EPISODE 48 ~ GUEST BLOG: How The Money App I Built Can Help You Be Fearless About Your Finances

By Lori Atwood, CFP®, Founder of FearlessFinance.com

Hopefully you have some money set aside for unplanned —but required— stuff that happens, like root canals, and car repairs, I call that Rainy Day Savings. You should also have enough savings to cover 3-6 months of expenses in case you experience a total loss of income. I call that Emergency Savings. One of the best reasons to run Fearless Finance, my new software, is to see if you are “Savings Secure” in both of these categories.

Here’s why. Let’s say it’s tax time and you are looking forward to a nice refund check. How do you decide how to best use the money? Vacations, debt pay off OR savings security?
Make sure you have $3k for Rainy Day Expenses ($1500 if you rent) and at least ONE MONTH of expenses for Emergencies
Save for large upcoming one-off or Annual expenses (e.g. CAMP! or braces), because if you don’t have money when these expenses come up, you will charge them and you’re back on the cycle of credit card debt
Pay down credit card debt when #1 and #2 are satisfied.
Here’s the key: you MUST have some liquid savings for stuff that happens and big upcoming expenses to KEEP YOU OUT OF CREDIT CARD DEBT. There’s no sense putting your tax refund toward credit card debt FIRST when you’re going to have to charge more stuff as it comes up. Having liquid funds is the only way to get off the credit card/debt dependence cycle and it usually means putting off paying down debt for a few months to amass some savings. It’s seems odd to hear a financial planner tell you to wait to pay off credit cards, but it’s okay to do if you are trying to amass some liquid savings first. How do you go about this?
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Guest Contact: Lori Atwood
Website: FearlessFinance.com
Website: LoriAtwood.com
Twitter: twitter.com/LoriAtwoodsays
Facebook: www.facebook.com/fearlessfinance/

Guest Bio:
Lori Atwood, CFP®, is the Founder & CEO of Fearless Finance, a personal finance platform and app that gives users a complete 360 degree view of their financial situation with specific recommendations on how to improve their financial wellbeing. After working in the finance industry for over two decades, Lori discovered a need in the marketplace for a user-friendly financial tool that provides a whole financial wellness approach and that’s when Fearless Finance was born. Fearless Finance allows users to only track 2 expenses making it easy to implement and approachable for users that consider themselves not “budget” people.

Working with clients in her one-on-one financial planning consulting business, gave Lori first-hand experience and understanding of what people want in a financial tool. She saw that users want to understand and manage their finances better and know they are “okay” financially, which is what Fearless Finance does.

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EPISODE 46 ~ GUEST BLOG: Spring Decor: Refresh Your Space This Season With Tips From A Style Director

Meet Alessandra Wood, the Director of Style at Modsy. With a PhD in Design History and an M.A. in the History of Decorative Arts and Design, she is a bona fide design expert, taught by the best of the best curators and historians. We picked her brain on the best ways to update your home for spring without breaking the bank. Read on for some of her tips!

Looking for some spring decor ideas to refresh your space, but not flush with cash to spend? Not to worry! Here are 5 easy changes you can make to your home for less (less than $100 to be exact)!

Read more… 

About Alessandra Wood

Alessandra Wood has always been driven by the incredible possibilities of fusing design and technology. Joining in 2015 as its first employee, Alessandra is the Director of Style at Modsy where she is responsible for helping to bring the intersection of interior design and 3D technology to life. Prior to Modsy, she worked at two other interior design disruptors, including Y Combinator company Tastemaker.  With a PhD in Design History and an M.A. in the History of Decorative Arts and Design, she has intense academic training in the style, production, and consumption of furniture and interiors—a bona fide design expert, trained by world class curators and historians. At Modsy, she is obsessed with applying that knowledge to understand what makes products beautiful/useful/successful and what inspires people to love and purchase those products. In addition to her work at Modsy, Alessandra is a firm believer in the importance of learning and is a professor of design history and theory at the University of San Francisco.

Links

www.modsy.com/

www.instagram.com/modsydesign/

www.facebook.com/modsydesign/

twitter.com/modsy

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EPISODE 44 ~ GUEST BLOG: Understand Your Boss For The Best Chance of Getting A Raise

By Stever Robbins

Why do you go to work? If you’re one of the lucky few, your work ignites your passion. It challenges you. It lets you accomplish what you find most worthwhile, provides community, and helps you contribute in a meaningful way. You’d keep working even if you won the lottery. Chances are, that’s not you. Even if your job does some of that, you wouldn’t do it if it weren’t for the paycheck. That’s fine. Almost everyone works for the money. So face that. Roll it around in your brain for a few minutes. Repeat after me: At the end of the day, even if you enjoy your job, you’re there to get paid. So “working smart” means working in whatever way gets you paid.  Understand first that people decide what you get paid.

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Guest Bio:Stever Robbins is an executive coach and communications consultant. His work combines business savvy, “life hacking,” and personal development to help people achieve extraordinary results. He is a serial entrepreneur, executive coach, and executive curriculum designer. He co-founded the early internet success story FTP Software, served as COO of Building Blocks Interactive, CEO of JobTacToe.com, and has been an initial team member of ten start-ups, including four IPOs and three acquisitions. He was project manager at Intuit, where he co-led the development of the award-winning Quicken VISA Card. He serves as business plan judge for the Harvard Business School business plan competition, the MIT $100K competition, the Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Awards, the William James Foundation social enterprise competition, and the Mass Challenge entrepreneurship competition.  His Get-It-Done-Guy podcast has spent weeks as #1 in the iTunes business category and has been downloaded more than 30 million times.

Guest Contact:

Website: SteverRobbins.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stever777

Twitter: twitter.com/GetItDoneGuy

twitter.com/SteverRobbins

Podcast:

Get it Done Guy on iTunes: apple.co/2pxxIkd

Get it Done Guy Show Notes: www.quickanddirtytips.com/get-it-done-guy

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EPISODE 43 ~ Guest Blog: Facebook Marketplace: What is it and How Can I Get The Most Out of It?

Facebook Marketplace is an easy, convenient way to buy and sell in your area. You can look through listings or search for items near you to find great things to buy.  You can find Facebook Marketplace here. (www.facebook.com/marketplace/learn-more)

Why should I use Marketplace?

You can list items and find great deals directly within Facebook. You don’t have to download another app or set up a new account. Reach thousands of people in your local community and find unique items for sale.

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Guest Bio:

Deb Liu is VP of Marketplace where she runs Facebook’s commerce efforts, overseeing product management and engineering. Named one of the most powerful female engineers of 2017 by Business Insider, Deb is a 15-year veteran in the tech industry. She is also a seed investor and adviser to several start-ups, and she was recently appointed to Intuit’s Board of Directors. Actively involved with promoting diversity and women in tech, she co-created the Women in Product nonprofit in 2016 and serves on the board of Expanding Your Horizons Network, a non-profit that focuses on inspiring girls to pursue STEM careers.

Links: LinkedIn

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Episode 42: Guest Blog: Savings Economy: Learn About The Company Making Your Money Worth More

Hi there!

We’re Raise and we’re on a mission to make your money worth more.

Built on a fundamental belief that prepaid cards are the most valuable currency there is, we are dedicated to establishing a new method of payment where you can always get more for your money.

Read more here.

BIO: George Bousis, founder & CEO  of Raise

From professional gamer to successful entrepreneur, Raise founder / CEO George Bousis started his career working in various roles for his family-owned grocery business. After researching loyalty programs for the business, he was inspired to launch Raise to transform the way gift cards, loyalty and mobile payments work in the retail industry.

George is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), the Museum of Science and Industry’s Digital Board, a Major Contributor to FWD.us and an Executive Advisory Board member of Techweek. He has been included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 and the Crain’s Chicago Business 20 in Their 20s lists. George is based at Raise headquarters in Chicago.

Links: Raise.com, Twitter, LinkedIn

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EPISODE 41: GUEST BLOG: 3 Tips for Succeeding With Fertility Treatments

By Michelle Katz

Do you have baby on the brain?  Well, “making a baby” can be as stressful as actually as having a baby with all the infertility options out there such as IVF, IUI, ICI, IVI etc.  If you are headed down this path, one of the key components to having a successful pregnancy is not to stress, but if you are not prepared financially, this may be almost impossible.  One of the less expensive ways to go through this process is through Natural IVF, which is becoming more popular among women who have either a low ovarian reserve or have failed stimulated IVF and are not interested in a donor egg in part because it is less expensive and are afraid of ovarian stimulation drugs.  Here are my top 3 tips for saving money while trying to conceive that perfect baby.

 

1. Set a Budget and find the right team

Remember, it only takes one egg, and while it may seem rare, it can happen to women on their first attempt and at any age. If you look at a place like Dominion Fertility, they have a patient that had her first child at the age of 48 after only two attempts via natural cycle IVF after spending thousands of dollars at another nearby clinic on stimulated IVF and being told she could only get pregnant with a donor egg.  Also understand that if you decide to transfer more than one egg, you might end up with twins, or even triplets or more.  So be sure you set your budget to compensate the extra bundle of joy just in case.  The key is to find a team that make you feel comfortable and work with your budget while laying out ALL of your options so you can make the most informed decision for yourself with as little stress as possible. 

 

2. Price around for your pharmaceuticals

This is where you can spend the most money depending on your treatment (an average of $4,000 – $10,000 per cycle) and why many women opt for a method like natural cycle IVF, because you only need one Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) “trigger shot” along with your antibiotics, etc which may only cost an average of $100 – $500 per cycle.  Also, know that the price of these medications will vary from pharmacy to pharmacy, week to week, and depending on what (HCG) hormone is prescribed such as  Pregnyl, Noveral, Ovidrel etc.  It is always best to price around for these meds BEFORE you start your treatment and inquire if the manufacturer has any special programs based on financial need before your doctor prescribes; this way you can be sure you get the best deal since your doctor may not always know what “special discounts” are going on at that time and can prescribe what is best for budget at that time. 

 

3. The extras add up

Acupuncture, fertility diets, Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) etc are all extras that can kill your budget, so choose the course of your treatment wisely.  There is not enough scientific research to prove that acupuncture or fertility diets actually work, but again, do what is best for you and within your budget.  Some clinics may actually provide a PGD and/or PGS  in an attempt to identify those embryos that are genetically abnormal so that improved embryo selection will—ideally—result in improved pregnancy rates and lower miscarriage rates but you need to ask if this is included in your treatment since the price may vary from  $2500 – $5000 and on up.  If decide to invest in these tests, it can result in selecting the best embryo for your transfer, which may bring you that much closer to a successful pregnancy, thus avoiding the cost of an additional cycle.

Guest Name: Michelle Katz

Guest Title: Healthcare Consumer Advocate

Guest Twitter: @michellekatzmsn

Guest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nursemichellekatz/

Guest’s Website: about.me/michellekatz

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EPISODE 40 ~ GUEST BLOG: How and Why Clean Energy Can Save You Money

By Kiran Bhatraju, CEO, Arcadia Power

Did you know that the Fortune 500, on average, pay almost 25 percent less for power than you do at your home, and are often the largest purchasers of renewable energy? If Amazon and Google were enjoying low, fixed-priced power from renewables, then why can’t we get the same in our homes?

Arcadia Power was built with the mission to make renewable energy universally accessible. For three years, we have been giving homeowners and renters across the country access to affordable wind power, community solar, and home efficiency products. But, we knew that this was only the beginning.

We had to find a way to help the everyone save money on cleaner energy options.

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BONUS INFO: Live in Washington, DC? We’ve Got Some Big Community Solar News for You

For the past two years, Arcadia Power members have been saving with solar power through our nationwide Community Solar program. By “purchasing” a panel hosted at one of our partner’s community solar sites, Arcadia Power members will access upwards of $300,000 in solar savings in the next 10 years.

We believe that everyone – regardless of where they live, or whether they rent or own – should be able to access, and benefit from, clean energy. If you can’t put a panel on your roof that should not stop you from being able to get solar savings.

We are now partnering with developers to build entirely new community solar projects in your local communities.

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Guest Bio:  Kiran Bhatraju, is cofounder and CEO of Arcadia Power. Previously, Kiran was a founder of an energy efficiency technology company and worked as a policy aide on Capitol Hill. He is on the board of the Environmental Voter Project and is a published author.

Guest Contact: 

www.arcadiapower.com

Follow Arcadia Power on Facebook and Medium.

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EPISODE 39 ~ GUEST POST: Travel: Secret Tips That Will Help You Score The Lowest Hotel & Travel Rates

In today’s modern era there are few things that don’t have a set sticker price. Hotel rooms are one of the things where it is still a bargainer’s market. Hotels have an entire elaborate system where they can target the high prices from some individuals and bring in the low prices to fill the rest of the room. An empty room is only wasted money right? Well in this blog posts we are going to go over some of the industry secrets to secure a hotel room for the best price.

Read more… 

 

Bio:  Doron Nadivi is the Chief Marketing Officer of Pruvo, which was a natural fit for him since the company combines two things that he is passionate about: traveling and saving money.  Doron is the author of 2 books (under a pen name) regarding how to travel on a budget.  He is also a public speaker to multinational companies in Latin America about the same topic.  Doron recently co-produced with ex-CNN journalist Glenda Umaña the first ever TV show in Spanish about “How to lower travel costs using technology” which will air in the upcoming weeks in all of Latin America.

LINK: www.pruvo.net/

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EPISODE 38 ~ GUEST BLOG: Three Reasons to Look for Unclaimed Funds for your Older Relatives

By Gabriel Geiger

 

Three Reasons to Look for Unclaimed Funds for your Older Relatives

 

1. Who doesn’t like to find money! Finding unclaimed funds is like finding a $20 in the pocket of last winter’s coat. Let your fingers do the walking by doing your research on the internet. 

2. Sometimes companies lose track of their customers through moves or death. Yet, the money is still owed. Contact insurance and utility companies.

3. Bank accounts and retirement accounts can be forgotten. Check with the “Abandoned Property” list of the state of residence.

 

Have you been solicited by a for-profit business that is happy to do this research and file a claim for a fee? Remember you can do it for free! The claims process is simple, but sometimes you or your relatives might benefit from a nudge or a coach. Lifespan can be that coach and help you organize your finances.

 

Bonus Tip:

Did you have a relative who lost money to a scammer and paid using Western Union between January 1, 2004 and January 19, 2017?  If so, they can now file a claim to get that money back.  Go to:

www.ftc.gov/enforcement/cases-proceedings/refunds/western-union-settlement-faqs

LINKS:

www.lifespan-roch.org or www.lifespan-roch.org/financial/

Guest Name: Gabriel Geiger

Bio: Gabriel is the Director of Financial Services at Lifespan of Greater Rochester, Inc. where he handles bill pay services, health insurance, Senior Medicare Patrol, and long term care insurance and planning. He received his Bachelor’s Degree at State University of New York as well as attended Management School at New work State Bankers Association. Gabriel is a Certified Aging Services Professional (CASP) with a Certificate of Gerontology from St. John Fisher College. He spent 18 years in banking and has spent an equal amount of time assisting clients and caregivers with their finances at Lifespan.

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EPISODE 37~GUEST BLOG: Make More~ Modern Focus Groups: How To Apply For DScout Video Review Missions For A Nice Side Income

To go on a mission, you’ll need to submit an application and then get selected to participate. Just tap on the apply tab in the dscout app to see if any available opportunities look interesting. If you see an opportunity that sounds like fun, apply for it! If there’s nothing available to apply for at the moment, hang in there–we’ll be serving up some new opportunities in no time.

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Guest Name: Cam Balzer

Guest Title: VP of Marketing

Guest Contact: Twitter, LinkedIn, Blog

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