Martinis and Your Money Podcast

This final season of my show is going fast and I only have six full months left to share with you the final topics and guests before we say our final goodbye and I have devoted the month of May to discussing travel and all things travel adjacent. I have been a financial planner now for over 14 years and in all of those years, I think every single one of my clients was always planning for some trip during the summer months and this summer is no different. Whether the trips are for weddings, family reunions, kid’s baseball games, concert events or just because, travel is always something we’re planning with our clients. Today’s episode is my first and hopefully last replay for this final season. Due to scheduling challenges and the death of a close friend of mine, Austin and I were not able to get together to record a new episode; however, most of what we shared in this episode is still true and Austin is still continuing to work with and support people looking to travel with rewards points. I just finished working with Vinnie on booking our travel to Ireland in June to celebrate Will’s high school graduation and every time we went to use our points, I kept thinking “I should have turned this over to Austin to begin with.” Earning travel rewards is key, but more so than earning them is also spending them the best way and that’s where resources like Austin can really help you get the most bang for your travel rewards points. For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode529-travel-af

If you're listening to this episode on the day it debuted, you're officially listening on my birthday, April 19th. For my final season of the show, I thought I would bring on the woman who was there from the beginning. Not only the woman who gave me life but also my hero, my mother, Jamie. She joins me to share family stories, especially how my grandparents built a church in Queens, NY, and relive some funny stories of my youth and what I was like growing up (spoiler alert, I've always been a type A overachiever). I hope you enjoy hearing more about the woman who raised me and the family that inspired my journey. For more information, visit the show notes:https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode527-shannons-mom

We are now in April, and I only have seven more months left of new episodes for Martinis and Your Money. As sad as I am to say goodbye to this podcast, I'm equally excited about the final season of episodes I'm delivering to you every Friday. Each month of this final year is broken down by subjects that are important for anyone's financial health journey, and I'm bringing to you the best guests around each of these subject matters but also sharing with you the best tips and practices I've learned in the last 15+ years. April is a short month as far as Fridays are concerned, and it's also my birthday month, so I decided to talk about a subject that I personally used to hate but now I love, and that's budgeting and frugality. Joining me today is who I consider to be my OG Queen of Frugality, and that is long-time Martinis and Your Money friend, guest, and Happy Hour Co-Host, Liz Thames, aka Mrs. Frugalwoods. Liz joins me today to talk about why we both love the frugal approach and the crazy expensive purchase she recently made, and she shares her best tips and suggestions for someone new to a frugal journey. For more information, visit the show notes:https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode526-frugalwoods

I only have seven more months left of new episodes for Martinis and Your Money. As sad as I am to say goodbye to this podcast, I’m equally excited about the final season of episodes I’m delivering to you every Friday. Each month of this finally year is broken down by subjects that are important for anyone’s financial health journey and I’m bringing to you the best guests around these subject matters but also sharing with you the best tips and practices I’ve learned around these areas in the last 15+ years. April is a short month as far as Fridays are concerned and it’s also my birthday month so I decided to talk about a subject that I personally used to hate but now I love and that’s budgeting. Joining me today is Kim Bigby, a financial trainer at Financial Gym and longtime budget lover. Kim joins me today to share her thoughts on budgeting and we both share best practices on finding budgets for clients and our secret for success here at Financial Gym. For more information, visit the show notes:https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode525-budget-dirty-word

2024 will be a big year for me personally and professionally, but unfortunately, it means the end of new content for Martinis and Your Money in October. My plan for this final season is to highlight a new financial topic each month. This month, I'm talking about relationships and money. It's estimated that money problems lead to 20-40% of divorces and from my seat as a financial planner for over the last 12 years, I can tell you that those numbers are accurate. This month, we're going to talk about the pitfalls money can have on relationships and the solutions to building a financially healthy and safe foundation for two people to navigate. Last week, I spoke with Tracy Coenen about financial infidelity, and this week, I'm talking to podcast listener and Financial Gym client Dolores about her personal experience with financial infidelity. Dolores joins me to share how she hid tens of thousands of dollars of debt from her partner and why their relationship is stronger than ever despite the infidelity. For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode522-financially-naked-dolores

2024 is going to be a big year for me personally and professionally but it unfortunately means the end of new content for Martinis and Your Money. It’s been quite the journey and I still have seven more months to go. This month I’m talking about relationships and money. It’s estimated that money problems lead to 20 - 40% of divorces and from my seat as a financial planner for over the last 12 years, I can tell you that those numbers are accurate. This month we’re going to talk about the pitfalls money can have on relationships but also the solutions to building a financially healthy and safe foundation for two people to navigate.This week I’m talking about financial infidelity and joining me to discuss this topic is Tracy Coenen, a forensic accountant and author of the book Find Me the Money. Tracy joins me to share some of the lessons she’s learned about financial infidelity after years of uncovering it as well as what people should know if they suspect it’s happening in their relationship. For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode521-financial-infidelity

2024 is going to be a big year for me personally and professionally, but it unfortunately means the end of new content for Martinis and Your Money in October, culminating in 10 years of podcasting. It's been quite the journey, and I still have seven more months to go. My plan for this final season is to be the best of the best, where each month, I highlight a new financial topic. This month, I'm talking about relationships and money. It's estimated that money problems lead to 20-40% of divorces and from my seat as a financial planner for over the last 10 years, I can tell you that those numbers are accurate. This month, we're going to talk about the pitfalls money can have on relationships but also the solutions to building a financially healthy and safe foundation for two people to navigate. Kicking off this month is the guy I'm in a relationship with, my fiancé, Vinnie. Vinnie joins me to talk about how and why he got financially naked with me and how we handle money choices as a couple. For more information, visit the show: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode520-relationships-and-money

2024 will mark the end of Martinis and your Money in October after 10 years of podcasting. The good news is that the year is just beginning, and I still have 9 months of amazing new content to share with you. Over the next 9 months, I’ll be delivering to you the best of the best. The best of what I’ve learned over the past 9 years of podcasting, the best guests, the best topics, and so much more. Each month will be a new theme and the theme of February is children. If becoming a parent is a life goal, you have to prepare for the financial challenges of having children and college planning is certainly high on that list. Joining me today is Alicia Lazarto, COO of the Financial Gym, and more importantly parent to two college-aged kids to talk about helping your children find the best college if that’s where they’re headed, why you should budget for campus tours and preparing for the eye-opening expenses of sending them away that have nothing to do with tuition, room and board. For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode518-college-planning

2024 is going to be filled with lots of excitement on my end, personally and professionally, but it will also mark the end of Martinis and your Money in October after 10 years of podcasting. The good news is that the year is just beginning, and I still have 9 months of amazing new content to share with you. Over the next 9 months, I’ll be delivering to you the best of the best. The best of what I’ve learned over the past 9 years of podcasting, the best guests, the best topics and so much more. Each month will be a new theme and the theme of February is children. People who already have children know this, but if becoming a parent is a high life goal, you have to prepare for the financial challenges of having children. Managing those challenges is hard enough if you and your partner are living together, it becomes even more challenging if you’re divorced. Joining me today is my ex-husband, Bill, to share what the co-parenting journey has looked like for him and we both talk about the ups and downs of when families transition into a new sort of family unit. For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode516-coparenting

Today is the last Friday of the month and my regular listeners know that on the last Friday of the month, I host the happy hour on the podcast where I gather great friends with me to drink cheap drinks and talk about money topics. This is the first Happy Hour of what will be the final year of Martinis and Your Money and we’re talking about all things jobs, specifically managing through toxic work environments, getting paid what you deserve and expectations your company or manager may have of you. As always, it was a great conversation with my friends that I hope you enjoy. For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode515-jobs

Each month will be a new theme and the theme of January is jobs and salaries. January is typically a time for change where companies are more likely to lay people off and employees are more open to change and making a change, so I hope you’ll find this content helpful no matter what stage you find yourself in. Listeners, this is an episode along with it’s episode notes that you are going to want to bookmark, save, share, re-listen to, etc because it’s a great one! Joining me today is Sara Belhouari, our Trainer Management Lead at Financial Gym to discuss how she’s coached clients through lay offs, job hunting, salary negotiation and everything in-between. I am sure everyone will find important takeaways from this episode. For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode514-salary-negotiation

2024 is going to be filled with lots of excitement on my end, personally and professionally, but it will also mark the end of Martinis and your Money in October after 10 years of podcasting. The good news is that the year is just beginning, and I still have 10 months of amazing new content to share with you. Over the next 10 months, I’ll be delivering to you the best of the best. The best of what I’ve learned over the past 9 years of podcasting, the best guests, the best topics and so much more. Each month will be a new theme and the theme of January is jobs and salaries. January is typically a time for change where companies are more likely to lay people off and employees are more open to change and making a change, so I hope you’ll find this content helpful no matter what stage you find yourself in. Many people think about making extra income in the new year with the possibility of maybe starting their own company. Unfortunately, for a number of people, especially women, the dreams of entrepreneurship are mired by the opportunities out there. Joining me today is Roberta Blevins, founder of Life After MLM to talk about why you should be hesitant to start one of these businesses and how you can save time, money and aggravation by learning what’s a scam and what’s not. And now here’s Roberta. For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode513-roberta-blevins

Welcome to a new year! 2024 is going to be filled with lots of excitement at the show and at The Financial Gym, January is typically a time for change where companies are more likely to lay people off and employees are more open to change and making a change, so I hope you’ll find this content helpful no matter what stage you find yourself in. Joining me today is Hannah Williams, the mastermind behind the TikTok account Salary Transparent Street to share what she’s learned after doing the crazy thing and asking random strangers on the street what they do for a living and how much they make doing it. As you can imagine, she’s filled with lots of great insights from her experience that I’m excited to share with you. For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode512-salary-transparent-street

On the last Friday of the month, I host the happy hour on the podcast where I gather great friends with me to drink cheap drinks and talk about money topics. This is a very special Happy Hour, as we’re not only talking about our thoughts around Financial Independence but it’s also the year end happy hour, so we’ll be sharing our highs and lows of the year and we’ll set our goals for next year. I also have a very special surprise for you listeners in this show and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode511-hh-financial-independence

I have a special bonus episode for you this month. As you know, this will be my final December of new episodes for Martinis and Your Money, and I’ve spent this month highlighting my favorite financial goal for clients and that’s Financial Independence, butno matter what your financial goal is, the end of the year is the perfect time to identify goals and plan for the coming year which is why I’m excited to share this bonus episode with you. Joining me today is Kelly Lannan, Senior Vice President of Emerging Customers at Fidelity to talk about Fidelity’s 15th Annual Resolutions Study. She joins me to share the surprising finding of the study and also best practices for setting yourself up to achieve some of those resolutions you may make this year. This is the perfect episode to listen to and hopefully inspire you to set those New Year’s resolutions or goals in this last week of the year. I apologize in advance for my voice now and on the episode as I’m currently fighting a seasonal bug that’s going around. Despite my cold, this is a great episode with so many helpful takeaways. For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode510-Fidelity