The Financial Operator

This week on Mills Knows Bills we reach the exciting conclusion to our six-part mini-series telling the story of Mills' home ownership odyssey. In this episode, Joe and Mills finally close on the home of their dreams after all the drama, setbacks, and doubt they endured during this house hunting journey.

In this episode Mills lays out the incredible string of blessings and happy surprises that awaited her and Joe during the closing process. Mills also explains how their preparation and thorough budgeting placed them in a position to maximize savings during the final phases of their purchase while acknowledging how blessed they are to have found a beautiful home for their family that not only checked all their boxes but sets them up for financial growth and freedom well into the foreseeable future.

Topics Include:

• The Importance of Patience When Home Buying
• Maximizing Savings Through Preparation
• Key Budgeting Factors When Closing
• How Equity Factors Into Financial Freedom

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This week on Mills Knows Bills we reach the penultimate episode of our mini-series telling the story of Mills' home ownership odyssey. In this episode, Joe and Mills dive deep into the Orlando real estate market and discover the sometimes disappointing and frustrating reality of making offers on homes, only to lose out to other buyers.

Despite these setbacks, Mills tells the story of how she finally discovered the perfect home for her, Joe, their dog Bear, and the coming Bender baby! Mills breaks down the particulars of their offers and unpacks some of the complications with the real estate market including the reality of rising interest rates and how she and Joe coped with this trend in their budget. In this episode, listeners will finally see how Mills' preparation met this opportunity and how luck had nothing to do with it.

Topics Include:

• The Importance of Persistence when House Hunting
• How Lot Size and Location can Determine Pricing
• How Interest Rates Affect Home Buying Decisions
• Being Prepared When Opportunity Strikes

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This week on Mills Knows Bills we continue our mini-series telling the story of Mills' home ownership odyssey. In this episode, we pick up the story with Mills and her husband Joe as they face difficult choices in the wake of a tumultuous real estate market in South Florida. Mills breaks down how, by sticking to their budget and not allowing emotions to not get in the way of sound decision-making, she and Joe were able to quickly make a transition back to Orlando despite the news of her pregnancy and the many other changes occurring in their lives and the real estate market.

Mills also explains how by being prepared for such setbacks and continuing to trust their instincts she and Joe were able to not settle on a home that would be far outside their budget and non-negotiable terms but set themselves up for an exciting conclusion to this story by being patient and trusting that markets and circumstances would change in time.

Topics Include:

• Setting Non-negotiables When House Hunting
• The Importance of Sticking to a Firm Budget
• The Difficulty of Leaving Emotions Out of Finances
• How Partners Working as a Team Can Benefit Everyone

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This week on Mills Knows Bills we continue our mini-series telling the story of Mills' home ownership odyssey. In this episode, we pick up the story with Mills and her husband Joe as they decide to make a final transition from Tampa to Miami permanently as they grow their family. Mills shares how working with true real estate professionals was the key to maximizing the return on their Tampa town-home investment and how the crazy COVID real estate market ended up working in their favor.

In addition, Mills talks about her preparation for relocating and the importance of finding a home that she and her family could grow into through the coming decade. More than any other episode in our mini-series thus far, this installment proves Mills' motto that "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity."

Topics Include:

• The Volatility of Real Estate Markets
• The Importance of Hiring True Professionals
• Achieving Top Dollar on Your Home Sale
• How Preparation Is Key When Buying a Home

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This week on Mills Knows Bills we continue our mini-series sharing the story of Mills' home ownership odyssey. We pick up the story during Mills and her husband Joe's transition from Tampa to Miami and the challenges that arose while renting their Tampa townhome. Mills explains how times of financial stagnation can be frustrating to those with specific financial goals but can prove to be valuable long-term.

In addition to telling the story of her move, Mills also briefly addresses the challenges both financially and emotionally that COVID had on her and Joe and how the reality of the pandemic placed some of her financial goals on hold while they, like the rest of us, weathered the storm.

Topics Include:

• How Home Ownership affects Mobility
• The Pros and Cons of Renting a Home
• The Challenges of Real Estate During COVID
• Dealing with Times of Financial Stagnation

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This week on Mills Knows Bills we are kicking off a new mini-series for the month of September that will be focused on the journey towards and process of buying a home. Mills will be sharing stories from her and her husband's life that will give listeners insight into what decisions need to be made during this process as well as some tips and tricks to look out for when it comes time for you to buy a home.

By framing this mini-series in a storytelling format, Mills hopes to be able to convey this vital information in a way that is not just dull financial numbers, but rather a story of her journey and the inevitable highs and lows of that process. In this first installment, we will hear about her first home purchase and some of the things that she learned along the way while getting a peek into some of the savings strategies that she employed to take this first milestone step in her family's life!

Topics Include:

• The Journey of Buying a Home
• Priorities When Looking for a Home
• What Home Ownership Teaches Us
• Tricks to Keep Closing Costs Down

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Throughout the month of August, Mills Knows Bills has been covering a host of topics relating to financial goals and how to achieve them. In this final episode of the financial goals series, Mills shares a little secret that is not often addressed when you do finally reach the goal or goals that you have been saving towards…it feels kind of weird!

The thing about saving is that it becomes a habit and like any habit, it develops into a routine that becomes part of our daily, weekly, or monthly schedule. When you do reach a financial goal for say a downpayment on a house it can be a bit odd and even a little scary to see all that money seemingly "disappear" all at once.

Mills is here to remind us that large purchases such as a house don't simply obliterate the huge amount of savings required to obtain them, but rather, your money has simply switched from a liquid asset to a large piece of equity. Yes, it can still feel a bit scary to have spent all that money on one purchase, but remember that by doing so you are putting your money to work for you, and barring any unforeseen disaster or market collapse you will get that money back and more when it comes time for you to sell your home and take the next step in your financial journey and more importantly your life journey!

Topics Include:

• The Strange Feeling of Reaching a Goal
• How Liquidity Becomes Equity
• The Power of Good Financial Habits
• Continuing to Make Long-Term Goals

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In this special continuing micro-pod series of Mills Knows Bills, Mills points out some of the critical distractions she has observed keeping her clients from achieving their financial goals. After an informal survey of clients, Mills has noticed that the trends of dining out, coffee consumption, and excess shopping account for the main distractions or habits that are holding people back from saving for their higher priorities.

In this episode Mills addresses how you can reign in these distractions by creating a budget that will free you from the excesses of some of these choices while empowering you to prioritize your spending on the things that truly matter to you. Listeners will learn the basics of developing a budget that allows you to both enjoy life now, while still considering your future!

Topics Include:

• Common Financial Distractions
• The Freedom of Budgeting
• Prioritizing Your Spending
• Adjusting For Variable Income

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In this special micro-pod edition of Mills Knows Bills, Mills breaks down the rules of the financial "game" that we all are playing by laying out the four guidelines that everyone must ask before making financial decisions. Often times families or individuals strive to complete financial milestones without asking these four key questions which can lead to frustration or even failure.

In this episode, Mills will help you avoid this frustration by laying out each key question and why they asked both before and during key financial decisions. She lays out how to ask these four simple questions: how much money do I need, by when do I need it, what obstacles stand in the way to this goal, and finally, can I truly afford it?

This deceptively simple quartet of questions is vital to both developing your goals and establishing the budget that will allow you to win this "game of goals" and find financial freedom!

Topics Include:

• Understanding the Rules of Finances
• Asking the Right Questions about Budgeting
• How Much Money You Need to Achieve Your Goal
• Establishing a Timeframe for Your Goals
• Forecasting Potential Obstacles
• Determining if Your Goals are Realistic

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In this episode of Mills Knows Bills, Mills shares the highlights from a webinar she conducted for a group of small business owners and variable income earners. During this webinar Mills lays out the fundamental first steps of mastering your money without stress and fear by organizing your finances in a way that works for you and not against you.

Gig workers and variable income earners can often struggle with reaching their financial goals as their income can often oscillate up and down during a given year. In this episode Mills will show listeners how to plan ahead for these changes by implementing what she calls practical budgeting.

Despite what many people might think a budget cannot simply be solved by making more money. In the practical budgeting system Mills shows the importance of tailoring a budget that's the best fit for you. When you begin to master this system you discover that budgeting and financial planning is not a set of rules that stifle your favorite parts of living, but rather a map to show how you can maximize your money in a way that allows you to truly start living!

Topics Include:

• What Does It Mean to Master Your Money?
• The Importance of Establishing a Budget
• Defining Practical Budgeting
• How Good Budgets Free Rather Than Restrict
• The Pros and Cons of the Envelope System

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Follow Mills Knows Bills:

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