Internationally recognized financial expert Adam Carroll was on the show a few years back, but now he’s just released his latest book, The Money Savvy Student. With that in mind it was time to check in with him again and find out what is happening with his career and what drives his popularity. His previously successful books, Winning the Money Game, and 30 Days to 1K, are still selling well and the new one is expected to enjoy the same kind of success. As well, he’s recently released a long awaited documentary, Broke, Busted, and Disgusted, to be broadcast by CNBC. Listen To The Podcast:                         Time-Stamped Show Notes [01:10] Intro and background [05:05] Carroll’s worst financial decision. How he learned from that mistake, revamped his strategies & teaches others. [08:30] Common-sense post-holiday strategies for recovery from over-spending and starting the new year off right. [13:01] Raising money savvy kids and promoting “financial literacy.” [15:15] The power of knowing your numbers. [20:00] Simple strategies for simplifies and earning extra cash. [23:06] How an assignment from a teacher in Texas changed everything. [26:45] A story that inspired Adam (and thousands since). [31:05] Carroll thoughts on eradicating overwhelming student debt. Adam Carroll: Know Your Numbers After the holiday spending most people realize they have overspent and that it is time for some belt-tightening and penny-pinching. The realization that they have plenty of debt makes them remorseful and tight-fisted. But financial expert Adam Carroll cautions about being too quick to zip up your wallet. “I want you to buy one more thing before you pull in the reins,” advises Carroll. “I want you to spend seventy-nine cents on a spiral-bound notebook and write down everything you spend on a daily basis, whether it’s $1.19 for a pack of gum or $1.89 for a soda.” Carroll believes that most of us tend to spend much more than we estimate. The act of writing in the notebook is geared towards bringing your spending into consciousness, because most people do it unconsciously. Know what is coming in, and know what is going out. Post-Holiday Purging There is a tendency to overindulge over the holidays not just with food, but with gifts, giving as well as receiving. “Your house seems like it got smaller because of all your new stuff,” jokes Carroll. In the Carroll household, they use January and February to purge what they no longer want or need, by donating or selling unnecessary items. Craigslist could become your best friend during this period. In his book, 30 Days to 1K, Carroll walks through the steps and shows how it can pay off. If you read just one chapter a day for 30 days, you will finish the book in a month, you’ll be rid of a lot of unnecessary items, and you’ll have money to show for it. The Money-Savvy Student The Money Savvy Student was mostly written for high school and college kids. Carroll spends a great deal of time talking to assemblies in schools, enlightening teens and young adults about how they can take control of their financial future and avoid paying off student debt for decades. A teacher in Texas gave students an assignment to write down every article of clothing they were wearing and assign a price to it. Then, every bit of food they would eat that day, and assign a price. Those numbers were to be multiplied by seven days of the week, and then by fifty-two weeks for the year. He then reminded them that was just the bare bones of survival. They still had to add in glasses, braces, sports equipment, cell phones, surgeries, extra-curricular activities, etc. When one of the students asked why he gave them that assignment, he replied, “So you will know how expensive you are.” It is estimated, Carroll says, that it costs about $250,000 to $300,000 to raise a child to the age of eighteen. Apparently some of the students took the assignment to heart and had a change of att...

Mitch Matthews dives into his three favorite strategies for your best holiday season ever. Each strategy is posed in the form of a question that only YOU can answer. By using these strategies in your own life, you will be able to experience this holiday season with more joy, peace, and fun. Listen To The Podcast:                         Time Stamped Show Notes [03:20] The first strategy and the story behind it (I get personal… so get ready) [12:19] Some science behind the power of gratitude [18:15] Second strategy (This one will help you to stay present) [22:50] An accountability tool you can use to stay in the moment [26:24] Third strategy - This will help you to replace worry with something better [32:30] We’ll talk about a recent “experiment” that helped me to overcome the “worry ninjas” that can sneak into the holidays   Question #1 - What Can I Be Grateful for in This Moment? The first to admit that the holidays can sometimes be tough, Matthews remembers one from six years ago. He was struggling with his business and money was in short supply. Pulling his pickup into the Target parking lot, his intent was finding gifts for the family. He and his wife had already discussed postponing gifts for each other until after the holidays, but he still needed to buy for the family. As he swept through the doors, Christmas carols were playing, and cheery holiday decorations adorned the store. He wanted more than anything to be able to provide for his family, give great gifts, and make it a magical season. Instead, all he felt was a heavy sadness. He couldn’t bear it. Turning around, he headed back through the doors, straight to his truck. As he watched shoppers emerge from the store, their faces reflected joy or worry. Only one word described how he felt: broken. Not wanting to let his family down, he had to do some speedy inner coaching to get his thinking straight. He knew right away what to do. He asked himself one of his favorite questions: “What can I be grateful for in this moment?” He wasn’t feeling much gratitude, so he started with something basic. “One of the simplest things was the truck I was sitting in,” he recalls. “It was warm, it was running, and had gas in the tank.” He realized that he and his family had their health, and a few gifts to give. Absolutely nothing had changed except his attitude and yet he drove off feeling so much better. “There is actually some science behind this question,” says Matthews. A study was done with a group of acknowledged worriers. They were split into two groups, and blood tests were done to measure serotonin and dopamine levels to establish a baseline. There was no medication involved, but the “treatment group” was asked to write down two or three things every day, think about them, and feel gratitude for them. After one month their serotonin and dopamine levels increased, and they reported feeling happier, less depressed, more creative, and sleeping better. Tests were done monthly for six months. After that, they were advised to stop the “treatment”. A month later they tested their blood one more time. The levels remained improved. The control group remained as they began, with no improvement in serotonin or dopamine levels. Researchers concluded that the treatment group had retrained their brains to look at the world differently. Question #2 - What Is Something I Don’t Want to Miss? This time of year is hectic. There are so many commitments, gatherings, parties, and extra social events that it is easy to miss some things. You can even be present for an event, but miss it. Matthews says, “You can be there, boots on the ground and still miss something.” Matthews confesses he is a recovering perfectionist, trying to make every Christmas for his family look like a “Hallmark movie.” For him, the best part of the holiday season is Christmas Eve at home with his wife and children. That is top on his list of “I don’t want to miss.

A full-time job doesn’t mandate ignoring your passion. By routinely reviewing your purpose and engaging in honest self-evaluation, you can incorporate both a fulfilling vocation and avocation into your life. Started three years ago, the movie review blog Russelling Reviews is the brainchild of American born Russell Matthews and is his contribution towards "creative dialogue between church and the entertainment culture".  Now living in Australia with his wife and four children, Matthews works full-time as the Engage Manager in a Christian outreach ministry, City Bible Forum, and part-time as a movie reviewer. Listen To The Podcast:                         Time-Stamped Show Notes [04:26] How the blog Russelling Reviews started. [11:14] Finding the time for a full-time job and part-time business. [20:01] Three points for figuring out your purpose. [25:50] The three upcoming films Matthews is excited to review. [31:28] How to harness your passion and start a part-time business. Do What You Love But Keep Your Day Job Starting a sideline business can be challenging on its own, but when you are juggling it with a full-time job, as well as with a wife and four children, challenging becomes somewhat of an understatement. Russell Matthews has worked full time with a Christian outreach ministry,City Bible Forum, in Sydney, Australia for the past ten years. He’s the Engage Manager, which is all about community outreach. With only 5% of the Australian population being regular church-goers, he has his job cut out for him. Three years ago his blog started as a result of two things he loves. Christianity is very important to him and he is crazy about movies. Matthews grew up in a family that adored movies. A favorite family past time over the years was viewing movies together followed by rousing discussions afterward. These fond memories encouraged him to continue as a movie buff throughout adulthood. It was not a stretch then when he decided that reviewing movies in relationship to Christianity would be a good niche for him. His blog, Russell Reviews was well-received when it was first published on the Insights website and it continues to grow in popularity. His reviews appear in Insights Magazine and Entertainment Fuse. Matthews is passionate about his blog and his mission to "tie in the movie to a faith component and spark dialogue around it." It doesn't hurt that he gets tickets to see the movies before they are open to the general public, or that it is his job to watch movies. Then he works to "pinpoint the quality of a film and write a quality review." His reviews also appear on Reel Dialogue, which cites its purpose as "engaging with films, without disengaging your faith." Three Key Evaluation Factors Checking in with his motive and purpose regularly is a priority for Matthews. In doing so, there are three key components he must examine to be sure he is on course. He likes to stay grounded and "keep it real" by starting each day off by having a talk with God. No day is too busy to skip this all-important step. It's a way of being honest with himself about what he is doing, why he is doing it, and evaluating whether he needs to think about changing course. Read commentaries and ideas regarding the Bible. Examine ideas and review their validity with regards to the written word. Submit to honest self-evaluation. Is this all worth it? Is my course of action the best thing for my relationship with God and my family? Favorite Memory So Far Often Matthews receives only one pass to a film preview, but sometimes he gets a pair. He loves it when he does, because that means he can take his wife or one of his children. He recently had the pleasure of viewing a film with his eleven-year-old daughter, Carolyn. When he asked her what she thought of the film, she replied, "Well Dad, I was thinking about the different levels in this film..." It took him back to his childhood and discussi...

Finding your passion can take a bit of searching. When you identify it, don’t wait for permission from someone else to act on it. Kristina Kuzmic embodies this mindset, going from down-and-out to a social media sensation that Huffington Post calls “parenting comedy at its finest.” Listen To The Podcast:                         Time-Stamped Show Notes [02:00]  How Kuzmic's new career began [05:20]  Coming from hard times [07:45]  How to find your passion [09:45]  Live your life paying attention [11:21]  Recognizing that sometimes passion is fueled by anger [13:00]  Don't wait for permission from others act [18:24]  On posting a video with no sound [19:56]  The creative process [23:33]  Kuzmic’s followers view her as a friend [25:00]  Dealing with insecurities and fears [28:00]  Monday Wine Milkshakes [30:15]  Final words of wisdom [33:07]  Contact info An Avalanche of Change Success rarely comes fast and easy. The process of identifying your passion, finding a way to act on it, and sustaining follow-through can be tough. No one knows this better than social media sensation Kristina Kuzmic. She’s received rave reviews from People Magazine for her fun, parenting videos on YouTube and has upwards of a quarter of a million followers on Facebook. Her confidence shines through her smile and you'd never guess that just a few years before, she was recovering from a marriage break-up and living in one room with her two kids. She bought them bunk beds and slept on the floor next to them. They got by on food stamps and her three part-time jobs. Though she dreamed of better things, she had no idea of what dramatic changes were about to happen. Kuzmic wanted to find meaningful work but had no idea where to start, so her new husband handed her the car keys and said, "Go. Take a drive and figure it out." Her career goals, it turned out, were not lofty. She wanted to create fun videos for YouTube. So she did, and people loved them. When a friend encouraged her in 2010 to submit an application to The Oprah Network contest for a new show, she did. Less than a month later she got a call from the producers and ended up with her own cooking show, “The Sticky Cook”. She also ended up with a brand new car courtesy of Oprah. Kuzmic's head was spinning from the rapid-fire change in her life and she remarks, "Instead of giving me a glass slipper, Oprah gave me a car!" Something about that struck home, and Kuzmic says, "I had been feeling like a loser and a failure, but when I got the Oprah show I realized that Oprah believed in me more than I believed in myself. It hit me like a ton of bricks, but the good kind of bricks, not the bad ones." Finding Your Passion People often have difficulty pinpointing their passion or purpose. Kuzmic's advice for that is to “try just paying attention to what gives you goose bumps. Write that down. I had a whole list of random notes in my phone.” When you have accumulated 100 notes or so, review them and look for a common thread. "That is your passion," Kuzmic says, "build on that." In working with her own passion, Kuzmic found her vision unfolding and realized that she wanted her videos to support and encourage moms. Don't Wait for Permission The only problem with the video idea was that Kuzmic didn't have a good camera and she didn't know how to edit. All around her she saw people waiting for permission, for some third party to tell them their idea was good and it was okay to move forward. In her own life that wasn't happening, so she decided to put her videos out herself. "No more excuses. I'm just going to get this done," she said. With her do-it-yourself attitude Kuzmic made plenty of mistakes, but she kept moving forward. She realizes there must be others like herself, who berate themselves for making mistakes. "If that person is out there," laughs Kuzmic, "just remember that I have a video I posted where you can't hear me talking....