The Financial Independence Show

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Justin’s old FinCon roomie, Travis from Student Loan Planner. Travis tried his hand with Ph.D. education…hated it Then he tried selling bonds at investing giant Vanguard…yep hated that too So he got serious about his money and saved up a low six-figure cushion to travel the world. So how does a nomad create a business that has now consulted on over $500M in student loan debt? Well to win his wife’s hand in marriage obviously. You won’t want to miss this episode so go take a listen, leave that 5-star review and give us some feedback! Episode Summary His first investment was as a kid by investing in coal through the help of his granddad That investment ended up actually almost doubling which his granddad worried was actually a bad beginner lesson Travis’ granddad was a big role model and great depression survivor who instilled a lot of frugality in him When he was 18 he stacked so many scholarships that he ends up getting paid to go to college and banked about $7k after all expenses He ended up with about $40k positive net worth upon graduation Then he thought he would go and become a Ph.D. economist but quickly realized that wasn’t for him So then he ends up working at Vanguard trading bonds, but he also didn’t feel happy in the corporate world Then he discovers Mr. Money Mustache and focused on having a 60% savings rate and saved up low 6-figure mark Somehow we also got a one-eyed rapper reference in here… Travis took fall out money and a need for escape then books a flight to Iceland for $99 and ends up spending a year on the road across 40 countries During this same time, he met his would-be wife who had a traditional job and a large chunk of student debt When he asked her dad for permission to marry her, he declined Travis because he didn’t have a job even though he had a positive net worth Travis thought he’d take on this topic of student debt and focus on consulting with people who owned several hundred thousand dollars Since that time his consulting business has boomed and they’ve consulted on over $500M in student loans He feels like if you really hate your job then get to that $50k mark if your young with no kids and just take the leap of doing something else and try to start a business knowing you have a cushion to fall on Travis states that the two sectors of student debt that’s exploding are the people who owe over $200k and senior citizens The number of people with these huge debts is doubling about every 3 years Then we dig into the different student loan forgiveness programs such as the ones available to those who are government employees vs public sector employees For some people, it makes a lot of sense to avoid paying off student loans quickly because they’ll be forgiven We then jump into the problems with government-backed student loans and tuition rates that are being driven by the greed of many colleges For instance, the pharmacy acceptance rate has gone up from ~35% to ~83% over the last 15 years which is driving down pay and allowing colleges to keep charging whatever they want We also cover protections against being stuck with student debt if you become disabled or protection for your family if you die so they’re not stuck with it Travis then gives us the rundown on re-financing which he said a good deal would be to save an additional 2% While his business focuses almost exclusively on paying down debt, they also will sometimes take on some pre-debt counseling to avoid being bogged down in the first place but even then it’s generally just Grad school. Travis rounds us out with his final tips and a great story of being study not being able to get through customs in Jordan and other interesting situations he found himself while traveling Key Takeaways Don’t Settle: Travis wasn’t happy but he kept switching it up and planning for ways out. No equation should be dominating your happiness You May Need Help: It’s often hard to admit we’re not skilled enough for a task but when you’re dealing with these huge student loan bills, you need to swallow your pride and find an expert like Travis. Roomies equal Homies: Sorry..Had to throw this one in here. Travis was my roomie for my first FinCon. I was soooo green to the financial world. Now he’s killing it. Then I was roomies with one of my favorite guests we’ve ever had at CampFI. Last but certainly not least, Cody and I were roomies at my last FinCon and we’re doing our best to give you good folks content you can’t wait to download. Build that community people…it’s so important. Call to Action Regardless of the type or amount. Pick out some of your debt and analyze it. Should you pay it off first or last? Should you pay as much as you can or the minimum? Should you consolidate under a different loan vehicle? All very important questions. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and ques

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by the prolific Jim Dahle from the White Coat Investor. Jim came full circle from a middle-class Alaskan upbringing all the way to a successful physician with a blog that makes over $1M per year! So how did he get there… Well, that’s what the episode is for so go take a listen, leave that 5-star review and give us some feedback! Episode Summary He feels like he made all the same mistakes you’ve heard everyone makes but he did so with small amounts of money and he did so early After years of feeling like he was getting ripped off, he started reading through finance books at a used book store and was hooked Then he started getting heavily involved with online forums He also realized no one was doing this kind of education for doctors so he started White coat investor in 2011 He was a resident at age 29 and making around $37k per year His first investment ever was $500 into options at age 10 that he got from a fund provided to Alaskan residents and lost every bit His mom didn’t go to college but his dad was an engineer They felt like they were middle-class where they didn’t go hungry or anything but after age 18 he was on his own When he started college he took out a $5k loan for his freshman year but he used that for housing and got scholarships for tuition and would work the rest of the time for expenses He got married at the end of his undergraduate degree but realized he wasn’t going to really be able to provide at the rate he was at His wife’s family had a heavy military background so he decided to join the military to pay for his graduate degree in return for four years of active duty but he was able to enter active duty as a captain. He would make Major just before getting out His four-year obligation started at age 31 and would end at age 35 While he was on most of the same base pay as other officers he actually made more through incentives which totaled over $36k more per year! If he would have stayed longer, he could have even had more bonuses but it still wasn’t near what he’d make on the outside Now back to his forum legacy…He had a prolific amount of posts (10k+) over the course of 7 years with a special focus on physicians and military His blog, starting in 2011, was actually at almost the exact same time as Mr. Money Mustache The goal that started the blog was to make money and to help people get a fair shake on Wall Street To stand up his blog he just taught himself how to build the website from the ground up Then we transition into the mindset of high income earners such as Doctors He goes through a few reasons why you find broke physicians They’re often financially illiterate They go from no money to too much money overnight Expectations from coworkers, patients, and family that they should live rich Huge student loan sums ($400k+) No real work until ~31 years old He gives us some rules of thumb to help avoid some of these pitfalls The first is trying to stay under 1x for college debt 1 times your eventual income. Ex: Eventual income $250k = up to $250k loans are doable but strive for lower obviously The second is understanding what your potential payments will be based on specialty because the pay can be very different but the school is often the same With that being said, don’t burn yourself out because then you probably shortened your career length Then we get deep off into taxes The first step is just flat out understanding your taxes. You can do this by getting more involved in doing your taxes instead of just offloading it each year. He calls out how most of these high-income earners aren’t familiar with some retirement accounts such as profit-sharing plans, individual 401ks, defined benefit plan, health savings accounts, and back door Roth IRAs For Health Savings Accounts employers actually help you out with the contributions it’s tax-free going in, growing, and if you use it for health, when you use it! Also, don’t forget that health savings accounts can be invested And if you either forgot or don’t want to use your HSA money when you actually have a health event, you can always use it later as long as you have proof If your employer’s account doesn’t have the investment options you’re looking for, you can always roll it over to the account you really want once a year It’s also interesting to note that he still does his taxes Then we discuss his “accidental” rental property because he ended up with the house in 2006 and found himself stuck with it Then we shift gears into how exactly he turned his blog into such a profitable business This covers advertising, affiliate marketing, your own products, and selling your own time To just show his growth, in just 4 years he was making $180k per year and has now grown over $1M per year Even though he makes more on the blog versus practicing medicine, he still loves his job and wants to keep working at least half time All that drives home the fact that he feels like he

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Marc from Vital Dollar. Marc’s story is so impressive with being able to walk away from his job after just 18 months of blogging. Even more impressive is the fact that he’s shown the ability to repeatedly create, grow, and sell his blogs which have amassed over $1 Million in total revenue. So listen up and learn how to grow and monetize your digital efforts and hear what it’s like to sell a website for over $500k! After you listen be sure to let us know what you think. Episode Summary He was raised by fairly low-income parents but was always raised to take care of what he had He went to college for business and bible After college, he wasn’t making much income but started tracking every single purchase and focusing on a plan for retirement In his late 20’s he started swapping his focus from just saving to also increasing his income In 2007, at age 28, he started doing some web design work and a blog for web design His only formal education was an HTML class but just kept teaching himself He didn’t really love client work and focused more on his blog It took 6 months for the web design blog to make any money Once he reached a certain traffic count he added ads for a profit After 18 months, he had enough income to quit his day job In 2012 he started a photography based blog and sold the web design blog for $500k We discussed how these six-figure website sales go down He generally doesn’t bring on employees except for some freelance writers and graphics from time to time It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. We discuss the difficulties of keeping up with things like memberships and invoicing when tech changes get pushed from dependencies like Paypal For those first two big website sales, he put in the contract that he’d stick around for 30 days to help transition the site to the new owner He normally keeps one high revenue site while also running two others that can hopefully become money makers and sell the main one as the small ones grow We then dive into how to select a subject matter for a blog and then how to monetize it He also discusses how it might be good to start with a service but since it doesn’t scale it’s probably good to look towards a digital course or something One method he used to earn money early on was to get his product/service into someone else’s email list who already had some established traffic For investing he keeps most of it in index funds and target funds while also lowering liabilities like his mortgage Even though he works for himself building websites it still feels like work for him and he looks forward to retiring in 10-15 years with his wife and two kids Marc’s current spending is about $60k for the family We asked why he doesn’t just start traveling now since his job is location agnostic but he points out the pains of traveling with kids and spotty internet He is prepared for when retirement hits though with a big spreadsheet of locations he’s looking to visit including all 59 national parks Marc’s parting advice is just understanding that it’s going to take time to grow your business but you have to be consistent and be patient Key Takeaways Patience: Once you’ve heard so many experts say something…it’s worth taking note. Marc is yet another advocate for being honest with yourself on growth and being consistent with your efforts. Passions to Paydays: We loved how Marc started his online enterprises with a foundation in something he probably would have written about for free. Passions make that first takeaway of patience so much easier. Instagram Life Isn’t Everything: Marc could absolutely hit the road today. He doesn’t need to wait until retirement to work remotely, but he also understands the reality of his family dynamics. It’s ok to not be a nomad. Find what works for you. Call to Action Really focusing in on patience today. Find a goal that you absolutely can’t complete in less than three months. Now break it down so you have lots of small wins for motivation. Finally, make a chart, checklist, or some form of tracking so you can keep yourself honest. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android   Contact Marc: Vital Dollar Facebook Vital Dollar Twitter Vital Dollar Blog Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Cody’s very own mom Ruth Berman! We wanted to do something special for Mother’s Day this year and we think this interview hits the mark regardless of the holiday. We cover her origins and the unique jobs she and her own parents had. Then, we spend a good bit of time discussing how to raise children in a matter that makes them both savvy and comfortable with money. We think there’s a ton of great nuggets in there for parents. Finally, we discuss some of the ways she’s diversifying her income streams and maximizing every dollar. Ruth doesn’t see retirement coming anytime soon but she’s making some fantastic money moves. If that doesn’t sell you then stick around to possibly catch some dirt on Cody! After you listen be sure to let us know what you think. Episode Summary Raised by parents who were older (41 / 57) when they had her They went through the great depression which really impacted the families relationship with money Her parents taught her about savings and opened up all the kids’ savings accounts Her mom stayed at home and her dad was a Christmas tree farmer Since money only came in one little part of the year, they had to be good at budgeting Ruth was always incredibly frugal because of this Her first real job was manual printing press work in someone’s basement She started college for music and then swapped to nutrition and massage therapy Her parents paid for college but she did pay them back $10k As a follow on to college she had jobs as an exercise therapist and health screener She had Cody at age 30 while her job as a massage therapist Ruth discovered investing a few years prior where you would just pick out stocks and fill out a form and mail that check-in… what? Then we transition into how to raise financially responsible kids. Her first tip is to simply lead by example. Cody and his brother knew when they went to the store that they were headed to the clearance section. She also tried to put incentives on learning in order to learn things like screen time. Ruth also came up with all kinds of creative games to promote exercise and learning even if it’s just for a few pennies..kids will still do it! She says she has some mixed feelings on allowances if they’re not gained through doing some kind of chore Cody also talks about how his dad would match anything he was willing to save.. don’t we wish our 401k was like that? Ruth is now finding all these amazing health surveys like wearing an Apple watch and sleep studies which pay $2k & $7k respectively These kind of random income streams are one reason she has no fears that Cody will be just fine despite quitting his job She is also keeping her big costs low by renting out part of her house and running that house on solar power Then we start discussing how to handle your kids’ college tuition bills Cody and his brother decided on their own to skip going to a private school and hit the state school instead which was a huge sigh of relief Ruth then opens up about going through her divorce and the personal transformation following it She didn’t know how anything worked or how any of the bills were paid prior to the divorce But she just kept trying new things and learning and has become more and more independent Justin tries to pull some dirt out on Cody from Ruth but Easter egg thievery was about the best we could do…but Cody may have warned her ha Looking back she wishes she would have saved more earlier, built a smaller house, and went into medical research Ruth thinks she’ll keep working for the foreseeable future but hopes to back off the 40 hour weeks after age 60 and increase the side hustles Key Takeaways Try, Fail, Repeat: Ruth found herself with a lot of new responsibilities after the divorce. She could have tried to throw money at them but instead, she tried to do them herself. It wasn’t always pretty but she always learned and eventually had a new skill. Lead By Example: Whether your raising kids or just trying to teach a friend about money, you’ll need to practice what you preach. Growth Mindset: You can either have a growth or a fixed mindset. A growth mindset means that you believe you can grow your skillset through hard work and dedication. Call to Action Whether it’s your own children or through some volunteer program, find a young person out there and help raise the bar on their financial education! Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android   Contact Ruth Send Ruth an Email! Learn Mor

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Bobby Hoyt from Millennial Money Man. Bobby started off as a music teacher but today is changing lives with his wildly popular Facebook Ads course that the FI Show guys have seen change lives first hand. In that course, Bobby teaches people how to contract yourself out to businesses and run their Facebook marketing. We’re talking $1k+ per month of income with Bobby’s first job himself bringing in $3k per month. Somewhere in between teaching band and teaching ads, he realized he had to be his own boss. Now go take a listen to Bobby’s story and see how he pulled off such an amazing transition. Episode Summary Bobby didn’t talk about money at all with his parents growing up His dad was an engineer and his mom was a secretary He said he didn’t care about money and all and ended up choosing to be a music major in college He graduated with $40k in student debt His big goal after college was to buy a new Camaro A family friend of his who owned a pool installation business started mentoring him one day on debt payoff and general finance and because the friend was wealthy, Bobby really took it to heart When he first started teaching music he really loved it By year 3 of teaching, he knew he wanted to work for himself that teaching began to be a drag on him He toyed with the idea of also starting a pool business but instead started putting a lot of effort into his blog His main focus with the blog was focusing on living below your means and student loan debt He was doing some extreme house hacking by renting a room from his in-laws He realized he had about $50k saved up, which was about three years of expenses, and that’s when he took the leap of full-time blogging His first six months were pretty scary with not earning hardly any money Their jeweler came across his blog and mentioned he needed someone to help him with his marketing and hired Bobby at $3k per month He got discovered by CNBC which really pushed his blog He had installed the Facebook pixel days before that story went live and that allowed him to make lookalike audiences Those audiences really helped him market to the right people and started making a couple of grand per month off the blog He’s always tried to really focus on a personal connection with his audience vs simply numbers He admits he waited far too long to hire on help because he was getting really overwhelmed Bobby admits he actually let his mental and physical health take a downturn with the overload Now that his business has taken off so successfully he has plenty of money so while not wasting tons of money he also isn’t super frugal He also realizes that as an entrepreneur he can’t guarantee his future income so when he does want something nicer he buys it in cash so monthly expenses aren’t a problem Bobby doesn’t really see himself retiring anytime soon and looks to continue growing the business He’s now doing courses to help others get into the business of doing Facebook ads for local business so you too can step away from the grind His last remarks are about letting people pass you up and by that he means while you’re grinding and saving you’ll see those around you spending money and seemingly passing you but you’ll slingshot past them soon enough Key Takeaways We need to reach the youth: Bobby made a decision to go follow his passion. Which is fine, but he didn’t do so considering all the implications, such as the financial ones. We have to reach out and introduce these topics to the high school age kids to at least make it a consideration. Prep makes bold easy: It seems super bold to walk away from your job to try and be your own internet boss. No doubt it’s bold but it’s a lot easier when you’ve prepped and saved three years of living expenses just in case things don’t pan out. Learn, refine, monetize: First you have to find a new skill, preferably one you’re really passionate about. Then you need to work towards becoming the expert, steadily refining your skills. Then you monetize it whether it’s through providing the service or teaching others. Call to Action The call to action this week is to consider some premium content. Whether it’s Bobby’s course or some other content designed to make you happier or wealthier. Try to find reviews from folks you can trust and invest in yourself! Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android   Links from the Show: Millennial Money Man Facebook Ads Course Laptop Empires Podcast C

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Robert from The College Investor. Robert has been sharpening his money making skills since elementary school and hasn’t let up one bit. Robert used his career at Target as the foundation of his financial journey but always looked to expand his income streams through investing and side hustles. At a point, he realized how much bad advice there was out there for young people looking to build wealth, especially around debt pay off and investing so he started his own blog to help out. Now go take a listen to Robert’s self-made story and follow along with the show notes below. Episode Summary Robert was making money from day one by selling candy bars on the playground He even helped his dad with his taxes on old school Quicken His dad was in the Navy and then a defense contractor and his mom was a city government employee So his jump into entrepreneurship wasn’t seen as natural by his parents Robert started working at Target at 16 and stayed there while getting his undergrad degree He ended up working at target for 17 years Robert graduated with a political science degree after quitting a computer science program While he had a lengthy standard career, he’s always had side hustles One of his favorites is flipping deals or finding undervalued items at estate sales At 20 he started playing in the stock market with just a few hundred bucks and had really good returns even though he didn’t really know what he was doing He started his blog in 2009 at age 24 and had some inspiration from Get Rich Slowly He and his wife were able to put a significant down payment a year later on a house because they had been living with their parents until they got married When he finished college he did have $43k in student loans but they paid them off in 3.5 years The house that they bought was a fixer and bought it at a fantastic time with the housing crash so they came out really well on that one Robert credits his ability to handle 17 years at one business was because he had pretty good luck with great managers for most of his career He worked from pushing carts all the way to a store manager going from just over minimum wage to making close to $200k per year Then we shift to things people can do to help themselves get hired from his experience as a manager He points to communication as the number one and problem solving as the number two most critical pieces when interviewing Robert highlights how young people have more communication than any group in history but don’t have as much experience with one on one communication Then we jump into healthcare and how that’s different working for yourself vs working for a company He reminds us that it’s really not that different it just means your premium isn’t being subsidized Then we get into some side tangents to minimalism and organization. His final thoughts are related to making a conscious effort to raise your income instead of only focusing on saving Key Takeaways Bloom where planted: Robert didn’t work his way up to some new exciting tech start-up. He started pushing carts at Target. Then, he went and turned that into a lucrative managerial position through hard and smart work over time. He made the most of his situation. Know your path: Robert’s story is pretty awesome in regards to increasing his income so much at a company. It’s important to keep in mind what your growth potential at a business is. When looking for jobs, don’t simply focus on the starting salary. Dig into what your potential for growth is. Live like no one else: One of the biggest life-changing moments Robert has was living at home a little longer. This allowed him to save aggressively, have a down-payment ready for a house at one of the best times in U.S. history, and start his financial journey off on a solid foundation. He could have moved out at 18 and found an overpriced luxury apartment to have some extra fun, but instead, he made the wise calculated decision and will forever reap the rewards. Call to Action The call to action this week is improving your soft skills, especially communication. No matter how remote or automated our workforce may seem to get, interpersonal communication will always be a powerful tool. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android   Links from the Show: The College Investor Contact Robert Facebook Instagram Twitter Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Suni. Suni lives in the Boston area and has an amazing story. She became a professional tennis player at age 14 after coming from some very humble beginnings with immigrant parents. That career lasted nine years with some very interesting financial and personal implications. Then she found herself 23 with no real savings and way behind on the educational curve. Don’t worry this story has a happy ending and a surprise twist that lands us in the remote real estate discussion. Now it’s time to go take a listen and see what you think for yourself. Episode Summary Her parents came over from India in the 80s and were very poor They started to work their way out of it over time and her parents instilled savings in her When she was 14 she started playing tennis professionally She was using a lot of those winnings to pay for travel, PR, training, etc. In the sport, you’re really just breaking even at that level even though it’s professional She was able to get a lot of training provided through scholarships in return for advertising The income that she would make was extremely variable. Some weeks she might make $20k and some she might make $100 While that could seem like a lot of money at times she also had extremely high expenses because she had to hire full-time coach along with their travel Suni actually dropped out of school in the 6th grade and was supposed to be teaching herself but that wasn’t really feasible with 8 hour training days After 9 years of playing professionally, she retired at age 23 in 2009 to return to school At 23 she only had a couple of thousand dollars to show for her career She then walks us through the struggles of professional athletes being able to handle money and look out for their future The recession actually played a part in when she retired because many businesses didn’t have extra money to sponsor an athlete After retiring she spent some time taking remedial classes to get her up to speed at a local community college After that, she was able to attend a prestigious private school through scholarships and need-based grants Now she’s 27 and looking for a job She landed a job in a large firm in their management training program She stayed there 2.5 years before coming to her current job in corporate financial planning Feeling compelled to get her finances in order she felt like going after a career that really made a difference wasn’t reasonable She then came across the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad which really changed her outlook Then she gets into real estate as a path towards passive income She closed her first property in April of 2018 and was up to 5 units before 2019 While she lives in the Boston area, these homes were purchased around Indianapolis and never even saw them before purchasing She decided on Indianapolis based on a ton of technical statistics such as population growth, income growth, diversity of employment, and price to rent ratio. Networking was the key to actually finding the team to help her manage these properties She doesn’t see herself walking away from work altogether but her goal is to replace her current income with real estate so she has the flexibility Then we discuss finding people to surround yourself with who understand the journey to FI and some of the difficulties that come with that We also spend a lot of time throughout the episode covering the psychological impact of growing up poor and then becoming a professional athlete and how that just impacts her outlook and drive Her closing advice is for those looking to get into real estate which revolves around building your network and understanding the technical drivers that make or break a market and understand your cash position so you know if you’re prepared for an investment Key Takeaways Don’t envy: It would be easy to feel jealous of a teenager traveling around getting paid to play a game. What you might not see though is all the struggle and the end result of being behind your peers. Just a friendly reminder that the grass isn’t always greener. Start Late? Start fast: No one is ever going to stop preaching the importance of getting a solid financial base early. Time will always be the most powerful variable, but it’s not insurmountable. Suni had a late start, but when she started, it was a dead sprint and that has made all the difference. Invest in the process: Lots of side hustles are tempting. Lots are profitable. However, they can all be a money pit if you don’t spend some time in analysis. Suni knew real estate was a great option, but she didn’t just assume it would work out. She put in countless hours breaking down the variables and optimizing her chance of success. Call to Action Whether it’s real estate or not, you probably have something in your life you’re trying to succeed at. Whatever it may be, go out and do some critical thinkin

On today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Andy from Marriage Kids and Money. He tells us his relatable yet inspiring story of living a life with far too much spending brought on by lifestyle creep. Lifestyle creep is when you get used to a certain way of living but then as you make more money you increase that style of living little by little until it becomes unsustainable or at least larger than you intended. Andy and his wife were spending every bit of their salaries which totaled over $100k. Reality struck when she became pregnant and they knew they needed to change their ways. Now listen to the story and hear their remarkable turnaround and how Andy is now helping people walk in his footsteps. Episode Summary Andy and his wife go together in 2010 with a combined earning over $100,000 but they were carrying a good bit of debt and spending everything they earned That debt included $50k in student debt, a nice car loan and frequent use of their Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) They had a wake-up moment when he realized they were going to be having their first child Quickly he started pouring over podcasts, blogs, and anything to help them learn They’re currently living around Detroit which has shown a huge turnaround He bought a house right out of college in mid-2000s and realized he couldn’t afford the mortgage To help with the bills he ended up bringing in several roommates who paid the mortgage for him…Another house hack win! When he got married they realized the roommate situation wasn’t going to work so they bought a new house with the goal of paying off the new $350k house in 5 years He was able to get back all of his money from the first house but didn’t make anything off of it The first material that helped Andy really turn things around was Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover Once a month, he and his wife would sit down and review their budget until they got it under control The biggest changes they had to make was cutting out entertainment like food and drinks He talks about how tough it was saying no to friends in family in order to pay down their debt so aggressively We discuss the struggles with getting your spouse on board with this new financial plan He said his biggest mistake was focusing on the process and numbers vs the outcomes, emotions, and the “why” behind the plan Once the subject went from percentages to a discussion of having more time with their kids, Andy’s wife became equally as fired up about the journey A powerful exercise he discusses to help with this is to just sit down with your significant other and talk through your perfect day/life if money wasn’t an issue Then we swap to start discussing how their life is changing now that their finances are in a good place and they’re starting to build their financial independence lifestyle With their kids starting school, his wife has begun a home organization business which is just another great example of how you will discover your true passions when you step away from a full-time job and those passions will probably bring you unexpected income We then shift the discussion back to their debt pay-down where Andy gave us the tangible steps to paying off their house in 4 years The first piece was a $150k down payment after a lot of aggressive savings That got their mortgage down to $200k They continued their monthly expense reviews Every bonus or additional dollar they received they put towards the house Andy’s wife actually stepped completely away from her day job to be a stay at home mom with $80k left on the mortgage That mortgage was completely paid off a little over a year ago That down payment that they had been saving up for was all in cash after some shady dealing Andy had with a financial advisor Andy admits that these were major financial mistakes but worth it due to the amount he learned throughout the process Other ways Andy recommends getting your spouse on board with financial goals is simply leading by example along with the help of the great modern FinTech tools out there such as Tiller, YNAB, or Mint If you’re significant other has a taste for fancy things and nice things seems like a real priority, Andy suggest simply writing out items to show what can and can’t fit and not make it just theoretical For him and his wife, one of these examples would be travel hacking where they turned the journey to getting these elaborate trips paid off with points into a game but also warns that credit card hacking should only be done if you’re really smart with credit cards We then shift gears to paying for their children’s education They don’t plan on providing all the money for their college expenses but between their 529, scholarships and working they believe their kids can graduate debt free He also admits that traditional college may not be the answer anyway and calls out the student debt epidemic in America Andy himself has an undergrad in communications and a masters in business but admits many people do

On today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Monica from MonicaLouie.com. She tells us her inspiring story of tackling debt and putting family first. Monica and her husband both came together after college with some debt and Monica wasn’t a saver naturally. Her husband brought those characteristics to the household and she took to them quickly and soon started leading their debt pay down efforts. While on her way to becoming a mother of two, she decided she wanted to be able to spend as much time as possible with her children and step away from the workforce. Unfortunately, even though they had made great strides on their spending, one income just wasn’t enough. So Monica started a blog and experimenting with Facebook ads. She then started her own Facebook ad consulting business in 2016 with her as the single employee. Today she employs 13 and is on the fast track to being debt free. But you don’t want just an overview, go take a listen to today’s episode and let us hear what you think. Episode Summary Grew up with a single mother where money was often a struggle and she knew she wanted a different life She took the traditional college route but struggled some after graduating Then she found herself in credit card debt A couple of years later she had a good job, got out of debt and vowed to never get in debt again. When she met her husband, he was frugal and she became conscious of saving for the first time They were on a good steady path and then she had her first child and her priorities shifted She decided she wanted to be a stay at home mom so they started saving really hard Then she was pregnant with her second child and stepped away from her job A couple of months into this, they noticed their savings starting to decrease a looked for something to help out On top of this, they had over $300k in debt including their mortgage Within two years they had paid down $120k in debt Her husband had reservations about sharing finances because she was more of a spender and he was a saver so she made it a point to build that trust by being financially responsible The idea of her blog came from people asking questions about how she burned down so much debt With this first blog, she started discovering Facebook ads and noticed she had a knack for it Then her fellow blogging friends started asking for help with Facebook ads In 2016 she ended up selling her blog and becoming a full-time Facebook ads coach Facebook ads are great for just broadening your reach as well as funneling people towards paid content or even a transition funnel to get a customer to free content which will then get them to paid content Therefore often it’s best to save your Facebook ad promotions for posts with affiliate links We also discuss the ever-changing landscape of Facebook ads with new features and algorithm tweaks Her business has already grown from her being the single employee to a team of 13 They’re still paying down debt with the goal of being debt free by age 40 With her job being location independent, even if she’s working they can live a lifestyle very similar to one many expect when they are financially independent The business hasn’t been making a ton of money right away because she’s been growing the company but is now transitioning to focus on the profit We also discuss the example she gets to set for her kids as they see her make income from home doing something she really enjoys Then we get into some more technical aspects of how to do Facebook ads Some of the tips she recommends is testing against different groups and optimizing the ads by constantly testing and tweaking Facebook can also help you find a look-a-like audience which is where you feed Facebook some information about the audience you already have and it finds more people like you She recommends static images when you are looking for someone to click on a blog post Then using videos for things like webinars She is also starting to test expanding the business to Instagram and Pinterest Her #1 tip for people starting a business or trying to reach FI focuses on building goals Key Takeaways Savers can be made: Many of us in gravitate towards this content because we have always been frugal but that’s not a requirement. You can learn to be a saver. It’s a skill set like any other. While some are naturally more gifted, anyone can become expert with enough training and practice. Taking a step back can open up options: Often people are terrified of quitting their day job due to concerns about their money not lasting. That’s a fair concern but realize when you stop spending 50 hours a week on a job you don’t love, you may discover a passion that given time will become profitable. Yes there are bad unknowns, but there are also positive ones You are worthy of an investment: People invest in businesses, their children, maybe even their employees, but we are so reluctant to invest in ourselves. The world moves at too

On today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Joel from FI 180. It’s so inspiring to hear someone who had real spending issues and quickly got them under control. Joel wasn’t forced to in order to take on debt, he had a wake-up call in the form of a car crash involving his wife. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a potentially life-altering event to step back and reevaluate your life. Thankfully Joel’s wife is fine and they don’t miss their old spending ways. The transition they made was remarkable. They were set for a life of working into their 70’s and quickly make changes that have allowed Joel to retire at 34 and his wife the option to do so whenever she chooses. Well, go take a listen to today’s episode and let us hear what you think. Episode Summary Joel’s parents never made a lot of money ($35k per year) Out of college though Joel started making ~$55k Never having money before he just started blowing it all on crazy things like $3500 t.v. His wife has always had more financial restraint Joel simply didn’t know how to manage money because he had never had it but wasn’t in debt Joel’s wife didn’t want to merge finances because of his spending habits To combat his spending, he would just continue to work more About 6 years ago after his wife got in a bad car wreck Joel made his “financial 180” He states that he really doesn’t miss the spending since making his changes That lavish spending just became normal and wasn’t fun anymore Now with low spending, anything lavish really seems like a treat Joel comments on how people don’t see from the outside how much strain the work it takes to live a lavish lifestyle can take on your life when you’re simply viewing a lavish lifestyle on Facebook/Instagram In 2012 they spend $107,000 $16k shopping, $13k food, $12k travel, $12k bills, $11k cars, etc Now they spend between $25k-30k per year Their first big move on lowering expenses was going to a one car household They continued their transition to lower spending by targeting one thing each month It took them about three to four years to fully make their transition Joel states that for them cooking for themselves was the hardest part of the transition They cut cable, extra car insurance, water delivery, and home monitoring and other things included slowing internet speed, lowering cell phone data package After one year they cut an additional $1,080 a month from their budget By 2015 they lowered their spending to $34k per year They actually went too far and got over 80% savings rate and decided that was the deprivation Joel has stepped away from working but his wife enjoys work and continues to do so We discuss how the retire early part of FIRE gets all the attention while the Financial Independent part is much more important Joel is 34 and they are considering having children but aren’t sure He talks about how not having a job doesn’t ensure you’ll be productive that it still has to be something you’re motivated to do It took Joel a few months to build that structure that led to a proactive day Joel even discusses feeling younger since retiring We then talk about how Joel built up the confidence to quit his job He came up with the quote that “His worst case scenario, is everyone else’s everyday scenario” That means that if he needs to go back to work, so what, everyone else works, it’s not that scary They also decided to pay their house off quicker to remove that fixed cost and make it a little less scary We end the episode with Joel stressing finding a good work-life balance and not focusing so much on one particular number Key Takeaways Having money can be a problem: Joel came out of college with decent pay and no major debt worries. Sounds good right? Well, he also wasn’t prepared for how to handle it. He wasn’t forced to learn frugal habits early on. While we may never feel sorry for someone in Joel’s position, it is a real thing to be cautious of. Don’t wait for your crash: A crash involving his wife led Joel to make these radical changes. Luckily everything turned out ok, but it is often too late to make changes after a major disaster. Build a life that is resilient to trauma and unforeseen struggles. You won’t miss the money: You may be really nervous about reducing your spending. Won’t it be painful? Take it from Joel, your spending becomes normal and unexciting. When you become more intentional, these treats are much more meaningful. Reducing your spending will actually add joy to your life. Call to Action Write out a 6 month calendar. Pick one subject area for each month. Reduce that spending or at least analyze it one month at a time and compare your end progress with where you started. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group

On today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Ryan Jacob who has one of the more gutsy stories you’ll hear. Ryan has decided to step into a mini-retirement or super lean FIRE plan in order to get away from his soul-crushing job. He was in an extremely corporate setting with big money in his future but decided instead to take his nest egg of just over $300k and call it a day. Instead of a cubicle he now spends most of his time on the water catching some awesome fish. It’s obvious to see that Ryan is looking for more than fishing in his retirement and is itching to start his own business. Want to know what kind of business he has had and will have? Curious what life looks like when retiring on $300k? Well, go take a listen to today’s episode and let us hear what you think. Episode Summary Grew up middle class with a stay at home mom and his dad was a self-employed contractor His mom was a saver while his dad was a saver and his mom’s habits rubbed off on him He would always save everything even as a kid Ryan even started investing money at age 14 after he’d saved up $2k through a custodial account with his mom It’s the late 90’s during the dot com boom His mom sets him up with an adviser and he lost everything in that dot com bubble That experience actually pushed him to learn more about the market instead of discouraging him In college, he studied finance and he realized the adviser who was overseeing money for the whole family was actually doing some shady investing practices Ryan really wanted to start up his own business even at 18 but his mom pushed him to go to a traditional four-year college We talk about the huge gap in financial education in high schools and college He worked for 4 years after college as a consultant and an analyst at a management consulting firm making around $60-70K saving around 40% Part of that career path required an MBA so he went off and did that and came back to a salary of $110k-$120k Ryan talks about his path wasn’t a flip of the switch that it was a very thorough and long term plan Even though he was marching towards retiring early he didn’t discover the financial independent movement until just under 2 years ago Ryan stepped away from work after fulfilling his last commitment with his company after saving up just over $300k He’s aware that he’ll probably need to work again but he’s in no rush A really interesting take was his discussion about how if he’d kept working longer and saved up so much to have a safe retirement, he wouldn’t have the push to start up his own business which is a big goal of his In college, Ryan had started up a business which was a painting service including a van that he paid $75 for The group made $70k over that summer From that point, we swapped into digging into Ryan’s investing strategy His first recommendation is to avoid the percentage based advisers and swap to one time fee-based advisers He also recommends robo advisers such as M1 finance, Betterment, or Wealth-front The number one recommendation though is Vanguard for their index funds Vanguard even has their own advisers We then transition into what Ryan was looking into doing in retirement His goals are related to ocean fishing, hunting, reading, spending time with family, brewing beer, and start a financial advisor business You can really tell how refreshing it is for Ryan to get to reconnect with his family after his profession took him away from them for so long He rounds out the episode by pleading with people to understand that the path to financial independence isn’t common and you’ll have a lot of people try to stop you or second guess but to stay the course and be confident Key Takeaways There is a middle-ground: Notice how Ryan accepts that he may need to go back to work? That’s totally ok with him. He chose to put himself first and get out of a toxic situation. He could have stressed and plunged through several more years of misery but decided instead to find some middle ground. Family time is ticking: One of the major issues with retiring normally is you get so little time with your family because at that point they are so old they may either be dead or much less functional. Set aside some time in your life for family now. Jump-ship moments: Ryan had a great plan on when to walk away because he knew he could retain his bonuses and have college paid for if he would just stick it out to a certain point. That point then became an easy way for him to retire since he met all his obligations. Keep an eye out for these jump-ship moments for yourself. Call to Action Take a good hard look at what you image your most rewarding day to look like and use that as your initial FI goal instead of stressing about the money for the additional things like entertainment. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of t

On today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Kieth aka The Wealthy Accountant who went from a small town farmer to a multi-millionaire tax professional. Want to know how good he is? Well he’s good enough to have been selected by Mr. Money Mustache to do his taxes. That’s a heck of an endorsement. Keith’s story is truly amazing. The way he self educated himself is as relevant today as ever with the access to training and the changing job landscape. Hear how he started his business and became financially independent way before that was even a common phrase. Episode Summary Keith grew up in a farming family in small town Wisconsin They didn’t really have anything to spend money on so they lived frugally The family farm ended up going into bankruptcy when he was 18 In high school he started studying the stock market crash of 1929 and became really passionate about investing and he started investing at 18 He also started doing the books on his dad’s agricultural repair business That eventually turned into fellow employees asking him to do their taxes Before long he had 50 clients with no overhead We talk about how different the interest landscape was in the 80’s He talks about how excited he was to get a 10% mortgage In totality he’s only ever worked for someone 14 months At about 32 he realized he had accumulated $1M and he was married at this time This being the late 80’s he had a $540/mo house payment and they lived on less than $10k He spent all day outside of tax season just sitting around reading books and learning In reality he never got a college degree but didn’t need one Even though he didn’t have a degree he spent a decade just pouring over books He was a financial independence guru before FIRE was even a term The first blogger he really ran across was Mr. Money Mustache In fact he even did Mr. Money Mustache’s taxes! He points out that before you get to stressed out over tax loop holes and maximizing everything, to stop and realize you’re probably always going to make some kind of income and if you’re serious about this path you’ll likely end up with more money than you’ll ever need We then swap this discussion to the tax specific tips He talks through standard 401ks, backdoor roth 401ks and mega backdoor roths We also get into things like Cash Balance accounts available to self-employed members Keith also mentions that standard brokerage accounts get a bad rap and shouldn’t be overlooked but still recommends filling up your 401k and IRA When coming up with a tax strategy for someone he talks about how important it is to look at a person’s scenario on a long term view and not just year to year You won’t want to miss the deep dives into the mechanisms behind the different IRA contributions, cash balances, and profit sharing which can take you to many times the $19k 401k and $6k IRA limits Then we get into the discussion of tax moves you can make with non-qualified accounts like your standard stock market account that’s not a 401k or a IRA One thing Keith points out is that these non-qualified accounts are tax advantage in a way because when you die, you’re beneficiaries won’t have to pay capital gains tax on all those earnings. Your kids get to take over those shares at the price listed on date of death and all those gains are forgiven from any tax burden From Keith’s standpoint most tax loss harvesting is ok but not worth paying for On the flipside, he’s a huge fan of harvesting gains Harvesting gains is when you’re in the 0% tax bracket and have some room to give so you purposefully sell some shares for a profit and capture those gains without paying taxes on the gains (STOP AND READ THAT LAST BULLET AGAIN…SO POWERFUL) Keith also urges you to consider what your retired minimum distributions can climb up to be if you just let them sit in the traditional accounts until 70 Stay out of debt, invest, hit your company match, start young, and don’t be afraid of putting money into those non-qualified accounts. Keith points out how much powerful your impact can be on the world if you take care of your finances early and those non-qualified accounts will be a big part of that We also tackle the ins and out of employing your children and setting up retirement accounts for them at a young age Rounding out the show Keith’s biggest tip is simply to persevere and not to listen to all the negativity in the world Key Takeaways Success comes from all corners: How cool was it that he started this from his dad’s agriculture repair business which came about due to a bankrupt farm? This is another example that you just have to keep your eyes open and never doubt yourself. Invest in yourself:Did you keep track of how much time he spent educating himself? He did all that at no cost. Investing in yourself is important but also don’t settle in on the idea that the only avenue is traditional college programs. A financially stable you, is a more powerful you: Here we have another exampl

On today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Leif from Physician On Fire. Leif didn’t even discover the idea of financial independence until he was 40 but has truly hit the ground running. In just three years he has created a massive online following where he helps reach high-income earners to educate them on finances as well as spread the message of giving. He donates 50% of all blog-related income and has donated up to $100k in a given year. Stay tuned to get Leif’s background and take on topics such as backdoor Roth IRAs, discovering financial independence at a later age, travel hacking, and his donor fund. Go give it a listen and let us know what you think! Episode Summary Leif was born in 1975 and began understanding money even as a 5-year-old He came from a family of physicians and knew that’s what he wanted to do as well At age 30 he was completely finished with schooling and residency and became an anesthesiologist He was able to keep student loans low by sticking with in-state schools, earning scholarships, and a college fund his grandfather had left him At age 30 he had a slightly negative net worth and didn’t discover the idea of financial independence until he was almost 40 Even before discovering financial independence, he was saving about 50% of his take-home pay but it was intentional The discussion then transitions to the topic of financial advisers targeting high-income members like physicians and possibly taking advantage of them He reaches other high-income earners to help them learn how to invest for themselves and even find a local financial adviser through his blog and Facebook groups One of his Facebook groups is for anyone in the “Fat FIRE” community which he describes as anyone looking to be able to spend $100k or more per year in retirement He then starts breaking down tax advantage strategies especially as they pertain to high-income earners including the backdoor Roth IRA and Mega backdoor Roth Then he describes how he got into blogging and making money through this other source It wasn’t actually until a little over 3 years ago that he discovered financial independence for himself and saw The White Coat investor as a role model in the space His hope was to provide advice similar to White Coat Investor with a voice more similar to Mr. Money Mustache When he first discovered financial independence he had a five-year plan which would have been around 2021 but instead, due to the success of the blog and the realization of his financial situation, he went part-time almost right away We then dive into how he keeps his spending reasonable because so many high-income earners aren’t able to maintain a high savings rate even though they have so much money to work with which he credits to living in reasonable homes, driving cars for 8-10 years, and only eating out a couple of times per month They were spending between $60k-$70k per year for total expenses with a paid off home One area where his family has found efficiencies with spending is through travel hacking Travel hacking just means finding creative ways to use points and miles from things like credit cards and promotions to travel for cheap or even free He has done this for trips with his family to places like Hawaii and Honduras. His family spends around $5k per year on travel but estimates that number could be closer to $25k if he didn’t take advantage of travel hacking We then dive into his goal to spread a message of giving back and his own experiences with doing medical mission work with his family Then we discuss the mechanics behind a donor fund which allows him to donate money now and disperse it in the future where he’s given up to $100k in a given year One advantage of these donor funds is that it allows you to donate investments as well as cash so he was able to donate assets that had greatly appreciated to the fund so he was able to avoid capital gains taxes while still being able to donate a large sum for a big impact This vehicle for charity allows him to donate more money than he could if he simply gave cash but is not some way for him to earn more money or benefit himself in any way One note is that once you’ve put money in the donor fund, you can’t change your mind and take it back When we asked about other advice he would give people he describes being prepared in case you don’t love your job in the future because those fortunate enough to love their job may not see the need to save now but if something happens to that career, it will be too late to fix things if you wait till they break You also won’t want to miss him breaking down his love for curling (no not the bicep workout) and some interesting curling moments Key Takeaways Make a difference: The number one takeaway for this episode was the insight Leif gave about donor funds and his medical mission efforts. Sometimes a pursuit to FI can seem like a selfish one but when you consider how much more you can do to help others when you have

On today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by the dynamic duo of Joel & Matt from HowToMoney.com and the How to Money Podcast. The guys met the How to Money crew at FinCon and the rest is history. This fantastic conversation unwraps their backstory and tons of tangible tips. From groceries to real estate, to building a community for their young families, this episode is great for all audiences. Go give it a listen and let us know what you think! Episode Summary Joel discussion starts out describing growing up around financial stress in the household and how that led to a desire to be financially stable Matt had a better education of finances growing up and had the seed of financial independence placed in his mind We then discuss the dynamics of teaching our own parents about money which can be touchy and awkward Even when discussions are natural you have to respect and understand that your views and beliefs may just be too different to agree on, but that doesn’t mean you can’t support each other The online communities are so powerful because they give us a venue to find people who view finances the same way and help spur on growth and knowledge The guys discuss the danger of getting hyper-focused on the numbers of financial independence and not enough on the lifestyle you want to have They also discuss a shift in prioritizing time vs prioritizing money the further they get into their journey Matt and Joel also call out several things that just simply won’t show up on a spreadsheet such as proximity to friends, stress, and convenience Matt’s financial journey really took off after finding Dave Ramsey and while he doesn’t agree with everything, it gave him a lot of fundamentals Matt also credits budgeting which gives you a lot of clarity on where your money is going and highlighting where you can improve your spending Joel was always cheap and willing to do things for less His financial journey really took off when he got heavier into real estate where he would live in a house for 2 years, do renovations and move onto the next one. We then shift gears and unwrap Matt’s grocery budget for a family of 5 which they keep to $450 per month His main three tips are avoiding processed or prepackaged foods, cheaper cuts of meat such as bone-in chicken thighs that also have more flavor, and watching the overall quantity of food you’re eating since most Americans overeat Joel mentions another tip which is splitting entrees when eating out since the portions tend to be way bigger than you’d eat at home by yourself The next tangible money saving we get into is biking Biking gives you a workout, takes care of your commute, and saves you a ton of money Joel recommends looking into an electric bicycle for people who maybe have a commute that’s over 10 miles. While they’re more expensive you still can get a workout with the pedal assist and still save money Joel recommends ElectricBikeReview.com for helping you pick the perfect electric bike Matt is down to a one car family and Joel is getting close as well Joel and Matt discuss how they keep the costs of raising children low through creating a community which allows the parents and children to get together and have activities without the costs like registration fees We then jump deeper into Matt and Joel’s real estate investing They talk about renting out an extension on one of their houses and Air BnB in the other Even beyond real estate investing, they both agree that it’s crucial to avoid the urge to keep looking for a bigger house for yourself as your family grows We finish off the episode with Matt urging people to focus on the big areas of your life like rent or mortgage before worrying about things like cutting coupons Joel explains how frugality gives us options Key Takeaways Look beyond the numbers: We loved the takes both guys had on all of the aspects that are so important to financial independence that simply isn’t listed in your spreadsheet. Being able to have dinner with friends without the stress of a long commute or being able to drop your kids off via bike. Numbers are very important but make sure you’re saving for a life you actually want to live. Grocery guidance: Love hearing grocery tips from someone with a full household. It can be easy to dismiss someone’s advice who is single but when Matt talks about living on $1 per meal / per person and that including young kids, well that gives credibility. So shop the edges of the store, watch your serving sizes, and maybe lower your meat footprint for a lower grocery bill. Ease your way in: They both gave tips about things that help you transition to a more financially responsible and healthier life. The first was bicycles. Maybe biking long distances is too much right now but an electric bike could help jump-start that transition away from cars. The second was with Air BnB or renting out an extension of a home. This is a much easier pill to swallow than finding and remodeling a s

On today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Captain DIY as he breaks down his journey to becoming a professional electrician and how that intersects with his journey to financial independence. Cody and Justin have had a chance to hang out with the good Captain a couple of times including down at a Camp FI event. Go give it a listen and let us know what you think! Episode Summary Started money journey 8 years ago when his first child was born Their goal was to save $20k before their son was born He found himself spending a lot of his excess money on musical equipment His biggest change though was bringing his lunch to work and also his toughest He grew up learning how to build things with his dad but didn’t see it as a passion and he went to school for graphic design He ended up spending 6 years taking community classes But his leap to being an electrician came from working at a sign shop and realized he might be worth more to them if he was a licensed electrician to wire up the lighting He recommends starting with small projects to get into the DIY spirit such as changing out handles or painting He talks about the triple benefit of DIY which is saving money, getting a workout, and a lot of self-satisfaction Then he jumps into the potential of vocational high schools and apprenticeships vs traditional college and the debt that typically comes with it He also breaks downs the rates of pay for trades work that you do on your own vs working for another company which is about 4 times He recommends shopping around and talking with multiple tradesmen before hiring one to protect yourself from getting taken advantage of Key Takeaways Understand Value: He saw an opportunity to bring more value to his employer at the sign shop by diversifying his skill. It’s always important to know what your boss is looking for and how to make yourself more valuable. Benefits in bunches: It seems like most skills and routines that we do for some benefit also bring 2nd and 3rd order impacts. As he said, DIY skills help in much broader strokes than just finances. Pride in your product: It was clear that the reason he has no trouble finding work is that the product he delivers is top-notch. Whatever work or service you do, be honest, upfront, and deliver what you promise. Just think of how much even one bad review poisons your outlook on a product or service you’re considering. If you want to build your brand, it has to be a brand people trust. Call to Action Make or fix something with your hands. There’s just something therapeutic and rewarding to creating something or returning value to something that was previously useless. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode Electroboom Exploding Guitar Video   Contact Captain DIY: His Blog: DIY2FI.com Twitter: @DIYCaptain Instagram: @DIYCaptain   Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

On today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Timika Downes from The House of FI podcast to share her amazing journey. Her story involves marriage, divorce, children, military service, career changes, and six-figure side hustles. Her constant urge to better herself is truly remarkable and we think no matter what your journey is or where you are on it, this episode has something to offer for you. Time to go listen, comment and show us some love with those ratings. Enjoy! Episode Summary Born to immigrant parents growing up in projects of Boston In the 5th grade, she was a part of a program where she began attending school in a much more affluent neighborhood When she got in high school, they moved to a two family home and began house-hacking Her parents instilled saving money but no deeper financial discussions She racked up about $94k in debt over the course of her three degrees Timika ended up with a Master’s in Accounting and a Nursing degree She talks about how she plans on handling her children’s education based on what she learned from her experience There was a discussion about a situation she was aware of where the parent’s had different payouts they would support their kid with based on how profitable the degree was they went after. She got married earlier on and they both made good money and bought a house but they never really managed their money or really worked their way out of debt or built wealth That marriage ended in divorce at age 30 and was a wake-up moment for her financially She also joined the military which greatly helped with her college debt She talks about the great experience the military was and her commitment was 1 weekend per month and a two or three week period every summer and she got a $50k bonus plus pay on those duty weekends. After being remarried and having a child, she realized she wasn’t going to stick around for 20 years and get retirement so she stepped away from the military. Once she got debt handled she started looking at side hustles and entrepreneurship Her first effort was for a breastfeeding product to help women feed at work Unfortunately, in the end, she realized the profit margins just weren’t good enough It did, however, teach her how to handle websites and social media campaigns Her recommendation is to spend your time before you spend your money when looking at a new business idea Then she found a very successful business venture in a head lice clinic She got the idea after going through a lice outbreak in a school she was working at as a school nurse Her clinic utilizes a machine that is leased through a University program that dehydrates the eggs of the lice You purchase rights to a region for the clinics and now the business is moving to a franchise model Lice Clinics of America is the organization she utilized to get started She also mentioned that there is a mobile version of the business people can get involved in now In her first year, the business made over $100k of revenue She continues her personal growth by starting a blog, podcast, and even taking coding classes Her tangible tip is to always look at a problem creatively and deliberately and realize that your journey to financial independence is a marathon and not a sprint Key Takeaways Paths aren’t always marked: She ended up with three degrees which led to debt but it was part of the process for her to find her path. Some people are lucky enough to have a calling from the time they can talk and others need a little more exploration. Don’t compare yourself to others, just focus on finding your path. Failure is our best teacher: This is one of the most reoccurring lessons I’ve ever seen with entrepreneurship. Timika didn’t strike gold on the breastfeeding business in terms of revenue but the lessons she learned were priceless. Invest in yourself: I absolutely love her commitment to self-improvement. Whether it be skill development, reading, or simply focus. She continuously looks for a way to refine her self and her life. That’s something we should all strive to do. Call to Action Go out to a site such as Skill Share or Code Academy and take some low-cost or free classes. Find one that resonates with you and continue developing that skill. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode Lice Clinics of America Travel Rewards Contact Timika: Her Blog: The Reluctant Frugalist   Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Today’s episode is an extra special Valentine’s day episode; Cody and Justin throw out all common sense by letting their significant others come on and give you an unfiltered behind the scenes look at what it’s like to date someone so determined to retire young. While the girls take plenty of jabs at the guys, we think you’ll also get some great insight on how to make money conversations with your significant other much more productive and approachable. Running behind on a Valentine’s day gift? Just fire up this episode and grab a glass of wine for the perfect date night! Oh, and don’t forget to say happy birthday to Cody! Episode Summary Laura’s parents weren’t into personal finance but she did understand being frugal and buying only what you need Leslie’s mom was big on spending money on experiences and things that were important but at the same time spending smart When Leslie first met Justin she noted how he asked even on the first date was asking questions about what her spending habits are Justin also used a coupon in combo with $2 beer night on their 2nd date Laura talked about her first dates with Cody involved using these free vouchers from Cody’s dad Laura sometimes felt like she was being difficult because she knew she was recommending a restaurant or activity that Cody wouldn’t normally do Then they start tackling positives on meeting someone so frugal Leslie talks about how much more travel it has opened up a ton of travel and how it’s not so much about the total of money but more about maximizing the money so maybe you go on two trips instead of one Laura talks about how dating Cody has changed her habits in relation to finances A common theme is being more intentional with money but at the same time teaching the guys to not stress so much over the small stuff Leslie talks about the importance of us splitting things and how you don’t have to feel like one person is pulling the weight Justin and Leslie say they probably speak about money in some form almost daily Laura mentions that sometimes it can seem overwhelming to talk about finances so much but she appreciates it and it’s better to be aware Then the guy’s swap the conversation to how the ladies have changed their lives Cody mentions things like charity and international volunteering Justin talks about opening up a little on the groceries and when something seems important to Leslie to just do it since they’re already so optimized Justin and Leslie discuss how their financial discussions first started which was spurred about because of Leslie changing jobs For Laura, Cody tried initially with straight numbers which didn’t really work but then once he introduced her to travel hacking it had her hooked The approach of bland numbers was also an unsuccessful attempt by Justin but he too realized the outcome was key. They started focusing on how they wanted life to be and things were a lot clearer Laura talks how Cody talked her into going to Camp FI by spinning it into a vacation Then they talk about how important it is for the guys to also support their passions Laura dreams of working in public works in places like Cambodia Then they discuss how the ladies feel and trust the numbers that the guys are steering to and how they’d feel about not working for upwards of 60 years Leslie & Laura feel confident and also recognize how flexible they and their careers are They then discuss what people who aren’t as focused on financial independence or as experienced would like to hear from things like the podcast Laura & Leslie talk about tips to get your spouse on board with a journey to financial independence such as recognizing things that are important to the other person and not crossing that line when drawing down expenses Key Takeaways Appreciate their sacrifice: It’s often easy to look at yourself and feel proud of how you might be shaping up the finances for you and your significant other and totally forget the sacrifices they make by accepting this lifestyle you’re presenting. Sure it’s a responsible choice but that doesn’t mean it’s an easy one. You’re not normal: W Don’t get me wrong, being normal is overrated but it’s important to have some self-reflection. Understand that the life you want to live is a strange one that might even seem insane at first so be patient and don’t expect full agreement on day one. Middle ground marks the spot: A You probably notice a common theme with these key takeaways and the episode in general. Meet your partner in the middle. On these financial journeys, we can develop tunnel vision and so focused on numbers that we forget the emotions associated with them. Monitor your partner’s feelings, adjust when needed and remember that your working career is hopefully short but this relationship needs to last forever. Call to Action Go discover what your partner really wants in life, what does a perfect day look li

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin bring you an incredible story that starts in poverty but ultimately dismisses a strict following of frugality. Dom was raised in unfortunate circumstances but quickly started latching onto mentors at a young age. He even had a pretty successful business selling candy bars at school as a young kid. Since those days Dom has continued to sharpen his skill and has outlined a method for gaining promotions and raises at a high degree of success. He now brings in over $300k per year and is ahead of schedule on his amazing goal of $10M! He also gives an interesting take on becoming an “Intrepreneur” where you still work for someone else but with the autonomy and compensation you desire. Episode Summary Grew up on welfare Parents were drug addicts His dad spent a lot of time in jail for producing meth He gained sight of the FI movement through “Rich Dad Poor Dad” Finds his motivation from people who are more successful than himself In 6th grade, he found out about a place that gave you free pizza if you folded boxes He got to know the owner who was his first mentor At the pizza place, he learned about inventories and staffing That little job also helped him understand the correlation between the amount of work you put in and your reward He started selling candy in elementary school and was making 60-100 dollars per week just selling candy Around 2014 he started noticing extreme frugality wasn’t working for him and he went to a 50/50 model where he saved 50% of his income and spent the other 50% guilt free regardless of income They now spend $110-120k per year He interned with a company in college and would eventually take a job with them as a financial analyst He really focused on outworking his coworkers and worked 80-90 hours a week for his first 7 years out of college Some of those hours were on the side learning new skills and not just on his job He talks about the importance of marketing whatever your skill is Knowing what you’re good also means being very self-aware A great quote he had was “failure isn’t because you didn’t have the resources, it’s because you didn’t have the resourcefulness” He also talks about how important “Luck” is but refers more to being prepared when these seemingly random opportunities come along The skill he learned was being the translator between the Financial and IT sections of the company To help find your own skills you should hone in on, ask other people what they think you’re best at, what are you getting complimented on. He gives tips on getting pay raises and when it’s time to just jump ship He actually recommends sitting down with management and agreeing to what it would take for a raise or promotion and what your pay increase would be and have them sign off on it, email it to them, and track throughout the year sign, scan and email it to them and then come in at review time with evidence that you met it and asking when the raise is happening? I mean I love that but never heard of it and secondly when you’re swapping jobs, do you have a time frame like X number of months prior to leaving that you start scouring linkedIn, are these contacts from your current business, how does finding that next job look? He used this method at one point to gain a $60k a year pay increase and promotion Dom was able to make this deal by implementing a strategy that would save the business 60k every year indefinitely He also recommends staying in touch with recruiters to check in with periodically to see what other people are making at a position similar to yours This also leads into a term he calls “Intrapreneur” where he’s more than an employee and has earned a lot of autonomy He has since negotiated a stake in the company and bonuses so he has the best of both worlds While he has to work a lot and across a lot of time zones he’s able to work from anywhere and at any time so he blends work into his life instead of simply balancing the two He and his wife intentionally waited until 32 to have their first child so they had the flexibility and wealth to be able to go down to a single income if they needed The 10M dollar plan he made was a 20-year plan he started in 2015 Key Takeaways Practice the work-life blend: Dom doesn’t believe in the work-life balance. Instead, he practices what he calls the work-life blend. The time he spends working on his day job is indistinguishable from the time he spends working on his other tasks since each individual task is a separate fulfilling job in itself. Mentors are everywhere: Who would have thought that Dom would learn some of his most valuable lessons from the owner of the pizza shop he worked at? Never underestimate people and absorb as much information as you can. Frugality is relative: Although Dom spends between $110,000 and $120,000 per year, he still is able to save between 57 and 60% of his income. Financial independence definitely isn’t all about deprivation and frugality and personal fina

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin bring you an awesome episode full of philosophical discussion to go along with the background of Grant Sabatier who went from $2.26 in his checking account to $1.25M in 5 years! Our main hope is you come away with a little more insight into Grant’s brain as we tackle some interesting questions like Do people optimize too much? Can a journey to FI be harmful? Does someone need to know their why? Is becoming an entrepreneur the answer? If you enjoyed this episode or want to get to know more about Grant, we encourage you to pick up his new book Financial Freedom today! Episode Summary Graduated with philosophy degree Bounced around 4 jobs after college Was laid off twice Spent what money he had going on a big trip to Africa Ended up back at his parents with $2.26 at age 24 He was also carrying credit card debt His parents gave him a 3 month time limit to figure things out This was during 2010 He started googling for books about money and landed on Your Money Or Your Life as well as Automatic Millionaire Grant realized if he was going to be trading life for money, he became focused on how he could make as much as possible He sat a goal to make $1M and retire as soon as possible A few weeks later he discovered Google Mobile Ads as well as a free certification course He was immediately hired upon completion He started making $50k It was until 2.5 years later that he found others on the path to financial independence at a young age He working extremely hard working 7 days a week most of the time He started building websites plus flipping VW vans and mopeds, and flipping domains Today he still has over 800 domains He began to gain a lot of traction with his main job of managing Google campaigns He attributes this to understanding how he’s perceived, knowing what value he brings, and understanding what his clients need to do to impress their boss One tactic he had was actually writing messages for the client to express how this deal would be good for them Then he talks about how easy it is to see the difference between someone just putting in a lot of hours and those they put out quality work The discussion then swaps to skills which Grant refers to as the future currency Also to make sure that you learn skills that may not tie together at surface level like analytics, sales, and coding Great quote I don’t know how to do that is no longer an excuse in this digital age He talks about how at 18 when graduating from high school, you simply don’t know what you want to be so a structured plan can be tough but you have a huge opportunity to take risks He argues that too much personality finance writing is about cutting out things that we enjoy or being too afraid of debt To worry more about making more money vs stressing about something like student loans He talks about knowing where you want to go and then focusing on how much you need to make to get there instead of settling on what you think you’re worth Grant talks about knowing where you want to go and then focusing on how much you need to make to get there instead of settling on what you think you’re worth He also talks about the risks of climbing the corporate ladder and what that can do to your life and family Then we talk about over optimizing our lives and our budgets This ties into how much of our life we miss by not living in the moment and how Americans struggle with this more than some countries He also admits that he gave up to much life and experiences by being so hyoerfocused on retiring You can be just as addicted to saving money as someone who is addicted to spending it and both are dangerous His wish is that everyone who finds themselves in a job they didn’t love would take 6 months off without a concrete plan to discover your passions Becoming FI in 5 years was extremely stressful for Grant His hope is that FI helps more people help others He talks about getting to level 3 of finances being so important which he calls breathing room Breathing room is 6 months to 1 year of expenses saved and you should focus on that before big trips and experiences and then start exploring life Then he discusses what worry him even more which are people who are happy enough, that make decent pay but aren’t truly fulfilled After, we get into a really interesting discussion on how we perceive time differently at different ages because at age 7 we’ve already experienced half of life’s new experiences Then again at age 26 we find time flying by because we’re at 80% of life experience and how we fill so much more alive when traveling to new destinations We then swap to the topic of the importance of existing and soaking in life and true happiness while we’re working so hard towards financial freedom We end our episode talking about working with our spouses and selves to understand what a truly perfect life would look like beyond the number Key Takeaways Skills are fut

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin bring you the boss we all strive to be. She realized being a lawyer wasn’t in her future and swapped career paths to the tech industry and never looked back. While she makes a hefty income with her day job, she maintains a dedication to side hustles. We also loved J’s alternate take on Financial Independence by not rushing it. She loves her jobs and wants to be very stable. Just another great example of the many paths to FI. Episode Summary Studied political science in college She thought she would become a lawyer Became a legal assistant at age 22 She was in Boston and then moved back in with her parents Some of her friends started blogging She started her own blog about studying abroad to help students figure out where they should study She finds an internship for the U.S. Olympic committee for digital marketing Started working at USOC in 2012 All the experimenting with her blog directly translated with her new internship at the USOC She turned that internship into a full time position where she would work with the field hockey team She still uses a lot of the same strategies she did with her first blog including hiring out some posts on areas she isn’t as familiar with and using keyword planning tools One strategy she uses is to write content that’s funny and slightly controversial She talks about the power of pintrest as the “Google of Pictures” and allows for tons of free advertising J talks about how important it is to experiment with posts and pictures early on when your readership is low to figure out what works She felt like the USOC job was great but wanted to learn from a bigger company Her focus was on tech jobs in a fortune 500 company She landed a job with an insurance company in Colorado as a project manager She cited her management of a website that she helped a startup create with $15k as project management experience which allowed her to land the job Her job was working with engineers to develop internal software She got her Master’s reimbursed and got it in Information systems Worked there for 3.5 years She networked at the Grace Harper celebration There she interviewed at a Silicon Valley tech company and made the move to California 9 months later She received the AnitaB.org scholarship to Grace Hopper Celebration She got a pay bump from the move to California Although the standard of living there is more expensive she actually lowered her expenses in Colorado by living in a tiny 1 bedroom At that time they were in debt from student loans and other various debt They became debt free in 2016 After a year of living in Silicon Valley she realized it was not for her She moved to the pacific northwest where she feels she can get the best of both worlds She loves her job so much now that she’s not hyper-focused on the retire early portion of FIRE There is a desire to spend more time with family but she worked a deal with her current job to work remotely from time to time in an office near them J’s list of best side hustles: Air BnB, Turo, and her new favorite — Etsy digital downloads Key Takeaways You can never learn too many skills: J went to college for political science and now earns a majority of her money through tech and blogging. She was able to increase her perceived value by constantly gaining new skills! Design your lifestyle: Taking “risks” yields rewards. J was never afraid to take a leap at a new opportunity. Whether it was moving across states, trying new jobs, or finding a new role, her ability to take these risks vastly improved the trajectory of her life. Don’t be afraid to take calculated risks! Enjoy the FI journey: You don’t have to hit your FI number or reach your cash flow goals as fast as possible. J explains how she is enjoying her journey and soaking up as much as possible along the way. Call to Action How can you design your ideal career? Work to maximize your perceived value and leverage it to gain options. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode Millennial Boss FIRE drill podcast Grace Hopper celebration Airbnb Turo Etsy Rover Pinterest   Contact Millennial Boss: Twitter: @MillennialBoss Instagram: @MillennialBoss   Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin bring you the creator of what we believe will be the future gold standard of Credit Card rewards accumulation, tracking, and redemption. Anik Khan started creating businesses at age 14 where he would redesign websites for thousands of dollars. He would go on to college to pick up management skills and work a few years as a management consultant before starting the rewards app called Max Rewards. The app is currently in beta but should be ready in March 2019. You can gain early access by going over to Max Rewards and hitting download. Make sure you let them know the FI Show sent you! Episode Summary Came to the U.S. when he was four through a lottery program his dad earned He grew up in New York on a low income He started looking for ways he could help contribute to the family When he was 12 he started learning HTML He actually ended up redesigning his middle school website At 14 he started up a website to launch his own business Some of these jobs would pay up to 19k for a project His mom was worried he was up to something illegal Throughout high school he got paid around $50k and $30k of that was profit This business started around 2005 He goes to his mentor to try and borrow $50k to really kick his business off but his mentor knew he wasn’t ready because he didn’t know management So he goes to college and interns with some medical offices He looked into starting a business to replace college learning management systems but realized it would be a very long time before it could become profitable After college, he got into management consulting Through his consulting at Accenture he started traveling a lot With a recommendation from his boss, he started looking into travel rewards From there he built models to track the best cards to use He’s earned over $20k in travel rewards Sometimes he would even check in and out of hotels around a town while traveling to get more bonuses He also talks about stacking discounts and rewards This led him to his current venture called MaxRewards This app provides a much deeper analysis of which credit card is best for you than any currently offered Then the app helps you track which cards to get next, how to get the bonuses, what rewards you have left to use, and which card is best to use when He talks about the false information about opening up credit cards having sucha negative impact to credit scores In reality, it will probably help you or stay the same Anik starts talking about future phases of the apps that focus more on redemption instead of just accumulation This app is shaping up to combine many different applications into one extremely powerful rewards application They are starting to open the app up for beta testers currently The app is set to launch sometime in March You can get priority access to the app by going to Max Rewards and using The FI Show as a note when signing up The app is also completely free In the future, the reward redemption portion will be a premium feature This app has a bright future which started by winning the FinTech competition at FinCon this year Key Takeaways You may not be ready: Anik wanted to jump in head first for his first business but a mentor let him know that he needed to learn more first. There’s a fine line between taking that first step and overextending ourselves. It’s ok to stop and prepare so that our first big venture is a success. Listen, Learn, Iterate: I love how Anik talks about where Max Rewards is going after getting the basics solid and getting feedback. Just like agile software development, our lives should be a steady improvement with tangible outputs. Convenience is coming: One of the biggest reasons people shy away from tactics that are often associated with FI is because it’s not convenient. While we could argue for and against that idea all day, what is obvious is that life is getting more convenient on its own through apps like Max Rewards. I think it’s better to do what it takes to get our finances right now so that we can enjoy the life of convenience that I believe the future will bring. Call to Action Go sign up for Max Rewards today and become a part of the newest travel rewards tool on the market Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode Max Rewards Cody and Justin’s Recommended Cards Southwest Companion Pass   Contact Anik: E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @MaxRewardsCo   Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin bring you the dynamic duo of Mike and Lauren. You may know them from their fantastic DIY YouTube videos or hearing about their huge European travels. These two have had some interesting jobs: experimental marketing, gemologist, commercial real estate, and YouTube guru to name a few. They’ve never had a typical desk-job but that hasn’t stopped them from being retired by age 30! Oh, and did I forget to mention they have two kids which they gave birth to in Costa Rica? Trust me there’s a lot to unfold her so you’ll want to listen for sure. Episode Summary Met when 12 Dated at 15 Married at 19 and 21 Never had a desk job but have been employed a couple times Started a commercial cleaning company in college in 2007 Got successful so he dropped out of college She moved to New York City and became a gemologist They lived with family while she was getting her gemologist certification She now stays home with her two kids She started making $50k after her 6 months of schooling He then got into this experiential marketing gig where one of his jobs was to create a mobile quicksand booth He talks about the hardest part of starting his cleaning his business was going door to door and getting told no so many times as he tried to get the word out They got their first big contract was through word of mouth but they underbid by a large margin They initially bid $10k per month and then quickly realized they needed to increase to $24k per month and their client was totally cool with it She worked at Saks 5th Avenue and Tiffany’s They loved NYC but it was just too cold for them after 3 years there He did some lighting and production for a church and she worked at a friends Jewelry store when they moved back to Florida They both worked at those for 4 years and quit She quit to have their first son and he quit to go full time on YouTube in 2016 His first year on YouTube he made $20k His second year that jumped to $68k They did a 10 week trip for two across Europe for $10k which spurred the idea of doing YouTube travel videos They jump into how they still continue to travel even with kids including a 7-week backpacking trip to Europe They recommend traveling a little slower with kids and not bouncing from city to city every couple days but maybe every week After seeing some success from their YouTube channel they started making online courses They gave birth to both kids in Costa Rica They did so to get dual citizenship and avoid a lot of health care costs U.S. healthcare wouldn’t give them exact quotes while Costa Rica gave them a specific menu They gained full citizenship and their children gained dual citizenship to Costa Rica They had the affordable care act plans which allowed them to have really low cost of insurance due to their low income when covered They pay $50 per month to be a part of Costa Rica’s universal health care system as a fall back plan They retired when he was 30 and now just blog, YouTube and travel They’re cash flow FI vs the traditional large nest egg FI They completed the purchase of a warehouse were the cash-flow comes from through owner financing The warehouse needed a good bit of work that Mike was able to do mostly himself outside of some plumbing and electrical Key Takeaways Stability isn’t necessary: We often stay focused on building careers and working our way up ladders. They showed that we can keep things fresh and do a wide variety of jobs and still make perfect progress towards early retirement. Don’t assume America is the answer: They chose to go outside of the U.S. for healthcare and it was only partly to save money. They also appreciated the transparency and stated that the level of care was beyond what they would have gotten at a local hospital anyways. Challenge assumptions such as the U.S. being your option for healthcare. Passion meets proficiency: They discovered something they were good at. Skills that they could pass on to others and that they were passionate about. This is the perfect recipe for success when brainstorming money making ideas. Find where your passion meets proficiency. Call to Action Survey your life and find one unique skill or passion you have and develop a plan to monetize it Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode Mike and Lauren’s Blog Mike and Lauren’s YouTube channel   Contact Mike & Lauren: Twitter: @MikeAndLauren   Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin bring you a truly optimistic outlook on getting fired. Rob from Getting Canned walks us through his story of losing his job at one of the worst times in history, in 2008 during The Great Recession. Rob’s struggles lead to finding an amazing income source and international travel opportunity all in one. Rob moves to Taiwan where he would teach English for three years and make some fantastic memories while the economy recovered. Tune in this week to see yet another showcase at how financial independence is possible for all. Episode Summary Recently lost his job after working there 4 years He was placed on a performance improvement plan prior to getting fired Started a blog to be a resource for people who had lost their job Created a checklist of all the things to do when you find out you may be getting fired He talks about filing for unemployment and rolling over your 401k as really important parts of the checklist Had gotten fired in 2008 and went unemployed for 2 years Decided to go to Taiwan to teach English It was an amazing experience for him and feels that it’s a great option for “Barista Fire” He was paid $20/hr working 20 hours per week His first job actually came with free room and board He stayed in Taiwan for 3 years with one 6 month break in between 2008-2010, during his unemployment, he met a lot of frustrations with applying for jobs He talks about how unemployment can prepare you for your FI lifestyle He got in the best shape of his life during that period Rob got the idea of moving to Asia to teach came from meeting someone randomly who had done it. He considered Japan, China, and Taiwan He did a Skype interview where he had to do a practice teaching session The main requirements were to speak with an American accent and a college degree He got a tourism VISA for 60 days that the employer then helped them change it to a work VISA which was good for a year His first apartment was a studio in new and in a nice neighborhood for under $400/mo He used their great public transportation system The medical care was what he found to be the biggest savings At one point he to go to the emergency room to get stitches with anesthesia was $30 He mentions the odd type of side jobs that are possible in those unique situations One was being approached to be an actor in a short because he stood out so much in Taiwan The primary language there is Chinese He learned a little bit just to “survive” He talks about how knowing English opens you up so much for travel One certification he recommended was TEFL which helps with getting some of these jobs He also recommends Upwork and Fiverr, and Wyzant as good resources for gig economy especially in times of unemployment Rob also implores people to diversify their income streams and go through the thought process of what it would be like if you lost your job tomorrow Key Takeaways Resourcefulness is a superpower: We see this all the time. Whether it’s keeping grocery bills low, finding free furniture, or finding work. Resourcefulness and flexibility are these amazing superpowers that make financial independence almost unstoppable. It is ok to ask for help: I thought it was really humbling to hear Rob talk about taking unemployment. It can feel like you have failed but everyone has moments that they need help and it’s likely you paid your fair share into programs like unemployment anyways. The world isn’t so scary: This is the biggest takeaway for sure. The world can seem massive and scary but if you can read this, then you probably know English and as English speakers, we often take for granted just how accessible this world is to us. Rob barely learned any of the language and still survived just fine. He worked there for several years and even made a trip to the ER. So what’s stopping you from stepping out into some unfamiliar territory? Call to Action Consider what it would be like if you were fired tomorrow and create a game plan. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode Dave’s ESL Cafe Upwork, Fiverr, and Wyzant Getting Fired Checklist International TEFL academy with location and earning matrix Contact Rob: Getting Canned Twitter: @GettingCanned   Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin bring you one of their favorite episodes to date. Paula Pant is always conducting great interviews herself but today she’s the one answering questions. She walks us through her amazing story of only three traditional years of employment, traveling the world, and the steps she took to secure her financial independence. There is something for everyone in this episode. You’ve got philosophy, entrepreneurship, freelancing, and even some great real-estate tips. This discussion also gets into focusing also on increasing income and not just being consumed by minimizing expenses. Paula calls this “The gap” or the delta between your earnings and expenses. Go check out the episode for yourself and let us know what you took away from the show. Episode Summary Grew up in a normal middle-class family where they weren’t rich but didn’t have to worry about money Paula had a desire to study abroad in college but the prices were too high She decided instead to work for a few years to save money and then travel Graduated college in 2005 and started at a newspaper making $25k per year She worked there 3 years topping out at $31k per year On the side, she was freelancing and earned an additional $25k on the side in a travel fund Quit her job and left her lease in 2008 She backpacked around Egypt, Cambodia, and other countries on a budget of $1k per month When she returned from her trip she decided to go full-time freelancing After 18 months, her freelancing was making over $100k per year She began taking her excess income and investing in real estate The rental properties are now netting over $40k She talks about how achieving in life drives her to continue to work consistently vs just doing the gig economy and bouncing around We discuss how important it is to find a job you love to do because any skill can be spun into a high paying job She talks about the pressures of growing up in a Nepalese culture and how you’re expected to either be a doctor or an engineer in order to escape We discuss how so much of the FIRE movement revolves around spending what seems like extremely frugal lifestyles when in reality it’s just normal life for so many people in America and across the world She also discusses how more of the focus should be on the income side of the equation vs the spending part of the equation This led us to the discussion of “The Gap” or the difference between earning and spending not necessarily just one side of the equation The conversation then swaps over to an overview of Paula’s real estate investing It’s clear that Paula has a passion to read and to learn and talks about how the internet has now democratized learning She gets into what she looks for in a house from both the location and physical attributes of the home and how she’s purchasing houses from a distance In 2019 she will be launching her own real estate course She talks about how financial independence gives her time to be with others and volunteer She continues to travel and was actually out of the country when the Suze Orman interview went viral We discuss her hitting $1M net worth around 30 and the changes she would make if she had to do it over again Key Takeaways What do you want? Paula describes how no matter what your passion is, it can be profitable enough to become wealthy and find financial independence. Her work at a newspaper was low paying but she took that same skill and passion and became her own boss and increased her salary by 500%. The gap. We loved this explanation. Instead of debating whether you should increase your income or decrease your spending, just focus on the gap between the two. Both are very important so don’t let either of them become the center of attention. Just focus on the gap. What FI can bring. The examples Paula gave with what she is doing with her flexible time were so important to think about when you’re going after these goals. It’s so much more than sippin’ margs on the beach. She has the opportunity to be there for her friend and she becomes a new mother and she has time to volunteer to things that are important to her. Imagine how much more rewarding life can be when you’re in control. Call to Action Increase your income! Whether it’s picking up a side hustle or figuring out a way to maximize your main hustle, there is some way for you to increase your income in 2019. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode Paula’s Free E-book Contact Paula Pant: Twitter: @AffordAnything Instagram: @PaulaPant   Learn More About

We have an extra special gift for you today that requires no wrapping paper. This Holiday special Justin and Cody go at it alone with no guest to discuss their perspectives on materialistic Christmas, a brief recap of 2018 and their goals for 2019. We think you’ll really enjoy getting to hear a little more from your hosts this week and see a little more behind the curtain on their personal lives. At the end of the episode, we asked that you start writing out your goals and sharing them with us so we can keep you accountable. You can drop those goals in a voicemail at TheFIshow.com/voicemail or look out for a thread on the facebook page at TheFIshow.com/community. Episode Summary Here’s a breakdown of what we cover in this episode. Materialistic Christmas Discussion Justin and Cody discuss how their families viewed Christmas and gift-giving growing up They also discuss how the Financial Independence community has changed their own views on it Justin makes a case for a materialistic Christmas being a positive thing in households where some family members never buy themselves anything absolutely necessary, thus giving them one chance per year to have something simply for enjoyment. They both discuss their most memorable Christmas gift which actually both turned out to be the thin PlayStation 2. It’s also very clear though that they both value experiences over these items today Review of 2018 2018 was a packed year for both of the guys Cody started the year off with 5 months in Australia…wow this whole FI lifestyle sure is restrictive Justin kicked the year off with a trip to Iceland and kept the traveling going with 2 trips to Mexico with some scuba diving, three trips to Denver, the Grand Canyon, countless concerts, trip to the Hamptons, Vermont ski trips, and attended a UFC title fight This year is also the year Cody got deep into the FI movement and began Flytofi.com and this podcast Justin spent 5 months in a hotel due to a house fire but came out of it with 2.4 million Hilton points as a concession Cody got a chance to practice his speaking chops down at CampFI south Speaking of CampFI South, that’s where Justin and Cody actually first met back in September. Justin then joined Cody as the new co-host of this podcast when T.J. had to step away. So far they’ve seen 20k downloads but feel like they’re just now gaining traction and getting their systems set up to be more efficient with their time Just has also continued his work on his own blog Saving-Sherpa.com where he gives extreme transparency into his expenses and investing The hopes behind this are to try and show people you can still live a really exciting and rewarding life while on this journey He is also proud to still maintain his $60/month grocery bill for the 4th straight year Justin’s savings rate is over 75% while paying rent and living in Boston which works out to be about $24k in annual expenses His net worth grew $68k this year even with the rough markets Cody is able to save 85% of his income while living at home. This gap between his income and expenses gives him amazing flexibility! Goals for 2019 Cody is starting the year off with a bang by stepping away from his job and going on a nationwide book tour with Grant from Millennial Money Justin looks to continue his savings rate success and build more upon his blog They are both very passionate about growing the podcast and increasing their reach You can tell they go big on goals when they set the mission for 1 million downloads before the end of 2019 They think they can do so with a mix of fantastic headliners like Paula Pant and stories that had previously never been told like Jimmy the mailman from Arkansas who is already FI at 28 through real estate The guys also want everyone to share their 2019 goals with them and keep everyone accountable Key Takeaways Materialism can have a place. When you’re in an environment where the whole family is so un-materialistic either out of principle or necessity, it can be useful to have one day a year where everyone gets to be spoiled with some items that they really want but would never buy themselves. It also allows each person to get the reward of giving something special which is pretty rewarding on its own. You never know what a year will hold. Cody got thrust into the financial independence space and hit the ground running and now in 2019, he’ll be walking away from corporate America because of it. In this space, we love to plan, which is never a bad thing, but we also need to understand that life is stranger than fiction and there can always be a life-changing surprise around the corner. Make big goals. What’s the worst that happens if you make a big goal? You either make it or you try as hard as you can but you don’t settle. The FI Show is going with a bold goal of 1M downloads before 2020 starts. What will your big goal be? Call to Action Go make some big bold goals for 20

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin bring you a story that’s just beginning. This interview with The Incredible Cash Dummy steps through a life quickly changed by having a child in high school and joining the Navy soon after. He then went for years with no financial direction. A recent military move was compounded with his wife getting pregnant again and her losing her job, he had a major light-bulb moment. A little over a year ago he discovered the financial independence space and has become hooked. Tune in to see how he is correcting his path and taking ownership of his finances. Episode Summary Grew up in normal middle class family where they weren’t rich but didn’t have to worry about money Then during his junior year of high school he gets his girlfriend pregnant and had his son at 17 At this point all he knew about finances was trying to avoid impulse purchases He continued living with his parents and graduated high school and working part-time at a steak house The Cash Dummy realized college wasn’t for him so he decided to enlist in the Navy He was clearing $800 per month and paying $155 per month of child support His housing and food was covered through the military and he lived on base so he was able to save His first investing was through the Thrift Savings Plan which is the military’s version of a 401k where he put in 7% of his check monthly Realized he should take his finances more serous around 2010 when he heard everyone complaining about their stocks and the recession He then noticed he had been investing unknowingly into nothing but the G fund which is government bonds that are basically just a shelter against inflation He mentions being lucky that he worked with other sailors who talked to him about finances and walked him through how all the funds work Gets stationed in Japan and where he receives some extra location pay and benefits from the yen conversion At this point he is more conscious about investing but still not a great saver He mentions how the military culture and surroundings of the base can be troublesome for young enlisted and their finances He talks about the need for military services to make financial training an annual requirement At 20 he started using credit cards which he struggled to use responsibly While he struggled with credit cards he never fell into the fancy car trap He ended up with $10k in credit card debt He got married in 2013 after 8.5 years in the military and was now an E-6 When the finances got combined their total debt was $15k They blew all their extra money on eating out and travel and only saved the 7% TSP He got promoted to E7 and had to move for his next military assignment His wife was pregnant with his third child and she was going to have to quit her job All of this led to his light-bulb moment in 2017 She took unemployment for 9 months His child support has now increased to $900 per month A coworker introduced bigger-pockets to him and showed him the quad chart video from Brandon Turner He dove in hard to bigger-pockets including the forums and podcasts That led him to all the other members of the financial independence space He sat back for a couple months trying to understand everything before he acted It then took a few more months before him and his wife were both on the same page At this point he went from 7% to TSP to 10% He borrowed against his 401k to pay off high interest credit card loans He also took on a second job for a while at $16/hr to pay off loans doing janitorial work There was a fear that all of this would negatively impact their lifestyle but they didn’t notice that at all He tried YNAB but that didn’t stick Instead he went to the Anti-budget which fit much better Now he’s started his own blog, TheCashDummy.com, to help people who found themselves in the same situation and mistakes he did His number one tip is education, there are so many resources so go find someone who has a path that fits yours You’ll also want to listen in to hear his accounts of his first FinCon experience where he met all his financial heroes Key Takeaways Surprise! You never know what is going to happen in life and it could be a massive financial change. Don’t simply plan for what your plan is, plan for what happens when that plan gets flipped upside down. Kids, divorce, sickness, job sector changes, these can all be devastating if you’re not prepared. Today is better than tomorrow. It can be intimidating reading about young people who have it figured out. It might sometimes feel like there’s no point but the reality is that you can make massive changes in such a short period of time. There’s nothing you can do about the time past but you can take control of your future. Check your pride. The Cash Dummy explains how he picked up side jobs as a janitor to help pay off debt. That’s commitment. It can be easy to turn down opportunities that seem beneath us but when it helps you get to your goal, nothing is off limits.

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin bring you a really interesting story full of dynamics different than their own lives. Jamila is a mother and an immigrant and both of those parts of her story helped shaped her unique path to financial independence. She was heavily inspired by the strong women in her life who passed down the qualities of saving and hard work. Jamila also has a natural gravitation towards entrepreneurship. Whether it was previous companies she has attempted, venturing into investment real estate at 22 in New York City, or stepping away from a safe corporate job to pursue Journey to launch, it’s clear that she has a passion to be different and take control of her own path. Episode Summary Immigrated to the US at 18 months from Jamaica She had a happy childhood in Brooklyn Her mom had a large emphasis on education and reading She also gained a lot of inspiration from her grandmother Her mom didn’t really pass down investing but she did pass down the importance of saving She talks about the importance of passing down grit and making her kids financially responsible even though they’re growing up in a more privileged upbringing Fresh out of college she made an incredible real estate investment She put down a down payment on a new condo build in the DUMBO district of Brooklyn The unit she got was $338k and required a $30k down She lived with her mom for 2 years while the unit was built so she was able to save up the rest of the money she needed to close on the property The unit is now valued closer to $680k She tried starting a couple of small businesses including a magazine company Then she started a standard job that came with a really long commute Having children made her realize how important financial independence is to her She had a little breakdown on the way home stuck in traffic which was her “Ah-ha” moment After having three children she decided to step away from the standard workforce and go full-time entrepreneur through Journey To Launch She started Journey to Launch as a way to keep herself accountable Her recommendation for entrepreneurs is to just start because she learned so much from her early business failures For her early retirement doesn’t mean not working just not making it through the corporate world She is married and her husband still works which provides healthcare and the flexibility for her to build up her business Her plan is to really focus on Journey To Launch and if it doesn’t work out after two years she would be willing to go back into her corporate work She also thinks you should focus on increasing income and looking at your career to see if it’s better to avoid side hustles and spend that time to make promotions and bonuses or if side hustles are the better option Drake’s plan “God’s Plan” was the answer to the wildcard question but you’ll have to just listen to understand why! Key Takeaways Learn from, improve on. We are often surrounded by people who influence us whether we know it or not. Some may be more obvious like parents but it may be a more obscure co-worker. It’s important to always learn from them but then try to take it one step further and evolve their idea. Learn from them, but improve on their ideas. Strengthen your “Side-Hustle Muscle”. Jamila hasn’t had every entrepreneurship venture succeed and she hasn’t had everyone fail, but she has refined her skills with each attempt. It’s like any skill or muscle, it needs practice and work. Find something low risk and just start practicing your side hustle muscle and see what you need to work on for success. Keep your motivation front and center. Jamila had that breakdown on the way home as she was stuck in traffic because it was keeping her from her kids. Too often we get stuck in a daze of the grind. We forget why we’re doing it, what we’re missing, or what we’d rather be doing. Don’t obsess on the future so hard that you don’t enjoy the journey, but always have a motivation to help point your efforts. Call to Action Take account of those people and places that your corporate job is keeping from you and keep that motivation front and center! Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode Journey to Launch Still curious about DUMBO?   Contact Jamila: Facebook Instagram: @JourneytoLaunch Twitter: @JourneytoLaunch   Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin bring you a true the king of efficiency. A real estate junkie, Craig works over at Bigger Pockets and currently lives in Denver. From getting paid to go to college to renting out his car, Craig finds ways to squeeze money out of every aspect of life. Then you can add on the fact that he’s in his mid 20’s and you have a really inspiring story. Craig may not head up a popular blog or podcast but I can promise you, he has some amazing insight. In this episode, you’ll get to hear his entry into real estate including some extreme house hacking. Oh, and did I mention he spends ~$500 per month on everything? It really highlights how removing auto and home expenses leaves you with an extremely tiny budget Episode Summary Started hustling in elementary school by selling his lunch to other kids Chose his college based on an internship program that let him graduate w/ a $20k nest-egg Gets a wake-up call when his boss interrupts his weekend at Big Sur 2 years after graduating he buys his first property, a duplex in Denver His first property was $380k and 1.5 miles from his work He put down a down-payment of $17k The duplex was cash-flowing $800 per month and he lived there rent free He lived in a tiny section of one floor while Air BnB’ing out the rest With a place so close to work, he was able to also rent out his car on Turo On Turo, he was pocketing ~$30 per day…until a renter totaled the car Turo handled the insurance without a hitch One year after buying the duplex he buys his second property In the new property, he rents the rooms out individually while still living rent free With no rent and no car expense he’s able to spend $500-$600 per month At 25 he is prepping himself to be set up to travel and someday start a family He uses credit cards with setting up his new properties to travel hack his trips Currently loves his job at Bigger Pockets He actually got into real estate due to the confidence he found from Bigger Pockets He chooses his properties based on location in relation to parks and bike paths Key Takeaways House hacking is one of the most efficient and effective ways to hit FI. If you can rent out half of a duplex (or the whole thing or if you’re on Craig’s level) you can eliminate your housing expense and actually make money to live! Housing is typically 33% of the average American budget. “Live like no one else now, so you can live like no one else later“. Craig understands that his youth gives him an advantage and allows him to kickstart his FI journey. He can take wisdom from his elders and implement all of the strategies that they wished they had used. FU Money is one of the most powerful levers. Since Craig was able to live intentionally, amass a comfortable monthly cash flow and increase his net worth, he unlocked options in his life. He now can focus on the things he truly cares about and “peace out” from his job if he stops feeling fulfilled! Call to Action Examine your life, determine what is excess, and cut what’s not necessary! Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode Turo (Get $25 off your first ride!) Airbnb (Get $40 off your first stay!) Rich Dad Poor Dad Travel Hacking Lifeonaire Book   Contact Craig: BiggerPockets LinkedIn Facebook   Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Today we have a bonus episode recorded LIVE at FinCon with Jimmy and Jenny from Living Life Loving Us. Cody was fortunate enough to meet this amazing power couple at FinCon and immediately knew that he needed to get them on the podcast. Since discovering financial independence, this couple has been able to increase their savings rate tremendously, maximize their income, and design a life of purpose and meaning. They also share some awesome tips about how to get your spouse on board with your financial plans! Episode Summary When they met, Jimmy was optimizing his time and Jenny was working 16-hour shifts. Jimmy works as a firefighter and Jenny works as a nurse. Jenny hacked travel nursing by living 52 miles outside of the 50-mile radius requirement. Incurred $100K in debt from infertility treatment and paid it off as fast as possible. Found Dave Ramsey, then Choose FI, then a bunch of other blogs. Jenny thought they were “done” when all the debt was paid off … she was wrong. Jimmy tried going minimalist/frugal psycho and get rid of everything – but Jenny wasn’t having it. Then, he made her write down her top ten 10 values and that made her realize that money didn’t make them happy! After car payment was gone, Jenny had her “lightbulb” moment and now wanted to pursue FI by cutting expenses. Started at negative net worth and soon achieved a 50%+ savings rate. Recently downsized their house! Jimmy got certifications to increase his overall pay. Went from $40K to $75K annual salary in just 6 and ½ years. Cut your expenses wisely, NOT your lifestyle. Jenny started making 60K per year and now has the ability to earn 120K. However, she chooses to only work 7 months of the year and still out-earns that original 60K! Jenny leveraged her existing nursing skills to acquire additional PRN jobs in the nursing fields – she also does furniture flipping on the side during her 5 months off! Jimmy works two 24-hour shifts per week, and uses his free days to hang out with his daughter and work on the blog. They have friends that make the same amount of money, have the same jobs, live in the same area… but they’re not intentional with their spending! It’s all about focusing on what you actually value. Striving toward a mutual goal makes life easier and reduces arguments. “Fighting is inevitable. It’s the way you fight that’s important.” – Jimmy Both trying to challenge themselves in every aspect of life: physically, financially, emotionally, etc. Both value fitness and have competed in obstacle course races. Healthy eating is also extremely important to them. Traveling with a baby is great (once you get to your destination), but the journey itself isn’t so fun… They’ve already designed a life that they both love so the next five years might look eerily similar! Their total spend is between $50K and $60K per year, but they could get below $40K if travel was eliminated … might go down with newly discovered travel hacking. “You can’t live on a diet; you need to adjust your eating habits permanently. Same thing with your money” – Jenny Jenny’s parents were entrepreneurs but never had any money during her early years. After her parents achieved success, they started to give Jenny everything she wanted and the “I can have anything” mindset started to set in. One great thing she learned from them though was the power of hard work. Jimmy, on the other hand, barely spent any money to Jenny’s astonishment. The first year they met he had spent $5,000 for the entire previous year. Jimmy’s family never spoke about money, but his dad retired at 50 as a firefighter and had lots of free time. Jimmy has a pension to bolster his FI journey through his job as a firefighter. The longer he works, the more it grows, but he has the option to leave whenever he wants. Both have had health scares in the past. If Jimmy leaves his job, Jenny might get a year-round job for the healthcare benefits. Key Takeaways Find common ground with your partner or spouse. Jimmy and Jenny both recognize how powerful it is to chase financial independence as a team. They achieved this cooperation by finding common ground and respecting each other’s input. Some people like spreadsheets, some people don’t. Find out what works for your relationship. Life is short. Enjoy each day. Jimmy and Jenny have both had health scares in their 20s and this opened their eyes to how precious life is. Now, they have created a life that they truly love and wake up looking forward to each day. This mindset is so powerful and something we should all adopt! Understand your values. Sometimes, we don’t even know what makes us happy. Often times, it’s not the massive house, flashy cars, or new gadgets — it’s quality time spent with friends and family. Definitely consider doing our Call to Action! Call to Action Make a list of the 10 things that you value most. Understand what truly makes you happy and create a plan to get there. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questio

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin bring you a true expert of the gig economy and side hustles. The great Kevin from Financial Panther. If you’re unfamiliar with the gig economy or side hustles, think Uber, Wag, or Air BnB. Kevin has used all of these new apps to bring in $1-3k per month on a very consistent basis. Oh and don’t forget he does this while also being a lawyer. While a lot of lawyers might think it is beneath them to deliver food to college kids, Kevin sees it as a powerful tool to expedite his path to financial independence. The other important part of this interview is how Kevin explains the ways to do these side hustles without stretching yourself too thin. We try to always stress the importance of enjoying this financial independence journey and not just rushing through it. He stresses finding ways to incorporate these side hustles into activities that you’d be doing anyway. Own a dog? How much harder is it at that point to watch a second one for a night? Workout? Why not jump on a real bike for a delivery instead of a stationary one? These are examples of some nuggets we got from today’s show. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Episode Summary Kevin’s parents paid for his college and he didn’t even consider the financial implications of his college choice or major Graduated in 2009 in the thick of the great recession when there were no jobs available Took LSAT and decided on law school to follow up on his history/economics undergrad. Received a 50% scholarship for law school but still came out with $87k in student debt Continues living like a student after landing a lawyer gig to pay off debt as fast as possible Discovers the Financial Independence movement 1 year into debt payoff Was inspired by financial samurai, Mr. Money Mustache, and Dave Ramsey Paid off his $87k in loans in just 2.5 years while working at a big high-paying law firm Started side hustling in 2015 while still earning big lawyer money Some side hustles include Uber eats, Wag, Rover, Bird, Air BnB, and Lime He changes to a government job that came with a 50% pay cut and a little extra flexibility Takes another pay cut to work for a non-profit that came with a great deal of flexibility He talks about incorporating gig economy jobs into his normal day routine For him, side hustles that involve driving his car came with the least return on investment Kevin makes somewhere between $1-3k per month on side hustles He even makes money on dumpster finds He equates the gig economy as a pseudo emergency fund Has ambitions to step away from working to blog full time Kevin makes a great comparison that $10k in side hustles is equivalent to $250k in investments for those that follow the 4% rule Key Takeaways Your income isn’t everything. Kevin shows that by not taking one but two pay-cuts to add in flexibility. It means he’s not only happier but also has more time to pursue outside passions that could very well become more and more profitable. There’s money everywhere. He found money in the trash! Just actually just furnished most of his home from free craigslist items that he could have sold if he wanted too. Kevin does it all though. Deliver food, walk dogs, rent rooms, and more. The beautiful thing is that you don’t have to do much of the legwork. The jobs are waiting for you, so what are you waiting for? You might be closer to retirement than you think. Our favorite insight with this interview was the idea that $10k in side hustles is equal to $250k in investments if you’re following the 4% rule. That means you could be a lot closer to at least taking some time off if not actually retiring by picking up some side gigs! Call to Action Analyze your daily routine and find something you can do to make that $5k per year! That’s only $13.70 per day Side Hustles Mentioned Uber Lyft Rover Wag Bird Lime Airbnb UberEats Postmates DoorDash Craigslist eBay FB Marketplace Amazon Flex Job Spotter Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode Financial Panther Money and Confidence are Interchangeable Financial Samurai   Contact Kevin: kevin [@] financialpanther.com Twitter: @financialpanthe Facebook: facebook.com/financialpanthe   Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin bring you an interview that is guaranteed to be a new one for you. This is the story of Jimmy Ridenhour who, unlike most of our guests, has no blog, book, podcast or ever been on a podcast. That doesn’t mean his story isn’t remarkable. Jimmy’s story starts out with a very tragic start that involves murder and family turmoil but he amazingly finds his way to success and has an unmatched amount of positive vibes when you meet him in person. After that tragic start, Jimmy landed on his feet literally as a mailman at age 18. While most people his age were racking up college debt, he was bringing in upwards of $80k a year while he put in 70+ hour weeks. This allowed him to purchase his first home for $125k and have it paid off at age 23. Now he’s 27 with five properties and already has an income stream that would allow him to be financially independent if he wanted. This is a can’t-miss episode! Episode Summary Jimmy was born in the outskirts of NYC Migrates to Arkansas around 3 years old His father gets murdered while going to sell his car Life becomes chaos as his mother struggles with depression and substance abuse Splits time between his mom & grandparents until 12 then moves to grandparents full time He started learning work ethic and business from the new family he was living with From age 12 to 16 he saved $5k from small-town jobs He decides to follow in his Aunt’s footsteps in working at the Post Office to hopefully have her normal life vs his chaotic one He creates a postal profile at age 16 in hopes of one day becoming a postman Then his grandmother passed away and his grandfather developed Alzheimer’s At 18 he’s eligible to take the postal exam & scores high enough to get hired right away He starts working 70+ hours a week At age 20 he buys his first house for $125k which he paid off at 23 through high savings rates and house hacking via a roommate Saving $80k in those three years while making a range of $50-80k per year He talks about shaking the scarcity mentality but also keeping his very low budget lifestyle He’s currently making 55k per year His boss sold him his second house for $50k and which he puts $13k in for fixes Gets deeper into BiggerPockets and starts crushing podcasts while delivering mail for work Finds his 3rd home through a family member for $30k and knocked out all the fixes himself Finds his 4th home for $40k which appraised for $65k that only needed a quick paint job He discovers Paul Thompson from Ready Investor One and got involved in his first Wholesale purchase for $47k, invested $20k, sold it three months later and profited $18k even though he contracted out 90% of the work He highly recommends doing all the work yourself in the beginning so you can negotiate better with contractors and protect yourself from getting taken advantage of. His plan is to end up with 12 rental properties total His expenses are currently so low (~$1300/mo) that he’s already financially independent with the 5 houses he has He’s currently cash flowing over $2k per month through his rentals at age 27 Recommends using Mr. Landlords how to find a good tenant scoresheet when filtering out tenants He manages all but one property and is now experimenting with the one property manager to hopefully someday step away and allow all his properties to be managed His #1 tip is to just get started because you’ll learn so much from the first house And trust me you won’t want to miss this week’s wildcard question about the most insane date Jimmy has ever been on! Key Takeaways Your past can’t define you. Jimmy had an incredibly rough start and is still somehow so far ahead of almost anyone I know. This financial independence journey isn’t reserved for kids with parents who taught them the value of money at a young age or who paid for their college. It doesn’t have to be pursued in a big city with an outrageous economy. You decide if your path is successful, not your past. Just jump in. We hear this tip so often but it can’t be overstated. Just start. Whether that’s index funds or real estate, you just have to get off the couch. The first experience will be profitable even if it doesn’t look like it in your bank account. That’s because you’ll learn so much from it that you’d never get from simply reading about it. There is no one path. Much like the first take away we just want to highlight how non-traditional this story is and how many excuses we hope were eliminated today. More specifically I think the interesting take away here is the value of earning income earlier. Jimmy didn’t do the traditional 4-5 year degree, pay off debt, start getting ahead around 30 model that most do. He started earning serious cash at age 18 and that’s why he’s so far ahead. Don’t box yourself or your kids in when thinking about your path. Call to Action Focus on your happiness be

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin interview one of the real originators in the personal finance space, J.D. Roth from Get Rich Slowly. Join them as they dive into J.D.’s financial backstory and learn how he took his own journey to conquer finances and turned it into a successful business. He gives us full transparency and shows that it hasn’t always been easy or profitable. When J.D. first started he was publishing articles daily…as bloggers ourselves that seems outrageous. We chronicle his financial journey and what it looks like to build up a digital business, sell it, and reacquire it all over again. You won’t want to miss this one. Episode Summary Started posting on the internet in the early 90’s Began writing to document his journey in gaining a healthy relationship with money 2005 he writes an article titled “Get Rich Slowly” which really took off This article became a successful blog and he was able to quit his job Becomes devoted Dave Ramsey follower and works his way out of debt in 2007 Recommends an emergency fund in an alternative bank with no ATM card for those that struggle as he did Get Rich Slowly grows to getting 1M+ page views The stress of the site, however, becomes too much so he sells it in 2009 for a large yet undisclosed amount of money He stays on to help run the site until 2012 2015 he returns to the blogging arena with his new site “Money Boss” In 2017 he decided to reacquire Get Rich Slowly Get Rich Slowly is currently losing thousands per month but he is developing plans to make it profitable without compromising his personal ethics Key Takeaways Overnight success is an illusion. We see so many of these stories on podcasts like ours were someone makes a really nice living just by typing out some thoughts on a page. In reality, it’s not that simple and it doesn’t happen that fast. J.D. has been running a blog for 20 years and has probably spent more time working on the blog than I want to work in my entire life. Don’t get frustrated when you’re not earning profit right away, no one does. Personal happiness over profit. J.D. found himself in a dilemma that most people probably wouldn’t find sympathy but that is still a real issue a lot of us have or will face. He was making really good money but his personal life wasn’t following the same success. The pressure he put on himself to make the blog a success was too much. What is all the money worth if it takes away your happiness? As you do get off the ground and turn profitable, don’t neglect the happiness around you that is so much more valuable. Authenticity is the best attribute. Looking to grow your audience? Let them see you. The real you, not the you that is always happy and makes every correct investment choice. Let them see you at your worst and your best. Invite them into your life and they will come away with a much stronger connection and loyalty to you and your brand. Call to Action Sit down and think about what you want your life or business to look like. What are you willing and not willing to do to succeed? What do you want to be known for? What value do you want to give other? Answer these questions early and commit to them. They will be much harder to make a priority if you wait until profits start coming in and turning away from your values can quickly cause the profits to evaporate too. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] thefishow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode The Article that started it all – “Get Rich Slowly” Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps Contact J.D. Roth: Get Rich Slowly Twitter Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin interview Michelle Schroeder-Gardner from Making Sense of Cents. Join them as they dive into Michelle’s financial backstory and learn how she took her issues with student loan debt and turned it into a passion that ultimately became super profitable. While Michelle did retire from her job at 24 and is now living it up sailing around the world, she is still grinding away on her blog and saving a ton of money. This really shows you that no matter how much money you have, your core values remain the same. Michelle is also trying to help other aspiring bloggers follow in her footsteps through her affiliate marketing course. We hope you enjoy some time getting a behind the scenes look at one of the biggest success stories in financial independence who remains extremely humble and true to her beliefs. Episode Summary Michelle started blogging in 2011 anonymously simply as a hobby Was living paycheck to paycheck and paying off student loans Spent 30-40 hours a week while also working 50 hours at her full-time job In 2013 she quit her job after reaching consistent earnings of $5k-10k per month On top of blogging she was also staff writing and managing accounts for other blogs A year later she quits all work but her blog and her income triples Remains very frugal to date while earning $1.5M annually from the blog Spent some time living in an RV Currently can be found traveling the world by boat Key Takeaways There’s no substitute for hard work. Michelle was working an additional full-time jobs worth of hours just on her blog. Remember that she wasn’t making anything in the early days. She talks about the first 6 months and how many people quit. Build a solid plan and stick to it. Find the hustle you love. This goes hand in hand with the first takeaway. You will burn out and fail if you aren’t truly passionate about this additional work. We can all tell when an employee hates there job through their performance. Imagine how bad your performance will be if you’re not enjoying it or being motivated by money. Less is more. When starting any new venture we try to spread ourselves so thin becoming experts in all facets. She’s living proof that removing some distractions and focusing on a specific area pays off. Her profits actually tripled! You are who you are. Yes she is living an awesome life and making a ton of money but she still chooses to save over 90% of her income. She could afford to do so much more but doesn’t. She continues to follow the principles that got her to where she is today. When you retire don’t fear that you’ll completely change and begin wasting money. It’s actually more likely that you’ll come away spending less than when you were working full time. Call to Action Analyze what you love to do or what you’d love to understand better. Make a list of the top three things. Then begin researching one you are truly passionate about. One that you would work on for free even when sleep deprived. Now take that and start working until you build something worth monetizing. You are much more likely to succeed and will have fun either way. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] thefishow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode Michelle’s Affiliate Marketing Course Free Facebook Group How to Start a Blog Contact Michelle: Making Sense of Cents Instagram (You won’t want to miss these awesome travel photos) Twitter Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin interview Chad aka Coach Carson from CoachCarson.com. Join them as they dive into Chad’s financial backstory and learn how he realized that he couldn’t become another member in the rat race and turned to real estate to create an impressive portfolio of rental homes. He now has a huge following of people looking to follow in his footsteps to financial independence through real estate. Chad is down to only devoting 1-2 hours a week to his rental portfolio and instead spends his time traveling, spending time with his wife and kids, and luckily for you, coaching members on how to own the real estate game just like him through his blend of free and premium online courses. You also won’t want to miss out on his new book Retire Early With Real Estate. Make sure to listen to the full episode for details on how to win your own free copy! Episode Summary Chad got his first experience with real estate doing the dirty work on his dad’s properties at age 11 While attending college and playing football for Clemson he looked for a way to avoid a corporate career His real estate journey starts with just $1k at age 23 Started small to protect his downside Before getting into rentals he would find flip opportunities for other investors Chad talks about leveraging the bigger pockets community to get started Connects with one of his business professors about real estate The professor is still a money lender today Rode out the downturn in 2008 markets by building cash cushion from rental incomes At one point bought up to 50 properties per year When searching for properties, look for properties that others are scared of Chad didn’t know how to do any handyman work Leveraged referrals to find quality contractors for your properties Buying properties may not be for everyone but house hacking can be Spent 17 months in Ecuador just living off of rental properties Wrote a book detailing his insights on real estate called Retire Early With Real Estate Now looking for his next opportunity to give back and make the world a better place Key Takeaways Leverage the networks available to you! Chad mentions getting his first real start with investing came from chatting with a college professor from a class he wasn’t even enrolled in. Then he mentions the great resource in Bigger Pockets. Basically, you don’t have to go into this blind or alone. Be efficient. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. When looking for quality contractors, property managers, or any other service you need, utilize referrals before simply cold calling. When you do get those contractors hired, tag along and try to learn a new skill yourself. Be set up to avoid the downturns. Chad was quickly faced with the worst real estate market turn we may ever see in our lifetime. He survived by pumping all the cash income back into his properties and not wasting it on increasing his lifestyle. Never mistake early success for being bulletproof. Find deals with room to pay for the work. The point of finding all these deals is to create a portfolio of income streams so you can stop working and find financial independence. If find deals that can only make money with you doing the work, then you are just swapping whatever job you have now for a new one. That’s not the point so make sure you earn enough to pay someone else for the labor. House hacking comes in flavors. The biggest expense most Americans have is housing. If you can find a way to have someone else pay your mortgage, you have just made a huge step towards financial independence. This could be having roommates, neighbors in a duplex you own, or even a live-in house flip. Regardless of your situation or your zip code, don’t disregard the idea of house hacking. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] thefishow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode Coach Carson’s free 7-day course Contact Chad: Coach Chad Carson | Twitter Money Life Manifesto Best Real Estate Investing Strategy House Hacking Guide Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

This is the biggest news we’ve shared with you up to date! Unfortunately, TJ had to step away from FIRE Below Zero for family reasons, but the show goes on! Cody has teamed up with Justin aka the Saving Sherpa, to present to you … The FI Show! We are so excited to move forward with this new project and we appreciate you supporting us during this transition. So, what does this mean for you listeners? What’s Different? We are going to make this transition as seamless as possible. Any links from FIRE Below Zero will be automatically redirected to The FI Show. You don’t have to worry about remembering the new URL! Our social media accounts will stay the same, but the handles will change. We appreciate all of you who are already part of our community, so we decided not to start from scratch. Our new handles on Twitter and Instagram are @thefishowguys. Our Facebook Group and Facebook Page will be renamed as The FI Show (currently still working on this). Cody and Justin have some exciting new episodes in the pipeline. We want to bring something fresh and new to the show! We will still have the normal interview-style episodes you’re used to, but we want to spice it up a bit as well! Stay tuned. This show is all about you! We are going to do our best to engage with the community as much as possible. With your help, we can make The FI Show amazing. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with questions, suggestions, and comments! Join the Community! We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Leave us a voicemail Join our Facebook Group Send us an email: contact [at] theFIShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI Show on iTunes The FI Show on Android Again, thank you all so much for your support and we can’t wait to grow this community and show you what we have in store! See you next week.

In today’s episode, Cody and TJ interview Jillian from Montana Money Adventures. Join them as they dive into Jillian’s financial backstory and learn how she overcame substantial adversity. Now, Jillian spends her time blogging, life/money coaching, and running a Mini-Retirement Course. Episode Summary Jillian grew up in poverty From a young age, she knew that money = options… she was always looking for chores to earn an extra 25 or 50 cents. She attended a bible college after high school and managed to save $8,000 during her time there Got married at 19 and adopted her first child at 21 Bought a camper for $5,000 and lived in it for a year Moved to Germany for several years Came back to the U.S. and bought a rental property Eventually bought two more rental properties Adopted 3 more kids and had one more kiddo with her husband Reaches financial independence at age 32 Allows children to make mistakes with money while the sums are small Only allow for a finite number of “cares” each day Jillian’s 5-value system and 3-by-3 principle “Do what you love and expand your impact” Jillian talks about her life coaching, online courses, and day-to-day activities How to overcome your sticking points Find the source of your problems. Instead of swatting at the spiderwebs, try to kill the spider Key Takeaways Start your financial journey as early as possible! Money mistakes hurt a lot less when you’re young and the sums are small. Jillian allows her children to understand the power of money by making money mistakes. It’s never too early to start learning about personal finance! Conserve your “cares”. Jillian only has a finite number of “cares” each day. She saves each “care” for the things are truly important. Don’t let the minutia bog you down! Design a life that is so aligned with your passions and values that you never want to retire. After Cody asks Jillian when she plans to retire, she responds by saying that she never plans to “retire”. She is so content with her life because she has aligned her passions and values with her daily activities. If you study yourself and understand what your purpose and mission are, you can do the same! Stop swatting at spiderwebs… kill the spiders. Often times, we misdiagnose our own problems and end up fighting the wrong battles. Jillian describes these misdiagnosed problems as “spiderwebs”. Instead, we should focus on killing the spiders! Your time and energy are the most scarce and limited resources in your life. Some people think that money is our scarcest commodity. Jillian flips this ideology on its head and explains that time and energy are actually much more scarce than money. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community! Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Leave us a voicemail If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! FIRE Below Zero on iTunes FIRE Below Zero on Android Links from the Episode Jillian’s Mini-Retirement Course Contact Jillian: Montana Money Adventures | Twitter Three-by-Three Principle Jillian’s Five Values Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)

The first portion of this podcast is feedback from last week’s episode: The Low-Hanging Fruits of FI. Anonymous talks about Project FI and tells us about calling to get cell phone data reports. Cody’s mom asks us to clarify how WiFi works. Luke from Forming the Life talks about the power of automation. Jeremy corrects Cody about AskTrim and mentions Truebill. Mike weighs in about Sling TV for watching football. Emily tells us about saving money on groceries with Checkout 51. Camp FI South The second portion of this episode was recorded LIVE from Camp FI South! Whitney Hansen of Money Nerds, Paul Thompson of Ready Investor One, TJ and I all asked the attendees to share their #1 takeaway from Camp FI. Enjoy! Doc G – “Knowing that you have a group of people to support you at a hard time in life, who come to the world with the same worldview is really magical” “Content creators tend to shout at the world, but there a lot of people out there who are whispering and if you listen closely you can learn a lot.” Contact him at Diversefi.com! James Lowery – “You don’t need as much… it seems like it takes a long time to see any progress, but then once you notice the progress it’s already taken off at that point” Contact him at RethinkTheRatRace.com! Ruth Bresnahan – “Personal growth is the most important thing. If you’re not experiencing personal growth, then your quality of life will go down no matter where you are in the journey” Justin Taylor – “Stop being so focused on this large nest egg number…giving me that confidence to step away and make it all work out” Contact him at Saving-Sherpa.com! Captain DIY – “Remove the idea of the nest egg number and take away the money aspect. Learn to enjoy the journey… The FI journey itself is such a growth experience” Contact him at DIY2FI.com! Doug Nordman – “I did not expect the level of interest in raising a money-smart kid… I’ve learned as a blogger that when you get the same questions over and over again you probably should write about it” Contact him at The-Military-Guide.com! Stephen Baughier – “I appreciate you guys coming this weekend, and all of the other people who are listening who have come to a Camp FI previously this year, I appreciate you for being a part of this and hopefully we’ll have a successful 2019 and make more connections.” Contact him at CampFI.org! Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community! Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Leave us a voicemail Links from the Episode Camp FI ______ Project FI Unreal Mobile Ask Trim Truebill Sling TV Project FI Ready Investor One Money Nerds Forming The Life Diversefi Rethink The Rat Race Saving Sherpa Diy2fi The Military Guide Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)

In this week’s episode, Cody and TJ discuss the low-hanging fruits of FI. These are the changes you can make in your life today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, and so on that can drastically improve your financial position. Tune in and get ready to pick these low-hanging fruits! Episode Summary Housing: Makes up 33% of average American household expenditure House hacking – Purchasing a primary residence and renting out units/bedrooms in order to subsidize the cost of your housing. Downsizing / Living Below Your Means – Find the most affordable housing option in your area that suits your needs. This strategy is less extreme than house hacking, but still a powerful tactic for reducing your monthly expenses. Transportation: Makes up 17% of average American household expenditure Leasing a car is one of the worst financial choices you can possibly make. You are literally throwing money out of the window. Don’t do it! Buy a car outright. Find something that is fairly cheap and if possible, pay in cash! If you need to make monthly payments, pay it off as soon as possible. Never buy a new car. The car loses more than 20% of its value the second it leaves the lot. Find a used car that’s “like new” and save yourself from giving up your hard-earned dollars. Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses… Cody and TJ bet that you can find a decent car for $10,000 or less. Food: Makes up 13% of average American household expenditure When grocery shopping, make a list and stick to it! Cody recommends the AnyList app. However, if there is a similar on-sale item to an item on your list, go for it! Do what makes sense. You don’t need to spend hours clipping coupons to save $0.35 here and there. TJ highly recommends Aldi… he spends $50-70 per week for a family of three and claims that he “splurges”! If there isn’t a location near you, figure out which store has the best deals and shop intentionally. Limit eating out at restaurants. Once in a while is okay, but too much eating out can substantially impact your ability to save money. Services: You have a lot more power than you think when it comes to service companies. Whether it be insurance, power, or electric — these companies want your business! Shop around, pick up the phone and negotiate your rates. If you don’t want to call the companies yourself, sign up with AskTrim and they will negotiate your rates for you! They take a 33% cut from whatever they save, but this completely eliminates the efforts on your end. Discretionary Spending: Cody and TJ are a bit more lenient in this category if and only if you have a solid financial footing. If you’ve done everything else right, a Starbucks coffee won’t break the budget. However, if you are living paycheck to paycheck, these are things you need to cut out! Track which clothes you actually wear. Donate what you don’t! Cody cleared out 75% of his closet and feels great. Phone, Internet, Cable: Cut the cord on cable! You can just have WiFi and watch your favorite shows and movies online. Use an HDMI cord to hook up your computer to the internet. Don’t get suckered into the fancy bundles. C’mon… you don’t need a landline. Some cheap cell phone plans include Project FI and pre-paid plans. Stop paying for crazy, unlimited data plans and switch to something cheaper! Football Season You don’t need cable to watch the game! Every NFL game is available on Reddit.com/nflstreams. Or, check with your local channels to see if any games are available. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community! Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Leave us a voicemail Links from the Episode The Company Men Movie AnyList Grocery App Aldi AskTrim Project FI Unreal Mobile Reddit NFL Streams Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)

PT Money is the founder of FinCon and a personal finance blogger at PTMoney.com. In today’s episode, I get a chance to interview him LIVE at FinCon to share his financial journey. Episode Summary Around age 24, PT realized that he was “not moving forward financially”. He describes how he “had debt” and “wasn’t saving at all”. After discovering Dave Ramsey, PT used the debt snowball approach to pay down his loans. Diving deeper into the rabbit hole, PT started reading personal finance websites and learning that he should max out his 401K, IRA, and HSA accounts. PT’s savvy investing was mainly driven by his “anti-government, anti-establishment” mindset and the notion of “reducing taxes as much as possible”. In order to further advance his financial position, PT started to automate his contributions and invest in a taxable account (after maxing out his pre-tax accounts). Around this same time, PT started his blog PT Money in order to document his financial journey. He soon discovered that this “hobby” could earn him some real money. He went from earning his mortgage payment, to 1/3 of his W2 income, to ½ of his W2 income before quitting his day job in 2010. Running PTMoney.com soon became his day job, so naturally, he needed a new side hustle! In 2011, FinCon was born! PT was not satisfied with the other personal finance conferences he attended, so he decided to start his own. He created a map outlining the location of all of his personal finance blogger friends. After careful deliberation, he decided that Chicago was the best location to host his first event. In order to make the event successful, PT diligently studied other conferences and leaned on his network for their expertise. He says “I tend to lean on people I trust”. The first FinCon had nearly 250 attendees (compared to the 30 expected from PT). At this LIVE FinCon 2018 interview, there were OVER 2,000 people at the event! Key Takeaways Just get started! – PT says that he had no idea what he was doing when he first launched his blog in 2007. He just “leaned into the passion and put down the distractions”. Fortunately, he quickly realized that this hobby of his could bring in some real money. His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is “don’t feel like you need to jump into it… don’t be afraid to do it on the side”. It took PT three years after starting his blog to quit his day job, you don’t have to take a crazy entrepreneurial leap if you don’t want to.   Leverage Your Network – Having a strong network is so powerful for an entrepreneur. PT leaned on the expertise of his friends and colleagues to make FinCon successful. His first three employees were all friends from college! He warns “don’t feel like whatever you’ve created needs to be solely under your control or in your name.” Open-source entrepreneurship allows you to play to your strengths and to let others complement your weaknesses. Don’t be afraid to leverage your network! Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community! Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Leave us a voicemail Links from the Episode PT Money | Twitter FinCon 2019 Dave Ramsey Consumerism Commentary Bargaineering.com Automatic Contributions WordCamps Blog World Expo Affiliate Summits Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog)

In today’s episode, we get a chance to talk to Lily from The Frugal Gene about her accelerated path to financial independence. By choosing to avoid lifestyle inflation, Lily and her husband are able to save 90% of their income. The crazy part is that she thinks this is “normal”! Tune in to hear her incredible story about intentionality, happiness, and frugality. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community! Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Leave us a voicemail Key Takeaways You can never be too careful – Lily highlights the insane returns that investors have enjoyed during this bull market. She advises that you should build some kind of side income streams, or wait until the next recession hits before you pull the trigger on early retirement. Even though Lily and her husband are at FI by most standards, she suspects that they will continue to work for 10+ years in order to build a colossal safety net. Live the life you want to live TODAY – You don’t need permission to pursue your dream lifestyle. Create a plan and take action! You don’t have to take the “normal” route and suffer for countless years at a job you don’t enjoy. If you don’t like something… don’t do it! The benefits of a high-cost-of-living area – If you are intentional with your money and with your savings, you can thrive in a HCOL area. Here are some of the benefits that Lily explains: Ability to charge higher rent, tons of free activities, access to public transportation, and more! Links from the Episode The Frugal Gene (Lily’s Blog) | Twitter Airbnb Mr. Money Mustache Financial Samurai Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)

How to Get a Full Ride to College Noah and Becky worked as Caddies all throughout high school, making a good amount of money during the summer, but most importantly earned a full-ride scholarship (The Chick Evans Scholarship) to Purdue University (tuition and housing). This set them up to graduate college without debt. Because of the intentionality of both Noah and Becky and their parents they started their career at a zero net worth vs a negative six-figure net worth like most couples today. One too Many Promotions After graduating and finding the concept of FIRE, Noah and Becky saved diligently, because they wanted to be responsible with their money. Their saving and investing really found purpose when work became so stressful. Becky had risen up the rungs of the corporate ladder, and found herself feeling very stressed. This is when FIRE became a logical alternative. Build up enough cash reserves to walk away or take a Gap year, which they are doing at this point. The Gap Year FI After coming up with the plan to take some time off, Noah and Becky begin to take action toward realizing that goal. They liquidated everything in their house and began renting it. They got a storage unit to shelter some of those important keepsakes, and then they hit the road in their Mazda 3 Hatchback. Noah and Becky are traveling the country together, with a very modest amount of items, but most importantly they are having the adventure of their lives together, seeing these amazing sites all through the country, but also stopping to spend time with friends and family along the way. Funding the Gap Year Noah and Becky made the plan to fund this trip without drawing down on any investments. So in the months leading up to taking their gap year, they saved cash outside of retirement accounts, specifically to fund this trip. They racked up a ton of travel rewards, which has helped them supplement their trip. Back in Seattle Noah and Becky were spending somewhere around that $60,000/year threshold, now they are traveling the country full time, having the trip of a lifetime, and only spending $40,000/year! 75 Credit Cards to Free Travel Noah and Becky discovered travel hacking on Reddit. They quickly implemented the strategy, churning credit cards (opening new credit cards for the sole purpose of banking introductory signup offer). With each card having a $500-$1000 value introductory offer, they have earned approximately $50,000-$100,000 in travel credit to make travel more affordable and enjoyable. Anybody can repeat this strategy! You can get started with your first card today by applying through our travel rewards partner. What could you do with $50,000 for travel? We know this is an awful lot of money, but this strategy is not so difficult to implement. It’s about making the intentional choice. What about your Credit Score? Most would assume that Noah and Becky would have taken huge hits to their credit score by applying for 70+ plus credit cards….. But the opposite has actually happened. Their credit scores continue to go up as they have more accounts, all having on-time payments. They have found their scores in the 800’s now because of it. The Ultimate Redemption For their honeymoon, Noah and Becky traveled to Fiji and New Zealand. Spending about a week in New Zealand and 2 weeks in Fiji, having an absolutely amazing time, but only spent about $500 total for the trip. The actual retail value for the 3-week trip that they took, would have cost about $14,000, yet they managed to do it for only $500. This is the power of travel rewards! As incredible as this sounds we all can implement these strategies, simply by starting to take action today. Fitness and FIRE Noah and Becky are very interested in physical fitness, as money is not the most important thing on this journey, it is important to stay on top of health and fitness. Noah has competed in the World’s Toughest Mudder, staying up for 24 hours doing these amazing tasks. They are both very active and prioritize staying healthy even while on the road. Fitness should be a cornerstone of our FI journey. Join the Community Thank you so much for joining us for another episode of the FIRE Below Zero Podcast. Here are some awesome ways to say in touch, and always have these ideas and strategies at your fingertips Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Leave us a voicemail Links from Today’s Episode Money Metagame (Noah’s Blog) | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook Cody and TJ’s Recommended Credit Cards Caddie Scholarship Reddit Mint Personal Capital Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)

Starting from a 3rd world Country TJ shares his story and what life was like growing up in Nigeria. Born in a middle-class family, his father instilled basic money ideas that have stuck with him even as he pursues financial independence. He learned from his father to be frugal, and intentional with money. Only focusing money on things that bring true value to his life. Always Capitalize on Opportunity TJ shares how there are only so many opportunities growing up in a third world country. However, being in the US, or other first world countries, we have so many more opportunities available to us. And it is so important that we take full advantage of them. “a lot of times our world gets so small” This quote is so powerful and true. We forget that all over the world there are millions of people who do not have access to the opportunities we have. We should always recognize that privilege and always capitalize on these opportunities. Believing in the Midst of Adversity After earning his Masters in Mechanical Engineering TJ struggled finding work. It was the lowest point in his life, and it forces him to grow as a person. In those days, TJ and his wife had a combined household income of $24K/year. He credits The Alchemist, as the spark for finding hope in the midst of a hopeless situation. This was what broke the chains and made him start making changes. Finding Personal Finance After picking up reading, TJ found Dave Ramsey, who first introduced him to personal finance and other money concepts. At this point, their income had significantly increased, as well as their savings rate. The first couple years focused on paying off debt as Dave suggests. After the debt was gone, it was time to move on to bigger and better things! Starting a FIRE Naturally after graduating from the Dave Ramsey mindset, TJ dove deep into the personal finance world, and found the concept of FIRE. Following other bloggers, and learning from them, TJ and his wife started to implement these strategies that have essentially changed their life! “The people that are doing this are no better than you”, we can’t stress this point enough. You only need to make an intentional choice with your money to crush the FI game. Think Differently Our message is to be more open-minded. VTSAX is an awesome investment lever, but it is not the ONLY way. We want to encourage people to be more open-minded, and learn all these different strategies that exist out there, like possibly investing a small portion of your net worth in single stocks. Or using leveraged real estate to build wealth vs buying 100% cash down. We want to be open-minded enough to explore all these strategies. Focus on Growing Income Don’t settle for a $20K a year income. Let that be your starting point. Each one of us has the capacity to make more income, we just need to pick up more skills to command more income in the marketplace. It is not about putting anyone down; it is about encouraging people to reach their full potential. Random Fun Facts: TJ had his first McChicken at age 17!!! Join the Community Thank you so much for joining us for another episode of the FIRE Below Zero Podcast. Here are some awesome ways to say in touch, and always have these ideas and strategies at your fingertips Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Leave us a voicemail Resources Tools of Titans The Alchemist Personal Capital Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)

How to Find FIRE Being naturally frugal, Brad kind of stumbled his way into FIRE. After starting the 9-5, Brad anticipated working like the typical employee and retiring at age 59 ½ with millions of dollars. Before long on this path, Brad came to the realization that he didn’t find a lot of joy in spending a lot of money. That is when the FIRE was sparked and Brad dove in headfirst into learning more about escaping the hamster wheel. Getting Your Spouse on Board Brad and his wife Ashley have always been on the same page with money. They both realized that spending money on frivolous things was not a priority. Rather saving and focusing on happiness outside of material things was their top priority. Brad’s Tip on Marriage: Make sure you are looking for a spouse that has a similar mindset as you about money. Otherwise, you will have a lot bigger issues than money down the line! The Limiting Belief of the Cost of Having Children There is a popular misconception in the FIRE community, that kids cost too much money, and that they can be a drain on finances. The truth is, it doesn’t have to be that way. Yes, diapers and baby food, and toys cost money, but if you are intentional about finances, having children shouldn’t drastically affect your budget. Another mistake we make is ripping the things that bring our kids joy, out of their hands BECAUSE it costs money. And that is just no way to live, they are the reason we pursue FIRE, we shouldn’t make their lives miserable to save money. Traveling with a kid isn’t easy, Brad and his wife are constantly tiptoeing around the RV at certain hours because their daughter is asleep, but it’s all worth it for them. Actionable Quote: “You just lean into that discomfort and go with it!” Making the Jump from Banking Brad started his career in banking as a financial advisor after studying economics in college. He quickly realized 6 months into his career, that this wasn’t the life for him, and he started plotting his way out of this “lucrative career”, literally willing to accept any job that came his way. Next, he landed a tech job using Salesforce as a junior administrator. He leaned into the career and gave it 100% effort. Within 6 months he was stacking certifications which ultimately led to him making more money. He went from $36,000 a year to $110,000 within 2 years! Designing a Life Worth Living When Brad found out he and his wife were expecting, he decided to transition to part-time work as a sales force consultant. He could have continued along the trajectory he was already going, but he decided to spend more time with his wife and daughter were much more important. He messaged local companies via LinkedIn looking for part-time work. One gave him a shot by means of a 2-week contract, and he absolutely knocked it out of the park. Starting Your Own Company With all the freed up mind space from going from working 60-80-hour work weeks to only working 20 hours a week, Brad decided to step outside of his comfort zone and start his own business. Again, as we see consistently in Brad’s story, he jumped in head first, started his company over a weekend and started taking on new clients. Now he is only working 25 hours a week and making over $150,000 a year Brad’s Actionable Tip: Google “your state” + “how to start an LLC” I know it sounds funny, but it is really that simple, yet most people won’t do it! Traveling the Country Brad and his wife are traveling the country in an RV. This isn’t something that has been a lifelong passion for them. They literally heard a friend talking about it one day, and in 6 weeks they had rented out their house bought a truck and RV and hit the road. Brad and Ashley hardly stay places longer than a week. They are constantly exploring new spots ad locations. Trips are planned not much more than 2-3 weeks in advance. They just dive in and explore! Quote of the Episode: “Back yourself into a corner and figure out how to make it work” Life Optimization Brad leaves us an awesome piece of advice if you are burned out on optimizing, take a breather. That is what FI is about in the first place. Be sure to enjoy the journey, instead of burning out trying to hit some arbitrary number. This is all about the pursuit of happiness, not just hitting FI. What does this Lifestyle Cost? This entire trip is only costing Brad and his wife about $40,000 for the entire year. Compared to their normal $45,000/ year lifestyle back home they are actually saving money. Random things will pop up that are unexpected and cost money, but this journey is all about flexibility. Bottom line, if you can afford to buy a truck and a trailer and then you can afford $700 a week after that, then you can afford this lifestyle! Brad’s #1 Goal: Dominating parenting! That is the most important thing, regardless of if he has to work till 65. Fun Fact of the Episode: Brad grew up on a farm, and his family never really subscribe to the idea of Television. He never watched Nickelodeon! Brad’s f

What FIRE Means to Us Cody and TJ share their biggest reasons for pursuing financial independence. On their path, they’ve learned that money is just a tool, and it should not control your life. This concept simply allows you to buy your time back. It allows you take back control of your future, and focus all of your waking hours on things you are absolutely passionate about. This what makes FIRE so important! Highlighted Idea: Cody says he is “not getting the best use of his life hours” by crunching numbers behind a desk or working on projects that mean nothing to him. A Backwards System TJ highlights how we have been conditioned from a young age to pursue things that don’t matter…. Like getting a good degree, so you can find a good job, to make the most money. What’s sad is, these things are never enough. So we double down, in hopes of getting a promotion, or a 10% raise. These things mean nothing! FIRE frees you from that hamster wheel mentality. Instead of going down a path that leaves you stuck for 40 years, spend the next 5-10 years designing a life you can’t wait to live! The Trappings of the Hamster Wheel Stop spending your money and all of your paycheck trying to keep up with the jones. When all you do is focus on buying new stuff, you literally trap yourself I the 9-5, with no possible means of escaping. “They cannot leave their job no matter how miserable they get, no matter how much they hate their job, they cannot leave…” Does this sound familiar? This is the sad reality many Americans are living today! Make a change. Choose a different future! It Takes Introspection These days we are constantly bombarded with ads about how inadequate we are. And about how we need all these external items to make us happy. So we spend 40 years doing the same thing every single day, in hopes of catching that ever elusive leprechaun…. Happiness! It takes introspection to realize that all you really want is your time back. Time to spend with family, and loved ones. FIRE will set you free! It is Simple Math Cody highlights an actual example, take the example of a person spending, $2,000 a month to rent a house, and $400 a month to lease a car. Just by being intentional and finding a way to cut those expenses I half, they can save close to $15,000 a year! Just choose value over keeping up with the Joneses. By making these types of choice in multiple other aspects of your life like this, it is easy to understand how one can quickly save tons and tons of money. Life After Retirement Both Cody and TJ are on the fast lane on the path to FI. TJ is realizing that he may want to pull the retirement trigger even long before officially hitting FI. When you find your passions, those are the things you want to spend most of your time doing. FIRE allows you to find yourself Cody’s post-retirement life involves not only podcasting but teaching kids in high school and college about money and finances, traveling the world with his girlfriend, and helping others who might be less fortunate. Join the Community Thank you so much for joining us for another episode of the FIRE Below Zero Podcast. Here are some awesome ways to say in touch, and always have these ideas and strategies at your fingertips Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Resources Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog) Personal Capital

What exactly is FIRE? Financial independence, retire early. Financial independence is based on the 4% rule which was formulated from the Trinity study, the idea is that if you can survive comfortably at a 4% withdrawal rate from your nest egg (invested assets), provided that the assets were invested in low-cost index funds, you essentially never had to work for money ever again. Which brings in the RE portion (retire early). If you can build up a nest egg with 25 times your annual expenses (inverse of 4%), you could essentially retire early. It just depends on how quickly you can build up those assets. Useful related resources: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/ What’s the Alternative? The hamster wheel…. This is the path that awaits most Americans. 40 years in an unfulfilling job, doing something you completely hate. This is depressing, yet this is the path most choose! The Solution? Being intentional with money. Choosing to live way below your means. Cody mentioned working in a W2 banking job, yet ONLY spending $12K a year. This is a choice Cody made to escape the hamster wheel! Cody also talked about building side hustles that can cover his monthly expenses, like starting a blog, podcast and a disc golf company. Related resources: The 4-Hour Workweek SiteGround (website hosting service) “We’re on the same path but didn’t come from the same point” – This is such a powerful idea. Everyone’s journey will look completely different, but we can all implement these simple strategies and change our lives! Just a few years ago TJ was unemployed and in debt, now he and his wife are well on their way to financial independence. Moral of the story, just start! Our Gift to You Cody has a superpower he shares with us on the podcast. And we are so excited to share this with you! We will need some group participation, but this will be well worth your time for the gift at the end! Join the Community Thank you so much for joining us for the first episode. Here are some awesome ways to say in touch, and always have these ideas and strategies at your fingertips. Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Resources Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)