Money isn't the key to happiness. Money itself isn't even a factor in happiness.

I do believe that the absence of money can cause extreme stress which can cause happiness to be much harder to come by. But making, saving, and generally having money doesn't directly correlate with higher happiness levels.

Money's meaning in our lives can certainly vary person to person. The most important value money brings to my life is freedom.

Money = Freedom To Live On My Terms

I'm working hard nearly everyday (still need to step it up a notch) to save so I can increase my net worth and most importantly to build multiple streams of income so I can start living completely on my own terms.

I've had several vacations packed in from the end of July through last weekend. I'm not saying I want to live my life like one giant vacation (I don't think traditional retirement will ever be for me). The part of vacation I want to take into my everyday life is the ability to spend time exactly how I want and with exactly whom I want.

I don't need to be on the beach every day. But having the opportunity to spend more time with Amanda & the rest of my friends & family is something I'm working relentlessly toward.

I've talked to other entrepreneurs who cite one of their biggest motivational factors is to be able to make a real impact on the world with the people they care about the most.

This is not meant at all to be a slight on my coworkers. I really enjoy my coworkers and am blessed to have the job I have. But we all spend time together on Marathon's terms, and most of us would never have even met if it weren't for Marathon bringing us together. Again, I'm happy to know them, but we're not exactly motivated to band together to make serious change in the world.

I spend a lot of time recruiting my friends into working toward their own entrepreneurial dreams. I haven't even had a small taste of success yet, but I know it's coming. And when it does come, I want to have already surrounded myself with the supporting cast and collaborators I want and need to keep the train rolling.

Taking a step back a bit, saving money and becoming debt free has allowed me the freedom to do pretty much whatever I want in my life today. An important caveat here is that I don't have lavish and lofty desires for my lifestyle. But if Ty or Christian call me tomorrow and want to plan a trip to the beach, Vegas, or to watch the Browns in the Super Bowl, I have the freedom to take advantage of that opportunity if I want.

Everybody Is Different. What's Your Motivating Factor?

Based on my observations, there's a tendency in the personal finance space to being frugal or saving a pile of cash that allows people to retire at 30 instead of 65. But that's not very motivating to me. And I'd bet plenty of you are in that same boat.

If you're not motivated to go buy a tiny house and hunt for your dinner every night to save a few bucks, what are you motivated by? Maybe you don't even have a great answer for that right now. That's 100% normal and okay.

Help Us Help You!

Take a moment to think about your answer and let us know in the Facebook comments. Surrounding yourself with like minded people to motivate you and hold you accountable is one of the most effective ways to reach your goals. Ty, Christian, the Smart Money Squad, and I want to help you.

We'd be honored if you let us!

1. Use coupons in stores and online.

Click the button to save some money with Honey! Isn't their mascot the CUTEST????

2. Don’t be afraid to give your email away.

3. Shop at off-price stores.

4. Buy used.

5. Rent clothing, or borrow it!

6. Shop a sale or clearance.

7. Most importantly, stop buying so much!

Hello, Smart Money Squad! For those of you new to the points & miles game, we've got an article today that I think you'll enjoy. I tend to write articles about the highest-earning points cards in the industry because I find the most value in those cards. However, when it comes to getting approved for these cards, it can be a mixed bag for our readers. Banks have become more stingy in approving prospective customers due to credit thresholds-one of the MANY reasons it's imperative to start building your credit at a young age.

As many of you loyal Smart Money Seed readers are just starting out in your financial journey, it stands to reason that your credit may not be built to the level needed to be approved for these cards. Therefore, I've decided to do a deep dive on one of the most popular entry-level cards on the market today: the Discover It/Discover It Miles!

First Look: Discover IT


If you are a college student or just graduated, odds are you have received a mailer from Discover about their Discover It card. There's good reason for that-Discover tends to have a high approval rate for users with limited credit history & offer a generous first-year welcome bonus. Let's take a look at what the Discover IT has to offer:

• Rotating 5% cash-back on up to $1,500 in purchases quarterly 
• Q1: Gas Stations/Wholesale Clubs 
• Q2: Grocery Stores 
• Q3: Restaurants 
• Q4: Amazon/Wholesale Clubs
• All other purchases earn 1% unlimited cashback-Cashback NEVER EXPIRES!
• Discover matches 100% of the cash back you earn for your first year-doubling your potential earnings!
• Free monthly FICO credit score updates.
• No annual fee & 0% APR for 14 months on purchases/balance transfers.

As you probably know by now, I graduated college, moved back in with my parents, mowed lawns, and delivered ice some Sundays and holidays. My salary at the time was plenty to cover my $0 rent and other expenses (mainly beer), but I was focused on my goal to pay off my student loans ASAP.

I paid off my loans in a year and a half, moved out of the basement, and stopped the side jobs. Doesn't that go against what a personal finance influencer is supposed to advocate for? 😨 Aren't I supposed to squeeze every penny out of every single day and tell you how mowing lawns and delivering ice can change your life?


The fact of the matter is that mowing lawns and delivering ice can definitely change people's lives. It can if you're in some serious debt or struggling to make ends meet or just fired up about getting some extra cash. I'm extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to have those jobs which allowed me to pay off my loans so quickly and have a little fun along the way.

But at this point, I have the luxury to thing bigger picture. Sure, I wouldn't mind a few extra bucks here and there, but I would honestly probably just end up mostly spending it on more beer which would render my healthy lifestyle improvements useless.

Almost every minute I spent on the ice truck or behind the mower when I wasn't listening to the Tribe (and sometimes zoning out of even the Tribe game), I was thinking about building businesses.

It's something I talked about my whole life and something I had even begun to work toward with Smart Money Seed and 9vnow. Ideas would come and go for new businesses, ways to improve the projects I was working on, and what my next move should be. The inability to take immediate action on my thoughts drove me crazy.

Losing time out of my week chasing a few bucks that I could've spent learning about and building businesses to maximize my progress on my long term goal of becoming an entrepreneur just didn't seem to make sense anymore.


The reason I stopped maximizing my income is the same exact reason why I started. I wanted to go all in on my goals. Just like I was all in on my goal of paying off my student loans. And I needed to tailor my life to allow myself to completely buy in to my vision just like I did when I moved back home.

I'm not certain if I've made the correct decision. I likely won't know that for many years. I do know that I enjoy the hell out of building Smart Money Seed and all the highs and even the lows that come with it. I love interacting with entrepreneurs through our interviews and now dabbling in helping them with Facebook marketing.

I'm incredibly grateful to be able to focus on my long term goals and working toward my dream life that I hope to live in the next 5 years and not just the next 5 months. Not everybody has that luxury. I intend to take advantage of the opportunity in front of me to set myself up for levels of success I currently can only dream of.

If you could see some life changing benefits with a few extra bucks, check out my post 4 Ways To Beef Up Your Income, And How I've Used All 4.

If you're in a position to be able to focus more on your long-term goals, I want to hear from you. Leave us a comment or message us on Facebook and tell us what you're working toward and how you're designing your life to go all-in on your goals.

Maybe the Smart Money Squad will be able to hold you accountable and give you that extra push you need to get fired up about achieving exactly what you want.

*Disclaimer* This article contains affiliate links, meaning if you choose to utilize our link to sign up for a credit card, we will receive a commission at no additional cost to you.

Hello Smart Money Squad! We're back at it again with another credit card aimed at saving you some cash on your next travel adventure. This week, we're going to take a look at one of my favorite cards, the Capital One Venture.

This was one of the first cards I ever applied for when I initially got started earning points & miles. The reason why: the sign-up bonus is amazing! You can earn $500 on travel credit (50,000 Capital One points) that can be used to directly offset any travel purchase you make. That's right-ANY travel purchase. Those late-night Ubers home from the bar? Covered. Prefer booking a quick flight from Columbus-Chicago for $150? The Capital One Venture bonus covers that too.

The flexibility this card provides in redemption across all travel channels makes it a no-brainer to throw in my wallet. If my initial pitch hasn't convinced you to sign-up for the card, let's take a look under-the-covers & unlock why you need to add this card to your portfolio today.

Apply for the Capital One Venture 

Capital One Venture Specs



The Capital One Venture offers a wide variety of perks upon sign-up, including:

• Earn 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months from account opening.
• Unlimited 2x miles/dollar on every purchase (2% cash-back, redeemable on travel)
• No foreign transaction fees!
• Global Entry/TSA Precheck credit ($100 rebate when you signup using the card)
• $95 annual fee, waived the first year

Almost exactly a year ago, Christian published Unconventional Ways to Save Money to help combat the mental toll that working to save serious cash can take. One of Christian's tips was to pick a bill to save every time you get your hands on one. This tip along with a boatload of willpower and determination ignited Becca Mutchler onto a journey toward financial success.



Becca told me shortly after she read the post that she would begin saving all of her $5 bills. This may be a modest undertaking for some people who don't often handle cash, but I knew immediately this would make a serious impact on Becca's life if she were able to stick to it.

This Took Serious Dedication!

Depending on your line of work, you may not come into contact with a whole lot of cash on a daily basis. But Becca is a cosmetologist (an outstanding one at that -- the only time my hair looks bad is because I'm too lazy to call regularly), so a solid proportion of her income comes in the form of cash tips.

Becca started grinding away last July which wasn't exactly easy at first. Becca didn't have a full schedule when she started working at Kennedy Layne Salon (the subject of our first Entrepreneurship Conversation), so saving every $5 she received amounted to quite a large percentage of her income.

"My initial goal was just to see if I could make it a year with saving all of my five dollar bills. I thought if people on Twitter and Instagram could do it, why couldn't I? At the end though my goal was just $1,000. When I averaged out my first few months and did the math to see about how much I would make in one year, I came short of $1,000. I then decided that I wanted to try to reach $1,000 in one year."

Becca was tempted to quite several times, but she kept herself focused by introducing accountability into her system through conversations with friends and family. She also surrounded herself with positive influence by keeping up to date on the Smart Money Seed content!

(Becca has no reason to kiss ass to 3 washed up money nerds with that comment, so I actually believe we were somewhat of an influence for her.)

As Becca started building her clientele and income, saving the $5s wasn't such a big deal. Becca mentioned, "It got easier once I started gaining more clients at the salon. It sounds crazy, but then I started receiving more cash tips and more fives, but also other amounts, so throwing a five dollar bill to the side didn't seem that bad."

Becca even saved her $5 bills as she received them as change from her purchases with just one slight exception. "It got hard when I had a lot of cash though. For example, I put money aside for Cole and I's vacation. When we left I had a set amount of cash to use for it, but once I started using it, it seemed like half of what I spent I was getting back in fives. SO I actually stopped saving them on vacation because I thought I would be broke in two days if I continued to put them away."


That is an outstanding example of being reasonable and adaptable with your financial goals. Personal finance isn't necessary always about setting rigid rules about your spending. Sometimes it's okay to lighten up for a minute as long as you're able to keep your eye on the ultimate prize -- which is exactly what Becca did!

Are You Considering A Major Savings Goal? Follow In Becca's Footsteps!

If you're thinking about attempting a savings goal, Becca has some advice for you.

"Just don't give up. I remember when I was first saving, and I only had $30 in fives, and how I wanted to spend it so badly because it was so easy to spend. Once I got past $100 it was easier and became kind of a game."

"I would also say let other people know you're doing it. I loved telling people about it and sharing my wild journey with them. It was fun because I would have some family members that would pay for something with a five so they knew it would be saved. I also had some guests at the salon tip me with a five so they could kind of contribute to my goal. It also kept me accountable, and it was fun sharing my progress."

Becca doesn't exactly have an end goal in mind for her money, but she's continuing to save her fives sporadically. And she's grateful for the lessons she's learned along the way.

"I am not totally sure what I am going to do with the money I saved. Doing this definitely helped me realize it's easy to save, and you don't have to put aside a lot at one time.

If you're interested in following along for updates on her savings journey, cosmetology, or life in general, check out her Instagram!