Oh My Dollar!: Recent Episodes
Oh My Dollar!
Lillian tackles your money overwhelm with practical, approachable financial advice (with a dash of glitter.) This is budgeting advice from someone that doesn't assume you're straight with a salary, retirement account, 2.5 kids, or a white picket fence. You'll get helpful advice for folks left out by traditional finance, you'll learn to reduce money stress and prioritize your values. Got a question for the show? Email questions@ohmydollar.com
How the heck do you pick financial goals when 1 in 4 people are unemployed, there are murder hornets, police are battering people in the streets for having the audacity to say that black men shouldn't die at the hands of cops, and everything feels a little...well, stressful? When the world is on fire, how can you care about your 401K? AND HOW CAN YOU HELP!? All ad revenue and this week's patreon revenue will be donated to the TGI Justice Project, a black-led group of transgender, gender variant and intersex people—inside and outside of prisons, jails and detention centers—creating a united family in the struggle for survival and freedom. And remember: black lives matter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Three questions that didn't make the livestream this week: what to do with your $1,200 if your job is stable right now, can they take back your unemployment overpayment, and how to get your stimulus bill if you don't have a bank account. I answered a lot more questions on the livestream this weekend, you can watch or listen to the replay at youtube.com/anomalily and subscribe to be notified of the next one. If you have a question about your financial life, or if you just want to share what it is like in your part of the world, please email questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet me @anomalily. I’d also love to just hear just little audio updates about how you’re doing in the world. You can leave a voicemail in the US at (503) 877-4338 or you can email us a voice memo to questions@ohmydollar.com Over on the Oh My Dollar! forums we are meme-ing and supporting each other through all this. Check out the transcript and the full show notes at ohmydollar.com This episode was supported by our Purrsonal Finance Society members - help out for just $1 a month at http://ohmydollar.com/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Freelancers and gig workers (and musicians and more) can file for unemployment now for the first time ever. And for the moment, it actually pays enough to pay your bills - possibly even more than your job did. If you have a question about your financial life, or if you just want to share what it is like in your part of the world, please email questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet me @anomalily. I’d also love to just hear just little audio updates about how you’re doing in the world. You can leave a voicemail in the US at (503) 877-4338 or you can email us a voice memo to questions@ohmydollar.com Over on the Oh My Dollar! forums we are meme-ing and supporting each other through the apocalypse. Check out the transcript and the full show notes at ohmydollar.com This episode was supported by our Purrsonal Finance Society members - help out for just $1 a month at http://ohmydollar.com/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How do you get health insurance if you lost your job? Are we all really getting 1,200 extra free dollars from the government? what is the catch If you have a question about your financial life, or if you just want to share what it is like in your part of the world, please email questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet me @anomalily. I’d also love to just hear just little audio updates about how you’re doing in the world. You can leave a voicemail in the US at (503) 877-4338 or you can email us a voice memo to questions@ohmydollar.com Over on the Oh My Dollar! forums we are meme-ing and supporting each other through the apocalypse. Check out the transcript and the full show notes at ohmydollar.com This episode was supported by our Purrsonal Finance Society members - help out for just $1 a month at http://ohmydollar.com/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This is episode touches on everything you need to know to get started meal planning. If you have a question for the Special Financial Chaos episodes coming out, or if you just want to share what it is like in your part of the world, please email questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet me @anomalily. I’d also love to just hear just little audio updates about how you’re doing in the world. You can leave a voicemail in the US at (503) 877-4338 or you can email us a voice memo to questions@ohmydollar.com Over on the Oh My Dollar! forums we are meme-ing and supporting each other through the apocalypse. Check out the transcript and the full show notes at ohmydollar.com This episode was supported by our Purrsonal Finance Society members - help out for just $1 a month at http://ohmydollar.com/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Time is money! But many of us know exactly where our money goes, but have no idea where our time goes. Once you know where the time goes, you can make changes that will help you spend more time on the things you value and less where you don’t (just like budgeting). Over on the Oh My Dollar! forums, we're doing a fun time tracking challenge, March of Time this month. We brought on the expert of experts on Time Tracking, Laura Vanderkam, to talk about tracking your time. The ⏰⏳ March of Time Tracking Challenge started already, but it isn't too late to join and get stickers and reap the benefits of time tracking. Check out the transcript and the full show notes at ohmydollar.com This episode was supported by our Purrsonal Finance Society members - help out for just $1 a month at http://ohmydollar.com/support
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We're off this week due to mysterious flu-like illnesses BUT never fear, we have cool OMD things coming up this week. Tomorrow (leap day, Saturday, February 29th) - we have a livestream at 5PM Pacific. Subscribe on youtube to anomalily to be notified when we go live (or watch afterwards). Check out the March of Time time tracking on the Oh My Dollar forums which starts March 1st! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We all know careers aren't the same as they once were. Nicolle Merrill joins us to discuss why job-hopping is actually an advantage, how to "network" when you're an introvert, and what the first thing people might ask you to do in different cities. Check out the transcript and the full show notes at ohmydollar.com and Nicolle's book here. Plus Check out our 20 in 2020 challenges on the OMD forums. This episode was supported by our Purrsonal Finance Society members - help out for just $1 a month at http://ohmydollar.com/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Lillian is joined by Nina, who asks questions about taxes and we cover what you need to know about witholding, saver's credit, and more. Check out the transcript and the full show notes at ohmydollar.com Plus Check our 20 in 2020 challenges on the OMD forums. This episode was supported by our Purrsonal Finance Society members - help out for just $1 a month at http://ohmydollar.com/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Lillian talks about how much you really need in your emergency funds in response to a listener question from Ken, and she tries to get Chase, our engineer, to stop spending all his money. Check out the transcript and the full show notes at ohmydollar.com Plus Check our 20 in 2020 challenges on the OMD forums. This episode was supported by our Purrsonal Finance Society members - help out for just $1 a month at http://ohmydollar.com/support . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sometimes it's hard to stick to a budget. But that shouldn't make you feel ashamed. How to get over feelings of shame and deprivation when things are hard and your financial goals aren't working? Here's some money therapy. Check out the transcript and the full show notes at ohmydollar.com Plus Check our 20 in 2020 challenges on the OMD forums. This episode was supported by our Purrsonal Finance Society members - help out for just $1 a month at http://ohmydollar.com/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What work benefits might you actually want to use and negotiate for? We asked the Oh My Dollar! community for the work benefits they actually used - and the ones that were just useless lip service. Check out the transcript and the full show notes at ohmydollar.com Plus Check our 20 in 2020 challenges on the OMD forums. This episode was supported by our Purrsonal Finance Society members- we are having a new member drive right now and all new members pledges are doubled- help out for just $1 a month at http://ohmydollar.com/support/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What is worth paying someone else to do and what is a waste of money? I asked people what they outsource due to health, disability, time, quality, and more - and what they DIY themselves. Check out the transcript, and the full show notes at ohmydollar.com Plus Check our 20 in 2020 challenges on the OMD forums. This episode was supported by our Purrsonal Finance Society members- we are having a new member drive right now and all new members get doubled- help out for just $1 a month at http://ohmydollar.com/support/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How do you know when to quit a project, a goal, or something similar? And how does a to-do-list role playing game teach you about financial goals? Check out the video, the transcript, and the full show notes at ohmydollar.com Plus Check our 20 in 2020 challenges on the OMD forums. This episode was supported by our Purrsonal Finance Society members- we are having a new member drive right now and all new members get doubled- help out for just $1 a month at http://ohmydollar.com/support/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What's the real cost of choosing one path vs another? What happens when you could've bought a house instead of spending your money on scented candles and fancy rollerblades? What about when you choose to stay home rather than not going out? What about that useless college degree with student loans? Plus, find out a little about Lillian's job updates. Check out the transcript, and the full show notes at ohmydollar.com Plus Check our end of year challenge on the OMD forums. ///// This episode was supported by our Purrsonal Finance Society members, who make everything we do paws-ible. Learn how to join for $1 a month - and get your pledged doubled this month at http://ohmydollar.com/support/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
When you're an employee, you're also an employee with health needs. How do you balance both? We talk with Mac Prichard about how to bring up health care in the job process, and how to negotiate for sick leave without "outing" yourself. Plus, what your rights are for leave in the US and when it kicks in. Should you get COBRA? And more! Check out the video, the transcript, and the full show notes at ohmydollar.com Plus Check our end of year challenge on the OMD forums. This episode was supported by our Purrsonal Finance Society members, who make everything we do paws-ible. Learn how to join for $1 a month at http://ohmydollar.com/support/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Untangling the difference between a co-pay vs co-insurance and which kind of health care plan is better. Plus, depressing health care headlines. This is the first ever OMD episode with a video version. Check out the video, the transcript, and the full show notes at ohmydollar.com This episode was supported by our Purrsonal Finance Society members, who make everything we do paws-ible. Learn how to join for $1 a month at http://ohmydollar.com/support/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's health care month on OMD for the third time and we're kicking it off with Jean Chatzky and talk about why Health Savings Accounts are rad super special triple-tax free accounts. Check out our full show notes and transcript at ohmydollar.com, supported by our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, who you can learn about at ohmydollar.com/support/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's Will's final Oh My Dollar! episode and we talk about how much it cost for him to move cross-country - and also about our halloween themed budget challenge, Budgetober! Join budgetober at http://www.ohmydollar.com/budgetober/ Check out full show notes at ohmydollar.com - no transcript this week since it is a breezy episode, but every other week our transcripts are provided by our patrons in the Purrsonal Finance Society (who make such a HUGE DIFFERENCE to this show). This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association, Warrior Queen, and Chris Giddings. You can always find me on the Oh My Dollar! forums. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
California just passed legislation that will require gig economy companies like Uber, Lyft, and Amazon to classify workers instead of contractors. This is a big deal outside California, even outside the US. Check out our transcript and full shows note at ohmydollar.com - transcripts are provided by our patrons in the Purrsonal Finance Society (who make such a HUGE DIFFERENCE to this show). This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association, Warrior Queen, and Chris Giddings. You can always find me on the Oh My Dollar! forums and pre-order a copy of A Cat's Guide to Money - Lillian's book - now if you missed the kickstarter! (Plus new stickers and a planner!) Visit ohmydollar.com/book/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A recession is coming, what should you do to be ready? Can you really prepare for a recession? Check out our transcript and full shows note at ohmydollar.com - transcripts are provided by our patrons in the Purrsonal Finance Society (who make such a HUGE DIFFERENCE to this show). This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association, Warrior Queen, and Chris Giddings. You can always find me on the Oh My Dollar! forums and pre-order a copy of A Cat's Guide to Money - Lillian's book - now if you missed the kickstarter! (Plus new stickers and a planner!) Visit ohmydollar.com/book/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Hey folks, we're off this week due to Lillian mostly losing her voice. Back next week at the usual time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What are some tips for managing your personal finances as a college or university student? What do we wish we had known about money when we started out in school? Check out our transcript and full show note at ohmydollar.com - transcripts are provided by our patrons in the Purrsonal Finance Society (who make such a HUGE DIFFERENCE to this show). This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association, Warrior Queen, and Chris Giddings. You can always find me on the Oh My Dollar! forums and pre-order a copy of A Cat's Guide to Money - Lillian's book - now if you missed the kickstarter! (Plus new stickers and a planner!) Visit ohmydollar.com/book/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Splitting date expenses is hard, especially when you're queer. How do you split rent when one person makes a lot more money? Plus, what who should get more in their retirement account? Check out our transcript and full show note at ohmydollar.com - transcripts are provided by our patrons in the Purrsonal Finance Society (who make such a HUGE DIFFERENCE to this show). This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association, Warrior Queen, and Chris Giddings. Question for this episode came from the Oh My Dollar! forums. Remember, You can pre-order a copy of A Cat's Guide to Money - Lillian's book - now if you missed the kickstarter! (Plus new stickers and a planner!) Visit ohmydollar.com/book/ Shipping is $1 right now!
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One of the biggest barriers to getting your money together can actually be other people - we talk about strategies for talking with your partner, roommate, or co-parent about money. Ask us a question! We love hearing from you! Email us your cat pictures or money-relationship questions at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar You can pre-order a copy of A Cat's Guide to Money - Lillian's book - now if you missed the kickstarter! (Plus new stickers and a planner!) Visit ohmydollar.com/book/ Lillian's youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/anomalily/
Check out our transcript and full show notes The full transcript and show notes are provided by our patrons in the Purrsonal Finance Society (who make such a HUGE DIFFERENCE to this show). This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association, Warrior Queen, and Chris Giddings. Find the transcript and extensive show notes at ohmydollar.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ohhhh the siren call of retail therapy. That “add to cart” button luring you in from the wild seas of despair. If you’re feeling down, feeling stressed, it can feel like buying things will solve your problems. Why do we do this? Why does it work? Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your cat pictures or your retail therapy shopping querstions at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
You can pre-order a copy of A Cat's Guide to Money - Lillian's book - now if you missed the kickstarter! (Plus new stickers and a planner!) Visit ohmydollar.com/book/
Check out our transcript and full show notes The full transcript and show notes are provided by our patrons in the Purrsonal Finance Society (who make such a HUGE DIFFERENCE to this show). This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association, Warrior Queen, and Chris Giddings. Find the transcript and extensive show notes at ohmydollar.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
If you don't have the minimum for an investment in Vanguard, how do you get started with a Roth IRA? And what the heck is a settlement fund? What is an ETF? We help to stop you from freaking out. Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your cat pictures or other successes from at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
Check out our transcript and full show notes The full transcript and show notes are provided by our patrons in the Purrsonal Finance Society. This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association, Warrior Queen, and Chris Giddings. Find the transcript and extensive show notes at ohmydollar.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
You’re an adult now! Congrats. Now you owe everyone money! Paying bills is part of adult life, unless you’ve manage to go completely off the grid. Bills feel like one of those parts of adult life that are non-negotiable. You get asked to pay, you pay the amount listed. But actually in many ways there’s wiggle room if you’re willing to negotiate. So we have Tori from Her First $100K to talk about ways to negotiate bills you might not have thought about! About Tori Dunlap and Her First $100K
Tori Dunlap is a millennial money and career expert. Her career started with landing a digital marketing contract worth tens of thousands, and a full-time position as the head of marketing and communications for a global security company — all before she turned 22. On track to save $100,000 by 25, Tori founded Her First $100K to give women actionable resources to reach their first six figures too. Find Tori online - Her First $100K https://www.herfirst100k.com/ - Her First $100K on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herfirst100k/ Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your cat pictures or other financial thoughts at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
Check out our transcript and full show notes The full transcript and show notes are provided by our patrons in the Purrsonal Finance Society. This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association, Warrior Queen, and Chris Giddings. Find the transcript and show notes at ohmydollar.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The alphabet soup of the GLBTQIA+ community includes one letter many people don't know about - "I" - which stands for "intersex", a term that refers to people that are born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't fit the "typical" definitions of female or male. So, today, we've brought on Hans Lindahl, Communications Director at interAct, to talk about her own financial experience as an intersex person and some of the things you might not know about the costs of your sex "not following directions well" (as Hans puts it.)
Links from this show:interAct Hans on Youtube! (check out her series of intersex people talking to other intersex people!)Hans on twitter and her website Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your cat pictures or other financial thoughts at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
Check out our transcript and full show notes The full transcript and show notes are provided by our patrons in the Purrsonal Finance Society. This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association, Warrior Queen, and Chris Giddings. Find the transcript and show notes at ohmydollar.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's 4th of July (American Independence Day), so here's an episode about things that America does differently in personal finance. America America - this is a place most of our listeners, according to our analytics, live. To celebrate independence day, I thought I would talk about some of the things that the US does differently in personal finance, and some of the things they do that are the same. Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your bike photos or other financial thoughts at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
Check out our transcript and full show notes The full transcript and show notes are provided by our patrons in the Purrsonal Finance Society. This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association, Warrior Queen, and Chris Giddings. Find the transcript and show notes at ohmydollar.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Saving up that first emergency fund can be hard - especially if you don't make a lot of money, if murphy keeps knocking on your door and stealing from your savings, or if you have variable income. So we asked listeners to share their stories of how they saved their first emergency funds. Here are different methods: -The automatic sneaky savings method - including using an app - The shoebox under the bed method - The side hustle method - The tax refund method - Ramping down debt repayment while saving method We'll continue this discussion on the Oh My Dollar! forums! We don't bite, come join! Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your bike photos or other financial thoughts at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
Check out our transcript and full show notes The full transcript and show notes are provided by our patrons in the Purrsonal Finance Society. This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association, Warrior Queen, and Chris Giddings. Find the transcript and show notes at ohmydollar.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
WTF is a 529? Should you use one for saving for education or is it easier to just have a savings account. Abby Chao from CollegeBacker walks us through what one is, how to set it up, and why it makes sense to use one for college savings. About Abby Chao Abby is a Co-Founder & COO ofCollegeBacker, an online service that makes saving for college simple, smart, social and most importantly accessible to everyone! CollegeBacker, has designed a service to help parents open a tax-advantaged 529 college savings plan with no minimum! Parents can then invite family and friends to contribute.Abby has helped thousands of families save and pay for college. Her modern, tech-forward approach helps the new generation of millennial parents use the right financial and social tools to save for college better, together. You can grab a $10 match at this link if you open a 529 account! http://www.collegebacker.com/OMD/ (not an affiliate link) Check out our transcript The full transcript and show notes are provided by our patrons in the Purrsonal Finance Society. Find it at ohmydollar.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's pride month! And here at Oh My Dollar!, we're queer af, so we're here to talk all things under the rainbow. I thought in the midst of this historical pride month - the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riot - we share the things that we still have to work on in the world of finance and money for GLBTQI+ folks. Reminder you have 3 days left to support Oh My Dollar!'s kickstarter. We're in our 2nd stretch goal and every dollar now goes to expanding our financial literacy programming with GLBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness - plus you get cool goodies like special stickers and planners, and a book! Find out more at ohmydollar.com/cats/ The full transcript for this show is provided by our patrons in the Purrsonal Finance Society. Find it at ohmydollar.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
You "should" do this [unpleasant money thing.] Sound familiar? I know many of you admit to financial procrastination, but often perfectionism is a the root of procrastination. Sometimes it's things like overgeneralizing, all-or-nothing thinking, mental filter (harder on yourself than others), should statements. We're Crowdfunding a Book and Need Your Help
You can find out about our campaign for the reprint of my cat-filled purrsonal finance book "A Cat's Guide to Money" at - ohmydollar.com/cats And if it doesn’t make sense for you, that is 100% fine. But if you're able to share it on social media, that goes a LONG way towards helping us out. Shares mean a lot in these campaigns! We have 10 days left to hit our stretch goal of $10,000, and we're less than $400 away! Notes Remember that money is a process, not just a thing you win once and put on your shelf. You can do things incrementally with money. It’s okay to not be perfect. It’s okay to have an off budget week or month or even year. It’s okay to backslide on your debt payoff or savings goals because you had a breakup, got sick, or just stopped focusing on it for a little bit. It’s more important to sit, reassess, and come up with a new plan. Inspired by this episode about Perfectionism on the Hannahlyze This podcast. Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your financial worries or your own procrastination or cat pictures at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
All the numbers and stories on this show came from the Oh My Dollar! forums, a friendly, nonjudgemental online community about money. Don't be afraid, come join us on the forums!
This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you
We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show. View this transcript here at ohmydollar.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Some hobbies are pricey, some hobbies actually save you money. The OMD community tunes in to share how much their hobbies cost them. Plus, Lillian shares the costs from her new figure skating hobby. We talk about these things:The costs of brewing beer and if it saves you moneyThe marginal cost of hobbies ($3 per use or not)Limiting the cost of "Trying new hobbies" as a hobby - and how to avoid spending all the money on itWhat Will considers a "hobby" vs "not a hobby" Having kids in expensive hobbiesPlaying Tennis and Golf (I always wondered what these "rich" hobbies cost")The cost of martial artsHow much figure skating costs We're Crowdfunding a Book and Need Your Help
You can find out about our campaign for the reprint of my cat-filled purrsonal finance book "A Cat's Guide to Money" at - ohmydollar.com/cats And if it doesn’t make sense for you, that is 100% fine. But if you're able to share it on social media, that goes a LONG way towards helping us out. Shares mean a lot in these campaigns! Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your financial worries or how you've tackled risk or cat pictures at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
All the numbers and stories on this show came from the Oh My Dollar! forums, a friendly, nonjudgemental online community about money. Don't be afraid, come join us on the forums!
This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you
We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show. View this transcript here at ohmydollar.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Big announcement! Oh My Dollar’s cat-filled purrsonal finance book, A Cat's Guide to Money, is going into the second printing, and we need your help to make that possible. But don’t worry, this episode isn’t just going to be about the book - it’s also about why I chose to go the crowdfunding route again, and what that has to do with risk and money. We talk about these things: The definition of risk and how our risk tolerance variesThe Myth of effortless success: "We believe people shouldn’t see the effort you put into success"The definition of entrepreneurial risk (and how the founders of airbnb funded their business off a flip book of credit cards and cereal with Obama's face)Believing if we ask for help, it discounts the workWholesaler financing and "factoring" and how that worksIf you should take investors as a small businessWhy I chose to go back to Kickstarter again Please Share the Campaign If You Can
You can find out more about it the campaign at ohmydollar.com/cats And if it doesn’t make sense for you, that is 100% fine. But if you're able to share it on social media, that goes a LONG way towards helping us out. Shares mean a lot in these campaigns! Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your financial worries or how you've tackled risk or cat pictures at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you
We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show. View this transcript here at ohmydollar.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Figuring out car insurance can be an absolute hair-pulling nightmare. What is comp & collision? What does 50/100/50 mean? Do red cars really pay more? Guest Andrew Rose of Compare.com helps us make sense of it. We answer these questions: Collision vs. comprehensive: what’s the difference? How do you know which one you need?How can you tell if a car insurance company is "too good to be true"I know men generally pay more - and I know that economists generally pay less. What are some sneaky factors that affect your rates when it comes to car insurance?What are the 5 key things that car insurance base your rates on?Do red cars really pay more? A big Announcement is Coming Next week!
Be in the know, and sign up for our very-rare mailing list to find out the BIG NEWS when we announce next week. Sign up here: http://www.ohmydollar.com/announcements Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your financial worries or receipt victories at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you
We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show. View this transcript here at ohmydollar.com
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Planning for Known Unknowns - save up for that deductible Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
For our 100th Episode, we turned the mic on our listeners and asked: If I handed you $100 and you had to use it in the next 24 hours in a way it would have the biggest impact on your life, what would you do with it? Thank you so much to everyone who listens, everyone who has ever submitted a question to the show, our amazing forum community, our 75 wonderful monthly supporters on Patreon that make so much of this possible, and all 8 stations, especially our mothership XRAY.FM, that carry the Oh My Dollar! show. Here's to 100 more episodes. Much of this conversation came from the rad folks at our forum! Join us at forum.ohmydollar.com is a great non-judgemental place to ask questions or participate in our daily check-ins, personal financial journals, and challenges. Check out the thread with even more ideas of what to do with $100 over on the forum.
Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your splurges or other financial thoughts at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you
We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show, including this one, on ohmydollar.com. This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association and Chris Giddings. To learn more about being part of the Purrsonal Finance Society and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support
Other Episodes You Might Find interestingCurbing Impulse Purchases + Regrettable Spending Money When Depressed How much should you budget for clothing? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Are you thinking about taking the plunge into the world of e-bikes or cargo bikes? At $1,000 – $5,000, it can be hard to justify the expense. We hear from people about their own choice to get an ebike and why the expense made sense for them, and share some tips on figuring out if it’s right for you. Thank you SO MUCH to the over 100 people who submitted their stories about getting an e-bike on the Oh My Dollar! forums and the PDX Cargo Bike Gang page. I couldn't use all the amazing stories and keep this show a reasonable length! Links Mentioned in the Show: - My longtail bike, Persephone, an xtracycle conversion, carrying a folding bicycle - What a Longtail bicycle looks like carrying a kayak! - AAA's "Cost to Own and Operate a Car" Below is a non-comprehensive list of the many, many bike models mentioned in the show. Non-Cargo E-bikes: - Blix Vika+ - a folding ebike - AM1 Ebike - Genze.com - Bilenky Viewpoint (semi-recumbent with e-assist added) - Faraday Box Bikes (aka Bakfiets): - E-Bullitt - Packster 80 Longtail Bikes: - Surly Big Dummy - Xtracycle - Madsen Cycles - Bike Friday Haul-a-Day (folding) - Radwagon We'll continue this discussion on the Oh My Dollar! forums! We'd love to help you decide which bike to get (or not get) on this thread. We don't bite, come join! Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your bike photos or other financial thoughts at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you
We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show, including this one, on ohmydollar.com.
This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association, To learn more about being part of the Purrsonal Finance Society and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support
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How do you choose which things to spend more more money on - and what things can you cheap out on? Listeners write in with their best consumer investments and how these splurges improve their lives. People splurge on cooking equipment, knives, shoes, bras, and gym memberships. Please come join us Much of this conversation came from the rad folks at our forum! Join us at forum.ohmydollar.com is a great non-judgemental place to ask questions or participate in our daily check-ins, personal financial journals, and challenges.
Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your splurges or other financial thoughts at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you
We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show, including this one, on ohmydollar.com. This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association and Chris Giddings. To learn more about being part of the Purrsonal Finance Society and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support
Other Episodes You Might Find interestingCurbing Impulse Purchases + Regrettable Spending Money When Depressed How much should you budget for clothing? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
If you haven’t been following - and who can blame you - the law is an absolute mess - the Affordable Care Act, the law that provides health care coverage and protections for millions of Americans, was invalidated by a judge in Texas late last year. But this month, the Justice Department said they now have the position that the entire law should be scrapped. This is a big deal. This could affect, at a minimum, 21 million Americans. So what does this mean for you, if you're an American? This could mean the end of:Coverage for preventive servicesProvisions that eliminate denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditionsThe federal subsidies that help cover the cost of insurance for those that can’t afford it but fall above the poverty line (“marketplace subsidies”)Medicaid (low-income health care) expansion that covers 12 million Americans below 150% of the poverty lineHealth care coverage for children whose families are above the federal poverty line but still cannot afford or find coverage through the Children’s Health Insurance ProgramAccess to opioid addiction treatment for low-income AmericansAbility to cover your adult child up til the age of 26 on your health insuranceAnd so much more! Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your questions or successes at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar or join at our forum - at forum.ohmydollar.com
This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you
We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show on ohmydollar.com. This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association and Warrior Queen. To learn more about being part of the Purrsonal Finance Society and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support
Full Transcript & In-depth show notes provided by our Patrons at ohmydollar.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This is rebroadcast of an episode from our archives. Back to new episodes next week! The episode originally aired on February 13, 2017. Lillian answers all the questions you’ve been too scared to ask about investing for retirement. This guide is especially meant to help if you if want to get started investing in your 20's or 30's, but is applicable to anyone looking to get started who is a US resident. In this episode we cover 401ks & IRAs, explains how you choose what to invest, and what you should avoid. We answer these questions: - What is an IRA and why do I feel like everyone tells me I should have one? - Should I get a match on my 401K at work? - What if I don't really want to invest in bad corporations but don't want to eat cat food for the rest of my life? - How late is too late to get started? - Do I need to save up before I start investing? Within 30 minutes, you’ll be ready to click the “buy” button on your portfolio. Brokers for setting up your first IRA (no endorsement or affiliate links) -Vanguard.com (low-expenses IRAs) - Fidelity.com - Betterment - TD Ameritrade Links Mentioned in the ShowThe Stock Series by J L Collins (a more in-depth, but entertaining, series of blog posts covering index investing theory) Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your questions or successes at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you
We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show on ohmydollar.com. This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association and Warrior Queen. To learn more about being part of the Purrsonal Finance Society and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support
Full Transcript & In-depth show notes provided by our Patrons at ohmydollar.com
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Alright, so you got a tax refund. Or some other fun chunk of money. How should you use it? Save, splurge, or...? Maybe cash it into twenty dollar bills and fill your bathtub with it and flop around like the rich magical being you are? Here's our ideas, ranging from creative to not:
Pay off debtSave your one-month buffer or emergency fundStock up and freeze fancy cheese so you're never out of fancy cheeseFill in your sinking funds or known unknown categoriesSave for retirementBuild out your stupid mistakes categoryPay next year or next quarter's taxes earlyBudget for something fun - like a trip or a splurgeCreate an impulse buy category (I made a Scott's Cheap Flights splurge category) Links and Episodes mentioned
Scott's Cheap Flights - the most dangerous newsletterThe Government Will Pay You to Save For RetirementPreparing for Known UnknownsWhat Money Goals Should You Focus on? Complete Guide to Quarterly Taxes Please come join us We finally have a forum! Join us at forum.ohmydollar.com is a great non-judgemental place to ask questions or participate in our daily check-ins and challenges. It's really quite fun. This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you through our Purr-sonal Finance Society over on patreon - visit ohmydollar.com to read this week's transcript! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
There's so many options out there for small business retirement plans for employers! How do you choose one you can afford and that won't cause headaches to administer? Marcel wrote in: I’m a small business owner, who has recently expanded to have 8 employees. We’re doing well as a business, and I’d like to encourage my employees to save for retirement. What are my options? Almost all these plans will require you to make any eligible employee able to use it, which means you can't set up one just for yourself as the business owner without also providing something to your eligible employees. You have the ability to set eligibility standards, but all accounts have a minimum requirement for employee eligibility (such as if they've worked there for 1000 hours a year, for at least a year, they have to have access to the account.) This is important to bare in mind if you are making employer contributions but have part-time or seasonal employees.
Your options as an employer - Simple IRA: A relatively simple to administer retirement account that requires employer contributions of at least 2% of the employee's salary, even if the employees don't contribute anything. There are no IRS filing requirements for the employer but you can only offer this plan. The annual contribution limit is $13,000 for employees under 50. - SEP: A SEP (Simplified Employee Pension) IRA A traditional IRA for self-employed people or small business owners. It has more recordkeeping requirements A small business owner with one employee or more, or anyone with a freelance income can open a SEP IRA. These are advantageous for owners because the contribution limits are high, but no employees can contribute to this plan for themselves - it's just employer contributions. Individual employees who are eligible to participate in their employer's SEP plan must open individual Traditional IRAs to which their employers will deposit SEP contributions. -401k/403B This is the "traditional" retirement plan, and it has the headaches meant for a large employer to administer it as far as recordkeeping requirements. It has the highest limits for non-owner employees, $18.500 per year for employees under 50. -Allowing employees to contribute to a Roth or Traditional IRA through automatic deduction This has no cost to you, just a little more work during payroll. Unless the Traditional IRA is set up as a SEP, you cannot contribute as an employer to these plans.
Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your questions or successes at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you
We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show on ohmydollar.com. This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association and Warrior Queen. To learn more about being part of the Purrsonal Finance Society and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support
Full Transcript & In-depth show notes provided by our Patrons at ohmydollar.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Lillian travels to 2-13 countries a year, and mostly flies and stays in hotels for free or cheap - through credit card travel hacking. She walks you through how to do it as a hobby- and why you might not want to. There are no referral links in this post, because I don't want you to think I'm doing this for the points. I do a lot of things for the points, but getting my audience into my weird hobby is not one of those things! Steps to adventuring on travel hacking through credit cards as a hobbyIf you are in credit card debt, stop and do not pass go. Focus on paying off your credit card debt, as this is a hobby that will cost you money, not earn you perks, if you can't pay off your balance every month.Make sure you have a credit score above ~720 or so. You can find out by getting your free score from Discover (without a discover card) or getting your "FAKO" score from creditkarma.com.If you have a new credit file or score below 720, the best starter cards are usually the Chase Freedom and the Discover It. If you use them responsibly for about 8 months to a year you will build up a credit file. If you are a student there's also a Discover It Student and Capital One student card if you’re a student.Know how much you spend in a month on credit card spendable expenses. You need to hit this for minimum spend. This could be high if you get reimbursed for work expenses or could be low. Generally you need about $1,000 of expenses a month for most cards at a minimum, but there's a few ways around it but you may have to pay a small fee.Set up accounts with all the majors airline rewards perks - even if you don't think you'll use them. For keeping track of your different accounts, use a password management software (I use 1password). Even if you never are going to stay at a Hilton, for example, you still want an HHonors account. [visit the full post on Ohmydollar.com for more since I can't fit it all in here]Links mentionedMy Full Budget from my 13-country trip, including the travel hackingCurrent credit card offers google spreadsheetReddit.com/r/churning/ - The best place to ask newbie questions, it's less scary than other parts of reddit, I swear!For more advanced folks, https://www.flyertalk.com/ has a forum that's a great place to go but it's not very newbie friendly Please come join us We finally have a forum! Join us at forum.ohmydollar.com is a great non-judgemental place to ask questions or participate in our daily check-ins and challenges. It's really quite fun. This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you - visit ohmydollar.com to read the latest transcript! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Clothing - it can be a luxury item but it's also a necessity, if you live in polite society. How much should you spend on clothing in a year? How do you balance your budget with your values if you don't want to buy fast fashion items? Do you need to buy high-end sustainable fashion? Do you have to thrift everything? How do you calculate cost-per-wear? How long are socks really supposed to last? Lillian (4'11") and Will (6'5") talk about the differences in budgeting for clothing based on your height, your job, and your climate, and include some quotes from listeners about their own clothing budgets. The "rule of thumb" is 5% of your take home pay - but how does that map out? Is that realistic?
Links mentioned
Lillian's spreadsheet of her entire wardrobe + fun graphs on Racked.comA 1940's wardrobe plan + budget from glamourdazeA 1946 wardrobe budget plan from Seventeen MagazineStylebook App, which calculates cost-per-wear for your closetCollette Pattern's Wardrobe Architect blog post seriesThis is just a very cute youtube video by two of my fav youtubers where they kon-mari'd their extensive wardrobe - hey it's my podcast, I can include cute links if I wantHow to Organize a Clothing SwapThe Luxe StrategistPlease come join us
We finally have a forum! Join us at forum.ohmydollar.com is a great non-judgemental place to ask questions or participate in our daily check-ins and challenges. We've only been open for three weeks but we're going strong with lots of fun discussions. Please join!
Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your clothing budgets or other financial thoughts at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you
We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show on ohmydollar.com. This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association and Chris Giddings. To learn more about being part of the Purrsonal Finance Society and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support
Other Episodes You Might Find interestingCurbing Impulse Purchases + Regrettable Spending Debt-Free and Queer ft David Auten and John Schnieder Money When Depressed What if your life decisions were made by the stock market? ft. KmikeyM Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Balancing your checkbook- is that an adulting skill you should have? What exactly is a checkbook? Do you still need to do this? What is the digital equivalent? We answer your hot questions about checkbook balancing, how to do it, and whether or not it matters. Lillian goes also on a bit of a rant about how antiquated the US financial system is. In our mailbag are two listener questions: Tomas shares his debt payoff victories, and Don tells us how his wife negotiated to be moved to a W-2 employee from a 1099 contractor as a nanny. Don asks how a nanny can get a retirement account and a transit benefit. Thank you to our two listeners, Tomas and Don, who wrote in to share their stories! Links mentioned:
An old school guide to balancing your checkbook (PDF link)YNAB or You Need a Budget, Lillian's fav personal finance budgeting (+ reconciling) toolBitches Get Riches "How do you write and cash checks? Asking for a friend"The IRS guide for Caregiver + Nanny BenefitsPlease come join us
We finally have a forum! Join us at forum.ohmydollar.com is a great non-judgemental place to ask questions or participate in our daily check-ins and challenges. We've only been open for two weeks but we're going strong with lots of fun discussions. Please join!
Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your financial worries or receipt victories at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you
We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show on ohmydollar.com. This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association and Stephanie Powers. To learn more about being part of the Purrsonal Finance Society and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support We have full clickable transcripts available online for each episode at ohmydollar.com . provided by our amazing Patreon backers.
An Easy Way to Help
Our iTunes review drive is going on right now! It takes less than 10 seconds to click a star, it’s totally free, can you help us out? Click here to leave a review: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/oh-my-dollar/id1189980636?mt=2
Other Episodes You Might Find interesting
Sticking to your budget despite peer pressure + the secret to saving moneyNew Year's Resolution: Pay Less TaxWhat kind of employee are you? 1099 or W2? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Are you tired of eating and drinking your money away? Lillian and Will (plus some helpful listeners) share their tips for spending less at restaurants and bars. Some strategies include:
Involve your friends or co-workers in a "no eating out" challenge Start a lunch packing clubIdentify your big "triggers" for eating out and plan around themFind fun things to do that aren't bars or restaurants - invite friends over!Have your "I'm depressed/busy/unmotivated" meals ready in the fridge so postmates isn't a temptationDon't get beverages along with your mealAvoid getting a large latte or adding other things to your coffee drinks (from Will, our resident barista)
Links mentioned:
Lillian's monthly expenses reports and 2019 budgetPlease come join us
We finally have a forum! Join us at forum.ohmydollar.com is a great non-judgemental place to ask questions about taxes or what's "normal" in a budget category, have open conversations about money, or document. We've only been open for a week but we're going strong with 100 members. Please join!
Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your financial worries or receipt victories at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
An Easy Way to Help
Our iTunes review drive is going on right now! It takes less than 10 seconds to click a star, it’s totally free, can you help us out? Click here to leave a review: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/oh-my-dollar/id1189980636?mt=2 This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you
We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show on ohmydollar.com. This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association and Chris Giddings. To learn more about being part of the Purrsonal Finance Society and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support
Other Episodes You Might Find interesting
Sticking to your budget despite peer pressure + the secret to saving moneyHow to Make Financial Decisions without OveranalyzingCredit Hacks + Lillian’s Booze Spending ReportWe have full clickable transcripts available online for each episode at ohmydollar.comprovided by our amazing Patreon backers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Something we always say on this show is that money is highly personal. Well, one thing I’ve learned is there’s no specific “accomplishment” moment for when you are in control of your money. For some people it’s being able to buy whatever kind of cheese they want at the grocery store, for others it's the feeling of not worrying about the next paycheck. Today is the first episode of our new regular listener stories series, with The Billfold editor Nicole Dieker, where we feature listener's creative reflections on different financial topics. Our Next Topic The next prompt for our listener stories series is "Ramen" - do what that with you will. If you have stories to submit, send them in to stories@ohmydollar.com or tweet them 240-characters at a time to @ohmydollar. About The Billfold The Billfold is one of our favorite personal finance websites creating an honest conversation about money, with one of the most active commenter communities on the internet. About Nicole Dieker Nicole is the editor of The Billfold, and has also written for The Write Life, Lifehacker, Bankrate, and numerous other sites. She teaches writing, freelancing, and publishing classes (including online classes), and work one-on-one with authors as a developmental editor and copyeditor.
Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your financial worries or receipt victories at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show on ohmydollar.comThis episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association and Warrior Queen. To learn more about being part of the Purrsonal Finance Society and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support
Stories Featured - The First (and Second, and Third) Time I Felt in Control of My Money on The Billfold - How Two Budgeting Choices Gave Me Control Over My Money on The Billfold Other Episodes You Might Find interesting - Meal Planning (the secret weapon) ft. Nicole Dieker - What if your life decisions were made by the stock market? ft. KmikeyM - Creativity vs. Financial Security
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Do you have a profitable side hustle? Are you entirely self-employed? Do you send invoices to get paid rather than than get a paycheck with tax deductions taken out? It’s entirely possible you should be paying quarterly estimated taxes then. Paying quarterly estimated taxes can be annoyingly scary - not only are you like “WHY ARE YOU TAKING MY MONEY, GOVERNMENT?” you are responsible for keeping track of how much you get paid. The government website isn’t super fun. The IRS likes to believe they make it easy, but really they don’t. So today we break down how it works. Where to Go! - This not-so-handy form called IRS Form 1040-ES which will help you estimate your marginal tax rate - You can pay your taxes and automatically on the IRS’s website using “direct pay” or you can set up an account on the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System Deadlines for Quarterly TaxesFor income received Jan. 1 through March 31, estimated tax is due April 15.For income received April 1 through May 31, estimated tax is due June 15.For income received June 1 through Aug. 31, estimated tax is due Sept. 15.And for income received Sept. 1 through Dec. 31, estimated tax is due Jan. 15. Ask us a question! We love hearing from you! Email us your financial worries or receipt victories at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar An Easy Way to Help Our iTunes review drive is going on right now! It takes less than 10 seconds to click a star, it’s totally free, can you help us out? Click here to leave a review: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/oh-my-dollar/id1189980636?mt=2 This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you
We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show on ohmydollar.com This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association and Warrior Queen. To learn more about being part of the Purrsonal Finance Society and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It’s the time of year where I just get MAD at one thing in my life: receipts. They just suck - they're crinkly, they pile up, but theoretically you need to save them for tax purposes for 7 years. And theoretically “scan receipts” is a thing you can do, but what if you just end up with pictures of hundreds of receipts on your phone? So I used EVERY SINGLE receipt scanning app to find out which one is best for you. Enjoy. Things we discuss on this show - When you need to save receipts and when you can throw them away- The quick hack you can use on your email to create filters for digital receipts- How to use your email for paper receipt scanning- And all the apps: Evernote, Freshbooks, Waves Receipts Scanner, Shoeboxed, and Expensify
Ask us a question! We love hearing from you! Email us your financial worries or receipt victories at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members who generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association and Stephanie Powers. To learn more, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support Other Episodes You Might Like - What money goals should you focus on? - How to Conference Travel on the Cheap - How to quit your job and be freelance (Listener Questions) - What kind of employee are you? 1099 or W2? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Before 2018 closes out, we give you a list of a few things you should do wrap up your finances before the end of the year. Here's a few things to try to handle before the clock strikes midnight: - Make sure to review your charitable giving priorities, if you’re likely to itemize your tax deduction. This is where things are different than previous years. Remember that the standard deduction this year doubled - now $12,000 from $6,350 and for married filers to $24,000 from $12,700 - meaning the 31st deadline is less important. - If you haven’t signed up for health insurance yet, please do so before your deadline (12/15 on healthcare.gov, otherwise it varies) - If you get an FSA and it doesn't roll over (most don't) make sure to use it before the end of the year! -If you haven’t yet reached your goal for retirement contributions - either your IRA or your 401K/403B, now is the time to stuff them full if it's in your budget. - Figure out your tax withholding and adjust for next year it's too high or too low - here's a Kiplinger's calculator to figure out if you're withholding too much. - Do a big overhead view of your budget categories from your spending this year! Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your financial worries or victories at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you
We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show on ohmydollar.com This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association and Surreptitious Huggermugger Foundation. To learn more about being part of the Purrsonal Finance Society and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support An Easy Way to Help Our iTunes review drive is going on right now! It takes less than 10 seconds to click a star, it’s totally free, can you help us out? Click here to leave a review: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/oh-my-dollar/id1189980636?mt=2 Other Episodes You might Find Relevant:
– What money goal should you focus on next year? - How to choose a health insurance plan during open enrollment Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It can be hard to choose a financial goal when it feels like you need to be doing everything - Pay off debt! Get a new job! Get a side hustle! Save for a trip around the world! Travel hack! Clip Coupons! We talk about how to choose a financial goal to focus on when it feels like you should be doing everything all at once. Ask us a question!
We love hearing from you! Email us your financial worries or victories at questions@ohmydollar.com or tweet us at @anomalily or @ohmydollar
This show is made paw-sible by listeners like you
We absolutely love our Purrsonal Finance Society Members, the folks that generously support Oh My Dollar with $1 or more a month on Patreon – and have made is so we have free, full transcripts for every show on ohmydollar.com This episode was underwritten by patron Tamsen G Association and Warrior Queen. To learn more about being part of the Purrsonal Finance Society and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support An Easy Way to Help Our iTunes review drive is going on right now! It takes less than 10 seconds to click a star, it’s totally free, can you help us out? Click here to leave a review: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/oh-my-dollar/id1189980636?mt=2 Other Episodes You might Find Relevant:
– Managing Variable Income for Perpetually Anxious – Making a Living as a Performing Artist without Getting Famous Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
I’m really excited to have on reporter Dan Weissman to talk about his freshly-launched show, An Arm And a Leg podcast, which dives into the unique stories that come from the hellscape that is American health care. But it’s not depressing – it’s a nice conversation about everyday people vs American health care. As Dan puts it “ We’re like all blind people with this giant elephant – this giant terrifying fanged venomous elephant. And we got to get our get our picture of it together.”
You’re not going to you’re not going to wake up with a five hundred thousand dollar grocery bill all of a sudden and not know how you got it. But it’s entirely possible to go into the hospital because you’ve got a pain in your side and then get an appendectomy and be looking at a six figure bill.
We talk about:
Some of the interesting ways people are still getting health care without going through traditional insurance
Why Dan is focusing on storytelling with this new show
Middle class guilt over being on Medicaid
Being a Jewish person on a Christian Health Sharing Ministry plan
About An Arm And A Leg Podcast Health care – and how much it costs – is scary. But you’re not alone with this stuff, and knowledge is power. We may be screwed, but we’re together – and together we may figure out how to get a little less-screwed. Also (this will sound weird, but stay with us) it’s going to be fun. Take a listen. More here.
An Easy Way to Help Our iTunes review drive is going on right now! It takes less than 10 seconds to click a star, it’s totally free, can you help us out? Click here to leave a review: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/oh-my-dollar/id1189980636?mt=2
About Dan Weissmann Dan is a veteran reporter for outlets like Marketplace, 99 Percent Invisible, Planet Money, and Chicago’s WBEZ. His work reflects sophisticated reporting, an engaging narrative voice, and a knack for snappy, accurate breakdowns of complex subjects—from urban segregation to the economics of America’s largest crop to the eng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Are you ready for a cute, heartwarming, and thought-provoking interview this week? I hope so, because after a month of American health care on this show, I’m ready for an uplifting story. John Schneider and David Auten of DebtFreeGuys.com and Queer Money podcast help queer people live fabulously, not fabulously broke. David and John join for an interview talking about their own money stories, how they paid off $60,000 of credit card debt in 2.5 years, how to find non-homophobic companies to invest in, and why they think financial literacy is important in the straight community.
“I think one of the most important things about money is to remember that for our community – Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We have two listener questions this week for health care month: Anna wants to know how to fix an accidental over-contribution to her HSA without getting a penalty (time stamp 01:34), and Allison wants to figure out how to switch health insurance when the open enrollment periods don’t line up between the two plans (timestamp 5:32)
We talk about why navigating the open enrollment stacking is kind of like playing magic or playing Dungeons & Dragons with a drunk Dungeon Master (timestamp 10:34)
An Easy Way to Help Our iTunes review drive is going on right now! It takes less than 10 seconds to click a star, it’s totally free, can you help us out? Click here to leave a review: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/oh-my-dollar/id1189980636?mt=2
Reasons you can switch insurance outside of open enrollment – otherwise known as a “special enrollment period”
You have lost health coverage (you lose your job, or don’t qualify anymore at work, or you turn 26 on a parent’s plan) Please note that this does not apply if you lose coverage for non-payment of your premium (but if you’re behind on co-pays or co-insurnace, not premiums, your coverage shouldn’t be cancelled)!
You get married or divorced
You don’t lose coverage, but your hours are reduced to below 30 hours a week at work – then you can enroll in a healthcare.gov plan
You adopt or give birth to a child
You have moved out of state or your zip code (and you’re on a healthcare.gov plan)
When Moving qualifies you for a special enrollment period
Moving to a new home in a new ZIP code or county
Moving to the U.S. from a foreign country or United States territory
If you’re a student, moving to or from the place you attend school
If you’re a seasonal worker, moving to or from the place you both live and work
Moving to or from a shelter or other transitional housing
How to cancel health insurance
Generally you can cancel your plan at any time, and it usually takes effect immediately (sometimes it will be the 1st of the next month). You can do so online at healthcare.gov or by calling your insurance company
If you want to cancel an employer-provided health insurance plan, talk to your HR department or the person at your company that handles benefits.
How to get health insurance during open enrollment – Sign up at work if you qualify – Sign up at a partner’s or parent’s work (the later if you’re under 26 years old) – Enroll at your state’s exchange, which you can find at Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Just in time for halloween, we have an episode about some of the spookiest health insurance plans of all – “junk” health insurance plans, or “short-term” health insurance plans. The President must’ve heard that we’re talking about health insurance all month, because the administration just pushed through last-minute rule change that could mean that much, much cheaper health insurance plans are available.
Reasons you might want to get a short-term health insurance plan
They’re cheap.You’re healthy. Questions we answer in this episode
Why should you care about short-term health insurance plans?If you can’t find affordable health insurance on the exchange or through work, should you get one of these plans instead?Will they be available everywhere?What’s different in 2019 about health insurance based on these policy changes?How do you make sure that you’re not getting a junk health insurance plan? Downsides of Short-Term Health Insurance Plans (Also known as junk plans)
-There’s no regulations on the out-of-pocket maximum or co-insurance you could pay under this plan, so you could get in a car crash and have $80,000 in medical bills and it turns out you owe 20-30% of that bill- after your deductible. With an ACA-compliant plan you have a federal regulation that limits – They do not have to cover essential health benefits – typical short-term policies do not cover maternity care, prescription drugs, mental health care, preventive care, and other essential benefits, and may limit coverage in other ways -Many have a lifetime limit imposed, meaning the amount they will pay will top out at $1 million – $2 million – which sounds like a ton, until/unless you have a very expensive condition like a child born prematurely, or an expensive cancer treatment plan, or a serious traffic crash with an ICU stay. – If you do get sick while on the plan, they can decline to renew you and just drop you from the plan altogether. – Even if you don’t have a documented history of a pre-existing condition, starting treatment while on the plan, they can dig into your past and see if there were any indications that you may have had it before – and then refuse to pay for treatment or medication. This can really affect former athletes. – Many people will get rejected from getting a junk plan at all due to a long, long list of deniable conditions (everything from being trans*, asthma to history of yeast infections or being prescribed certain medications, such as PREP). -While they can no longer charge you more based on gender, they can do what’s called “community ratings” and charge you more based on your occupation, zip code, or other factors. For example, hairdressers have historically been charged more because of the higher percentage of gay men in the profession, which they deem as at higher risk of HIV (which is costly). That kind of community rating is now possible again with these plans.
Some Declinable Conditions in Medically Underwritten
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Teeth can be expensive! Lillian breaks down some unexpected ways you can save on dental – from taking a trip to Hungary to opening a FSA account, and helps explain why dental isn’t quite like regular health insurance. In this episode I say “out of pocket maximum” a few times when I meant maximum.
Ways to Save on Dental Costs
Step 1, actually get preventative work done if you can – it will save you money in the long run If you have access to dental insurance, make sure you go in-networkDo the math on self-bought insurance vs how much you will useBe aware of the maximum on your insurance and any waiting periods – there’s no regulations on what is required like there is for regular insuranceShop around for different procedures & compare pricesLook into a local dental school for reduced cost workConsider dental tourism to a country with high-quality and low cost plansOpen an HSA (if you have an eligible HDHP plan) or an FSA either on your own or through your insurance Helpful resources for strategies mentioned in this episode
fairhealthconsumer.com – a place to look up comparable rates for health care costsDental Discount Plan – A discount discount planAnother discount plan – universaldiscountplanAn Everyday Health article on someone’s experience with dental tourismList of things to consider for dental tourismA Billfold article on paying for a wisdom tooth extraction with an HSA Other Episodes you might find helpful
How to choose a health insurance plan during open enrollment – information on HSA and FSAs from last week’s episodeMistakes not to make with health insurance – last year’s episode with Jake Hopper is still a relevant guide to different questionsYour trump health insurance questions answeredReminder we’re on a mission to get those iTunes reviews and ratings up. It only takes 10 seconds to star a review. Here’s a link to our iTunes profile!
Transcript
We have transcripts for every single episode now provided thanks to the support of our Patrons in the Purrsonal Finance Society – you can become one, too! Learn more here.
How to Save on Dental – 10.17.2018 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Today we look at how to choose a health insurance plan – should you get a PPO, an HMO, or a HDHP? What is an HSA? And what do those acronyms mean anyway? What if you get free money from work? Open Enrollment is starting for many people! This is the time of year when you can enroll, so we are devoting multiple episodes this month to untangling the mess of American health care bureaucracy as part of our Health Care Month 2018. If you’re a non-US listener, here are some cute cat videos to watch instead.
We are taking your health care questions all month on Oh My Dollar! The more questions you ask, the more Will learns. Send in to questions@ohmydollar.com or via twitter to @ohmydollar
Acronyms in this episode:
A PPO – A preferred provider organization – a typical American health insurance plan, where you have in-network and out-of-network providers as part of a “network” of doctors Usually easier to find doctors you jive with or who understand your particular needsMay be your only optionHMO – Health management organization – a bundled type of health insurance where the network and health insurance organization are integrated Can be good for someone who is “lazy” (AKA overwhelmed trying to figure out how to get care) – you’ll be assigned a doctor and treatment protocol-Often have integrated systems – all doctors can see the same records, pharmacy is linked to the doctors, making things easierHarder to get care that deviates for a “norm” – can be challenging if you have trans* health needs or want experimental/newer treatment for somethingYou often can’t get anything covered to see a specific doctor unless they are part of the HMO plan or if you get a specific recommendation letter from your primary care doctor.HDHP – High Deductible Health Plan – a type of health insurance where you have lower premiums and higher deductibles HSA – Health Savings Account – a type of health savings plan that is tax free (only for HDHP users) You can save with a Payroll deduction Your company can contribute tax-free dollars for you (extra tax free income for you)It’s like a regular savings account, and you can keep it when you leaveYou can invest a portion of the accountFSA – Flexible Spending Account – a type of health savings plan thatdoes not roll over year to year but can be used by most anyone regardless of type of plan
Things to Know When Shopping for Health Care
Generally higher the premium, lower the deductible.
Related Episodes:
Your Trump Health Insurance Questions AnsweredUntangling COBRA and Healthcare.gov premiumsAre Health Savings Accounts an evil Republican tax loophole or actual magic?Mistakes not to make with health insurance ft Jack Hopper (long cut)Thanks to our Purrsonal Finance Society Members on patreon, we now have transcripts!
This Week’s Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Even if you have poor or no credit, that doesn’t mean you’re stuck living in your parent’s basement forever. Here are some strategies for finding housing when you have poor credit, and also some strategies for repairing your credit after missed payments. Listener Blair asks what to do after she missed some payments when underemployed, now ready to get out of her parent’s house and into a place of her own. This Show is Brought to You by our Listeners
This show is supported by generous listeners like you through our patreon. This episode was underwritten by the Tamsen G Association, Warrior Queen, and Stephanie Powers. To learn more about ways to support Oh My Dollar! and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support/
Or, even easier and $0 – leave us a review on iTunes!
Blair in Denver asks:
I am a long time lurking listener, first time emailer! I discovered your podcast after many personal finance resources made me feel anxious and afraid. Your advice made me feel like I wasn’t a failure, and like I could sort my priorities out enough to manage my financial goals.
After graduating with a master’s degree in a large city in 2017, I hit an extreme period of underemployment. Despite applying for over 200 jobs in 3 months and a few promising interviews, I could not find full time work, and was trying to cobble together multiple part time jobs. With student loan repayments looming and less than $1,000 per month in income, I had to make the choice to move 1800 miles back home in order to save on rent.
Though I am still underemployed, i am making about $10k per year more and have managed to make most of my accounts current, have paid off smaller bills, and even have enough discretionary funds to cover emergencies. After a year of aggressive networking and research, I finally have leads on a few jobs that would up my income significantly enough that I could afford to finally move out.
The problem is now my credit rating. My personal debt is very low and my student loans are current, but I had an account go into collections (which I am currently paying off via a payment plan) and have about 7 missed payments from when I was so underemployed I ate popcorn for dinner most nights (which dropped me from 100% payment history to 98%). Due to these factors, my score is under 550, and even if I pay off my credit cards and personal loan, my score will only rise an estimated 1-2 points. Because my market is so competitive, most companies and landlords require a score of at least 600. All of these changes are recently acquired, and I cannot live at home another 7 years while I wait for them to fall off my report. How should I go about trying to prove my creditworthiness to a landlord?
Some strategies for finding housing with bad credit in a competitive market
Be up front with any potential landlords about the bad credit before you start rentingSave up a large deposit – cash talks when credit scores can’tLook for private landlord, who can usually be more flexibleAsk for a co-signer, such as a family memberFind a roommate with better credit and be a secondary leaseeLook for apartments specifically advertised as “no credit check” or that say they approve low credit – there a Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In a short episode recorded from a Hilton hotel closet in Orlando, Lillian shares some of her tips for traveling to conferences on the cheap – from flights, alternative accommodation, to using Instacart to get food delivered. This Show is Brought to You by our Listeners
This show is supported by generous listeners like you through our patreon. This episode was underwritten by the Tamsen G Association, Warrior Queen, and Stephanie Powers. To learn more about ways to support Oh My Dollar! and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support/
In this episode, I talk about:
Getting groceries delivered to your hotel to save on foodTravel hacking for fare dealsStaying at hostels or airbnbs instead of hotel roomsFinding a roommate for a conferenceMy super-pricey annual fee credit card and how it saves me money on travel expensesUsing public transit For your pleasure, here is me crammed into the hotel closet recording this episode
“Don’t go back in the closet, Lillian!”
Resources from the Show
Instacart food delivery– get food delivered to your hotelThe IRS Per Diem Website (search by location)Scott’s Cheap Flights – Cheap international flights mailing listThe Points Guy – one of the best places to dig into rewards credit cardsReddit.com/r/churning/ Advanced-Level travel hacking card research Other Episodes You Might Like
New Year’s Resolutions & Picking a Rewards CardHow to quit your job and be freelance (Listener Questions)Money and Business as a Freelancer without “Selling Out” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In a casual interview episode, I’m joined by Mike Merrill. Mike, or KMikeyM, has been doing one of the longest-running art project on capitalism as the world’s first publicly traded person, selling shares of himself to friends and strangers for 10 years. Shareholders then vote on his life decisions. Having just launched my own experiment in community-based capitalism with Oh My Dollar!’s patreon, I thought I should get his advice. We talk about how his personal self-image fluctuates based on his share price, eliminating his personal credit card debt, finding your own “personal rap video” version of wealth, and why everyone should set a dollar bill on fire in front of an audience at least once.
This Show is Brought to You by our Listeners
This show is supported by generous listeners like you through our patreon. This episode was underwritten by the Tamsen G Association and Surreptitious Huggermugger Foundation. To learn more about ways to support Oh My Dollar! and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support/
About Mike Merrill, AKA KMikeyM
Mike Merrill is the world’s only publicly traded person, which means he sells shares in himself and allows the shareholders to vote on his life. He is obsessed with concepts and focuses less on practical details, leading to many half baked projects. He is currently “writing” a ghostwritten crowd-sourced fanfic about himself, lives in a cabin in Los Angeles, and had left technology to work in advertising. Disclosure: I coached Mike through some personal debt and was paid in “shares” of him, so I’m a shareholder.
In this episode, we discuss:
Index Fund of People Is the whole stock market an art project?Should the cats that follow me on instagram get half votes on my haircut or double votes?Why money feels like wizardry and wealth is a spellHow Mike’s self-value has ended up correlating to his stock valueIf you’re an anxious person, putting your retirement portfolio on autopilotMike’s using the model of a stock market to represent a decision making engineDressing in Brooks Brothers (as the personal embodiment of capitalism) in hyper-casual PortlandHow this project has changed Mike’s relationship to money (and it’s not really necessarily positive)Your own personal rap video and what wealth really means to youWhy you should burn a $1 bill Resources from this episode:
KmikeyM.com website – maybe you’d like to buy some stock!Alexa skill that says KmikeyM’s share price!Millionaire Next Door – a classic personal finance book, the largest survey ever conducted on the lifestyle of true millionaires (most clip coupons)Download your own “Things I want tracker” Other episodes your might like
Curbing Impulse Purchases & Regrettable Spending– the original episode about the “Things I want Tracker”Budgeting Rule #1: You Do You– all about spending according to your own values (AKA “create your own rap video”) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Does financial uncertainty make you more creative or does it break your creative muscles? Lillian and Will reflect on their plethora of jobs, and Lillian justifies her choice to take a full-time temp job and launch a patreon for the show. (By the way we launch a patreon. Check it out!) Listeners weigh in on if they do better creative work when financially strapped or financially secure. Oh My Dollar! has just launched a membership program on Patreon! If you’re interested in supporting the show and getting access to exclusive perks like livestreams and stickers, you can find out more at ohmydollar.com/support/
Become an Oh My Dollar! Underwriter
This show is supported by generous listeners like you through our Patreon. This episode was underwritten by Warrior Queen, the Tamsen G Association and Stephanie Powers. To learn more about ways to support Oh My Dollar! and get cool perks like exclusive livestreams and cat stickers, you can visit ohmydollar.com/support/
Resources mentioned in the show:
Lillian’s transit map of all her jobs Other Episodes You might Find Relevant:
– Managing Variable Imcome for Perpetually Anxious – The Art of Debt ft Cathy Byrd – Financial Mothers in History + Making Money as a Creator ft Jason Porath – Making a Living as a Performing Artist without Getting Famous
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Today’s guest is not to be missed. Cathy Byrd from Fresh Art International reinvented herself as an artistic nomad after she got laid off in her mid-50’s while in debt. She paid off all her debt a few months after unemployment, including short selling her house and despite being unemployed for 2.5 years, she emerged from unemployment with $22,000 in savings and a new career.
We talked about the relationship between art and debt, what emerging artists need to do become financially successful, Cathy’s own story of debt and recovery, and some of the unbelievable relationships between wealthy institutions and exploitations of artists. We also discuss the relative employability of art history degrees.
About Cathy Byrd & Fresh Art International
Reaching thousands of followers each week, the Fresh Art International podcast and radio show spotlight diversity in the world of art, design and film through conversations about creativity since 2011.
Fresh Art International’s artistic director Cathy Byrd is a globally engaged independent curator and arts journalist with more than 20 years of experience in the field. Her writing appears in the Miami Rail, Art Papers, Art in America and Sculpture magazine. With more than 200 episodes to-date, Byrd’s Fresh Art International podcast documents creative practices at the center and fringe of art scenes across six continents and the Caribbean Archipelago. Listen anywhere you go for podcasts.
Random bullets from the episode you might want to hear
The relationship between working artists and debt
Cathy went to art school 20 years after her first degree
The need for artistic mentors in building financial viable art careers
The pervasive “starving artist” narrative despite that art collection has always been a symbol of wealth
The value of creative production at all levels – making money and not
The value of “art history” degrees (and the historical relationship between rich women and art history degrees)
Union organizing of adjunct professors in the arts
If we need art as humans, how do we make sure that artists keep making art
Patreon as a new model for artists to monetize the following they already have
Finding time to make art when you’re also looking for money to make art
Cathy’s role now working with artists on the edge of emerging and seasoned to help create a career
Links from the episode
Fresh Art International’s excellent “Art of Capitalism” episode
Occupy Museums: An art exhibit profiling artist debt and the links between the museum and their lenders
Fresh Art International podcast
Other Episodes You Might Find Relevant
Making a Living as A Performing Artist without Getting Famous ft John Vergin: John’s never had a “real job” in his life, but he’s always made a living with music and art
Budgeting on a Variable Income: A comic artist wants to know some tips for budgeting despite her variable income and setting her patreon goals
Money and Business as a Freelancer without Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Kelly realized that she is doing “real investing” (picking individual stocks) and want to move into index funds instead (which is still investing!) But she’s not sure exactly how to do it. So we walk through how to build an index fund portfolio.
Christina asks what she should do with extra money after she pays off her car note when she’s already finished her emergency fund and is contributing to a pension and 403B.
Grab the Get Your Money Together cat-filled workbook at ohmydollar.com/book/
Resources mentioned in the show
Mr. Money Mustache – blog with a silly name but excellent resources on early retirement
Your Money or Your Life – Classic Financial Independence Book
Other Episodes You might Find Relevant
Everything you need to save for retirement in 30 minutes (if you’re under 40): Our most comprehensive episode on figuring out how to start saving for retirement
The Government Will Pay You to Save For Retirement: If you have a below-median income, you may qualify for the Saver’s Credit for starting to save for retirement, which is FREE MONEY!
How to quit your job and be freelance: I answer what’s a Roth 401K and who should use it?
Sticking to your budget despite peer pressure + the secret to saving money: Why you might want both an IRA and a 401K.
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Did you wake up one day and realize you’re accidentally a business owner? When you are a freelancer, you are the business. Danny Schuman accidentally ended up being an entrepreneur, and he figured out how to sustain himself even with the so-called “Worst Business Model of the World”. He shares his tips for freelancers on staying sane as a business owner. We talk about how to build a network when you hate networking, how to not freak out when you don’t know when the next money is coming in, and how to make money in business without “selling out”. He shares his super-easy tip for taking the emotional fear out of writing down a “fee” amount on a proposal without underselling himself. [Apologies for the slightly less great audio quality on this episode – we believe the content is worth it!]
Other Episodes You Might Like As A Freelancer About Managing Money
How to Quit Your Job and Be Freelance – All the steps you should take if you are preparing to go freelance – from setting up retirement, budgeting for lean times, to choosing business bank accounts, and more!How to Budget on Variable Income – How to set up and budget when you’re a freelancer whose income isn’t the same every monthVariable Income for the Perpetually Anxious – I give some clear tips for handling budgeting when you’re a perpetually anxious human with variable freelancer income like me!How to Make Choices without Overanalyzing – We specifically talk about choosing a bank, including choosing a business checking account (which you should have if you’re a freelancer!) About Our Guest Danny Schuman
This is Danny Schuman, our excellent guest on freelancer business tips Danny Schuman is a writer, marketer, and entrepreneur. He’s spent his career creating ideas to solve marketing challenges. He started his marketing consultancy Twist in January 2009 in the middle of the worst recession in the past 75 years, the first indication that he didn’t really know what he’s doing. Despite that, he’s spent the past 10 years helping big and small brands develop successful brand strategies, focusing their message, and bringing that message to the right people. Before Twist, Danny wrote and creative directed marketing campaigns that helped build iconic brands like Quaker Oatmeal, Coors Light, and Gatorade. He and Michael Jordan started working on Gatorade on the same day. Michael called Danny “Peanut Butter Jelly Boy,” but that’s a story for another time. His book The Worst Business Model in the World: A New Kind of Guide for a New Kind of Entrepreneur is available on Amazon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Maddie asks how to pick a bank from all the different options: credit union, online bank, local bank, multi-national – how do you choose?! Choosing a bank is hard!
Some things to consider:
How often you need to deposit cash or checks too large for an ATMHours of the bankBanking fees for holding accountMinimum balance requiredOther account requirements (direct deposit or debit transactions)Your politics (would your rather have a bank or credit union?) – check out this list of political donations by banksHow good the app or online access is (does it make your eyes bleed?)If they have credit builder cardsIf you want manual underwriting for a mortgageIf you get free checks with the accountSign up bonuses! Some banks we mentioned (no referral links below, just information!)
USAA (online only bank for military and immediate family)Ally Bank (online bank with high yield checking accounts)Simple (online bank with budgeting tools built in)My local Portland credit union with free business checking accountsChase bank sign up bonuses (currently $200 or $300) via NerdwalletAutomatic savings accounts from Acorns and StashCredit builder cards (google “credit build credit union” and your state’s name!)I print all my checks at home directly from Word. It streamlines a lot of processes for me! If you want to print your own checks, here’s check paper!
As always, please write in with any show questions to questions @ ohmydollar (dot) com – and let us know if you don’t use a bank or how you chose the one you have now!
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Lillian goes on a calm rant about the common refrain that you simply need to work on your “money mindset” to improve your financial outcome…while also talking about the value of it. We’re a big fan of this episode’s sponsor, Haven Life. If you’re interested in getting financial peace of mind for your family for an affordable price, get a quote at welcome.havenlife.com/omd
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Lillian and Will walk through the basics of the home office deduction – and how things have changed under the new tax plan for 2018! You don’t need to have an LLC or own your home to take the home office deduction, but there are some things you need to know! We’re a big fan of this episode’s sponsor, Haven Life. If you’re interested in getting financial peace of mind for your family for an affordable price, get a quote at welcome.havenlife.com/omd
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Jessica asks if she should buy a house or keep renting in her cheap apartment longer, and more listeners share their experiences with homeownership. Episode Links: My favorite calculator to determine your monthly mortgage paymentThe NYtimes Rent Vs Buy CalculatorThe Get Your Money Together Giveaway including a Passion Planner, RescueTime Pro for a year, and a cat bowtie: ohmydollar.com/giveaway/Welcome to our new sponsor, Haven Life Insurance Company. If you’ve been putting off getting life insurance, it’s an excellent time to get a quote quickly online – and you help out Oh My Dollar! too! Check it out here: https://welcome.havenlife.com/omd
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Lillian & Will share their own post-graduation money mistakes and give some tips for new college graduates on dealing with student loans, budgeting, and getting established. Get a copy of Get Your Money Together for the new grad in your life that could use some fur-iendly cats explaining finance http://www.ohmydollar.com/book/
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Variable Income. We’ve mentioned it a lot on this show because the more variable your income, the less traditional finance advice helps you. Today we talk about how to handle variable income when you’re anxious or neurotic (like Lillian!) So we’ll walk through a few things you can do to handle it. Lillian book Get Your Money Together – a cat-filled illustrated guide to purrsonal finance is shipping now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Will and Lillian dive into a meta-episode about Oh My Dollar! at Outlet PDX for the launch of the Get Your Money Together book in front of a live audience and answer some questions about the show. Grab a copy of the book here!
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Listener Eva asks a question about picking investments in her 401K – should she stick with just a stock index fund or also a bond index fund?
Here’s the J Collins Stock Series that Eva referenced (and I recommend) for an entertaining but illuminating view on investing (it’s more fun than it sounds). For more on investing allocations explained by cats, grab a copy of Lillian’s cat-filled purrsonal finance book, Get Your Money Together at ohmydollar.com/book/
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This bonus episode is probably one of my favorite dense episodes that’s a departure from our normal topic: Malcolm and Simone Collins are a married couple and tour de force for figuring out your values with brutal pragmatism – your objective function, as they call it. We cover topics like “what are logical fallacies people make with money?” and “how do emotions help you actually find your values?” and “if your number one value is family, how do you relate that to career and money?”
If you want to dive into their book, which I loved for all it’s weightiness, it is $.99 on Amazon: The Pragmatist’s Guide to Life: A Guide to Creating Your Own Answers to Life’s Biggest Questions and their foundation The Pragmatist Foundation.
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Author and illustrator Jason Porath, of the Rejected Princesses series, joins us to talk about some financially savvy women in history we might not know about, and talks about his experience making a living as a creator online. This is a longer version of what aired on radio, just for you, podcast listeners!
Check out Rejected Princesses to see more of Jason’s work.
Grab a copy of Tough Mothers: Amazing Stories of History’s Mightiest Matriarchs here.
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Lillian walks through a lot of the misconceptions about homeownership – including the idea that you haven’t “adulted” until you’ve insta-bragged about buying a house. Buying a house can be a great decision, but don’t get caught up in some of the myths about homeownership. Resources:
jlcollinsnh: Why Your House is a Terrible Investment?
Afford Anything: Renting is Throwing Away Money…Right? (contains the Rent:Buy calculation)
NYTimes Rent Vs Buy Calculator
Join our launch party! http://www.ohmydollar.com/booklaunch/
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A free form episode where Will & Lily talk about the Get Your Money Together book, when the right time is to follow up on an unpaid invoice, how to pay for big business purchases, and their biggest single expenses. ever.
Get the book at www.ohmydollar.com/book/
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Many people wonder how to figure out how to find a financial advisor without getting screwed over. Michael Dinich helps us untangle all different types of financial professionals out there.
You can find out more about Michael Dinich at Yourmoneygeek.com
If you’re in Portland, please join us at an adorable cat-filled launch party on May 17th for the Get Your Money Together book. RSVP here: ohmydollar.com/booklaunch/
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Money mistakes. We’ve all made them. Those blunders or miscalculations that end up costing you money – and maybe upset a financial stability you’ve worked to build. Jen Hemphill, the author of Her Money Matters, joins us to talk about messy money mistakes and money stories. Check out her book and podcast here: https://jenhemphill.com/book
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One of the wonderful things about modern society is that when I have have a material need, if I have some money, I can usually exchange money to help fulfill that need. But comments on Lillian’s monthly financial reports prompted her to examine what money really solves.
Get Your Money Together, Lillian’s illustrated purr-sonal finance book comes out next week on tax day (4/17): pre-order at ohmydollar.com/book
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We answer two listener questions: How to figure out if you should be a non-profit, LLC, or become a corporation? and L asks how to set their patreon tiers (16:45) to make sure they can take money home.
Reminder! You can pre-order the cat-filled Get Your Money Together workbook right meow at ohmydollar.com/book
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Allison writes in to ask about what to do with a “medium” inheritance, and Lillian helps explain how PHD students might not qualify to save in a Roth IRA.
Don’t forget, you can pre-order Get Your Money Together workbook at ohmydollar.com/book
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Inspired by Jesse Horn at the Bond conference, Lillian and Will talk about why you shouldn’t feel bad about acquiring money, just because capitalism is immoral. Also spending less than $90 on a trip to SF.
Reminder that Get Your Money Together book is almost here, and it’s not too late to get the pre-order chapters! Order at ohmydollar.com/book/
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Eric Brotman from Brotman Financial Group joins us to talk about how to have the hard conversations about money with your parents, and help them plan for their own retirement.
Check out Eric’s book on lowering your taxes at http://www.lowtaxbook.com/
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We bring back a new spin on an old topic from the archives: how to make a budget based in your own values – and how to talk about money with your spouse, partner, co-parent, or even just roommate [starts at 5:32]
There’s still time to join the weekly chapter read-alongs. Just head over to ohmydollar.com/book/
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We answer a potpourri of listener questions:
Where do you keep an emergency fund? A money market? (1:21 timestamp)
What is a CD ladder? (5:58 timestamp)
Listener C just got a letter saying she had defaulted on her student loans. How does she get a handle on what she owes and where? (11:30 timestamp)
What are the repayment options?
Get Your Money Together workbook is a doing weekly chapter read-alongs and purrsonal finance challenges right meow! Join by pre-ordering the ebook at http://www.ohmydollar.com/book/
——- Resources—- For federal loans (meaning non-private ones) the best place to go is the NSLDS (national student loan data system). You’ll need to know your FSA ID. If you don’t remember it or can’t find it, you can reset it at https://studentaid.ed.gov – or you can call 1-800-4-FED-AID and they’ll walk you through it. You can use the repayment calculator at studentloans.gov
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When you’re depressed, it can be hard to get off the couch, let alone worry about your budget. Lillian shares some tips for handling your personal finances when you’re depressed.
Set things on autopay. Ask a friend (or even me) to sit with you while you get everything on autopay.
Don’t focus on on your money (especially things outside of your control) after you get things on autopay. Anxiety over 401Ks.
Consider implementing a cash budget in some categories to prevent impulse spending – especially for substances or whatever addictive behavior (food, clothing shopping, nicotine, etc) you fall into when depressed.
Spend money on the things you need to recover and take care of yourself – easymac, grocery delivery, therapy, drug co-pays, yoga class – whatever the things you need to get better.
If you are considering hurting yourself, or just need someone to talk to that won’t judge you, you can call the National Suicide Prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255 any time of day and talked to trained, caring folks.
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Eva asks if she really has to adult-up and get disability insurance (yes!)
Rebecca wants to know if whole life insurance makes sense if someone can’t get term due to mental health hospitalization.
Josh wants to know how to cash a savings bond when his credit union won’t take it. Here’s the link with info to mail it in.
And Debbi wants to know if her kids’ 529 plans are properly invested.
If you’re ready to get some purrsonal finance merit badge stickers, or pre-order the Get Your Money Together book while it’s still $5, head over to http://www.ohmydollar.com/book/ to load up your basket with money cat goodies!
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Early Retirement? I always thought that sounds like something only for silent velcro millionaires or tech bros – but it can be achievable without a windfall. We talk about the keys of starting with your values, budgeting, and using frugality to build up an income stream where you don’t have to have a traditional job.
We have two folks who are early retired or FIRE’d (Financially Independent/Retired Early) on to share the basics of building an early retirement plan. It’s a long episode, but a good one, I think!
Resources
You can get Deacon at Well Kept Wallet’s “Debt Free in 18 Months” course for free if you follow this link. Get his excellent book “You Can Retire Early” if you want to learn more!
Douglas Tsoi’s Financial Freedom Course at Portland Underground Grad School
Paula Pant at Afford Anything’s rental case studies and rental calculations
My favorite book about financial independence: The Simple Path to Wealth (amazon affiliate link)
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We share tactics to curb impulse purchases and regrettable spending. Also, we learn that Will owns every Animorphs book and is a sucker for odd citrus fruits. And learn what 18-year-old crustpunk Lily wanted to buy.
Grab your “things I want” google sheet at: http://ohmydollar.com/thingsIwant
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Lillian and Will talk about how to set non-boring money goals that won’t set you up for new year’s resolution failure. Save more money! Spend less money! Roll over that darn 401K! Implement a new system! Other things that are fun!
Check out my favorite app for budgeting, YNAB – I’ve used it for 3 years, and my biggest regret was I didn’t switch years earlier. Use this link for a 34-day free trial.
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Alicia McElhaney of the She Spends newsletter joins us to talk about one of the best ways to make more money in the new year: ASK FOR IT! We talk about tips & tricks for salary negotiation, and tell stories from our own experience with salary negotiation.
Recommended book (for all genders): Ask For It.
The Bullish Series on Negotiation.
Get Your Money Together Bootcamp is 50% off for this week only using code HALFOFF2018 – set off your new year on the right foot at bootcamp.ohmydollar.com
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Listener Eva asks how she can maximize her retirement savings and minimize her taxes as a self-employed person; Lillian talks her through SEP IRAs and Solo 401Ks (they’re nearly the same as one another but not the same as regular IRAs). We also cover the ways that folks can pay less taxes in the new year starting at 9:08min.
New Year is the perfect time to start a new budgeting regime. Check out our new year goal setting post.
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Lauren asks how to build a realistic budget with “little wins” and Lillian asks her to figure out what her wins and necessities are. Sara asks how she deducts the cost of her health insurance as a self-employed person. Plus, what to do before the end of the year for tax preps.
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Listener health insurance questions answered: Are Health Savings Accounts an evil republican tax loophole for rich people or actually useful? How do co-pay assistance plans work? How do you work the system instead of the system working you? What do you do if you don’t know your income for the year and healthcare.gov asks you for it!?
The health insurance exchange at healthcare.gov is only open for 2018 health plans until December 15th!
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There’s so many confusing terms when you’re looking for health insurance: OOP, HMO, deductible, co-insurance, co-pays – how do you untangle them? How do you not go broke buying health insurance? Jack Hopper of Take Command Health, helps us figure it out.
Small business owner looking for advice on health insurance? Check out takecommandhealth.com for more info.
Don’t forget that December 15th is your deadline to enroll in, change, or renew your plan for 2018 at healthcare.gov
(This is the long 45 minute episode instead of the radio cut that aired 12/1/2017.)
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We answer rapid fire questions: Should Alice liquidate a 401K to avoid credit card debt? Can Charlotte use her spouse’s income on a credit card application? Can Dan move money between the US and his home country without accidental money laundering?
Reminder: December 15th is the deadline for the health care exchange to renew, change, or get a new health care plan.
If you’re interested in volunteering for the AARP’s Tax-aide program, check out information here and find a program in your area: https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aarp_taxaide/
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We answer listener questions about budgeting. Tamás asks how to reduce his budget when he can’t figure out what’s too high, and Sara asks how to recognize emotional spending & help curb it.
(We’re back on a Monday posting schedule, thanks for your patience.)
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Oregon is trying to start a retirement planning revolution- every single business in Oregon will be required to offer a retirement plan of some sort by 2020. Joel Metlan joins us to discuss “Oregon Saves” and the behavioral economics built into the plan. And why it might be coming to your state soon, too! Check it out at Oregonsaves.com
(Apologies for the inconsistent episodes the past two weeks; we had some scheduling challenges but we’re back on track!)
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Listener Riah asks how much she should save up to have kids, and special guest Kim Dubois Harrison, discusses parenting choices about money, expensive childcare, and the time value of money as a parent.
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Journalist Alden Wicker, author of “Multilevel-marketing companies like LuLaRoe are forcing people into debt and psychological crisis” for Quartz.com joins us for a discussion on the cost of MLMs. Read the article here. Oh My Dollar! has a cat-filled purrsonal finance illustrated workbook raising funds on kickstarter! We can use your help. Check out http://www.ohmydollar.com/kickstarter/ to back.
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We have a special guest Katie Bovitz from the Portland Housing Center to talk about considerations for buying & financing your first home. (Let us know if you want the 1 hour version of this show!) Oh My Dollar is launching a purr-sonal finance workbook, check it out at http://www.ohmydollar.com/kickstarter
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A short episode just to say hello after Fall Break to give an update on Lillian’s travels. Oh My Dollar! is launching a cat-themed purr-sonal finance workbook: http://www.ohmydollar.com/kickstarter/
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We’re back from our week break with an episode on Social Security featuring economist Jon Rork. Will it be around in 25 years? How does it work? Should you factor it in to your retirement planning?
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Lillian walks through the three things you can do to improve a bad (or nonexistent) credit score, and why it might not matter.
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We talk about what to when you unexpectedly come into “extra” money – how to allocate it, and listener stories about how they used their windfalls.
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A live show from the Oh My Dollar! and XRAY in the morning crew, Lillian answers two listener questions: Alan wants to know how much to keep in his bank account, and Catherine asks how to plan for $90K of graduate school debt.
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We discuss some great splurge ideas, and how to plan for them, include Lillian’s big trip from Dublin > Shanghai by train, and Will’s fantasy of crossing the Pacific on a cargo ship. (H/T to Paula from affordanything.com for the great exercise.)
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It’s totally possible to get to retirement money early! Lillian walks you through the legal ways to get money without paying crazy penalties. Plus – why you shouldn’t do that!
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What should you do about health care when you leave your job? Why does COBRA cost so much and why does it sound so scary? And how to figure out healthcare.gov premium assistance with variable income.
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We talk about life insurance policies – and what the difference between term and whole life insurance policies are. And what being “self-insured” really means.
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If you’re in your 20’s or 30’s, you’re might be getting invited to weddings. Possibly lots of them. Just attending a wedding, let alone standing up in one, costs money! How do you make a budget for that?
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Lillian walks you through two types of insurance most folks should have, but no one wants to think about: life and disability insurance! We also cover what Worker’s Comp does and doesn’t cover.
Sorry we’re a day late this week; technical difficulties + international travel!
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Will and Lillian break down a bunch of different insurance terms and tell you about what kind of insurance you need to get – and how it might actually help you out (did you know renter’s insurance might cover your stolen bike?)
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Professional cage fighter, personal trainer, batch-cooking enthusiast and all-around badass Emily Corso joins us to discuss ways to make cooking healthier, cheaper, and easier. (One Solution: tacos for breakfast!) Check out Emily’s gym at boldandbadass.com
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Nicole Dieker from the wonderful website The Billfold joins us to talk about the most awesome way to reduce your stress and lower your grocery budget at the same time- meal planning!
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We dive into the legal differences between independent contractor + W2 (regular) employee – and how it affects your finances and your legal protections and how it might be misused. Also, how Canada does it better.
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We give some tips on dealing with peer pressure from coworkers and friends about spending money when you’re on a budget – and how to figure out where to trim your budget (the fact is that you probably already know what you need to do). Plus, we talk about why you might want both an IRA and a 401K.
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Lillian goes on an educational rant about the concepts of “good debt and bad debt” and she answers the perplexing question of how you actually get money into a pre-tax IRA.
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How American expats can avoid paying US taxes (it’s not easy); what sort of benefits you should look for in a job offer; And Kelsey calls in to celebrate paying off $18,000 in student loans by being a night nanny on top of her day job as a social worker.
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Listener questions: What’s a Roth 401K and who should use it?… What should I financially prepare for if I want to go freelance?… When does it make sense to incorporate as a freelancer?… and How to budget when life is chaotic!
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You’ve got a tax refund! Now what should you do with it? Lillian & Will also cover strategies for reducing your taxes when your income comes in the form of self-employed 1099 income.
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A water cooler episode where we discuss some tips on raising your credit score (if you need/want to) and how much money Lillian has saved by quitting drinking.
Lillian’s monthly expenses reports: http://anomalily.net/category/monthly-expense-reports/
Check out creditkarma.com to find a card you’ll likely to qualify for if you are thinking about applying for a card.
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Listener Lola asks about how to plan for her future when she has six figures of college debt she’ll never be able to pay off. Lillian asks her to challenge her assumptions and start hating the debt.
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Lillian compares compound interest to bunnies, explains how she saved for retirement even when making $800/month – and the wonders of the Saver’s Credit – which gives you money back to save for retirement!
If you’d like to learn more about the Saver’s Credit, check out this step-by-step on it and find out if you qualify.
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From the radio vaults, we bring you a short episode about the #1 most important thing in your budget: your values. You can’t avoid looking at your budget without considering your values – no one else’s budget will work for you.
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Budgeting- many people think budget is a scary word – that it implies extreme frugality, being broke, or some sort of deprivation. But most folks that are on top of their money – in fact, the average millionaire – have said a budget is the #1 key to getting control of their money. Here’s how to get past the hard part of budgeting & create a budget, spending plan, or Money-fantastic-glitter-outline – whatever you need to call it to embrace budgeting.
Download your free budgeting quickstart here: http://ohmydollar.com/budget/
——–
Some budgeting software:
Youneedabudget or YNAB – https://www.youneedabudget.com/
Mint – http://www.mint.com
Learnvest: http:/www.learnvest.com
Level Money: https://www.levelmoney.com/
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Sometimes the most frustrating part of money is that building wealth is a marathon, not a sprint. We talk about the “hard middle” of working towards a big goal- where you’re making progress but it seems slow, and the end payoff seems far off. So we ask some people around the XRAY FM studio about how they worked on their goals.
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Many people think that if they’ve achieved a great credit score, they’re done, they have it all figured out and they’re financially well. That’s simply not true – a credit score is not a measure of financial well being. Lillian talks about the myths around credit scores – and what it really does. We also talk a little about why credit scores exist (initially, to make banking system less racist and sexist.)
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Special guest John Vergin joins us for an episode of what a 40-year career of hustle as a working performing artist looks like without getting famous. John dropped out of college and never held a so-called “real job” but balancing his creative work as a singer, composer, pianist, teacher, theatre music director, he’s always had a roof over his head (and is just 1.5 months from paying off his mortgage) and a stylish life. He talks about avoiding debt, being happy with what you have, and the value of building personal networks.
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Everything you need to know about saving for retirement in your 20’s and 30’s Lillian answers all the questions you’ve been too scared or too lazy to ask about investing for retirement. She covers 401ks & IRAs, explains how you choose what to invest, and what you should avoid – including discussing socially responsible investing. Within 30 minutes, you’ll be ready to click the “buy” button on your portfolio. Things mentioned in this show: Vanguard.com (low-expenses IRAs & funds) The Stock Series by J L Collins (a more in-depth, but entertaining, series of blog posts covering index investing theory) Oh My Dollar!’s next Money Bootcamp at Broadspace
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You know those nagging little financial tasks? The ones you procrastinate on? We talk about conquering those tasks that cost you money (including Lillian’s current procrastination on her money) – and hear a bunch of listener stories of times they procrastinated and it hurt them in the wallet.
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A top money concern for many under the new administration is health insurance. Our special guest Ben Mcewan, helps answer your questions about health insurance in the Age of Trump: will the marketplace plans go away? Should you get off medicaid/OHP onto a marketplace plan? Will the subsidies stick around? Will health insurance get cheaper under Trump for small businesses? [Producer Will Romey, Music by Aaron Parecki]
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Lillian talks about some New Year’s resolutions to set for your money, and how to make them easier PLUS she discusses how to choose a rewards credit card. [Producer Will Romey, Music Aaron Parecki) Aired on KRXY Portland
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Today we talk about those things that might be emergencies – but are expected emergencies – and how to prepare for them. And how you can avoid using your emergency fund (if you have one yet!) on things you can reasonably expect to happen.
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In our first episode of Oh My Dollar! Lillian talks about living off last month’s income and answers questions from from Lucy (Portland, OR) a comic artist who asks how to plan to budget on variable income and Emily (Portland, OR) a small business owner who wants to know if she should pay off her credit cards, student loans, or taxes first.
Have a question you want answered? Shoot an email to question@ohmydollar.com.
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