Our 5 Worst Money Mistakes and How You Can Avoid Making Them

In 32 years of marriage we have many money mistakes - some of them were doozies! In this video we reveal our five worst mistakes, tell you the story behind each, and then give you advice on how to avoid making them.
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WHO ARE WE?
We're Hope and Larry and we raised our four sons, debt-free on a salary which was consistently under the national US median income. We paid cash for cars, vacations, furniture - even our home! For a huge dose of encouragement - plus, tips on saving money, budgeting, paying off debt, and setting goals, and doing it all with a spirit of joy and abundance, subscribe to us here on KZbin and visit us at our website or on social media.
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WHERE YOU CAN FIND US:
Our website: underthemedian...
On Facebook: / underthemedian
On Instagram: / underthemedian
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OUR PRODUCTS:
Personal Finance Planner: underthemedian...
Home Energy Savings Guide:underthemedian...
3 Steps to Teaching Children a Biblical View of Money (Workbook and Video Set): underthemedian...

[@megtoholke825]

Husband and I have just found your channel and want to thank you SO MUCH for helping us learn through your mistakes. At 20 and 22 years of age, we have so much to learn but want to be wise with our money! God bless ❤

[@UndertheMedian]

We are so glad you are here with us. You are always welcome to ask any questions you'd like. We are here to help

[@amydecker6207]

"A zeal usually reserved for revival meeting" Oh my goodness! I have laughed and laughed!

[@virginiawango3968]

🤣🤣🤣

[@RoadtoFIRE]

Love how transparent you guys are! We had many of these mistakes. The biggest one for us was buying a new car!

[@UndertheMedian]

Thanks, Road to FIRE. Somehow transportation becomes highly elevated in our minds. It's kind of like a trap. It sure happened to us, too. (Twice, as you see from the video.) LOL!

[@larryware1]

I've only purchased one new car in my entire history of owning one. I had it when Hope and I were first married. It was cheap by today's standards: $5,300 for a new 1987 Chevette.

[@reginagrayson2465]

Hope, is there any way that I could purchase your budget booklet and forms and get them in the mail?? Please let me know because I really want to purchase them. Thank you!! Regina G.

[@affordableliving2756]

@@reginagrayson2465 I think you can get them for free on their website.

[@MomLucky2016]

I just found a new channel to binge watch! Thanks 😊

[@samkline2902]

Ya’ll are just great…please keep sharing your experiences & make this a go-to channel for for all of us-never to late to learn something new🎉

[@bugsbunny2357]

I kind of think you were saving for retirement by keeping your housing paid off. Plus, the time was when there were still a lot of regular pensions and 401k's were new. I think it is hard to retire and be relaxed about money unless you have millions. Us regular people will always have to worry about money; at some point you just have to retire and live on what you have because I am not sure working until 75 is an option for everyone.

[@dantexventa3695]

I’ve done the same thing with payday loans ,I took two and absolutely hated the feeling of having that payment over my head . I struggled and paid in two payments (300) I saved quite a bit of interest

[@lizg3125]

Binge watching your videos. Keep them coming. You are a lovely couple and know you are inspiring so many!

[@nicedc7582]

I like your channel. Larry is a Rockstar.

[@larrytucker222]

Like you, we had a child at an older age (40 and 42). We are now 69 & 67. It changes the dynamic as you are looking at spending and saving priorities. Based on watching your video's we have reworked our spending plan to quickly eliminate our one non mortgage debt.

[@UndertheMedian]

Hi, Larry. Nice to meet someone who also had late-in-life children. I was 40 and 43 with our last two children. Larry was 50 when we had our last son. It certainly has changed our trajectory and planning for retirement. The biggest piece of the retirement puzzle is figuring out healthcare since we will still have children at home in retirement. Glad you are enjoying the channel and found it helpful.

[@larrytucker222]

@@UndertheMedian Navigating the health care (medical, dental, prescription) options when not getting employer provided coverage is challenging and can be expensive.

[@UndertheMedian]

@@larrytucker222 , that's why Larry is still working. We can live on his pension and our retirement accounts. But, the healthcare part of the equation is very much an unknown.

[@larrytucker222]

@@UndertheMedian Yes, with your combination of differing ages and children it can be challenging and confusing. We were lucky that my wife is a retired teacher and her health care plan covered me for a couple of years and then provided our supplemental plan when we moved to Medicare. And then their is Dental, Prescription and Vision plans to consider. A lot to research.

[@tubeyou2184]

I just love you guys!! So genuine and sharing wise advice!

[@cassidy745]

I’m just so grateful you are on this space! I love your presence together and appreciate your wisdom-in both what you’ve done well and what you confess are mistakes. I look forward to watching more of your videos!

[@UndertheMedian]

Thanks, Cassidy. We're so happy that you are with us.

[@jonirunyon8601]

Wow, love the radio!

[@winterlighthome]

Your honesty is very helpful. Seeing your success in spite of significant mistakes is encouraging and helps stave off the sensation of oh-I-screwed-up-bigtime-I-can't-do-this-I-might-as-well-give-up fatalism.

[@deanlovell6270]

I just found your chanel a few nights ago I have no stopped watching your videos I am addicted not just on your money advice witch is great . It's you and your husband are great to watch you look so happy and enjoy your money saving programs.

[@UndertheMedian]

Thanks, Dean for your kind words.

[@MsLucky443]

Thanks for the stores and advice!

[@fredswartley9778]

At least I feel better about my retirement savings now. I'm 33 and way behind on my retirement savings, according to financial experts. However, I do have a little saved, and I can still save a lot more before age 40. I am trying to play catch up though, and I should have started saving in high school or college.

[@marykincaid7477]

U both r amazing thank u god must have sent u to me thank u

[@MsTinaDiane]

Lol..would never believe y’all did a payday loan til I heard the 0!% interest plan. I’ve done one before and didn’t even realize it was that kind of loan. Paid it off within its term and was clueless.

[@UndertheMedian]

Someone pointed out, and rightfully so, that a true payday loan is a much higher interest rate than we would have paid for this loan. But, seeing that it was from a payday lending company was a very sobering moment.

[@karlapalmer9328]

Man. My dad lived Dave Ramsey before anyone knew his name. Wish he would have taught me.

[@aliclare791]

You guys are awesome x

[@justafryguy]

I’m in my 40”s and finally making some money for our retirement. So I am going to try to start but I still have debt, so I am not sure if I should wait to start retirement planning or after I pay off my debt which could take about 4-5 years.

[@rochellethundercloud346]

With title or payday loans,say you take out $100.making the on time payments and all that,you are really paying back $1,500,plus the original loan.people dont think this. Same with student loans

[@stinejohansen8342]

You should do more bloopers! I loved that part ;)

[@kaitlinobrien243]

Pay day loan?? Jaw drop! Yes Wow! Good thing you had Cash!!

[@UndertheMedian]

Interestingly, we never thought of it that way. It was presented to us as, "180 Days/Same as Cash". The loan came from a PayDay loan company. Our jaws dropped, too when we realized what we had done. Made us wonder how many of these "same as cash" loans are actually through payday loan companies.

[@priscillabohn4621]

So I have a question, I am retiring with a pension, I have a $100 pension from a 5 year job in Mo. I also have free meds. and free medical I'm a veteran. My s.s. and my 2 pensions will be above what I make now from my paycheck. I have $20,000 for emergencies only when I retire. I fix everything in the house, we just replaced our broken washer and dishwasher. I don't have a dryer we live in the desert. I know I will be doing good, Do I need to work part time once I get my s.s. just to stock away more money?

[@UndertheMedian]

You need to check with a financial planner. Although it sounds like you have a pretty good handle on how much you have and how much you can expect to have coming in each month. You should be able to find a financial planner in your area who will meet with you for free. Their service, should you choose to invest with them, will cost you. We pay our financial 1% of our portfolio to invest our money for us every year.

[@fatone2292]

Larry you’re so cool😊

[@andreiaamaro8198]

Love your videos but I disagree a little with you. Having a house paid off it’s better than saving for retirement early. If your house is paid off you will need much less money to live when you are old. I see many KZbinrs talking about their retirement money like a great big asset and I think they should focus a lot more on their mortgage. House paid off, a roff over you when you are relatively young it’s a great big asset for me.

[@UndertheMedian]

We would not disagree with that logic.

[@nicola6234]

Here in Australia, your retirement money is invested so you will generally see greater returns (about 8%) than the interest on a home loan (ours is currently under 3%). So technically it would be better to put more into retirement but we prioritize our home loan anyway because I just want to see that debt go away, ha.

[@paulamoors]

I am 74 and really don’t have any goals. I live on $1070 a month which can be a challenge but it can be done.

[@rochellethundercloud346]

This is true.hubby and i live on his disability of about $1,000 per month ,for 2 people.

[@paulamoors]

@@rochellethundercloud346 that’s awful. What a challenge.

[@reginagrayson2465]

Hope, is there any way that I could purchase your budget planner and the forms and receive them through the mail?? I really want to buy yours. Thanks so much! Regina G.

[@UndertheMedian]

It's only sold as an eBook right now. But, it's pretty inexpensive to take the file to an office supply place and get it printed. I've even had eBooks comb bound and the cost is pretty reasonable. That way, you can pick and choose which pages you want to print, too. The eBook comes with three bonus eBooks - Our seasonal savings guides for food, gifts, and clothing.

[@ashleybosvik3031]

Does that radio behind you work

[@UndertheMedian]

Only after a fashion. It's hard to keep them going with old tubes. But, it is a fun piece.

[@victorwadsworth821]

Not so bad of one but I let my nephews use my toilet paper down to a couple of packages without refiling them & I had two stacks of packages to the ceiling & then the supply chain broke & we had that first big run. I could have supplied my entire family. Kids, the take & never give. Today I got it back to a little over one stack, I buy on sale.

[@mizzmiami3242]

The car mistake was the worst one lol

[@UndertheMedian]

Definitely!

[@SauerPatchGardening]

Pretty sure most of those payday loan places are shut down now for the very reasons your talking about. They preyed on the poor. We used to have them on every corner here and they are all gone.

[@deev4332]

Cute bloopers

[@jat6547]

Is this your house in your videos ??

[@mysteryreader1]

You guys seem so nice.

[@EE-zf1lw]

Has Larry caught up with building his retirement nest egg? Now when will he retire? Thanks for your transparency.

[@UndertheMedian]

We are actually in pretty sound shape, now. We are looking at two years until retirement - age 65. Retirement looks a little different for us, though. We had our youngest children quite late in life - I was 43 and Larry was 50 when we had our last child. So, we will still have 15 and 18 year old sons at home when Larry retires. Figuring out the insurance part of the equation is the sticking point.

[@EE-zf1lw]

@@UndertheMedianMay you receive abundant blessings. You will not lack anything in retirement. Happy New Year:

[@sjbutler2330]

Sounds like you both have or had some Car Issues! LOL 🚗

[@michellewalker9436]

Did you save for your kids college? What are your beliefs?

[@UndertheMedian]

We give them $1000 a year to pay for books when they are in college. That's it. Our oldest son has agreed to do a video with us, talking about his college experiences. He just graduated summa cum laude, debt-free with his BA in psychology. We talked about college in this video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3zddHSCrbGlbLc

[@campoida]

Ok, who buys a car that breaks down during the test drive?😳

[@UndertheMedian]

LOL! It was a bad mistake. Looking back, I can't believe we actually bought the car.

[@queerdor]

Are you two in Minnesota?

[@UndertheMedian]

No, but we are in the Midwest.

[@fatone2292]

Hope love your boundless energy. What’s your secret?

[@kaitlinobrien243]

💜🤗❤️

[@diahill1945]

Mistake number one , woman not working once the children are in school

[@UndertheMedian]

Thank you for your thoughts. I have educated our children at home for 20 years.

[@dantexventa3695]

But then you have to pay for childcare ,I had huge problems with money when I was working and paying for someone to look after my precious child . Either work when the kids are at school or work from home .

[@cassidy745]

For some that might be true, I’ve asked this many times over as I had a fairly high paying job before staying home with our kids. I mean, think of all we could do with the money from my job! But hindsight not going back to work has been the best thing we’ve done, not just for family time and quality of life in that way, but it gave my husband space to take a few months to learn a new skill and triple his income. Had I been working it likely would have taken longer to transition (less sense of urgency) and the kids would be out two parents for a longer time. He was motivated and we worked together. I think the important thing is that couples work together. For some families that might mean one works two jobs or both work at different times. We’ve experienced a variety of arrangements. Our favorite together is what we get to do right now-both home with the kids and each other and me getting to focus on our kids education and him focusing on streams of income and playing with the kids. I get that every family is different, but I wouldn’t call what we’ve chosen a mistake. It’s been my favorite gift.

[@judymc4213]

I feel your comment is quite rude .I was a working Mom..I'm an RN. I worked part time until my kids were in high school. My youngest son is autistic. Juggling work and raising a special child, was difficult. The decision to work or stay home is highly personal, and society and others should have no say. These folks didn't come to you and ask for help. They figured it out on their own. Like covid, if you don't like what people are doing or don't feel safe, move on.

[@vixxcottage]

At 1 time I felt as you do. When I started looking at the cost of the second job I was amazed. Not only do you need another reliable vehicle but also clothes for the job. Yes professional hairstyles, lunches or dinners out which are expensive. Then you are exhausted and no healthy meals etc.. it is a personal decision but I think someone raising their own children is worth more than money. You can work very hard being at home that can make the most of 1 income.