Martinis and Your Money Podcast

The holidays have different meanings for everyone, as you will hear in this show, and they evolve over time. However, they almost always bring together people who love and enjoy each other. Melanie, Tonya and Mrs. Frugalwoods join me again for a drink and a chat about holiday traditions, celebrating with family (or not), and can you possibly go without the stuffing? What are you thankful for? Send an email to shannon@finblonde.com or tweet to me @Blonde_Finance

Melissa Sotudeh, CFP, is the mother of a college grad and a Vanderbilt freshman. She knows what it takes to prepare for college - both as the person paying and as the parent raising students to be ready for college.  Melissa wrote a book called, “Find Your Financial Safety School”, which you can download for free from http://halpernfinancial.com. It will help you select a school that is more appropriate for your student, the true cost of a college education, and how to lower those costs.   For a quick link or other notes about this episode, visit the show notes at http://financially-blonde.com/mmpodcast

Chad Carson built a real estate portfolio from scratch - with no background in real estate whatsoever! He put the time and energy into learning - which lead to his first investor. The rest is history. Remember the importance of hard work in achieving your financial goals. The same success is achievable for you. For more information, including Coach Chad’s website and blog posts, visit http://financially-blonde.com/mmpodcast

Have you had your financial grown-up moment yet? If so, what does it say about your financial journey so far? Award-winning journalist and author, Bobbi Rebell, joins me with a “Side Hustler” - a drink she created to help promote her new book, “How to be a Financial Grownup”. I also share MY financial grown-up moment! For more information on Bobbi and her book, visit the show notes at http://financially-blonde.com/mmpodcast

Melanie, Tanya, and Mrs. Frugalwoods join me to answer listener emails: Deloris wants to know: Where are you all recording right now? I’m curious. Jennifer asks: How did you keep going when debt felt overwhelming? Amber is curious: What are your financially-oriented goals for 2017? Linsey is looking for he answer to: When do you know you are side-hustling too hard? And finally, Kristen asks the Happy Hour crew to answer 3 Random Questions. Send in your question or leave a comment: http://financially-blonde.com/mmpodcast/

Paul Golden from the National Endowment for Financial Education joins me to talk about millennial parenting. Try to plan as much as you can before making the decision to become a parent - both emotionally and financially. If you are already a parent, work with your partner or your financial professional to get a hold of your finances - not only for your future, but the future of your children as well.

Home ownership, no matter how old you are and when you achieve it, is a huge decision to make. You don’t want to base decisions solely on emotions but also measure them against your goals and other dreams. Millennial Homeowner, Lauren Bowling, purchased a home with the expectation that her and her then-boyfriend would live in it after they got married. She put a nice downpayment on the purchase and began a $68,000 renovation three months before their breakup. While her situation didn’t turn out so bad - she nets about $400 a month in renting it out to tenants - Lauren realizes some mistakes were made and wrote a book about it. Find more information at http://financially-blonde.com/mmpodcast

I recently met Amber in person. When she mentioned her job of driving a city bus - I just had to have her on the show. Amber shares the ups and downs of a millennial trying to find work she likes.

Student Loan Debt is causing many millennials to delay their dreams of marriage. My guest, Chonce Maddox, married the man she loves despite her debt struggles - and did it all within her $10,000 wedding budget.   For more, visit http://financially-blonde.com/mmpodcast

Today I kick off my Millennial Money Week with Kelly Lannon from Fidelity. Education is key: There are numerous resources for you to get informed about money and investing - whether it is from sites like Fidelity.com or blogs or podcasts. Whatever source appeals to you, dig into it and begin the process of getting education about money ASAP. Thank you to Kelly Lannan, Director from the Women and Young Investors Group at Fidelity Investments. Visit http://financially-blonde.com/mmpodcast for more Millennial Money Week episodes