Money Ha Ha

Our first-ever live show (at San Francisco’s Sketchfest comedy festival) is action-packed! Stand-up comedian Alexandria Love is delightful as our guest, even after we trigger her severe frog phobia; Yas announces that she’s expecting a baby girl; Dara’s dad takes the stage to improvise a song in the style of Marvin Gaye; and audience members share embarrassing stories about freelance finances gone awry. Along with all the excitement, we dish out facts about some places where the cash is...

Happy holidays, everybody! Dara and Yas are here with a lil’ shorty ep to share some exciting pod news as well as a couple tips for making it through this time of year without all your money going . First up, the ladies announce they’ll be doing a live show at San Francisco Sketchfest “next year” (A.K.A. 1/18/2020—that’s some sleepover humor for you, tee-hee!!). Grab your free tickets now at mhhpod.com/sketchfest! We’ve also got Yasmine’s ideas on how to smooth out your holiday expenses,...

Sometimes we all need to take a break, indulge, and have new experiences. That’s what vacations are all about. This week’s guest is here to talk to us about how she vacations like a grown up: without debt! Erin Ryan is a writer for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and host of the Hysteria podcast. She shares how saving up for her dream trip to the Himalayas taught her that she can have great new experiences, as long as she’s financially disciplined beforehand. Pro tip: when you go out for...

It’s hot in the Bay, and so many of us are already sweatin’ to make ends meet every month. This week’s expert guest is here to give us perspective. Rachel Schneider followed the money stories of hundreds of Americans as part of co-authoring The Financial Diaries. She breaks down why so many of us find ourselves needing to borrow money from time to time, and how hidden inequality and generational wealth privilege play their part in that. Dara, Yas and Rachel talk about the common traps...

Health care costs are a quadruple-whammy: They’re expensive, they’re confusing, they’re communicated in a way that can make you feel powerless, and they come at a time when you’re extra vulnerable—because you’re sick! This week’s guest, writer/actor/improviser Erin Whitehead, is no stranger to the wild and woolly land of out-of-network costs. Based on the tales of woe she and Dara + Yasmine share in the no-judgement zone, should our motto for medical expenses be “Abandon hope”?? “Heck, no!”...

With their great big eyes and sweet little bellies (that we want to drum on), children are designed to make us love them—and spend money on them! Mom and actor Christina Elmore (Insecure) joins us this week to share how her finances have changed since she had her (super cute–check out her Insta) little boy. Though not yet moms themselves, Dara and Yas reminisce about how expensive they were as kids, and how their parents got revenge by putting them in the hardest math classes. As always, we...

Whether well-meaning or not, bad financial advice can mess you up, and this week’s guest is having none of it! Self-styled “financial hype woman” Berna Anat (@heyberna to her scads of followers) stops by Studio Ha this week to teach us how to tell good financial tips from bad. When we’re in that vulnerable place of not-knowing, it’s tempting to swallow whatever advice we’re told just so we can “scurry back in the hole.” But with a few pointers from Berna and a whole lot of common sense, it’s...

Fresh from riffing her way straight through a 7.1-magnitude earthquake that tried to interrupt her stand-up set, our guest Atsuko Okatsuka can conquer anything—including this week’s topic, bank fees! Together we break down the types of fees you’re probably getting charged, how much they’re costing you, and how they like to multiply like bunnies—especially when those unpredictable “pending” transactions start racking up the overdrafts. We start light with talk of Barbies and race cars, but...

Money Ha Ha is about bringing money talk out of the shame drawer and onto the table, and this week we’re opening up that drawer (or bag, or box—everyone’s system is different) to discuss why we keep stuffing our unopened bills in there: financial avoidance. This week comedian Danielle Perez invites us into her L.A. home to chat about why our brains don’t like to go to the scary money place, and how we can tempt them to at least pay it a visit. Don’t avoid this episode, cause we’ve got...

Comedian/writer/actor Matt Lieb joined Dara and Yasmine to talk about all the stuff you have to shell out for when you move. Though some costs of moving are unavoidable (like that new shower curtain!), this resourceful crew turns you on to a number of money-saving measures, from light cat burglary (cheaper than a locksmith) to guilting sympathetic strangers into lugging your heavy stuff up the stairs. In an especially philosophical episode, the group ponders questions such as where the butt...

Comedy writer and podcast co-host Heather Anne Campbell (The Twilight Zone, How Did This Get Played?) joins Dara and Yas this week to talk about the privilege of growing up with money. The group shares experiences from both sides of the wealth privilege spectrum—from driving a car purchased for $1, to “failing up” by being sent to private school as punishment—and how those experiences shaped how they see themselves today. Though the stats on how your family’s wealth (or lack thereof)...

FOLLOW US ON: Instagram Twitter Facebook SUBSCRIBE TO MONEY HA HA: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Stitcher Pocket Casts Spotify Overcast RadioPublic Comedian and actor Carl Tart (Brooklyn 99, Mad TV) stopped by our LA studio to talk all about borrowing and lending money with family and friends. Luckily, he’s a pro at helping out his loved ones and living his best life, so he shares some great ideas with Dara and Yasmine for negotiating interpersonal loans and setting boundaries...

FOLLOW US ON: Instagram Twitter Facebook SUBSCRIBE TO MONEY HA HA: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Stitcher Pocket Casts Spotify Overcast RadioPublic Turn down your cathartic, bleak music and listen to our chat with writer/comedian Zeke Nicholson (AP Bio, Miracle Workers). This week’s topic is thriving on paychecks that arrive two weeks apart. We walk you through creating a budget that works for you, step-by-step, including some treats to help motivate you along the way. Did you...

FOLLOW US ON: Instagram Twitter Facebook SUBSCRIBE TO MONEY HA HA: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Stitcher Pocket Casts Spotify Overcast RadioPublic Dara + Yasmine kick off a few weeks in LA this week by talking all things gender wage gap with Yo, Is This Racist? co-host and star of Brockmire, Tawny Newsome. We’ve got a starfish callback and a check-in on Dara’s quest to get a good night's rest, plus some tasty dishing about Meryl Streep, Laura Dern and all the rest of the Big...

FOLLOW US ON: Instagram Twitter Facebook SUBSCRIBE TO MONEY HA HA: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Stitcher Pocket Casts Spotify Overcast RadioPublic Comedian Natasha Muse is in the studio to talk with Dara and Yasmine about FOMO spending—shelling out cash for cool experiences you may not be able to afford. Those experiences may involve Instagrammable trips to the Amalfi Coast, boozy brunches with friends, meetups that require a car, or even artisanal beef jerky. We also...

FOLLOW US ON: Instagram Twitter Facebook SUBSCRIBE TO MONEY HA HA: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Stitcher Pocket Casts Spotify Overcast RadioPublic Orange is the New Black actor Sipiwe Moyo is our first ever call-in guest on this very chill, very holistic, slightly serious chat about money buddies: the friends who keep us accountable for our financial goals. We break down how to choose your buddy, how to track your progress, when to celebrate your accomplishments and much...

FOLLOW US ON: Instagram Twitter Facebook SUBSCRIBE TO MONEY HA HA: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Stitcher Pocket Casts Spotify Overcast RadioPublic Summer is finally here, so we’ve got Oakland-based educator and journalist Pendarvis Harshaw in the studio to talk about student loans. Today we’re focusing on folks who have student debt even though they couldn’t complete their four year degree. If this is you, don’t worry—Money Ha Ha is always a No Judgement Zone. We know that even...

FOLLOW US ON: Instagram Twitter Facebook SUBSCRIBE TO MONEY HA HA: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Stitcher Pocket Casts Spotify Overcast RadioPublic Student loan snafus, layoffs, family illness—we could go on and on about the dozens of reasons you might experience an income shock. But we’d rather clue you in on how to handle your business when your paycheck falls short of expectations. Put on your emergency flats and get ready to throw a community resources potluck in comfortable...

FOLLOW US ON: Instagram Twitter Facebook SUBSCRIBE TO MONEY HA HA: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Stitcher Pocket Casts Spotify Overcast RadioPublic Yas and Dara delve into the secret costs of pets this week—WOOF. Inviting a furry (or scaly) friend into your life can be a wonderful thing, but it can also trigger a lot of unexpected spending to keep your animal fam healthy and happy. We’re talking emergency vet trips, pet insurance, dog walkers, groomers and more. As usual,...

FOLLOW US ON: Instagram Twitter Facebook SUBSCRIBE TO MONEY HA HA: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Stitcher Pocket Casts Spotify Overcast RadioPublic When it comes to spending smart, the most important thing is knowing the difference between things you need and things you want. Though there’s no hard-and-fast rule for what makes something a need vs. a want (it’s different for everybody), this week’s guest JM Contreras shares how you can use some tricks borrowed from cognitive...