Joe Rogers, founder of Contagious Events, is back on the podcast to answer audience questions about wedding planning – how to talk about money with your partner or family, how to identify priorities for the day, and how to identify the budget for your wedding. After over a decade of working with couples and navigating the ins and outs of wedding planning, Joe has noticed some things about the wedding industry that aren’t all flowers and lace and he is determined to improve the experience for couples. In this episode, he shares real examples to help you know what to expect as your navigate weddings, budgets and taboo conversations as part of the planning process. As a bonus, he also shares where couples tend to get the most sticker shock as well as what has changed in the industry post-pandemic.
talk money
099. A Year in Review
PodcastAnother one bites the dust! Katie and Katherine discuss the life events and big financial moves that we’ve made over the last year. As a reminder, we are not know-it-all experts. We are living and learning as we go. In this episode, we share some successes, some strange turns, and a few mistakes that got us through this year.
091. Smart Money Mamas
PodcastChelsea Brennan, the founder of Smart Money Mamas, is an ex-hedge fund manager turned financial educator. She joins The 411k to talk about money – specifically how to talk about money with kids.
Kids are always watching! Even without talking about money, they pick up money habits from those around them – especially parents. Chelsea and Katherine share how their money mindset changed when they had children and how their perspectives have shifted as their families has grown.
Whether you are a mom or hope to one day start a family, you won’t want to miss out on these healthy money habits!
090. Money & Happiness
money mindsets, PodcastWe talk a lot on the show about how emotional money can be and we hear a lot about money shame, guilt, and grief. But today we want to talk about happiness! Melissa Leong, author of Happy Go Money, joins The 411k to talk about how happiness and money are intertwined.
Melissa challenges Katie, Katherine and the audience to answer two questions…
(1) On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy are you right now? (10 being the happiest)
(2) How much money would you need to become a 10?
Tune in to hear what research shows about these questions!
088. Talking Money with Jason Tartick
PodcastInterested in more from Jason? Check out our 411k bookclub for more information on his book, The Restart Roadmap.
081. First Generation Investors
money mindsets, PodcastJully-Alma Taveras also known online as Investing Latina, is a Plutus Award-winning bilingual (spanish) personal finance expert. She is a Dominican Republic-born immigrant living in New York that went from being a shopaholic to a smart spender and diligent investor. In this episode, we discuss the pressure of being the first in your family to invest and how to talk money with friends and family.
Wedding Guest Budgets
Relationships, WeddingsWe are so happy to see our friends get engaged and we are honored to be invited to celebrate their special day! It’s even better when we can do so without going into debt to do so. Therefore, we need to get a little more clear one what to budget for.
How much are we talking about?
In 2014, an American Express survey found that the average guest spent approximately $592 per wedding and in 2016, the average increased to $888 per wedding. This is obviously dependent on a number of factors. According to The Knot, guests attending a local wedding spent approximately $185, guests who drove out of town spent approximately $600, and guests who flew to a wedding reported an average spend of $1,440. The average total spent also varies whether you are in the bridal party! If you are in the wedding, the average is well over $1,000. Now imagine getting invited to 3-5 weddings in one year all across the country…
Wait seriously? Yep, that checked out. In 2018, Katie attended two weddings as a guest. Between bachelorettes, bridal showers, travel, hotels, food, dresses, and gifts, Katie spent $681 and $746 on each wedding. Then in 2021, Katie was a bridesmaid in two weddings which added up to over $1,135 each. But these are just examples.
How can I keep costs down?
- Talk to your friends and ask them about their expectations. Do they expect you to travel for every event with a top of the line registry gift? Are they requiring hair and makeup for everyone? Are they flexible with the dress costs? What costs are they paying for?
2. Use travel points, miles and cash back available to you to cover expenses. I love saving my credit card points to get gift cards as wedding gifts for friends. Travel can be something that really gets pricey so if that means not staying in the room block to say a couple hundred dollars, that might be worth it!
3. Be thrifty! Don’t be afraid to shop used dresses or re-sell your dress on Poshmark or any other resale market.
4. Start a sinking fund! Set a budget and start planning for it early. If you know that the wedding next year is going to cost you $1,100, start putting $100 away each month now.
5. Be honest with yourself and your friends! Don’t lie to yourself. You might not be able to fit 5 weddings into your budget. So be honest with yourself and your friends about what you can and can not commit to. Maybe you can only really commit to the wedding day but will not be able to travel for the engagement party, bachelorette and shower.
5. Say ‘No.’ This is the hardest of them all but it’s okay to say no to a wedding invitation or any other event. Don’t go broke trying to keep up with someone else. Send a nice gift to the bachelorette if you can’t attend or ask to contribute in other ways to the wedding or shower. A nice gesture will save face and money in your bank. If they are a real friend, they will understand. Some times this is a secret blessing to the bride and groom who are trying to keep their own costs down.
074. Next Generation Investor
Podcast073. Scrappy Investing with Amanda Holden
Podcast, WTF isAmanda Holden, aka Dumpster Doggy, joins The 411k to get real about investing. Starting at 21, everyone is telling you to start putting money into a retirement account. Yes, we know that we are in a retirement crisis but there is so much more that we can learn about how to make our investments work for us. Amanda makes money fun and relatable so tune in to learn more about how to better understand how investing works.
053. Money in Relationships with Meredith Goldstein (2019)
Podcast, RelationshipsVALENTINES DAY SPECIAL! We are bringing back this 2019 episode to highlight one of our favorite conversations about money and relationships. We talk with Meredith Goldstein, author and advice columnist for the Boston Globe’s Love Letters. Our conversation with Meredith is the genesis for one of our favorite fun questions – “brand name vs generic” which is a fun game you can play with your partner this weekend. This episode was one of our original episodes so please forgive the fact that we are all sitting in Katie’s living room recording this episode without fancy microphones or sound editing.
045. This Girl is on FIRE
Podcast, WTF isCatie is a single graphic designer hustling to retire early by 35. She runs Millennial Money Honey where she shares her adventure to financial independence inspiring others to start their own journey. Catie joins us to talk about FIRE – Financial Independence, Retire Early. She’s sharing tips and tricks that she is using to save money for a work-optional future.
The 411k 