Making Hobbies Affordable, and Saving Money Priorities

Learn how to make your hobbies more affordable. Plus, decide what to save for first: an emergency, a house or retirement.

This Week In Your Money (0:00 - 12:03): Sean delves into the finer aspects of how you can plan ahead to make affordable gardening possible, including tips for sourcing tools and the surprising benefits of engaging with the gardening community. Liz then explains how you can enjoy your hobbies on a budget without sacrificing the fun factor by discussing how to avoid making some of the same mistakes she made when she got into her hobby of making miniatures.

Today’s Money Question (12:04 - 39:59): Veronica, a 40-year-old listener in Oakland, California, joins Sean and Liz to discuss how she should prioritize her finances. Since she recently became debt-free, she wonders whether to first save for an emergency fund, a down payment on a house or retirement. Veronica also shares her story of student loan forgiveness.

In their conversation, Sean and Liz discuss: high-yield savings accounts; guidelines for building an emergency fund; the challenges of finding affordable housing; homeowners association fees; home buyer programs; retirement planning with pensions; real estate as part of an investment portfolio; resources for financial planning; student loan forgiveness impact; debt avalanche and debt snowball payoff strategies; and critical financial aspects of building an emergency fund, homeownership and retirement, to help you walk away with some ideas for how you can prioritize your own financial goals.

To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email podcast@nerdwallet.com.

Timestamps:

This Week in Your Money segment: 0:00 - 12:03

Money Question segment: 12:04 - 39:59

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