Diania Merriam is the creator of EconoMe. EconoME is a one-day conference aimed at reclaiming the American Dream. The American Dream started as an idea that every person had the right to pursue his or her own idea of happiness. EconoMe is about reclaiming that right!
While EconoMe has roots in the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement, the conference founder really believes that happiness comes from freedom, creativity, and community. EconoMe subscribes to a new American Dream that doesn’t necessarily include excessive material possessions, conveniences or money.
In this week’s episode, Diania talks about her journey getting out of $30,000 of personal debt and what gave her the motivation to pay it off by aggressively saving 60-percent of her income. Her debt free journey and her philosophy about the American Dream led her to create EconoMe.
Show Highlights
- Why Diania is already 8 years away from financial independence
- Mr. Money Mustache, the blog that started it all for Diania
- Saving 60 percent of her income to aggressively pay off debt
- Focusing on a goal gives you a real reason to start saving
- The magic number for being financially independent: 25x your yearly expenses
- Investing via low-cost index funds
- Maxing out retirement accounts
Key Takeaway: The American Dream doesn’t have to include excessive material items and money. The American Dream is really living your ideal lifestyle and working on things that you want to do, not things that you have to do.
This Week’s Sponsor
- Gusto – Gusto offers modern, easy payroll benefits to small businesses across the country — they were even named best online payroll by PCMag. And as a listener, you’ll get three months free when you run your first payroll at Gusto.com/paychecks.
- University of California Irvine – If you are trying to start a new career, advance your career or better develop an appreciation of the world around you, UCI Division of Continuing Education has the resources needed to support your undertakings. There are certificate programs and specialized studies programs available making it easy to advance your career in as little as 6 months. For 15-percent off, visit ce.uci.edu/PaychecksBalances
Mentioned on This Week’s Show
- MrMoneyMustache.com
- Playing With FI/RE Documentary
- The Simple Path to Wealth: Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life
- PB73: Mastering Financial Independence and Student Loans with Robert Farrington
Our Favorite Tools This Week
Available exclusively to our email subscribers, see why 15-minutes can change the next 15 years with our free 15 Minute Paychecks & Balances Money Plan: Your Guide to Financial Freedom.
Raise Your Credit Score and Better Manage Your Debt
- D.E.B.T. Free: A 4-Week Starter Kit – Get Paychecks & Balances, LLC. signature course today! Based on our popular book, Debt Free or Die Trying: How I Buried Myself in $30,000 in Debt and Dug My Way Out, this actionable 4-step program helps you create a debt free plan you’ll actually follow.
- SoFi – offers a full range of financial services, from personal loans to refinancing to investing. Marcus has used SoFi twice and has nothing but good things to say about their easy to use services. Use our referral link and get $100 when your loan is funded.
Break the Paycheck-to-Paycheck Cycle
- Digit – Struggling to save money? Sign-up for Digit at paybal.co/digit to automate your way to saving hundreds or more! Digit analyzes your spending and automatically saves the perfect amount every day. Read why Rich loves Digit and how much it’s already saved him.
- Tiller – The only spreadsheet templates powered by an automatic feed of your finances directly into Google Sheets and Excel. Easily budget, track expenses. Get started here!
- Freshly – Behind only housing (33%) and transportation (16%), food-related expenses (13%) is the largest expense category for the average household. Freshly delivers chef cooked, healthy, wallet-friendly meals that fit any budget. Use our referral link to take 2-weeks off from cooking with $20 off your first two orders.
Side Hustles and Passive Income
- How to Start a Blog – Michelle Schroeder-Gardner is the self-made millionaire behind MakingSenseOfCents.com who credits finding her purpose and sharing her story through blog writing for her personal and financial success. With her easy-to-follow course, you can be up and running a blog in less than a day!
- Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing – Over 50-percent of Michelle’s How I Made Over $1,500,000 In 2018 revenue comes directly from successful affiliate marketing.
- Making Sense of Sponsored Posts – You can also quickly learn how she made her first blogging income, and how she now makes $10,000 – $20,000 a month with sponsored partnerships.
Announcements
- Want personal finance, work and money presentations tailored to your next seminar or conference? Request us here!
- Learn more about Marcus’ continually updated Debt Free or Die Trying series.
- LIKE us on Facebook.com/PaychecksandBalances or FOLLOW us on Twitter @PayBalances and Instagram!
Get Our Free Guide
Get our FREE 15-Minute Money Plan today! We will use this to send you emails about our products and special offers. You'll also receive actionable work and money tips and interesting reads that'll keep you professionally and financially woke.
