Let's Talk Money

Definition
The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the U.S.  It conducts monetary policy (print more money, raise interest rates, etc.), regulates banks, makes sure the financial system remains stable, and provides financial services to U.S. banks, foreign governments and the public.

Why It's Important
The Federal Reserve directly affects the interest rates you pay on your debt and the interest rates you earn on your savings.  This year they have raised the Fed Funds rate 2 times from 1.5% to 2%.  You may have noticed your interest rates changing, this is why!  Keeping an eye on "The Feds" decisions can indicate what your next move should be!  I bought my house when the Fed Funds rate was 0.75% in 2017.  Now, I am locked into a low interest rate compared to what's available today! 

Tired of reading about budgets?  I made a quick video to give you the basics!

https://youtu.be/IAz5qzJAYx4

So, I just came back from Miami. It was so fun spending time with some close girlfriends.  It was something we had never done before and by the end of it, we were already planning the next one.  We are all single moms and it was great being able to get away to let loose a little bit.  When you are the only person in the household bringing in income, you have to constantly be on "work mode".  The success of the household depends on it.  Anyway, enough of that, let's get into my money lessons from the trip:

Flight
I love Google Flights!  I used it to book our plane tickets and it is indispensable.  The ease of finding cheap tickets is awesome.  We actually chose our dates around ticket prices to get the best deal possible at the time.  Round-trip ticket = $204.99 + $50 bag fees = $254.99

Miami is EXPENSIVE!
Living in North Carolina, I am used to a very low cost of living.  I am talking $4 to $5 for a fast food meal.  When I...

Oh, the dreaded student loan!  I made a video about some information you should know...

https://www.youtube.com/a-dT6I7Ad3s

I just came back from a vacation this past weekend.  We had soo much fun!  My boyfriend "won" a 3 day, 2 night vacation in Virginia that we decided to take advantage of.  Who wouldn't want a free vacation?!  Well, of course it came with a couple of strings attached.  Here is what I learned:

Enticing You to Arrive
My boyfriend put his information into a sweepstakes to win a 3 day, 2 night vacation at his local Pizza Hut. A few weeks later he recieves a phone call saying that he won! Of course, he was excited and so was I! They explained on the phone that not only did we get the vacation but we also get a $50 Longhorn Steakhouse gift card and 2 vouchers for 2 more 3 day, 2 night vacations. This sounded to good to be true but since we only had to put $75 down as a deposit that we would get back after we listened to a presentation on one of the days, we decided to give it a go. We booked a date and marked it on our calendar.

Targeted Demographics
While I was...

We had a ball (literally) for July 4th!  In my efforts to save money, I decided against the usual cookout for friends and family and spent the day relaxing.  My dad was in town so the boys spent time with their grandpa while I received some much needed down time.  Of course, I wasn't going to spend the whole day without my boys.  Later that night, we went to a baseball game (on the cheap).  This is how I made it happen...

The Tickets
The tickets were gifted to us from one of my grandpa's friends.  They had season tickets and couldn't make the July 4th game (#score)!  I snatched them up quickly (in hindsight, I'm glad I did because it was a sold out game).  It is not everyday you can attend a baseball game for free!  I didn't care where the seats were located!  Fortunately, when we got there, we realized the seats were stellar.  They were front row right behind home base.  It was great for the kids to see how the pitches...

It's heating up outside!  That means you will start seeing more and more yard sales popping up.  I decided to try my hand at yard sales for 3 weekends in the month of June.  I opened it up to family and friends to see what would happen.  I will preface this by saying that this was my first yard sale EVER.  I would always donate everything but being that I am not working, I wanted to see how much I could make.  Over the 3 weekends, I made about $400 just from my sales.  This is what I learned:

Tip 1 - Location, Location, Location
Make sure wherever you are having your yard sale is a high traffic street or area.  My street gets quite a bit of traffic so I figured it would be a good place to set up shop.  Analyze the traffic in your neighborhood.  I used my Ring Doorbell to see how many cars come through on a typical Saturday.  If you do not get a lot of traffic, find a friend whose street does and ask if you can bring...

I think I have been bitten by the Vlogging bug.  I am going to try to record a video a week!  I have fun talking about money and this allows you to see me in my element!  I get so many questions about investing.  To most people, it is uncharted territory so it may be hard to grasp some concepts.  I attempt to break down what you need to know in 7 minutes!  Please let me know what you think!

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I don't believe I finally made a video!  It was a lot harder than I thought it would be.  I believe this was my 5th take!  I don't envy actors and actresses at all!  I hope you enjoy it.  Let me know what you think.  

Also, I left all of the bloopers intact.  LOL!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ6lUZ-xMzk&feature=youtu.be

JUST LAUNCHED

I want to feature your questions on my blog, YouTube channel, and podcast.  Submit here and you could be featured!  Let's continue the money talk!