February 28, 2021 • 52 mins
Alyssa Davies joins the show to talk about how couples can talk about money. Our wide ranging conversation covers the "breadwinner mentality" and how that can cause problems in the dynamics of a relationship, how and when to start talking seriously about money with a significant other, and much more.
Alyssa is one of the most popular personal finance personalities in Canada. She is the creator behind the Mixed Up Money community which has a huge Instagram following on top of a blog, YouTube channel, and TikTok account. She is a content specialist for Zolo and a published author living in Calgary, Alberta. Two-time award-winning Canadian Personal Finance Blog of the Year Mixed Up Money has over 30,000 followers across social media. Her first book, The 100 Day Financial Goal Journal, was published in 2020.
Links:
100-Day Financial Goal Journal: https://mixedupmoney.com/book
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mixedupmoney/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MixedUpMoney
Website: https://mixedupmoney.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mixedupmoney
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnqAoFeB_QAklk2yAMyVx0w
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Alyssa Davies (00:00):
So they brought me up on stage. They're like,
(00:02):
this is Alyssa she won the 5050everyone's cheering Alyssa, what
are you gonna do with the money?
And I'm like, I'm gonna put itin my RSP.
The entire crowd booed me offthe stage.
(00:32):
Hi, this is Alyssa Davies frommixed up money and you're
listening to mostly money withPreet Banerjee.
Preet Banerjee (00:43):
This is mostly money and I'm your host Preet
Banerjee, and on the show todayI'll be speaking with one of the
most popular personal financepersonalities in Canada, the
star behind the mixed up moneycommunity we're gonna talk
about, among other things, howto effectively communicate with
a partner about money.
(01:10):
Alyssa Davies is a contentspecialist for zolo and a
published author living inCalgary, Alberta. She's the
founder of the two time awardwinning Canadian personal
finance blog of the year, mixedup money that has over 30,000
followers across social media.
Through her work. She's beenfeatured in many notable
publications including the Globeand Mail, flare, global news and
(01:32):
many more. Her first book, The100 day financial goal journal
was published in 2020. I am aproud owner of a copy. Alyssa
has been a freelance writer forsix years and enjoys writing
about personal finance,homeownership, and more. When
she's not writing, you can findher enjoying some downtime with
(01:54):
her daughter playing soccer ordaydreaming about home decor.
Alyssa, welcome to the show.
Alyssa Davies (02:01):
Thanks for having me. That intro. I'm blushing
over here.
Preet Banerjee (02:05):
Don't worry, we don't record video, just audio.
Thank God. Okay. So there are anumber of things I want to talk
about today with you. But thefirst thing I want to talk about
is you in the bio it says hereto time award winning Canadian
personal finance blog of theyear. I you know, have seen your
content over the years, but Ihaven't actually gone to the
(02:25):
website and look at the websiteas a whole it is I think maybe
the most beautiful blog inCanada like it is really well
done. Did you do that allyourself?
Alyssa Davies (02:35):
Yeah, I did.
Actually, I spent like a fullmonth just locked up in my room
playing around and it wasactually really fun.
Preet Banerjee (02:43):
Yeah, no, it's amazing. And if I'm not
mistaken, you also do all theart yourself. Like all the
photos that the pictures of thedrawing of different people, you
do that as well. So do you havelike some like artistic
background or something? Or isthis just a skill that you
developed?
Alyssa Davies (03:00):
This is a quarantine skill. I had never
touched a pen or pencil otherthan my daughter's crayons. And
then and then I picked up myiPad,
Preet Banerjee (03:10):
that young that you've never actually touched a
pen or pencil and grew up in thedigital world. Are you trying to
make me feel like an old geezer?
Alyssa Davies (03:17):
Well, yeah, that was the goal. But I meant to
draw with.
Preet Banerjee (03:22):
Okay, okay, so you have you have touch pens and
pencils? Yeah,
Alyssa Davies (03:25):
I did use an h2 pencil for all of my multiple
choice exams.
Preet Banerjee (03:30):
Well, it's great. And you know, of course,
I'm gonna put in the shownotes,the website, people can go visit
it. But some of the content thatyou've been putting out lately,
I know you have a course thattalks about this as well is
about communication with apartner, and for couples, and I
think this is something that issuper, super important. So So
(03:50):
let's talk about thatcommunication within a couple
specifically about money. But wecan talk about some other topics
as well. I want to ask you,because I see your Instagram
followers super engage yourcommunity? What are some of the
questions that people find areuncomfortable to ask to a
partner?
Alyssa Davies (04:10):
That's a good one. Um, definitely the most
common questions that I get fromreaders is asking someone how
much they make without comingacross a little bit too
aggressive, especially if you'reearly on in your relationship.
And then another one is, do youhave any debt? But further than
that, how much how much debt doyou have? If they If the answer
(04:31):
is yes. And then how to splitthe bills. Most of my following
is female and a lot of them arehigher earners in their
relationship. And they don'tknow how to ask, what is
reasonable with 5050. Like howcan we make it more equal?
Preet Banerjee (04:47):
I know that, you know, when I was early in my
career, not making a lot ofmoney, still having a lot of
debt. This was something thatwould cause anxiety, you know,
like before you would go out youwould like log in to see how
much Money is on this, thischecking account that I'm hoping
to pay with. And, and you know,when you're when you're going
out, maybe you want to impresssomeone, sometimes you go to a
(05:09):
fancy place and cost a lot ofmoney. And for me, you know, it
was always I just assumed that Iwas gonna pay, you know, sort of
the full amount. That's becauseit's just kind of the way I was
raised, the world that I grew upin is a little bit different, I
think back then. But now I thinkit's much more likely that
people will talk about this, butthere's still some anxiety about
it. So what do you what do yousay to people, in terms of what
(05:33):
what how do you overcome thesehurdles? So we know what some of
these hurdles are. But how doyou actually overcome those
hurdles?
Alyssa Davies (05:41):
Yeah, it's it's not a comfortable conversation,
no matter how long you've knownsomeone, like if you just meet
someone, it actually might be alittle easier. like it'd be
easier to walk up to a strangerand ask a really uncomfortable
question, because
Preet Banerjee (05:52):
what's your FICO score? Yeah, right. What's your
zodiac sign? And what's yourFICO score?
Alyssa Davies (05:59):
Those are really important questions. If you're
gonna date them, well,
Preet Banerjee (06:01):
one of them is not the sign I listen. Are you
into signs? Are you one of thosepeople?
Alyssa Davies (06:05):
I'm one of those people?
Preet Banerjee (06:07):
What's your sign?
Alyssa Davies (06:08):
I'm a cancer.
Preet Banerjee (06:09):
Yes, he totally.
That's why No, I'm kidding. Ihave no idea what cancer is
like, I'm a Libra. What doesthat tell you about me?
Alyssa Davies (06:14):
actually don't know much about Libras. I think
you guys are pretty chill. Easyto talk to?
Preet Banerjee (06:22):
podcast.
Alyssa Davies (06:24):
I've had no issues with any Libras. So
you're good. And
Preet Banerjee (06:28):
we're very milk toast. Boring, mild. Okay.
Anyway, so. So you were sayingsorry to cut you off. So you're
saying that there's some somequestions that are somewhat
uncomfortable to ask. Butsometimes it can be easier when
you don't know someone? Why isthat?
Alyssa Davies (06:45):
I think it's just, it's almost like if you
have an issue that you want tobring forward to a best friend,
you're almost embarrassedbecause you know, they're
actually going to hold youaccountable to it, they're going
to be concerned for you. Whereasif it's a stranger, they're
like, Okay, cool. You have debt,like, that doesn't impact me.
And I don't, I'm never gonna seeyou again. So it's easier
because you know, you can justbrush it off and get it off your
(07:06):
chest, whereas with your friendsor family or a loved one, it's
more like, Okay, well, now Itold them, so now I need to do
something about it.
Preet Banerjee (07:13):
You know that that's really interesting,
because one of the things thatI've noticed that people have
been in serious relationships,you know, sometimes they don't
always work out. And when theystart sort of re entering the
dating pool, they triangulatefaster, right? So they sort of
say, Well, I know there's awhole bunch of things that I
don't want in a partner. So I'mjust gonna like, make sure that
I weed out those those thingsearly on as fast as possible.
(07:36):
Because as time goes on, timeruns out, right, you have
different sort of like goals foryour family, and whether or not
you want to have kids if youwant to. And so weeding out what
you don't want becomes, I think,easier for people who are older,
because they know they reallyknow what they don't like. But
when you're younger, it can betough. So give me an example of
(07:57):
when would be a good time tostart bringing up these things.
I know, it's easy to joke about,you know, on a first date, you
know, you can maybe talk aboutthe stresses in life, like
student debt or whatever. Butwhen do you really have that
first conversation about moneywhen when things are maybe
getting serious?
Alyssa Davies (08:15):
Yeah, well, I think hopefully, I like to
encourage people to have theconversation before they hit any
traditional milestones. Likebefore you move in with someone
before you get married beforeyou have a kid. you kind of need
to talk about money.
Unfortunately, it doesn'thappen. For a lot of people,
it's actually really common formarried people to be together
and still not talk about moneyregularly. Like it's shocking
how often that happens. But youneed to have those conversations
(08:38):
when you're about to enter intosomething that is going to
revolve around money. Likealmost every part of our life
includes something that has todo with money. But if you're
living with someone, your moneybecomes one in a sense, because
you're going to buy groceriestogether, you're going to be
paying rent together, you'regoing to be paying your
utilities together. So it's alot of things that suddenly
you're gonna have to face as ateam. Whereas you're probably
(08:59):
used to just like being livingwith roommates or living on your
own. And it's easy to splitbills with those people because
there's no extra tension.
There's no extra chemistry, it'sjust, it's easy. They're your
friends, they're or they're astranger.
Preet Banerjee (09:13):
And when it comes to the dating scene, is
this something now that peoplescreen for on their profiles,
like I joked about people areactually looking for debt loads
in and credit scores before theydecide to have that first date?
Is that is that something thatactually happens?
Alyssa Davies (09:29):
I don't think so.
I know a lot of my friends. Theynever really talked about money
with anyone even still likeuntil they're actually in the
relationship with someone. It'smore like, once you know you you
see a future with someone, thenI think you'd start considering
it a little bit more. There aresome people that are that front,
of course, like you're nevergonna not find one person like
that. Right? But I don't thinkit's the common or standard kind
(09:51):
of relationship that you'llyou'll enter. Well, that's good.
That's good. They're
Preet Banerjee (09:58):
not jaded, yet.
You Same time, and maybe it'sjust a function of everyone is
screwed financially, you know,in this generation that is
graduating from school withcrushing student debt loads,
high house prices, so I guessmaybe you can co commiserate on,
you know, just the the trials ofthis generation because man, you
know, people graduating in thelast 10 years, I really feel
like they've just given a joke.
Alyssa Davies (10:21):
That's the joke now, like people are like, I
just need someone to partnerwith so I can buy a house. Is
anybody out there looking for apartner?
Preet Banerjee (10:30):
Well, you know, the flip side of that is, there
are many people who stayedtogether, way longer than they
would like to because offinancial reasons as well. So I
I'm interested in learningabout, as I mentioned, before,
you have such great engagementwith your community, I see you
ask, you know, like pollquestions on Instagram, and
(10:51):
you're flooded with like,hundreds of responses. What are
the common questions that peoplecome to you with? Like, when
they come to the mixed up moneycommunity? What are some of the
common trials and tribulationsthat they approached you with?
Alyssa Davies (11:06):
Just generally, everyone's interested in
investing. Everyone's interestedin, you know, that kind of
finding that balance in yourrelationship and talking with
your partner. So that it's notawkward, just kind of kicking
that awkwardness to the sideand, and making it more of a
common common conversation inyour relationship. Definitely
(11:26):
how to repay debt like thefastest way they can do that,
because that is just such aburden for people. And that is a
big thing that I've dealt within my past. So I think it's easy
to talk to someone if you knowthat they've already experienced
that. But those are definitelythe top three,
Preet Banerjee (11:40):
for sure. And you have like a bunch of
downloadable worksheets, youhave a course you've got a book.
And your course is gearedtowards couples who want to take
their financial communication orcommunication in general, I
guess, to the next level. So Sowhat is the what is like the
(12:01):
pedagogy of the course? Likewhat what do you go through?
What can someone who's lookingto sign up for this course
expect out of it?
Alyssa Davies (12:08):
Yeah, I think the first thing that, that I really
drive home in the course, isactually sitting down with
someone, but in a comfortableway, like make it a date night,
make it fun, make your favoritemeal, open a bottle of wine,
like it shouldn't be
Preet Banerjee (12:20):
those parts.
Also fun, right? Money talkdoesn't sound as much fun.
Alyssa Davies (12:24):
But if you set the scene for it being a fun, a
fun night, then it might not beso bad. But the first thing I
really think people need to talkabout when they first jump into
their money conversation isactually their personal history
with money, rather than likewhat's your income and and what
are your expenses first. Justbecause we don't really realize
how much our upbringingdrastically impacts how we use
(12:47):
and view our money as adults.
And that I think really doesseep into a relationship. So
it's good to talk about that.
It's good to talk about whatstresses each other out about
money. So that you know whatconversations might be more
difficult before you get intothem. And then, like, lighten
the mood a little bit with somemore simple questions that
aren't directly about money. Youknow, where do you want to buy a
(13:08):
house one day, if you want to?
Do you want to live in thesuburbs or inner city? Those
questions will actually help youget to know someone and their
financial goals more than youthink. Like my personal
favorite, and one that myhusband and I just did a couple
months ago was how does futureyou dress 10 years from now. And
I thought it was so interesting,because I was like, Yeah, I want
to be in blazers, I'm just gonnastart building my collection of
(13:32):
blazers. Which it worked outwith whatever he said, But
imagine if he was like, I'mlooking to really dial down my
swimwear collection and beliving on a beach. Right now,
you'd be like, Okay, well, maybewe're on a different page. But I
think that's more like, look forthose fun questions that would
tell you something about theirfinancial goals, rather than
(13:52):
directly saying, what do youwant to do with your money over
the next 10 years? Becausethat's a tough question to
answer.
Preet Banerjee (13:59):
That's very interesting. And I want to ask
you about retirement planning,because you said, you know, a
lot of people come to communitywith questions about investing.
Are they interested in investingso that, you know, they can
provide for a certain type ofretirement lifestyle? Or is
their goals shorter term in innature? And the reason I asked
(14:20):
about that is retirement is sucha it's such an interesting
concept for so many people,there's no I don't think there's
any one definition of what it'sgoing to be you you stop working
at 65. And all of a sudden, youjust sort of, you know, you
know, live on a beach or youtravel the world or whatever.
But it's so far away that Idon't feel that people are
really in tune with that futureself. So when people come to you
(14:44):
and they're thinking aboutinvesting, what are their
investing goals that they cometo you with? Like how far in the
future are they looking?
Alyssa Davies (14:51):
To be honest, most most people haven't even
started investing yet. Which is,is just crazy because you don't
actually get that informationright away. So I'm one of those
people that was late to startinvesting later than I'd like
anyways, like, I didn't startinvesting until I was 25. It's
pretty good. Yeah, it's it'sgood, but like it could be
(15:11):
better. Sure.
Preet Banerjee (15:13):
I mean, yeah, I mean, someone born today like
your, your daughter needs tosave for a down payment, like
yesterday. Yeah, exactly.
Alyssa Davies (15:21):
So I don't know, I think it's just, they aren't
thinking about that. They aren'tthinking about what am I going
to do in retirement? They'rethinking about, Okay, I need to
start planning for retirement.
So how can I just get started?
And then once they're actuallyin it a little bit more than
it's more about? Okay, am I am Isaving enough? How much do I
actually need? And those arequestions that are so hard to
(15:42):
answer, because like you said,it's what are your goals in the
future? Like, I don't know, alot of people, a lot of people
these days are really interestedin seeking financial
independence. They don't want towait until 65. Right? So they're
a little bit more eager toinvest more of their money early
on, which I think is a goodthing.
Preet Banerjee (16:01):
Yeah, absolutely. You know, having
some kind of goal, even if it issort of like a diffuse, not well
defined goal. But if it's, youknow, having financial
independence, whatever thatmeans to people, is better than
just sort of not having anygoals and not saving for the
future. Now, when it comes tocouples, certainly we've seen
(16:22):
trends where, you know, peoplethey meet, they get serious with
one another, maybe they move intogether sooner than previous
generations would have for avariety of different reasons.
One of those reasons beingfinancial, because the cost of
living is just so high. And ifyou have two people sharing one
place, you know, that can reducea little bit of stress. But at
(16:44):
the same time, that means thatmore people are getting into,
you know, these more firmcommitments, and they may not
necessarily end up having alifetime with these people. And
they might break up and go theirseparate ways. Do you find that
people are asking about propertydivision or income support
requirements that they may be onthe hook for in case things go
(17:06):
south? Or is that something thatpeople don't tend to think
about?
Alyssa Davies (17:11):
I don't know if people think about that. I don't
actually think people reallyrealize what their requirements
would be if you do move into asomeone like I don't know if
they realize that common law isonly a year in some provinces.
So it's, it's a good question. Ireally wish that more people did
consider that I have friendsthat are going through divorces.
Now we're at that age where itjust unfortunately happens. And
(17:35):
they are dealing with that rightnow. It's like the smallest
things seem like the biggestdeals, like who's getting the
air miles, you know, thoseconversations that you probably
should have before you enteryour marriage or a serious
relationship. But that's reallyawkward to have those
conversations with someone. So Ithink that just educating
yourself on that stuff beforeyou actually actually get into
(17:57):
the marriage is important. Butit's so hard for people to find
that information. Like it's nota you're not gonna pop on a
reality TV show, and they'regonna be talking about prenups.
So
Preet Banerjee (18:07):
on my reality show we did just for the record,
however, nobody watched it.
Maybe that's why. Okay, so oneof the posts that was on your
site Recently, there was a listof five big financial mistakes
you can make if you don't talkabout money in a relationship.
And one of those points talkedabout the breadwinner mentality,
(18:28):
and then linked to anotherpoint, which kind of delve more
deeply into this breadwinner,quote unquote, mentality. Can
you explain what that mentalityis? And why that can be a trap
for couples?
Alyssa Davies (18:41):
Yes, this one is one of my favorite things to
talk about. I love just tellingpeople this information because
maybe they don't really realizethat it's, it's kind of
problematic term. Like it'shistorically used to describe a
higher earner in a relationshipor a sole income provider. But
the reason that I don't thinkit's the best way to describe
(19:02):
someone in a relationship isbecause it just comes with so
many assumptions. Like, you'dautomatically assume that that
person is in control offinancial decisions because they
earn more money, you'd assumethat maybe their only job in the
relationship is to pry providefor their family financially.
And you'd almost always assumethat if it's a hetero
relationship, that the male isthe higher earner. I'll go back
(19:24):
to that initial point that Imade, how I get a lot of women
that are contacting me askinghow they can actually make the
relationship more equal, becausethey're the higher earner, but
they're uncomfortable actuallyhaving that conversation. When I
first rolled out my course, Igave it to a lot of my friends
that were in relationships. AndI just wanted to see what would
be the more difficult parts ofthe conversation so that I knew
(19:47):
kind of how to, I guess, managethose tougher parts. And yeah,
that was always a trigger pointwas talking about how much they
made if the woman was actuallythe higher earner in there.
relationship. It's like you saidto about the traditional way
that we were raised, I know thatmy dad was the provider. So
(20:07):
that's just how I kind of grewup as a seeing that as what it
was supposed to be and how ithow it typically goes. And so it
makes men feel like they need tobe the higher earner in their
family. But I've read so manystudies now that, you know, the
life satisfaction of a partnerwho's a man that is earning
less, it doesn't actually impactimpact them at all. They live
(20:30):
the same life, they're stillhappy, obviously, they're still
doing well financially. So it's,it's a different kind of
perspective and conversationthat we don't really have. But I
think it's super important.
Preet Banerjee (20:42):
Yeah, it, I know that it is, there is this stigma
surrounding it. And, you know,not everyone is on the same page
with, you know, socialprogressiveness and whatnot. My
partner and I, we've talkedabout, you know, our future,
and, you know, she is now sortof on the job market, and she's
(21:02):
in a field where she could endup working, you know, either in
Canada, maybe back in Europe.
And we've agreed that her careeris now the more important focus
for us as a couple goingforward. Because the decisions
she makes is gonna have such abig impact on her career, and us
as as a unit. And so the goal isthat, you know, I'm later in my
career, so I'm going to be thestay at home dad, and I'm
(21:25):
nervous about it. But at thesame time, I'm kind of looking
forward to it as well. But Ifeel like, you know, when you
talk about that, to some people,they're like, Oh, that's so
forward thinking of you, orwhatever I'm like, Is it really?
Or is it just like, that's theway it should be? So I feel
like, you know, some people arekind of coming around to this,
and we're breaking down thosethings. But there still is
(21:46):
there, this tension that canarise with couples. And I know,
there's a lot of guys out therewho would feel that tension and
sort of like, I don't know whatit is maybe embarrassment, or
something like that, because ofthese old tropes that have been
around for hundreds 1000s ofyears, that are just finally
getting sort of dismantled. Sowhen you do have a big income
(22:08):
differential in a relationship,how do you recommend to people
as to how they should thinkabout money in that, in that in
that household? Is it a matterof, you know, whoever, let's say
someone earns, you know, threeto one, like the ratio is three
to one? Do they feel like theyhave like three times the weight
(22:29):
in the decision making? And? Andif so, what do you say that they
should be doing instead?
Alyssa Davies (22:37):
Yeah, I think I always, always think that, if
you can do your best to makethings equal, it just makes
makes everyone feel like they dohave a say in what happens with
the money and how and how youplan for your kind of expenses.
So you can make anything 5050,you just have to do the math.
Like it's, it might actually be7030 like, but essentially, it
(22:59):
evens out your income togetherso that you're working as a
team. I think you just have tosit down and have that
conversation so that you canactually share the burden,
because it is a burden ofchoosing how you spend your
money. It's not an easy thing todo. So why would we put that
pressure on one person? And whatis an even split to you? Because
your lifestyle might be 5050without one person sacrificing
(23:24):
more of their income? I guess,
Preet Banerjee (23:26):
let me give you a hypothetical situation. So
let's say that you've gotsomeone they're earning
significantly more than theirpartner, and that partner has
significantly more student debt.
What What do you counsel topeople like do they do people
come in and say, Well, my, mystudent debt is my problem. And
I'm going to pay for that out ofmy income. Or you say, Well,
listen, you should use this, youshould look at it in the context
(23:48):
of listening, you're together.
And if you decide you're gonnabe together forever, your debts
are now you know, communal. Whatdo you recommend? And what do
you find, like in conversationswith people ask these questions?
What are the hurdles that theyface?
Alyssa Davies (24:03):
Yeah, it's a tough question. Because a lot of
people don't want to feel like aburden on their partner, if they
come into the relationship withdebt. But at the same time,
you're only going to get furtheras a team. If you work together
in those things. It's like it'sthe same as being on a sports
team, like you're not one persondoesn't carry the weight for
everyone. You all kind of haveto pull your pull your own
(24:23):
parts. And I think that debt isone of those things where Yeah,
you do, you do need to work as ateam. Like when I was paying off
my student loans, my husband waspaying a little bit more in our
bills. He was earning a littlebit more, so it made sense
anyways, but the fact that hewas willing to take on that
extra little bit of money was abig deal because it gave me an
(24:44):
opportunity to pay off my debtin under a year, which I never
would have been able to do. HadI been single, or had I had a
partner that wasn't willing toput that extra burden on their
own back.
Preet Banerjee (24:55):
This won't make it into the podcast. I'm just
gonna say I almost busted outlaughing when you said poorly.
Your own parts I know you madepull your own weight. Yeah. I
don't know what happens to theselocker rooms that you hang out
when Alyssa. You know, maybethat maybe I will put that in
(25:18):
the podcast. That's hilarious.
I'm fine with it. Okay, cooldone. It's in the podcast.
Conversation with Alyssa Daviesfrom mixed up money continues in
just a minute. But I just wantedto let you know that taking just
30 seconds out of your day andleaving a rating and or a review
on Apple podcasts helps withgetting high quality guests like
(25:40):
Alyssa want to give a shout outto a reviewer who filled in
their name as quote why frugalis so important, unquote. They
really liked the episode on theins and outs of bankruptcy with
Scott terrio. And if you want tocheck that out, it is episode
number 61. Quite a wide rangingconversation. They also
(26:01):
mentioned that they would liketo conversely, hear from someone
in the big spending industrieslike car sales and mortgages,
well ask and you shall receive.
I actually have an upcomingepisode with Chris faff, who's
the CEO of faff automotivepartners, who was also kind
enough to let me test drive aMcLaren gt for an afternoon.
(26:24):
That actually happened beforeCOVID-19. But I am still smiling
from that. Thank you to everyonewho has already left ratings and
reviews. I do appreciate it. Andnow back to the conversation
with Alyssa Davies from mixedup.
(26:47):
Let's talk about your story. AsI mentioned in the bio, you do a
lot of things. You work for acompany called xolo. You do some
freelance writing, you've gotyour own community as well. How
did you fall into this space?
Like What Did you What did youstudy in school? And what was
your journey that led you tostarting this community in the
first please like that startingthat first blog?
Alyssa Davies (27:08):
This is surprisingly the hardest
question I ever get askedbecause when someone asks me
what I do for a living, I neverknow what to say.
Preet Banerjee (27:15):
Oh, I know. I know that feeling. You're just
singing to the choir. Right?
Alyssa Davies (27:18):
Yeah. So yeah, I guess I started I went to school
for journalism. So I have adegree in communications, a
diploma in journalism. And Istill do that full time. That's
what I do is write and edit andall that good stuff. But I
actually fell into this in theweirdest way. I, I ended up
landing a job in a not forprofit organization that did
debt consolidation. I got intothe marketing department. So I
(27:42):
was going to be doing a lot ofthe stuff I studied in school
there. But a part of thetraining was sitting in and
getting to know what the companydid. So I sat in on an
appointment with one of theirclients. And she was describing
her financial situation, herdebt that she had. And I was
just sitting there and I'm like,starting to sweat because I'm
like, Oh my gosh, this soundsreally familiar. Like, this is
(28:02):
my life. This is just, and I'mlistening to the counselor and
she's like, Listen, you're notin a good spot. So that night, I
went home and I was like, Ireally, I really need to do
something about this, or I'mgonna have to be a client at my
own work. Like I can't be havingthat happen. So I sat down and I
did what any millennial did, andI just started Googling, you
(28:22):
know, what do I do? How do I payoff my debt, and actually found
Bridget Casey blog Money AfterGraduation. That's the first
personal finance resource I everfound. And I realized she was
living in the same city as me,we had so much in common. And I
was like, wait a minute, I coulddo this. Why couldn't I do this?
This seems like a great way tohold myself accountable. Get
(28:43):
more knowledge in this in thisworld, because I had no idea
that it even existed, like Ididn't know people actually
thought personal finance wasfun. So because I was the
complete opposite person of ourdemographic, so yeah, so I just
started a really generalWordPress blog for free. And I
just started like an open diarywas as I was repaying my debt,
(29:04):
and I, like went cold turkey andjust stopped shopping for an
entire year. So I could repay mydebt. And then I just I haven't
stopped since. Okay, so
Preet Banerjee (29:13):
I know that there. There are a number of
people who kind of started theirblog as a kind of like an
accountability sort of measureto say, you know, here are my
goals. I'm going to pay off mydebt come along on my journey,
and maybe you can learnsomething too. And, you know,
with my own blog, I learned somuch for my readers. Sometimes I
feel like you know, I was thestudent, not the teacher, like
(29:34):
for I still feel like thatsometimes. And it is a real,
there is a real community outthere of people who are going
through a lot of the samethings. And at the same time,
yours became one of the morepopular communities. So how long
did it take you to pay off yourdebt, and once you paid off your
(29:57):
debt, what happened with theblock is it it would have
transformed I imagine fromfollow along on this journey
with me Together, we can learnsome things, pay off our debts.
And then once you did that, whatdid you do next?
Alyssa Davies (30:08):
Yeah, it took me only 10 months to pay off my
debt I had thanks around $15,000of consumer debt.
Preet Banerjee (30:15):
Wow, amazing.
pay that off in 10 months.
That's pretty awesome. Yeah, I
Alyssa Davies (30:17):
lived a really frugal and boring life for a
year, but it was only a year. Soit was definitely worth it.
Yeah. And yeah, it just kind oftransitioned into. I wouldn't
say it was like, here's all thisamazing advice. It was more just
like I'm learning. Like, whydon't you come learn with me?
And I'm still making mistakes,and I will never stop making
financial mistakes. Like that isprobably one thing. I'm the
(30:38):
worst personal finance bloggerbecause I just love to spend
money. And I'm, I'm stillworking on controlling those.
Preet Banerjee (30:44):
Hold on, hold on. What's the biggest financial
mistake you've made in the lastyear?
Alyssa Davies (30:49):
Oh, my gosh, buying a house.
Preet Banerjee (30:52):
Really? You feel that was a mistake? No, no,
Alyssa Davies (30:54):
it's one of the best decisions I make. But I
know.
Preet Banerjee (30:58):
Wait a second.
Probably.
Alyssa Davies (31:03):
No, it wasn't a mistake. It was just like, a
huge decision. And I know thatif I didn't have a kid, I
probably never would have boughta house. So it was more a
personal decision rather than afinancial decisions. Right.
Okay.
Preet Banerjee (31:15):
Okay. Okay, so I got you off track there. So you
paid off the debt? And then whathappened to the blog, like say,
Okay, well, now what do I writeabout? Because now I've, I've
tackled like that one big thing.
Oh, and by the way, thatorganization, that's where we
first met, right? Yes, it is. Igave a talk. I remember, I flew
to I guess it would have beenCalgary. Yeah. And gave a talk.
(31:36):
And I remember meeting youthere. And yeah, so in any case,
so you pay off the debt. Andthen what did you do? You're
like, Alright, what do I talkabout? No,
Alyssa Davies (31:47):
yeah, I just, I just kept talking about
everything I was doing withmoney. It was literally just an
online diary. Like it stayedlike that. Now it's gotten a
little bit more like, Okay, Iknow a little bit more, and I
have a little bit moreinformation. So when people do
reach out and ask questions,it's more geared towards what
they want to learn. And Ilearned with them, because I
wouldn't call myself like afinancial expert by any means.
(32:08):
I'm just a writer who is really,really passionate about money.
And that wants to learn withpeople. And like you said to
with the readers, it's so crazy,because my Instagram has grown
so much over the past year, Ihave a lot of really cool
relationships with people thatI've never met in person, which
is one of the best parts aboutpersonal finances, you meet all
these awesome people from allover the world. But my husband
(32:30):
was like, What is like, you getso many messages, and they're so
long, like they're just like,full? It's like, you're getting
a message from an angry axe,right? Like, they're just so
long. But he's like, what arethese about? And and I'm like,
actually, like, most of thetime, it's just people wanting
to talk about their money wins,or their money failures. And
he's like, well, don't they haveother people to talk about that
(32:50):
with him? Like, honestly, no,like, no one has anyone to talk
about with money, because no onewants to talk about money. Like,
that's not a common thing. You'dgo to your friends and be like,
guess what, I, I just put $1,000towards my debt this month, like
is a huge accomplishment for me,your friends are gonna be like,
Okay, do you want to go fordrinks tonight? Right? So it's
like, it's just they have findthat they have someone they can
(33:11):
relate to in a different way.
And they won't feel anyjudgment, right? Because that's
no matter what you're doing orwho you're talking with? You can
always feel like that littlesense of, do they really want to
hear about this?
Preet Banerjee (33:22):
Yeah, it is tough to find people who are in
the same who have the samedesire to learn about these
things. Like when it comes toyour personal friend group? Do
they like say, Oh, that's,that's Alyssa. She's the money
blogger, but and they're like,let's go on the towel. It's
like, Let's drink. Let's spendmoney. Like, do you find that
your friends are not yourreaders?
Alyssa Davies (33:42):
Oh my gosh, yeah.
100%. I have one friend now whoshe loves talking about it.
Seriously, though, most of mygirlfriends are all nurses. So
they're just happy in theirways. They make a great salary,
they get their whole pension. Soit's not top of mind for them,
even though it should be like Itry try try. But it's just not
their thing. And I'm not gonnaforce it. I have a great
(34:05):
community already. So I don'tfeel like it's necessary to kind
of convert our friendship intointo that financial zone. But
yeah, do
Preet Banerjee (34:13):
they know that you're an online celebrity?
Alyssa Davies (34:16):
Never ever call me a celebrity? Okay, do
Preet Banerjee (34:19):
they know that you're an online entity?
Alyssa Davies (34:23):
Yeah, they all follow me. Whether they actually
watch or look at my content isanother story.
Preet Banerjee (34:30):
But they do pretend. What are I'm gonna put
you on the spot. Now? I don'tknow if they'll listen. But your
friends, what are the biggestmistakes that you see your
friends make?
Alyssa Davies (34:40):
Oh, man, probably that they don't diversify their
investments enough because theyhave that pension. It's like,
I'm good. And I'm like, Well,what if something happens? And a
lot of them are just socomfortable. But I think the
interesting part is one of myone friend that's willing to
talk about it with me. It's westarted at non for profits, or
(35:01):
we started making like a reallylow income when we were right
out of college. And our friendsthat are nurses just jumped into
this amazing salaried position.
And they're slowly growing. Butmy friend and I are able to grow
more, because we just have moreroom for growth, nurses don't
have the same amount of room forgrowth as we do. And, and that's
something that's interesting nowis because they're kind of
(35:23):
hitting their peak, and it's,and we're just starting to grow.
And so there's differences therethat we never would have really
talked about, and that and makeit a little bit more difficult.
Like we tried to plan a grouptrip to Mexico, and oh, my gosh,
so hard.
Preet Banerjee (35:40):
Well, you know, this is I think this is a very
interesting topic. Because, forme, planning a getaway for
someone is generally where I sayif you haven't, if you're dating
someone, and you haven't had thetalk, like you haven't gotten
financially naked, yet, one ofthe great sort of times where
(36:00):
you can start to talk about andtry and get into their head in
terms of how they think aboutmoney, and what they think about
money is a vacation, you know,and are they the type of person
that just gonna put everythingon a credit card? And they'll
figure it out after the fact?
Did you do any type of planning?
Is there in your mind like aparticular milestone, like a
(36:22):
small milestone for people whoare, you know, just starting to
get serious about someone wherethey can start to have that
conversation about money? Or isit just a matter of you counsel
people, and you say, Listen, youneed to have the talk. And
here's a script for how to sitdown and have that talk, what is
a good, you know, mini sort ofmilestone to to get people
(36:44):
talking about money.
Alyssa Davies (36:45):
A vacation is a great example. Like, I have a
friend that went on a vacationearly on in a relationship and
they broke up as soon as theygot back. So really owed her a
bunch of money, and she nevergot it back. Hmm. So yeah,
definitely talk about it beforeyou go on a vacation. Especially
if they're like, Yeah, you gotit, and I'll hit you back later.
It's not really a good plan,right? You know that in your
(37:06):
gut, but you're like, well, Ikind of like him. So
Preet Banerjee (37:12):
you have a you have a book and I and I, I would
say I had a copy because it hasbeen absconded from me. I my
partner, she took it and sheloves it. So I haven't had
actually had time to sort oflike go through the exercises.
So can you walk me through the100 day financial goal journal,
like what it's not like a bookwhere you you read and every
(37:34):
chapter you learn somethingabout money? It's actually kind
of like a an exercise, right? Sowe can explain what this book
is.
Alyssa Davies (37:40):
Yeah. So this book is, is something that I
personally use before I wroteit, I always track my spending,
not like religiously oranything. But when I'm going to
try and tackle a really bigmoney goal, I have to do it, or
I don't stay kind of on pointwith that goal. So it's just
that it's a daily tracker, youwrite down all of your expenses.
(38:03):
It's really, really keyed in onyour emotions and your behaviors
with your spending. Because it'smore about Okay, this is how
much I spent today. But how wasI feeling? Why did I spend that
money? Am I still on track,maybe this put me back a little
bit. It's just a check in everysingle day. It's like those five
minute journals almost, but it'sfor your money. And it's it just
makes it a little bit moresimple. It's less judgmental,
(38:23):
and it's not full of anyfinancial jargon. It's just a
basic lesson each week,something that you can really
easily tackle without if you'rea busy person, like as a mom, I
know that I don't have a lot oftime to do any crazy journal
entries or anything like that.
So it's just simple. And itreally keeps you on track and
keeps you accountable.
Preet Banerjee (38:43):
Right. So it's not like, Hey, here's a discount
cash flow models and how tovalue a stock. This is like
actual stuff that people use ineveryday life to hit their
financial goals. Right?
Alyssa Davies (38:53):
Yes. So
Preet Banerjee (38:54):
for the people who have bought the books, what
do they What did they tell youare the goals that they're using
to achieve and using this bookto do that?
Alyssa Davies (39:02):
Yeah, one of them. She's on her third book
now. And she just keeps buyingit because it's been working,
she's paying off her studentloans. And so every 100 days,
she just kind of takes point ofhow much she can pay off. And
she's actually exceeded it everysingle time, which is amazing.
But she said, she's been lookingfor a tool for so long, and
nothing really stuck until thejournal because it was just more
(39:24):
connected to her emotions. Andshe felt a lot more attachment
to the goal, rather than justsaying, Yeah, I should do it by
this date. And I'm just going toset up my automatic
contributions. It's more like,okay, like, this is really
important to me, and I need tostay on top of it. And I want to
see what's happening with mymoney.
Preet Banerjee (39:40):
Amazing. So how much does it cost them? Where
can people get this book?
Alyssa Davies (39:44):
Yes, it's 2450 Canadian, and you can get at any
major retailers. So like indigo,Amazon, all those good places.
Preet Banerjee (39:51):
Perfect. And that's the 100 day financial
goal journal. I'll put that inthe show notes and I'll put a
link so if people want to buythe book, you can do that. And
then the last thing, there's twothings I want to talk to you
about that I thought were reallyinteresting posts that you had
on your blog, one of them wasyour household emergency kit.
And this is one of those thingsthat I think a lot of people
(40:13):
say, yeah, that's such a greatidea. But they don't actually
have these plans in place. Socan you talk about what is in
your household emergency kit?
Alyssa Davies (40:23):
Yeah, I am that crazy anxious person that is
always looking for a way to beover prepared. So I had a
nightmare about our housecatching on fire. And the next
day, I started putting upputting together my kit. But
essentially, I just have thebasics for if you'd need to run
out of your house really quickto evacuate, say, so I have like
a blanket. Some cash, I alwayskeep like $40, or enough to
(40:47):
cover a tank of gas, like War ofthe Worlds when you just you're
trying you're the only personwith a vehicle with gas. I have
just a small emergency kit inthere. And so in the emergency
kit, like you talk about, likephysical emergencies, like band
aids, and oh, yeah, first aidkit.
Preet Banerjee (41:05):
First Aid Kit, my emergency kit, one of the
things is an emergency kit,
Alyssa Davies (41:10):
I always do that a first aid kit with band aids.
Preet Banerjee (41:14):
No, I get it.
Alyssa Davies (41:16):
And then it just like a spare change of clothes
for everyone. And then obviouslynow some personal protective
equipment like masks and glovesand right, and all that I
Preet Banerjee (41:24):
just added in there. And what would be the
cost of putting together ahousehold emergency kit.
Alyssa Davies (41:30):
Honestly, it didn't cost me very much because
I already had a lot of the itemsaround my house. The only thing
I bought was a first aid kit was$25. I just picked one up at
like shoppers I think it was andyeah, I just tossed it in there
like it's it doesn't have to becrazy expensive. You You have a
blanket I'm sure that you don'treally use regularly just shove
it in an old backpack. I pickedup some water for like $2 like
(41:51):
one of those big four literjugs. Yeah, it wasn't it wasn't
expensive at all.
Preet Banerjee (41:56):
So you're not like one of those like
survivalists who have like abunker and you'd like paid
someone to like pour concrete.
And it's like under thefoundation of your house. And
you could live there for liketwo years with non perishable
food stocked in like thisdungeon or anything. This is
like a typical average person'semergency kit, right?
Alyssa Davies (42:15):
Yes, it's not a doomsday prepper. But I do have
those irrational fears.
Preet Banerjee (42:20):
Do you know anyone like that? No, actually,
I
Alyssa Davies (42:23):
don't. But actually, Bridget talked about
how her parents always had likethree months of food in their
basement.
Preet Banerjee (42:29):
Oh, wow.
Alyssa Davies (42:30):
So there's still a lot of people like that. Yeah,
Preet Banerjee (42:33):
yeah. And you know, we make fun of them now.
But if something ever happened,we're like, yeah, you know, they
were smart. After all. Yeah,exactly. Okay, so that's good.
Because I think that issomething that, you know, a lot
of people say, Oh, yeah, thatmakes total common sense. But
they don't have it put in place.
Now, in your car, do you havesomething like that as well?
Like if you get strandedbecause, like, I'm not saying
that, you know, all of Albertais like the wilderness. But for
(42:55):
a city boy in Toronto. You know,even Calgary is like, you know,
great. Now you can drivesomewhere. You drive somewhere.
And you know, you could be faraway from civilization in like,
30 minutes, right? Oh, yeah.
Alyssa Davies (43:10):
I grew up in the country. So yeah, yeah, I always
have like, my trunk is full ofstuff that I'll never need. But
it's there. Like I have a fullsnow suit.
Preet Banerjee (43:19):
Extra boots.
Alyssa Davies (43:21):
I'm like, What if I get stuck, and I need to layer
up? Yeah, all that kind ofstuff. Everything that like for
to jump your car? I have allthat stuff. I don't know how to
use it, but it's there.
Preet Banerjee (43:32):
But what if you run out of power on your phone
tune? You can't Google like,Well, how do I actually use
this? This charged battery tojump my car? like you'd be kind
of screwed. But yeah, I guessyou're more prepared than the
average person. So
Alyssa Davies (43:43):
yeah, I've got that going for me.
Preet Banerjee (43:45):
Excellent. All right. And so there's that post
on your website. So I recommendto people. If you don't have
your household emergency kit,it's probably a good idea. So
check out Alyssa site, check outthat post and get your household
emergency kit put together.
Alyssa Davies (43:57):
Yeah. And I have a free printable, too, that you
can download. It's like yourvacuum, a vacuum checklist and
all that good stuff.
Preet Banerjee (44:03):
Of course you do that is super prepared. That's
awesome. The last one I want totalk to you about because I
think this is something thateveryone could benefit from
right away. Is you talked aboutand I think you went into detail
on this on your Instagramstories. But it was about how
you, you know, spent a day ortwo and negotiated some of your
(44:24):
monthly bills. And I think Ithink also you found like, your
husband was able to get work topay for certain things. So can
you just talk about, you knowhow spending a little bit of
time even just like once a yearto like to audit your
subscriptions. Take a look atyour monthly bills, how it can
have a really big impact on yourcash flow.
Alyssa Davies (44:42):
Yeah, we actually ended up we're saving $1,000 a
year. Holy smokes. Yeah, it wascrazy. Like we were definitely
overpaying. So that's that mightbe an inflated number. But yeah,
it was like two hours that myhusband's been on the phone and
I was not willing to do it. Butthank God one of us does. Yeah,
we Paying almost $300 for ourcell phone bill, which was so
(45:03):
excessive. And then we were alsopaying $130 for cable and
internet, our internet wasterrible. And we watched cable
maybe once a week, so it wasn'treally worth it. So yeah, we
called in. And we just didn'twaste any time. We were like,
yeah, we're gonna cancel ourservices today, because we
looked online, and we found abetter deal elsewhere. So that
(45:23):
was for cable and internet. Andthey were willing to like try
and do anything to keep us butwe were already ready to, to cut
ties there. So we just were moreconcerned about cancellation
fees, because we'd already donethe research. So that saved us a
lot of time. And now we just pay$90 a month for internet like
way better internet, but it'sstill less and we just dropped
cable because we don't use it.
But the cell phone was the onethat was the real good
(45:46):
negotiation. One we we justasked what we could do. We'd
been clients with our providerfor seven years. So we had that
in our back pocket loyalty isstill a big thing. It might not
seem like it is. We were verynice, which also gets you ahead.
Don't be mean to customerservice agents, please.
Preet Banerjee (46:04):
Very good. Very good tip.
Alyssa Davies (46:06):
Yes. And we just asked, you know, what can you
What can we do? This seems likea bit high. We we've been
looking around and this, thisdoesn't seem really accurate. So
yeah, we we ended up getting ourcell phone bill down from 300 to
$125 a month, they gave usunlimited data, which was a huge
reason for our bill being sohigh. We probably lucked out
(46:29):
because we got a really awesomeagent. But it's sometimes just
that the luck of the draw. Inever say you have to stay on
the phone like callback, maybeyou'll get someone better next
time. Because everyone'sdifferent. And everyone's in a
different mood every day. Butyeah, and then my husband
actually was able to negotiatean $80 credit each month from
(46:49):
his work to pay for his phonebill. So we're paying like very,
very, very little for our cellphone bill compared to what we
were paying before. And then itwas just an ask.
Preet Banerjee (46:58):
Yeah. And so this was just a couple hours of
your time. And you were able tofind an extra $1,000 in cash
flow for the year.
Alyssa Davies (47:04):
Yeah, exactly.
Preet Banerjee (47:05):
So now here's the follow up question. What do
you do with it freed up $1,000per year? Oh, man, we
Alyssa Davies (47:11):
invest it either in our daughter's RSP or
investment. I'm the most boringperson. And I will always have
that. For me. That's
Preet Banerjee (47:19):
an exciting answer. I'm like a horse. That's
like the default. Do you knowus? At least part of it towards
something productive? But areyou saying that not a single
penny of that $1,000 freed upwas put towards anything
frivolous?
Alyssa Davies (47:33):
No, none of it?
Preet Banerjee (47:35):
Wow.
Alyssa Davies (47:35):
My favorite story is this is probably the last
story I'll tell because it's thekicker.
Preet Banerjee (47:41):
Okay, well, that's a good setup. But
Alyssa Davies (47:44):
I was living in Fort McMurray for two years. It
was an interesting place to livevery, very money focused city.
And so I went to a gala eventthere. It's one of the biggest
events they have there at thecollege. And I, I was not making
very much money at the time. Butbecause I was working remotely
(48:05):
for a company. So I wasn'treally working for anyone in
Fort McMurray. And I went to theevent, and I just spur the
moment bought 150 50, ticketone. It was $50. I was like, I'm
not spending any more than that.
And I'm standing in theaudience, and they're about to
announce the numbers. And theyread it off. And it's my ticket.
And I'm like, there's no way Idon't win anything. Like this
can't be possible. I bought oneticket, like people are gonna be
(48:28):
mad. And so, so I go off, andsure enough, it is it's real.
It's my ticket. So I ended upwinning the 5050 at this Gala.
And it was it was $5,000 whichis Whoa, it was amazing, right?
Like, I've never won this muchmoney in my life. Amazing. And
unfortunately, they asked me tocome up on stage not my favorite
thing to do. Definitely not withno notice. I didn't want to be
(48:51):
that person. So I was like, ofcourse, I would love to come up.
So they brought me up on stage.
And they're like, this isAlyssa. She won the 5050
everyone's cheering Alyssa Whatare you gonna do with the money?
And I'm like, I'm gonna put itin my RSP
(49:15):
booed me off the stage.
Preet Banerjee (49:18):
Oh, what's with these responsibilities and
common sense? We don't want thatup here.
Alyssa Davies (49:24):
Yeah, so I got booed off stage once because
Preet Banerjee (49:27):
that's pretty good story. I like that story.
That's good story and done.
Okay, so as you know, at the endof every episode, every
interview, the guest has thefloor to basically have a
commercial for anything thatthey want to promote. So the
floor is yours. Take it away.
Alyssa Davies (49:45):
Yeah, sure. Um, the thing I want to promote the
most is my book. I think it's agreat tool. I think it's
affordable compared to a lot ofmoney resources you can get, and
you can get it anywhere youwant. You don't even have to
come to my website if you don'twant because I never want to
force people to do stuff likethat.
I'm not very good at selfpromotion at all. Yeah, yeah,
get over it. Come on, this is acommercial you blown it.
(50:09):
Don't go to my website, don'tever talk to me again.
Please buy my book, I would lovethat I would love your support,
I think it's, I really do thinkit's a great tool. And it's an
easy way to jump into money. Ifyou're kind of afraid of it. If
you're not sure where to start.
Or if you have like a friend ora family member who's not not
ready to start, this is a greatplace for anyone to to get going
on that. And yeah, you canfollow me at mix that money on
(50:29):
any social media platform, andmy website is mixed up.
money.com. Amazing. And weshould probably talk about the
cost of your course, for coupleswho want to talk about money. So
talk to me about that. For sure.
It's $130. So it's, it's apretty good deal for couples to
split that cost equally becausewe are all about equal finances
(50:50):
in a relationship.
Yeah, and it's just you get 15exercises is a 24 page workbook.
There's seven videos, I believeas well, where you can kind of
walk through thoseconversations, so it's less
awkward. I'm kind of thatmiddleman that makes it a little
bit more fun, I hope. But yeah,it's it's a great course just to
get started and and make thatconversation a little bit less
awkward. And people can findthat course on your website as
(51:13):
well. Yes, absolutely. Perfect.
All right. Well, that's it.
Thank you so much for havingthis conversation with me. I
really appreciate it. It's beena blast having you on the show.
Thanks for having me on. Ihardly made fun of you. So it
was a good day. I know youwasted opportunity.
Preet Banerjee (51:28):
That's on you.
(51:49):
If you want more personalfinance content or you have
questions for me or topicsuggestions for the podcast, you
can follow me on Twitter orInstagram, same handle in both
cases at Preet Banerjee, I alsohave two YouTube channels, you
can subscribe to my main channelwhich covers personal finance
and investing topics that areglobal in scope and a Canadian
(52:12):
specific channel as well. That'sit for this episode. Thank you
so much for listening.
So they brought me up on stage. They're like,
(00:02):
this is Alyssa she won the 5050everyone's cheering Alyssa, what
are you gonna do with the money?
And I'm like, I'm gonna put itin my RSP.
The entire crowd booed me offthe stage.
(00:32):
Hi, this is Alyssa Davies frommixed up money and you're
listening to mostly money withPreet Banerjee.
Preet Banerjee (00:43):
This is mostly money and I'm your host Preet
Banerjee, and on the show todayI'll be speaking with one of the
most popular personal financepersonalities in Canada, the
star behind the mixed up moneycommunity we're gonna talk
about, among other things, howto effectively communicate with
a partner about money.
(01:10):
Alyssa Davies is a contentspecialist for zolo and a
published author living inCalgary, Alberta. She's the
founder of the two time awardwinning Canadian personal
finance blog of the year, mixedup money that has over 30,000
followers across social media.
Through her work. She's beenfeatured in many notable
publications including the Globeand Mail, flare, global news and
(01:32):
many more. Her first book, The100 day financial goal journal
was published in 2020. I am aproud owner of a copy. Alyssa
has been a freelance writer forsix years and enjoys writing
about personal finance,homeownership, and more. When
she's not writing, you can findher enjoying some downtime with
(01:54):
her daughter playing soccer ordaydreaming about home decor.
Alyssa, welcome to the show.
Alyssa Davies (02:01):
Thanks for having me. That intro. I'm blushing
over here.
Preet Banerjee (02:05):
Don't worry, we don't record video, just audio.
Thank God. Okay. So there are anumber of things I want to talk
about today with you. But thefirst thing I want to talk about
is you in the bio it says hereto time award winning Canadian
personal finance blog of theyear. I you know, have seen your
content over the years, but Ihaven't actually gone to the
(02:25):
website and look at the websiteas a whole it is I think maybe
the most beautiful blog inCanada like it is really well
done. Did you do that allyourself?
Alyssa Davies (02:35):
Yeah, I did.
Actually, I spent like a fullmonth just locked up in my room
playing around and it wasactually really fun.
Preet Banerjee (02:43):
Yeah, no, it's amazing. And if I'm not
mistaken, you also do all theart yourself. Like all the
photos that the pictures of thedrawing of different people, you
do that as well. So do you havelike some like artistic
background or something? Or isthis just a skill that you
developed?
Alyssa Davies (03:00):
This is a quarantine skill. I had never
touched a pen or pencil otherthan my daughter's crayons. And
then and then I picked up myiPad,
Preet Banerjee (03:10):
that young that you've never actually touched a
pen or pencil and grew up in thedigital world. Are you trying to
make me feel like an old geezer?
Alyssa Davies (03:17):
Well, yeah, that was the goal. But I meant to
draw with.
Preet Banerjee (03:22):
Okay, okay, so you have you have touch pens and
pencils? Yeah,
Alyssa Davies (03:25):
I did use an h2 pencil for all of my multiple
choice exams.
Preet Banerjee (03:30):
Well, it's great. And you know, of course,
I'm gonna put in the shownotes,the website, people can go visit
it. But some of the content thatyou've been putting out lately,
I know you have a course thattalks about this as well is
about communication with apartner, and for couples, and I
think this is something that issuper, super important. So So
(03:50):
let's talk about thatcommunication within a couple
specifically about money. But wecan talk about some other topics
as well. I want to ask you,because I see your Instagram
followers super engage yourcommunity? What are some of the
questions that people find areuncomfortable to ask to a
partner?
Alyssa Davies (04:10):
That's a good one. Um, definitely the most
common questions that I get fromreaders is asking someone how
much they make without comingacross a little bit too
aggressive, especially if you'reearly on in your relationship.
And then another one is, do youhave any debt? But further than
that, how much how much debt doyou have? If they If the answer
(04:31):
is yes. And then how to splitthe bills. Most of my following
is female and a lot of them arehigher earners in their
relationship. And they don'tknow how to ask, what is
reasonable with 5050. Like howcan we make it more equal?
Preet Banerjee (04:47):
I know that, you know, when I was early in my
career, not making a lot ofmoney, still having a lot of
debt. This was something thatwould cause anxiety, you know,
like before you would go out youwould like log in to see how
much Money is on this, thischecking account that I'm hoping
to pay with. And, and you know,when you're when you're going
out, maybe you want to impresssomeone, sometimes you go to a
(05:09):
fancy place and cost a lot ofmoney. And for me, you know, it
was always I just assumed that Iwas gonna pay, you know, sort of
the full amount. That's becauseit's just kind of the way I was
raised, the world that I grew upin is a little bit different, I
think back then. But now I thinkit's much more likely that
people will talk about this, butthere's still some anxiety about
it. So what do you what do yousay to people, in terms of what
(05:33):
what how do you overcome thesehurdles? So we know what some of
these hurdles are. But how doyou actually overcome those
hurdles?
Alyssa Davies (05:41):
Yeah, it's it's not a comfortable conversation,
no matter how long you've knownsomeone, like if you just meet
someone, it actually might be alittle easier. like it'd be
easier to walk up to a strangerand ask a really uncomfortable
question, because
Preet Banerjee (05:52):
what's your FICO score? Yeah, right. What's your
zodiac sign? And what's yourFICO score?
Alyssa Davies (05:59):
Those are really important questions. If you're
gonna date them, well,
Preet Banerjee (06:01):
one of them is not the sign I listen. Are you
into signs? Are you one of thosepeople?
Alyssa Davies (06:05):
I'm one of those people?
Preet Banerjee (06:07):
What's your sign?
Alyssa Davies (06:08):
I'm a cancer.
Preet Banerjee (06:09):
Yes, he totally.
That's why No, I'm kidding. Ihave no idea what cancer is
like, I'm a Libra. What doesthat tell you about me?
Alyssa Davies (06:14):
actually don't know much about Libras. I think
you guys are pretty chill. Easyto talk to?
Preet Banerjee (06:22):
podcast.
Alyssa Davies (06:24):
I've had no issues with any Libras. So
you're good. And
Preet Banerjee (06:28):
we're very milk toast. Boring, mild. Okay.
Anyway, so. So you were sayingsorry to cut you off. So you're
saying that there's some somequestions that are somewhat
uncomfortable to ask. Butsometimes it can be easier when
you don't know someone? Why isthat?
Alyssa Davies (06:45):
I think it's just, it's almost like if you
have an issue that you want tobring forward to a best friend,
you're almost embarrassedbecause you know, they're
actually going to hold youaccountable to it, they're going
to be concerned for you. Whereasif it's a stranger, they're
like, Okay, cool. You have debt,like, that doesn't impact me.
And I don't, I'm never gonna seeyou again. So it's easier
because you know, you can justbrush it off and get it off your
(07:06):
chest, whereas with your friendsor family or a loved one, it's
more like, Okay, well, now Itold them, so now I need to do
something about it.
Preet Banerjee (07:13):
You know that that's really interesting,
because one of the things thatI've noticed that people have
been in serious relationships,you know, sometimes they don't
always work out. And when theystart sort of re entering the
dating pool, they triangulatefaster, right? So they sort of
say, Well, I know there's awhole bunch of things that I
don't want in a partner. So I'mjust gonna like, make sure that
I weed out those those thingsearly on as fast as possible.
(07:36):
Because as time goes on, timeruns out, right, you have
different sort of like goals foryour family, and whether or not
you want to have kids if youwant to. And so weeding out what
you don't want becomes, I think,easier for people who are older,
because they know they reallyknow what they don't like. But
when you're younger, it can betough. So give me an example of
(07:57):
when would be a good time tostart bringing up these things.
I know, it's easy to joke about,you know, on a first date, you
know, you can maybe talk aboutthe stresses in life, like
student debt or whatever. Butwhen do you really have that
first conversation about moneywhen when things are maybe
getting serious?
Alyssa Davies (08:15):
Yeah, well, I think hopefully, I like to
encourage people to have theconversation before they hit any
traditional milestones. Likebefore you move in with someone
before you get married beforeyou have a kid. you kind of need
to talk about money.
Unfortunately, it doesn'thappen. For a lot of people,
it's actually really common formarried people to be together
and still not talk about moneyregularly. Like it's shocking
how often that happens. But youneed to have those conversations
(08:38):
when you're about to enter intosomething that is going to
revolve around money. Likealmost every part of our life
includes something that has todo with money. But if you're
living with someone, your moneybecomes one in a sense, because
you're going to buy groceriestogether, you're going to be
paying rent together, you'regoing to be paying your
utilities together. So it's alot of things that suddenly
you're gonna have to face as ateam. Whereas you're probably
(08:59):
used to just like being livingwith roommates or living on your
own. And it's easy to splitbills with those people because
there's no extra tension.
There's no extra chemistry, it'sjust, it's easy. They're your
friends, they're or they're astranger.
Preet Banerjee (09:13):
And when it comes to the dating scene, is
this something now that peoplescreen for on their profiles,
like I joked about people areactually looking for debt loads
in and credit scores before theydecide to have that first date?
Is that is that something thatactually happens?
Alyssa Davies (09:29):
I don't think so.
I know a lot of my friends. Theynever really talked about money
with anyone even still likeuntil they're actually in the
relationship with someone. It'smore like, once you know you you
see a future with someone, thenI think you'd start considering
it a little bit more. There aresome people that are that front,
of course, like you're nevergonna not find one person like
that. Right? But I don't thinkit's the common or standard kind
(09:51):
of relationship that you'llyou'll enter. Well, that's good.
That's good. They're
Preet Banerjee (09:58):
not jaded, yet.
You Same time, and maybe it'sjust a function of everyone is
screwed financially, you know,in this generation that is
graduating from school withcrushing student debt loads,
high house prices, so I guessmaybe you can co commiserate on,
you know, just the the trials ofthis generation because man, you
know, people graduating in thelast 10 years, I really feel
like they've just given a joke.
Alyssa Davies (10:21):
That's the joke now, like people are like, I
just need someone to partnerwith so I can buy a house. Is
anybody out there looking for apartner?
Preet Banerjee (10:30):
Well, you know, the flip side of that is, there
are many people who stayedtogether, way longer than they
would like to because offinancial reasons as well. So I
I'm interested in learningabout, as I mentioned, before,
you have such great engagementwith your community, I see you
ask, you know, like pollquestions on Instagram, and
(10:51):
you're flooded with like,hundreds of responses. What are
the common questions that peoplecome to you with? Like, when
they come to the mixed up moneycommunity? What are some of the
common trials and tribulationsthat they approached you with?
Alyssa Davies (11:06):
Just generally, everyone's interested in
investing. Everyone's interestedin, you know, that kind of
finding that balance in yourrelationship and talking with
your partner. So that it's notawkward, just kind of kicking
that awkwardness to the sideand, and making it more of a
common common conversation inyour relationship. Definitely
(11:26):
how to repay debt like thefastest way they can do that,
because that is just such aburden for people. And that is a
big thing that I've dealt within my past. So I think it's easy
to talk to someone if you knowthat they've already experienced
that. But those are definitelythe top three,
Preet Banerjee (11:40):
for sure. And you have like a bunch of
downloadable worksheets, youhave a course you've got a book.
And your course is gearedtowards couples who want to take
their financial communication orcommunication in general, I
guess, to the next level. So Sowhat is the what is like the
(12:01):
pedagogy of the course? Likewhat what do you go through?
What can someone who's lookingto sign up for this course
expect out of it?
Alyssa Davies (12:08):
Yeah, I think the first thing that, that I really
drive home in the course, isactually sitting down with
someone, but in a comfortableway, like make it a date night,
make it fun, make your favoritemeal, open a bottle of wine,
like it shouldn't be
Preet Banerjee (12:20):
those parts.
Also fun, right? Money talkdoesn't sound as much fun.
Alyssa Davies (12:24):
But if you set the scene for it being a fun, a
fun night, then it might not beso bad. But the first thing I
really think people need to talkabout when they first jump into
their money conversation isactually their personal history
with money, rather than likewhat's your income and and what
are your expenses first. Justbecause we don't really realize
how much our upbringingdrastically impacts how we use
(12:47):
and view our money as adults.
And that I think really doesseep into a relationship. So
it's good to talk about that.
It's good to talk about whatstresses each other out about
money. So that you know whatconversations might be more
difficult before you get intothem. And then, like, lighten
the mood a little bit with somemore simple questions that
aren't directly about money. Youknow, where do you want to buy a
(13:08):
house one day, if you want to?
Do you want to live in thesuburbs or inner city? Those
questions will actually help youget to know someone and their
financial goals more than youthink. Like my personal
favorite, and one that myhusband and I just did a couple
months ago was how does futureyou dress 10 years from now. And
I thought it was so interesting,because I was like, Yeah, I want
to be in blazers, I'm just gonnastart building my collection of
(13:32):
blazers. Which it worked outwith whatever he said, But
imagine if he was like, I'mlooking to really dial down my
swimwear collection and beliving on a beach. Right now,
you'd be like, Okay, well, maybewe're on a different page. But I
think that's more like, look forthose fun questions that would
tell you something about theirfinancial goals, rather than
(13:52):
directly saying, what do youwant to do with your money over
the next 10 years? Becausethat's a tough question to
answer.
Preet Banerjee (13:59):
That's very interesting. And I want to ask
you about retirement planning,because you said, you know, a
lot of people come to communitywith questions about investing.
Are they interested in investingso that, you know, they can
provide for a certain type ofretirement lifestyle? Or is
their goals shorter term in innature? And the reason I asked
(14:20):
about that is retirement is sucha it's such an interesting
concept for so many people,there's no I don't think there's
any one definition of what it'sgoing to be you you stop working
at 65. And all of a sudden, youjust sort of, you know, you
know, live on a beach or youtravel the world or whatever.
But it's so far away that Idon't feel that people are
really in tune with that futureself. So when people come to you
(14:44):
and they're thinking aboutinvesting, what are their
investing goals that they cometo you with? Like how far in the
future are they looking?
Alyssa Davies (14:51):
To be honest, most most people haven't even
started investing yet. Which is,is just crazy because you don't
actually get that informationright away. So I'm one of those
people that was late to startinvesting later than I'd like
anyways, like, I didn't startinvesting until I was 25. It's
pretty good. Yeah, it's it'sgood, but like it could be
(15:11):
better. Sure.
Preet Banerjee (15:13):
I mean, yeah, I mean, someone born today like
your, your daughter needs tosave for a down payment, like
yesterday. Yeah, exactly.
Alyssa Davies (15:21):
So I don't know, I think it's just, they aren't
thinking about that. They aren'tthinking about what am I going
to do in retirement? They'rethinking about, Okay, I need to
start planning for retirement.
So how can I just get started?
And then once they're actuallyin it a little bit more than
it's more about? Okay, am I am Isaving enough? How much do I
actually need? And those arequestions that are so hard to
(15:42):
answer, because like you said,it's what are your goals in the
future? Like, I don't know, alot of people, a lot of people
these days are really interestedin seeking financial
independence. They don't want towait until 65. Right? So they're
a little bit more eager toinvest more of their money early
on, which I think is a goodthing.
Preet Banerjee (16:01):
Yeah, absolutely. You know, having
some kind of goal, even if it issort of like a diffuse, not well
defined goal. But if it's, youknow, having financial
independence, whatever thatmeans to people, is better than
just sort of not having anygoals and not saving for the
future. Now, when it comes tocouples, certainly we've seen
(16:22):
trends where, you know, peoplethey meet, they get serious with
one another, maybe they move intogether sooner than previous
generations would have for avariety of different reasons.
One of those reasons beingfinancial, because the cost of
living is just so high. And ifyou have two people sharing one
place, you know, that can reducea little bit of stress. But at
(16:44):
the same time, that means thatmore people are getting into,
you know, these more firmcommitments, and they may not
necessarily end up having alifetime with these people. And
they might break up and go theirseparate ways. Do you find that
people are asking about propertydivision or income support
requirements that they may be onthe hook for in case things go
(17:06):
south? Or is that something thatpeople don't tend to think
about?
Alyssa Davies (17:11):
I don't know if people think about that. I don't
actually think people reallyrealize what their requirements
would be if you do move into asomeone like I don't know if
they realize that common law isonly a year in some provinces.
So it's, it's a good question. Ireally wish that more people did
consider that I have friendsthat are going through divorces.
Now we're at that age where itjust unfortunately happens. And
(17:35):
they are dealing with that rightnow. It's like the smallest
things seem like the biggestdeals, like who's getting the
air miles, you know, thoseconversations that you probably
should have before you enteryour marriage or a serious
relationship. But that's reallyawkward to have those
conversations with someone. So Ithink that just educating
yourself on that stuff beforeyou actually actually get into
(17:57):
the marriage is important. Butit's so hard for people to find
that information. Like it's nota you're not gonna pop on a
reality TV show, and they'regonna be talking about prenups.
So
Preet Banerjee (18:07):
on my reality show we did just for the record,
however, nobody watched it.
Maybe that's why. Okay, so oneof the posts that was on your
site Recently, there was a listof five big financial mistakes
you can make if you don't talkabout money in a relationship.
And one of those points talkedabout the breadwinner mentality,
(18:28):
and then linked to anotherpoint, which kind of delve more
deeply into this breadwinner,quote unquote, mentality. Can
you explain what that mentalityis? And why that can be a trap
for couples?
Alyssa Davies (18:41):
Yes, this one is one of my favorite things to
talk about. I love just tellingpeople this information because
maybe they don't really realizethat it's, it's kind of
problematic term. Like it'shistorically used to describe a
higher earner in a relationshipor a sole income provider. But
the reason that I don't thinkit's the best way to describe
(19:02):
someone in a relationship isbecause it just comes with so
many assumptions. Like, you'dautomatically assume that that
person is in control offinancial decisions because they
earn more money, you'd assumethat maybe their only job in the
relationship is to pry providefor their family financially.
And you'd almost always assumethat if it's a hetero
relationship, that the male isthe higher earner. I'll go back
(19:24):
to that initial point that Imade, how I get a lot of women
that are contacting me askinghow they can actually make the
relationship more equal, becausethey're the higher earner, but
they're uncomfortable actuallyhaving that conversation. When I
first rolled out my course, Igave it to a lot of my friends
that were in relationships. AndI just wanted to see what would
be the more difficult parts ofthe conversation so that I knew
(19:47):
kind of how to, I guess, managethose tougher parts. And yeah,
that was always a trigger pointwas talking about how much they
made if the woman was actuallythe higher earner in there.
relationship. It's like you saidto about the traditional way
that we were raised, I know thatmy dad was the provider. So
(20:07):
that's just how I kind of grewup as a seeing that as what it
was supposed to be and how ithow it typically goes. And so it
makes men feel like they need tobe the higher earner in their
family. But I've read so manystudies now that, you know, the
life satisfaction of a partnerwho's a man that is earning
less, it doesn't actually impactimpact them at all. They live
(20:30):
the same life, they're stillhappy, obviously, they're still
doing well financially. So it's,it's a different kind of
perspective and conversationthat we don't really have. But I
think it's super important.
Preet Banerjee (20:42):
Yeah, it, I know that it is, there is this stigma
surrounding it. And, you know,not everyone is on the same page
with, you know, socialprogressiveness and whatnot. My
partner and I, we've talkedabout, you know, our future,
and, you know, she is now sortof on the job market, and she's
(21:02):
in a field where she could endup working, you know, either in
Canada, maybe back in Europe.
And we've agreed that her careeris now the more important focus
for us as a couple goingforward. Because the decisions
she makes is gonna have such abig impact on her career, and us
as as a unit. And so the goal isthat, you know, I'm later in my
career, so I'm going to be thestay at home dad, and I'm
(21:25):
nervous about it. But at thesame time, I'm kind of looking
forward to it as well. But Ifeel like, you know, when you
talk about that, to some people,they're like, Oh, that's so
forward thinking of you, orwhatever I'm like, Is it really?
Or is it just like, that's theway it should be? So I feel
like, you know, some people arekind of coming around to this,
and we're breaking down thosethings. But there still is
(21:46):
there, this tension that canarise with couples. And I know,
there's a lot of guys out therewho would feel that tension and
sort of like, I don't know whatit is maybe embarrassment, or
something like that, because ofthese old tropes that have been
around for hundreds 1000s ofyears, that are just finally
getting sort of dismantled. Sowhen you do have a big income
(22:08):
differential in a relationship,how do you recommend to people
as to how they should thinkabout money in that, in that in
that household? Is it a matterof, you know, whoever, let's say
someone earns, you know, threeto one, like the ratio is three
to one? Do they feel like theyhave like three times the weight
(22:29):
in the decision making? And? Andif so, what do you say that they
should be doing instead?
Alyssa Davies (22:37):
Yeah, I think I always, always think that, if
you can do your best to makethings equal, it just makes
makes everyone feel like they dohave a say in what happens with
the money and how and how youplan for your kind of expenses.
So you can make anything 5050,you just have to do the math.
Like it's, it might actually be7030 like, but essentially, it
(22:59):
evens out your income togetherso that you're working as a
team. I think you just have tosit down and have that
conversation so that you canactually share the burden,
because it is a burden ofchoosing how you spend your
money. It's not an easy thing todo. So why would we put that
pressure on one person? And whatis an even split to you? Because
your lifestyle might be 5050without one person sacrificing
(23:24):
more of their income? I guess,
Preet Banerjee (23:26):
let me give you a hypothetical situation. So
let's say that you've gotsomeone they're earning
significantly more than theirpartner, and that partner has
significantly more student debt.
What What do you counsel topeople like do they do people
come in and say, Well, my, mystudent debt is my problem. And
I'm going to pay for that out ofmy income. Or you say, Well,
listen, you should use this, youshould look at it in the context
(23:48):
of listening, you're together.
And if you decide you're gonnabe together forever, your debts
are now you know, communal. Whatdo you recommend? And what do
you find, like in conversationswith people ask these questions?
What are the hurdles that theyface?
Alyssa Davies (24:03):
Yeah, it's a tough question. Because a lot of
people don't want to feel like aburden on their partner, if they
come into the relationship withdebt. But at the same time,
you're only going to get furtheras a team. If you work together
in those things. It's like it'sthe same as being on a sports
team, like you're not one persondoesn't carry the weight for
everyone. You all kind of haveto pull your pull your own
(24:23):
parts. And I think that debt isone of those things where Yeah,
you do, you do need to work as ateam. Like when I was paying off
my student loans, my husband waspaying a little bit more in our
bills. He was earning a littlebit more, so it made sense
anyways, but the fact that hewas willing to take on that
extra little bit of money was abig deal because it gave me an
(24:44):
opportunity to pay off my debtin under a year, which I never
would have been able to do. HadI been single, or had I had a
partner that wasn't willing toput that extra burden on their
own back.
Preet Banerjee (24:55):
This won't make it into the podcast. I'm just
gonna say I almost busted outlaughing when you said poorly.
Your own parts I know you madepull your own weight. Yeah. I
don't know what happens to theselocker rooms that you hang out
when Alyssa. You know, maybethat maybe I will put that in
(25:18):
the podcast. That's hilarious.
I'm fine with it. Okay, cooldone. It's in the podcast.
Conversation with Alyssa Daviesfrom mixed up money continues in
just a minute. But I just wantedto let you know that taking just
30 seconds out of your day andleaving a rating and or a review
on Apple podcasts helps withgetting high quality guests like
(25:40):
Alyssa want to give a shout outto a reviewer who filled in
their name as quote why frugalis so important, unquote. They
really liked the episode on theins and outs of bankruptcy with
Scott terrio. And if you want tocheck that out, it is episode
number 61. Quite a wide rangingconversation. They also
(26:01):
mentioned that they would liketo conversely, hear from someone
in the big spending industrieslike car sales and mortgages,
well ask and you shall receive.
I actually have an upcomingepisode with Chris faff, who's
the CEO of faff automotivepartners, who was also kind
enough to let me test drive aMcLaren gt for an afternoon.
(26:24):
That actually happened beforeCOVID-19. But I am still smiling
from that. Thank you to everyonewho has already left ratings and
reviews. I do appreciate it. Andnow back to the conversation
with Alyssa Davies from mixedup.
(26:47):
Let's talk about your story. AsI mentioned in the bio, you do a
lot of things. You work for acompany called xolo. You do some
freelance writing, you've gotyour own community as well. How
did you fall into this space?
Like What Did you What did youstudy in school? And what was
your journey that led you tostarting this community in the
first please like that startingthat first blog?
Alyssa Davies (27:08):
This is surprisingly the hardest
question I ever get askedbecause when someone asks me
what I do for a living, I neverknow what to say.
Preet Banerjee (27:15):
Oh, I know. I know that feeling. You're just
singing to the choir. Right?
Alyssa Davies (27:18):
Yeah. So yeah, I guess I started I went to school
for journalism. So I have adegree in communications, a
diploma in journalism. And Istill do that full time. That's
what I do is write and edit andall that good stuff. But I
actually fell into this in theweirdest way. I, I ended up
landing a job in a not forprofit organization that did
debt consolidation. I got intothe marketing department. So I
(27:42):
was going to be doing a lot ofthe stuff I studied in school
there. But a part of thetraining was sitting in and
getting to know what the companydid. So I sat in on an
appointment with one of theirclients. And she was describing
her financial situation, herdebt that she had. And I was
just sitting there and I'm like,starting to sweat because I'm
like, Oh my gosh, this soundsreally familiar. Like, this is
(28:02):
my life. This is just, and I'mlistening to the counselor and
she's like, Listen, you're notin a good spot. So that night, I
went home and I was like, Ireally, I really need to do
something about this, or I'mgonna have to be a client at my
own work. Like I can't be havingthat happen. So I sat down and I
did what any millennial did, andI just started Googling, you
(28:22):
know, what do I do? How do I payoff my debt, and actually found
Bridget Casey blog Money AfterGraduation. That's the first
personal finance resource I everfound. And I realized she was
living in the same city as me,we had so much in common. And I
was like, wait a minute, I coulddo this. Why couldn't I do this?
This seems like a great way tohold myself accountable. Get
(28:43):
more knowledge in this in thisworld, because I had no idea
that it even existed, like Ididn't know people actually
thought personal finance wasfun. So because I was the
complete opposite person of ourdemographic, so yeah, so I just
started a really generalWordPress blog for free. And I
just started like an open diarywas as I was repaying my debt,
(29:04):
and I, like went cold turkey andjust stopped shopping for an
entire year. So I could repay mydebt. And then I just I haven't
stopped since. Okay, so
Preet Banerjee (29:13):
I know that there. There are a number of
people who kind of started theirblog as a kind of like an
accountability sort of measureto say, you know, here are my
goals. I'm going to pay off mydebt come along on my journey,
and maybe you can learnsomething too. And, you know,
with my own blog, I learned somuch for my readers. Sometimes I
feel like you know, I was thestudent, not the teacher, like
(29:34):
for I still feel like thatsometimes. And it is a real,
there is a real community outthere of people who are going
through a lot of the samethings. And at the same time,
yours became one of the morepopular communities. So how long
did it take you to pay off yourdebt, and once you paid off your
(29:57):
debt, what happened with theblock is it it would have
transformed I imagine fromfollow along on this journey
with me Together, we can learnsome things, pay off our debts.
And then once you did that, whatdid you do next?
Alyssa Davies (30:08):
Yeah, it took me only 10 months to pay off my
debt I had thanks around $15,000of consumer debt.
Preet Banerjee (30:15):
Wow, amazing.
pay that off in 10 months.
That's pretty awesome. Yeah, I
Alyssa Davies (30:17):
lived a really frugal and boring life for a
year, but it was only a year. Soit was definitely worth it.
Yeah. And yeah, it just kind oftransitioned into. I wouldn't
say it was like, here's all thisamazing advice. It was more just
like I'm learning. Like, whydon't you come learn with me?
And I'm still making mistakes,and I will never stop making
financial mistakes. Like that isprobably one thing. I'm the
(30:38):
worst personal finance bloggerbecause I just love to spend
money. And I'm, I'm stillworking on controlling those.
Preet Banerjee (30:44):
Hold on, hold on. What's the biggest financial
mistake you've made in the lastyear?
Alyssa Davies (30:49):
Oh, my gosh, buying a house.
Preet Banerjee (30:52):
Really? You feel that was a mistake? No, no,
Alyssa Davies (30:54):
it's one of the best decisions I make. But I
know.
Preet Banerjee (30:58):
Wait a second.
Probably.
Alyssa Davies (31:03):
No, it wasn't a mistake. It was just like, a
huge decision. And I know thatif I didn't have a kid, I
probably never would have boughta house. So it was more a
personal decision rather than afinancial decisions. Right.
Okay.
Preet Banerjee (31:15):
Okay. Okay, so I got you off track there. So you
paid off the debt? And then whathappened to the blog, like say,
Okay, well, now what do I writeabout? Because now I've, I've
tackled like that one big thing.
Oh, and by the way, thatorganization, that's where we
first met, right? Yes, it is. Igave a talk. I remember, I flew
to I guess it would have beenCalgary. Yeah. And gave a talk.
(31:36):
And I remember meeting youthere. And yeah, so in any case,
so you pay off the debt. Andthen what did you do? You're
like, Alright, what do I talkabout? No,
Alyssa Davies (31:47):
yeah, I just, I just kept talking about
everything I was doing withmoney. It was literally just an
online diary. Like it stayedlike that. Now it's gotten a
little bit more like, Okay, Iknow a little bit more, and I
have a little bit moreinformation. So when people do
reach out and ask questions,it's more geared towards what
they want to learn. And Ilearned with them, because I
wouldn't call myself like afinancial expert by any means.
(32:08):
I'm just a writer who is really,really passionate about money.
And that wants to learn withpeople. And like you said to
with the readers, it's so crazy,because my Instagram has grown
so much over the past year, Ihave a lot of really cool
relationships with people thatI've never met in person, which
is one of the best parts aboutpersonal finances, you meet all
these awesome people from allover the world. But my husband
(32:30):
was like, What is like, you getso many messages, and they're so
long, like they're just like,full? It's like, you're getting
a message from an angry axe,right? Like, they're just so
long. But he's like, what arethese about? And and I'm like,
actually, like, most of thetime, it's just people wanting
to talk about their money wins,or their money failures. And
he's like, well, don't they haveother people to talk about that
(32:50):
with him? Like, honestly, no,like, no one has anyone to talk
about with money, because no onewants to talk about money. Like,
that's not a common thing. You'dgo to your friends and be like,
guess what, I, I just put $1,000towards my debt this month, like
is a huge accomplishment for me,your friends are gonna be like,
Okay, do you want to go fordrinks tonight? Right? So it's
like, it's just they have findthat they have someone they can
(33:11):
relate to in a different way.
And they won't feel anyjudgment, right? Because that's
no matter what you're doing orwho you're talking with? You can
always feel like that littlesense of, do they really want to
hear about this?
Preet Banerjee (33:22):
Yeah, it is tough to find people who are in
the same who have the samedesire to learn about these
things. Like when it comes toyour personal friend group? Do
they like say, Oh, that's,that's Alyssa. She's the money
blogger, but and they're like,let's go on the towel. It's
like, Let's drink. Let's spendmoney. Like, do you find that
your friends are not yourreaders?
Alyssa Davies (33:42):
Oh my gosh, yeah.
100%. I have one friend now whoshe loves talking about it.
Seriously, though, most of mygirlfriends are all nurses. So
they're just happy in theirways. They make a great salary,
they get their whole pension. Soit's not top of mind for them,
even though it should be like Itry try try. But it's just not
their thing. And I'm not gonnaforce it. I have a great
(34:05):
community already. So I don'tfeel like it's necessary to kind
of convert our friendship intointo that financial zone. But
yeah, do
Preet Banerjee (34:13):
they know that you're an online celebrity?
Alyssa Davies (34:16):
Never ever call me a celebrity? Okay, do
Preet Banerjee (34:19):
they know that you're an online entity?
Alyssa Davies (34:23):
Yeah, they all follow me. Whether they actually
watch or look at my content isanother story.
Preet Banerjee (34:30):
But they do pretend. What are I'm gonna put
you on the spot. Now? I don'tknow if they'll listen. But your
friends, what are the biggestmistakes that you see your
friends make?
Alyssa Davies (34:40):
Oh, man, probably that they don't diversify their
investments enough because theyhave that pension. It's like,
I'm good. And I'm like, Well,what if something happens? And a
lot of them are just socomfortable. But I think the
interesting part is one of myone friend that's willing to
talk about it with me. It's westarted at non for profits, or
(35:01):
we started making like a reallylow income when we were right
out of college. And our friendsthat are nurses just jumped into
this amazing salaried position.
And they're slowly growing. Butmy friend and I are able to grow
more, because we just have moreroom for growth, nurses don't
have the same amount of room forgrowth as we do. And, and that's
something that's interesting nowis because they're kind of
(35:23):
hitting their peak, and it's,and we're just starting to grow.
And so there's differences therethat we never would have really
talked about, and that and makeit a little bit more difficult.
Like we tried to plan a grouptrip to Mexico, and oh, my gosh,
so hard.
Preet Banerjee (35:40):
Well, you know, this is I think this is a very
interesting topic. Because, forme, planning a getaway for
someone is generally where I sayif you haven't, if you're dating
someone, and you haven't had thetalk, like you haven't gotten
financially naked, yet, one ofthe great sort of times where
(36:00):
you can start to talk about andtry and get into their head in
terms of how they think aboutmoney, and what they think about
money is a vacation, you know,and are they the type of person
that just gonna put everythingon a credit card? And they'll
figure it out after the fact?
Did you do any type of planning?
Is there in your mind like aparticular milestone, like a
(36:22):
small milestone for people whoare, you know, just starting to
get serious about someone wherethey can start to have that
conversation about money? Or isit just a matter of you counsel
people, and you say, Listen, youneed to have the talk. And
here's a script for how to sitdown and have that talk, what is
a good, you know, mini sort ofmilestone to to get people
(36:44):
talking about money.
Alyssa Davies (36:45):
A vacation is a great example. Like, I have a
friend that went on a vacationearly on in a relationship and
they broke up as soon as theygot back. So really owed her a
bunch of money, and she nevergot it back. Hmm. So yeah,
definitely talk about it beforeyou go on a vacation. Especially
if they're like, Yeah, you gotit, and I'll hit you back later.
It's not really a good plan,right? You know that in your
(37:06):
gut, but you're like, well, Ikind of like him. So
Preet Banerjee (37:12):
you have a you have a book and I and I, I would
say I had a copy because it hasbeen absconded from me. I my
partner, she took it and sheloves it. So I haven't had
actually had time to sort oflike go through the exercises.
So can you walk me through the100 day financial goal journal,
like what it's not like a bookwhere you you read and every
(37:34):
chapter you learn somethingabout money? It's actually kind
of like a an exercise, right? Sowe can explain what this book
is.
Alyssa Davies (37:40):
Yeah. So this book is, is something that I
personally use before I wroteit, I always track my spending,
not like religiously oranything. But when I'm going to
try and tackle a really bigmoney goal, I have to do it, or
I don't stay kind of on pointwith that goal. So it's just
that it's a daily tracker, youwrite down all of your expenses.
(38:03):
It's really, really keyed in onyour emotions and your behaviors
with your spending. Because it'smore about Okay, this is how
much I spent today. But how wasI feeling? Why did I spend that
money? Am I still on track,maybe this put me back a little
bit. It's just a check in everysingle day. It's like those five
minute journals almost, but it'sfor your money. And it's it just
makes it a little bit moresimple. It's less judgmental,
(38:23):
and it's not full of anyfinancial jargon. It's just a
basic lesson each week,something that you can really
easily tackle without if you'rea busy person, like as a mom, I
know that I don't have a lot oftime to do any crazy journal
entries or anything like that.
So it's just simple. And itreally keeps you on track and
keeps you accountable.
Preet Banerjee (38:43):
Right. So it's not like, Hey, here's a discount
cash flow models and how tovalue a stock. This is like
actual stuff that people use ineveryday life to hit their
financial goals. Right?
Alyssa Davies (38:53):
Yes. So
Preet Banerjee (38:54):
for the people who have bought the books, what
do they What did they tell youare the goals that they're using
to achieve and using this bookto do that?
Alyssa Davies (39:02):
Yeah, one of them. She's on her third book
now. And she just keeps buyingit because it's been working,
she's paying off her studentloans. And so every 100 days,
she just kind of takes point ofhow much she can pay off. And
she's actually exceeded it everysingle time, which is amazing.
But she said, she's been lookingfor a tool for so long, and
nothing really stuck until thejournal because it was just more
(39:24):
connected to her emotions. Andshe felt a lot more attachment
to the goal, rather than justsaying, Yeah, I should do it by
this date. And I'm just going toset up my automatic
contributions. It's more like,okay, like, this is really
important to me, and I need tostay on top of it. And I want to
see what's happening with mymoney.
Preet Banerjee (39:40):
Amazing. So how much does it cost them? Where
can people get this book?
Alyssa Davies (39:44):
Yes, it's 2450 Canadian, and you can get at any
major retailers. So like indigo,Amazon, all those good places.
Preet Banerjee (39:51):
Perfect. And that's the 100 day financial
goal journal. I'll put that inthe show notes and I'll put a
link so if people want to buythe book, you can do that. And
then the last thing, there's twothings I want to talk to you
about that I thought were reallyinteresting posts that you had
on your blog, one of them wasyour household emergency kit.
And this is one of those thingsthat I think a lot of people
(40:13):
say, yeah, that's such a greatidea. But they don't actually
have these plans in place. Socan you talk about what is in
your household emergency kit?
Alyssa Davies (40:23):
Yeah, I am that crazy anxious person that is
always looking for a way to beover prepared. So I had a
nightmare about our housecatching on fire. And the next
day, I started putting upputting together my kit. But
essentially, I just have thebasics for if you'd need to run
out of your house really quickto evacuate, say, so I have like
a blanket. Some cash, I alwayskeep like $40, or enough to
(40:47):
cover a tank of gas, like War ofthe Worlds when you just you're
trying you're the only personwith a vehicle with gas. I have
just a small emergency kit inthere. And so in the emergency
kit, like you talk about, likephysical emergencies, like band
aids, and oh, yeah, first aidkit.
Preet Banerjee (41:05):
First Aid Kit, my emergency kit, one of the
things is an emergency kit,
Alyssa Davies (41:10):
I always do that a first aid kit with band aids.
Preet Banerjee (41:14):
No, I get it.
Alyssa Davies (41:16):
And then it just like a spare change of clothes
for everyone. And then obviouslynow some personal protective
equipment like masks and glovesand right, and all that I
Preet Banerjee (41:24):
just added in there. And what would be the
cost of putting together ahousehold emergency kit.
Alyssa Davies (41:30):
Honestly, it didn't cost me very much because
I already had a lot of the itemsaround my house. The only thing
I bought was a first aid kit was$25. I just picked one up at
like shoppers I think it was andyeah, I just tossed it in there
like it's it doesn't have to becrazy expensive. You You have a
blanket I'm sure that you don'treally use regularly just shove
it in an old backpack. I pickedup some water for like $2 like
(41:51):
one of those big four literjugs. Yeah, it wasn't it wasn't
expensive at all.
Preet Banerjee (41:56):
So you're not like one of those like
survivalists who have like abunker and you'd like paid
someone to like pour concrete.
And it's like under thefoundation of your house. And
you could live there for liketwo years with non perishable
food stocked in like thisdungeon or anything. This is
like a typical average person'semergency kit, right?
Alyssa Davies (42:15):
Yes, it's not a doomsday prepper. But I do have
those irrational fears.
Preet Banerjee (42:20):
Do you know anyone like that? No, actually,
I
Alyssa Davies (42:23):
don't. But actually, Bridget talked about
how her parents always had likethree months of food in their
basement.
Preet Banerjee (42:29):
Oh, wow.
Alyssa Davies (42:30):
So there's still a lot of people like that. Yeah,
Preet Banerjee (42:33):
yeah. And you know, we make fun of them now.
But if something ever happened,we're like, yeah, you know, they
were smart. After all. Yeah,exactly. Okay, so that's good.
Because I think that issomething that, you know, a lot
of people say, Oh, yeah, thatmakes total common sense. But
they don't have it put in place.
Now, in your car, do you havesomething like that as well?
Like if you get strandedbecause, like, I'm not saying
that, you know, all of Albertais like the wilderness. But for
(42:55):
a city boy in Toronto. You know,even Calgary is like, you know,
great. Now you can drivesomewhere. You drive somewhere.
And you know, you could be faraway from civilization in like,
30 minutes, right? Oh, yeah.
Alyssa Davies (43:10):
I grew up in the country. So yeah, yeah, I always
have like, my trunk is full ofstuff that I'll never need. But
it's there. Like I have a fullsnow suit.
Preet Banerjee (43:19):
Extra boots.
Alyssa Davies (43:21):
I'm like, What if I get stuck, and I need to layer
up? Yeah, all that kind ofstuff. Everything that like for
to jump your car? I have allthat stuff. I don't know how to
use it, but it's there.
Preet Banerjee (43:32):
But what if you run out of power on your phone
tune? You can't Google like,Well, how do I actually use
this? This charged battery tojump my car? like you'd be kind
of screwed. But yeah, I guessyou're more prepared than the
average person. So
Alyssa Davies (43:43):
yeah, I've got that going for me.
Preet Banerjee (43:45):
Excellent. All right. And so there's that post
on your website. So I recommendto people. If you don't have
your household emergency kit,it's probably a good idea. So
check out Alyssa site, check outthat post and get your household
emergency kit put together.
Alyssa Davies (43:57):
Yeah. And I have a free printable, too, that you
can download. It's like yourvacuum, a vacuum checklist and
all that good stuff.
Preet Banerjee (44:03):
Of course you do that is super prepared. That's
awesome. The last one I want totalk to you about because I
think this is something thateveryone could benefit from
right away. Is you talked aboutand I think you went into detail
on this on your Instagramstories. But it was about how
you, you know, spent a day ortwo and negotiated some of your
(44:24):
monthly bills. And I think Ithink also you found like, your
husband was able to get work topay for certain things. So can
you just talk about, you knowhow spending a little bit of
time even just like once a yearto like to audit your
subscriptions. Take a look atyour monthly bills, how it can
have a really big impact on yourcash flow.
Alyssa Davies (44:42):
Yeah, we actually ended up we're saving $1,000 a
year. Holy smokes. Yeah, it wascrazy. Like we were definitely
overpaying. So that's that mightbe an inflated number. But yeah,
it was like two hours that myhusband's been on the phone and
I was not willing to do it. Butthank God one of us does. Yeah,
we Paying almost $300 for ourcell phone bill, which was so
(45:03):
excessive. And then we were alsopaying $130 for cable and
internet, our internet wasterrible. And we watched cable
maybe once a week, so it wasn'treally worth it. So yeah, we
called in. And we just didn'twaste any time. We were like,
yeah, we're gonna cancel ourservices today, because we
looked online, and we found abetter deal elsewhere. So that
(45:23):
was for cable and internet. Andthey were willing to like try
and do anything to keep us butwe were already ready to, to cut
ties there. So we just were moreconcerned about cancellation
fees, because we'd already donethe research. So that saved us a
lot of time. And now we just pay$90 a month for internet like
way better internet, but it'sstill less and we just dropped
cable because we don't use it.
But the cell phone was the onethat was the real good
(45:46):
negotiation. One we we justasked what we could do. We'd
been clients with our providerfor seven years. So we had that
in our back pocket loyalty isstill a big thing. It might not
seem like it is. We were verynice, which also gets you ahead.
Don't be mean to customerservice agents, please.
Preet Banerjee (46:04):
Very good. Very good tip.
Alyssa Davies (46:06):
Yes. And we just asked, you know, what can you
What can we do? This seems likea bit high. We we've been
looking around and this, thisdoesn't seem really accurate. So
yeah, we we ended up getting ourcell phone bill down from 300 to
$125 a month, they gave usunlimited data, which was a huge
reason for our bill being sohigh. We probably lucked out
(46:29):
because we got a really awesomeagent. But it's sometimes just
that the luck of the draw. Inever say you have to stay on
the phone like callback, maybeyou'll get someone better next
time. Because everyone'sdifferent. And everyone's in a
different mood every day. Butyeah, and then my husband
actually was able to negotiatean $80 credit each month from
(46:49):
his work to pay for his phonebill. So we're paying like very,
very, very little for our cellphone bill compared to what we
were paying before. And then itwas just an ask.
Preet Banerjee (46:58):
Yeah. And so this was just a couple hours of
your time. And you were able tofind an extra $1,000 in cash
flow for the year.
Alyssa Davies (47:04):
Yeah, exactly.
Preet Banerjee (47:05):
So now here's the follow up question. What do
you do with it freed up $1,000per year? Oh, man, we
Alyssa Davies (47:11):
invest it either in our daughter's RSP or
investment. I'm the most boringperson. And I will always have
that. For me. That's
Preet Banerjee (47:19):
an exciting answer. I'm like a horse. That's
like the default. Do you knowus? At least part of it towards
something productive? But areyou saying that not a single
penny of that $1,000 freed upwas put towards anything
frivolous?
Alyssa Davies (47:33):
No, none of it?
Preet Banerjee (47:35):
Wow.
Alyssa Davies (47:35):
My favorite story is this is probably the last
story I'll tell because it's thekicker.
Preet Banerjee (47:41):
Okay, well, that's a good setup. But
Alyssa Davies (47:44):
I was living in Fort McMurray for two years. It
was an interesting place to livevery, very money focused city.
And so I went to a gala eventthere. It's one of the biggest
events they have there at thecollege. And I, I was not making
very much money at the time. Butbecause I was working remotely
(48:05):
for a company. So I wasn'treally working for anyone in
Fort McMurray. And I went to theevent, and I just spur the
moment bought 150 50, ticketone. It was $50. I was like, I'm
not spending any more than that.
And I'm standing in theaudience, and they're about to
announce the numbers. And theyread it off. And it's my ticket.
And I'm like, there's no way Idon't win anything. Like this
can't be possible. I bought oneticket, like people are gonna be
(48:28):
mad. And so, so I go off, andsure enough, it is it's real.
It's my ticket. So I ended upwinning the 5050 at this Gala.
And it was it was $5,000 whichis Whoa, it was amazing, right?
Like, I've never won this muchmoney in my life. Amazing. And
unfortunately, they asked me tocome up on stage not my favorite
thing to do. Definitely not withno notice. I didn't want to be
(48:51):
that person. So I was like, ofcourse, I would love to come up.
So they brought me up on stage.
And they're like, this isAlyssa. She won the 5050
everyone's cheering Alyssa Whatare you gonna do with the money?
And I'm like, I'm gonna put itin my RSP
(49:15):
booed me off the stage.
Preet Banerjee (49:18):
Oh, what's with these responsibilities and
common sense? We don't want thatup here.
Alyssa Davies (49:24):
Yeah, so I got booed off stage once because
Preet Banerjee (49:27):
that's pretty good story. I like that story.
That's good story and done.
Okay, so as you know, at the endof every episode, every
interview, the guest has thefloor to basically have a
commercial for anything thatthey want to promote. So the
floor is yours. Take it away.
Alyssa Davies (49:45):
Yeah, sure. Um, the thing I want to promote the
most is my book. I think it's agreat tool. I think it's
affordable compared to a lot ofmoney resources you can get, and
you can get it anywhere youwant. You don't even have to
come to my website if you don'twant because I never want to
force people to do stuff likethat.
I'm not very good at selfpromotion at all. Yeah, yeah,
get over it. Come on, this is acommercial you blown it.
(50:09):
Don't go to my website, don'tever talk to me again.
Please buy my book, I would lovethat I would love your support,
I think it's, I really do thinkit's a great tool. And it's an
easy way to jump into money. Ifyou're kind of afraid of it. If
you're not sure where to start.
Or if you have like a friend ora family member who's not not
ready to start, this is a greatplace for anyone to to get going
on that. And yeah, you canfollow me at mix that money on
(50:29):
any social media platform, andmy website is mixed up.
money.com. Amazing. And weshould probably talk about the
cost of your course, for coupleswho want to talk about money. So
talk to me about that. For sure.
It's $130. So it's, it's apretty good deal for couples to
split that cost equally becausewe are all about equal finances
(50:50):
in a relationship.
Yeah, and it's just you get 15exercises is a 24 page workbook.
There's seven videos, I believeas well, where you can kind of
walk through thoseconversations, so it's less
awkward. I'm kind of thatmiddleman that makes it a little
bit more fun, I hope. But yeah,it's it's a great course just to
get started and and make thatconversation a little bit less
awkward. And people can findthat course on your website as
(51:13):
well. Yes, absolutely. Perfect.
All right. Well, that's it.
Thank you so much for havingthis conversation with me. I
really appreciate it. It's beena blast having you on the show.
Thanks for having me on. Ihardly made fun of you. So it
was a good day. I know youwasted opportunity.
Preet Banerjee (51:28):
That's on you.
(51:49):
If you want more personalfinance content or you have
questions for me or topicsuggestions for the podcast, you
can follow me on Twitter orInstagram, same handle in both
cases at Preet Banerjee, I alsohave two YouTube channels, you
can subscribe to my main channelwhich covers personal finance
and investing topics that areglobal in scope and a Canadian
(52:12):
specific channel as well. That'sit for this episode. Thank you
so much for listening.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.