rich & REGULAR with Kiersten and Julien Saunders

We spent a week talking to hundreds of high school seniors about money, and they gave us more hope than we expected. Underneath the stereotypes about “kids these days,” we found a generation that already understands more than adults give them credit for, while still being dangerously underprepared for some of the biggest financial decisions of their lives.

So this week, we’re talking about what stood out after speaking to 400+ stude...

There’s a casino in everybody’s pocket now, and it’s wearing a jersey.

This week’s episode is about sports gambling, why it’s exploding right now, and the data that should make you pause before you normalize it in your house, your group chat, or your relationship.

We promise this isn’t an anti-fun sermon, it’s a reality check. If you’re someone who sports bets but has real limits in place…tell us what’s working. And if you’ve seen th...

Most money advice for students is either condescending or delusional, and this episode is neither. This one is for the students…and for the parents, aunties, mentors, and big cousins trying to help without lecturing. 

Today I’m joined by Dr. Paris Woods, bestselling author of The Black Girl’s Guide to Financial Freedom and the new Student’s Guide to Financial Freedom. We talk about what she saw growing up in St. Louis, the “educatio...

This week, we’re joined by Brenton Harrison, founder of New Money New Problems. Brenton is a financial advisor who works with first- and second-generation high earners. We’re talking about how to tell the difference between quality financial advice and misinformation/scammy advice, making sense of what you hear online, and why not all “good advice” is good for YOU. 

And because we live in the real world where creators and ...

There are two sentences that can ruin a perfectly normal evening – “We need to talk”, and its evil twin, “We need to talk about money.” Even if your relationship is good, that phrasing makes it feel like somebody’s about to get graded. 

Even when things are fine, nobody wants to be the person who turns a decent Tuesday night into a full relationship audit. So this week, we’re introducing a better way: small doors. These are quick, l...

This week we’re talking to Rahkim Sabree, author, financial trauma educator, and the person who basically put “financial trauma” on the map for a lot of the internet. His work connects money behaviors to nervous system responses, family systems, and broader cultural and structural realities. His book, Overcoming Financial Trauma, and his whole approach are research-heavy, emotionally honest, and built to last.

Julien starts this con...

Life is life-ing. Prices are up, surprise expenses are regular, and your “simple” money goal keeps turning into a weekly argument with yourself (or your partner).
In this episode, we talk about why so many people are either going full finance drill sergeant in 2026, or avoiding goals completely. 

We break down what financial discipline actually looks like when your life changes mid-month, and how to build goals that bend instead...

There’s nothing like a surprise utility bill to humble your whole household. If you’ve ever stared at a bill wondering ‘how?!’ well, let’s talk about it. 

This week on the rich & REGULAR podcast, we're breaking down emotional manipulation, confusing rate plans, and overlooked hacks that are costing you real money on your gas, electric, and water bills.

This isn’t about living in the dark or taking cold showers. It’s about pa...

When life feels loud, getting rid of stuff can feel like relief. But if the stuff keeps coming back, the real issue is usually what the purchases were trying to solve in the first place. ​​So this is an  episode about what to ask yourself before you fill the donation bags.

We’re talking about materialism as a pattern and what happens when your things stop just being “things”. Kiersten gets personal about why decluttering has always ...

Today’s episode is brought to you by Nutre Meals, a practical solution for eating better at home when you don’t have time, energy, or interest in cooking every night.

The meals come fully prepared, fresh, and ready to heat in minutes. We tried them and were honestly impressed by the flavor, portions, and how easy it was to work them into a real week.

If dinner feels like one more thing on your list, Nutre Meals can take it off.
 ...

This is our annual “what to expect in the new year” episode, and our hot take is “affordability” is about to be the most overused, and least understood, word of 2026. 

You’re going to hear it everywhere, and this week, we’re explaining why that should make you a little nervous.

We break down why affordability is becoming the new catch-all word for economic stress, how it’s being used to sell certainty in an unstable system, and why m...

Kiersten here. This week’s episode is a solo one, and it’s inspired by a book I just finished called The Art of Spending Money by Morgan Housel. 

If you’re familiar with The Psychology of Money, you already know Morgan’s style: short chapters, clean sentences, and big ideas. This new book is about spending but not the kind most people are struggling with.

In this episode, I unpack:

• Who this book is really for
• Two core takeaways tha...

In a year full of work drama and career pivots, our most eye-opening lessons came from the places no one talks about on LinkedIn. Somewhere between the PTA meetings, school drop-offs, HOA group texts, and community events, we kept bumping into reminders that real work doesn’t always pay. And that’s kind of the point.

This week, we’re unpacking what happened when we leaned all the way into volunteering and brought our professional sk...

Kiersten here. It’s just me this week.

It’s been two years since my ADHD diagnosis, and in that time I’ve learned a lot. In this episode, I’m sitting down solo to unpack what this label actually changed, what it didn’t, and what I’ve had to unlearn about focus, money, and identity along the way. I’m revisiting the journey to speak directly to anyone navigating their own diagnosis (or the suspicion of one), especially while trying to...

We’re 30+ days into a government shutdown, SNAP benefits are disappearing, layoffs are ongoing, and a catastrophic storm just hit Jamaica. But beyond the headlines, people are privately struggling with job loss, evictions, food insecurity, and the mental toll of trying to “stay positive” when everything feels urgent.

In this week’s episode, we talk about how to be resourceful in the real, messy, "make-it-through-the-week" ...

It’s that time again…open enrollment season. And while we know this topic doesn’t get anyone out of bed in the morning, it SHOULD. Because buried in that HR email you ignored is a decision that could cost or save you thousands.

This week, we’re breaking down why so many people just auto-renew last year’s health plan, what rising premiums in 2026 actually mean for your wallet, and how AI can help you stop making five-figure decisions...

We recently teamed up with Consumer Reports on an eye-opening project that made us rethink how we evaluate, purchase, and engage with our homeowners insurance policy. This week’s episode is about what we learned.

Here’s what we unpack:

• Why homeowners insurance is way more confusing and critical than we thought
• What’s driving double-digit rate hikes (even if you’ve never filed a claim)
• How your dog, HOA, or even local crime rates af...

Food prices are up (again), takeout is 4x more expensive than eating at home, and yet somehow..dinner still ends up on your doorstep. That’s exactly why we created Eat Better, a new video series that makes home cooking feel doable, even if you're not “a cooking person.”

In this episode, we're breaking down why so many people aren’t cooking at home, and what it really takes to change that.

Julien talks about how 20+ years of...

If talking about credit makes you anxious, confused, or just flat-out annoyed… you're not alone. In this episode, we break down the truth about credit scores and reports: what they are, how they work, the most common myths people believe, and why it’s time we stop treating credit like a moral compass.

Whether you’re building credit for the first time, trying to bounce back from a rough patch, or just wondering why your score di...