More Money Podcast - 292 Season 12 Round-Up & Personal Update - Jessica Moorhouse, Host of the More Money Podcast

Episode Date: July 9, 2021

That’s a wrap on season 12 of the More Money podcast! I can’t believe that I’ve been recording this podcast for 6 years, which leads me to say a HUGE thank you to all my listeners, new and old of this podcast. It’s because of you that I’ve been able to continue to grow in both knowledge and confidence and host amazing guests on each episode. Today’s final episode is a solo one, I wanted to do a round-up of all that was discussed this season, as well as what's new in my business and personal life. I love being able to have an episode where I can just update and chat with all of you about what's been going behind the scenes in my life. I wanted to share how my 2021 has been and some plans I have going forward. I’m looking forward to my summer break and finally being able to see and hug my family and friends in Vancouver. You can always keep up to date with what I’m doing on my or and don't forget I have a channel, which I will still be posting to this summer, so be sure to follow me there. I’ll be back in the fall with brand new episodes, but until then enjoy today’s episode and have a safe (and vaccinated) summer! For full episode show notes visit https://jessicamoorhouse.com/292 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to the More Money Podcast. I'm your host, Jessica Morehouse, and this is episode 262 and also the final episode for season 12 of the show. I'm going to take a few months off in the summer, my little summer hiatus as I always do. Then I'll be back here in September with a fresh new season for you. Very exciting. I mean, I'm excited to take some time off of my I'm always ready to take some time off. I don't know how some podcasters just keep doing it. I mean, I suppose they have a full team. Whereas for me, I mean, I do have help now. And I've got lots of things to share with you. I mean, I've kind of teased it or shared little bits and pieces in the podcast.

And the intro and outro of some episodes, but I wanted to take this, uh, episode, this special solo episode to kind of cap off this season and just share what's been going on with me, some things that you may want to know and just whatever else comes to mind. I never plan out what I'm going to say in these solo episodes. And I always think that's kind of the most fun way to do it. Cause you know, I get to really just take a think about things and then share what I'm thinking with you. And then you get to hear what the hell I was talking to myself in this microphone in my tiny little home office about. So any mahoo. First off, I want to say a huge, huge thank you for everyone who's listened. listeners uh you know og listeners you are amazing i've gotten i'd say the most emails and dms and messages this year than any other year from uh you know new and old listeners alike and it's been so nice to hear your um sentiments

and your feedback because quite honestly and i'm sure I've mentioned this on a previous episode, I do not check my iTunes reviews or if there's any kind of reviews from listeners on any of the podcast apps. Because quite honestly, they are just full of trolls now. And it's just super triggering. And I don't like hearing mean things about me that usually are completely off the mark and not true. So I don't look at those anymore. It's not just a it's not a safe space for me. So I do appreciate when you take some time and send me a DM on Instagram or tweet me or send me an email. I if you've, you know, reached out to me, you know, I will respond back to you. And so I really appreciate it and appreciate you supporting the podcast over all these years. It's been six years. We've hit over six years. And I'm sure if

I actually do count the amount of downloads, not that you give a crap because you're like, who cares? Really? It's only like it's such a vanity metric that all these podcasters share, like I have this many downloads. But I think we're probably past the 2 million mark, which is pretty cool. But I think what's more exciting is that I've done 292 episodes, we're going to hit 300 episodes when I resume the podcast next fall, which I think is so freaking cool. So anyways, that's just me saying thank you so much. And please keep listening and tell your friends about this podcast. And also, hit me up and let me know what you do want, you know, in terms of different topics and guests and, you know, what you would like to hear on the show. I do take your feedback seriously. And I do take that into consideration. And so I want to make

sure that I'm having a great variety of guests and topics to keep you interested and you know, to keep educating you because I there's some of you super OG listeners that have literally listened to me since the beginning in 2015, which is wild to me. I was such like looking back, I was such a different person back then. I mean, I was terrified of doing a podcast because I was terrified of saying something stupid and or, you know, a misstep or just, you know, but the whole point of me honestly starting the podcast was so I could obviously like, you know, help other people, but I really wanted to learn myself and what a great opportunity and excuse to reach out to people that are way more experienced and smarter than me and have them on the show so I can ask them all my questions.

And hopefully they're your questions too. And that's kind of the feedback I get. It's like, oh, your episodes early on were great because you asked everything I wanted to know. I'm like, yeah, because I actually wanted to know because I did not know the answer. And obviously things have evolved since then. I mean, a lot can happen in six years, right? Since I started that podcast, I've taken, you know know I've obviously continued to read you know books and you know educate myself online but I have also become an accredited financial counselor Canada did that in 20 I think I officially got my like certificate in 2018 but I did the program in 2017 and then I you know continue to, take courses through the Canadian Securities Institute, you know, last year, in the fall of 2020, I did the Canadian Securities course,

I've done the financial planning one course, I'm doing financial planning two in the summer. So that's why do I always do that? Why do I always like give myself the summer to study for a very tough exam? Like I've been doing that for the past several years that I need to stop, but I guess we'll stop once I finally get that darn CFP designation. But anyways, I'm, you know, continuing to study and learn and grow and get more experience. So I hope that's reflected in the podcast that it sounds like I know, like I'm, I know what I'm talking about more. And also that the, you know, it's not so, not that I have a problem with that, but I feel like the beginning seasons definitely were me.

It was definitely like beginner. Like I was a noob and it was definitely beginner level. And I think you, hopefully too, if you've kind of started, you listened to the podcast at the beginning or yeah, you've like, even if you're a new listener and you go back to those episodes, it's definitely a nice evolution

because you can start be a beginner and start where I was a beginner and listen to all the episodes up until now. And oh my gosh, I almost wish I got the opportunity to be a listener to kind of experience what that's like. But anyways, that's all to say that big thank you for listening. And I'm excited to see what the future of this show holds. I mean, who knows? Sky's the limit, right? So a few things I just want to kind of share with you, just because you're especially too, if you're you're new, or maybe you've, you know, you pop in and out, because, you know, I know not everyone listens on the weekly, and that's totally cool. What have I been up to really since like the beginning of 2021? Obviously, we kind of remember,

we kind of remember what happened to 2020. But it was a bit of a blur. Like, honestly, I sometimes forget that or not forget because it's you can never forget what happened. But it's it's in my memory, I kind of skip that year. Does anyone else do that? Like, I'm like, oh, that happened last year. And but by last year, I mean, 2019. Because nothing happened last year. Does anyone else do that? Like, I'm like, oh, that happened last year. And but by last year, I mean 2019. Because nothing happened last year. Like it was just lockdown central here in Toronto. So I'm just so excited to get out there this summer. I hope you are too. And I mean, I get to finally see my family after not seeing them for a year and a half. And we live in the same country, but they live on the other side of the country. So we have been unable to see them. And I mean, I have a baby niece, and she's not a baby anymore. She's walking and talking full sentences. And I just like it's just wild. So I can't wait for that. But anyways, so that's one big update that I'm finally going back home to Vancouver

and can hug my family and see them and oh my gosh, I can't wait. But really what I've been up to this year, and you know, the big thing that's been taking up most of you know, my time and mental capacity is my investing course, which you know, I've talked about on some previous episodes. So you may remember, I launched my wealth building blueprint for Canadians course in February. So now it's been open for a few months. And it has been the best thing I think I've ever done personally. It's such a personal achievement that makes me feel so freaking good. Especially too, if you know my background and my story, which I'm just gonna, you know, it calls notes it right now for you. I have been in this kind of personal finance world

for a decade now almost a decade, it'll be officially a decade, you know I have been in this kind of personal finance world for a decade now, almost a decade, it'll be officially a decade, you know, 10 years in December of this year. But that's when I started my personal finance blog. But I first started really kind of educating myself about personal finance and money back in I guess 2009. For obvious reasons, because I finished university had no money, I had a short contract job that ended and then I couldn't find a job. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, I'm broke. And I do not want to be broke. My older sister was getting interested in personal finance as well. And so she started reading some blogs. And she's like, Oh, have you you should check these out. These are really interesting people actually sharing like

their, you know, real money numbers and all that kind of crazy stuff. And I'm like, Okay, sure, I'm game. I'll check it out. And I'm like, this is the coolest thing ever. And then I started reading books, and I just got hooked, basically. But before that, like my background is not in finance, obviously, like I tell people the story all the time, like, back in 2009, 2010, I didn't know the difference between a checking and savings account, because for my whole life, I'd only had a savings account and I just use it as a checking account. So I really had zero financial literacy besides just having some good ingrained habits of like being frugal and not spending money that you don't have, which you know, I learned from my family. But that's kind of it. That's all I knew. And so, you know, I did a degree in filmmaking, I thought I was going to be a famous Oscar winning film editor.

Obviously, that did not happen. But I think everything happens for a reason now that I sort of have some skills that I bring into my YouTube channel, though, still, you know, I'm not perfect. And also a lot has changed in 10 years. Okay, when I went to film school, we were actually using film, and I don't think anyone uses film anymore. So come on, give me a break.

Things have changed since I was in school. But so I was very artsy background. And so it really was me starting from ground zero, learning about this stuff. And it took years and years and years. And I think the biggest barrier, quite honestly, wasn't that the information was hard to find. Like sometimes it was, sometimes it wasn't. The biggest barrier, and then this is what I hear from so many people that I talk to on the regular is your confidence, basically, in yourself. And just like that imposter syndrome. Like for me, I was always terrified to talk about certain topics or even explore them on my blog,

because I was afraid someone was going to comment being like, you got that wrong, or you're such an idiot for saying that, or that's the wrong thing to, you know, fact or opinion or whatnot. You know, for instance, I still have a ingrained memory because like most people, I'm sure maybe you can relate that. I do remember when people say nice things, but I sure as hell remember when people say mean things, which I'm working through. But someone commented on a blog, this was years ago, I someone commented, and I commented back, I forget what the actual conversation was about. But that person used some acronym that I did not recognize. The acronym was LOC, L-O-C. LOC stands for line of credit. No, no, no, sorry, it wasn't L-O-C,

it was HELOC, H-E-L-O-C, for home equity line of credit. I'd never seen that acronym before, because I'd never had, I didn't have a home, I was no homeowner, and I didn't have a, you know, HELOC, I didn't know anyone who talked about them. So I literally, you know, commented back, like, sorry, what, what do you mean by hell locked? And then I found out that instead of just answering me be like, oh, this is what it is. And just being, you know, a normal, nice person. They went on to a forum and then were bashing me saying I'm a complete idiot. And that is like, as someone who has imposter syndrome, your worst fear of someone going online or in real life talking, you know, crap about you is saying you're a complete idiot, like, and unfortunately, you know, this happens when

you're kind of not to say I'm a public figure exactly, but I am kind of in the public, I do put myself out there. This happens all the time, you know, and I'm like, I just don't care. And for me, I kind of try to make my haters my motivators, right. And that is why I am getting, you know, all this formal training and going to become a CFP one day to kind of prove all these people wrong, because there's always going to be negative people that want to bring you down and make you feel like an idiot. But you let them win if you just accept that as truth. That's not my truth. I'm not an idiot.

I know what I'm talking about. And if I don't know something, that means I just don't know that thing yet. That's not my truth. I'm not an idiot. I know what I'm talking about. And if I don't know something, that means I just don't know that thing yet, I can learn it. And that's the, I think the big kind of point of my whole platform and you know, what I'm doing as like a, you know, I'd like to call myself now, less a money expert and more financial educator, because no offense, everyone's calling themselves a money expert these days. But hey, whatever, I still call myself that on the news, because it just seems like an easy thing to say. But anyways, I, my kind of goal with my platform that I have created over all these years, is to promote the idea or to share that all of this is learnable. You know, there's, there is like, I think it's just a

marketing or business coach. And she has like this term or book called everything is figureoutable. I'm like, that's exactly what I'm trying to kind of say. It's like, everything is learnable, everything in terms of personal finance, investing, financial planning, in general, you can learn this crap. It is not rocket science. It is not something that you need to have a born talent with it. That's one of the things that grinds my gears so much is this kind of elitism in this sphere is some people just make other people feel like, oh, no, you can't learn that or you're not smart enough or da da da da. This is not it's not like you're, you know, an Olympic swimmer. And it's like, yeah, you have, you know, some talent that other people don't because it's like athleticism.

We cannot all be athletic swimmers. I'm cool with that. But when it comes to learning how to properly manage the money that you are earning, yes, you can learn this stuff because anyone can learn this stuff. I think I more have a problem when I see people say things like, I did this, you can too. Well, that's not true. I think that's been more part of the conversations we've been seeing over the past year, in that we have to not just say, you know, nothing's one size fits all. But also, the idea that because I achieved something, you can also achieve the same thing is absolutely

ridiculous, because you're ignoring so many other circumstances and factors like your privilege, you know, generational wealth, just opportunities, all these kinds of things. So I don't like to say that just because I'm able to achieve XYZ, you can too. I like to kind of say i was able to learn this and grasp it and then integrate it into my own life and it's you know been very helpful you can do that too it's not easy it's not easy it takes time it takes patience it takes um and again kind of going back to what i'm saying earlier about how the biggest barrier for me wasn't just learning and absorbing in this information. It was, I guess, accepting the fact that I am worthy of having a better financial future and financial life, because I kind of always thought that because I grew up in a certain

situation where it's like, we didn't have a ton of money, we had enough, but we were not, you know, well off by any means. I always thought that's what my future held. And honestly, if we go back to and I kind of shared actually this, I think on a not my episode, but this other podcast I was a guest on called the most hated effort, I highly check it out, because I shared some very personal things on that show. But if we kind of go back to to take a look at, you know, my generational kind of history, like my family history, it makes a lot of sense why that is why I feel that way. I never thought I'd be well off or rich or reach financial independence. I always thought I'd retire by 65 and live a very, very strict, you know, frugal fixed income kind of life. Because if you look at, you know, my family history, my grandparents,

my great grandparents, etc, etc. No one had money, we never had money, we were poor farmers, or we were the downstairs people down to Nappy, like, that's what we were, what's where we're doing, we died working, we never retired, because we never had money. Like literally, there's a family tree that I have from my dad's side of the family. And so he's originally from Scotland. And there is like some notes about some of her family members. And one of them really was, I can't remember exactly her relation to me, but maybe she was like my great, great, great grandma or something like that. And in the notes, it was she died of exhaustion, like because she worked until she died. So anyways, I feel like a lot of our backgrounds really do influence how we are presently,

even if we don't really necessarily understand fully our backgrounds. So I think that's something kind of interesting to explore if you want to kind of explore, you know, your heritage and your kind of, you know, background and all that stuff that it may kind of make some things click to be like, why do I act like this or think like this about money? You know, typically, you get that from your parents and then your grandparents, and then how did they get that kind of mindset? Yeah, it kind of starts to click. Now, this is what I'm saying about I do not plan these episodes. I just go on tangents. And I'm like, I have no idea what I was talking about. I think I

was talking about, oh, yeah, me getting like formal training and stuff like that. But anyways, yeah, so that's that's a little bit more about me. Definitely a very bizarro tangent, but I thought it just kind of it just happened. It just happened. I can't explain it. But anyways, so that's a big thing that I'm going to be doing this summer is continuing to study for my CFP. I honestly, the best thing I've ever done was continue to get formal education, not just because of the actual education. I do learn a lot. Honestly, like one thing that I have had to deal with, as a woman in finance, for as long as I've been doing this for over 10 years is, you know, like

I kind of mentioned people just basically discounting me and all that kind of stuff. And it definitely, you know, it gets at you. And for me, I like to kind of take all that negative energy, try to turn it into a positive. And you know, not just, you know, then take that, you know, negative energy and I'm like, fine, I'll show you I'm going to become a CFP and know way more than you. But then also, how can I use the new tools that I've gained to help others so they don't feel, you know, icky about money. So, you know, I want to kind of give back and basically, you know, for all the positive figures that have been in my life that have helped me in on my financial journey, I want to be able to do the exact same thing to you. So hopefully, that's what this podcast is providing you.

Now, another thing that, you know, similarly, you know, because I mentioned, you know, one of the big things that I did this year, which was a huge accomplishment was me building my wealth building blueprint for Canadians course. And again, you can find more information about that on my shop page, JessicaMorehouse.com slash shop. So it is a course that you have to apply to to see if you're a good fit. It is focused on teaching you the fundamentals of investing and then also how to basically, you know, start investing in a passive way, whether that's using a robo advisor or building your own ETF portfolio. You can check out testimonials from past students that I, you know, will say that they're, you know, pretty great. They're pretty great. So definitely check

that out, especially throughout the summer, you can apply, have a call with me if you are approved. But another thing that I'm going to be busy with in kind of conjunction with me studying for my next exam. And hopefully I gosh, fingers crossed I pass because I don't know about you, but I've still am the worst at exams. I just get so stressed out. Like it literally took me a good couple months just to get over doing the CSC because it was two exams. And I did them really close together. I would not recommend it. It took a toll on me personally, let me tell you, but I am actually kind of excited for this one. This is more less about bond yields, more about financial planning and taxes, which I actually really love. So I'm going to be also taking this summer to rebuild revamp my original financial planning course. It was called fix your finances masterclass. It ran throughout 2019. And then it closed the doors right before the pandemic, actually. No, wait, when did I close it? You see, I already like I literally just

immediately forgot about 2020. I think I ran Yeah, no, I launched the fixture finances masterclass in 2020. I immediately just put it into 2019. Because like 2020 didn't happen. No, it did. So I ran it. It was like a live course that I did with kind of a couple groups of students in the winter and then in the summer. And then I closed it down because I wanted to take all that information and feedback from students and kind of rebuild it into something that is more evergreen and sustainable. So I'm working on that. So hopefully I'll be able to launch it by the time this the next season of the podcast season 13 will be live. But that's very, very exciting. But yeah, so that's that's definitely

those two things are going to keep me busy in the summer. So that's really what I'm going to be up to. But some exciting things I've kind of, you know, mentioned, sort of on the podcast sometimes is number one, I've incorporated my business, which is exciting. I've been a sole proprietor working full time just under my name for four and a half years. And it came to a point where I'm like, I think I'm ready for the next step by making more business revenue, which is very exciting. Especially like starting like I still think of like 2017. The first year, you know, I quit my job. And I'm like, let's see, like, I had no idea what I was doing. Honestly, when I think back, I'm like, I literally

didn't have any business sense. I didn't know what I was doing somehow made, you know, some money and can pay my bills. And then, you know, made a lot of mistakes along the way. But then I came to a point in 2021, surprisingly, in the middle of a pandemic still, that I'm like, it makes more sense for me to incorporate and kind of restructure my business in this way. But part of that was also hiring people. You know, if you've listened to this podcast for a while, for the longest time, I just did every single thing myself, every single thing myself. And that means I, you know, recorded it, edited it, sent it over to my husband to mix because he's a professional audio mixer. And he worked for free for me for like five and a half years. I mean, sometimes I bought him some things, some presents, he would never take money, but sometimes I bought him some

things. But yeah, we kind of did it as a little duo for a very long time. And it just came to a point like, why are we doing this? I can definitely afford to outsource the editing. And so I hired my wonderful podcast editor, Matt Rideout. I highly recommend if you have a podcast. And it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I'm like, my gosh, I don't know. Sometimes I think when you're just a solopreneur kind of thing, you forget that sometimes what's holding you back in terms of growing your business is doing everything yourself. And yeah, so that was a big change for me. I've also hired a video editor to, and it's been a recent hire to help me with some of

my video editing, things that I just don't have time to do myself because I really do want to focus on my YouTube channel and create more content there. And then of course, the best part is I've hired my sister, my younger sister, Sarah, who part of her job for me is quality control. So she has to listen to all these episodes and make sure that they all sound good. And yeah, that's been really exciting to have my sister. And honestly, I do think it's such a cool thing that we can, you know, work on together because I have tried hiring other assistants or like kind of marketing people. And it's never worked out. It's always just been just like looking back, not a good fit. And so this is nice because we know each other so well, but we can

talk so honestly, and she has, you know, a background in marketing. And so it's, it's, it's been really, really kind of cool and exciting. So I look forward to it's only been a few months, I look forward to kind of see what, what the future holds and what, you know, what's going to happen next. I, I'm excited about the future. I've also, um, as someone who has been doing this, you know, for a while and a super ambitious and also work so hard and trying not to do the comparison game, like we all do, you know, we're always working hard, but then there's always someone working harder or getting opportunities that you don't get and stuff like that. I really, in the past year and part of this, I will say this I will say has been because I've been working with therapists, highly recommend

working with therapists when you need some help and to get some tools that you need. And yeah, it's been really eye opening for me just to really focus on what am I doing and why and not pay attention to what other people are doing, because someone else's success does not mean that you cannot have success and vice versa. And you should be supportive. There's room for everybody. And to not, you know, feel like you're not as good as or, you know, failing in some way because someone is doing something. And so that's definitely something I've been focusing on this year. And it's just, you know, makes life a lot easier to get through and a lot lighter. So no matter what situation you're in, I highly recommend trying to practice some, some ways or talking to a therapist or, you know, just doing some kind of thing meditation, I don't know,

whatever works for you to get rid of anything, you know, super triggering or negative in your life. That's been a big, like, thing I've worked on, like I kind of mentioned the past year, and it has been a real game changer for me, because I didn't realize how much mental space some of that stuff was, you know, taking. And really, sometimes it is as easy as unfollowing, deleting, blocking, muting, etc, etc. And that's and just and also just like, sometimes actually the best thing you can do is sometimes befriend that person that you may not know, but you see online, you're like, Oh, my gosh, they're killing it, or, you know, whatever. That's the best way,

honestly, is to sometimes befriend that person. And then you don't have those feelings anymore. You're actually like, oh, you know, you become their cheerleader and you want them to succeed. So that's something that's been kind of new. I've been practicing internally. Oh, yeah. So kind of shifting kind of gears, talking a little bit more my personal life and not so much about my business. But one thing that may happen, we'll see. We're going to see is I think me and my husband are probably going to move. We're seriously talking about it and we're seriously looking into it.

But it's not as easy as just like, great, let's move to a different place. It's kind of a big decision. It's so far, you know, knock on wood, things are good in terms of like, this is a good time to sell. But then it's also still it's a seller's market. So obviously, but in terms of buying, it's a bit outrageous here in Toronto. It's really crazy. And so it's, you know, we still go in circles about do we want to continue to live in this city? Or do we want to live a bit further out of the city? And, you know, obviously, if things in our businesses weren't so location dependent, like for me, I probably could do my

business elsewhere. But I am also always really terrified that I won't get certain business opportunities if I'm not in Toronto, like People like honestly, like brands and agencies and people for speaking, they like that I'm in Ontario, they like that I'm in Toronto. So I kind of feel a bit stuck here. But, you know, I had this really interesting conversation with, you know, someone I just met. And they were talking about their plan for, you know, retiring early, and they're moving to Nicaragua. And I'm like, Oh, that's pretty cool. They're like, Oh, yeah, it's, it's gonna be awesome. And just, you know, she kind of shared, you know, her plan. And I am like, I guess, like, technically, if we sold our house, we could do that. You know what I mean? Like, we don't have any debt besides our mortgage.

And we could, I guess, technically be financially independent if we sold our house and move someplace with a lower cost of living, and that's totally fine. You see lots of people do that all the time, but I think, and I've kind of mentioned this on the podcast too, it's like, I don't, my goal isn't to retire early, like, because my goal has always been to find that thing that I love to do, and then to do it, and do it successfully. And, you know, whatever that means, because I've always been pretty ambitious, whatever, in whatever capacity, like, you know, when I was in film school, I was really, you know, into being a successful filmmaker. And so, you know, that obviously didn't work out, didn't ever really work in film. And, you know, then, you know, got a job and kind of did a career

for, I guess, seven years in sales and marketing. I want to be the best at that. And then when I realized, okay, I feel really limited here and this just isn't for me, this isn't my passion. And then I discovered, oh, duh, personal finance is the thing that you're doing every single day at night and on weekends. Maybe that's your passion, which now seems so freaking obvious. But at the time it really wasn't. Yeah, I want to just see how far I can take this. And so if our to, you know, if we're just a seller place and move to who, you know, Nicaragua or whatever, and just live off of, you know, our investments and just, you know, do whatever. I just don't think that I don't think that would make us both happy. And my

husband's the same way. He's very ambitious. He, you know, he works in music, he has lots of goals and wants to continue working on, you know, bigger and better records. So for us, I'm like, we're honestly seriously thinking, should we just sell our house and move somewhere and just live our lives and do whatever we want. But when we think about whatever we want, I mean, what we're currently doing in our careers is exactly what we want to be doing. Like, we're kind of lucky that we found the careers that we, you know, that bring us so much excitement and passion and fulfillment. And, but with that, there's, you know, limitations in that we can't just, yeah, like, I don't think I'd be able to have the same success in my career if I moved to a totally different country. Because I don't think that, you know, the news isn't there. They want me in studios sometimes. And they're not going to want to FaceTime me from Nicaragua. And same with him. He gets a lot of his business through, you know, networking and people he knows in Toronto. And so we also kind of feel stuck that we're stuck in this city. It's not bad. I mean, I love the city. But yeah, we're just, we're basically I'm just

kind of talking out loud about things that we're trying to figure out. Are we gonna continue to live here? Maybe we'll just move a little bit outside the city. Like I don't need to be in the downtown core. Not that we're quite in the downtown core. But I don't need to be this downtown anymore. Because I don't have to, you know, before when we bought this place five years ago, I can't believe it's already been five years. My gosh. It's because I wanted to be close to the subway so I can get to work. And now I'm like, well, I don't well, I would use like public transit in like a year and a half because of the pandemic. And I'm fine. So I think we're kind of re, you know, just figuring out what we're what we want to do and where we want to live and how much we want to spend because damn, homes are expensive. Homes are crazy

expensive. So what do we want to do? How much debt do we want to take on? And, you know, sometimes we kind of talk and we're like, Oh, are we kicking ourselves? We're not buying a home back when we first started looking at this was back in, let's see, 2014 2015, I think is when we started looking for a first home. And we were looking for a first home and we were looking for a you know a semi-detached no not semi-detached we're looking for a detached house and I think we're really kind of just looking in the east end because I think that's all we could afford our budget what they think was 550,000 um dollars our max like we could not go more than that we weren't approved for much uh more than that and um yeah we we never found anything everything was going for over asking literally

nothing has changed but uh just price of just prices have just skyrocketed so it's like one of those things was like do we regret not buying you know we did find some houses for like 600 or 650 but uh i think honestly we just couldn't afford it or if we did find some houses for like 600 or 650. But I think honestly, we just couldn't afford it. Or if we did buy it, and we just like, okay, we're just like putting a lot of our, you know, all of our eggs in this basket. We would have been, you know, really limited in where money was going. And I don't think I would have taken the risk of quitting my job. I don't think he would have taken some risks in his career. So everything happens for a reason. So it is what it is. But all that to say, we're done with this townhouse as much as it's been amazing to you know, what a privilege really, when I think about

it, from all the places we've lived in that I have my own home office, like it's a second bedroom that I can call my home office. Like that's pretty outrageous. I mean, when we first moved to Toronto, and we lived in this tiny one bedroom apartment for I think we were there for three years. My husband worked from home, and he worked in our dining room. And then when I came home from work and worked on the blog and the podcast, even actually for good the first year, I worked in the living room, the living room and the dining room were connected. They were the same room. So we've come a long way. But it's, it's just like, we look at each other all the time. Like, why is adulting so hard? Why is it so hard to be an adult?

It just, it gets easier in some respects. And then, but there's like, you know, there's other problems. You have different problems as you get older. But like I kind of mentioned, and if you haven't checked it out, definitely check it out. My YouTube channel, I made a video about the 35 money lessons that I learned by the time I turned 35. And spoiler, I turned 35, I'm mid 30s. One of the things that I shared is how great it is to be in your 30s. Like honestly, compared to my 20s, my 20s were a grind. I was broke. I was, I had no idea what I was doing. I had like pretty much zero self confidence. Um, and now in my thirties, I have so much more confidence. I do care. Like, I don't care as much about what people think about me. I don't give a crap. I know who I am as a, you know, human being, uh, so much more. And, and also like there is more financial security, the older you

get, you know, you have less debt or no debt, and then you have more money in the bank and things are going bad, but you have different problems like, okay, so we can sell this place. But what other place could we actually afford in our price range? And is it ridiculous to buy a million dollar house because it's not a mansion? It's not a mansion. Oh my gosh. So we'll see what happens. Regardless, I think we're going to sell. And if that means selling and renting for a bit, then that's what we'll do. But we'll just, we'll just see. I think we're, we're basically at that point. I'm sure you can relate to being at, you know, a certain kind of juncture in your life.

We need a change. We need a change. I think the pandemic had a lot to do with that being cooped up in this place for so long. I, we need a vacation. Number one, I need to change I think the pandemic had a lot to do with that being cooped up in this place for so long I we need a vacation number one I need to see something that's not Ontario I mean we've done a few little mini vacations over you know throughout the year I mean just a few whenever we weren't in lockdown we tried to get away which wasn't that frequent but love Ontario I would love to see anything that's not Ontario for a little bit. I've seen a lot and I want to see something that different. So that's the kind of big thing that we're mulling over this summer. I'm going to figure stuff out. So stay tuned. Maybe I'll have a new announcement to share in September or October. We'll see. We'll definitely see. Okay. So to kind of wrap up this episode, I thought it

would be kind of cool just to go through I'm just kind of looking at all the episodes that we've kind of released we by we I mean, me this past year, or not this past season, rather, to really kind of share some of my thoughts or some just like kind of recap some of the main messages that we explored by we I mean, you and me this past season. I mean, yeah, we released how many episodes? I don't know 3025 something like that something outrageous like that. And I talked to a really cool variety of guests. And honestly, just even looking back the first episode with Stephanie Myers and Jillian Batt, the founders of Our Freedom Years, that literally feels like two years ago. And that was just January. I mean, a lot has changed since then. Remember, if you listen to that episode, I still call the show the Mo Money podcast. And then after someone called me out for being white

privileged and culturally appropriating, which at first hurt my feelings, because that is so not my intention at all. If you knew me, I'm like, No, that is so not me. I recognize you might maybe have a point. And I think it's definitely time to do a refresh. Hence why the show is now called the more money podcast. But in previous episodes that I cannot edit, you know, I'm going to leave those there. They are called the moment he podcast. So that's, that's why the name has changed. If you've ever wondered what the hell happened. Anyways, I do want to kind of go back to that first episode with Stephanie and Jillian, because I, you know, follow them on Instagram. And I find that their lifestyle just so Oh, it's my fantasy still is. I mean, they're just traveling the world, they're having the best time. And

they're just like such and they were just like the loveliest people. And they're Canadian, which is always kind of cool to hear, you know, people in Canada who achieved fire and kind of living their their best life. And so if you are looking for a nice, inspirational podcast about financial independence, highly recommend checking them out. They also have a great YouTube channel. Let's definitely check that out. I've definitely done a lot of episodes, really talking specifically about women and money, but like basically, you know, barriers and things that we we need to do or just things that you know, society has made it an unlevel playing field. I think again, like I already kind of touched on this. Money isn't just about just do this, and then you'll be fine. It's like, well, not all of us are starting from the exact same,

you know, starting line. Some of us are several paces ahead, some are several paces behind. And it's nothing that we personally did. It's just society and some of the constructs in society that are super not okay and, you know, unjust and unequal and racist and sexist and all that kind of stuff. So it's been really cool to actually have lots of great guests kind of come on the show and talk about that. For example, I'm looking at episode 261 with Nancy Jensen and Sarah Duenwald, who wrote the book Back to Business, which talks about how to get back into the workforce if you're a woman or, you know, very well man too, who, you know, is maybe taking some time off to raise a family and it's very difficult to kind of get back into the workforce.

And so that's, you know, a great book and resource and episode to take a listen to basically messages. Yes, you can do it. Don't let you know that barrier stop you or scare you. Definitely do it. Another episode that really was one of my favorites was episode 265. It was with Megan Smith is called practicing mindfulness to get clarity with your money. So she's a money mindset and life coach. And honestly, it was one of my favorite episodes because I felt like I got a little free coaching session, just because she just talks about money in such a very different way, very different lens. And I think it's important to not just talk about, you know, numbers and you know, this equation or by VGRO,

like we get it. It's also about really recognizing like I kind of touched on our own money mindset, scarcity, abundance, what are some things that are unconscious to us that we need to work through so we can, you know, deal with money in a different way. I mean, I know for me, a big I've always had a scarcity mindset, I still have it, I still have to work through in which I'm literally always afraid that and this has been exacerbated because I'm self employed. I'm always afraid that the money's going to dry up, no one's going to work with me again, I'm never going to make any more money. And I'm going to have to, I guess, you know, beg for a job from some employer. And I'm kind of afraid that no one will

want to hire me because I've been self-employed for so long and talk about how great self-employment is. I'm always afraid the money is going to go away. I don't know why I've never, we've never had it in my family in that there wasn't money. There's been times where it's been tight, but, you know, we've always figured it out, but that's always been like the biggest fear of mine that the money is not going to be there one day. So don't take too many risks, you know,'ve always figured it out but that's always been like the biggest fear of mine that the money is not going to be there one day so don't take too many risks you know just be very safe and conservative with your money which is you know not a great mindset to have when you want to take risks to to see if there's potential for for further growth whether that's in your investments whether that's in your career and making more money and all that kind of stuff

anyway so that's a great episode 265 is where you can find that one one episode that actually is funny looking back it was in march 3rd uh that it was released episode 268 is now a time uh is now the time to invest in cryptocurrency it was with eileen osario um from netcoins to elliot johnson at uh evolve etfs this is really when it was like the height of hype of the crypto and Bitcoin, especially. And I'm like, okay, cool. You know, I'll chat to some experts on cryptocurrency and Bitcoin specifically. I also made a YouTube video about how to buy Bitcoin in Canada. I use net coins. It's not FYI, not sponsored. But I'm just like, well, I talked to her and you know, I want to check out that platform. I also bought some shares of Evolve ETFs because I'm like, I wanted to check it out.

And guess what happened, y'all? Guess what happened? This gal lost some money. This is why also though, you know, and we talked about this on the show, never invest more money than you're willing to lose. I didn't lose all my money that I invested. I did lose like a good like 40% or something like that. So yeah, looking at that episode, I'm like, Oh, gosh, it doesn't matter. I'm literally not touching the money. I'm not touching the ETF. I'm not touching the actual Bitcoin and that I got through net coins. I'm just gonna let it live there and see what happens. Maybe it'll go back up. But it's an interesting episode to you know what, just again, a good reminder, don't invest in things that you are, you know, not willing to really take on that risk. And you know, again,

cryptocurrency is so volatile, and take it from me, you may invest in them, just try them out, and you will lose some money. And that is just how it goes. That is just life. So just be aware. Okay, so next, we've got one that was just a few episodes later 270 with Nicole Simmons. So she is an insurance expert and agent. And we talked about the importance of protecting yourself and your family, your loved ones with insurance, because I think I never really talk about insurance on the show. And probably because it's not a very exciting topic, but she was an amazing guest. And honestly, I feel like it's so so important to talk more about insurance i think also as canadians sometimes we get not lazy but just a bit more complacent like no we're good

we're in canada like i don't i'm good or or you know oh i've got insurance through my employer the thing is it's really important to understand how much you're insured and are you underinsured and all that kind of stuff um for example when it comes to life insurance especially you know i'm a big fan comes to life insurance, especially, you know, I'm a big fan of term life insurance, especially just much more affordable than like a whole life or a universal life program. I don't really like those types of permanent life insurance. If I'm honest, there's super expensive and just a lot of the salespeople in that realm just like want to get your money. Basically, you wouldn't believe how many people I've discovered at like 22 have a life insurance policy and they have no dependents. It's ridiculous. Anyways, it was a great episode

because she really does kind of talk about the key things about, you know, life insurance, critical illness and disability. And actually, it inspired me and my husband to get critical illness insurance, which we really should have had for a long time, especially it's like my husband has, you know, some illnesses in his family, and I do in my family. And I just want to be, you know, more properly protected in case something happens. Because although we are lucky in Canada that we have health insurance. The thing is, you know, if I were to get really ill and not be able to work for a year, that means I'm not going to be earning any new money, I will maybe earn a little bit of money from some kind of residual stuff, like maybe like YouTube ad revenue or stuff like that. But most of the income I earn,

it's not passive, it is like, okay, do this project, I get paid. And so I wanted to make sure that if something happens, and you know, I don't die, but I'm ill for like a good couple years. Yeah, I get a payout to pay for our living expenses. So we don't end up in debt. So definitely check out episode 270. If you want to learn more about protecting yourself, and I guess this shit like, and also like, you've probably heard me say this a million times, make your emergency fund your number one priority. If you do not have a fully funded emergency fund of three to six months of your living expenses, make that your priority. I mean, if 2020 and 2021 has shown us anything, it is how important an emergency fund is. I know it's not exciting, and it's not sexy. Everyone would like you wouldn't believe how many conversations I've had

with people be like, but I'd rather invest or isn't it dumb to put my money in a savings account when you know inflation is up and the interest rates are so low? No, it's not dumb because if emergency happens, where are you going to get the money, you're going to have to borrow it or you're gonna have to withdraw money from your investments, which we don't want to do because we're long term investors. So protect yourself and get an emergency fund. One episode that has been a fan favorite, I've gotten so many messages from people, was episode 277 with Ken Okorafor. He's the founder and CEO of the Humble Penny, British, which I love. Love someone with an accent, if I'm honest. And he was just the

loveliest guest. And so I love that we talk specifically about the importance of financial joy, something that I feel like, I'm not sure if he's coined, but it's like, no one's really talked about it in that way. And, you know, I also follow him on Instagram, his YouTube channel, and he's just so inspiring. And, you know, talk about like, you know, we need to follow more people that inspire and bring us joy. And he's one of my favorite people that whenever I'm feeling kind of like, not so great. Honestly, I look him up on online, and he always just brings a smile to me and is just like such an amazing person. So definitely check that out to learn more about financial joy. All right, I'll just kind of share a few more

because I feel like now I'm getting close to like the recent episodes, which I'm like, just listen to them. But honestly, one of the books that has resonated with me, like so much even to this day that I can't stop thinking about what I learned was we kind of talked about it in episode 282. With Annabelle Williams, also from the UK, why women continue to earn less than men is the episode title. And the title of her book is why women are poorer than men. And it really, it's, you know, I feel like we're kind of again, shifting the conversation to, it's about leaning know, I feel like we're kind of, again, shifting the conversation to, it's about leaning in and you do your part and just ask for more money as a woman. And that's

why you're earning, you know, 70 cents on the dollar. And it's actually not, that's not, that's not true. It's not because you're not working hard enough, or asking for that. I i mean sometimes it is but sometimes it's also hey it's because society is uh unfair like that's just how it is um you know i've actually heard quite a few stories lately and uh actually my friend stephanie o'connell has been doing some amazing work in this space about the ambition penalty for um women and uh yeah she's been doing some great stuff so definitely check out stephanie o'connell on twitter and instagram she's been doing some great stuff. So definitely check out Stephanie O'Connell on Twitter and Instagram. She's been putting out some really great stuff. But it's, you know, for the longest time, I always thought it was I wasn't doing something. That's why I'm not

achieving this or earning more compared to my male counterparts and actually reading her book and just reading all these stats. And then also, there's another, you know, great episode that's kind of in line with that episode 278. From Jennifer Barrett was the guest. She has a book called Think Like a Breadwinner. So it was kind of along the same lines, in that we talk about earning money as women and just kind of shifting the focus. So it's not that we're not doing something. And that's, that's why there's a, you know, this gender pay gap. It's, it's not that we're not doing something. And that's, that's why there is a, you know, this gender pay gap. It's, it's also that it's the greater society, the greater constructs that are kind of working against us. And so we need to be aware and acknowledge them. So then we can actually make change because, you know, I, I don't want to wait. What is it like, I feel like the stat was

something like 100 or 300 years until we get like gender parity or something ridiculous. I don't want to wait. What is it like? I feel like the stat was something like 100 or 300 years until we get like gender parity or something ridiculous. I don't want to wait that long. Like I've got a niece and she is so freaking cute and bright as hell. She's not even two and she's so freaking smart. I don't want her to have the same barriers that I've had. And you know, it's disappointing because when I entered the workforce, I thought there weren't those barriers. I thought, oh, that was more like my mom's generation, like it won't be for me. And then to realize that, oh, no, it was still there, like my male counterparts that who had very similar roles, and usually less experience, and education were earning more than me. And it's, you know, we need to fix this. And hopefully, anyways,

you know, both of those books in those episodes are, you know, really shed a great light on kind of the situation and what hopefully we can kind of do to make some changes in the future. And now I'm kind of getting close to kind of the end of this season. So I'm not going to really kind of touch on those episodes, just make sure to, you know, take a listen and see if any of them, you know, are relevant to you. But again, this is a great opportunity if you're listening to me right now, to hit me up on, you know, Instagram DM at Jessica I Morehouse, or on Twitter at J SSI underscore Morehouse, or email me at Jessica. No, wait, what is my email? No, my email is Jessica at Jessica

Morehouse.com. Shoot me an email. Let me know what you want me to focus on in the next, you know, season of the podcast. I would love to know what you want to hear. All right, so I feel like I have rambled on for long enough. I appreciate you listening to this episode. And again, like I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, I really, really appreciate all of you listening, supporting this podcast. It is still kind of a one woman show, like I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, I really, really appreciate all of you listening, supporting this podcast. It is still kind of a one woman show like, you know, I still, you know, besides my wonderful podcast editor, Matt right out and my wonderful sister, Sarah, who helps me with the podcast, you know, still a very small podcast in that like, I still get the sponsors like directly, I like I'm the person that does

that. I find all the guests and record everything and organize everything. And so it really does mean a lot for you to listen, tune in, share with your you know, on Instagram, I love I love when you share me those, you know, on Instagram stories that you're listening and tag me, I really appreciate it. So keep on doing it. So yeah, so and also, if you don't know, the podcast is on Instagram, specifically. It's at more money podcast. It's also on Twitter at more money pod. But yeah, so you can follow those if you like as well. But anyways, with that, I'm, you know, I'm checking out going on summer vacay, I'm going to be in Vancouver for like a good three weeks and just soak up as much social interaction with my family and friends I haven't

seen in so, so long. I cannot wait. And of course, at the same time, because I'm an idiot, studying for a very tough exam. It's like two textbooks I'm going to have to memorize. Have I started studying? No, because I am a glutton for punishment and I work really well under pressure, apparently. So actually, that's what I'm going to do right after this recording. I am going to crack open the book, start studying because I need to pass because I've got many other courses to do after that in order to do more. I mean, it's just never ending. I just don't know what I'm going to finish becoming a CFP. It's a long road. It is not. It's not a short road. That's

for sure. But we'll get there. We're going to get there. And I will definitely I'm sure become a CFP. But before the time I reach 40. Oh, God. Oh, my gosh. I laugh now. But then I'm also like, oh, my gosh, I'm five years away from that. How did that happen? I was 22 yesterday, and somehow I'm 35. I mean, just so that's my last thing I want to actually leave you with actually really had a great conversation with a student who's in my wealth building blueprint for Canadians course about how it is so important to remember how quick time passes. The best thing that I've ever done in my life was to just like, you know, when I've been fear of everything I've started, including this podcast, it was such a big, scary thing to do. And like, oh my gosh, what if I fail? What if no one listens?

I basically just push that, you know, icky feeling of fear and failure and anxiety away and do it anyway. And you feel so amazing once you actually tried, even if you do fail, you know, what's the honestly, it is better to try and fail than to never try it all. And I failed many times. And I can attest that that is 100% true. So with that, if you're in, you know, wherever you're at in your personal finance journey, this is me giving you that kind of kick in the butt to take this time right now in the summer, make your little to do list of things that you need to do, whether that's make a debt repayment plan, make a budget, start saving up your emergency fund to sign up for my investing

course to learn how to invest, whatever it read, you know, X amount of personal finance books, whatever it is, make that list and then do it. Do it because you will blink and five years will be gone or 10 years will have gone by. And the thing that we, you know, you can't do is we'll never get time back. That is one resource we just can never get back. So, you know, don't, don't wait, don't, don't put anything off because time is so precious. And so that is what I want to leave you with on a kind of note, a little motivation, hopefully. But, you know, again, I'm going to be around on social media. So follow me on Instagram and Twitter, and I am on Facebook. And I'm going to be putting out more YouTube videos this summer as well. So hopefully you will find me there. But again, thank you so much for listening. I will leave things there

and I will see you back in September for season 13 of the More Money Podcast. this podcast is distributed by the women in media podcast network find out more at women in media.network