Afford Anything

#53: This episode is a little different. Instead of interviewing a guest, this podcast episode is a recording of a recent talk I gave in Equador. The audience wanted to know more about the context surrounding the decisions I've made regarding business, investing, and money. In other words, why I've only spent three years of my life in a 9-5 job, and why I've dedicated so much of my time to travel. There is a lot of real estate talk as I take Q&A from the audience, but the idea behind releasing this talk is for you to see how any investment can help you design your life around your values. Money and investments are just tools that you can use to craft a certain lifestyle. Here are some of the highlights from the talk: •    How I was introduced to the concept of freelancing, and how it helped me quit my job and buy real estate •    My real estate investing strategy in a nutshell - buy what no one else wants to buy •    The risk of being too excessive with renovations as an investor, and how I've managed renovations •    How I use the One Percent Rule when running numbers on a property •    My original goal for owning rental properties (and why I don't want 100's of units) •    The surprise deal that came about because of my blog •    The opportunity cost of investing in real estate instead of the stock market •    Why the next rental won't be in Vegas (where I live) •    Why I'm not in any hurry to buy another property •    Why I would buy apartment complexes in cash if I had a billion dollars •    The benefit of diversifying into a different city and how to do it •    Retailers I recommend buying from when it comes to kitchen materials •    Financing without W2 income •    Why I'm against high-leverage •    The other projects I'm working on (why my focus isn't on real estate investing right now) •    "Pearls of wisdom" from traveling •    My favorite travel destinations •    Why I started a blog and my thoughts on monetizing •    Real estate isn't a passion - it's a tool Enjoy! -- Paula Resources Mentioned: •    Cash Flow Reports for Rental Properties •    The course I'm working on - VIP List •    HUD Home Store __________________________ I also want to take a moment to thank the sponsors for this episode. First, huge thanks to Nerdwallet. Their new app lets you have one-on-one conversations with financial advisors. You can chat about anything related to money, such as retirement, investing, insurance, or paying off debt. You'll get personalized, one-on-one advice -- available at no cost to you. Check it out at no cost to you by visiting http://nerd.me/paula _________________________ If you've been listening for a while, you've heard me interview many best-selling authors. Before I interview these guests, I need to read or refresh my memory of their books. Sitting down to physically read the books can take a long time. That's why I listen to their audiobooks, thanks to my subscription to an audiobook service called Audible. If you want to give them a try for free, head to http://audible.com/trynow for a free 30-day trial. _________________________ To see the slides from Paula's presentation, go to https://affordanything.com/episode53 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#52: Imagine transitioning from making $8.50 per hour and sharing a crammed apartment with 5 people, to becoming a six-figure business owner doing what you love.   That's the journey that Julia Kelly, caricature artist and founder of JK Expressions, took.   Sounds great, right?   Well, as they say, more money = more problems.   When Julia earned $25,000 - $30,000 per year, she had fantastic money management skills. She had no debt and plenty of savings.   But when her business started making six figures, she began ignoring her finances, stopped saving money .... and racked up thousands in personal credit card debt.   Why?   Some of us write this off as life getting more expensive as we get older, but it's actually a classic case of lifestyle inflation -- when you make more, you spend more.   After Julia began earning six figures, she decided she was no longer happy with $12 haircuts from Supercuts. She happily splurged for $75 salon style cuts instead.   She started paying for convenience. One-click Amazon order? Check. Ordering an Uber or Lyft so she didn't have to deal with parking at the airport? Check. Eating out? Check.   She became lazy about saving money, assuming that she could always earn more. Money was coming into her bank accounts at an unprecedented pace – so her finances would take care of themselves, right?   Wrong.   As Julia discovered, when you "upgrade" certain aspects of your life, you may find it difficult to downgrade. You keep spending more and more, trapped on a consumer treadmill. You’re forced to work to fuel your spending addiction.   Left unchecked, this saps every ounce of freedom from your life.    Ouch.   In this episode, you'll learn: · Why you shouldn't take lifestyle inflation lightly · How to stop lifestyle inflation before it happens · What Julia regrets buying … and what she doesn’t · The easiest, most effective antidote to lifestyle inflation · How Julia differentiates between saving time vs. wasteful convenience spending · What Julia's advice is to those who are increasing their income, but don't want to succumb to lifestyle inflation -- Paula   Resources Mentioned:     •    Gretchen Rubin's episode, The Power of Habit Formation     •    Julia's story on the Afford Anything blog
     •    Cal Newport's episode, The Incredible Value of Deep Work, Instead of Distraction     •    Julia's site, JKExpressions.com __________________________ I also want to take a moment to thank the sponsors for this episode. First, huge thanks to Nerdwallet. Their new app lets you have one-on-one conversations with financial advisors. You can chat about anything related to money, such as retirement, investing, insurance, or paying off debt. You'll get personalized, one-on-one advice -- available at no cost to you. Check it out at no cost to you by visiting nerd.me/paula. _________________________ If you've been listening for a while, you've heard me interview many best-selling authors. Before I interview these guests, I need to read or refresh my memory of their books. Sitting down to physically read the books can take a long time. That's why I listen to their audiobooks, thanks to my subscription to an audiobook service called Audible. If you want to give them a try for free, head to audible.com/trynow for a free 30-day trial. _________________________ For a full list of show notes, visit http://podcast.affordanything.com/52-how-to-combat-lifestyle-inflation-with-julia-kelly Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#51: Today's guest is Mary Beth Storjohann, CFP®, Founder of Workable Wealth, and author of the book Work Your Wealth. As I was reading through her book, one thing stuck out to me: the financial frenemies we all have, and how to deal with them in a constructive way.
 What's a financial frenemy? They're the people in your life that are sabotaging your efforts to improve your net worth. Sometimes they're friends, sometimes they're family, and other times, they might just be people that have no business asking about your financial situation in the first place. 
 Whoever they are, we've all known one at some point or another.
 In fact, I bet one of these sounds familiar:
 1. The Entitled Frenemy: "Can you spot me? I'll get you next time!" 2. The Budget-Buster: "You deserve it, you should buy it!" 3. The One-Upper: "You got a $1,000 bonus? Nice. I got a $10,000 bonus." 4. The Priers: "How much do you make?" "How much did you spend on that?" 5. The Green-Eyed Monster: "Must be nice that you can afford such a big house." 6. The FOMO Frenemy: "You can spend your money just this once!" Navigating conversations with these financial frenemies can be tough, but Mary Beth has some awesome advice on how to do it and not feel bad about your words.
 Even though it might sound scary, honesty is the best policy.
 While saying, "I don't feel comfortable answering that" means enduring a few moments of awkwardness, the alternative is answering truthfully and proceeding to wonder if your "friends" are judging you...every single time you interact with them.
 Finally, we need to realize that what they're saying isn't a reflection on us - it's a reflection on them. If they're jealous, feel the need to one-up you, or discourage you from your financial goals, that's on them, not you.
 Mary Beth offers other great tips on how to deal with financial frenemies in this episode, and we even role-played a scenario to give you a script to follow.
 Resources Mentioned: • Workable Wealth
 • “Work Your Wealth" on Amazon • Mary Beth's Twitter & Instagram
 Enjoy! -- Paula Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#50: Mark, a 55-year-old listener, has no savings. He's been listening to personal finance podcasts. He recently read Tony Robbins' Money: Master the Game. He called this podcast to tell us that he's feeling overwhelmed by the scope of what's ahead of him. Mark doesn't know how to apply this information -- and he's afraid of needing to work in fast food when he's 80 years old. What can he do? We tackle his question first on today's Ask Paula episode. Next, we take a call from Adalia. Adalia, another podcast listener, wants to earn extra money on the side. She's intrigued by the idea of becoming a virtual assistant -- a side hustle that allows her to work from home, setting her own hours. How should she start? Where can she find clients? Tyler, a podcast listener and fellow FinConner, is carrying $20,000 in credit card debt, with interest rates ranging from 11% - 23%. He also runs a side business on Amazon, making  43-50% returns for every dollar he puts in. Should he focus on reinvesting money back into his lucrative business, or should he pay his credit card debt off? Podcast listener Carlos just purchased his first rental property, and wants to know: are home warranties are worth the money? Todd, another listener, is curious to know if he and his wife should go without health insurance as the cost of premiums increase. He has an HSA, emergency fund, makes a good living, is in good health, and saves everything he can. Could going without insurance really save him money? Our last question comes from listener Lynsey, who has her sights set on financial independence. She works a second job during the cold Minnesota winters, which pays $25/hr. However, she wonders if she should use that time to invest in her future earning potential, by starting a business or getting an advanced degree. Should she go after the immediate cash, or focus on her future? All of these questions are answered in this episode of Ask Paula! Enjoy! -- Paula _____________________ I also want to take a moment to thank the sponsors for this episode. First, huge thanks to Nerdwallet. Their new app lets you have one-on-one conversations with financial advisors. You can chat about anything related to money, such as retirement, investing, insurance, or paying off debt. You'll get personalized, one-on-one advice -- available at no cost to you. Check it out at no cost to you by visiting nerd.me/paula. _____________________ If you've been listening for a while, you've heard me interview many best-selling authors. Before I interview these guests, I need to read or refresh my memory of their books. Sitting down to physically read the books can take a long time. That's why I listen to their audiobooks, thanks to my subscription to an audiobook service called Audible. If you want to give them a try for free, head to audible.com/trynow for a free 30-day trial. _____________________ Want more "Ask Paula" episodes? Head on over the the website and binge all you want: Show Notes and other Ask Paula episodes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#49: If you're a longtime listener, you might remember J.D. Roth, founder of Get Rich Slowly and owner of Money Boss, from Episode 20. In this previous interview, J.D. shared how he went from being in debt to financially independent. Today, he's back for a special edition of the podcast. J.D. and I didn't actually record an interview for this episode. Instead, we hit "record" on one of our private mini-mastermind conversations, where we talk candidly about our businesses. By listening to this episode, you'll get a behind-the-scenes look at what's going on in the Afford Anything and Money Boss world - without any filters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#48: Imagine that your goal is to build a flat stomach and stronger biceps. But deep down, subconsciously, you’re afraid you might fail. So you procrastinate. “I’ll work out tomorrow,” you tell yourself. “Or next week. Or next year.” As a result, you don’t make progress. But let’s flip the script. Instead of focusing on the result — your appearance — you focus on the smallest possible action. You create a new goal: Everyday, you’ll do a single push-up. You’ve designed a goal that cannot fail. The moment you commit to this goal, you drop to the ground and do a push-up. Congratulations. You’ve succeeded today. You repeat this everyday for a week. You build a new habit and new sense of self-identity. You’re the type of person who does daily push-ups. One day, while executing your single push-up, you figure, “Ah, what the heck,” and pump out a few more. One push-up grows into five, ten, fifteen, twenty. You focus on tiny actions, rather than their potential long-term payoff. Eventually, you get results. In today's episode, Stephen Guise, author of Mini-Habits, describes how the "one push-up" mentality accelerated his progress faster than a "100-pushup" mentality ever could. He explains why he decided to start focusing on actions, he shares the technique that he uses to conquer writer's block, and he talks about embracing "imperfectionism." Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#47: New York Times bestseller, radio and television personality, Clark Howard is known as a personal finance expert, that title doesn't tell the whole story. He started reading stock tables when he was in fifth grade. He began investing in real estate at the age of 22. He created his own travel agency business at the age of 25. And he became financially independent and retired at age 31. However, after four years of living on the beach, he was ready to get back to work. He wanted to help people take control of their money and, consequently, their lives. Clark believes that money is the result of the discipline you bring into your life. Unfortunately, most people want to take the path of least resistance when it comes to achieving their goals. That's why so many people fail. Clark says that the most common mistake he sees his listeners make is getting in their own way. People give up before they've started and play the victim. That's not the path to success - financial or otherwise. So, how can you stop standing in the way of your own success? In this episode, we cover that, as well as:     •    Clark's journey to financial independence     •    Why he chose to pursue this audacious goal     •    Why he felt ready to jump back into work after enjoying four years of retirement     •    Why we behave the way we do when it comes to achieving goals     •    What money means, and why it matters     •    How to control your reaction to the inevitable setbacks we experience in life     •    Why everyone must live beneath their means and spend less than they earn to achieve any financial goal     •    What the future of money holds There were so many takeaways in this episode, I couldn't list them all. Clark is brilliant and offers some amazing insights into the financial industry, as well as business lessons he's learned throughout his years of being an entrepreneur and managing teams. Enjoy! Resources Mentioned: Clark.com Podcast
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#46: This episode is a little unusual because I interviewed fellow podcast listeners live at FinCon (a conference for financial bloggers). Why? To get to know you and understand you better. I want to know what makes you tick, and where your interest in money comes from. Ultimately, why you're here, listening to this podcast, when most people couldn't care less about these topics. Why are you different? To discover that answer, here are some of the questions I asked our panelists: • Why did you decide to make learning about personal finance your hobby? Why do you spend hours reading blogs and listening to podcasts about money? • What made you approach personal finance head-on, rather than burying your head in the sand, like most people do? • Do people in your "regular" life know that you want to retire early and reach financial independence? Or do you avoid talking about this because people give you funny looks when you mention it? • Have you all had the same experience that community - finding like-minded individuals - is important in this journey?
 I hope you were able to learn and identify with your fellow listeners about why you manage your limited resources in such a conscientious way. The chief takeaway I got from this episode was the importance of building a community, which is critical to maintaining motivation on the journey to reach financial independence. Not only that, but you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Seek out a support system of people with similar values and goals to have your back when times get tough.   Resources Mentioned: 
 • Nick: True Tightwad • Melissa, "The Roamer": Traveling Wallet • Emma: Emma Lincoln • Gwen: Fiery Millennials • The One Percent Challenge Facebook Group • Everything I Know About Blogging, Condensed into One Post • Financial Independence Subreddit • Meetup.com -- Paula Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#45: Podcast listener Eva is interested in opening a Vanguard account. She noticed that people need $50,000 to access their personal advisor services. It’ll take her several years before she can access this. What should she do in the meantime? Amy, another podcast listener, wants to invest $5,500 into her Roth IRA in 2017. Should she invest the full amount on January 1, or should she spread this throughout the year? ...and more can be found at https://affordanything.com/45-ask-paula-invest-5500-one-huge-chunk-investing-questions/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#44: When Leslie Samuel immigrated to the U.S. at age 17, he hoped for the American Dream: an education, a secure job, and a traditional career path. But during his college years, Leslie realized he had an entrepreneurial streak. He made a few attempts at working for himself. He failed. He lost money that he'd set aside for his wedding. He tried investing in the stock market. He lost more money, savings that he'd set aside to pay his tuition. But he didn't quit. Leslie graduated, married, and accepted a job as a high school science teacher. He felt happy and secure. Yet his entrepreneurial itch persisted. He started building an online business in his spare time.  Leslie began earning an extra $14,000 per year on the side, a nice supplement to his income. A few years later, Leslie landed his dream job as a university professor. He loved his work. He earned a solid income. His wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Everything seemed perfect. But his entrepreneurial calling persisted. Ultimately, Leslie made the difficult decision to quit his dream job in order to become a full-time online entrepreneur. In this episode, he shares why he made this tough choice – and how he handled the fear and doubts that blocked the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices