Episode Summary:
In this week’s episode, we talk about going from financially illiterate in her 20s to retiring from W2 work in her 30s with Diania Merriam. Diania is the host of the Optimal Finance Daily podcast and the creator of the EconoMe conference, which has been described as the Ted Talks of the FIRE community and a “party about money.” Diania spent her 20s living it up in New York, discovered Mr. Money Mustache, and then got out of $30K in debt in 11 months. She used her newfound financial freedom to negotiate a remote-working before that was trending and to take a two-month sabbatical to hike the Camino de Santiago in Europe. Diania is full of wisdom beyond her years and shares many meaningful insights on finances, values, consumerism, community, and charting our own unique path. Diania shares her fascinating life journey and her learnings along the way; her perspective and attitude are contagious and inspiring.
Episode Notes:
We discuss a wide range of topics with Diania:
- Her new kittens, and how they are so young they don’t yet have fear.
- Her mom instilled in her to never let a man take care of her.
- How she was raised financially and surrounded by powerful women growing up.
- It’s been almost exactly one year since Diania quit her job.
- How she’s managing joint finances with her boyfriend, with a mix of joint and separate accounts.
- She’s planning to create a prenup with her boyfriend before they get married. The idea that a prenup is an insurance policy and that they are still betting on their relationship.
- How marriage is legally the most significant thing you’ll do aside from dying.
- She shares her money story and how it started in her 20s being financially illiterate.
- She spent her 20s focused on her income, not her expenses.
- What matters more than income is the gap between your income and your expenses.
- She discovered the Mr. Money Mustache blog and it was like a refreshing punch in the face.
- She realized how much she was wasting her privilege.
- She got out of $30K in debt in 11 months.
- How she successfully negotiated remote work and an unpaid two-month sabbatical to hike the Camino de Santiago.
- One of the first things she did to reign in her finances was to start tracking her finances.
- What is the value underneath that spending, and what is a more resourceful way to get that value?
- How we are conditioned since birth to be consumers and desire luxury; she had to rewire her brain to have more appreciation for the abundance she already had in her life versus constantly wanting more.
- Changing your underlying desires versus using willpower so that spending less is sustainable.
- World Domination Summitt inspired her to create and launch EconoMe. She wanted people to feel like their life was full of possibility if they could just figure out this really important resource (money).
- The people around us, for better or for worse, influence us.
- The power of being surrounded by people in this community.
- Money is this common interest that brings us together, but it’s just the tipping point of what brings us together.
- There’s no one right way to do this. There is only your right path.
- We all have a unique story because we’re all writing our own stories.
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