Well, the interested buyers didn’t end up putting in an offer. So… we pivoted right back to Plan B. We took the property off the market, we’re going to enjoy it ourselves for these late-summer and fall weekends, and we have a renter moving in mid-October for the winter. Then next spring, we’ll decide what our next move is. And there’s another piece of the financial puzzle that made this decision feel even better: We were able to get student loans at an unbelievably low 2.34% interest rate. 🎉 That gets us through tuition and living expenses for the kids while allowing us to leave more of our money invested in the stock market and our properties for now. I’m really grateful to be on this financial journey because it keeps challenging some of my old ideas about money. For years, debt = bad felt like a pretty reasonable rule. But I’m learning that it’s much more nuanced than that. When you have excellent credit and can borrow money at a very low interest rate, taking on debt strategically can sometimes allow your other money to keep working for you. Of course, there’s no guarantee that investments will outperform 2.34%, and debt still comes with risk. But that’s exactly why I find these decisions so interesting. There isn’t always one universally “right” financial move. Sometimes the win is having enough options to choose the one that makes the most sense for your family right now. For us, that means keep the property, enjoy it, rent it this winter, keep our investments invested, and reassess in the spring. Plan B is looking pretty darn good. 🏔️ Tomorrow night we will ride our bikes to the other side of the lake to watch a Joe Russo concert at this fabulous venue!

One of my favorite ways to slow down, learn something new, and step away from the constant pull to do more is to read. So I thought we could start sharing what’s currently on our nightstands, Kindles, library holds, or audiobook queues. 📚 What are you reading right now? Business, fiction, personal growth, memoir, something purely for fun... ALL of it counts. Drop the title below, and if you’re loving it, tell us why! Bonus points if you share a picture. 👇

For a long time, Meri-Li, @Jen Sullivan, and I showed up week after week and did something that sounds simple, but really wasn’t: We talked about money. We talked about what we were earning. What we were spending. What was working. What wasn’t. Our businesses. Our decisions. Our mistakes. The things we were learning along the way. And yes, some of those early episodes are probably pretty hilarious now. 😂 But there is also a GOLDMINE in there. When the three of us got back together to record Episodes 99 & 100, one of my biggest realizations was just how grateful I am that we had each other for all of those conversations. Because talking about money changed us. We learned from each other. We challenged each other. We got more comfortable saying the numbers out loud. And years later, we could sit down together again and openly talk about where we are financially, how our businesses have evolved, and what we're thinking about next. Everyone needs people they can talk about money with. That was reinforced for me again today when I had a coaching call with Jen inside Money Made Simple by Female Finance Collective. Jen had some ahas. I had some ahas. And we had one of those conversations where you walk away thinking differently because someone else was willing to talk through the numbers with you. And I have to give Jen a little love here. ❤️ Jen and I were teachers together WAY back at the beginning of my career in Colorado. Years later, we reconnected as entrepreneurs, started Female Finance Collective together, created this podcast, and somehow here we are 100 episodes later. She is also an amazing part of IWB, and I'm so grateful you're here, Jen! Now... a little birdie told me 🐦 that Jen may be thinking about the pricing strategy for Money Made Simple. Right now, it's FREE.

You have two options: Which are you choosing? Taking the cash today means giving up about $1,615. No “it depends.” 😂 What’s your FIRST instinct, and why?

Last Friday we talked about Repeating Yourself Once. Basically, capturing the answer once and stopping answering it forever. Here's the thing that post doesn't quite say out loud: Those systems don't just save you time once. They keep paying you back. Every single week. Forever, if you let them. That's not just time saved. That's time compounding. You already believe in this idea; you just call it something else when it's money. Nobody blinks at "let your investments compound." But somehow we forget the same math applies to everything else we build. A few things that are quietly compounding whether you're paying attention or not: 🧠 Skills What you learned last month makes this month's work easier. You're not starting from zero anymore, even when it feels like it. 📚 Content That post you wrote three months ago is still out there working right now, while you're reading this sentence instead. 🤝 Relationships Showing up consistently for the same people pays interest you can't see yet, until suddenly you can. None of it looks like much on day one. That's the part that trips people up. Compounding is always boring at the start and a little unbelievable by the end. 💬 So here's this week's question: What are you compounding right now, even if it doesn't feel like progress yet? I'll go first in the comments. (Spoiler: it involves me finally admitting this whole series is compounding too.) 🤣