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Matt and Joel started their podcast How To Money over 400 episodes ago to help people gain financial knowledge and security, and they know it’s a tough and tedious process to cut household expenses, climb out of debt, build up emergency savings, begin investing in retirement, or figure out how to make your side hustle into a full-time business. That’s why it’s so important to celebrate any accomplishments we make on that journey: Not only does celebration make that accomplishment more meaningful, it also helps motivate us to keep going and hit our next goal, too. So on this episode, they share some of their listeners’ big money wins of the year. It’s not only inspirational to hear how people climbed out of debt, bought their first home, or transitioned to self-employment; they also made smart decisions on the way that we can all learn from.
One listener managed to pay off all his credit card bills in full every month and not pay a single dime of interest all year, which is a huge triumph. One family of six, living on a $150,000 yearly income, managed to save $100,000 in a year – an incredible savings rate! Matt also has a family of six and thinks it’s great to share this money win because people so often feel that they can’t build up their savings as quickly as single people because of their kids. It’s certainly harder, but doable – and clearly this family made a lot of sacrifices so they could put away for the future. Quite a few listeners managed to purchase their first home as well, citing Matt and Joel’s house-hacking episodes, as well as their advice on the importance of finding the right community to live in and not just the right building.
But not every win is a big money move. Joel shares that he’s proud to have bought another rental property (especially in this housing market) to build passive income, but Matt is equally proud that he did not buy any additional properties. He realized that managing too many rental properties really becomes an additional job he didn’t want to make time for; he’s happy with what he already has. Instead, he chose to invest more of his money in the stock market. It’s always a huge win to reflect on how we really want to spend our time and money and figure out our priorities. Personal finance is personal for a reason – there’s no one-size-fits-all way to financial freedom (besides the basic tenet of spending less than you earn, of course). Even if it seems like a smart move, if it’s not right for you, it won’t pay off the same way as it does for someone else. Hear all these inspiring stories and pick up some useful tips to make your big money wins this year a reality with this episode of How To Money.
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