Adulting with Harlan L. Landes and Miranda Marquit

One of the first things personal finance experts tell you when it comes to saving your money life is to trim the fat from your budget.

It’s all about looking for savings. Free up that cash. Cut all the things!

The problem with this approach?

Once you get right down to it, there’s only so much you can cut from your budget. Eventually, you’ll be down to the bone, with nowhere left to go. At that point, you need more than someone telling you the secret is in saving $5 a week on your groceries with coupons.

If you’re poor AF and wondering where to go next, there is hope. It takes planning, work, and time. It’s not fun, but it’s doable.

Concepts

* How to know that you really can’t cut any more from your budget.

* How chronic health issues and other circumstances can limit your choices.

* Why it’s so difficult to get back on top once you start falling behind.

* The importance of finding ways to earn more income.

* Tips for looking for a second job.

* How to use the sharing economy to make a few extra bucks.

* Ideas for home-based ways to earn money.

* Ideas for side hustles that can get you earning almost instantly.

* Community resources to look for when you need help stretching your budget.

* How to approach your support system and loved ones for help.

* Tips for approaching your creditors to make payment arrangements.

* The importance of getting psychological help when you need it.

This week, the “do nows” revolve around honestly evaluating your situation and making a list of your resources. What can you expect in terms of help from others? What are the realities of your budget situation. We’ll help you figure out where you are right now so you can begin making a plan of attack.

This week’s listener question is about a circumstance many of us can relate to. What happens when you fall behind and things just keep piling up? What do you do? We take a look at the options, and how you can take small steps today to start breaking the cycle.

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Miranda and Harlan are pleased to welcome Beth Kobliner to Adulting.tv. We discuss the actions you can take today to set yourself up for financial success in the future, and why you need to start thinking about the future right now.

One of the topics we cover is retirement. Regardless of how difficult it seems, there are ways to start putting away a tiny bit of income for retirement, and Beth shares exactly how that can be done. We also discuss other financial basics, including tips for improving credit even without a lot of experience with money.

Beth Kobliner is a commentator and journalist, and author of the New York Times bestseller Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties. Her guide for parents, Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not!), was published by Simon & Schuster in February 2017. Kobliner has been a staff writer for Money magazine and a contributor to the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Redbook, Glamour, Reader’s Digest, and O, The Oprah Magazine.

She also served as a content advisor for Sesame Workshop’s financial education initiative, offering on-air money advice to Elmo. Kobliner was selected by President Obama to serve on his Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans.

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You work hard. You provide value to the company. But you’re still being paid like a noob. How do you ask for a raise?

Because it’s not going to just show up for most of us. Most of us have to ask for more money. It’s never fun, but it needs to be done.

If you want more from work — whether it’s a raise or a promotion — you need to prove your value and then take your evidence to the boss. In this episode, we’ll talk about how you can do that.

Concepts

* How to recognize that you actually deserve a raise or promotion.

* Tips for figuring out how to quantify your contributions.

* Reasons it’s time to ask for a raise.

* When to approach your boss about a raise.

* What you need to know about the process of asking for a raise or promotion.

* How to make a presentation to your boss.

* Suggestions for what to include in your presentation.

* How to focus on your value to the company.

* Tips for compromising on the amount of the raise.

Our “do nows” this week are all about reflecting on the reality of your situation and paying attention to the value you offer. We also take a look at how you can assess when the best time to ask for a raise is.

A listener also has a question about how much work has been piled on. We talk about what you can do if your boss isn’t willing to acknowledge your work, even though it’s the right thing to do.

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Resources

When to approach your boss to ask for raise

Are you ready for a raise?

Once in a while, we present Adulting.tv LIVE! Subscribe on YouTube to hear about future events, and share your questions about or suggestions for our next discussions!

Show Notes

Eva Baker from Teens Got Cents and The Teenpreneur Conference join Harlan and Miranda today to talk about the experience of being an entrepreneur while in high school and/or college, and why entrepreneurship is an important piece of educational development.

Watch the live video above or listen to just the podcast audio by using the player below.

Hosted byMiranda Marquit

Produced byadulting.tv

Edited and mixed bySteven Flato

Music bybensound.com

Any relationship requires work. There are plenty of situations that can stress you out. But nothing quite matches the stress that comes when you talk money with your boo.

Are you ready for that talk? Do you know what you will say? And how can you make it less stressful and contentious for everyone involved?

Concepts

* How we handle money reflects our values.

* Why it’s so hard to talk money with your S.O.

* The ways money goes beyond just spender vs. saver.

* Different styles of money management.

* How to pinpoint what matters most to you.

* Tips for setting the tone before you talk money with bae.

* Suggestions for money topics you should be discussing.

* When it’s time to start talking about money.

* How to gauge your partner’s money values before you talk money.

* The importance of setting shared financial goals.

* Tips for setting time to talk money so that you are both more likely to be open and willing.

* What to do if things get too heated during the discussion

Our “do nows” this week focus on actually getting the money talk taken care of. Figure out your own money values, review your financial situation, and schedule a time to talk money with your S.O.

This week’s listener question deals with someone not really ready to trust bae with joint accounts. We look at the pros and cons of granting your S.O. access to your money.

Become a Friend of Adulting

To get Adulting delivered directly to your device, subscribe using Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, or your app of choice.

Join the Friends of Adulting! Please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. We would really appreciate the feedback!

Resources

How money stress impacts relationships

Are you scared that you’ll make the wrong decisions and screw up your life?

You’re not alone. Many of us wish we could make better choices. But how do you go about making sure you will do the right thing? And how do you feel better about your decisions?

It’s important to figure out how to own your choices. Otherwise, you run the risk of never deciding anything — and never taking charge of your life.

Concepts

* How do we make decisions?

* The problems with human memory.

* How decision fatigue affects your ability to make better choices.

* The pros and cons of jumping to conclusions.

* Why making a pros and cons list helps so little.

* How to tell the difference between the little decisions and the really important stuff.

* Tips for creating a process for making better choices.

* How to pinpoint your own ethics and values.

* Strategies for analyzing potential outcomes.

* The importance of being realistic as you work toward better decision-making.

Use the DO NOWS from this week to help you test out the decision-making process. Write down a major decision and choose a technique that you can use to follow to its conclusion.

You can also test out how to make faster decisions, especially with small things that might not matter as much.

Don’t forget about the listener question. This week we look at what you can do if you are miserable in your current situation, but you aren’t sure how to move forward.

Become a Friend of Adulting

To get Adulting delivered directly to your device, subscribe using Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, or your app of choice.

Join the Friends of Adulting! Please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. We would really appreciate the feedback!

Resources

Information overload and making decisions

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Blink

Once in a while, we present Adulting.tv LIVE! Subscribe on YouTube to hear about future events, and share your questions about or suggestions for our next discussions!

Show Notes

Thinking about buying a home? If it’s your first time, you’ll want to hear this podcast episode. Joining Harlan and Miranda is Mindy Jensen, the community manager for Bigger Pockets, the real estate investing social network. We discuss when it might be right the right time to buy a house, for living or for investing. Especially for first-time home buyers, Mindy takes us through the process of buying a house from beginning to end.

Mindy has been investing in real estate since before dirt was invented, living in the homes that she flips to avoid capital gains taxes. She’s flipped nine homes, and is always on the lookout for her next project.

Watch the live video above or listen to just the podcast audio by using the player below.

Hosted byMiranda Marquit

Produced byadulting.tv

Edited and mixed bySteven Flato

Music bybensound.com

Have you heard about financial independence? Probably. It’s a buzzword right now.

It’s not always to nail down exactly what it means, though. Financial independence means different things to different people.

In this episode, we talk about what it means to break your chains and get on the path toward money freedom — whatever that looks like to you.

Concepts

* What does financial independence mean, really?

* Can creating a situation where you enjoy life without too much worry be the same thing, even if you still work?

* Do you need to be totally debt-free to be financially independent?

* Why is financial independence so appealing?

* Reasons money freedom matters so much.

* A realistic look at what it takes to actually reach financial independence.

* The need for planning when you want money freedom.

* Tips for saving up for the future.

* Financial realities and the hard work necessary.

This week’s “do nows” are all about figuring out what you want your money to do for you. Instead of viewing money as the end result, it’s about changing things around to use money as a tool to help you get what you want from life.

On top of that, it includes an exercise in self-reflection. Be brutally honest about what’s holding you back from financial independence.

Our listener question is all about the worth we assign people based on their net worth. You don’t need a big pile of money to feel good about your life and your finances. Here’s how to stop treating money like a competition and feel secure in your own choices.

Become a Friend of Adulting

To get Adulting delivered directly to your device, subscribe using Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, or your app of choice.

Join the Friends of Adulting! Please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. We would really appreciate the feedback!

Resources

Why is it so hard to say no?

An increasing number of people work from home today.

Even if you don’t own a home business, telecommuting is something that many companies are willing to allow — at least some of the time.

Whether you have a side gig, your own business, or you just work from home on occasion, a home office is a good investment in your career sanity.

Here’s how to set it all up.

Concepts

* A look at why it’s so popular to work from home right now.

* Some of the “must haves” when it comes to a home office.

* How to decide on the right computer and software for your work from home needs.

* The difference between running your own business and working from home for someone else.

* Why you need a dedicated home office if you work from home regularly.

* Tips for cutting down on distractions when you work from home.

* How to get into “work mode” with your home office.

* The reality that sometimes you need to get out of the home office and work elsewhere.

This week’s DO NOWS focus on getting your home office-ready. Make sure you look around your home to identify potential spots for a home office. Also, you need to create a realistic list of the items you need to create your work from home reality.

Our listener question touches on a difficult issue for many people who work from home: what to do when the kids are too distracting? It’s not always a popular solution, but the reality is that sometimes you need to hire child care — even when you work from home.

Become a Friend of Adulting

To get Adulting delivered directly to your device, subscribe using Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, or your app of choice.

Join the Friends of Adulting! Please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. We would really appreciate the feedback!

Resources

The rise of telecommuting in the United States

How many times have you said yes to someone — and then wished you hadn’t?

We all want to say no when we feel overwhelmed, or really don’t want to do something. And yet, we find ourselves saying yes.

It’s even harder to say no when you are facing a request from a loved one.

Sometimes, you need to say no to protect your sanity, your health, and your time. If you have an addiction to saying yes, it’s time to break it. We’ll show you how.

Concepts

* Some of the reasons it’s difficult to say no to loved ones.

* Concerns about how you look to others, and why that makes it hard to say no.

* The problems with saying yes just to avoid conflict.

* Ways that saying yes all the time can actually hurt you — and your relationships.

* The important role saying no has in self-care.

* Dealing with saying no to your kids and being a parent.

* Practical tips for how to say no to loved ones without offending them.

* Strategies for buying yourself time and space to say no.

This week’s “do nows” focus on how you can get a better handle on your situation. We offer tips on how to say no, and strategies for practicing saying no. You can make an effort this week to stop saying yes to everything. Stick with your priorities and say no to things that will just add stress to your life.

Our listener question deals with the thorny issue of making accommodations in a relationship. Should you say yes to avoid being dumped? Or is it time to make serious changes to your relationship so you aren’t being steamrolled all the time?

Become a Friend of Adulting

To get Adulting delivered directly to your device, subscribe using Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, or your app of choice.

Join the Friends of Adulting! Please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. We would really appreciate the feedback!

Resources

Why is it so hard to say no?