Love and money - a perfect match, right?

If only it were that simple. Money is personal for everyone. We grow up with different values, learn different money habits from our parents, and develop our own financial preferences.

So when two people with unique money mindsets come together, disagreements are bound to happen. Maybe one of you is a saver while the other loves to spend, leading to frustration over “wasting” or “hoarding” money. Or maybe you can’t agree on whether to play it safe with savings or take financial risks.

If you love your partner, the last thing you want is constant fights about money. You want to figure this out together. That’s why in today’s episode, I’m talking with Brian Page about how to find common ground when you and your partner have different financial perspectives.

Brian is the Founder of Modern Husbands, an organization that helps busy dual-career couples manage money and home life as a team.

We dive into some really practical topics like how spenders and savers can find peace, what research says about combining vs. separating finances, and how to create a fair balance with household responsibilities.

This conversation was especially helpful for me because my partner, Gaby, and I have been navigating these conversations ourselves as last summer marked 5 years of dating.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with the lead dad and modern husband…Brian Page.

Key Takeaways:

• How couples with different money mindsets can find common ground
• What to do when you and your partner have conflicting financial goals
• What research says about combining finances vs. keeping them separate
• How to fairly divide financial responsibilities as a couple
• Ways to optimize your finances together
• How to share household responsibilities as a team

More of Brian:

Modern Husbands: https://www.modernhusbands.com/

More of The Struggle is Real:

Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/

Connect with Justin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinleepeters/

In today’s conversation, we will learn how to negotiate your medical bills. Wait, you can do that?

Yeah, this was new to me too. Maybe it was the confusing medical jargon or the assumption that hospitals charge fair prices, but negotiating never crossed my mind…and you know I love to negotiate just about everything.

Not only should you be negotiating your medical bills, you should be scrutinizing them for errors. As you’ll learn in this episode, 80% of medical bills have errors, and go figure, they almost always work out in the favor of the medical provider.

Today, Dr. Virgie Bright Ellington joins me to share her three-step process for negotiating medical bills. As an internal medicine physician and former health insurance executive, Dr. Virgie thought she understood the system - that was until she was diagnosed with cancer and saw firsthand how patients get crushed by medical debt.

After witnessing her hospital roommate get taken advantage of by balance billing, Dr. Virigie had had enough. Now she is on a mission to help Americans fight back against excessive healthcare costs, one bill at a time.

If you want to protect yourself from medical debt and take control of your healthcare costs, this episode is for you.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with medical billing expert and 2-time cancer patient…Dr. Virgie Bright Ellington.

Key Takeaways:

• The devastating impact of medical debt on Americans
• How to identify errors on your medical bills
• Why the first bill from your provider isn’t the final bill
• How to research fair pricing for medical services
• A step-by-step script for negotiating lower costs with your provider’s billing department

More of Dr. Vrigie:

Website: www.crushmedicaldebt.com

More of The Struggle is Real:

Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/

Connect with Justin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinleepeters/

Struggling to spend money? Same here. Honestly, I never thought this would be a problem as I got closer to financial independence. I mean, isn’t the goal to save up enough so we can finally spend on the things we want?

Turns out, after 15 years of working hard to build wealth, it’s not so easy to let go. Add in some good old financial insecurities, and suddenly, I’ve got money, but I’m too nervous to spend it.

And guess what? We are not the only ones. A lot of people in the FI community deal with this too, including Carl Jensen.

Carl, known for his blog 1500 Days, has a net worth of $6 million. Yet, he still found it hard to spend money. That was until he started challenging himself to do it. Through these spending challenges, Carl figured out what really brings him joy, whether it’s something small like treating a friend to dinner or big like a $10,000 private concert with his favorite band (don’t worry, we’ll talk about that one!).

So, if you’ve ever struggled to spend on things that would actually make you happy, this episode is for you. Hopefully, it inspires you to push past those money hang-ups and challenge yourself a little more.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with the Telsa fantastic, dinosaur-loving, early FI trailblazer…Carl Jensen.

Key Takeaways:

• How to recognize if you’re frugalism is hurting or helping
• Using spending experiments to uncover what is important to you
• One commonality of Carl’s favorite purchases
• What you can learn from the wrong purchases

Mentions:

Taming the Mammoth: Why You Should Stop Caring What Other People Think: https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/06/taming-mammoth-let-peoples-opinions-run-life.html

More of Carl:

Read Carl’s Blog: https://www.1500days.com/

More of The Struggle is Real:

Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/

Connect with Justin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinleepeters/