friends on FIRE

In this episode we talk about how you should know and use the various benefits your credit cards offer to you. Credit cards offer tons of great benefits, and most people don’t use them! And on top of not using them, many people are actually paying for duplicative services through other companies. Some of the many credit card benefits available include: Global Entry or TSA Pre Fee Credit, Baggage Delay Insurance, Lost Luggage Reimbursement, Trip Cancellation / Trip Interruption Insurance, Extended Warranty Protection, Purchase Protection, Travel Accident Insurance, Car Rental Insurance, and more!

In this episode, we read and discuss a recent Business Insider article: Michael Burry, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg are raising the alarm on the US economy. Here are 8 recession warnings from top commentators this week. We then share our thoughts on these predictions on the US economy and our advice on what you should be doing.

We talk with Joel O’Leary about habits, happiness, and hard work. Joel is a man of many talents; some know him as 5am Joel, some know him as a writer for the popular finance blog Budgets are Sexy, and some know him as an Australian O’Leary, Mike’s possibly long lost cousin. We so enjoyed our discussion with Joel! We dig into how 5am Joel started and the many benefits he’s experienced since he started waking up early.

In this week’s episode we’re joined by Cait Flanders, who just released a new book Adventures in Opting-Out: A Field Guide to Leading an Intentional Life. Cait’s first book was a big hit, titled The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store. Mike and I both read it and loved it, so we were excited to get an advance copy of Cait’s new book and have this meaningful discussion with Cait about her life and her new book. We talk about happiness vs. contentment, shame, giving yourself permission to try new things, taking things step by step, judgement, and the importance of adventure or accountability partners. And perhaps most importantly, Cait helped us realize that Maggie doesn’t ramble, she adds context.

In this episode we discuss 5 ways shopping at Aldi will change your life. To do this we bring on an expert and we chat with Chelsea, the founder of the Aldi for President Instagram account with over 13,000 followers! We learn a little about Chelsea’s passion for the grocery chain and we share our favorite things about it. This episode is a total Alid lovefest. If you don’t already shop there, this episode will probably change your mind. We just hope there’s an Aldi near you!