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Preparing for Known Unknowns
So, I really screwed up last week. The first Monday of 2017 was going great: I woke up early & headed to the gym for an intense circuit training session. By 7AM, I had worked out, eaten my 3 daily...
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It’s your values, stupid!
You’ve heard me say it again and again, but as we enter a new year, I really want to encourage you to take the changing of the year to look at starting to budget – especially if you haven’t done it...
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My budget: world travel and 45% savings rate on less than $40K income
A lot of people have asked me about my own budget. For quite awhile, I’ve been hesitant to share it because I don’t want anyone think this is blueprint for their own budget. As I’ve said many times,...
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My protein-packed vegan breakfast costs me 60 cents a day
My breakfast this morning. Yes, we do have special taco holders. This is a story. A story about breakfast. I have been eating the same thing for breakfast, nearly every morning, since 2009. How did...
View ArticleWhat money goals should you focus on? (podcast)
It can be hard to choose a financial goal when it feels like you need to be doing everything – Pay off debt! Get a new job! Get a side hustle! Save for a trip around the world! Travel hack! Clip...
View ArticleNo More Shoeboxes! Complete Guide to Receipt Management
It’s the time of year where I just get MAD at one thing in my life: receipts. They just suck – they’re crinkly, they pile up, but theoretically you need to save them for tax purposes for 7 years. And...
View ArticleHow to Pay Quarterly Taxes
Do you have a profitable side hustle? Are you entirely self-employed? Do you send invoices to get paid rather than than get a paycheck with tax deductions taken out? It’s entirely possible you...
View ArticleThe Feeling of Money Control (Listener Stories with The Billfold’s Nicole...
Something we always say on this show is that money is highly personal. Well, one thing I’ve learned is there’s no specific “accomplishment” moment for when you are in control of your money. For some...
View ArticleStop Eating Your Budget
Are you tired of eating and drinking your money away? Lillian and Will (plus some helpful listeners) share their tips for spending less at restaurants and bars. Some strategies include: Involve your...
View ArticleIs balancing your checkbook still a thing?
Balancing your checkbook- is that an adulting skill you should have? What exactly is a checkbook? Do you still need to do this? What is the digital equivalent? We answer your hot questions about...
View ArticleHow much should you budget for clothing?
Clothing – it can be a luxury item but it’s also a necessity, if you live in polite society. How much should you spend on clothing in a year? How do you balance your budget with your values if you...
View ArticleHow I world travel for cheap with travel hacking
Lillian travels to 2-13 countries a year, and mostly flies and stays in hotels for free or cheap – through credit card travel hacking. She walks you through how to do it as a hobby- and why you might...
View ArticleHow to Choose An Employee Retirement Plan as a Small Business
There’s so many options out there for small business retirement plans for employers! How do you choose one you can afford and that won’t cause headaches to administer? Marcel wrote in: I’m a small...
View ArticleEverything You Need to Know To Get Started Saving for Retirement [replay]
This is rebroadcast of an episode from our archives. Back to new episodes next week! The episode originally aired on February 13, 2017. Lillian answers all the questions you’ve been too scared to ask...
View ArticleIs $3,000 on an e-bike worth it?
Are you thinking about taking the plunge into the world of e-bikes or cargo bikes? At $1,000 – $5,000, it can be hard to justify the expense. We hear from people about their own choice to get an ebike...
View ArticleThe 100th Episode – What Would You Do with $100?
For our 100th Episode, we turned the mic on our listeners and asked If I handed you $100 and you had to use it in the next 24 hours in a way it would have the biggest impact on your life, what...
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How to find car insurance without pulling your hair out ft Andrew Rose
Figuring out car insurance can be an absolute hair-pulling nightmare. What is comp & collision? What does 50/100/50 mean? Do red cars really pay more? Guest Andrew Rose of Compare.com helps us...
View ArticleHow to Fund a Creative Project without Going Broke (Risk + Money)
Big announcement! Oh My Dollar’s cat-filled purrsonal finance book, A Cat’s Guide to Money, is going into the second printing, and we need your help to make that possible. But don’t worry, this...
View ArticleAre perfectionism & procrastination screwing up your finances?
You “should” do this [unpleasant money thing.] Sound familiar? I know many of you admit to financial procrastination, but often perfectionism is a the root of procrastination. I do it. Sometimes it’s...
View ArticleState of Queer Money
It’s pride month! And here at Oh My Dollar!, we’re queer af, so we’re here to talk all things under the rainbow. I thought in the midst of this historical pride month – the 50th anniversary of the...
View ArticleShould you get a 529 for college savings? ft Abby Chao
WTF is a 529? Should you use one for saving for education or is it easier to just have a savings account. Abby Chao from CollegeBacker walks us through what one is, how to set it up, and why it makes...
View ArticleHow We Saved Our First Emergency Funds
Saving up that first emergency fund can be hard – especially if you don’t make a lot of money, if murphy keeps knocking on your door and stealing from your savings, or if you have variable income. So...
View ArticleAmerica vs The World: Personal Finance Edition
It’s 4th of July (American Independence Day), so here’s an episode about things that America does differently in personal finance.America America – this is a place most of our listeners, according to...
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The Cost of Being Intersex ft. Hans Lindahl
Content warning: this episode talks about surgery, other medical topics, and the existence of genitalia The alphabet soup of the GLBTQIA+ community includes one letter many people don’t know about –...
View ArticleInvesting in your first IRA with $100
If you don’t have the minimum for an investment in Vanguard, how do you get started with a Roth IRA? And what the heck is a settlement fund? Listener Maggie wrote in with this great question: “I love...
View ArticleDoes retail therapy actually work?
Ohhhh the siren call of retail therapy. That “add to cart” button luring you in from the wild seas of despair. If you’re feeling down, feeling stressed, and suddenly it feels like if you buy that...
View ArticleGetting your spendy partner on board with budgeting
One of the biggest barriers to getting your money together can actually be other people – we talk about strategies for talking with your partner, roommate, or co-parent about money. We talk about:...
View ArticleHow to split rent, first dates, and retirement accounts in relationships
Splitting date expenses is hard, especially when you’re queer. How do you split rent when one person makes a lot more money? Plus, what who should get more in their retirement account? We talk about:...
View ArticleManaging Money as a College Student
What are some tips for managing your personal finances as a college or university student? What do we wish we had known about money when we started out in school? We talk about: How get paid for an...
View ArticleA recession is coming, how can you be ready?
A recession is coming, what should you do to be ready? Can you really prepare for a recession? We talk about: What a recession technically is – and wtf the federal reserve is What things are better...
View ArticleCalifornia is Changing the Gig Economy around the world
California just passed a landmark bill that means that contractors for app-based platforms like Uber, Lyft, Postmates, and Amazon, will have to be classified as employees. This is a big deal around...
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What you can pay for with Health Savings Accounts, ft Jean Chatzky
It’s health care month for the third time and we’re kicking it off with Jean Chatzky and talk about why Health Savings Accounts are rad super special triple-tax free accounts. About Jean Chatzky and...
View ArticleWhat the heck is a co-pay vs co-insurance?
Untangling the difference between a co-pay vs co-insurance and which kind of health care plan is better. Plus, depressing health care headlines. This is our first ever video version of the podcast,...
View ArticleHow to Balance Being a Human and Employee (Health + Work)
When you’re an employee, you’re also an employee with health needs. How do you balance both? We talk with Mac Prichard about how to bring up health care in the job process, and how to negotiate for...
View ArticleAll that money you didn’t save: opportunity cost
There’s no video version of this episode, but those will be back! The studio camera broke for a week or two. A Cat’s Guide To Money – the Oh My Dollar! cat-filled purrsonal finance book, is shipping...
View ArticleWhen to Give Up on Goals and Hit the “Orb of Rebirth”
How do you know when to quit a project, a goal, or something similar? And how does a to-do-list role playing game teach you about financial goals? Mentioned in this show: Habitica The 20 in 2020...
View ArticleWhat is worth doing yourself vs paying someone else?
What is worth doing yourself vs having someone else do? And how are little triangles of laundry relevant? The OMD community discusses if they pay money to someone else to take care of their children,...
View ArticleGreat Employee Benefits You’ll Actually Use
What work benefits might you actually want to use and negotiate for? We asked the Oh My Dollar! community for the work benefits they actually used – and the ones that were just useless lip service. In...
View ArticleWhy You’re Failing at Your Budget + Getting Rid of the Financial Shame
Sometimes it’s hard to stick to a budget. But that shouldn’t make you feel ashamed. How to get over feelings of shame and deprivation when things are hard and your financial goals aren’t working?...
View ArticleHow much should you keep in an emergency fund?
Lillian talks about how much you really need in your emergency funds in response to a listener question, and she tries to get Chase, our engineer, to stop spending all his money. Oh My Dollar! news We...
View ArticleListen Before You File: US Taxes 101
Lillian is joined by Nina, who asks questions about taxes and we cover what you need to know about witholding, saver’s credit, and how to figure out your taxes when you have a pile of 1099 income. Oh...
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Job-hopping isn’t bad & how to beat the job-stealing robots ft. Nicolle Merrill
We all know careers aren’t the same as they once were. Nicolle Merrill joins us to discuss why job-hopping is actually an advantage, how to “network” when you’re an introvert, how she drunk career...
View ArticleHow to Meal Plan
Meal planning has dramatically lowered the amount I spend on food, lowered my stress and anxiety, and also helped me make healthier choices. It wasn’t until I embarked on a “30 days of packing...
View ArticleHow to get health insurance if you lose your job and those $1,200 checks
Well, we’re throwing out the old schedule and I am just trying to get episodes out as quickly as possible to answer your questions about finances in these times. Question #1 (at time stamp 2:43) I...
View ArticleFreelancers can get unemployment benefits now?!
Unemployment, there’s a lot of it these days. With 9.6 million Americans filing first-time unemployment claims in the past two weeks, we’re experiencing unprecedented volume. But also – unemployment...
View ArticleCan they take back your unemployment check and what to do with $1,200?
I answer three listener questions that didn’t make the livestream this week: what to do with your $1,200 if your job is stable right now? [at 1:54] how to get your stimulus bill if you don’t have a...
View ArticleHow to care about money when nothing is okay
How the heck do you pick financial goals when 1 in 4 people are unemployed, there are murder hornets, police are battering people in the streets for having the audacity to say that black men shouldn’t...
View ArticleI’m hiring an editor!
Oh My Dollar! is hiring a skilled editor for our radio show and podcast. This is contract gig and pays $50 – $75 per show depending on length and complexity (shows are 20-35 minutes) and there’s 45...
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Everything Oh My Dollar! Made + Spent in 2020
Oh My Dollar! turned 4 years old October 2020. In 4 years Oh My Dollar! has gone from a hobby, to a part-time job, to a full-time job, and then back to a side hustle. In 2020, I worked a full-time job...
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