#52: Imagine transitioning from making $8.50 per hour and sharing a crammed apartment with 5 people, to becoming a six-figure business owner doing what you love.   That's the journey that Julia Kelly, caricature artist and founder of JK Expressions, took.   Sounds great, right?   Well, as they say, more money = more problems.   When Julia earned $25,000 - $30,000 per year, she had fantastic money management skills. She had no debt and plenty of savings.   But when her business started making six figures, she began ignoring her finances, stopped saving money .... and racked up thousands in personal credit card debt.   Why?   Some of us write this off as life getting more expensive as we get older, but it's actually a classic case of lifestyle inflation -- when you make more, you spend more.   After Julia began earning six figures, she decided she was no longer happy with $12 haircuts from Supercuts. She happily splurged for $75 salon style cuts instead.   She started paying for convenience. One-click Amazon order? Check. Ordering an Uber or Lyft so she didn't have to deal with parking at the airport? Check. Eating out? Check.   She became lazy about saving money, assuming that she could always earn more. Money was coming into her bank accounts at an unprecedented pace – so her finances would take care of themselves, right?   Wrong.   As Julia discovered, when you "upgrade" certain aspects of your life, you may find it difficult to downgrade. You keep spending more and more, trapped on a consumer treadmill. You’re forced to work to fuel your spending addiction.   Left unchecked, this saps every ounce of freedom from your life.    Ouch.   In this episode, you'll learn: · Why you shouldn't take lifestyle inflation lightly · How to stop lifestyle inflation before it happens · What Julia regrets buying … and what she doesn’t · The easiest, most effective antidote to lifestyle inflation · How Julia differentiates between saving time vs. wasteful convenience spending · What Julia's advice is to those who are increasing their income, but don't want to succumb to lifestyle inflation -- Paula   Resources Mentioned:     •    Gretchen Rubin's episode, The Power of Habit Formation     •    Julia's story on the Afford Anything blog
     •    Cal Newport's episode, The Incredible Value of Deep Work, Instead of Distraction     •    Julia's site, JKExpressions.com __________________________ I also want to take a moment to thank the sponsors for this episode. First, huge thanks to Nerdwallet. Their new app lets you have one-on-one conversations with financial advisors. You can chat about anything related to money, such as retirement, investing, insurance, or paying off debt. You'll get personalized, one-on-one advice -- available at no cost to you. Check it out at no cost to you by visiting nerd.me/paula. _________________________ If you've been listening for a while, you've heard me interview many best-selling authors. Before I interview these guests, I need to read or refresh my memory of their books. Sitting down to physically read the books can take a long time. That's why I listen to their audiobooks, thanks to my subscription to an audiobook service called Audible. If you want to give them a try for free, head to audible.com/trynow for a free 30-day trial. _________________________ For a full list of show notes, visit http://podcast.affordanything.com/52-how-to-combat-lifestyle-inflation-with-julia-kelly Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#50: Mark, a 55-year-old listener, has no savings. He's been listening to personal finance podcasts. He recently read Tony Robbins' Money: Master the Game. He called this podcast to tell us that he's feeling overwhelmed by the scope of what's ahead of him. Mark doesn't know how to apply this information -- and he's afraid of needing to work in fast food when he's 80 years old. What can he do? We tackle his question first on today's Ask Paula episode. Next, we take a call from Adalia. Adalia, another podcast listener, wants to earn extra money on the side. She's intrigued by the idea of becoming a virtual assistant -- a side hustle that allows her to work from home, setting her own hours. How should she start? Where can she find clients? Tyler, a podcast listener and fellow FinConner, is carrying $20,000 in credit card debt, with interest rates ranging from 11% - 23%. He also runs a side business on Amazon, making  43-50% returns for every dollar he puts in. Should he focus on reinvesting money back into his lucrative business, or should he pay his credit card debt off? Podcast listener Carlos just purchased his first rental property, and wants to know: are home warranties are worth the money? Todd, another listener, is curious to know if he and his wife should go without health insurance as the cost of premiums increase. He has an HSA, emergency fund, makes a good living, is in good health, and saves everything he can. Could going without insurance really save him money? Our last question comes from listener Lynsey, who has her sights set on financial independence. She works a second job during the cold Minnesota winters, which pays $25/hr. However, she wonders if she should use that time to invest in her future earning potential, by starting a business or getting an advanced degree. Should she go after the immediate cash, or focus on her future? All of these questions are answered in this episode of Ask Paula! Enjoy! -- Paula _____________________ I also want to take a moment to thank the sponsors for this episode. First, huge thanks to Nerdwallet. Their new app lets you have one-on-one conversations with financial advisors. You can chat about anything related to money, such as retirement, investing, insurance, or paying off debt. You'll get personalized, one-on-one advice -- available at no cost to you. Check it out at no cost to you by visiting nerd.me/paula. _____________________ If you've been listening for a while, you've heard me interview many best-selling authors. Before I interview these guests, I need to read or refresh my memory of their books. Sitting down to physically read the books can take a long time. That's why I listen to their audiobooks, thanks to my subscription to an audiobook service called Audible. If you want to give them a try for free, head to audible.com/trynow for a free 30-day trial. _____________________ Want more "Ask Paula" episodes? Head on over the the website and binge all you want: Show Notes and other Ask Paula episodes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices