Broke no more: How to level up as a financial grownup with Broke Millennial’s Erin Lowry

 

Episode Description: Leveling up your lifestyle can be fun and exciting. Erin Lowry, the author of the Broke Millennial book and workbook series shares her strategies, and why putting it all down on paper in a workbook (like the one she just released) can help it all come together!

Video Highlight: Erin talks about buy-nothing groups.

Erin Lowry’s Bio: Erin Lowry is the author of Broke Millennial, Broke Millennial Takes On Investing, Broke Millennial

Talks Money and Broke Millennial Workbook. Her first book was named by MarketWatch as one of the

best money books of 2017 and by Business Insider as one of the best personal finance books for 2020.

Her second book was named one of the best self-help books for personal finance by VICE in 2022. She’s appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, CNBC, and The Rachael Ray Show and quoted in The New York

Times and The Wall Street Journal and has written for The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, USA Today

and Bloomberg Opinion. Erin lives in New York City with her husband and their rambunctious dog.

 
 

Links to resources mentioned in the episode!

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Full Transcript:

Bobbi Rebell:

When it comes to money, I think we can all agree we can never know too much- or if we are being honest have too much but let’s focus here my friends. According to the Society for Human Resource Management the majority of working Americans indicate that the personalization of seminars and webinars on investing basics and financial planning is important to them. And in that same survey they add quote “Employers would be wise to add or expand desirable benefits like financial wellness to attract and retain talent”- in other words- companies need to step it up if they want to get the best people on their team. Financial Wellness Strategies is the solution. We provide the top of the line financial wellness programs for employees to create financial grownups who focus on their jobs, because they know they are in control of their personal finances. Learn more and get in touch at financialwellnessstrategies.com. That’s financialwellnessstrategies.com- The time is now to invest in peace of mind. Welcome my friends to the Wellness for Financial Grownups podcast. I am your host Bobbi Rebell- Certified Financial Planner and author of How to be a Financial Grownup and Launching Financial Grownups. I also head up Financial Wellness Strategies which you just heard about. 

This week we are talking about leveling up your life responsibly- and as a financial grownup. We often start our adulthood with somewhat limited means and as we hopefully move up in our careers and grownup lives.. Have a little more wiggle room. But how do we know when we can upgrade our lifestyle? 

Spending can be fun but it can also be dangerous.  Which brings us to .. This week’s quote which is in honor of the new season of the sex and the city reboot “And just like that” and it was famously said by the lead character of Carrie Bradshaw played by Sarah Jessica Parker

"I like my money where I can see it, hanging in my closet." – Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City

Don’t do this my grownup friends. The closet is no place for our money with the exception I will allow- of some actual investment pieces. And no, I would not consider Carrie Bradshaw a financial grownup. In fact despite her high profile career, she is perpetually being rescued and/or supported financially by men. Hopefully Mr. Big had a lot of life insurance and she is getting it paid out in an annuity over time so we don’t see her living on her friend’s couch in her senior years. But we digress.

This week’s guest is doing just fine thank you. Erin Lowry is the author of Broke Millennial, Broke Millennial Takes On Investing, Broke Millennial

Talks Money and the new Broke Millennial Workbook. She is also a dear friend of mine who I asked to come back on the podcast to talk about how life has changed with all her success- and how we can upgrade as we go through life’s milestone’s. 

Here is Erin Lowry. 

My friend Erin Lowry, you are a financial grown-up. Welcome back to the podcast.

 

Erin Lowry:

Wonderful to be back.

 

Bobbi Rebell:

I'm glad you are back. We were delayed actually in this recording because I had something very grown up happening. I had a furniture delivery. We're upgrading our furniture here at the Rabell Kaufman household because our youngest is a teenager and we can actually have grown-up furniture these days. So that was exciting. And I actually invited you back on to talk first about your workbook, but also kind of about how to level up responsibly as we go through the different life stages of being a grownup. So welcome back.

 

Erin Lowry:

Love to be here, love this topic.

 

Bobbi Rebell:

I know, we've known each other quite a while. Take me back to the beginnings of Broke Millennial when you really were broke.

 

Erin Lowry:

I was. It started as a blog for those who are unfamiliar back in January of 2013, but the actual broke millennial behavior predated that. I moved to New York in 2011. I was working three different jobs. I was a page for The Late Show with David Letterman. I was a barista at your favorite mermaid logo Starbucks coffee chain. I also was a babysitter. I was working opening Starbucks so I'd have to get there at like 4.30 or 5. Then I would run home, shower to get the smell of coffee beans off me, go to my next job working as a page. I would do that from usually about noon to 6 depending on the taping day. And then I would go from that to babysitting and I was usually there from about 6.30 to either 10.30 or 11 and rinse and repeat. And for all of that, I made my first year about $23,000. So I'm going to go ahead and do that. I was very broke, but also very industrious. Sometimes I think back on that phase of my life and mixed behaviors. I was taking leftovers home from absolutely anything I could. If there was a leftover to be had, it was going in a Ziploc bag and coming with me home. At Starbucks especially, we couldn't give away the food because there was a liability risk. But if it was... at past expiration or past sell-by date, but still totally safe for consumption, it would have to get thrown out. So I was like, could we throw this out into my backpack so I can take it home? The amount of sodium that I was ingesting at that phase of my life, I'm very fortunate my heart didn't explode. But so many of these behaviors were about trying to minimize costs elsewhere. Like I was trying to offset my grocery bill. I would do so many hack things like. stand in line for a really long time to get rush tickets to a Broadway show before you could like digitally enter lotteries. And I had like a really fun social life, but it was balanced out with spending a ton of time in order to get tickets to things, usually waiting like three to four hours before a box office opened. And that my friend is the biggest way I've leveled up my life is now I'm like, Oh, no, I will pay the money for the tickets.

 

Bobbi Rebell:

Doesn't that feel so good?

 

Erin Lowry:

So good.

 

Bobbi Rebell:

So good. And by the way, I do want to remind everyone leftovers are not just for struggling broke millennials. Everyone should take home leftovers if you don't finish your meal. I still do it.  I do it all the time. I know maybe it's a little embarrassing. Maybe I shouldn't, but I do. I do. I think that you shouldn't waste food no matter what. And there are now, there's even apps now. I think one is called Too Good to Go. We'll leave the link in the shownotes,as they say. And I use that, although I feel like that's very carby too. There's a lot of carbs.

 

Erin Lowry:

anybody who lives in a city with too good to go, if you're hosting something, it can be a really great way to kind of do a potlucky style host from professionally cooked food. A, so much of it freezes well. So even if it's like, well, tonight I don't necessarily want this XYZ food item, just freeze it and then bring it out at a later date or use it as a side on something. So it doesn't have to be like too carb heavy depending on how you eat.

 

Bobbi Rebell:

Wait, quick tangent, we should explain what it is to people that don't know. And also, I want you to tell us what kinds of things you get, because I tend to get the baked goods, so maybe that's my issue. You obviously have a better methodology, so give us that random tip.

 

Erin Lowry:

Well, first, ToonGood to Go is an app where local restaurants, also grocery stores, all sorts of different food purveyors are in the app. And at the end of their business day, they have a ton of surplus. So they will pack little baggies and you can claim one. I think it runs in cost from maybe like $4 to $10, kind of depending on where you're getting it from. And it's always a grab bag, a surprise of whatever they have leftover. And depending on the time they close. So there's a pizza shop near me that might not be a till 1030 or 11 p.m. pickup, but, you know, the Alice's Tea Cup near me, which is always like scones and delightful pastries, the one near you probably doesn't do.

 

Bobbi Rebell:

I should do that too.

 

Erin Lowry:

Yep. So they are usually maybe like a 4 p.m. pickup, so you can also kind of decide based on your day. So you pay in the app, a couple of bucks, go in, you show your phone to the person who just hands you a little baggie and you got a surprise delight meal and you're saving food, which is great. The other thing I would recommend for folks who live in an area where there is an unhoused population is if it's food that you want to rescue, but don't necessarily either want to consume yourself or you just want to give, it's a really great way to also save food and then redistribute to people in need in your area.

 

Bobbi Rebell:

Excellent. All right. Back to upgrading your lifestyle responsibly as we move beyond the broke phase, broke millennial in your case. I was never really truly broke, but I was definitely watching my pennies as a Gen Xer, and I'm sure this applies to many Gen Z. It applies to everybody. How do we level up as we grow up?

 

Erin Lowry:

Well, the big thing obviously is to consider lifestyle creep, right? Like everybody always talks about, oh, lifestyle creep, it's so bad, it's so dangerous. And while that can be true, sometimes it's necessary as well. Like there are certain behaviors that I was engaging in when I was broke that I don't need to nor want to do, nor is it beneficial necessarily to my life now. But other ones that are great, like prioritizing saving and making sure that I'm spending within my means. So I would say it's important to holistically evaluate. what behaviors you're holding onto from different stages of your life, and determine are they helpful or harmful to what I am trying to achieve financially. Now oftentimes if we're thinking about prioritizing saving, living within your means, AKA budgeting, AKA spending plan, whatever you want to call it, those are helpful behaviors. And as you earn more, you can obviously spend more, but you also want to make sure it's in alignment with what you actually value. I think sometimes people come into money at a certain phase of their life and then get a little overexcited about it and maybe spend on things that they think they're supposed to have at XYZ stage of life as opposed to, I want to actually own this. And my last tip is invest in quality. I think sometimes we just buy things because we think we're supposed to have them or we just try to find the cheapest option, not necessarily the best play because you end up replacing them way too quickly.

 

Bobbi Rebell:

Yeah, I've definitely made that mistake, especially with some very cheap furniture that I bought early on that I thought I would trade up from very quickly. But in fact, it's been more than a decade and I got stuck with furniture that's really low quality because I didn't want to splurge at the time. And I think there's kind of a happy medium. What are some examples of ways, specific things that people should level up on? And what are some examples of things that are the common mistakes?

 

Erin Lowry:

That's a great question because I do find that to be hyper-specific to what you need and want in life and kind of where you are. One thing that I think is a really interesting example for New York City or other walking cities, shoes. That's one where a lot of times we tend to kind of skimp or cheap out and buying high-quality shoes. walking as your main mode of transportation is an incredibly important investment. And also something that maybe you could go to a cobbler and have your shoes resold as opposed to keep throwing them out and buying new ones over and over. That is something that's actually an interesting investment where you might live in a city that you know that's not as important. You can kind of buy the cheaper version of shoes. So that to me is always an interesting difference because I remember my friends calling that out for me very early on. Like you have such expensive sneakers. Yeah, because they last a long time and I walk everywhere all the time. So thinking really what is important to you. Another classic example I think about with travel, right? There are people who are going to fight to the mattresses on the idea of, oh, you should buy first class or oh, you should never, ever, ever pay for first class. In fact, buy the absolute cheapest ticket you can on a flight because who cares how you're getting there? What matters is when you're there. It depends, right? It totally depends on the person. It depends on the time of day you're flying. It depends on how old you are. It depends on what your mobility levels are. It depends on what the intent of the trip was. If you're getting off a red-eye flight to give a keynote speech, you probably don't want the last row in front of the bathroom on an airplane because you need to have slept before you get there. So again, I think so much of how we invest and use and spend our money. needs to be in alignment with something that actually matters to us and works for us and just cancel out the rest of the noise of people telling you what you should be doing all the time.

 

Bobbi Rebell:

And you make a good point about when it matters more, like the example you gave of the keynote, that's really a business choice. That's a business investment in yourself. Even you might see a young person driving a really fancy car, but you find out that they are in a business where they have clients in their car. For example, a real estate agent driving a client around, maybe that's important to have a fancy car that they wouldn't normally have. So it all has to be put in context.

 

Erin Lowry:

It does. And I also think we live in a time where there's such a different economy around acquiring objects, where you have buy-nothing groups, for instance, where you can get things that are gently used for free. There is also such an economy around renting, particularly if you work in an industry where you need to have certain outfits all the time. Maybe you're on air. Maybe you have to attend certain kinds of events. Do you need to invest in every single piece of clothing or could you rent some of this clothing or at the very least borrow from some of your peers? So I do think that's the other part here is while I do think there's a lot of validity in investing in high quality pieces, when can you also just figure out another way to obtain something that you need, particularly for a short period of time? Parenting I think is another great example of that. There seems to be so much pressure around getting the best for your kid, what you need to use, what you're supposed to be having. One, talk to other people to see if they actually used those things. Shout out also to wedding registries. Ask people what did they actually use and what they didn't from their wedding registries. But when it comes to parenting, how long is your kid going to be an infant? Pretty short period of time. So do you need to be buying all of those things? Could you get hand me downs? Could you rent them? Is it something that you want to keep cluttering in your house? So that's the other thing to really think through.

 

Bobbi Rebell:

Absolutely, and I definitely second that with all the parenting because I will tell you after many years of parenting The number one most popular gift and many parents will agree with me is the box that the gifts come in That's what the kids actually will play with. Let's talk about the workbook Okay, you have three best-selling books in the broke millennial series, but now you have a workbook. Tell us more about it

 

Erin Lowry:

So the workbook is largely based on the first book, Broke Millennials, Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together. But now we have Broke Millennials workbook, Take Control and Get Your Financial Life Together. It is all new material. It is really this concept of you can do all the reading you want, but you have to put pen to paper and you actually have to put plans into action. So it's really meant to encourage you to do the hard things like face your numbers, like create a debt plan, like figure out how to handle your student loan. Shout out to the fact that those are coming off of a pause pretty soon. So it's really important to actually do the work and not just read about the content and the theories.

 

Bobbi Rebell:

And I do find that I still make lists actually on paper. There's something about writing things down. I love apps. I love all kinds of programs on the computer that can calculate. investment returns and all the things. But there is something very tangible about having a physical workbook and being able to work through your numbers and really see them. And maybe if there's somebody else, if you have other stakeholders in your finances, whether it's a spouse or a family member or what have you, sometimes it's something you can sort of do together or show each other and it becomes a lot more real than showing people on the screen.

 

Erin Lowry:

Absolutely. And the other big part too is there's a lot of focus around setting goals and the psychology of money. So really kind of digging into not only your why around money, but how you emotionally relate to money. Because, spoiler alert, that's what's going to impact everything for your whole life.

 

Bobbi Rebell:

Absolutely. And that's actually that brings me, I can plug my own company, Financial Wellness Strategies, which focuses on just what you said, the psychology of money and finding ways to approach money that are more than just learning what it is, is learning why we do the things we do and what we can do to change the things that we're doing so we get to where we want to go. That was a little convoluted, but hopefully that made some sense. Aaron, where can we find out more about you? I know that the workbook and all of your bestsellers are available. everywhere. Where can we follow you, Brooke Millennial, and learn more about your next adventures? Actually, I didn't even ask you what are your next adventures.

 

Erin Lowry:

taking a little time off of book writing, which I say every time one comes out,but it'strue right

Well, you can find me on sub stack at broke millennial with Erin Lowry, Instagram at broke millennial blog, brokemillennial.com is the website, and the books are available wherever books are sold, the most recent being broke millennial workbook, and you do not have to have any other book in the series in order to use the workbook.

 

Bobbi Rebell:

But you should get all the books. All right, thank you so much.

 

Erin Lowry:

Thanks very much for having me back. Always wonderful to be here.

We all want to live our best financial grownup lives and one way to do that is to know that the people we care about are also in a good place when it comes to their money. That might mean our kids, our grandkids and yes- even our friends. But how. Its’ awkward. You see them struggling- pretending to know more than they do- or making bad money decisions but don’t know what to say- and even if you say something supportive- then what? That’s why I wrote Launching Financial Grownups. In Launching Financial Grownups I share the tools and strategies so you know what to say to take the pressure off and give those you love the confidence they need. It's about giving those we care about the right amount of help, at the right time- so they can not only learn what they need to know about being financial grownups- but also be confident they can do it- and that you will be there to cheer them on. Pick up a copy of Launching Financial Grownups - I promise you will be so happy you did. I agree with Erin that there is something about physically writing things down whether they are to do lists, goals or just seemingly far-fetched dreams- so definitely consider picking up the Broke Millennial workbook- which we will leave a link to in the show notes- go to my website bobbirebell.com and click on the podcast tab. 

 

This week’s extra credit assignment is to do something off screen. It can be Erin’s Broke Millennial workbook. It can be reading a physical book. It can be writing someone in your life a little note to say that you appreciate them. Not a text, a note that you leave somewhere they will find it - or even mail them a note. Something away from a screen. 

 

Let me know what you choose by DM-ing me on instagram at bobbirebell1. And if you are not already please stay in touch for more grownup money tips by signing up for my newsletter at bobbirebell.substack.com.

 

Big thanks to Broke Millennial’s Erin Lowry for helping us all be financial grownups and invest in peace of mind.  

 

Wellness for Financial Grownups is a production of BRK Media. Editing and production by Steve Stewart, guest coordination, social media support, and show notes by Alliee Borbon. Artwork by Chelsea Perez. You can find the podcast show notes, which include links to resources mentioned in the show, as well as show transcripts by going to my website, bobbirebell.com. 

To get even more out of this podcast, make sure you are also on our newsletter list to get more free content to live your best financial lives. There is a link in the show notes but you can also sign up at bobbirebell.com or at financialwellnessstrategies.com. And be a friend- share the podcast with your friends by taking a screenshot and sharing it on social media. Make sure to tag me on instagram at bobbirebell1. And while your there- follow me- and if you DM me that you listen to the podcast I will follow you back. You can also leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Reading each one means the world to me. You can also support our merch shop, grownupgear.com by picking up fun gifts for your grownup friends and treating yourself as well. And finally my grownup friends, don’t forget to invest in peace of mind. Thanks everyone. 

 
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