Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.

ListenMoneyMatters.com | Andrew Fiebert and Matt Giovanisci
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May 9, 2014 • 43min

Lessons Learned From Owning Seven Cars

How many cars have you owned over the years? Is it more than seven? That’s how many Matt has owned. And he learned a thing or two. These are the lessons learned from owning seven cars. Some learned the hard way!Full Article Here Show Notes Edmunds: a site that lets you research prices for new and used vehicles and contains a database of dealer incentives and rebates. Cars.com: is a site that lets you search for information on new and used cars online. Autotrader: is an online marketplace for new and used cars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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May 8, 2014 • 35min

Save Money Without Cramping Your Life with Joel Larsgaard

Joel Larsgaard from Save Outside the Box shows us easy ways to save money without giving up the things you love. Joel used to be budget adverse. His theory was “bring in more than you spend and don’t buy nice things.” But now with a baby in the mix, Joel wanted to save more while not giving up the things he loves in life, good beer, folk art and travel. Full Article HereShow Notes SaveOutsideTheBox.com: Joel’s site devoted to finding extra money in places you haven’t considered. Megabus: A nearly nation-wide low-cost transportation option. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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May 7, 2014 • 48min

Common Traits of People Who Have Achieved Financial Success

Get Rich Slowly recently posted an article titled, “The Ten Habits of Financially Successful People.”  See how many you share. Full Article Here Show Notes 10 Habits of Financially Successful People: The blog post the episode is based on. Getting Things Done: David Allen’s book on productivity. MerlinMann.com: Merlin is a renaissance man who has a website and podcast dedicated to finding the time and attention to do your best creative work. Rescue Time: A website that does for your time what Mint.com does for your money. Four Hour Work Week: Tim Ferriss’ book on how to maximize your productivity in the least amount of time and from anywhere in the world. Seth Godin: Seth has authored 17 books on marketing in the digital age. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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May 6, 2014 • 32min

Smart Ways To Spend Your Tax Return

Everyone should have received or should soon receive your tax return. Today we discuss the best way to make that money work for you.Full Article Here Show NotesSavingForCollege.com: An explanation of the 529 college savings plan. Mint.com: an on-line money managing tool. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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May 5, 2014 • 32min

Mastering Debt Reduction with Claire Murdough

Many of us have debt. Claire Murdough tells us how to pay your debt as quickly and efficiently as possible. You can enter your debt account information and how much you are paying on each. RFZ will generate a graph showing how long it will take to pay the debt, what interest you will incur, and show you how much more quickly you can pay the debt off by adding money to your payments. The site is free but there is an upgrade that allows you to monitor your credit score and to make payments through RFZ. The site has recently added a feature that will allow you to manually enter debts for things like the $200 you borrowed from mom last month. Snowball vs stack method. The snowball method advocates paying off your smallest balance first. The benefit being psychological. You did it, you paid off that Target card! The stacking method requires paying off the highest interest rate debt first. Both methods employ the same tactics of paying only the minimums on the other debts while paying off the prioritized one and once one is paid off, you use the money you were paying towards it, on the next debt down the list. Each has their fans and like everything, finance is individual so use the method that makes the most sense for you. As long as you are paying off your debts, you’re good. Some of Claire’s best advice is to take your ego out of the debt repaying equation. The job you get might not be in the field you’re educated in, but it’s still bringing in money. A second job doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It means you’re doing what needs to be done so you can be debt free. And make some time and a budget for fun during your debt repayment. And when you reach a milestone, treat yourself to something small. A bouquet of flowers or a llama ride! Remember, there is life after debt. Show Notes ReadyForZero.com: A website that helps to manage your debts. Debt Snowball Vs. Debt Stacking: An explanation of snowball vs stacking for debt repayments with pros and cons for each. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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May 4, 2014 • 36min

The Importance of Taking a Vacation

Americans don’t get much vacation.  The average American gets ten days of paid vacation. And that is at the mercy of your employer. The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world that does not legally mandate paid vacation. It will make you a better person and a better employee. Learn why it’s important to take what you do get.  Full Article Here Show Notes RyanCarson.com: A blog post by Ryan Carson, the founder of Treehouse, about their change to the 4 day work week. TimeDay.org: Take Back Your Time. A movement to encourage people to fight for legally mandated paid vacation. Karoshi: A Wikipedia article detailing Karoshi, death from overwork. Happy: The Movie: An award-winning documentary that travels the world to find out what makes us happy. The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World: NPR correspondent Eric Weiner’s book on what constitutes happiness around the world. More: An Academy Award-nominated short animated film that depicts the colorless life of a factory worker who gets through h... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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May 3, 2014 • 30min

What The F**k is High Frequency Trading?

What is high-frequency trading?  Is it something you need to worry about?  Don’t let the unknown keep you out of the market. Full Article Here Show Notes The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap: Matt Taibbi’s book on the growing wealth gap in America. Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt:  Michael Lewis’ book about the creation of an exchange where high-frequency trading will garner no advantage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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May 2, 2014 • 32min

Finding Extra Money to Invest With

We discuss pain-free ways to find extra money to invest. Whether it’s into a Betterment account, a Roth IRA, or a brokerage account. It’s easy to say, “go out and get a second job,” and use that money to invest, but that’s not realistic for everyone. Using these methods, you can grow your investing money faster and easier. Full Article Here Show Notes Gazelle: Sell your old electronics. Amazon Affiliate Program: Become an Amazon Affiliate and make money when your readers buy your recommendations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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May 1, 2014 • 33min

Turn Your Hobby Into a Money Maker with Jim Wang from Micro Blogger

On this episode we welcome Jim Wang, founder of Bargaineering.com, a personal finance blog, to discuss how you can turn your hobby into cash. Jim began Bargaineering in 2005 while working a full-time job. After a lot of trial and error, he was able to devote himself full-time to the site within 3 years. In January of 2010, he sold the site for seven figures. Full Article Here Show Notes Bargineering.com: A personal finance blog that has been featured in the New York Times and Business Week that discusses money, credit cards, investing, and mortgages. MicroBlogger.com: Jim’s website and podcast that teaches you how to build a successful online business. ScotchAddict.com: Jim’s blog dedicated to all things Scotch. GrillMaestro.com: Jim’s blog on that most beloved past time of America, barbecue grilling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Apr 28, 2014 • 35min

What You Need To Do Now To Achieve Early Retirement

There is a new face of retirement and financial independence these days and it doesn’t include being over 65 and never working again. That kind of retirement kills, people! Don’t believe me? Take Freakonomics word for it. Let’s talk about what you need to do to achieve the early retirement you want. So maybe you start your own business when you aren’t required to show up at an office forty hours a week. Or you can volunteer. You can go back to school, maybe become a teacher and give back to your community. Social security can be a relic of the past by the time American Millennials reach the age of eligibility. We all need to take our retirement into our own hands. And you don’t have to spend the whole prime of your life slaving for the man. So you need to fund your own retirement through 401K’s, IRA’s and investing in the stock market. The earlier you start, the better. If you are getting a late start, hope is not lost. Full Article HereShow NotesBulleit Bourbon: This is the whiskey that Andrew was drinking on the rocks. One of my favorite Bourbons for the price. The Bulleit Rye is excellent too.Social Security is worse than you think: The NY Times did an article about what we talked about in this episode. Don't count on social security being available to us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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