BiggerPockets Money Podcast

From over $300,000 in debt to a millionaire in just eight years?! No matter where you’re at, it’s never too late to get on the path to financial freedom. This entrepreneur is proof that a little discipline, frugality, and creativity can radically change your financial trajectory! Welcome back to the BiggerPockets Money podcast! Today, we’re speaking with Bernadette Joy, founder of Crush Your Money Goals. In 2016, Bernadette had dug herself a six-figure hole—a combination of student loans, credit cards, and mortgages—simply by listening to bad money advice. But in just THREE years, she paid off all of her debt and has since built a net worth of $1.8 million! How did she create such an enormous swing in less than a decade? In this episode, she’ll show you the exact steps she took so that YOU can do the same! Want to accelerate your journey to FIRE? Bernadette has all kinds of budgeting tips, debt paydown strategies, and side hustles that will help you reach your financial goals much faster. Stay tuned to learn how to wipe out your debt as quickly as possible, save for retirement, and even make an extra $100 a day alongside your nine-to-five job! In This Episode We Cover How Bernadette paid off $300,000 in debt in just THREE years Making an extra $100 a day with side hustles (while working a W2 job) The three-bucket, zero-based budget that balances frugality and freedom Using the “snowball” method to pay off student loan debt faster Whether you should keep a large cash position (or invest it!) How to manage financial anxiety on the road to financial independence And So Much More! Links from the Show Mindy on BiggerPockets Scott on BiggerPockets Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place Join BiggerPockets for FREE Email Mindy: [email protected] Email Scott: [email protected] BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group Grab Scott’s Book “Set for Life” Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area BiggerPockets Money 586 – Average Net Worth by Age (How Do You Compare?) Connect with Bernadette   (00:00) Intro (00:59) Getting Into $300K of Debt (04:52) The Zero-Based Budget (14:00) Starting Side Hustles (18:33) Making an Extra $100/Day (24:44) Bernadette’s Portfolio (37:47) Connect with Bernadette! (39:16) Crush Your Money Goals! Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-598 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Do I have enough to retire?” is a question most people in the FIRE community grapple with, but today, we’re sharing a FREE tool that will help you put this issue to bed! If you’re concerned about running out of money later in life or developing “One More Year Syndrome,” you won’t want to miss this episode! Welcome back to the BiggerPockets Money podcast! Software engineer Lauren Boland has developed a FIRE calculator that predicts whether your nest egg will be able to support you in retirement. This powerful tool takes dozens of key data points—such as your financial independence number, retirement age, annual expenses, portfolio mix, and historical returns—to simulate multiple retirement scenarios. In this episode, Lauren, Scott, and Mindy are going to walk you through this powerful tool, step-by-step! Does the four-percent rule still work in 2025? How much do you really need to save for retirement? Whether you’re just starting your quest for FIRE or looking to tweak your investment portfolio as you approach retirement, cFIREsim will show you where you stand and what you might need to adjust to meet your retirement goals! In This Episode We Cover A step-by-step walkthrough of Lauren’s FREE cFIREsim tool How much money you actually need to retire early Reverse-engineering your financial independence number Whether you can still retire on the four-percent rule in 2025 How to ensure that your money not only lasts but also grows in retirement And So Much More! Links from the Show Mindy on BiggerPockets Scott on BiggerPockets Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place Join BiggerPockets for FREE Email Mindy: [email protected] Email Scott: [email protected] BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group cFIREsim Tool Lauren’s Bluesky Social Security Administration Get to FIRE Faster with Scott’s Book “Set for Life” Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area How Much Do You Need for Early Retirement? (How to Calculate Your FI Number) Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-597 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ramit Sethi, the money and couples’ finances expert, is back! This time, he’s teaching you how to have life-changing money conversations with your partner so you can build a “rich life” together and even FIRE faster! You may know Ramit from his popular book, I Will Teach You to Be Rich, or his Netflix series How to Get Rich, but today, he’s sharing brand new insights, techniques, and lessons from his newest book, Money for Couples!  If you’re a FIRE freak like us, you may have a partner who’s having a tough time getting on the same financial page as you. You see their eyes glaze over as you pull up spreadsheets, talking about compound interest and the savings from switching to non-organic broccoli. We’re sure it’s well-intentioned, but this could be doing more harm than help. If you want to enjoy getting “rich” with your partner, have more time to do the things you love, and build your wealth as a partnership instead of constantly persuading your other half, this is the episode to catch! Ramit shares his “script” for having crucial money conversations, diagnoses which “money type” you fall into, and gives the steps to escape the “Middle-Class Trap”!  In This Episode We Cover How to start a “money conversation” with your partner (EVEN if they aren’t into FIRE) The money dates you must have to get on the same page  The four “money types” and how knowing yours can strengthen your relationship  What the FIRE movement gets wrong about money (it’s not all about dollars and cents!) Escaping the “Middle-Class Trap” of not being able to retire EVEN when you’re wealthy The most surprising thing that Ramit has learned about money in most relationships  Why Ramit rents and has NO INTEREST in buying a house!  And So Much More! Links from the Show Mindy on BiggerPockets Scott on BiggerPockets Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place Join BiggerPockets for FREE Email Mindy: [email protected] Email Scott: [email protected] BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group Grab Scott and Mindy’s Book, “First-Time Home Buyer” Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area BiggerPockets Money 243 - Ramit Sethi’s Money Advice for Couples: Live a Rich Life, Together BiggerPockets Money 73 - Ramit Sethi Will Teach You to Be Rich! BiggerPockets Money 127 - Planning for the Unexpected: Being Financially Ready to Take Advantage of Opportunities w/Ramit Sethi Money for Couples How to Get Rich  Ramit on X Hear Ramit Interview Mindy “We achieved FIRE with $4.3M. Why can’t we enjoy it?” (00:00) Intro (01:01) Ramit is Back! (03:49) The Money Conversation "Script" (09:50) What Couples Should Do (12:28) Your Money "Type" (19:06) Hard Money Talks (24:32) Do You Do This? (30:17) Escaping the "Middle Class Trap" (42:43) Most People DON'T Know This! (46:29) Renting vs. Buying a House (59:52) STOP Caring What Others Think (1:03:07) Grab Ramit's Book! Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-596 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Want to know how to make $100 a day in 2025, all while working from home? We brought the queen of side hustles, Jackie Mitchell, back on the show to share how her money-making journey has been going. Jackie set a goal to make $100 a day to save up for a down payment. She did just that, making close to $11,000 in total in her one-hundred-day side hustling stretch. Now, she’s bought a house, still side hustling, and saving a TON of money. How’s she doing it? Jackie reveals the easiest and most profitable side hustles from her $100-a-day challenge. Some side hustles made her $500 for just three hours of work, while other more casual tasks paid her anywhere from twenty to twenty-five dollars per hour while she was hanging out at home. But what has she done with that extra money? Today, Jackie shares the huge money moves she’s made to put herself in a FIRE position early on in life. She’s got a big goal: pay off her new house in her thirties! Can she do it? With these side hustles, it’s looking likely. Plus, she shares how she pays for trips, holiday gifts, and more with her easy work-from-home side hustles anyone can sign up for. In This Episode We Cover The $100-a-day work-from-home side hustles you can do entirely online  One side hustle that paid Jackie over $100 per hour and how she found it The time-consuming side hustle that is NOT worth the money  Paying off your mortgage early vs. investing and why Jackie is going against FIRE advice  Budgeting hacks Jackie and her husband use to spend just eighty dollars a week on groceries (seriously!) Why Jackie DOESN’T want to retire early (but WILL still reach financial independence!)  And So Much More! Links BiggerPockets 299 - Food Spending Eating Away at Your FI Plans? Here’s How to Eat for Cheap w/Budget Bytes BiggerPockets Money 590 w/All the Hacks’ Chris Hutchins  BiggerPockets Real Estate 955 -  Real Estate vs. Stocks, the Ultimate Wealth-Building Debate w/The Motley Fool and Chris Hutchins Jackie’s TikTok Jackie’s Newsletter r/beermoney Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-595 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices