Dani Mendonsa's guest appearances

Dani Mendonsa

ChooseFI

MoneyDad Podcast

Annie Duke

Paul Merriman

Vicki Robin

Suze Orman

Zeona McIntyre

Cait Flanders

Roger Whitney

Dave Ramsey

Chris Browning

James Clear

Travis Hornsby

Lisa Duke

Jean Chatzky

Travis Shakespeare

Leslie Tayne

OwlTail

#013.  Today’s guest is Dani Mendonsa.  Dani and I talk about some of early childhood lessons Dani’s parents taught her about money as well as how a sports injury caused Dani to pivot and get involved in the teaching profession.  Dani’s done some outstanding work helping to co-create the ChooseFI financial literacy curriculum from the ground up where she served as the co-curriculum lead for the K-Gr5 writing team.  We talk about why it was critical to integrate elements of financial independence (FI) into the ChooseFI financial literacy curriculum.  We also talk about the Passport to FI, a fun activity for kids to collect stamps and actively learn how to get on the path to FI.  We also dive into the themes around the series of books she recently authored for 7-10 yr old kids to bring money concepts to life including meal preparation, budgeting, entrepreneurship, buying new vs used, and vacations to name a few.  And we cover why it is important to have kids involved in these processes and decisions and how it develops ownership and makes it more memorable.Show notes and more at:https://moneydadpodcast.com/session013

#013.  Today’s guest is Dani Mendonsa.  Dani and I talk about some of early childhood lessons Dani’s parents taught her about money as well as how a sports injury caused Dani to pivot and get involved in the teaching profession.  Dani’s done some outstanding work helping to co-create the ChooseFI financial literacy curriculum from the ground up where she served as the co-curriculum lead for the K-Gr5 writing team.  We talk about why it was critical to integrate elements of financial independence (FI) into the ChooseFI financial literacy curriculum.  We also talk about the Passport to FI, a fun activity for kids to collect stamps and actively learn how to get on the path to FI.  We also dive into the themes around the series of books she recently authored for 7-10 yr old kids to bring money concepts to life including meal preparation, budgeting, entrepreneurship, buying new vs used, and vacations to name a few.  And we cover why it is important to have kids involved in these processes and decisions and how it develops ownership and makes it more memorable. Show notes and more at: <a href="https://moneydadpodcast.com/session013" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://moneydadpodcast.com/session013</a>

Make Money Moments Matter with Dani Mendonsa

Laura Barrett

082 | Brad and Jonathan’s wives, Laura and Dani (respectively), talk about their introduction to FI, combining finances, budgeting with children, and maintaining balance.  How did Dani and Laura approach saving before meeting Jonathan? How did Laura’s parents change careers to improve their financial status? How was growing up in Zimbabwe different from a typical American upbringing? What did saving money mean to Dani when she started working? How did Dani respond to Jonathan’s initial proposal to combine finances? When and how did Brad and Laura merge finances? What does a typical day in Dani and Laura’s lives look like? How does “busy” look different from when Dani and Laura were working full-time jobs? Are kids expensive? How do Laura and Dani budget with the extra and unexpected costs of children? What is a “Buy Nothing” group? How does Laura advance purchase things for her children? Do Brad and Laura give their children many choices? How do Brad and Laura create space in their lives to not be consumed by FI? By saving money on unnecessary expenses, Brad and Laura can be generous and unconcerned with some of the smaller expenses that come up in life. How does the 72-hour-rule, introduced by the Frugalwoods, make a difference for Dani and Jonathan? How did Laura and Dani respond when Brad and Jonathan decided to leave their jobs and start ChooseFI? Does the pursuit of FI ever get too intense? How do Dani and Laura plan their meals and prepare ahead of time?    Links: Stay at Home Chef Smitten Kitchen Kitchn Why (and how) I Became a Work-At-Home Mom – The Frugalwoods A letter to my 22-year-old self – Joel from FI 180

082 | Brad and Jonathan’s wives, Laura and Dani (respectively), talk about their introduction to FI, combining finances, budgeting with children, and maintaining balance. <ul> <li>How did Dani and Laura approach saving before meeting Jonathan?</li> <li>How did Laura’s parents change careers to improve their financial status?</li> <li>How was growing up in Zimbabwe different from a typical American upbringing?</li> <li>What did saving money mean to Dani when she started working?</li> <li>How did Dani respond to Jonathan’s initial proposal to combine finances?</li> <li>When and how did Brad and Laura merge finances?</li> <li>What does a typical day in Dani and Laura’s lives look like?</li> <li>How does “busy” look different from when Dani and Laura were working full-time jobs?</li> <li>Are kids expensive?</li> <li>How do Laura and Dani budget with the extra and unexpected costs of children?</li> <li>What is a “Buy Nothing” group?</li> <li>How does Laura advance purchase things for her children?</li> <li>Do Brad and Laura give their children many choices?</li> <li>How do Brad and Laura create space in their lives to not be consumed by FI?</li> <li>By saving money on unnecessary expenses, Brad and Laura can be generous and unconcerned with some of the smaller expenses that come up in life.</li> <li>How does the 72-hour-rule, introduced by the <a href="https://www.frugalwoods.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Frugalwoods</a>, make a difference for Dani and Jonathan?</li> <li>How did Laura and Dani respond when Brad and Jonathan decided to leave their jobs and start ChooseFI?</li> <li>Does the pursuit of FI ever get too intense?</li> <li>How do Dani and Laura plan their meals and prepare ahead of time?</li> </ul> Links: <a href="https://thestayathomechef.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Stay at Home Chef</a> <a href="https://smittenkitchen.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Smitten Kitchen</a> <a href="https://www.thekitchn.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Kitchn</a> <a href="https://www.frugalwoods.com/2016/04/29/why-and-how-i-became-a-work-at-home-mom/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Why (and how) I Became a Work-At-Home Mom – The Frugalwoods</a> <a href="http://www.fierymillennials.com/a-letter-to-my-22-year-old-self/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">A letter to my 22-year-old self – Joel from FI 180</a>

082 | A Wife's Perspective | Laura Barrett and Dani Mendonsa