Comments on: Podcast: Our money stories

By: Harshawardhan

Harshawardhan — Sun, 20 Jan 2019 04:56:29 +0000

Really enjoyed this episode too. Was really looking forward to such an episode for quite a while. And insights of Sarah and Laura’s money stories were really helpful.
One part I was hoping that you’d dive deep into is that how ‘financial aspect of parenting’ plays important role in children’s upbringing and what effect it has on their money believes and how parents shapes children’s perspective about money which most of them carry for the rest of their lives.
My question is will BoBW have a guest in the future to discuss the point mentioned above? Perhaps someone like Money coach – Tammy Lally.

By: Alyce

Alyce — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 23:12:27 +0000

I appreciate your willingness to do this episode given that talking about money can be so dicey. I used to read frugal blogs like frugalwoods and mr. money mustache, and although there’s something in it that is appealing, I realized that I despise frugality for frugality’s sake. I grew up poor with seven siblings, and mother who was a teacher and a father who was a disabled vet and was forced to “retire” early because of his health. My parents were frugal because they had to be. So the idea that my lifestyle growing up is someone’s goal is kinda repugnant to me. (Of course, their lifestyles also look nothing like my childhood lifestyle – even if they’re frugal, they live in nice, well-decorated homes, dress well, send their kids to good schools, have nice cars, and don’t look like they’re dealing with the stress of not having enough money…so their version of “frugality” has always rung false to me….)

My basic financial m.o. is to take care of essentials first (bills, retirement, emergency savings, etc), then feel free to spend my money on whatever I whatever I want guilt free knowing that the essentials are taken care of. It goes without saying that managing my money is so much easier with a high salary than it was when I was making 24K. Back then, I was unable to save money until I started tracking every single penny I spent. After that, I was able to save 150-200 out of the $1500 I brought home after taxes. Now, even with permitting myself to buy what I want, it turns out that I don’t really want a ton of stuff, and there’s routinely money left over at the end of the month (in addition to the savings that were taken off the top). But the real difference there is simply having a high income and earning more money than I need and want.

What I’m most proud of financially is being able to cover unexpected and expensive emergency expenses without stress such as:
– our first tax bill after getting married and having a high income
– huge car repairs
– being able to cover expenses during this bullshit government shutdown where I’ll have to go without a paycheck for who knows how long….

By: ARC

ARC — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 04:18:30 +0000

In reply to Margaret. Yes! We do the auto-import, but it usually lags by a few days, so we do manually enter the transactions in the mobile app which is quick and easy, and then just use the auto-import feature to make sure they "match". This makes the reconciliation process *really* easy and I find I'm not messing around with YNAB that much, which makes me happy.

By: ARC

ARC — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 04:16:52 +0000

In reply to Alissa. Another option we've done, because we have our two sets of parents 800 miles away and 3000 miles away, is to meet somewhere for a vacation together. We like to have a bit of time on our own first, then have the rest of the extended family join us, if possible.

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Sat, 22 Dec 2018 21:39:14 +0000

In reply to Sandra. @Sandra- I think it's Latoff?

By: Sandra

Sandra — Sat, 22 Dec 2018 20:12:46 +0000

Thanks for BOBW. I was wondering if you could link to the purse Sarah was recommending to you. Thanks!

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 17:18:27 +0000

In reply to Alissa. @Alissa- yes, travel with many people can get expensive fast. Tacking on a more vacation oriented side trip to a family visit can be a great compromise. Unfortunately, my extended family (both sides) has chosen not to live somewhere particularly close to exciting tourist destinations...

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 17:15:27 +0000

In reply to Courtney. @Courtney- yay! So glad BOBW was helpful for your family!

By: Courtney

Courtney — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 17:01:53 +0000

Like the other commenters, I really enjoyed this podcast and think that you handled this subject with such grace! My husband and I are both underspenders, and we have BOBW to thank for the fact that we now outsource our lawn care and house cleaning, and that our lives are so much happier as a result. We can easily afford these things (in fact, when you look at our opportunity costs, we really can’t afford not to outsource them…), but you and Sarah convinced us to finally take the plunge. So thank you for finding two ways in which money did buy our family happiness/time!

By: Kristin

Kristin — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 14:43:06 +0000

In reply to Alissa. This is a great idea! I am the same (family lives 2,000 miles away and we just can't travel like we used to with little kids ie. there is no getting in at 11PM the night before and jumping back into normal life the next day). I haven't thought about separate side trips, but for spring break this year we are planning to do a 2 or 3 night trip WITH my family! My parents live in Phoenix so there is lots to see out there! My children will get some stamps in their National Park Passports AND we will spend time with family. Win-win!