Budget Couple Podcast

Nate and Danielle answer three listener questions ranging from student debt, to retirement, to personal budgets.

Nate discusses the ways that he earns passive income, or money that he makes while not actively working. He goes over how he started, how much he has made, and how to share you expertise to earn money.

Nate and Danielle discuss their big purchase. They review how and why they did it along with how it impacts their budget. They also discuss the balance of being frugal and enjoying life.

Nate and Danielle discuss what's been going on in their lives over the past three months and how working from home full time along with being a parent has impacted them. They explore the changes to their budget in lockdown and explain how they have approached this uneasy time.

New Episodes Returning June 12th, 2020

Nate and Danielle discuss how recent global issues and the stock market have impacted their investment strategy. They also look at how the events of late shape their future goals.

Nate and Danielle discuss Danielle's new job and how it impacts their budget along with some choices that they had to make. Two listener questions are also answered relating to borrowing from a 401K and how to budget for gas when your job pays you for driving.

Nate talks about a recent questionnaire that he gave to his students and the themes that emerged relating to money.

Nate and Danielle answer a listener question about spending decisions and how to decide if you should finance something or save for it and buy it outright.

Nate and Danielle answer a listener question about the frequency of their budgeting discussions and how to find the time with a young family.

Nate and Danielle discuss their recent changes to daycare, how that impacts the budget, and a missing $2,000 that caused many minutes of panic.

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Nate and Danielle discuss a listener question about saving or paying down debt while looking to add to the size of a family. They also look at paying down credit cards and the best ways to do it.

Nate answers a listener's question about emergency funds and how/why they are used. He also shares his thoughts on how he and Danielle are currently using credit cards.

Nate and Danielle discuss a surprisingly expensive month and how they budgeted for it.

Nate and Danielle answer two listener questions. The first deals with credit cards and how to manage them while working with cashflow. The second question looks at how to prioritize your emergency fund while still wanting to focus on paying down other debts.

We received a bad review and we wanted to address the points made by the reviewer. We welcome all criticism. We wanted to take a moment to explain our thought process and how our budget philosophy differs from the reviewers.

Nate discusses ways that he controls his impulse spending and how it can work for you.

Nate and Danielle answer a listener question about being able to save while having new expenses and planning on more expenses.

Nate and Danielle discuss their reasons for refinancing their house and what it means for the long term. They also talk about their reasons for doing so and what to look out for if you decide to do so as well.

Nate and Danielle discuss the three main ways they saved money this summer.

Nate and Danielle answer a listener question about getting their spouse to agree and stick to a budget.

Nate and Danielle talk about their second mortgage, refinancing, and their other financial wants, needs, and aspirations through the year thus far.

Nate and Danielle discuss how to setup a budget that includes unknown expenses for older pets and how to plan for 10-month income on a 12-month basis.

Nate goes solo and gives an update on the first three months of 2019. The couples current finances are discussed along with exciting news and long-term goals.

Nate and Danielle discuss their thoughts on paying down the house or contributing more towards retirement.

Nate and Danielle answer a listener question about savings and how to manage a savings account with money set aside for multiple future expenditures. The various opinions are reviewed along with suggestions on what to do with longer-term savings. Nate also makes a re-visit to cord cutting and discusses OTA and listener suggestions for getting it to work properly.

Nate and Danielle answer a listener question about debt and how they would approach paying it off. They also talk about smalls ways to save money to help pay off debt faster.

Nate and Danielle review their budget tips and tricks for planning a trip and saving money in the process.

Nate and Danielle answer a listener email question about affording college and what to look for when coming up with a college plan for your children.

We recently discovered that our contact form was not working properly. We have no idea how long it hasn't been working, so if you contacted us and we never responded, please let us know. We apologize for the mistake and we will make it right. Thanks as always for your support.

Nate and Danielle discuss their budgeting goals for the year as well as discuss their recent change of banks and the reasons for making some other recent changes to household finances.

Nate talks about his struggles with budgeting and three tips that he has to trick his brain into being better at budgeting.

Nate and Danielle discuss the recent changes that they have made to their cable and internet services along with tips for saving money on your cable bill.

Nate and Danielle answer a listener question on how to setup a budget for paying off debt as quickly as possible while having a variable income and being an impulse shopper.

Nate and Danielle reflect on recent changes they have made to their budget as answer a listener question. They talk about budgeting apps, mindset, and the need of goals when creating a budget.

Tips and tricks on how to combine incomes and lead a financially stable marriage. Nate and Danielle answer a listener question and give a crash course on budgeting advice when you are getting married.

Nate and Danielle answer a listener question about how to decide if you should save your money or pay-off debt when you want to buy a house in the near future.

Nate and Danielle look at how they can better plan and budget for yearly expenses so that their monthly budget comes out as expected every time.

We fully planned on keeping our normal posting schedule, but August was full of life and kept us from getting our episodes up. We will be back on September 7th with all new episodes for you!

Nate's sister just bought a house and was offered two different mortgage options. One has a lower interest rate with a higher closing cost and the other has a higher interest rate with a lower closing cost. Danielle and Nate walk through how they would make a decision on which mortgage to go with.

Nate and Danielle discuss their bathroom remodel along with the choices they made to fit their budget. They also discuss how they almost lost track of their spending and potentially put the project in jeopardy.

Nate talks about the ins and outs of solar panel ownership. He discusses the costs, benefits, payback periods, and things that you should look out for when considering purchasing solar panels. He explains his viewpoint as someone who has purchased, paid off, and owns solar panels.

Nate and Danielle talk about their new home equity loan and how it fits into their budget. The reasons why the loan was taken out along with a discussion on how to determine if you can afford a loan are discussed. They also look at the benefits of low-interest rates and how putting extra money on your loans can dramatically lower their payoff period.

Nate and Danielle discuss a listener question about the idea of combining 11 different student loans into one. They look at the pros and cons and offer their advice. They also take a look at the questions you should be asking yourself if you are faced with this type of situation.

Nate and Danielle discuss what they are doing with their credit cards in order to help their cards better work for them. Credit cards are treated like cash and as such, should only be used if you have money in the bank to pay for a purchase that you are making in full.

Nate and Danielle discuss the various ways to finance a home remodel and the pluses and minuses of each.

Nate and Danielle answer a listener question on how to afford a home with a pile of debt but a new income.

We answer a listener question about budgeting in college, the decision to open a credit card or not, and putting money away for retirement while in college.

Nate and Danielle discuss how to determine expenses and how to begin the process of budgeting. They look at needed, unneeded, and other expenses and give examples of how finding your expense patterns can be used to setup a long-term budget. Our Twitter: @AskBudgetCouple Our YouTube: View here

50/30/20 50% of income on essentials 30% of income on wants 20% of income on savings How this works for us: 39% of income on essentials 13% of income on wants 47% of income on savings Housing 30% of gross (before taxes) income - came from Brooke Amendment, capped rent for public housing at 25%, Reagan bumped it to 30% Many articles, sites now say it is outdated - doesn’t take into account student loans and retirement expectations of younger generations Not very flexible considering the cost of living in some places, other debt you may have, the fact that you probably don’t need to increase your house cost to maintain 30% as your income increases (we’re paying nowhere near 30%) Dave Ramsey - 25% of take-home pay, 15-year fixed rate One option is to consider what emergency fund you’re able to maintain - could it sustain you with your housing budget for 3-6 months? Car 20/4/10 rule - 20% down, 4 =year loan, 10% of gross income (include insurance) 20% of gross income on all car related expense (6% for us) Price of the car no more than 50% of gross income ($80K, when new $41k, now $20k for us) Retirement 4% rule - Find out how much you spend a year and multiply it by 25. Example $40k a year is 1 million. This is the amount that you need to have saved. If you spend 4% or under per year of that money, you will never run out of money in that time frame. Stock market grows 7% a year and inflation is 3% a year, giving you 4% to live on. Trinity study finds that 100% of people doing this have enough money for 25 years. 96% have enough for 30 years.