Final Questions:

Money Lesson:

Dan's folks taught him important lessons about hard work and working smart. He also learned the concept of "finding your customer and serving their interests" which creates value for them.

Life Hacks:

Remodeling houses has allowed for the acquisition of stable real estate investments.
Find your tribe - a group that you can talk shop with! This helps you to stay focused on what is truly meaningful to you.

Where can people find you:

House of FI Facebook group!

Episode 27 Bonus - We'll Be Back Jan 25, 2019

Hello House of FI Family!

Originally, our side-hustle spotlight was going to air today. But sadly, Wendy's mom passed away after a long hard-fought illness. She was treasured and will be greatly missed.

Due to Wendy having to travel to Oregon to be with her dad and speak at her mom's funeral, we have lost some production time. So we were not able to get today's show out.

Wednesday shows will not be affected and we promise to get our Friday show back up as soon as we can.

Thank you for understanding!

Wendy and Timika

Episode 27 - A Prosperous Life After a Lay-off Jan 23, 2019

Our guest today, Tela Holcomb of Trade Your 9 to 5, is a stocks and options trader, investor and a full-time entrepreneur. She is joining us to speak about how she was laid off from her primary job once they found out about her side hustle!

House of FI listeners, you all know that I am a big supporter of the Side Hustle. I have my own side income, and in the past, I used side hustling to help in my debt pay off. In my experience, I was able to balance multiple jobs openly with employers. However, Wendy and I knew there was something to be learned from Tela’s story, and we needed to find out more.

In today’s episode we talked about :

Whether or not you should let your primary job know about your side hustle
How to protect yourself financially when you are beginning a side hustle
How to bounce back if you end up losing your main job
And finally, How Tela was forced to recognize an obvious business opportunity, even though it wasn’t the side hustle she was laid off for!

Tela’s Money Story

Tela’s earliest money lesson was from her mother. Tela’s mom believed in learning through action, and she would have Tela balance her checkbook and pay the household bills beginning when Tela was around 15-year old! This experience instilled consistency and first-hand experience into Tela’s budgeting habits.

Later, when Tela began working, she always exhibited curiosity and a willingness to learn. When she worked at a local hotel’s breakfast bar, she convinced the college student at the front desk to secretly train her on the front desk duties so that she could transfer to the job herself.

Tela was committed to taking control of her future!

Searching for Commitment

When Tela was in high school, she had dreams of becoming a lawyer. As she made her way through school, though, she began to see others return from college just to remain stuck in the same small town. She knew that she needed something different - something that would allow her the opportunity to leave and never circle back to hometown comfort.

She found her answer in the military.

Tela joined the Airforce for the commitment, the chance to travel and the chance to change her circumstances.

The Full-Time Job vs The Side-Hustle

After her time in the military, Tela found herself working for a government contracting firm doing the same type of work that she did in the military. She worked with this firm for 8 years in total and eventually decided to try her hand at creating her own, similar firm.

Why did she feel the need to start her own similar business? Well, government contracts are often defined by a term limit. With the contracts her company sought, the contracts ended annually. This was a source of anxiety for Tela, and she wanted to ensure her income by finding additional, similar work.

Unfortunately, while she openly shared that she was creating the side business, her company eventually gave her an ultimatum due to a potential conflict of interest. When she decided to stick with her plan, she was laid off from the position - and was left to pick up the financial pieces of her decision.

Steps to Take After Losing A Job

Tela and her husband took immediate steps after Tela lost her main source of income. Here are some of the things they did after the lay off (as well as some things you should do while you have a steady income).

Sit down and discuss the issue with your significant other, or those potentially affected by the layoff
Look at your budget to determine what changes, if any, need to be made
Check your existing cash reserves and determine how long you can survive before requiring more income
Decide if paying off existing debts immediately is a good decision in the long run - it decreases monthly expenses but also depletes cash reserves
Figure out alternate sources of income, list them out, and begin pursuing them.

Life After Lay-Off

In Tela’s situation, she and her husband were avid savers. They always paid down debt and were overpaying on their mortgage. When they looked at their budget, they recognized that Tela had months of leeway to start and grow her dream business.

While this was great news, over the next 6 months, it became clear that it would be harder to grow her consulting firm than she hoped.

Every now and then, she would trade a few stocks to bring in extra cash - leading her husband to have a light bulb moment...Why not do that instead?

We go into detail into how she learned to trade successfully in our episode. Listen now to hear

The tried and true steps that Tela took to master the Bull Market.
Who taught Tela about Trading
What account you MUST have before getting started
How Tela’s average day looks
What is and how to create your own trading plan

Tela on the final questions:

Money Lessons

Budgeting and saving taught by her mom. Since she had these down at a young age, her mind was primed for other more complicated ideas later, like investments.

Favorite Life hacks

Wait ONE WEEK. If Tela still wants it after that time, she will go back and get it!

Favorite Read This Year

The Year of Yes, by Shonda Rhimes - especially the parts about saying yes to saying no. Freedom and time with the family has always been a priority, so following the ideas in the book allowed her to reassess her priorities. Tela began to make sure the business was structured in a way that fits into her freedom.

Best way for listeners to find you:

TelaHolcomb.com and on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube at Tela Holcomb.

Episode 26 Bonus Fin Con Friday, Reaching FI, The College Game and Money and Kids Jan 18, 2019

Wealth Coach Rocky Lalvani, MBA, Enrolled Agent IRS, helps people who have financial success utilize their money to live a life of abundance. Rocky is the millionaire next door. He started out with basically nothing when his parents immigrated to the United State when he was 2 years old and his dad was 42. It was his parents second big move in life and they were starting over again to create the American dream. In spite of a lot of struggles and his Mom passing away when he was 7, he has been able to achieve financial success and wants to share all that he has learned along the way so others can achieve success much faster.

THE COLLEGE GAME

Hear why Rocky took his son out of school and put him in college as a Junior in High School via dual enrollment home school and why Rocky believes that the traditional idea of college may not be the best choice for our kids.

Resources Discussed:

Via CLEP testing high schoolers can test out of certain topics in high school. CLEP exams cover intro-level college course material in 33 subjects. A passing score on just one CLEP exam can save you 100+ hours of class time and coursework and up to $1,200 in tuition. Follow the link below to learn more.

CLEP testing

The Common Data Set is a standardized set of questions most often asked by parents, students, and other members of the higher education community. The stated purpose is to improve prospective students and parents experience to allow for comparing information about prospective schools on such topics as admissions, enrollment and other standardized data.

Common Data set

ROCKY'S BIGGEST FINANCIAL MISTAKES

Rocky's two biggest financial mistakes were with his investments.

Not getting involved in real estate sooner

Panicking in the Stock market and chasing returns. He should have rode it out.

INTERGENERATIONAL WEALTH AND MONEY LESSONS FOR KIDS

I asked Rocky the question of how we can raise financially literate kids.

One of the worries Rocky has based upon what he has seen as an immigrant is that the– 1st generation lays the foundation, the 2nd generation builds the wealth…3rd generation blows it all.

How do we avoid that?

Making sure my kids know this is - “my money, not your money.”

When giving allowance they have rules: Beginning at age five, they get $5.00. Of that, $2.00 is to spend, $2.00 is to save, and $1.00 is for charity.

Then when they say, “I want that." My response is, “good you have your own money, go get it.”

This teaches them delayed gratification.

He cut his daughter off at college.

Kids Money Mindset – they mimic you. B/t 5-12 the critical age of when mindsets are established.

Kids listen to what you DO not what you SAY.

You and spouse need to be on the same page. Kids are master negotiators.

GEETA'S CONVERSATION WITH HER DAD

If you wanted to hear more about the episode with Rocky’s daughter, Geeta, follow the link below. Some of the topics they discuss are:

The allowance system and how it taught her how to use money, spend less and save more. Blog post: How to get your kids out of your wallet
Why she decided to home school for the last 2 years of high school.
The different conferences Geeta was able to attend and what she learned.
Roth IRA’s for kids and the power of compound interest. Blog post: I gave my kids $200,000 for Christmas
The college choice conundrum.

http://richersoul.com/ep-0072-intentionally-raising-financially-savvy-kids-with-my-daughter-geeta/

If you want to connect with Rocky....Rocky’s weekly podcast can be found at http://richersoul.com/ and you can email him at rocky@richersoul.com.

Episode 26 Mastering the Side-Hustle, From Side Hustle to Full-Time Income Jan 16, 2019

House of FI - Did you know that the Department of Labor projects there will be a 600% increase in entrepreneurship by the year 2025? This projection implies that people of all ages are actively becoming interested in this thing called Side Hustling.

Nick Loper, the creator of the Side Hustle Nation Podcast, has been at the forefront of exploring the industry, hustle by hustle. On the Side Hustle Nation podcast, he has interviewed over 300 different side hustlers! He has also written multiple books on the subject and completed a TEDx talk about business building.

In today’s episode, we spoke to him about the role that entrepreneurship has played in his life, as he juggles work, family and various interests. We spoke about productivity hacks, and how you should think about an efficiency tune-up if you are thinking of adding side hustling to your life.

Earliest Money Memories

Young Nick was molded into a side hustler by his mother. Nick's mom pushed him to make money as a kid if he wanted to buy a toy or purchase an item. This early push towards entrepreneurship led him to try other forms of business as he grew older.

For example, when in college, Nick spent one summer painting homes in town. From this experience, he learned how to trade a skill for money, how to set pricing, and how difficult it is to scale when you are working in certain job categories - such as manual labor.

Yearning for Something more

After college, Nick Loper went to work for Ford, and while the job paid the bills, it became clear right away that he wouldn't be able to make it for 30 years living the cubicle life. He began to explore alternatives.

Always the learner, Nick took what he learned about SEO, e-commerce and affiliate marketing to begin using google ads to sell items for money. As he honed his skills, he eventually decided it was time to get over the inertia of thinking about a podcast, and he took the steps to start one.

The Side Hustle Show Podcast

Nick Loper started the Side Hustle Show Podcast in 2013, about 8-9 years after running his affiliate marketing side business. While he toyed with the idea of starting the podcast years before, he admits that he was not in the right place - the right state of mind - to start it before he did.

Now that he took the leap and started the show, it has been 5 years of growth, and is a completely life-changing experience for him - opening him up to a worldwide network of supporters and like-minded learners.

Managing It All

When asked "How do you manage it all - podcaster, author, dad, husband - Nick responds, "Practice". We all agreed that balancing family with our desires for growth requires a steep learning curve. Nick admits that adding kids to the mix has made him way less productive, but way more efficient.

It's a skill that can't be underestimated - mastering efficiency.

Nick's words of wisdom:

At least do something to move yourself forward before taking a break.
Stack it Up - Structure the weeks - trying to push all meetings and phone calls onto one day a week.
Find resources - Nick like productivityist by Mike Vardy
Ensure Support - It takes the support of family and friends to do this type of work. Nick gives due credit to his wife, who has motivated him, pushed him, learned with him, and allowed him certain freedoms to explore his dreams.

Nick on the Final Questions

Money Lessons

Nick's parents were better off than they let on, but they instilled that frugality that takes some of us years to learn as adults. If you want something you are have to go earn it. Set the money aside - even if you have it.

They also helped me when I made a crappy investment. They would say “it’s only money” - which lets you know you can just go out and make more.

He is hopeful that his kids can learn the same lessons from him and his wife.

They also helped me when I made a crappy investment. They would say “it’s only money” - which lets you know you can just go out and make more.

Favorite Lifehacks

Be the last of your friends to have kids. You get lots of hand me downs :-) (Don't I know it - I (Timika) benefited from Crystal's hand me downs, and my friend Brandy (author of this Reluctant Frugalist article) benefits from mine!

What is your favorite read and why?

Atomic Habits by James Clear - It breaks down the methods to create high-performance habits, which key to efficiency and consistency.

The Power of Habit - by Charles Duhigg (Wendy's Add)

Best way for listeners to find you?

The Side Hustle Show Podcast, Side Hustle Nation website.

Episode 25 Bonus Michelle Schroeder Gardner Jan 11, 2019

Picture this... Creating a blog to document your financial independence journey that paid you NOTHING. Then by almost accident, you make your first $100.00 and a light bulb goes off. You realize your blog COULD BE your business. And now this once hobby makes you over $100,000.00 a month and has allowed you to buy a boat and travel around the world! If you are me, this sounds almost like a dream, right? Well, this is what happened to Michelle, today's Bonus FinCon Friday Episode.

Michelle's story almost gives me goosebumps because her story is so incredible. The lesson of this episode is threefold. 1. Your hobby can be a business. 2. Don't listen to naysayers if what you are doing is working. 3. Your business can be a vehicle to build your dream life!

To learn more about Michelle and check out her blog, you can fo that here.

Michelle Schroeder Gardner is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a personal finance website that helps readers learn how to save more, earn money, and live more. She currently earns over $100,000 a month from her blogging business and shows no signs of slowing down. She currently travels fulltime with her husband and two dogs via sailboat.

Episode 25 - How to Make Thousands with Romance Novels and 5 Other Ways to Grow Passive Income Jan 09, 2019

I don’t consider myself an introvert, but man, can I tell you that Michelle from the blog Michelle is Money Hungry makes me reconsider my personality type? :-) She is the most outgoing, approachable, no-nonsense, hardworking, all around fun FIRE journeyer we’ve talked to. What other F.I. interviewee is getting to F.I. by writing romance novels?

She’s got Wendy and I thinking…

Who is Michelle

Our previous guests overcame difficult obstacles on their F.I. journey, but for the most part, they followed pretty straight-laced paths in order to Reach F.I. Michelle is having none of that. Her approach is very different. She is the daughter of a single mom. Michelle lives in Colorado and embraces that awesome Colorado outdoor lifestyle. And in terms of money, She is embracing and chronicling her credit card and student loan pay off journey, and she is doing it as a freelancer. Beyond all of that - which we will get into of course - she never stopped living. She travels, she auditions for TV Shows, she has a huge personality, and she is hustling her way to debt free.

Michelle’s Money Story

Michelle’s childhood began as a part of a two-parent household. However, as a result of divorce, Michelle went from living in a two-parent home with a SAHM to a single parent home with a working mother.

Michelle was greatly affected by this change, and through the process, her money story began to change.

Money lessons abounded at this time - and these money lessons were shrouded in negativity. She learned that “money is scarce” and that “money is hard to make”. She states, “...money was used to survive - and we were in survival mode”.

As soon as Michelle had the chance, she began working so that she could escape the difficulties of being in survival mode on her mom’s one income. She went head to head with her mom, as she began to take the income from her first job at the sandwich shop, and use it to purchase expensive clothes.

Looking back, she states she needed to have these moments of growth with money - she needed them in order to learn the independence that money can bring.

Michelle's FIREry Evolution

Michelle admits that she came from generations of frugality, but these generations lacked true financial education. In order to set herself on a strong foundation financially, Michelle had to almost strip herself down and allow herself to be built back up by the personal finance information she learned.

She started from square one.

Michelle focused on adjusting her money mindset along the way, noting that:

“a lot of women of color end up in jobs where we are in service to others, and there is a negative energy around wanting to earn money for ourselves, for wanted to be stable, for envisioning your life in a different way”.

She was determined to go through the FIRE in one piece - coming out on the other side a financially savvy, independent and RICH Black female.

Getting Off The Sidelines

Michelle is a firm believer in taking action, much like Wendy and I. In fact, she believes that we are in a current phase of online growth where if you choose not to participate in the process, you will miss your chance. Windows of opportunity are closing. She implores listeners to find ways to create income that has nothing to do with external employers - income that is for them and by them.

So, what are the ways Michelle Earns Money? Brand Ambassador

Michelle earned $22/hr or more sharing a product that she likes. She was paid weekly.

Affiliate marketing

For Michelle, her affiliates have to be win-win. She only shares products, goods, and services that she uses personally. She is not a great credit card user, so she doesn’t share credit card affiliates. It has to be consistent with what you say.

Course Creation

Michelle created a writing course in which she teaches others the details -from start to finish - for creating their own e-book. She talks about the ins and outs of the process and has Live Calls and a closed Facebook Group for author support. If you've ever thought about publishing a book, this course is a great place to start. All of the content is there to go through at your own pace, and there are different levels for different budgets.

You can find those links on our website and houseoffi.com

Published Author

Michelle has written her own romance novels and her own non-fiction book about visiting Colorado! These books took time to write, but now continue selling month after month.

Event Creator

Michelle is running her first ever single ladies retreat in October 2019. Here is a link if you are such a lady and want to attend: Money on the Mountain Retreat on the Mountain.

Freelance Writer

Michelle writes for blogs and other publications on a consistent basis. Pay can be per article or on retainer

Balancing Personal Finance and Personal Life

Michelle hiked during the middle of the day at her old job - just to get outside in nature when the craving hit.

She makes sure that time with friends, mom, fitness, nature - is built into her life so that she can decompress.

She believes you should be very deliberate to make sure that you always come first.

“I am already living my dreamed FI life...now I just need the money to go with it” she says.

Michelle on the final questions:

Money Lesson:

My mom is super frugal and thank God for that. She taught me how to find a good deal.

Favorite Life Hacks:

Meetup, Eventbrite and Facebook Events are the best places for FREE/FUN things to do.

This year alone she has been to the following for free or a discount → Liquor tastings, Morton’s Steakhouse, Free or Discounted Yoga (including puppy yoga). The November Project - use their city as their workout space and is free.

Best Way to Find Michelle

At her blog or Podcast!

Listen to our previous episode with Whitney Hansen here.

Episode 24 Bonus - Retiring at 37 With Passive Real Estate Income Jan 04, 2019

In this Bonus FinCon Friday episode, Wendy sits down with Dustin Heiner from the MasterPassiveIncome.com.

Dustin reveals his real estate investing business and rental property strategies that he used to quit his job at the age of 37. With passive income and monthly cash flow, Dustin is now successfully unemployed and is financially independent having enough money, time, and control to live the life he wants.

Dustin is just a normal person who found the secret to support his family, travels all over the world, and lives in Financial Freedom with the income his real estate rental business provides.

The systems Dustin has created allows him to travel the world, including a 6-week vacation in Japan, as well as 6-week vacation all throughout Europe, road trips around the United States.

He wants others to know that they can quit their jobs, retire early, and live the dream life with passive income and rental property investing too!

Dustin teaches his business as well and interviews other successful real estate investors on his at masterpassiveincom.com and a podcast of the same name.

Dustin shares the money lessons he is teaching his kids, starting with teaching them to save 50% of their "income!"

If you want to check out Dustin's coaching programs, you can find him at masterpassiveincome.com or his podcast, of the same name on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/master-passive-income-real-estate-investing-rental/id1374007222?mt=2.

Episode 24 - Childhood Trauma and Making Smart Money Moves Jan 02, 2019

A quick search about Whitney Hansen will reveal that she is a millennial money coach, an adjunct professor and a content creator. But today spoke with her about her upbringing, her experiences with money growing up, and how she turned those experiences into a thriving business and a flexible lifestyle.

Three things we discussed in today's interview:

How Whitney managed to pay off $30,000 of debt in 10 months - that’s 3,000 in payments a month!

What steps she took to buy her first home at 19 years old - but also, how she found the inner drive to do that!

And we are hoping to learn something we can replicate from the fact that she only paid $472 for her master's degree.

From Trauma to Winning

In her own words, Whitney openly describes the trauma she experienced while growing up. The trauma related to her mother's dependence on financial support was something Whitney witnessed first hand. This dependence allowed for verbal and physical abuse to thrive within their family. In the end, Whitney vowed to pursue her own independence by using the money she earned to access the life she knew she deserved.

What were some of the ways that she took back control?

Whitney refused to accept her environment, and she adopted a money mindset where she took control of her financial future
She bought her first home in her teens - at 19 she took a leap and she participated in a first time home buyer program that allowed her to reach her home ownership dreams
Whitney actively pursued money knowledge - Whitney listened to financial and personal development gurus on CDs in her car while traveling to and from her job as a nail tech.

Developing a Positive Mindset

Carol Dweck, is often cited for her work on the importance of developing a growth mindse t. Whitney's story is a prime example of how developing a growth mindset, as opposed to a fixed mindset, allows us to push past our inhibitions and achieve our goals.

Statistically speaking, Whitney should have continued down a path of financial dependence instead of financial freedom. Her environment and her lack of a personal financial mentor would normally lead to a cycle of financial ruin.

But due to her growth mindset - something we can all learn to develop - Whitney was able to make incremental changes and stay focused on her goals until they were achieved. Instead of accepting preconceived limitations, she moved passed limiting beliefs to reach beyond the obvious path.

Whitney on the final questions:

Money Lesson: Never finance a car! From first-hand experience, Whitney learned that cars can break down soon after you buy them. The worst part is that you still have to pay for something that doesn’t work if this happens!

Life Hacks: Whitney swears by using the Pomodoro technique to increase her productivity. To use this technique, you begin by setting a timer for a preset period of time - and working with focus during that period. She does this process 4 times a day, and reports that if you use it, you will be overly productive. Start with 25 minutes, and take a 5 minute break in between. Try to increase from there until you find your sweet spot.

Episode 23 - 2018 End of the Year Wrap Up Dec 26, 2018

THAT'S A WRAP! HOUSE OF FI 2018 A END OF THE YEAR REVIEW

What an incredible year it has been. We started a podcast ya'all! We can barely believe it ourselves. What motivated two busy moms, with nine kids between them, with no training or experience to step outside their comfort zone? Well, we both saw a need. We saw a void in the FIRE movement. What we saw lacking was a voice and sufficient resources for moms and dads who were on their journey to FI. But not just traditional moms an dads - the full spectrum of parenthood. So we decided to do something about it!

We launched our show in August of 2018, but prior to launching there were eight months of preparation behind the scenes. Not just interviewing people, but learning equipment, working out kinks, figuring out how to edit. It was more work than we could have ever anticipated, which was probably a good thing, because had we know the level of difficulty when we started, we may never have begun.

Our Vision

Some of you may not know this, but we did all of this while getting to know one another. Timika and I were strangers one year ago. We knew each other's names from a common facebook group, but that was the extent of it. But there was a common desire - we wanted to help others and it was this common ground that has been fertile soil for not just this podcast partnership, but an amazing friendship.

We Could Not Have Done This Without You!

We have had some great guests on the show. They have been so gracious in agreeing to come on a show that was growing. Without them, there would be no show. So, to all of our guests, many who have become fast friends, we send a big HUGE virtual hug. We love you guys and are so thankful to know you.

Your money advice has been incredible...here are some of the highlights.

10 BEST Money Lessons of 2018

And to our listeners...you are simply the BEST. You have helped us grow and have truly humbled us. We seriously began this journey having NO IDEA what we were doing. But, we knew there was a need and we knew that as two busy moms, with careers, and all the stuff that comes with running a household - that if we could bring on guests that would help OUR financial independence journey - they would help yours too! So, thank you for stopping by our house; we're glad you were here. Our house is your house.

Top 100....whaaaat?!?!

Because of your support, we have reached some pretty big goals.

TOP 20% OF ALL PODCASTS. (Whaaat! That is just amazing guys.)
We have been in the top 100 of two of our categories, business and investing several times
Our weekly listeners have grown more than 10 times since we first started

We reached 11,000 downloads in November in record time ....we can't wait to update you when we reach 25,000.

Our commitment to you is to continue to bring on guests that serve your needs and to provide inspiration and practical tools to blow your 2019 Money Goals out of the water! We'd love to help you do that...

If you would like to be part of our 2019 Money Coaching Program, shoot us a PM on Facebook, email us at info@houseoffi.com, or send us a message via our contact page and simply let us know you want in! We are taking pre-registrations now.

https://houseoffi.com/contact/

2018 LISTENER READS

One of our favorite questions we have asked our listeners this year is to ask what they are reading. Who doesn’t love a good read, right? Especially this time of year when we can cozy up under a blanket.

You would think a bunch of Money Nerds would only be reading a bunch of financial books, WRONG. Lots of interesting picks in the mix, including a couple written by our amazing guests.

The Hole in Our Gospel

Profit First

Total Money Makeover

Ask

Cruise Confidential

Money Letters 2 My Daughter

Spinning Silver

Naked and Unashamed

Wendy and Timika Have Their Own Picks

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis

Profit First

and, The Next Millionaire Next Door

IT'S BEEN AN AMAZING YEAR! WE CANNOT WAIT TO SEE WHAT 2019 BRINGS!

Episode 22 Bonus - FinCon Fridays - Financial Dream Building with Your Spouse Dec 21, 2018

Tom and Ariana are entrepreneurs and business mentors. Tom has been a side-hustler since he was a teenager, but he started his first “real business” at 22 when he started a real estate investment company. A few years later, he started his second business, which was a brick and mortar wine and liquor store. Ariana eventually stepped in to help run the businesses. Even though she didn’t have an interest in entrepreneurship, she could see how it was a path to creating their ideal life.

Due to their success as entrepreneurs, others sought Tom & Ariana out for guidance on how they too could build businesses - with the particular goal of doing so while raising a family. With each of their businesses bringing in sustainable income, it was then that Tom left his corporate consulting job so that he and Ariana could focus their attention on helping entrepreneurs. This fulfilled their own desire to build a life that both he and Ariana wanted for their family.

For several years now, they have helped thousands of entrepreneurs and business leaders achieve more success through their twice a week podcast, Lifestyle Builders Podcast, and mentorship and coaching programs.

In 2019 they are set to release their first book which focuses on helping entrepreneurs build the life and businesses they dream of.

Tom’s Tip for Getting a Spouse on Board with a Financial Plan

One of the major frustrations in a marriage and/or life-partnership is when one is not on the same page with the goals of the other. You may have a great plan for your future - but if your partner is not on board - it will be extremely difficult to make it work. Tom suggests the following to help get both spouses on the same page.

Focus on What You Want Your Life to Look Like
- Understand that you have had the journey or epiphany and your spouse has not had the benefit of your journey or thought process. You cannot fast-track their journey. They need to have the time to have their own epiphany.
Understand Why You Want What You Want and Align Your Motivation with Your Partner
- One of you may be logical and the other may be emotional. It is important to understand the other's motivation and come to a common ground.
- For Tom, he was more logical and the numbers to get to Financial Independence made his plan a no-brainer. For Ariana, there was an emotional motivator of having the life she wanted for her children.
Don’t Make Big Financial Decisions Without Consulting Your Partner
- Making big money moves without your partner on board and in alignment is a recipe for disaster and resentment. Just don’t do it. And if you already have - do the hard work and come to a common ground solution and stick to it.

TOM'S EPIPHANY

The game Cash Flow 101 -

Cash Flow 101 is a well-known board game. One of the principles to “win” is to get out of the rat race by your monthly cash flow exceeding your expenses.

While playing this game Tom had an epiphany. He realized it was not about how much you made - but how much cash flow you could create every month.

With that Tom decided he would use multiple income streams to do two things:

Reduce his expenses while increasing his income.
Use the extra money from multiple businesses to
- Pay-off debt
- Then transition to quitting traditional careers and work from home on the businesses they created

Tom’s Big Business Mistake

Tom and many new business owners make the mistake of getting excited about and focusing on the product first. Unfortunately, what can happen is the product is a flop and your business fails. What Tom advises to build a successful and sustainable business is to first focus on who your customers are. Figure out WHO you are serving. He suggests talking with them and understand exactly what they want. Once that is understood, then, and only then, build the right product to serve your ideal customer.

Businesses that do this are the ones that have longevity.

Don’t Quit Your Day Job

One final bit of advice...Tom says to keep your day job for as long as possible. You don’t want to leave an old job too soon. Use this time to build up your savings. Also, give your new business time to work out the kinks and build a roadmap of success.

Then when you have enough cushion to serve as a suitable emergency fund and your new business has gotten past some of the initial growing pains, then confidently take the leap.

The Final Questions

We asked Tom, what was one lesson, good or bad, he learned growing up that has carried over into his Financial Independence Journey.

“Personal debt is bad! Avoid it and learn to delay gratification.”

What was one financial lesson he wanted to share with his children?

“Be clear on what you want...Don’t go with what society tells you...It’s OK to be unconventional.”

Where to Find Tom:

There you can learn more about their podcast, their mentorship and coaching programs - Lifestyle Builders, as well as find out when their book comes out!

Episide 22 - How a Work-From-Home Dad Creates and Sells His Websites for One Million Dollars Dec 19, 2018

Creating Content

Wendy and I are new to this world of content creation. Actually, we both have some experience leisurely writing blogs in the past, but we have never created public content that produced substantial income for us. Well, all that is about to change, because today we spoke with Marc of the Vital Dollar Blog, and what we learned was so insightful. We will take some time to implement some of the processes he talked about, and hopefully, we can find a way to receive a bit of compensation for all the time we are putting into the show.

Who is Marc

Marc is a professional blogger and content creator.

So far he has sold over $1,000,000 in profitable blogs.

He currently owns and operates the blog the Vital Dollar. He has an interesting plan for reaching Financial independence while having the flexibility to work at home with his family. He builds and sells websites. This has been so lucrative for him, that he plans to replicate the process a number of times over.

In the podcast, we spoke in depth about how Marc and his wife balance full-time self-employment while raising his children. We talk about how he generates money thus far through his blogs, and what he plans to do in the future in order to reach his FI number.

Marc on Money

Marc was born to low-income parents, and he learned to have respect for money early in life. Later he became a Process Auditor (not a financial auditor). He was thankful to have a job but eventually began to grow a side hustle - a web design company.

He saw some early success with this, but he eventually found out that he enjoyed blogging more than website development. After a year and a half into blogging and building site, he reached a point where he replaced his income and was able to leave his full-time job.

Marc is trying to get to what we refer to as FAT FIRE. Fat FIRE is when you save up more than the 25x your annual expenses (Marc is going for 50x his expenses). He only found the FIRE movement about a year ago, and through learning about the movement, he set his target savings amount according to his comfort level.

Blogging as a Business

Marc dedicates full-time hours to his blogging. His routine has him devoting 50+ hours to blogging every week from home. As he builds his blog, he makes sure to keep track of his hours. As his blog grows, his goal is to significantly reduce his hours of input. The beginning inertia of starting a blog seems to be the hardest part. Traffic is difficult to capture and hard to sustain.

How did Marc learn to build websites and to blog? He took one course in college which taught him the basics.

Marc's Blogging Tips

Stick with it - you need a long-term focus
Network with other bloggers
No money for the first 6 months - accept it!
Make the content unique, interesting and useful
Wordpress is pretty simple
Put in the effort - you need to put in the effort to get traffic, Pinterest, facebook groups, blogging groups, forums etc.

Marc on the final questions

Money Lesson - Learned from his parents - respect money, manage it well, don’t spend what you don’t have. Low-income parents, that made their money count.

Favorite Life Hacks - Credit card rewards have brought joy to their family. Cashback rewards towards Christmas. Family vacation towards Disney World.

Book - Marc reads a lot of blogs and keeps them organized using a feed reader. For a book, he is reading The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns - It looks at how we can impact people less fortunate. The impact we could have on poverty in other countries if we cared enough to make it a priority.

Contact - VitalDollar.com contact page to email marc@vitaldollar.com @vital_dollar on twitter.

Episode 21 Bonus - Andy Hill Marriage Kids and Money mixdown FINAL Dec 14, 2018

We were SO excited to have the opportunity to speak with Andy Hill this year at Fin Con!

Who is Andy?

Andy is the host of the Marriage, Kids and Money Podcast which focuses on helping young families build wealth. The podcast was nominated as "Best New Personal Finance Podcast" by Plutus in 2017.

Outside of writing for his own weekly blog of the same name, his personal finance focused articles have been featured in STAND Magazine, Business Insider, NerdWallet and Rockstar Finance. Trusted as a personal finance influencer by brands such as Quicken Loans, Tomorrow and Credit Sesame, Andy’s message of family financial empowerment has resonated with listeners, readers and viewers across the US.

When he's not "talking money", Andy enjoys wrestling with his two kids and singing 80’s karaoke with his wife.

MORTGAGE FREEDOM

What would you do if you were mortgage free? Well, it was cause for celebration for Andy and his wife! They made a list of several fun things to celebrate this HUGE accomplishment. On our website, we have linked one of their videos of the “mortgage free” Pinata. Go check it out.

WHEN MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT MONEY CREATE CONFLICTS IN THE MARRIAGE

What happens when you and your spouse are not on the same page about finances? We have all heard the statistics about money troubles and divorce. One of the more courageous things Andy and his wife have done was to be transparent about their decision to go to couples counseling to address the difficulties they were having AFTER becoming mortgage free. It is a wonderful candid episode.

You can listen to it here.

MONEY LESSONS FOR KIDS

One of the really great lessons Andy and his wife have been emphasizing is “contribution to the household.” Andy has found the best way to get his daughter more involved is to do chores with her. This sometimes means putting on the Greatest Showman soundtrack and doing dishes side-by-side. Not only is his daughter getting valuable time with her dad, but she is learning that work is rewarded by income.

FINAL CLOSEOUT QUESTIONS:

Money Lessons from Childhood - It is important to create goals but don’t forget they require action.

Money Lessons for Our Children - DREAM BIG. Do it early and consistently.

You can find Andy at marriagekidsandmoney.com

GET ANDY’S FREE BOOK: The Young Family Wealth Playbook In it Andy interviews over 100 self-made millionaires, successful entrepreneurs and personal finance experts. Learn how they did it!

Mentioned on this Episode:

Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

FIRE podcasts:

Rockstar Finance - with Scott Allen Turner

Choose FI - with Jonathan Mendonsa and Brad Barrett

Episode 21 - Dr. Eric Patrick of the Black Market Exchange Dec 12, 2018

What Can Hip Hop Teach Us About Money?

If you take the time to listen to the lyrics, you can learn about real estate, property appreciation, interest growth, investing and much more from modern hip-hop music. While I always take note of these nuggets of info, I never had the idea to combine hip-hop with money lessons. It was Eric Patrick that had that brilliant idea, and I have to say kudos to him, because he does a great job combining the two areas!

Side Hustling to Financial Independence

Dr. Eric Patrick is a practicing pharmacist by day, but is also the Founder and Chief Investment Educator of Black Market Exchange, LLC. He is also the Founder of Doc Designs - a social media marketing company that helps to grow social followings for brands, and boasts a 5 figure annual income. Erik loves to use hip-hop and urban media to make investing fun and easy to understand.

Dr. Eric started The BMEX in 2014 after receiving investment questions from many of his friends and family members.

“I knew that if I could link a rapper like Future to explanations on how to dominate the market, but still provide professional and valuable content, people would ride the wave to financial success.”

Through his educational site, BMEX, he covers everything from basic financial education like “what is a stock?” to expanding on the definition of REITS.

Eric does this through the use of his funny Youtube videos, but he also blogs about trendy investing apps, how to mix travel with investing (financial pleasure), and trends in the market that even the great Warren Buffett would take notice of. He has written for Acorns, BankMobile, Blavity, and Magnify Money.

Eric’s Money Philosophy

Eric confidently states that money is a tool, and he is here to show you how to use it to its full capacity. But his relationship with money wasn’t always so great. After attending Howard University for Pharmacy School, he was buried under credit card, and student loan debt.

We all know that college is expensive, but pharmacy is one of the most expensive programs to pursue in the nation. Eric has made it a goal to keep tackling his student loan debt, but not at the expense of his investing strategy.

Eric loves using the snowball method for paying off debt. His debt has grown, after he gave in to pressures to buy a home soon after college. However, he has plans to grow his income through side hustles, which will help with his debt pay off journey.

Find out more about the Snow Ball Method by reading this book:

Growing Up - Money Story

Unlike many of our past guests, Eric’s parents work in the financial industry - both being bankers. He was able to learn about interest from his dad, and about balancing a checkbook from his mom. He had to learn about investing and about other areas of money through curiosity and self-teaching.

He continues learning about money now that he has a family of his own!

Money and Family

Eric has always tried to make money in unique ways. When he was in college at Howard University, he used to sell lunch coupons in the cafeteria!

As a couple, his wife is the money manager at home and he is the offensive player - going out and making money moves. Every quarter they come together and adjust their spending, but they do quick check-ins as needed.

In terms of their two little girls, saving for them has become a big household goal as they try to teach their kids about saving money.

One thing Eric does for the girls every year is the 52-week challenge. Starting at week one and increasing for 52 weeks, you transfer a dollar amount that matches the week number to a savings account. He counts up to 52 for one child, and down from 52 for the other! This makes it easier on the wallet. Week one you would send $1. Week 30 $30, week 52 $52. Essentially, he is sending a combination of $53 every week into two accounts - one for each girl (around $1400 each).

All About Pharmacy Careers

Dr. Eric Patrick lets us know a little more about pharmacy as a career path! A pharmacy degree is a doctoral degree, which means that when you complete the training, you are a doctor! Pharmacy school requires immense amounts of memorization - as you are learning drug classes, interactions, side effects and systems of the body. You have to be able to learn at a quick pace, and retain all of the knowledge.

Once completed, you can expect to make a starting salary of $85k - 105k depending on the area of pharmacy you work in, and your location within the United States.

Eric’s goal is not to tread water with a “decent” salary in a middle-class lifestyle - keeping [only] his nose above water. He wants to lives very comfortably, with both his nose and mouth above water.

Listen to our episode where he explains more about this concept.

Money Prescriptions from Dr. Eric

Pay tithe each and every month - you have the ability - the average person has hundreds of dollars in “change” per month - seeping from their budget.
Adjust your taxes so that you have more money for everything else - not just a lump sum at tax time.
Be committed - you don’t have to be perfect you just have to be committed - like his 52-week rule for his kids. Once he adds a few weeks to the “chain” of payments, he becomes committed to “not breaking the chain!” Don’t break the chain! Stay focused and don’t stop!
Most of his followers are actually women. Through working with other women he has learned that “Women tribes are powerful”
Make more money - if three different people ask him three times about a topic, he finds a way to sell it. (Can we drop one of Clue’s Bombs?)

Eric Patrick on the final questions:

Money Lesson:

Money is a tool, use it as such and ask yourself, what can it allow me to do.

Reading Right Now:

Ask, by Ryan Levesque - uses surveys to affect copy and content creation so that you can make something truly valuable.

Profit First, By Mike Michalowicz

The best way for people to find you: On his site, www.thebmex.com

Listen to our previous episode!

Stay tuned for Fin Con Fridays! Wendy had the awesome opportunity to attend Fin Con in September. In addition to learning a whole bunch about this industry, she was able to talk to several popular bloggers and podcasters. On Friday, we will release the first of five live recordings from the floor of Fin Con. These are fun and unedited amidst the hustle and bustle of 5000 other money nerds. We hope you enjoy them.

Episode 20 - Learn Hustle Grow with Rob and Reshawn Lee Dec 05, 2018

Learn Hustle Grow

How Two Forty-Something Empty-Nesters Achieved Debt Freedom and Built a Thriving Real Estate Business

Rob and Reshawn are the power couple behind the blog, Learn Hustle Grow. This power couple are the parents of two kids, and they are so inspiring because they are in their 40s and are officially debt and mortgage free. One a saver and one a spender, these two faced the challenge of melding their money together, setting them on a path to financial success.

Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey is the cornerstone of the debt payoff movement. He personally helped both Wendy and I, and he also helped both Reshawn and Rob as they paid off their debt. If you visit Dave’s website there is a wealth of information about the debt snowball process, and he also has a podcast that is easy to listen to. Here is a link to Dave Ramsay's total money makeover site.

Rob

Rob, one of three, grew up in Portsmouth Virginia to a poor but loving family. After high school he decided to commit his time and focus to joining the Marine Corp. During that time he had his own money, clothes and cars, but he learned little about money. After the Marine Corp he was able to go to college and get married.

There were two big mistakes that Rob made during that time - mistakes that would take a few years to clean up. One is that he over spent, there by using all of his extra GI Bill money on expenses outside of college. Next he went through a separation in which he was left with all of the credit cards - which contained shared expenses, but which were in his name solely. He was a newly minted single dad, in debt.

It would be some time before he would meet Reshawn, and clean up his finances alongside her.

Reshawn

Reshawn was raised in a single parent home that never really discussed money growing up - but she never felt like they were poor or broke as a family. It became clear there was no money for her and her sister for college, though, so she joined the Army Reserves. She finished college with the help of the GI bill, but ended college with thousands of dollars of student loans and credit card debt. She was also a new single mom, in debt.

Reshawn realized that daycare expenses and baby clothes were her new normal, and she began to call the credit card companies to negotiate her debt. It took her 10 years to pay off her student loans - and all of her debt was taken care of before meeting her “Mr. Wonderful”.

Two Lives Combined

Reshawn hesitated when she realized that she was a saver while Rob was a spender, especially with the fact that they were not only combining their lives, but the lives of their 10 and 8 year old. Here is the advice they gave during our episode that outlines how they went through the process of combining their lives :

Go through credit reports, earnings and premarital financial counseling
Be open to adjusting the plan as you become aware of new ideas and realize that something works better than the current plan
The relationship you have with money at the start of a marriage can, will and even should evolve - be thoughtful in your approach
Find a combined plan that works for the entire family - For Rob and Reshawn this was Real Estate!

Making Money Moves as a Unit

Rob and Reshawn took multiple steps to overcome the hurdles that were in their way at the beginning of their marriage. Here is a blueprint that all couples should consider in order to follow the path that Rob and Reshawn:

Pay off your debt together or side by side
Save a 6 month emergency fund
Make a decision on whether or not you will use credit to your advantage- together
Agree on the rules and restrictions of credit card use as a family
Find your key to financial independence. For Rob and Reshawn this is Real Estate.

Real Estate Moguls

Rob had the goal of becoming a real estate mogul, and eventually Reshawn joined in. We had the opportunity to learn about how they went from one property to owning multiple properties, including a small apartment complex!

Now that they have multiple properties and have reached financial independence, what do they plan to do with their newfound freedom? Read the answers to their final questions to find out and listen to our episode to find out more about this!

Rob and Reshawn on the final questions:

Don’t Be Broke! Communication about money is KEY to success
You should have your own “blow Money” or allowance money so you won’t feel guilty about spending it.
The importance of being open to learning new things. Look beyond the day to day to grow your own life, your own interests and own business.
Do not give up - keep reaching for your goals. Set it and work hard to get to the end.
Book/ Podcast - Travel podcasts are there thing right now. They plan to make an announcement - They are going to take a break and leave corporate. They want to travel for all of 2019, visiting Buenos Aires, Argentina and the rest of South America.

Find them and follow their story at learnhustlegrow.com

Sites mentioned in this podcast:

Dave Ramsey

Bigger Pockets

Listen to our previous episode about Justin, who retired a millionaire at 33 years old!

Episode 19 Bonus Lice Clinic Q A mixdown FINAL Nov 30, 2018

Less than two years ago Timika, searching for a profitable side-hustle as a means to increase her income, came upon Lice Clinics of America as an option.

Since opening this brick and mortar business, she has grown it into a six-figure business that has helped her and her family get closer to their Financial Independence Goals.

Recently, Timika appeared on the Choose FI Podcast Episode 102 to share all about her business. Well, that episode was very well received and resulted in a ton of great questions from our guests that wanted to know more.

We couldn't leave them unanswered! In this Bonus Episode, Wendy asks Timika some of the questions asked by our listeners. We hope you enjoyed this special episode.

If you have additional questions, please go to our website and click on the "Send Voicemail" button on the right hand side.

Episode 19 - Conversations with a Real Millionaire Next Door and Raising a Family After Early Retirement Nov 28, 2018

It’s really nice when we have the chance to speak with candid, forthcoming guests on our show. This week we interviewed Justin McCurry of the Root of Good blog. Justin has been in the FIRE space, encouraging others with his story for many years. In this interview, we explored the aspects of Justin’s story that were more specific to our House of FI family. He did such a great job inspiring us both to take action for our families.

Money is The Root of Good

Justin, founder of Root of Good, is a husband and the father of 3 kids, ranging in ages from 6 to 13. Born and raised in North Carolina, he now lives in a modest home with his wife and kids. Justin became financially independent by the age of 33 years old, and immediately retired from his full time work. On our previous episode, we we spoke to Jackie Cummings Koski, who has also reached FI, but mentioned suffering from “One More Year syndrome”, where she finds herself hesitating on taking the FIRE Leap. This week Justin helped us to learn more about taking that LEAP and what to expect afterwards. Justin has been retired for over 5 years, making his current age 38 years old.

Justin’s Money Story

Like some of us, Justin can’t recall a time when he wasn’t saving his money, and wasn’t frugal. He knew from his first job that the responsible thing to do was to spend less than what he made, and save the difference. His parents were the same.

Justin met his now wife while they were in college. She came to the U.S. to pursue a degree in finance, and also had humble beginnings. When Justin graduated from college, his first job paid him a salary of $48,000! Since he lived in a low cost of living (LCOL area), he was able to bank anywhere from 1000-1500 a month. He began saving up cash, investing for retirement, and also investing in a brokerage account. And all of this was before he learned about FIRE!

A Defining Moment

At some point, Justin, dating a finance major and majoring in engineering, was playing with some spreadsheets. He realized that he paid thousands of dollars in investment fees - he was actually paying more in fees than what he saved in two months combined!

He begin searching for an alternative, and decided he needed to switch to a DIY approach.

During the transition he learned about early retirement, and also about the ways to remove retirement money well before retirement. In the episode we discuss the 72T rule and the Roth Conversion ladder. We also talk about his reasoning for using a 3.5% withdrawal rate for his portfolio and about his family’s decision to pay off their mortgage early.

Family Time as a Limited Resource

Justin and his wife are now both retired, which allows them to have time together during the day, and allows them to be involved in their kids’ school lives. So, obviously we wanted to know what Justin’s kids think about the benefit of having two parents at home full-time? And also, how awesome is it that they get to slow travel every summer?

For some of us, having a million dollars would be the catalyst needed to spend quality time at home with our children (totally Wendy). For others, having a million dollars would lead to exploring more options outside the house (totally me). Justin’s perspective on this privilege was insightful, no matter what we will choose to do when we reach financial independence!

How Does Justin Teach His Kids About Money

Justin and his wife use a method for teaching their children about money that is very unique. They support the method of letting the kids have some autonomy on how they spend their money, which he says gives them a chance to make early mistakes on smaller sums.

Listen to find out what happened when his some purchased and then lost a smart phone merely months after buying it!

Listen to the episode to hear more about:

Health Care Options in Early Retirement
Completing a Cost benefit Analysis before pulling the retirement trigger How to assess your spending when it comes to houses and cars
How to find free resources so that you can learn what you need to know to DIY your finances

Justin on the final questions:

Lesson: Focusing on investment costs was a big one i had to learn the hard way. Getting rid of him and going and doing it myself saved me thousands of dollars.

Credit card travel hacking - it’s like beating the casino and we love to travel.

Most of the reading is general leisure reading. Right now he is reading Cruise Confidential, a non-fiction book about a waiter's daily experiences while working in the belly of the cruise ship. How exciting! :-)

And, why not include part 2! Once I read the juicy title, I knew it needed a spot in our show notes! haha...

Bonus Resources From Justin: Zero to Millionaire in Ten Years How we paid almost zero taxes on a six figure income What we do for health insurance / Affordable Care Act Subsidies Our $40,000 per year Early Retirement Budget (for a family of 5!) Roth IRA Conversion Ladder (how we access our 401k/IRA decades before age 59.5 without paying any early withdrawal penalties) Listen to Last Week's Episode: Health Savings Accounts

Episode 18 - The Journey from Mandatory Frugality to Privileged Frugality. Achieving FIRE as a Single Mom. Nov 21, 2018

Connections

I love being able to find a connection with the story of every person that we have on our podcast. This week though, I felt a special connection to our graceful guest, Jackie Cummings Koski. Her story of being a single mother, the details she shared about the awakening that took place after her divorce and the absolute success path she’s experience since making up her mind to change her environment resonates deeply with me.

Not only does she share her story with empathy and honesty, but her experience gives new color and depth to this ongoing discussion about Privileged Frugality versus Choice-less Frugality. She has experienced both on her journey towards Financial Independence.

About Jackie

Jacki Cummings Koski holds the designation of CEPF (Certified Educator in Personal Finance), she is a Financial Literacy Advocate and she is award winning author. She is known for writing the Award Winning book Money Letters to My Daughter. Jackie is very active in the House of FI community, as well as the ChooseFI community, and we are all better for her insight and thoughtful participation.

In addition to all of the wonderful work she does for the personal finance community, Jackie is one of our only guests that has reached Financial Independence.

Jackie’s biggest issue now is her hesitation with pulling the retirement trigger! She is having the dreaded #onemoreyear syndrome!

Jackie’s Money Story

Jackie Cummings Koski grew up in the Southeastern United States. She was raised by a single father, as one of 6 children. Her father, a poor factory worker, knew how to stretch a dollar. He was able to teach her how to live with dignity through mandatory frugality.

This experience of growing up impoverished lit a fire within Jackie - who vowed to make more money and to create an environment around herself filled with rich opportunity.

Well, she did it! She finished college, launched her career, married and had a daughter.

Life was good, until it wasn’t, and Jackie endured a difficult, emotional divorce. The Impact of the Single Mom Bond

Finding ways to connect and bond with your children is priceless. The most heartwarming thing about Jackie’s story is the depth of the bond she has with her daughter. It was this bond that led her to writing her award winning book, Money Letters to My Daughter. In the text, Jackie educates her daughter and others about money matters that she faced, and learned from. In the episode we speak about her daughter’s reception of the book.

The Benefits of the Health Savings Accounts

Made most famous in the FIRE community by The Mad Fientist, the Health Savings Account, or HSA is known to be THE ULTIMATE retirement savings vehicle for the “low consumer of health services”. A person that is likely a low consumer of health services is the person that has no medical (physical and mental health) issues that require expensive, repetitive intervention.

If you are one of the low consumers of healthcare, the HSA may be for you. If you use health care often, but can cover the costs of service out of pocket, you should still look into this awesome product.

The HSA was introduced in the early 2000’s and it is the only savings vehicle that offers a tax advantage with each contribution, a tax advantaged growth (invested contributions) AND tax free distributions (when you take the money out).

After finding the Mad Fientist, Jackie doubled down on her contributions to her HSA, and currently has over $100,000 in tax free savings!

Listen to the show to hear how she plans to access the money!!

Credit Education

As a CEPF, Jackie educates others on how to check credit scores and calculate credit utilization rates, amongst other things.

Recently you read this post about filing bankruptcy, Bankruptcy is a real possibility, and managing your credit accounts and utilization rates can go a long way towards to protecting you from accruing overwhelming debt.

Money Mistakes To Learn From

So, financially independent, retiring early, what has Jackie made mistakes about when it comes to money? Here’s the short list :

Spending 30% of your gross income on a vehicle
Making assumptions about financial ideas instead of checking those assumptions at the door
Jackie purchased expensive new cars, but teaches us her process for buying cars now
Not finding a qualified tax preparer. A provider should ask detailed questions about your situation - not making assumptions about your position.

Answers to the Final Questions

Always save something. This creates a habit that will serve you well for years to come
What is Jackie reading right now? Audiobooks and podcasts. Her favorite podcast right now is one she just hear about Coach George Raveling, who was a bodyguard at the Martin Luther King’s I have a dream speech
Jackie can be reached at moneyletters2.com

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