Chain Of Wealth - Debt, Investing, Entrepreneurship, Wealth & More

Visit www.chainofwealth.com to grow your wealth   Jenny is the blogger behind the personal finance blog, Living Life Loving Us. As a mother, wife and RN by day and a blogger by night. Jenny and her husband have had some huge celebrations recently- including paying off a debt of $120,000. Welcome! [2:3] So $120,000- yikes! Where did the debt come from? Medical problems Traditional debt Wanted to pay off debt to give their family a jumpstart [4:35] What lifestyle changes did you have to make to achieve the debt free life? Got rid of things that didn’t bring value Worked a lot of overtime Downsized home [6:43] What was the most surprising thing you realized when you started budgeting your money? How much money you are wasting Grocery bill was huge before- started making a list [9:22] How did you start? Did you use an app or just straight pen and paper? Sat down with pen and paper Didn’t know about apps at first Everydollar app- free! [10:54] Where did the idea for your blog come from? Loves writing Wanted t

Visit www.chainofwealth.com to grow your wealth Totally different today- No interview but we talk all about budgeting and how we are doing it. For a “boring” subject- I thought it was quite a fun conversation. Sponsors [34:22] Value Link: Looking for an easy side hustle? Check out chainofwealth.com/airbnb for some free information on how to get started. Meh- there were no sponsors or value link round this time- but I’ll keep the airbnb link in there for good measure. Value Link Round (VLR) This wasn’t actually talked about but I like these questions, so I’ll give it a try. Why do you think people fail to achieve their dreams?  Like most of our guests- I agree, people are always too afraid to start. Just get out there and try it! What’s the worst that will happen? What are you favorite books or podcast?  Books: Your money or your life Podcasts: Obviously Chain of Wealth but How I built this is a close second.  What’s your favorite quote?  Education is not the learning of facts but the t

Visit www.chainofwealth.com to grow your wealth One of the great things about America is that we have such an amazing military. Because of them we get to go about our everyday lives with much less threat than in other places in the world. Today, we are super excited to have a military member/ personal finance wizard to help explain to us some of the perks that military people get and how to manage money while serving. Military Dollar is a personal finance blog that caters to the men and women in uniform and have been featured on sites such as Rockstar Finance! [9:23] Why do you think people struggle to achieve their dreams? Fear of trying [10:32] What other books or podcasts do you recommend? Books: Your money or your life Podcast: ChooseFI & FireDrill, NPR, Dear Hank & John [12:17] Do you have a favorite quote? “No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up” [12:45] Any last advice? Listen to Chain of Wealth! Sponsors Due to the special occasion- there is no formal value link round

Visit www.chainofwealth.com to grow your wealth One of the great things about America is that we have such an amazing military. Because of them we get to go about our everyday lives with much less threat than in other places in the world. Today, we are super excited to have a military member/ personal finance wizard to help explain to us some of the perks that military people get and how to manage money while serving. Military Dollar is a personal finance blog that caters to the men and women in uniform and have been featured on sites such as Rockstar Finance! Welcome! [4:9] What made your decision to joining the military? Wanted to be an astronaut Planned to become a pilot so joined Air Force Changed focus in college [5:43] What branch did you join? Why that one? Air Force Nerdy- not a huge fan of dirt [6:57] What are some of your favorite perks of being a veteran? all the cool experiences the military has offered [11:32] From a listener: What do you recommend for the younger soldier who wants to come ho

Visit www.chainofwealth.com to grow your wealth Scott is the creator of the blog I Dream of FIRE- a personal finance blog dedicated to his journey down the road of financial independence and early retirement. Scott has recently started a mini-retirement in April and is working on creating amazing content for his blog. Welcome! [3:20] So you are new to a mini-retirement, what has been your biggest adjustment? ·       Epic birthday this year [4:47] How do your days look now? ·       Breaking out of being a secret blogger [10:5] Were you nervous at all about quitting your job? ·       Started to feel stagnant about work ·       Felt ready for a change ·       Ran through numbers on the spreadsheet ·       Was not a quick decision ·       Wife said to just pick a date- settled on birthday [12:20] You are on a mini-retirement, does that mean you plan to go back to work at some point? ·       Means different things for everyone ·       Going to spend time looking to do something different ·       Not financial

Visit www.chainofwealth.com to grow your wealth   Kelan and Brittany are the power couple behind the quickly growing personal finance blog, The Savvy Couple. They have been featured on sites such as USA Today, Rockstar Finance and Millennial Money Man. Welcome! [2:23] So Kelan, you have recently quit your 9-5 job to blog full time. How’s it going? What does your day look like? ·       Going great! Coming up on a year long ·       Had 6 different jobs after college ·       Was going to do home inspection but blogging took over [4:12] Did you plan ahead for the career change? ·       Did plan a bit ·       Went to a trade school ·       Saved for about a year and a half ·       Had emergency fund [8:3] Where did the idea for the blog come from? ·       Knew it would be a joint effort ·       Took a long time to create name ·       Started over the summer [9:28] How do you guys’ balance working on the blog and being in a relationship? ·       Learning curve ·       Try to have a normal business day ·      

Visit www.chainofwealth.com to grow your wealth We are so excited for our guest today. We have Chelsea from MamaFishSaves! In case you don’t know, MamaFishSaves is a PF blog that talks all about budgeting, side hustle, kids- you name it. Recently she has been featured on the Modest Money Top Finance Blog list. Welcome Chelsea! [2:8] So first, what is an embarrassing story? ·       Big Harry Potter fans ·       Came down in full HP gear with friends over [2:37] Where did the idea for your blog come from? ·       Didn’t feel fulfilled with hedge fund job ·       Started answering money questions in a “mom’s group” [3:57] As a mom and a blogger, how do you manage your time during the day? ·       Husband is stay at home dad ·       Work outside of the house ·       Has a must-do list ·       Blog laptop stays in the office [5:29] What has been your proudest achievement when it comes to your blog? ·       Finalist for Plutus award [6:3] What are your goals for the next couple of years? ·       Grow the audie

Visit www.chainofwealth.com to grow your wealth   Monica Louie is a Facebook Ads Coach who works with dozens of entrepreneurs and some of the biggest names in the online space. She helps people who are looking to increase their sales, grow their online traffic and businesses through targeted Facebook Ads. Monica also has an amazing debt pay off story, tackling over $120k in 2 years with her husband on a single middle-class income. To document her journey, she originally had a Personal Finance blog which she has now sold to focus on her new business and online course called Flourish with FB Ads which Chain of Wealth recently joined. Welcome Monica! [3:18] So, what is an embarrassing story that nobody knows? ·       6th grade ·       Song and dance [4:57] Let’s chat about your debt pay off story! $120k, wow! What motivated you to tackle the debt and what strategy did you use to knock it out? ·       Started in 2013 ·       Was about to have second child ·       Created a plan and budgeted [11:29] You sold

Visit www.chainofwealth.com to grow your wealth Allea is a millennial who has paid off a huge amount of debt. She has documented the whole journey on her blog Askallea.com. She is a passionate personal finance blogger who helps her readers develop a better relationship with money. Fun fact: she is from a teeny tiny town in Nebraska and she has no sense of smell. Welcome! [2:55] Tell us something else about yourself ·       Have broken nose two times [5:33] You have quite the debt payoff story- can you share it with us? ·       Graduated with $21 in student debt ·       Car loan ·       Study abroad loan ·       Lead a frugal life ·       $550 of pay would go towards “future me” ·       Side hustle/ roommates [14:2] Have you made any big financial mistakes? ·       Not really ·       Budgeted $100 a month on clothes [21:5] What topic do you like posting about most on your blog? ·       Money mindset ·       Mom taught about money in a practical way [23:46] So you offer budgeting services- can you tell us a

Visit www.chainofwealth.com to grow your wealth   Jim from Route to Retire is an aspiring early retiree with plans to take his family to move to Panama once he is retired from his IT job. Jim’s posts have been featured on sites such as Rockstar Finance and Modest Money- Top Finance Blogs. Welcome! [4:0] Tell us something we don’t know about you ·       Can walk on hands [4:37] So you chose Panama but where would have been your second choice? ·       Panama has a lot of characteristics we are looking for ·       Costa Rica or Tennessee [5:25] So most early retirees we have spoken to don’t have kids- has having a family made your FIRE goals harder to achieve? ·       Misconception about kids and FIRE ·       Family needs to decide on priorities [9:6] So you are going to retire, but what about Mrs. R2R? ·       She will be done working in the near future [9:50] After you retire, what will be a goal that you want to accomplish? ·       Spend more time on blog ·       Write some more books ·       Try out new

Visit www.chainofwealth.com to grow your wealth Lisa is a lawyer living in DC. She is the author of the blog The Give and Get, it is here that she talks about everything from personal finance to food and relationships. Welcome! [2:40] Did you go to see the Cherry Blossoms? ·       Avid biker ·       Cherry season is the worst season for biking [3:50] Where did the idea for your blog come from? ·       Writes a lot ·       Reads PF blogs all the time ·       Has an interesting debt payoff story [8:6] You write on all sorts of topics- which is your favorite and why? ·       Achieving financial independence as a single person [11:59] You paid off a ton of student loan debt- can you tell us about it? ·       Impressive headline but boring story ·       Paid off loans by using bonuses and tax refunds [17:48] You have a post about retiring early on a low income. What advice do you tell people? ·       Reading blogs where people weren’t writing blogs on realistic numbers ·       The PF blog wants to appear to p

Visit www.chainofwealth.com to grow your wealth Simone Dennis is the creator of the blog Slim Fit Wallet. Her story of paying off $80,000 in debt is truly inspirational. A neighbor to us over in Maryland, Simone is passionate about helping other people get out of debt and showing them how to start living on a budget. Welcome! [3:45] $80,000 in debt- how long did it take you to pay off? ·       Aug 2017: 100% debt free ·       Had student loans, car loans and medical loan [5:24] What did you do to pay it down? What strategy did you use? ·       Had a car accident wakeup call ·       Researched how to get finances in order ·       Started saving ·       Used the Dave Ramsey Approach [9:44] If you could go back in time, what do you wish you could tell your younger self? ·       Hardest part was taking the first step ·       Don’t worry about tough changes [12:4] You have a post on your blog about having an emergency fund. How much do you think someone should keep in their emergency fund? What constitutes an

Original Show Notes: Student loans   Matt Spillar is the creator of Spills Spot, which started out as a place to create a portfolio for his writing. Once Matt got into the meat of the site however he realized that he wanted it to be much more and it has since has evolved into a full on personal finance blog where he inspires people to be more mindful in managing their money. Matt has managed to pay off over $40,000 of student loan debt in 4 years and loves inspiring others to do the same. He currently resides in the Bay area with his wife and two dogs. Welcome Matt! [2:22] So let’s talk about the blog’s name- Spill Spot, there’s more a story to the name isn’t there? ·      Came from his last name ·      Was short and sweet [3:4] One of your recent posts was about how you paid off $15k in only 10 Months, I have to ask did you plan to do $15k or did you just get addicted to paying it off? ·      Graduated in 2013 ·      Took time to figure out budgeting as couple ·      After emergency fund was made- debt p

Original Show Notes: Credit card debt   Krystel from All She Saves is a young professional living in Minnesota who is doing huge things! Like paying back $77,000 in student loans. She documents her journey to paying off her debt, living life and working full time. Welcome! [2:14] So did Minnesota shut down the same way DC did during the spring snow storm? ·       Did not get any snow [3:37] You lived in student loan payback doom for years as well. What made you change your thinking and decide to pay back your loan so quickly? ·       So many people are in it but don’t talk about it ·       Had over $15,000 of credit card debt ·       Tom, her boyfriend got suspicious of her spending habits [10:15] So you’re paying back an original $77,000- and have gotten down to about $40,000 wow! You paid off $12,000 last year! That’s huge! What sacrifices did you make to accomplish this? ·       Looked at budget and cut anything that wasn’t needed ·       Stopped drinking coffee, eating out [15:1] In your February rep

Original show notes: retire with Mr. SSC Slowly Sipping Coffee or SSC is a personal finance blog run by a couple who are busy balancing family life, work life and blog life. They are on a quest to quit the 9-5 and have a lifestyle change to stay home and be full time parents by May of 2019. Welcome! [2:54] So tell us a little about yourself, what is something that most people don’t know? ·       I like bluegrass music ·       Plays the banjo [4:8] You are not interested in a FIRE lifestyle but more a Fully Funded Lifestyle Change- tell us about that? ·       Didn’t want to not work ·       Wanted a lifestyle change ·       Almost to the point of not having to work [13:55] Where did the idea for the blog come from? Who works on it more? ·       Ironic that it’s a PF blog ·       Wanted to be able to have a slow enough lifestyle to sit and drink coffee ·       In the beginning- it was more evenly split ·       Then she started teaching- and abandoned the blog [20:25] Tell us about a favorite blog post you h

Original Show Notes: Become Richer with Matt Lane   Matt Lane is a the author of the blog, Optimize Your Life. As a part time blogger, and full time attorney, husband and new father, Matt’s goal is to help people learn that the purpose of money is to allow us to live a happier life, so we need to focus on the big picture of how to build that happy life rather than just focusing on the money and fun fact- we randomly found out we’re neighbors! Welcome! [2:48] Hi. Hi how are you. Good. [2:52] So you’re also a neighbor and local to D.C.. What do you like to do when people come to visit you from out of town. [3:2] Yeah. Well I think it depends on whether they’re new to D.C. whether they’ve been here a bunch of times. The first Go2 is always the monuments and museums which seems to be pretty obvious for D.C. locals. Free and amazing for people that haven’t been there before. It’s really like the essence of D.C. For folks that have been there before and have done all the museums. There’s really a great restaura

Andrew is the author of the blog, Shift Upwards. Here he talks about his unhappiness that he felt at his regular 9-5 and goes through the steps he took to eventually quit. After paying back $20,000 in student loans and saving about $45,000 he decided to take the plunge and retire from full time work to try out other avenues that peaked his creativity. Welcome! [2:52] So you have been semi-retired for about 6 months. How’s it been? ·       September 1, 2017 was the last day [3:22] What was your first day of not going to work like? ·       Last day of work- was a normal day ·       Labor Day weekend- drank beer and went hiking with wife ·       Strange not going to work [10:27] If you could go back and change one decision you made, what would it be? ·       I’m not really sure ·       Even the bad decisions have shaped me ·       I would have decided to invest sooner [12:42] Tell us about Shift Upwards ·       Niche- finance blog ·       Writes about how to use your money to live your best life ·       Prio

Original show notes: Retire Early  Steve and his wife are early retirees at the age of 35. Steve realized late in his 20s that “stuff” was not going to bring him happiness and neither was slaving away at his 9-5. Now he travels full time in his airstream, named Charlie and enjoys the simple things in life. He is the creator of the blog Think, Save, Retire and there he offers his tips, tricks and advice to help motivate others to drop their commute and start enjoying life. Welcome, Steve! [3:34] What is your backstory? How was life before you decided to retire early? ·       Graduated from college in 2005 ·       Blew through money ·       Spent all his money and didn’t save [8:34] What steps did you make to achieve early retirement? ·       Any time before 60 ·       Saved 70% of salaries [10:41] What is the difference between financially independent and retiring early? ·       Financially independent- you do not have to work anymore ·       Retire early- quitting your job [12:32] What is your advice for

Original show notes: Entrepreneur Billy is probably the most unique guest that we have had the pleasure of interviewing. His story starts at a party in college that lands him in prison for 10 years. Flash forward to now, Billy has a blog called Wealth Well Done, a book- SPARK, owns property, is married to a beautiful wife and has a net worth of over a quarter of a million dollars. Welcome Billy! [1:51] Tell us about that day you got arrested. ·       21 years old- was a regular day ·       His friend was dead- thought it was a bad dream ·       Sentenced to 10 years in prison [5:50] You didn’t waste away while serving your time; you really made it count. What sort of things did you do while you were serving your sentence? ·       First 2 years- trying to survive ·       Disgusted with self ·       Worked to become a person he was proud of ·       Knew he was better than this [12:20] After you got out of prison, what did you do? ·       Made soup and a sandwich- so liberating! ·       Saw Friends/ family

Original Show Notes: Investing Damion Lupo is a best- selling author in personal finance and money thinking. He is the host of the Transformation Nation podcast and had owned over 30 companies. Damion outrightly rejects regret and speaks to it as the ultimate life failure. He has a unique approach to living a full-filled life by breaking rules and making more mistakes, faster, than the competition. In 2008 he lost the entire $20 million but recreated his wealth and reinvented his life over 4 transformational years. Welcome Damion! [3:45] So first, you lost a $20 million company? What happened? ·       Everything I was, was my checkbook ·       Very dangerous mindset ·       Found something more than money [6:48] So if you could go back in time, what would you tell a younger version of yourself? ·       Kept an older mentor ·       Wish I would have listened to others [10:24] What skills and tools do I need to be a great investor? ·       Real money ·       Don’t paper trade in the stock market or in cryp