WEBVTT - Dreaming big, with Farnoosh Torabi 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:06.600 Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:13.760 Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:17.239 Today's episode is going to be a longer one part 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:20.000 of the series where I interview fascinating people about how 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:22.560 they take their days from great to awesome and any 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:25.120 advice they have for the rest of us. So today, 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:28.040 I am delighted to welcome Farnush to Robbie to Before Breakfast. 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:30.240 Farnush is a personal. 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:33.159 Finance expert, host of the So Money podcast, author of 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:36.360 many books, including A Healthy State of Panic and psych 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:37.040 Yourself Rich. 0:00:37.080 --> 0:00:38.520 So Farnush, welcome to the show. 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:41.480 Thank you, It's so great to be here and reconnect. 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:44.080 Yeah, I'm excited to chat with you again. Why don't 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:45.879 you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself? 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:47.720 Well, I am. 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:50.640 For twenty over twenty years, I've been working as a 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:56.720 financial journalist and content creator educator. I started as a journalist, 0:00:56.720 --> 0:00:59.120 but really the work has expanded to all sorts of 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:04.920 care communication around financial literacy. I have a podcast as well, 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:08.400 I've written books, I speak, and I'm also a wife 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:09.000 and a mom. 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:12.319 I I you know, I'm not doing it all, but 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:14.000 not all the time. 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:16.400 But you know, over the years, it's accumulated. 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:18.160 Yeah, how old are your kids now? 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:20.520 They are eight and eleven? 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:22.559 Gotcha, boy, girl boy. 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:25.679 And we are recording this in January, where those of 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:26.960 us on the East Coast are. 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:29.440 Preparing for a giant snowstorm. Apparently. 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:32.000 Yeah, I just got back from the grocery store. 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:34.760 I thought I was ahead of it. I was like 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:36.520 everybody else. 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:37.839 Everyone's there, everyone's there. 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:40.480 I got there before all the water and meat was gone, though. 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:41.080 Yeah. 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:42.720 Yeah, although it's slightly in today. 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:44.880 I mean, if your kids will have virtual school the 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:46.880 Monday or whatever, it's it's gotten a little easier as 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:49.560 they get older, right, well. 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:53.280 It's gotten in some ways easier, but you know, I 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:57.040 miss the days where they together would play well together. 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:01.640 They are getting more on each other's nerves, so the 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:05.320 yelling and the screaming has intensified when they're all under 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:07.600 one roof. And so we also need to go to 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:10.040 the wine store before the blizzard arrives. 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:13.440 That's on art, getting salt, gas in the car and 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:17.440 wine for you know that when that inevitable need arise. 0:02:17.840 --> 0:02:21.079 So how did you wind up in the personal finance business? 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:24.560 Oh my gosh, Well, I studied finance at Penn State. 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:27.240 That was my degree. That was my intention, was to 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:30.880 go in and be a finance person, working in a 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:34.600 finance department or a Wall Street maybe even. But pretty 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:38.560 quickly into that degree studying at Penn State, I realized, 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:41.840 you know, well, I like the idea of this, I 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:44.560 like the stories behind this. I like studying companies and 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:49.200 corporate structure. I love storytelling. I've always loved storytelling. I've 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:54.240 always been drawn to journalism and being on a stage 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:58.440 even and like the creative side of work and life. 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:00.840 And I thought, is there a away for me to 0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:03.040 not abandon this? You know, I want to use what 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:06.520 I've invested so far and finish the degree, but maybe 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:09.840 do a pivot that isn't such a hard right, And 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:14.480 I realized, you know, it was around two thousand and two, 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:17.560 and we had a lot of scandal in the financial world. 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:21.200 Wall Street was becoming main street news. We had a 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:24.120 lot of white collar crime, and I don't know, I 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:27.280 just felt like CNBC was becoming a thing, and I 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:31.320 felt like there was a market now for financial journalism 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:33.680 more than ever before. So I thought, maybe there's a 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:36.040 way to combine what I'm already studying at Penn State 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:40.200 with journalism. So right after Penn State, I entered into 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:44.680 the Columbia's a journalism program for graduate school and really 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:46.880 just hit the ground from there. There were a lot 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:51.240 of people like me at the time who were consciously 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:54.800 trying to do this at least and so that I 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:57.320 will I will say that contributed a lot to my 0:03:57.600 --> 0:03:59.840 early success, just kind of like knowing what you want 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:02.160 to to do early on, didn't know if it was 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:04.160 going to stick, but I ended up loving it. And 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:07.440 even within the personal even within like the whole financial 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:10.720 reporting world, finding a niche within that was important, and 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:12.960 for me it was personal finance. It wasn't so much 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:18.600 following the crooks in the business world. That was definitely 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:21.279 someone else's job, but not for me. It was like 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:23.800 just trying to help people with their money, trying to 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:28.960 help people dissect their retirement plans, and especially young people 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:30.560 and women, because I felt like that was a very 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:31.680 underserved market. 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:34.440 Yeah, and so you've done a lot of different iterations 0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:36.920 of that. I mean, you've you know, done TV, you've 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:39.520 done print, You've done all sorts of different things for that, 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:41.599 and so you've seen a lot of different people's lives 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:44.880 I'm curious, what is a money goal you would like 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:47.240 to see more people set. 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:52.400 I would love to see more people believe that they 0:04:52.480 --> 0:04:55.920 can be wealthy. I know that so many of us 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:59.640 are just trying to get to zero, and that's understandable. 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:03.440 We have a an incredibly huge debt crisis in our country, 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:06.000 led by student loans and of course credit cards, and 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:08.400 just the idea of getting to a day where you 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:11.560 don't have debt is the dream come true for so 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:13.479 many of us, and I really want us to push 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:17.400 that goal further, especially again for women. I think that 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:22.440 we've often been sold this narrative of like complacency right, 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:24.480 and also to have someone else take care of our 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:29.000 financial life for us, and I want us to be 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:32.400 more aspirational in our financial lives. And if that means, 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:35.320 you know, making more money, clearing our debt and then 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:39.320 making more money, I want that for everybody. I want 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:42.320 more people to feel more empowered around their finances, to 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:46.359 feel more in control around their finances, and also to 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:49.480 just be more curious about it too, to ask the questions. 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:52.239 Money is still such a taboo topic and it keeps 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:57.720 us from keeps us from playing big, and that's that's 0:05:57.760 --> 0:05:59.440 what I want. That's what I want for everybody. 0:05:59.600 --> 0:05:59.800 Yeah. 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:01.919 Well, and especially to talk about this with women, I 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:04.800 feel like a lot of the literature and stuff aimed 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:07.200 at women is more focused on the frugality part of it, 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:10.960 like don't waste your money on expensive handbags or something 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:14.919 like that or whatever for stereotypically buying, but not so 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:17.800 much about like, you know, you have a life you want, 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:21.000 here's what you need to do to make sure that 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:23.800 you can produce this life that you want for you 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:25.920 and your family exactly. 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:26.800 Yeah. 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:31.320 I remember leaving college and even for me, someone again 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:34.880 who studied finance and was raised to really feel independent 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:38.960 and want that independence, early on, I was like, wow, 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:41.360 you know, when will my life start? And I realized 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:43.719 it's like now. And I don't know if it was 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:45.919 a it was me being a woman or what, but 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:48.919 I do I sense it in my female friends in 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:51.480 my twenties, where we almost felt like our lives couldn't 0:06:51.480 --> 0:06:55.520 really start until we met someone, you know, and maybe 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:58.080 it was like the guy who would come and like 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:01.360 support us and would have the bigger salary and then 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:03.440 our dreams would come true and then we could finally 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:05.320 buy the house and then we could finally have the kids. 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:07.280 And I want to tell women like, you know, your 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:11.400 life starts now and you're in charge, and it's you're 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:14.280 driving the ship, and the earlier that you can start 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:18.080 to figure out how to support yourself and invest in 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:21.560 your future. Look, you know, your prince charming or your 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:24.360 Princess charming may come still and that's great, Like have 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:26.640 that also be a goal, but not to be the 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:30.720 only goal. And sometimes we just wait for that and 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:34.880 at the expense of losing out on our independence and 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:36.600 our financial future. 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:39.080 Absolutely, well, we're going to take a quick ad break 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:40.760 and then I will be back with more from Varnish 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:50.400 to Rabi. Well, I am back talking with Furnish to 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:53.280 Rabbi was a personal finance expert host of these So 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:57.920 Money podcast So interestingly, you know you've, I said, you've 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:00.120 went through all these different iterations in your career, the 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:02.200 different kinds of personal finance journalism. 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:05.000 We've done with it, you know, making a brand for yourself. 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:06.360 And I saw that one of the things you do 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:09.000 in addition to personal finance work is coaching people on 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:12.800 personal branding. I wonder if you could talk a little 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:14.760 bit on that. Is there something you wish you had known, 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:17.960 like when you were starting out about building the brand 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:20.600 that is Furnishe. 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:23.320 Yeah, I think that I felt like someone had to 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:26.600 give me permission to put myself out there and believe 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:29.840 in myself. Like I gosh, I always felt like I 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:34.600 had to and I, you know, arm myself with more credentials. 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:36.679 You know, there was a moment in my career, despite 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:38.520 the fact that I had been doing what I was 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:42.880 doing for a decade and I had all this experience 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:47.679 helping people, all these I had books, I was like, 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:51.760 maybe I should get a license in financial planning because 0:08:51.760 --> 0:08:56.079 then people will take me seriously. And sure, maybe that 0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:59.440 is something credible to do, but that's a whole different 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:03.160 career path. But for some reason, I thought like I 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:05.400 need this because otherwise I'm going to miss out on 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:08.400 more speaking opportunities and people won't take me seriously. And 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:13.160 I still hear this from especially women who are educated experience, 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:15.960 They have clients, and they are worried that they're not 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:18.600 going to get press or the media won't care about 0:09:18.600 --> 0:09:21.000 their story or won't want to feature them as experts 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:27.480 because they don't have say, ten thousand followers on Instagram, 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:32.400 or they don't have already a huge track record in 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:36.080 the press, and so we're always like getting in our way. 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:40.160 We're always finding excuses for why we're not that special, 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:44.720 and I'm here to say, like, you have it, you know. 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:47.600 It's like we it goes back to what Cheryl Sandberg 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:49.839 said and lean in. Like when men apply for a job, 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:53.400 if they can qualify for about thirty percent of the 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:57.680 of the bulleted requirements for the job, they're going to 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:00.120 apply For women, it's like I need to have all 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:03.440 of the I need to qualify for everything before I 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:09.240 will put myself in for possible, you know, before I apply. 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:13.199 So I see that in the entrepreneurial world as well, 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:17.640 where we are our biggest enemies, sometimes we are our 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:18.520 biggest critics. 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:20.040 And why, you know, I don't know. 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:22.520 Maybe it's just the imposter syndrome, which I know is 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:26.360 also like a fabricated thing too, But I read up 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:28.600 against that and I still see that now in my 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:31.280 clients and I'm just here to tell them, like, you 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:34.000 have what it takes. And if you want evidence of that, 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:36.320 look at the people who are being featured online. You know, 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:40.480 if you're looking for exposure and press, and that's what 0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:42.960 I often help them with is like getting out there 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:45.600 more right, getting more eyebos on their work. 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:47.760 I mean practically, like I was saying, Okay, well I 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:50.400 have this expertise and I want to put myself out there. 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:51.360 What does that mean? 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:53.920 Like you should be just reaching out constantly, like thinking 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:56.440 about you know, story angles, like what would you recommend? 0:10:56.559 --> 0:10:56.839 First? 0:10:56.840 --> 0:11:00.440 It's about a couple of things. One is what is 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:03.120 your expertise? What do you want to help people with? 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:03.840 Right? 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:06.720 And what are the three to five things big ideas 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:10.200 that you have, the counterculture ideas maybe that you have, 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:12.600 or maybe you see something in the news and you're like, 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:13.880 I want to have a I want to share an 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:17.120 opinion about that and root it in my expertise. But 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:19.440 also who's your audience, because you don't want to be 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:22.480 pitching everywhere, Right, There's probably like three to five outlets 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:25.200 that make the most sense for you. Sometimes it is 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:29.680 general news, but sometimes it's a very niche outlet, publication, 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:32.920 a trade magazine. So it's doing a lot of that 0:11:33.000 --> 0:11:36.280 homework first to kind of understand where your audience is 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:39.480 hanging out and what is your goal for this press? 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:39.760 Right? 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:41.439 Is it just to get out there, to get out 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:45.400 there and get those you know, those press labels on 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:48.079 your website, which is definitely fine. Like in the beginning, 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.800 that helps to boost your credibility, but after that, what's 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:55.040 the goal, right, Is it to have people find you 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:58.600 and have those people ultimately come work with you? Is 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:02.120 it to promote your book, is it to promote your workshop? 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:06.080 Whatever it is. So maybe that it's catering what you're 0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:09.640 putting out there to that so that it aligns with 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:12.520 what product you're selling or service you're selling. So that's 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:16.280 kind of the the algorithm, so to speak. And then 0:12:16.520 --> 0:12:21.080 the pitch, right, it's figuring out who is behind that 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:25.000 media outlet on the receiving end, and then creating an 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:28.920 authentic relationship first with that person. I don't often say 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:34.000 like cold pitches are fine, they work, But if you 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:37.080 can find a way to first make a connection with 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:39.360 this person that has nothing to do with selling anything 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:42.400 to them, I find that that's always playing the long 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:45.880 game in other words, is always a great strategy. But 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:48.480 of course, if you have something immediate on your to 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:50.040 do list, like you have a book that you want 0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:52.880 to see you know, you're selling, I get that, but 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:57.040 I find that building those bridges really do pay off. 0:12:57.120 --> 0:13:01.040 And these days everybody's online, right journalists online. The other 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:03.520 way you could do it is just write your own articles. 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:07.200 A lot of places take contributor pieces, so that's another 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:09.720 thing that I coach people on how to do that, 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:13.400 how to write for those publications and get them in 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:14.120 the right hands. 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:17.079 Absolutely sounds good. Well, what does a day tend to 0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:18.439 look like for you right now? 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:21.200 As you're managing you know, your many parts of your business, 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:22.400 your different hats you're wearing. 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:26.480 Well, lately it's a lot of staying local to my 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:29.880 neighborhood here in Montclair, New Jersey. I used to travel 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:32.400 to New York more often. I used to live in 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:35.000 New York City, but during COVID we moved to the suburbs, 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:38.440 about fifteen miles outside of the city. This is a 0:13:38.440 --> 0:13:44.120 big commuter town. But I started a local podcast about 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:48.360 my town. So that, in addition to the personal finance 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:51.960 work has taken over a lot of my sort of 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:56.160 business career time, and so I'm really tethered to, you know, 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:58.959 being here. I've become suddenly like a local journalist again. 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:02.360 My day is pretty much, you know, mornings is doing 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:04.800 the school rush, you know, getting my kids off to 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:08.679 the bus and that starts around six thirty am. We 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:11.520 live in a magnet school district, so we have six 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:14.960 seven elementary schools. We don't have like a neighborhood school 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:16.600 that we go to, so my kids get on the 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:20.040 very early bus to go, you know, to the school uptown. 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:25.200 And then after that it's usually getting a workout in 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:29.160 and then it's starting work and then work, work, work, work, 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:35.120 work until probably four thirty five, with some breaks to eat, 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:39.720 maybe get a stretch in meetings, sometimes going in and 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.160 out of the house. You're working from home, right, so 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.400 it's like putting in a load of laundry, putting in 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:47.120 a load of dishes. I'm a neat freak, so I'm 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:50.720 constantly tidying up. It's a problem, probably takes a lot 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:52.640 of time out of my day. I can't help it. But 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:55.680 also I feel like it makes me more focused, and 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:58.640 I need those resets. I need, like to constantly reset. 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:03.400 I'm pretty good at powering through work, but I do 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:06.320 need those quick little resets, whether it's getting up and 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:09.760 getting a drink of water, getting up and just putting 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:12.040 in a load of you know, the dishes, and then 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:14.600 coming back and then powering through another hour of work. 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:17.440 So I know that about me. And then once my 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:19.920 son comes home from school around two thirty, he's pretty 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:22.720 self sufficient. He's eleven, he does his homework. He knows 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:27.040 not to bother me, but I won't lie. Like dinners, 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:29.720 we like to have a family dinner, but not always 0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:32.520 do I make it. I think probably I get about 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:34.960 forty to fifty percent of the week is a home 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:37.400 cooked meal, and buy home cooked, don't. I'm not fancy 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:41.800 about it. It's usually like three or five ingredients, and 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:46.840 the other days we're ordering. And that is just because 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:51.040 neither one of us really enjoys cooking and it's convenient. 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:54.800 So you know, I'm not proud of that, but that's 0:15:54.920 --> 0:16:00.640 just how it's working out right now. And that's my weekday. 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:02.960 I mean, sometimes I go into the city, but seldom 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:05.280 really I try to. And when I do go into 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:07.440 the city, it's like I want to stack the day, 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:09.960 try to really get in, make it productive, get in, 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:13.040 get a haircut in, get a media hit, in a meeting, 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:16.320 and be back before dinner. Yeah. 0:16:16.360 --> 0:16:18.400 Well, I'd love to hear that a personal finance expert 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:19.640 is okay with ordering dinner. 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:22.000 If that's the thing that makes life for me. 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:24.840 You bridget for it. It's you know, and we also, 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:29.360 you know, we what we really want to try to 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:31.760 do is have the family dinners, you know, and if 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:34.280 that means we have to order in, because that's the 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:36.160 quickest thing to do to be able to have that 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:39.080 family dinner, because then at six o'clock, my daughter has 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:41.880 to go to basketball. And if that, you know, I'm 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:45.840 really it's about priorities. Right In the long run, I 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:47.560 think I'm going to be less upset about the fact 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:50.840 that I maybe overspent a little bit on eating out, 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:54.240 and I'll be more happy that we got to eat together. 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:55.200 I believe it. 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:57.200 All Right, Well, we're gonna take one more quick ad break, 0:16:57.280 --> 0:17:06.560 then I'll be back with more from Furnish to Rubbie. Well, 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:08.720 I am back talking with Fernush to Robbie, who is 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:12.760 a personal finance expert host of the so many podcasts 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:14.720 plus a local one about Montclair, New Jersey. 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:16.920 What's the name of that one, The Montclair Pod? 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:17.880 The Montclair Pod. 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:22.160 Okay, So for my listeners who are interested living in Montclair, 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:25.640 New Jersey, or who are otherwise drawn, c're curious Mount 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:30.399 Claire curious, you can listen to that. So you've been 0:17:30.400 --> 0:17:32.800 talking a little bit about things that make you more productive, 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:34.600 like taking little breaks during the day. I'm curious if 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:37.159 there are any other strategies you use to make yourself 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:37.800 more productive. 0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:43.280 Well, I have been picking up the phone and calling 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:47.400 instead of text and email, and you know sometimes when 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:49.280 you're For example, I have a co host on the 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:52.560 Montclair Pod, Michael. We've known each other for twenty five years. 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:55.679 We share a brain at this point. He lives in town, 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:59.160 and it's partly why this podcast has been so successful. 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:01.640 Lease gen X. 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:03.760 I am right on the cusp, and I find that 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:06.199 the gen xers love to talk on the phone. He 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:08.880 will call, and it's a little it's gotten a little 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:11.479 taking use getting used to for me because I've been 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:14.920 a big Texter. He will call, he will FaceTime sometimes 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:17.800 in call and it's very like put off, putting sometimes 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:21.400 because if you're not used to it, and but it's 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:24.520 it's actually been really good because a phone call you 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:28.520 can get so much done in fifteen minutes. Then trying 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:33.480 to like explain something over eighty texts and then you know, 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:38.280 it's also distracting if you're trying to manage dinner time 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:40.480 with your family. So it's just like taking that ten 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:42.760 minutes to have the phone call. And it's just easier 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:45.959 multitasking too. You can put it on audio. So that 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:53.080 analogue hack has been actually a great productivity thing for me, 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:56.200 and I really thank my gen X friend for incorporating 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:57.639 that into my workflow. 0:18:57.800 --> 0:18:59.679 For reminding you that you can in fact use your 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:03.919 phone as a phone. Yes, yes, I know, it's crazy, 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:06.720 crazy enough. What does your planning process look. 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:11.520 Like my planning process, Well, we have my husband. 0:19:11.520 --> 0:19:15.440 I have a shared Google calendar, and I have multiple 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:19.159 calendars within the calendar. So there's my work calendar, but 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:21.560 even within my work calendar, I break it out to 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:26.119 my podcast calendar. There's a personal calendar for me. It's 0:19:26.160 --> 0:19:29.240 all color coded. There's the Montclair pod calendar, there's the 0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:32.320 share calendar with my husband. I share a calendar with 0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:36.359 my work husband, Michael, and so I know what he's 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:39.680 up to. And that's kind of how I stay aware 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:45.720 of everyone's whereabouts, including my own. And when everyone says 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:47.760 how do you book so many guests on your podcast? 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:50.800 I have two guests per week. Do you have a booker? 0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:51.040 Like? 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:51.600 How does it work? 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:54.880 I say, I have a scheduling link. I send this out. 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:58.320 People choose their own dates, but I block dates on 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:03.080 that scheduling calendar so that I give myself, you know, 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:07.000 basically peace during the week. So I'm not doing podcasts 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:10.480 at all times. So the podcasts are sort of reserved 0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:12.800 for certain days of the week and even just certain 0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:14.360 blocks during the day. 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:16.880 So I try to budget. 0:20:18.600 --> 0:20:21.240 The different things that I'm doing during the week, and 0:20:21.280 --> 0:20:24.240 I try to do nothing on Fridays. I really try 0:20:24.280 --> 0:20:27.040 to have not that I'm doing nothing on Fridays, I 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:29.800 should say, I take that back. No calls on Fridays, 0:20:29.960 --> 0:20:34.679 no big meetings on Fridays that keeps me at my desk. 0:20:34.880 --> 0:20:37.000 I will go out and have meetings. I might have 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:40.080 coffee with a friend on Fridays. I like to use 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:43.439