Queer Money®: How Gay People Do Money

When should you start talking about money in a new relationship? We know that financial stress can have a negative impact on our relationships, while healthy money conversations can strengthen a couple’s connection—and even lead to better gay sex! But when is the best time to bring it up?

On this episode of the podcast, we’re sharing the results of our couples money conversation poll in the Queer Money Facebook Group, offering our insight on why talking about finances is crucial for couples who cohabitate and what questions it’s okay to ask early on in a new relationship.

We walk you through our top five money tips for gay couples, explaining why it’s best to have the initial money conversation in public and how to work together on improving your credit scores. Listen in to understand the benefit of opening a joint account for shared expenses, teaming up on your finances with the Honeyfi app, and setting mutual money goals as an LGBTQ couple!

Do you ever feel like a deer in headlights when it comes to money? You are not alone. Nearly 70% of the LGBTQ respondents in our poll said they feel financial anxiety on a regular basis. So, how do we get un-stuck and overcome the overwhelm that is holding us back?

On this episode of Queer Money, we start by making the distinction between true money problems and financial anxiety, explaining what’s behind the unhealthy relationship many of us have with money. We share our own issues with money anxiety and discuss how our experiences growing up led to a scarcity mindset.

We walk you through the results of our Queer Money Facebook Group financial anxiety poll, exploring why so many in our community struggle with making the right kinds of decisions to improve themselves financially. Listen in to understand how appreciating what you’ve got, taking small steps to improve, and finding someone to talk to about money can help you overcome financial anxiety!

If you’ve never done a spending analysis, there’s a good chance you’ll be shocked to find out where your money is going. (For us, it was the $800 a week we were spending on gourmet groceries and dining out!) But once you KNOW what is sabotaging your financial security, you can stop spending unconsciously and start investing in what’s important to you.

On this episode of Queer Money, we’re discussing the value of doing a spending analysis to uncover what’s working and what isn’t in our financial lives. We explain the idea of spending outliers, sharing what blew our minds about where our money was going and how we realigned our spending habits according to our values.

We go on to share some of the spending outliers that surprised the students using our Credit Card Pay Off Plan and how they are using that information to improve their financial lives. Listen in for insight around the different spending analysis apps available and learn the benefits of using our free tool, the Debt Free Guys Spending Analysis.

Are you taking full advantage of ALL your workplace benefits? Most of us don’t think we need disability insurance, assuming it applies only to catastrophic events. But what if you had to miss work for a few weeks to recover from, say, a broken leg? Or having your appendix taken out? Would you be able to go without that income?

Dr. Kristin Tugman is the Vice President of Customer Analytics and Consultation at Prudential Financial. Her team helps employers and employees alike better understand and use disability benefits in the workplace, with the goal of minimizing employer’s costs and boosting employee engagement, satisfaction and performance. Dr. Tugman is committed to recognizing trends and leveraging research to maximize productivity and minimize absence in the workplace, and she has a special interest in the psychology of returning to work after a disability leave.

On this episode of Queer Money, Dr. Tugman joins us to discuss the benefits of having disability insurance and address the common misconception that it only applies to catastrophic events. She explains the challenges associated with returning to work after you’ve been out, describing what employers, managers and coworkers can do to help make the transition back to work easier. Listen in for Dr. Tugman’s advice on taking full advantage of the income protection and health benefits available through your employer and learn what YOU can do to prepare financially should any kind of illness or injury keep you from working.

When we asked the Queer Money community about their experience with New Year’s Resolutions, not a single person reported having ‘great success’ with keeping them. And only 27% said they stick to their resolutions ‘most of the time.’ So, how can we rethink the way we set goals for the New Year? And what steps can we take to evolve into our best selves in 2020?

On this episode of Queer Money, we’re sharing three tips for turning your resolutions into a true New Year’s Evolution. We explain how your vision of your best self already exists and offer insight around gradually replacing your current habits with the behaviors of the person you want to be, be it a marathon runner or someone who’s financially secure.

We go on to discuss why it’s crucial to tackle one goal at a time and how an accountability partner (like the Queer Money Facebook Group) can help keep you on track. Listen in for advice on breaking your big goals down into bite-sized pieces and learn how you absolutely CAN achieve lasting change in 2020!

Is 2020 the year you’re going to get out of credit card debt and start working toward your big dreams? If you’re ready to achieve financial independence in the new year, we can help. In fact, we’ve got three big things on the horizon to support you in reaching your money goals.

On this episode of Queer Money, we’re sharing the three ways we’re helping the LGBTQ community in 2020. We explain why we’re reopening the doors to our Credit Card Pay Off Plan, walking you through the benefits of participating and where to go for more information. Available at debtfreeguys.com/debtfree2020

We go on to discuss why we’re incorporating more travel-focused content in 2020, sharing what we’ve learned about travel hacking so you can spend consciously and vacation more often. Listen in for insight around our commitment to offering an actionable money tip (with a rainbow flavor!) on each episode of the podcast moving forward and find out what we’re doing to improve your financial life in the new year.

You would be hard-pressed to find someone who’s never experienced trauma of any kind. But those of us in the LGBTQ community have endured more than our share of what mental health professionals call Big-T Traumas like abuse or even physical attack. So, how do we identify the adverse experiences from the past that are impacting our lives today? And what can we do to overcome those traumas and live the fabulous lives we deserve?

Nick Venegoni is a psychotherapist and certified hypnotherapist in private practice in San Francisco, California. He specializes in supporting queer professionals struggling with anxiety, anger, relationship issues or trauma, with the goal of helping them find more joy and ease in their lives. Nick also offers holistic coaching to spiritual LBGTQ individuals globally through Queer Healing Journeys and serves as the host of The Queer Spirit Podcast.

On this episode of Queer Money, Nick joins us to share his definition of trauma and discuss why we may not even know we’ve experienced it. He explains how to identify trauma, describing the most common things we do to mask the pain of our adverse childhood experiences. Listen in for Nick’s insight around taking action if trauma is adversely affecting your life and learn about the close connection between our physical and mental health.

Wish you could live overseas for three months, but don’t think you can afford it? What if I told you it’s possible to live in Spain for 12 weeks and spend less than you would in most American cities? In fact, there are five tactics we’re using to budget for an extensive, geoliberated adventure in Europe—without spending any more than we would at home.

On this episode of Queer Money, we walk you through the five strategies we’re using to live in Spain for LESS than we might spend in a comparable US city. We explain how we chose the seaside town (and gay mecca) of Sitges and why we’re traveling there in the offseason. We also share the advantages of staying in an Airbnb over a hotel and describe the deep discount we negotiated with the host for our extended stay.

We go on to talk about the benefit of avoiding high-cost, touristy areas and leveraging public transportation to keep our expenses low. Listen in for advice on securing affordable global travel insurance and learn how YOU can replicate our geoliberated lifestyle and live overseas for LESS!

As you know, Capital One is a supporter of the Queer Money Podcast and other Debt Free Guys initiatives like Money Tips Tuesday and the Queer Money Live Tour. As part of that partnership, Capital One leadership recently invited us to their corporate center in Richmond, Virginia, to speak to Costanza Castelnuovo-Tedesco and the Capital One Business Resource Group about the financial issues specific to the LGBTQ community and what they can do to help us overcome those unique challenges.

In this Queer Money we talk about those issues, why they exist and how we can overcome them as individuals and a community. 

Think you’ve got to be rich to afford three months in Europe? The truth is, you CAN live a geoliberated lifestyle and enjoy extended adventures like the one we’re planning to Spain this winter. All it takes is some simple preparation. So, what are the three big things we did in advance to make our travel dreams a reality?

On this episode of Queer Money, we’re sharing the three steps we took to pursue the geoliberated lifestyle that makes three months in Spain possible for us. We explain how we built a business that allows us to live and work from anywhere and encourage you to take advantage of the gig economy, creating a web presence around your talents and interests.

We go on to discuss the conventional expenses we DON’T have, describing the freedom and flexibility that come with having fewer attachments—as well as the tradeoffs we’ve made that afford us the opportunity to be geoliberated. Listen in for insight around keeping travel money in an ‘arm’s length account’ and learn how we travel hacked our way to Spain with two roundtrip flights for just $187!