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Your Money Style Blog
Welcome to the Your Money Style Blog!
At Your Money Style, we're here to help you take control of your finances in a way that works for YOU. Our blog is your go-to resource for practical tips and insights on everything from earning more income, investing wisely, managing debt, saving smartly, and budgeting effectively. We believe in making personal finance easy to understand and empowering you to make confident money decisions.
Along with our in-depth articles, you’ll find podcast show notes and a variety of resources designed to spark real conversations about money—no shame, no stigma, just a focus on building financial wellness. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to level up your financial journey, we’ve got you covered!
Let’s build your version of wealth, together.
Maddie & Meghan
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How to Actually Break the "That Won't Work for Me" Mindset
Last episode, we named something we hadn't talked about on the podcast before: the reflex that shows up before you even open a budgeting app, ask for a raise, or look at your investing account. We called it leading with no — and once you know what to listen for, you hear it everywhere. Naming it was step one. Today is the toolbox. The core move: flip the mindset list Here's the one technique that applies everywhere, no matter which pillar you're stuck in: before you're allowe
liveyourmoneystyle
6 days ago3 min read
CFO Corner Week 37: Should You Get a Financial Advisor?
Financial advisors have an image problem. Ask most people what comes to mind and you'll hear "expensive," "salesy," or "not for me yet." This week's CFO Corner makes the case that a financial advisor belongs in the same category as every other coach or helper you already pay for without a second thought — and walks through exactly when it's time, and how to make sure you hire the right kind. The Reframe Think about how many other places in your life you pay for expertise and
liveyourmoneystyle
Sep 173 min read
The Mindset Block That Shows Up in Every Pillar of Your Money
Someone hands you a suggestion — try this budgeting method, ask for the raise, put $50 into an investing account — and before they've finished the sentence, you've already got three reasons it won't work. We call this leading with no, and once you know what to listen for, you'll hear it everywhere in your money life. It's not the plan — it's the response. Take income: "I don't want to ask for a raise, they'll just say no." You've scripted the rejection yourself, before anyone
liveyourmoneystyle
Sep 142 min read
CFO Corner Week 36: 5 Benefits to Use Before They Reset
Most of your health, vision, and dental benefits don't roll over into next year — and neither does your professional development budget. This week's CFO Corner is a quick, five-item check of what's sitting in your benefits package right now, before it resets to zero on January 1st. The Reframe This isn't about finding new places to spend money — it's about timing the spending you were already going to do. The PT you keep meaning to schedule, the specialist referral sitting in
liveyourmoneystyle
Sep 102 min read
From Baby to Big Picture: How to Financially Plan Once Kids Are on the Way
Part two of our kids-and-money series picks up once baby's actually on the way — or once you're already in it and wondering if you're getting it right. Maddie and Meghan walk through the immediate financial moves to make (protect first, optimize later), the emotional tug-of-war between funding your own future and your kids', and a simple, non-overwhelming intro to 529s and investing for kids. They cover: The immediate to-do list once you're expecting: insurance, HSA/FSA, pare
liveyourmoneystyle
Sep 71 min read
CFO Corner Week 35: Your Freedom Number - Calculate What It Takes to Walk Away
There's a specific kind of tired that comes from staying somewhere — a job, a role, a schedule — that you've quietly outgrown. You tell yourself it's fine. The salary's good. The benefits are solid. You're not sure what you'd even do instead. That feeling has a name: golden handcuffs. And the thing that actually breaks them isn't a new job posting or a burst of courage — it's a number. In this week's CFO Corner, Maddie walks through how to calculate your Freedom Number: not a
liveyourmoneystyle
Sep 43 min read
Can You Afford Kids? (And How to Start Planning Before You Have Them)
If you've ever typed "cost of raising a child" into Google and immediately felt your chest tighten, you're not alone — and you're also asking the wrong question. In this episode, Maddie and Meghan reframe "can you afford kids?" into something far more useful: "what would need to be true financially for me to feel ready?" They break down: Why the internet's scary cost totals don't reflect how expenses actually hit over time The three cost buckets to think about instead — fixed
liveyourmoneystyle
Sep 11 min read
CFO Corner Week 34: One Number on Your Pay Stub You've Never Looked At
Most people fill out a W-4 once — on their first day at a job — and never look at it again on their pay stub. That's fine right up until tax season, when you either owe money you didn't plan for, or discover you've been giving the government an interest-free loan all year. This week's CFO Corner is a fifteen-minute paycheck checkup that fixes both problems before they happen. The Reframe Withholding isn't "set it and forget it" — it's more like a thermostat. You adjust it whe
liveyourmoneystyle
Aug 262 min read
How to Build a Financial Life You Don't Want to Escape From
You can do everything "right" with money — budget, save, stay disciplined — and still feel like you're living for the next paycheck, the next trip, the next excuse to finally spend. That's not a discipline problem. It's what happens when a financial plan is built on rules instead of your actual life. In this episode of Deeply Invested, Maddie and Meghan unpack "escape mode" money: the pattern of feeling deprived during normal weeks and only feeling free when you're spending.
liveyourmoneystyle
Aug 242 min read
CFO Corner Week 33: 10 Minutes to Stop Avoiding That One Money Thing
There's one money task you've been avoiding — you probably thought of it within the first few seconds of this episode. This week, we're not trying to fix it. We're spending ten minutes with it. This episode breaks down why avoided tasks feel so much bigger than they are, and walks through exactly what a focused, low-pressure ten-minute session looks like — whether that's finally opening a statement or making a call you've been putting off. What We Cover Why avoiding a money t
liveyourmoneystyle
Aug 202 min read
You're Allowed to Change Your Mind About Your Money Goals
Two years ago, one of us set a savings goal we were genuinely proud of. This year, we blew right past it — on purpose. And if we're being honest, it took way too long to feel okay about that. If you've ever felt a flicker of guilt for outgrowing a goal you set for yourself, this episode is for you. Because somewhere along the way, we all started treating financial goals like contracts — and breaking one starts to feel like failing, instead of what it actually is: growing. Her
liveyourmoneystyle
Aug 173 min read
CFO Corner Week 32: Are You Using Everything Your Credit Card Offers?
Most of us sign up for a credit card, remember the headline perk, and never look at the rest of the list again. This week's CFO Corner is a 10-minute audit to fix that — whether or not your card charges an annual fee. Meghan reframes unused card benefits for what they actually are: not a bonus, but money you already paid for and haven't picked up yet. If you're carrying a card with an annual fee, that fee bought you a bundle of services — and an unused perk is the same catego
liveyourmoneystyle
Aug 122 min read
CFO Corner Week 31: What Are Your Investments Actually Costing You
Most investors have never once looked at what their funds actually cost them each year — the expense ratio quietly built into every fund they hold. This episode walks through a simple, three-minute audit anyone can do to find that number, understand what it's really costing them in lost growth, and make one targeted swap to a lower-cost alternative without overhauling their whole portfolio. Content Breakdown Why fees are one of the only things in investing you can actually co
liveyourmoneystyle
Aug 51 min read
Is There Really a Tax on Being Single?
There's a tax that has nothing to do with April 15th. People call it the "singles tax," and if you've ever felt like your money moves differently than your partnered friends' money, you're not imagining it. But here's the thing — it's not really about being single. It's about running a household on one income instead of two. In this episode, Maddie and Meghan break down exactly where that gap shows up, where it doesn't, and where the internet's version of the "singles tax" ge
liveyourmoneystyle
Aug 32 min read
CFO Corner Week 30: The Question Almost Nobody Asks About Their Own Salary
Most of us would never buy a car without checking what it's worth. But we'll walk into a performance review — where our income for the next year gets decided — with zero idea what our role is actually worth on the market. This week's CFO Corner closes that gap. The Reframe Researching your salary isn't about "knowing your worth" in some vague, motivational-poster way. It's a data-gathering task — the same instinct as comparing insurance quotes or checking a price before a big
liveyourmoneystyle
Jul 293 min read
Swipe Smarter: The Credit Card Points Playbook
If you're paying your credit card balance in full every month, you're already doing the hard part right. This episode is about the next step: making sure you're not leaving free money on the table. In Part 2 of our credit card series, Maddie and Meghan pick up where Part 1 left off and go deep on how to actually maximize the cards you're using. They cover: Matching your card to your spending — why one card rarely does it all, and how to build a small, intentional card lineup
liveyourmoneystyle
Jul 271 min read
Credit Cards 101: Debunking the Fear
Credit cards have a reputation problem. For a lot of us, they're tangled up with guilt, fear, or a "just don't touch them" mentality — but a credit card is a tool, not a trap. It's only as risky as the habits behind it. In Part 1 of this two-part series, Meghan and Maddie strip away the fear and rebuild the fundamentals, so you're set up to actually use credit cards to your advantage. Our Credit Card Stories Meghan and Maddie get personal about their own histories with credit
liveyourmoneystyle
Jul 202 min read
CFO Corner Week 28: Rebalancing Your Portfolio Made Easy
You set up your 401(k) or investment account — maybe years ago. You picked funds. You've been contributing. But when did you last look at what's actually inside that account? If the market has been moving (and it has), your portfolio has probably drifted from your original plan. That's where rebalancing comes in — and this week on CFO Corner, Meghan makes it make sense. In this episode: What rebalancing actually means — in plain English, with a simple example that clicks righ
liveyourmoneystyle
Jul 152 min read
Golden Handcuffs: How to Get Your Financial Options Back
On paper, you did everything right — and you still feel stuck. That's the quiet contradiction of golden handcuffs: a job that pays well enough that leaving feels impossible, even when it's stopped fitting your life. In this episode, Maddie and Meghan talk through: What golden handcuffs actually are (and why a "good" job can create them) The four reasons we get stuck — lifestyle inflation, identity, fear of earning less, and delayed-comp traps like bonuses and vesting The sign
liveyourmoneystyle
Jul 131 min read
You're Not Bad With Money — You're Responsible in the Wrong Direction
Some of the most "responsible" money habits are the ones holding you in place. In this episode, Maddie and Meghan walk through five habits that feel financially smart but don't actually move your net worth — and what to do instead. This isn't about doing more. It's about pointing your effort at the moves that actually build wealth. The 5 habits we unpack: Obsessing over small expenses → zoom out to your top 3 spending categories Keeping too much cash "just in case" → fund you
liveyourmoneystyle
Jul 71 min read
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