Pennies Not Perfection

I shared the actually numbers from our rental property’s first year on my other channel Create With Pennies today. I share more of my business and side hustle content over there if you’re interested!

9 hours ago | [YT] | 2

Pennies Not Perfection

Are you 40 years old with nothing saved for retirement yet? I’m turning 40 this month and I know it’s a scary place to be.

You’re not screwed yet, but you do need to act NOW.

1. Open a Roth IRA today. You can use Fidelity, Schwab, or Vanguard. It takes 10 minutes and it's free. Here’s a video on how to open one at Fidelity:
https://youtu.be/v__T1wsqYJg

2. Max it out at $7,500 a year. Contribute $625 a month into the account and then buy investments you understand: I buy low-cost index funds like VOO or FXAIX. Here’s a video on how to buy index funds in Fidelity:
https://youtu.be/PQPfGoBNY28

3. If your job has a 401k make sure you are contributing at least enough to get their match. Whatever percent you need to contribute for that - do it! That is your money you're leaving on the table.

4. Build a 3-month emergency fund in a high-yield savings account. This will help you weather storms and not pull from retirement savings. A HYSA will help you earn 3-4%+ instead of 0.01% at a big bank. Here’s a list of top HYSAs right now: penniesnotperfection.com/besthysa

5. Contribute a minimum $500 a month from age 40 to 65. Ideally at 10% average returns - that's over $590,000. It will seem slow at first and most of that will come from your account compounding in the last 10 years.

You have 25 years until 65 and $590,000 plus your 401k balance is way better than $0! And it’s likely you’ll have more because you’ll increase contributions too!

Don’t let the fact that you didn’t start at 20 stop you from trying.

You’re not behind and it’s not too late to build wealth.

But at 40? You’ve definitely got to start.

Cheering you on!!

1 month ago | [YT] | 16

Pennies Not Perfection

Changed something simple today with my sinking funds at Crew (trycrew.com/pnp referral code PNP)

I’ve used emojis in my budgeting app so long that I think of my spending based on the emoji. 💖 is my spending, ⚾️ is Jason, 🍏 is groceries.

Today I realized I could add emojis in front of the names for my pockets in Crew. Now it all matches. 😍

This is my spending account with sinking funds (pockets) that is money meant to be spent eventually. I keep it inside Crew which is a high yield checking account with lots of cool automations.

✅ You can select the pocket you want to spend from before using your debit card and it pulls DIRECTLY from that pocket.

✅ You can also set up rules so certain stores always pull from the pocket you assign that store.

✅ You can also set a MAXIMUM so it stops your spending.

✅ Or create virtual cards so you won’t continue getting charged for things after you cancel them.

It’s super powerful and you can automate so much of your spending!

If you want to try Crew you can use my referral code PNP when you sign up for a 0.5% rate boost for 3 months! trycrew.com/pnp

Crew is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Bangor Savings Bank, Member FDIC.

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 32

Pennies Not Perfection

With gas prices rising, are you doing anything to save money on gas? I've been doing three things intentionally:

1: Using the Upside app to get cash back on gas! I've used this for years now and sometimes I get more cash back than others but it all adds up. You can use my referral code PNPCASH to get a bonus when you sign up! penniesnotperfection.com/upside

2: Driving less overall! I've started carpooling more and switching off days I drive kids to activities with other moms (saving gas and time). I'm also combining trips when I leave the house to overall drive less.

3: Filling up on Sunday or Monday which are typically the best days to get lower prices based on studies. You end up paying more if you fill up mid week so I try to do it before the week gets rolling if I'm low! Details here: www.kbb.com/car-news/study-gas-is-cheaper-on-certa…

Let me know what you do to save on gas too!

1 month ago | [YT] | 21

Pennies Not Perfection

Many millennials might be broke now but things are apparently going to change.

They keep talking about the great wealth transfer that is about to happen.

But will it? Do you think millennials will receive inheritances or will that money get eaten up by long term care expenses as boomers age?

Personally I don’t expect any money to come my way so I’m trying to build wealth myself!

2 months ago | [YT] | 35

Pennies Not Perfection

If you are trying to save money do you agree or disagree with this?

You probably need to audit the BIG expenses.

These are the HARDEST to change which is why people accept them as reality and focus on cutting small spending (and then feel miserable).

But these big expenses can be changed.

It might be uncomfortable, but you could change cars or reduce your credit card bills.

And definitely make sure the money you actually are saving is in a HYSA so it's growing instead of earning nothing. Here are the ones I would use:

✅ Compare the top High Yield Savings Accounts here: penniesnotperfection.com/besthysa
✅ Try my favorite High Yield CHECKING Account here: penniesnotperfection.com/crewpnp

2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 164

Pennies Not Perfection

Another $50 Disney gift card for our trip this year… thanks to using Fetch!

I don’t mention Fetch Rewards enough but it’s so helpful for earning fun money!! This is NOT sponsored and it's completely free to use!

I’ve used it for YEARS to scan receipts and earn points. You can also connect it to scan digital receipts from your email or play games too! Then you cash those points in for gift cards.

I’m currently using it to get Disney gift cards for our Disney trip this year!

You can use code MV7RR for a bonus when you sign up! ✅

Check the comments for the link!

2 months ago | [YT] | 32

Pennies Not Perfection

I mentioned in a recent video we plan to go to Disney World at the end of 2026! After that video I learned that Disney just released a new Disney Inspire credit card so I applied, was approved and got an instant $300 gift card to use at Disney! penniesnotperfection.com/disneycreditcard

Historically I haven't loved the Disney credit cards but this one has a $600 sign up bonus with $300 Disney gift card and $300 statement credit after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

It does have a $149 fee but for us going to Disney this year that bonus and the discounts at the park on tickets and merchandise will be very helpful and cover that fee!

As y'all know I use credit cards for bills so I can use the points and benefits to travel as cheaply as possible. If you're also doing Disney any time soon you might want to try this card.

You can use my referral link here and I will get a bonus: penniesnotperfection.com/disneycreditcard

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2 months ago | [YT] | 36

Pennies Not Perfection

After 11 days basically stuck in my house... I FINALLY got to leave today! This winter storm and the ice it left on our streets has wrecked all of our schedules and plans.

I managed to go get coffee and craft supplies for tomorrow since my daughter has another day off school. Penny came with me to the store and even used her Crew debit card to buy butterfly stickers with her allowance (after I said no).

We both got a little taste of freedom today. I got the freedom to finally get out of the house and she got the freedom of using her own money to buy something she wanted.

I'll hopefully be back to regular videos soon but for now we are in a crafting, junk journaling, mahjonging whirlwind of fun.

If you want a banking experience for the whole family, try Crew! They have an extra APY boost with my code PNP if you sign up before the end of March. trycrew.com/?referral_code=PNP

Crew is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Bangor Savings Bank, Member FDIC.

The Crew Mastercard® Debit Card is issued by Bangor Savings Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to license by Mastercard International Incorporated. Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circle design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated. Spend anywhere Mastercard is accepted.

Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is variable and may change after account opening. There is no minimum balance or deposit required to obtain the advertised APY. Fees may reduce earnings.

FDIC insurance coverage protects against the failure of an FDIC insured depository institution. Pass through FDIC insurance coverage is subject to certain conditions.

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2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 25

Pennies Not Perfection

Using cash envelopes is an effective way to stay on budget with your spending but I personally hate using cash. I haven’t found a great alternative until I started using Crew (use code PNP for a bonus APY boost)

trycrew.com/?referral_code=PNP

Crew gives you a high yield checking account with pockets where you can label money for certain expenses. Then your debit card can be used to spend from individual pockets. So if you’re at the grocery store you can spend from your grocery pocket. If you’re buying movie tickets you can spend from your entertainment pocket. It’s the best way I’ve found to do digital envelopes that are actually functional and using envelopes is an old school method of making sure you stick to a budget.

I originally signed up for the family functionality to get my daughter a debit card but I’m kind of obsessed with how well the pockets work as digital envelopes! This might be a game changer!

Give Crew a try using my affiliate link to get a bonus APY boost on your account:
trycrew.com/?referral_code=PNP

Note that if you use my code or affiliate link that supports my channel. Thank you!

Crew is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Bangor Savings Bank, Member FDIC. 
The Crew Mastercard® Debit Card is issued by Bangor Savings Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to license by Mastercard International Incorporated. Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circle design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated. Spend anywhere Mastercard is accepted.

5 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 36