Who doesn’t want more money and fewer financial headaches? In this episode we speak with personal finance expert Tanja Hester about how value-driven spending and creating a clear “money mission statement” can help you achieve even your loftiest financial goals. Whether you’re saving for a home in a particular neighborhood, planning a major renovation, or aiming for early retirement—something Tanja has achieved—the conversation is full of practical tips. She offers simple ways to trim your budget, painless strategies to boost savings, and explains why many of us have more financial freedom than we realize.
We also chat about a recent holiday-decorating revelation inspired unexpectedly by Halloween rather than Christmas, and why one often-overlooked painting tool can be a game-changer for both efficiency and your back. Read on for highlights from the episode, useful resources Tanja recommends, and a few things we’re currently digging.
What’s New
- The photo above is from a few years ago (hello, unpainted brick!), but since we haven’t photographed our current Halloween decor in some time, it’s still a good representation of the small decorations we tend to use each year. You might even notice the crow’s bald spot in the picture — it’s gotten more pronounced over the years.
- Sherry discovered an Instagram post that inspired her to rethink our usual small-scale approach. Instead of scattering lots of tiny items, she considered investing in a few larger, high-impact pieces that would bring more joy to the kids and last for years.
- We’ve started pulling out our holiday decorations. If you want a sense of how our tree looks—typically an eclectic mix of handmade and sentimental ornaments—you can reference our 2018 Holiday House Tour for photos and ideas.
Tanja Hester Interview
- Tanja’s book, Work Optional, tells the story of how she and her husband retired early and offers practical financial guidance for anyone who wants to take control of their money and reach meaningful savings goals.
- She writes the blog Our Next Life and co-hosts the podcast The Fairer Cents, which explores how money affects women specifically and offers thoughtful perspectives on career, savings, and long-term planning.
- Tanja shared several personal finance blogs that are useful entry points if you want to learn more:
- She Picks Up Pennies — a story of how two teachers eliminated debt
- Rich & Regular — personal finance from everyday perspectives
- Half Banked — money management geared toward younger adults
- The Dumpster Dog Blog — finance education for young women
- The Luxe Strategist — strategies for affording luxury items you love
- Tanja’s Apartment Therapy feature showcases the Los Angeles apartment she and her husband lived in before moving to Tahoe, if you’re curious about their former space.
- For listeners who want more practical budgeting guidance from our archives, we recommend Episode #63 for simple tracking and saving strategies, and Episode #64 for our story about paying off a mortgage.
We’re Digging
- Sherry took the photo above while we were priming our bathroom recently. I’m using an extension pole to reduce bending and reaching while painting, and it made the job noticeably easier on my back.
- We use a telescoping metal painting extension pole that extends from about 6 to 12 feet and is very affordable. If you’re painting a standard-height room and want something simpler, fixed wooden poles around six feet long or compact 3–6 foot extendable poles are inexpensive, handy alternatives that are easy to store.
- We also watched the TV adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale. The show is intense and thematically heavy, so we didn’t dive into plot details here, but it’s gripping and suspenseful. If you appreciate dramatic, thought-provoking series, this one is worth checking out.
- The series is available through streaming services and individual season purchases on various platforms, and some viewers choose to read the books as another way to explore the story after watching the show.
If you’re trying to find something we highlighted in a past episode but can’t remember which show notes to check, we maintain a master list of everything we’ve featured in past episodes, plus a Book Club page with all the books we’ve recommended over time.
A quick thanks to Social Print Studio for sponsoring this episode. They offered a limited-time discount during the season, which was a helpful reminder that timely offers can be useful when planning gifts or holiday projects. We always recommend checking shipping deadlines when ordering prints and photo gifts for the holidays.
Thanks for listening and reading—hope you found something useful in this episode. Whether it’s a small change to your budget, a new decorating idea, or a tool that saves your back while painting, tiny adjustments can add up to real improvements.
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