TPG’s Executive Editorial Director Scott Mayerowitz joins Bobbi to answer the top questions he’s being asked about the travel business during the Coronavirus crisis. 

Your Top Coronavirus Questions Answered

Bobbi Rebell:
You are the executive editorial director at The Points Guy, so the perfect person for us to come to with all of our travel questions.

Bobbi Rebell:
Before we get to those, tell us what's going on at TPG?

Scott Mayerowitz:
We've just been so busy. A lot of people right now are in this cancel, cancel, cancel mode, and trying to figure out how to change trips, or cancel them. We've been guiding them through that, there are a lot of questions about elite status. Then, some of us, the most optimistic, are already looking towards those late spring, early summer trips, hopeful that we can book, but just a little bit fearful. So, we've been really busy, just helping people through this whole process.

Bobbi Rebell:
You personally, you're grounded? You're coming to me, from your home.

Scott Mayerowitz:
Yeah, I'm coming to you from the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I had canceled a trip to Texas for work the other week, and I just today ended up having to cancel my May 1st trip to Portugal. I was holding on for the last second, but today was the day to get my miles back, and I decided to do it.

Bobbi Rebell:
How far ahead are you personally canceling plans, Scott?

Scott Mayerowitz:
The May 1st trip to Portugal was the only one I needed to get rid of. I have a summer family trip in August to Aruba, hopefully that will go ahead, but who knows? Right now, what I'm actually doing is I'm using my miles and my elite status to book a lot of things with flexibility, so using miles to book flights. I've got Bermuda, and the Bahamas booked. I'm actually thinking of nesting some trips together, just in June, to hold them with the hope that I can take at least one of them.

Bobbi Rebell:
What does that mean, nesting some trips together?

Scott Mayerowitz:
So, I would put together the weekend of June 6th, a trip. I would book another one, for the following weekend, and one for the following weekend. Hopefully, one of those trips will actually come together, in the end. But, I'm doing fully refundable bookings right now.

Bobbi Rebell:
Which are more expensive, in general. How are flight prices, then? I mean, my gut would say they're dirt cheap, but then again, are they more expensive because there are so few flights?

Scott Mayerowitz:
What I'm seeing there is there's so many schedule changes, you can see great flights. Someone the other day was telling me they saw $114 from New York to San Francisco, for the peak of summer, compared to $400, which is a normal peak summer fare.

Scott Mayerowitz:
The catch with all these, the airlines are giving you a lot of flexibility, but you're not going to get cash back. What you're going to get is a voucher, that's only valid from a year of booking. So, if you book something on March 25th, you have to use that voucher by next year. I have elite status with airlines, so I'm booking on miles, because I can redeposit those miles, for no penalty, back into my account and just cancel a trip.

Bobbi Rebell:
So, that would be advice for people, if you are booking travel ahead, use miles?

Scott Mayerowitz:
If you have elite status, especially because then you don't have to pay the redeposit fees. If you don't have status, it's like $75 to redeposit, it may or may not be worth it. The flexible cash tickets right now are really good, as long as you know that you're going to get a voucher, not actual cash back, so hopefully within the next year, you can use that voucher if you have to change your plans.

Bobbi Rebell:
So now, let's get to some of the questions that we had planned to go over, these are questions that you're getting from a lot of your TPG followers. The first one was, and we've already touched on this, airline elite status.

Bobbi Rebell:
What are airlines doing?

Scott Mayerowitz:
Yeah, it's kind of amazing. The folks at The Points Guy keep writing into us and saying, "How is my elite status going to be affected?" All the airlines are saying, "We understand this is an issue, that you are grounded for three, maybe four months, you can't fly as often as you want to, to get your elite status." Right now, some of them are doing some cuts.

Scott Mayerowitz:
Like British Airways is doing a 30% reduction, for all of its members on tier status and basically saying, "Here's the new threshold, good luck with this. Hopefully, we can get you there." They're all doing extensions of any vouchers, or companion tickets that might be out there. US Airlines haven't yet pulled the trigger on this. They are, I think, waiting to see how big the fallout is going to be for them, and just how long the pain is going to continue. But, I would look to see, probably, a 20, 30, even 40 percent reduction in what the qualifications are for elite status for airlines.

Bobbi Rebell:
Of course, let's also turn to the second question you're being asked, which is the hotels. What are the hotels doing for their elite status customers?

Scott Mayerowitz:
Yeah, here's it's a little trickier because we're seeing all sorts of different policies out there. Similar, there have been a few where its been 25% reduction in the qualifications. Others are not even talking about this, yet.

Scott Mayerowitz:
Hilton has, actually, one of the most generous policies. They basically said, "If you have elite status right now, we're going to give you another year, for free." Even if you don't have to travel, they're going to extend the status out for another year, they're doing the same with their free night certificates, any other vouchers that people will have. That is, by far, the most generous program that we've seen, to date. Hilton is in a battle with Marriott, they want to win over a lot of people who weren't happy with the merger of Marriott and Starwood, so they're coming out first with this policy, and trying to be as pro-consumer as possible. I give them a lot of credit for this, I think this is one of the best things that we've seen any airline or hotel do, and I hope others will follow.

Bobbi Rebell:
Do people need to do anything proactive with both the airlines and hotels, to get these? Or, is it just going to be automatically put on their account?

Scott Mayerowitz:
It should be automatically put on accounts, but one of the things that I always say is keep very close eye on all your accounts, and make sure you're getting what you're due.

Bobbi Rebell:
Let's go back to talk about the airlines. How are domestic airlines handling cancellation? This is for just everybody, not just the elite people. And, talk about flight waivers?

Scott Mayerowitz:
Yeah. Flight waivers keep changing, as the cancellations keep going out. There's a lot of flexibility right now, that if you have future travel, you can go ahead and get a voucher that you can use within a year of your purchase date to travel.

Scott Mayerowitz:
Let me just explain that. Let's say you were going on vacation April 15th, and you had a ticket purchased back in January, and you decide that you want to get a voucher for that. That is good only until next January, so it's one year from the date of you actually purchasing the ticket. A lot of people just need to be aware of that.

Scott Mayerowitz:
Others want their cash back, they don't want these vouchers. What I would say there is hold onto that ticket, be patient. The airline is probably going to cancel your flight on you, and once they cancel that flight, then you are legally entitled to get a cash back for it. Watch carefully, the schedules, and as soon as they cancel it, then you can get cash instead of a voucher.

Bobbi Rebell:
How much wiggle room is there if you call? Have the agents been given more latitude, in terms of how much they can accommodate customers, when you call a customer service line?

Scott Mayerowitz:
Not tons, airlines are desperate for the cash so they're trying to upsell you into vouchers. I've been hearing a lot of, if you ask for a refund they're going to say, "We can do that, but are you interested in a voucher instead?" They might add 20% extra value onto that. So, some people can come out ahead, if you definitely know that you're going to fly that same airline, and within one year of the ticket purchase. You're getting an extra 20% bonus there, you could use that for a trip that is hopefully discounted, given all that's going on.

Bobbi Rebell:
Right. There's negotiability, in terms of the value of your voucher. And maybe there's negotiability, you tell me, on that date? Because, what if you purchased your tickets very far in advance for a big trip, and the trip is a month away? But, you purchased it 11 months ago, that doesn't give you a lot of wiggle room from the purchase date. Is there negotiability there, just being reasonable?

Scott Mayerowitz:
It doesn't hurt to ask, but that's one that the airlines, traditionally, have not budged on, and that's where you're going to run into your headaches, especially for those trips that you booked a while ago.

Bobbi Rebell:
So then, you want to be watching for that flight to be canceled?

Scott Mayerowitz:
Yes.

Bobbi Rebell:
How are flying conditions changing right now? I got a notice from an airline today, talking about their social distancing efforts, because planes are notoriously ... We're squeezed in there so tight, how do they, then ... I mean, I guess it's happening naturally, that so many people aren't showing up for flights, but what's it like to actually fly, for people that are flying? The few and far between, and I guess far between literally, in between their seats.

Scott Mayerowitz:
Yeah, if we talk about airline occupancy, about a year ago you had about 89, 90 percent of all seats filled on planes. What I'm hearing from the industry sources right now is you're looking at 10, maybe 11 percent of seats filled, across the entire system. There are plenty of flights where there are just completely empty planes out there. Some that they'll run, some that they'll cancel. There are tales of airlines actually booking the middle seat, when you book a seat, to actually create that social distancing.

Scott Mayerowitz:
The TSA is saying 85 to 90 percent of the passengers that normally come through its checkpoints aren't coming through. You're seeing cases in airports like New York and LA, where they're actually closing terminals. So, you don't have a TSA checkpoint, you basically have empty airports.

Bobbi Rebell:
That's because so many of us are staying home, okay. We love to travel, what can we do to satisfy our travel bug, literally from the couch?

Scott Mayerowitz:
This is one of the great things about technology, is everybody has been doing virtual tours, or YouTube videos, where they're guiding you through their museum, zoo, aquarium, theme park, whatever it is. I've been amazed at this. We've been watching some of the Cincinnati Zoo videos with my daughter. All the major museums, art galleries, natural history ones, are doing virtual tours. Disney World is letting you actually ride all of its rides, through these great videos that they've put together.

Scott Mayerowitz:
I could go on and on about the list, between national parks, state parks, places like the Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina, they've all come out with these amazing virtual tours, to keep you entertained.

Bobbi Rebell:
And we can find those through your website?

Scott Mayerowitz:
We have a story up on ThePointsGuy.com of some of our favorites, and then any institution that you want to visit has a link on their home page, too. But, we've curated a list at The Points Guy, of our favorite virtual tours.

Bobbi Rebell:
Last question. I want to end talking about good things. Tell us, how will the travel industry come back from this?

Scott Mayerowitz:
This is one that's going to take a while for the industry to really become much more profitable, but for travelers, they're going to be fighting for us to come stay at the hotel, so this will be a renaissance of deals, earning points and miles, and we'll guide you through all of those.

Scott Mayerowitz:
But I think it's also going to change the way we travel. I've been, for two weeks, with my wife and daughter, in our Manhattan apartment. We go out for a daily walk, and keep our social distance, but that's about it. I'm an extrovert, I love to travel, and I always love talking with people. But, I think now, I'm going to look at my travel very differently. Yeah, I'll probably still go and sit on the beach at some luxury resort, but I'm going to want more experiences where I get to learn from other people and interact, because that's really what we're craving.

Scott Mayerowitz:
As much as I love my family, and I do, I want to get out, and meet other people, and have actual conversations. I think you're going to see people, around the globe, missing that connection, and really changing the way that we travel, in the coming months and years.

Episode Links:

• Scott Mayerowitz's website - www.thepointsguy.com

Follow Scott!

• Instagram - @globetrotscott

• Twitter - @GlobeTrotScott

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

There are lots of money challenges with living abroad starting with just how do you even manage your money? Do you need to open a foreign bank account? Tess Wicks joins Bobbi from Italy to co-host this Financial Grownup Guide

3 Money Tips for Living Abroad

• Depending on your plans and the country you are traveling to, make sure you are legally allowed to be there

• Why it's so important to know what the financial requirements are to move to another country

• Why it's not only important to understand the currency conversion, but also to also find a credit card that has zero transaction fees

Episode Links:

• Tess’ website - Wander Wealthy

• Day in the life with Tess on Instagram

• This is a great piece on value investing from one of my favorite websites Investopedia!

• Tess' Invested program- The Invested Program

Follow Tess!

• Instagram

• LinkedIn

• Twitter

• Facebook

• YouTube

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Traveling like a grownup can be overwhelming. Pavia Rosati had the world class intel everyone wanted.  But she and her Fathom co-founder thought they needed a business savvy partner. Except they never found Mr/Ms. right. So they stepped up their game and did it themselves. 

In Pavia's money story you will learn:

“You need to think about time as money when you travel. You don’t have an unlimited time budget and so make sure you are spending your time as wisely as possible.”

That's right. When we started this business about nine years ago, we didn't really have the money locked up tight. We didn't have a full proof business plan. We had ideas for how to make money, but we had the vision and we had the drive, and at a certain point, we stopped talking about it and we're like, okay, we're just going to do it. In hindsight, it would have been better if we had also had somebody who was kind of the money yin to our content and experience yang.

Bobbi Rebell:
Was there any business plan? Any revenue projection plan?

Pavia Rosati:
There were. There were. We didn't think about this at all. Digital media is, it's a moving target right now right. We had plans for where the money would come from, but when the industry changes, and the ad market changes, and people's online behaviors change, you need to be able to adjust your business models accordingly.

Bobbi Rebell:
What happened specifically? What was your original plan, and then what happened?

Pavia Rosati:
The original plan, we actually did have somebody who was going to come on board as the business partner. At the end, she said, you know what, I just can't take the risk. I don't have the entrepreneurial courage that it takes to go out and do this. What's funny, when you launch a business, it's like dating. Everybody has you, oh, you should talk to this person. Oh, you should talk to that person. I swear, in the first year of the business, I had coffee with someone else, and someone new.

We ultimately made the decision of, you know what, if the alternative is not to do this, or to wait until we find the right person, the moment might be too late, so let's just do this and get this out there, and then see where we end up.

Bobbi Rebell:
What happened? You didn't have a business partner. What actually happened in terms of the business part of Fathom.

Pavia Rosati:
The business part of Fathom is [Gerilyn 00:05:13] and myself doing the business. It means that we're the ones who hustle for the deals. It means that we're the ones who close these deals. It means that we've discovered our inner sales people, and we've been able to do it because we've been able to stay afloat, and we've been able to keep doing this. But, the question is, had we had somebody who was a serious, serious business person, where could we have been, and how much more could we have done, and how much more money would we have made?

Bobbi Rebell:
Interesting. Can you think of any examples where you felt the real lack of that?

Pavia Rosati:
There was a project that we were pitching that we were very excited about working on. The person that I was negotiating with said, here's my budget. I said, hmm. Yeah, I was thinking three times that. I thought, oh God, this is when it all falls apart. Instead, he came back and he said, okay, that's fine. That was a great, very lucrative project for us.

One of the times when it really would have been helpful to have some money and some business muscle behind us was a few years ago when we launched these fantastic honeymoon guides to Italy. I love the fact that we cover the whole world. The question we get again and again from people who are seasoned travelers, or people who never travel, is help me figure out my trip to Italy. So we came up with these fantastic itineraries, three days, in Florence, Venice, Rome, and the Amalfi Coast. Think of it as a concierge in your pocket. These guides are amazing. Anybody who found them and downloaded them was like, Oh my God, this is perfect. One small guide and my whole trip is planned.

Had we had somebody, however, with a lot more marketing experience, we could have gotten the word out about these things out to the thousands and tens of thousands of travelers who would have wanted these for their summer vacations to Italy.

Bobbi Rebell:
You're doing the work but you're not getting the attention that you want. How have you solved that, or have you?

Pavia Rosati:
Finding an audience is the ongoing struggle that anybody who is creating content, is struggling with all the time. There is no perfect answer to this. Getting our great work to the people who need it and who are looking for the information, is the constant struggle that we face, but that we're also not alone in facing. I mean, the internet is wonderful because it gives you access to everything, but guess what, everything is too much. There's too much noise. We always say that we do everything we do at Fathom to really cut through the clutter. To instead of giving you everything, we give you a really tight edit so that it's not overwhelming. So that you can read one article, and base your Caribbean trip just on that one article.

In Pavia’s money lesson you will learn:

“Nothing makes me more sad than being in a foreign country and seeing everybody sitting at the table looking at their iPhones. ”

Even though you're driven to do something, imagine what will happen if you don't have a safety net. Works for your plan B, works for your plan C. Have all of that stuff figured out, take the time to do that and then dive in. You will end up on much more solid ground.

Bobbi Rebell:
Your safety net was relying on each other and figuring it out, and having the courage to act as your own advocate. As in the case when you just mentioned where you got triple what they wanted to pay, because you stood your ground.

Pavia Rosati:
Yes. Correct. Because we stood our ground. Listen, we've lost out on things also. It's not all, we've lost out on things because we are smaller. The challenge and the reality of the ad market place right now online is a lot of companies are just after millions and millions of eyeballs, and worried more about the numbers than the quality of what they're getting. We deliver on quality, but what we sometimes lose out on is quantity.

Bobbi Rebell:
That's something that I truly believe is evolving. I think we're seeing with a lot of, for example, the influencer market. People are moving away from, or at least paying more attention to, the micro-influencers, and paying less attention to or, maybe being more realistic, about these giant influencers. The stickiness is not always the same as a micro audience that might be interested in say a podcast, or a blog or whatever, that's very niche. I think there's a lot more interest in that because the value of quality and engagement. You probably have a very engaged audience.

Pavia Rosati:
We do. We have a very engaged audience. The only criticism we ever hear is, I wanted to go to fill in the blank on the most remote place on earth, and you don't have a full guide yet. Work faster.

In Pavia's everyday money tip you will learn:

“The internet is wonderful because it gives you access to everything but guess what? Everything is too much. There is too much noise.”

Correct. Of course my tip is going to be about money. You're absolutely right. You need to think of time as money when you travel. You don't have an unlimited time budget. So make sure that you're spending your time as wisely as possible. When it comes to money, there are really simple things that you can do before your trip to make sure that you have things taken care of. Number one, not every place you go is going to have the most reliable ATM machine that's working where you need it to work. So maybe, plan ahead and have some cash available, if you're traveling in a foreign currency, to get you through the first day or two, until you can get to an ATM or a bank where you can change money.

Similarly, plan your tips in advance. Have a couple of euros in your pocket. Have pesos in your pocket so that you don't have to be fumbling for change when you want to give a porter a tip, or worse, give someone a dollar bill, because there's nothing that's worse than handing someone a $3 tip, then they would have to go to the bank to change that? Terrible.

Bobbi Rebell:
Right. We sometimes, in America, assume that everyone really wants dollars, and sometimes they don't.

Pavia Rosati:
That hasn't been the case since like 1960. I have to tell this to my Dad all the time. He's like, I'll leave $100. I'm like no papa, they don't want to have to go to the bank to change some money. No. Other things to think about in terms of time and money when you're traveling is, invest in the things that are going to make your trip better. Invest in really good suitcase, so that you're sure that your stuff arrive safely. When you are thinking about auto insurance, know before hand, what does your credit card cover, what doesn't it cover. When you're getting on a plane, know what your points are. Does your credit card give you access to lounges at the airports? If so, which one.

I keep a file in my contacts of every lounge of the airports that I go to that I know which I have access to, through my credit card.



Financial Grownup tip number one:

Sometimes, the perfect partner is really late. Pavia and her partner were searching for a business oriented partner to add, and they never found them. They had to step up and just do it themselves. It wasn't their plan, it wasn't their ideal, and it still may change if they find the right match. And yeah, things might have been better if they did find that match earlier, or not. But just like you have to live your life even if you haven't found the perfect, let's say, romantic partner. It's the same with business. You got to keep moving. The right business partner may have not been there for the startup phase, but maybe there's someone that's right for them now that the company is more mature. They're looking, but they want the right fit, and that's a good thing.

Financial Grownup tip number two:

If you are a workaholic, yes, I'm looking in the mirror. One chapter that I loved in the book, travel anywhere and avoid being a tourists, was about the coolest coworking spaces. Here's the things everyone. Work should not keep you from traveling. But that doesn't mean that everyone really, especially maybe you're an entrepreneur, you have your own business, or you have a job with a lot of responsibility. Maybe you really can't take the time off that you feel that you need, or that people outside are telling you that you need. Maybe it doesn't make sense to put up walls between work and life and to go on this unplugged vacation. Maybe, you're going to enjoy your vacation more if you can do let's say, three days of vacation, and one day in a coworking space in that foreign city, or that other city that's not where you work that you're going on vacation with. Maybe that's actually going to help you stay on top of things, enjoy things more, focus on the days that you are "on vacation", but you can do work occasionally in that city and remain tied to your business in a ways that gives you comfort. So that when you come home, you aren't in catch up mode, and also frankly, before you leave.

Episode Links:

Pavia's Book Travel Anywhere (And Avoid Being a Tourist)

Check out Pavia's website -

www.FathomAway.com

Follow Pavia!

• Instagram - @FathomWayToGo and @PaviaNYC

• Pinterest - @FathomWayToGo

• Twitter - @FathomWayToGo

• Facebook - @FathomWayToGo

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Do Spring Break like a Financial Grownup! Amazing tips from guest co-host Lee Huffman, host of the We Travel There podcast which shares the locals perspective on destinations. Lee, who also writes the blog Bald Thoughts, shares 5 tips to save you money and let you focus on the fun.  

5 Spring Break Travel Tips

• Using miles and points to pay for flights and hotel is a no-brainer.

• The best ways to save money on airport parking

• Ways to save money on food while traveling

• Ways to save money on attractions

• How to keep your home safe while you're away

Episode Links:

Lee's free email course 7 Days to Your Dream Vacation

Lee's Websites

www.BaldThoughts.com

www.WeTravelThere.com

Follow Lee!

• Instagram @BaldThoughts

• Twitter @BaldThoughts

• Facebook @BaldThoughts

• Pinterest @BaldThoughts

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

There are lots of money challenges with living abroad starting with just how do you even manage your money? Do you need to open a foreign bank account? Tess Wicks joins Bobbi from Italy to co-host this Financial Grownup Guide

3 Money Tips for Living Abroad

• Depending on your plans and the country you are traveling to, make sure you are legally allowed to be there

• Why it's so important to know what the financial requirements are to move to another country

• Why it's not only important to understand the currency conversion, but also to also find a credit card that has zero transaction fees

Episode Links:

• Wander Wealthy

• Day in the life with Tess on Instagram

In this Financial Grownup podcast episode we talk about the 3 money tips for living abroad. #LivingAbroadForAYear #LivingAbroadTips

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Tori Dunlap saw big dollar signs when she took a new job, but the red flags she ignored during the interview process soon created an impossible situation.. and a new appreciation for the emergency fund she never thought she would have to use.

In Tori’s money story you will learn:

-Why she regretted her first job out of college

-Red flags to look for during a job interview

-How trusting her gut helped her make the right decision

In Tori’s money lesson you will learn:

-Things to consider before taking a job

-Why it's important to have an emergency fund

In Tori’s everyday money tip you will learn:

-How to score deals on hotels when traveling

In My Take you will learn:

-How to start an emergency fund

-What to do if you don't have the cash for an emergency fund

Bobbi and Tori also talk about:

Expedia

Rockstar Finance

EPISODE LINKS:

Check out Tori's website here: https://www.victorimedia.com/ 

Follow Tori!!

Instagram @victorimedia

Twitter @victori_media

Linked In @Tori Dunlap

Transcription

Tori Dunlap:
She just looked at me and she goes, "Are you leaving or are you staying?" And so I said, "I think it's best for both you and I if I were to move on," and she goes, "Great, your last day will be tomorrow." And I felt panicked.

Bobbi Rebell:
You're listening to Financial Grownup, with me, certified financial planner, Bobbi Rebell, author of How to Be a Financial Grownup, and you know what? Being a grownup is really hard, especially when it comes to money. But it's okay, we're gonna get there together. I'm gonna bring you one money story from a financial grownup, one lesson, and then my take on how you can make it your own. We got this.

Bobbi Rebell:
Hey Financial Grownup friends, so given that you're choosing to listen to a money podcast, you probably have an emergency fund, or you know that you should have one, and hopefully are working on building one up. I'll be honest, my family's goes up and down. It's not always where I want it to be, but this story, shared with us by Victori Media's Tori Dunlap, is going to lock into your mind why so many financial experts go on and on and on and on about that darn emergency fund. Special welcome to our new listeners, so glad you found us and that you are here and to our regulars, we appreciate your support, you're everything to us, so please continue to listen to the show and to support it by telling friends that you think deserve to live a richer life. Maybe do a quick screenshot and post it on social media, make sure you tag me at Bobbi Rebell on Twitter, at Bobbi Rebell one on Instagram, so I can thank you and on that note to our inspiring guest, Tori Dunlap.

Bobbi Rebell:
She is the force behind a new blog, Victori Media, which focuses on career and personal advice for millennials that, as you will hear, is already drawing a lot of attention because it's just really good. Here is Tori Dunlap.

Bobbi Rebell:
Hey Tori Dunlap, you're a financial grownup, welcome to the podcast!

Tori Dunlap:
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

Bobbi Rebell:
You came to my attention because you have been nominated at the only awards that count, of course, the [inaudible 00:02:10] awards, as best new blog and then I was checking out your blog and I had to have you on the podcast. So thank you for being here.

Tori Dunlap:
It's been so awesome. This is my first spin con, and obviously my first nomination, my first kind of finalist opportunity, so yeah, I'm just over the moon, thrilled.

Bobbi Rebell:
We are joined, because I am of course honored that this podcast was nominated as best new podcast, so we'll be up there with the newbies the two of us, hanging out I think. Woo hoo.

Tori Dunlap:
It'll be great.

Bobbi Rebell:
Alright. You brought with you a money story that I found a little bit shocking, but maybe it's not as unusual in the millennial world, I'm a gen X-er. But maybe it's not that unusual because you kinda just went with your gut. Tell us, Tori.

Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, so I took a job for the money and ended up regretting it very very hard.

Bobbi Rebell:
Let me just interject one thing though, a lot of the time jobs are about money. You should take a job that pays enough money. It shouldn't be just about the money, but money does matter.

Tori Dunlap:
Oh totally. Yeah. I mean if jobs didn't pay us money we wouldn't show up.

Bobbi Rebell:
Exactly, so it's okay to take jobs for the money but clearly there was something else going on that didn't work.

Tori Dunlap:
Totally, yeah, so I was looking to get out of my first job right out of school and I realized I wasn't growing, I wasn't learning anything. I wasn't feeling challenged in the way that I wanted to.

Bobbi Rebell:
What kind of job was it? What were you doing?

Tori Dunlap:
I worked ... I actually ended up leading digital marketing and communication for this global security company, so my job right outta college, I was the only marketing, communication, or PR person for this 5000 employee company. So it was really crazy and I just knew being kind of this team of one, there wasn't a lot of growth trajectory for me there. So after about a year and a half I knew it was time to leave and I got approached by this recruiter who told me this job that sounded perfect on paper. It was a digital marketing manager role, which is what I know, what I'm good at, what I love.

Tori Dunlap:
I came in to interview and something in my gut just didn't feel right, the office was like half office half showroom. Everybody there, they weren't really talking to each other, there was only about 12 people in the office. But I'm a really social person so that was kind of a red flag for me, but I went in and interviewed anyway and I interviewed with the woman who was to be my boss and she was the CEO of the company. Within about 10 minutes of that interview she offered me the job on the spot, which again was kind of a red flag, I'm like, I know I'm awesome but don't you wanna ask me more questions?

Bobbi Rebell:
Were they desperate? What was going on?

Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, that was definitely what it was and so I didn't know this at the time, but the position had been open for about seven months. So they were really looking to find somebody. She asked me what my salary range was, and I knew in order to make a leap from my previous job, where I had just received a 20% raise, I knew it was going to have to be another jump up, so I asked for 20% more than what I was already making, expecting it was going to be a negotiation, expecting she'd counter. And she just agreed, and she said, "Well this is 20 thousand more than we paid the last person, but we really like you and we really want you to jump on board."

Bobbi Rebell:
Which is really flattering.

Tori Dunlap:
Oh so flattering, especially for me, and a lot of us struggle, especially-

Bobbi Rebell:
How old were you?

Tori Dunlap:
I was 23.

Bobbi Rebell:
Wow.

Tori Dunlap:
A lot of young women, especially when you suffer from imposter syndrome, and so it was something that was validating but also scary and also just overwhelming and exciting. I went home and I talked it over with my daily who I'm really close to and close friends and I couldn't put my finger on why, just my gut was telling me, no this is not for you. You're not gonna be happy here, this is not the environment that you will thrive in.

Tori Dunlap:
But I saw dollar signs and I couldn't say no. So I ended up accepting the job. Went in, by day two I knew it wasn't going to be a right fit. I ended up leaving the office, calling my mom and saying, "Hey mom, I don't think I'm gonna be able to do this." And like all good moms do, she's like, "Stick it out, it'll get better, it'll be fine." It ended up just being a really really unhealthy work environment. I had really negative interactions with my boss, I was crying myself to sleep at night, I was scared I was going to be fired. I was tasked with these really demanding, overwhelming workload that wasn't feasible for one person to do. I wasn't happy. I wasn't healthy, I wasn't thriving, I wasn't feeling fulfilled at all.

Bobbi Rebell:
This is a lot more than just not being fulfilled. This is really, this is your life. You can't be in that kind of situation.

Tori Dunlap:
And I knew in my gut the entire time, my gut was telling me, "This is not for you. This is not for you. This is not what you want. This is not where you should be." And I didn't listen because I was dreaming about how much I was going to be able to save for retirement and like a New Zealand vacation I was going to be able to take and all these things. So I ended up having to quit that job. Basically because it was so unhealthy after about two and a half months without another job lined up, which is the ultimate personal-

Bobbi Rebell:
Tell me about quitting. How did you quit?

Tori Dunlap:
She was kind of pushing me out. So I knew if I didn't quit first it wasn't gonna be good, it was gonna be pretty ugly and I didn't wanna go through that. So I had this huge project that I wasn't trained on, I ended up finishing it even though she was kinda rooting against me, which was a horrible feeling and had the project finished by 8:30 am on a Thursday. I went into her office an hour and a half later, and she just looked at me and she goes, "Are you leaving or are you staying?"

Bobbi Rebell:
She knew. She knew. Wow.

Tori Dunlap:
Yeah. So I said, "I think it's best for both you and I if I were to move on," and she goes, "Great. Your last day will be tomorrow." I felt panicked talking to my family. My parents, of course, were really worried. I'm an only child, so they're very involved in my life and especially my finances and so they were really worried for me. I knew it was the right decision and I felt so much relief when I walked out of there at three o'clock on a Friday.

Tori Dunlap:
Even though I didn't have a job I luckily had an emergency fund, which is something that I really advocate for. I had enough money that I could survive while I found a new job, but I felt such relief being able to be happy and just leave and to not have to worry anymore.

Bobbi Rebell:
Well, I'm happy that you had the strength to do that because it is a brave thing. And it's scary. What is the takeaway for our listeners?

Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, I would say trust your gut first off. Just understand that, of course, a job at the end of the day is about making an income but it's also where you spend eight plus hours of your day for five days a week around people you hopefully like and respect and with a manager who hopefully likes and respects you and vice versa. So make sure you're trusting your gut in any sort of situation, but especially through a job application and a job interview process.

Tori Dunlap:
And second, make sure you have an emergency fund, whether it's needing to get out of a bad situation in a job or needing to leave a partner who you live with or anything that is an emergency, you getting unexpectedly ill or you get a flat tire, having an emergency fund is so important to be able to give you the freedom to make decisions that you wouldn't be able to if you didn't have one.

Bobbi Rebell:
Let's talk about your everyday money tip because it's perfect for people that love to travel and travel well. Because part of growing up is not always having to stay at the youth hostel or the budget hotel, whatever. Sometimes you're ready to be in the grownup hotel.

Tori Dunlap:
We're gonna go in a completely different direction here. Much more positive and exciting.

Bobbi Rebell:
Much more positive.

Tori Dunlap:
Yeah. But one of my favorite money tips that a lot of people don't realize is, you and I were both talking before, we really like luxury boutique hotels, for me they're just a great way to see a new city or to just get a different perspective from a chain hotel. But they're often expensive and people often use third party sites like Expedia or orbits to book on. And that's great, but usually what happens is they actually don't give you the best rate, and that surprises a lot of people. So if you go to the hotel's website or if you call them directly, they usually offer you a discount or some sort of perk, like free valet parking or a free breakfast because you're booking directly with them.

Bobbi Rebell:
Because they pay those sites a commission, they have an incentive to have you book directly.

Tori Dunlap:
Totally. And you're supporting the local business in a way that you aren't if you're booking with Expedia or one of those other sites. So that's a really fantastic way to support that city, support that local business, and to also, hopefully, get a perk out of it as well.

Tori Dunlap:
And if something were to happen as far as needing to change your booking or an emergency comes up, the hotel itself is a lot more flexible. If you try to call Expedia you're waiting on hold forever and they're usually more stringent with their cancellation policies so you're not the hotel's customer until you're actually in the hotel if you book with one of those third party sites. So booking directly just makes the whole process way easier and then hopefully saves you money or gives you some sort of perk as well.

Bobbi Rebell:
Yeah, that's really interesting that the hotel doesn't really engage with you until you're there if you book through the third party systems. I never really thought about it like that, but it makes a lot of sense.

Tori Dunlap:
Yeah, it's a great tip.

Bobbi Rebell:
Alright, so I am new to your blog, but I am also getting a little bit obsessed with it. Some of the headlines, just for people to know, alright, Five Ways to Combat Imposter Syndrome, so relatable, Four Lessons I Learned From Rap Songs, not relatable 'cause I don't listen to rap but definitely got me curious. And then I think my favorite one on there was 17 Ways to Be Productive at Work When You Have Nothing to do, 'cause this happened. One of my jobs early in my career I tend to be a bit of a workaholic and sometimes my coworkers don't have the same enthusiasm for their jobs and I would finish a story early and wanna just do more stories, just because. And my coworkers didn't wanna do that. So I would be left sitting there, kind of lost, because I wanted to do more stuff. So tell me more about that article and maybe some of your other favorite ones, and the blog in general.

Tori Dunlap:
I write about personal finance and career for millennial women, a lot of the blog content that you see is written by me, and I also bring in different voices so actually most of the articles you listed were some of my really great female friends who are also writing about career and finance and so I really try and bring in different perspectives too so it's not just me droning on and on. But I love talking about negotiation so I have some negotiating posts on there, like exact scripts to use when you're calling third party sites, kind of like we mentioned or when you're negotiating a cable bill or a phone bill, the exact script to use, that's something I really love doing.

Tori Dunlap:
Summer's over now, but it's good all year round, I just wrote a post about financial to dos that you can complete over the summer. So give yourself a three month period and they're really easy, really actionable as far as checking them off as you go, and then yeah, I just sourced one of my favorite articles that I've written recently, I sourced from Rockstar Finance, just a bunch of different texts from people about a way to manage your finances in under 10 minutes. So again, super actionable, easy to do and that was inspired by a post I myself wrote about 11 ways to better your finances in under five minutes, so especially for us millennials, if your finances are sort of out of control or it seems overwhelming, it's hard to get started. It's hard to start chipping away at that iceberg. But these small little things that you can do that take no more than five 10 minutes a day is a great way to get started.

Bobbi Rebell:
By the way, Rockstar Finance is another great website. So alright, so tell us more about where to find out ... where to find the blog and where to follow you on all the socials.

Tori Dunlap:
Yeah. So my name is Tori so Victori Media is spelled with an I, V-I-C-T-O-R-I media.com and you can connect with me there. Find all the blog content as well as all the social media accounts are liked to Victori Media, so I'd love to have you stop by.

Bobbi Rebell:
Thank you Tori!

Tori Dunlap:
Thank you so much for having me Bobbi.

Bobbi Rebell:
Hey everyone. Let's talk about emergency funds, and if you don't have the cash to fund the three to six months many experts recommend, what do you do? Financial Grownup tip number one, if you don't have the cash for an emergency fund needed and want to make sure you have access to cash at a reasonable interest rate homeowners can get something called a heloc, that's a home equity line of credit, now you have to take this out before you need it. That's the key thing, but it will give you a financial life line if needed. And except for any fees to set it up, if you don't use it you're not paying interest, so it can just be there if and when you need it, and hopefully that'll be never.

Bobbi Rebell:
Financial grownup tip number two, Tori talked about booking hotels directly with the actual hotel, I've recently started deliberately booking flights directly with airlines. I do my research and I google flights, and third party services like Expedia, but I actually try to book directly on the airlines that way if a change is needed or there are changes in weather, what have you, I found the airline is better able to help you if you're in their system directly. In general, unless a third party middle man is bringing you real value, there's no real downside to cutting them out.

Bobbi Rebell:
Alright thanks to all of you that have subscribed. The show is free to you. But for us, to keep at it, we do need your support, so please do all the things, subscribe, rate, review, and most of all, let people know about us by recommending to friends. And if you haven't read my book, How to Be a Financial Grownup, it just got more affordable because it just came out in paperback, so please check it out. And while you're at it, tell your friends to check out Victori Media, and thanks to Tori Dunlap for helping us all get one step closer to being financial grownups.

Bobbi Rebell:
Financial Grownup with Bobbi Rebell is edited and produced by Steve Stuart and is a BRK media production.