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

Don’t manage your money like an old white dude.  Manage your money like a gansta!  Learn how via our rap video and new book, Mastering Mint. 1. The Personal Finance Rap Video - We are very excited! Tomorrow (February 18th 2014) we debut our first personal finance rap video called “All My Money.” We spent over two months working on this project. Matt wrote and recorded the song in December, and after another month of planning, drove up to New York for a weekend with Andrew to film the video. We are very proud and hope that people really enjoy the video. If early feedback is any indication, we are banking on a real success. Check out the “The Making of All My Money” video to see how we created it.  2. Mastering Mint - Andrew has been working hard for the past two months writing this epic guide to using Mint.com. When I first got to look at his final draft, I was blown away by the things that Mint can do. It was Matt’s job to take Andrew’s words and turn them into a pretty PDF that will be available to download tomorrow. Both projects were intense. Matt and Andrew have been neglecting their personal lives to complete these projects and we couldn’t be more excited to announce them. But don’t worry, this episode is chock full of good information on top of our announcements, and I hope everyone gets a chance to see what we’ve created :-) If you don’t currently budget, the Mastering Mint Book is for you.  It will teach you how to get the most from Mint and make things as automated as possible. Mint allows you to set up alerts, when a bill is due, when you are nearing the top of your budget, when you have been charged a fee. Mint is portable!  You can download it onto your phone and use the odds moments you have when you’re waiting on line, waiting for your chronically late friend to arrive to categorize your transactions.  Much more productive than Candy Crush. You don’t need graph paper and spreadsheets to manage your money in the 21st Century.  Mint can do it all. Show Notes Mastering Mint: The Quickest & Easiest Way to Get Started with Mint.com is our latest downloadable guide to using Mint.com. Mint:  Our favorite budgeting site. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We interview Mark Deal who founded a company that connects overseas investors with Americans who want to start businesses and create new jobs. Marks is a former Navy nuke with an MBA.  He founded Foreign Investor Resource Group to facilitate relationships with international investors and American entrepreneurs. Investing a certain amount of money in a US company will buy you American citizenship.  So like everything else in America, citizenship is up for sale too.  Investors must bring over $1 million and create ten US jobs. Twenty-one months after the investment, Mark’s company has to show proof that ten US jobs have been created through foreign investment.  You could be an existing business looking for new investors as well, it doesn’t have to be a startup. Mark went from a six figure salary with benefits to starting his own company which was a big leap.  From his clients, he has learned to look at money strategically, not tactically.  And he uses Mint!  He gave up Excel for Mint.  There is hope for the rest of you spread sheet nerds yet. So if any of you have an idea for a business or an existing business and are looking for an infusion of cash, there are lots of rich foreign investors out there hungry for American citizenship so they can buy up condos in Manhattan. Show NotesForeign Investor Resource Group:  Mark’s company Mint: An unsolicited recommendation! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, we discuss our favorite money management and productivity tools, including Mint, Betterment, Lift, Evernote, and more. We believe in making money management as easy as possible.  With all of the apps and software out there, it’s easier than ever.  No need for complicated spreadsheets.  Everything you need can be downloaded right to your phone.Boosting your productivity will enhance your life.  From your health to your money, using the right tools can help you get the most out of your day. Mint is our favorite money managing app but it’s read-only so you can’t transfer between accounts or make payments through it.  Most major banks will have an app that allows you to make certain transactions.  My bank is three long cross town blocks away and it’s cold.  I can deposit checks right through my phone as long as they are under $1000. Evernote is like a notebook that can be downloaded across all your devices.  Any information will be uploaded to all of your devices automatically. In Box Zero unifies all your e-mail accounts.  It helps you categorize things, delete, archive, and actionable items for later. Lift helps you build good habits.  Each time you perform the habit, flossing maybe, you “check in.”  After 21 days in a row, boom, you’ve developed a habit. There are plenty of ways to make life easier, take advantage of them. Show NotesMint App (Free) – Online software and a smartphone app that we use to keep an eye on our finances. We highly recommend it. Fidelity App (Free) – This is the online bank where Andrew has his checking account. Level App (Free) – This app didn’t work for Matt, but it seemed pretty cool. They have a really great video you can check out too. Betterment App (Free) – The easy way to invest. 1Password App ($17.99) – Andrew uses this app to keep all his passwords in one place on his phone. Matt’s awesome Boconi physical leather wallet ($30) that I think every man should own. It’s low-profile and totally bad ass! Stop putting paper money in a tri-fold wallet. That’s gotta be annoying. Evernote Software (Free) – The app we can’t exist without. It’s the best note-taking software that works on all devices. If you use Evernote, or just getting started, we recommend reading Evernote Essentials. Mailbox App (Free) – An extremely simple email app that utilizes Inbox Zero. Highly recommended if you use email, and I’m pretty sure that you do. Watch the video! Lift App (Free) – This is one of Matt’s favorites. It allows you to “check-in” to a habit to help you to develop GOOD habits. You gotta try it! He also wrote a post about Lift. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We chat with Omar Zenhom, co-creator of $100 MBA, an online business training community for entrepreneurs, about quitting his job and starting a business. We met Omar through the online community Fizzle.  He and his partner started Business Republic to help local businesses brand themselves more effectively. They have now started The $100 MBA, an online community and video training platform to teach people to run successfully on and offline businesses. Omar was teaching in Dubai, doing well, getting promoted but he always wanted to start his own thing.  He did side hustles while teaching but knew he would need to devote more time to them if he wanted to make one full time.He had about six months in savings when he made the leap but stretched that out to eighteen months by lowering his cost of living.  Although this is the first time I’ve ever heard of anyone lowering their expenses by moving to NYC. If you can work from home, you spend less money.  No lunch out, no dry cleaning, no commuting costs.  If you love the job you’re doing from home, you spend less money because you are fulfilled by the job and don’t have to shop to make yourself feel better. The flip side of all the freedom is the hours.  Chances are, if you start your own thing, you will have to spend more time at it.  But you can work the hours that suit you and not the arbitrary 9-5. Starting your own business isn’t for everyone.  If you have a family, they may not be on board.  If you aren’t really hungry, you likely won’t make it.  If you freak without the security of a regular paycheck, it’s probably not for you.  But for the intrepid among us, starting your own business is very rewarding. Show Notes $100 MBA:  Omar’s training site. Mint:  The easy way to manage money. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How does a currency just materialize, seemingly from thin air? Are they only for people who like buying drugs on the internet?  What is a Bitcoin? Want to know how to invest in Bitcoin? We'll break down the mystery for you.If you find the concept of cryptocurrency confusing and, well, cryptic - you are certainly not alone. In the last few months, people have been foaming at the mouth over Bitcoin raising its value to never seen before prices. I'm sure every day you hear someone talking about it, but many of us still don't really understand what it is exactly.Bitcoin is the first decentralized digital cryptocurrency. It's like a digital token that is made of a hash- a random string of numbers and characters. It has no physical backing and can be sent electronically from one user to another, anywhere in the world. Because there are a finite number of the coins, there is scarcity so the value constantly fluctuates.Bitcoin is not run by a single company or person- it's run by a decentralized network of computers around the world (owned by regular people) that verify all transactions. Similar to how Wikipedia is maintained by a decentralized network of writers.Full Article HereShow NotesDomino's Pizza Accepts BitcoinsTurns out that there are legitimate businesses that are starting to accept this form of digital currency. There are not many, but this is a big one.Bitcoin Exchange CEO Charged with Laundering $1 Million Through Silk Road Andrew pointed out that there's been some controversy around Bitcoin and the drug market. This is the article he was referring to.Nerd Alert: Bitcoin MiningThis is how you create Bitcoins (seemingly out of thin air) — you "mine" for them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We interview Rebecca from Stapler Confessions to find out how she is paying off $125,000 of student loan debt and learn how we can pay off our debt too. Rebecca escaped her four-year college with zero debt but things changed when she graduated law school. She came out with $125,000 in student loan debt. She married her law school sweetheart and he had the same amount of debt so all total, they were a quarter of a million dollars in debt.  The couple used the snowball method and every month threw every extra dollar at the smallest loan payment. Rebecca’s husband works for a non-profit and uses an income-based repayment plan.  If he works for the non-profit for 120 months and makes every payment, the rest of the loan will be forgiven.  This option is only available for federal loans, not private. Eventually, he stands to have about $50,000 in loans forgiven. Income-Based Repayment is a good option for a lot of people.  Your monthly payment is based on your income.  It will generally extend the life of your loan but if you’re in a tight spot, it can help. Rebecca has an IRA and will max that out and then start tackling the next loan.  Rebecca does a budget, as we all should.  She keeps it on an Excel spreadsheet and tracks the family spending in Mint. When it comes to the question of whether you should pay off low-interest rates loans or invest in the market, Rebecca advises going with your gut.  Those loans, even the low-interest ones, can be a heavy psychological burden. Student loans are burdensome but there are ways to pay them off faster and even have them partially forgiven.  Good luck to all us borrowers. Show NotesStapler Confessions:  Rebbeca’s blog about personal finance and her love of Staples office supply stores! Mint:  The easy way to track your spending. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most of the scary stories you hear about people losing big in the market are from people who were trying to make a quick buck. We don’t recommend that. Investing is a long term proposition. You don’t have to have a finance degree or even really understand the stock market in order to invest and make money. You also don’t need to hire someone to invest your money for you.  This is the 21st Century, we have the technology to do it ourselves. It’s time you get over the fear of investing. Invest in market index funds that represent a broad swath of the market, like the S&P 500, which is a group of 500 companies which cover many aspects of the overall market.  Betterment is a great tool for this kind of investing. Have a certain amount of money automatically invested every month.  The money goes in without you having to do anything.  Set it and forget it.  The market will give you an average return of about 7%. Be greedy when others are fearful. When everyone else is panicking and selling low, that’s when you buy.  When everyone is going crazy buying high, be fearful in the face of their greed.  Works for Warren Buffett. It’s not handing over money to the market that causes mass losses.  It’s handing money over to a person.  Bernie Madoff is the most recent and most grotesque example of this. It wasn’t the market that was doing shady stuff with that money, it was Madoff. The point is, just do it already!  Did you learn how to fly a plane yourself before you took your first flight?  No, you didn’t.  The same with the market.  You don’t have to understand it, you only have to do it.Show NotesBetterment:  The easy way for beginners to invest. Mint:  The smart way to track your spending.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt and Andrew were excited to talk to Caleb because they met through Fizzle.co. Fizzle is an online resource and forum for entrepreneurs looking to start an online business. Because of what Caleb helped to build, Listen, Money Matters exists. Caleb manages the finances for several small businesses including Fizzle, his website, CalebWojcik.com and his wife’s photography company JenWojcikPhotography.com. Caleb recommends paying small business taxes quarterly.  It saves you getting a big bill at the end of the year that you weren’t expecting.  Managing finances for your business doesn’t mean you have to do it alone.  A skilled accountant can make the process much easier. Xero is a web-based program that is a sexier version of QuickBooks.  You can track spending and even create invoices through the program.  For his personal finances, Caleb used a spreadsheet for two and a half years, hand entering every transaction. His wife understandably didn’t want to use the spreadsheet so they started using Mint. Eventually, they plan to use You Need A Budget. Caleb still misses his spreadsheet though. If you’re thinking about making the leap from working a 9-5 to working for yourself, having six to twelve months of expenses saved is a good rule of thumb. Managing money for your small business is one of the most important aspects of running it but it doesn’t have to be the most time consuming if you partner with a good accountant and use some of the great technology designed to make it easier. Show Notes Fizzle: An online resource for those looking to start a small business online and offline.  Check out their podcast too. Xero: Xero is a complete online application to run small business finances. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Having a good credit score makes life easier and cheaper. Even if you’ve tanked your credit, we’ll give you some ways to bring the number back up. You don’t have to wait seven years to start improving your credit score. There are a few tricks to get that number out of the red. Having a good credit score can save you thousands of dollars over a lifetime. It makes you eligible for lower interest rates for car loans and mortgages. Some jobs even require a credit check.Full Article HereShow Notes:Credit Karma: A free, ballpark credit score.  A soft check so it won't ding your score.Mint:  Track your spending.What Makes Up Your Credit Score:  Read more in-depth about what goes into a credit score. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rich people are different than you and me. How are they different, though? This list of 21 rich habits will teach you how to become rich and put you on the path to wealth. Dave Ramsey published a list of twenty things the rich do every day. Most of these things are habits. My take on this is that rich people have good habits. Habits that make them more successful, healthier, and smarter. And those things can help you accumulate wealth. Once you have achieved a certain level of wealth, you can focus on yourself rather than on money.Discipline seems to be the other thing all of these qualities have in common. It takes more discipline to cook a healthy meal than to order take out. It takes more discipline to save money than to spend it. Let’s take a look at each of the twenty-one habits.Full Article HereShow NotesDave Ramsey: The list of twenty things.Betterment: Rich people invest.LMM Community: Join the money revolution.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices