Last week, Ride Your Money Wave turned 1!  Whoo hoo!  I took a moment to reflect on what the podcast has taught me and what common trends I hear in the stories of my guests as it relates to success.  Also, my wife, Becky, joined me on the podcast to discuss all things money - her relationship with it, how we handle money in our relationship, and more.

Nick Apone went from working in his dad's restaurant to putting it all on the line to open and own his brick-and-mortar boutique wine shop, Old Woodward Cellar, located in the  heart of downtown Birmingham, Michigan.  Nick is a great example of what it takes to achieve the first step of a dream -  hard work, sacrifice, and 15 years of grinding.

Anyone who has lived in Metro Detroit knows the impact Grey Ghost has had on the Detroit restaurant scene and community.  Close to three years ago, the Vermiglio brothers took the leap and acted on their life's dream of opening a restaurant together.  One of the many things that makes the restaurant so special is the division of labor - Dave is the "numbers guy" leaning heavily on his experience in the private equity space while his identical twin brother, John, is the chef.  Against the industry odds, these guys have opened three restaurants in three years...and it doesn't look like they are stopping anytime soon.

Last month, the American government shut down, affecting the finances of 800,000 households.  With the government up and running (for the time being), we can now take a look at how the shutdown affected the "average" American.  While the survey sample is biased because they are all government workers, it does provide us some insight into the financial state of people.  As it turns out, average isn't good.

Digg.com reported the median credit card debt by state.  Michigan ranked in the middle, with $7382.  While that is a trouble statistic, what is truly concerning is how long it would take to pay it off given you dedicate 15% of your income to it.  In today's podcast, I give a few tips on how to avoid credit card debt.

On today's podcast, I talk about the six characteristics of wealth people as reported by Hillary Hoffower.  You can read the article here.  I gave myself a 5/6 characteristics.  How many do you have?

Running a small business is difficult.  You need to know a little about a lot of things (ok, more like a lot about a lot of things.)  We think that if we have an idea and a website, the phone will start ringing off the hook.  Wrong!  Instead, you need to go out and sell.  Whether you are selling yourself by building relationship or selling a product or service, being comfortable with selling is an important attribute to be successful.  Chris Budnik talks about his life in sales and provides tips on how to start selling.

Failure is an always, everywhere possibility.  We fear it, we avoid it, and we dread experiencing it.  Ironically though, failure is a requirement to success.  Today's podcast talks about how failure teaches us to succeed.

If you have turned on Netflix recently, you have seen Marie Kondo's Tidying Up is making quite the splash.  She is an organization guru who turns houses and lives around.  So we beg the question, what can her principles teach us about better handling our money?

Last week, sadly, it was reported 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.  That isn't living; that is existing.  Here are four things everyone who plans on creating their own Money Wave needs in 2019.