Happy Valentine's Day, Baller Fam! This is Part 2 of our 2-Part Valentine's Day special with my friend and personal finance blogger Cassandra Bustamante, mastermind behind The Wealth Vineyard, a personal finance blog focused on crypto, investing, side hustles, and financial freedom. In Part 1 (Episode 8), Cassandra and I discussed some common frustrations people have with this holiday and how unreasonably pricy it can be for the amount of stress it can induce.

Now that we've covered the female perspective of Valentine's Day, we're curious to hear about the male perspective of this holiday. Join us in today's episode as we call 3 of my trusted straight guy friends to get their thoughts about Valentine's Day and what their experiences and expectations are. This episode is filled with comedic worst-case scenarios, some of our real-world experiences, and some serious thoughts about gender roles reinforced by the binary lens of Valentine's Day.

In This Episode:

• Jon’s budget-friendly musical Valentine gift (2:52)
• Who does Jon feel should pay for the day? (5:02)
• Is dinner at home and lovemaking enough for men on Valentine’s Day? (6:08)
• Aileen’s accidental Valentine’s date (9:02)
• Chibuzo’s at-home Nigerian cuisine experience (12:20)
• If I pay for the date, I can guarantee a good experience with my preferences (13:36)
• Chibuzo’s budget-friendly Valentine’s Day tip: steal flowers (15:46)
• Chibuzo’s $150 Valentine’s date (18:04)
• Michael’s broke romantic date on the beach (25:16)
• The original idea behind Valentine’s Day is chivalrous men pursuing women (26:11)
• Is splitting the bill less romantic? (28:03)
• How a man’s pride can be affected by picking up the bill (29:08)
• Who started the unrealistic luxurious expectations on Valentine’s Day? (31:56)
• Is Guylentine’s Day becoming a trend for men like Galentine’s Day for women? (33:46)
• How Michael would turn $100-$200 roses into a tax write-off (36:26)
• The nightmare scenario: your expensive date makes your credit card decline (38:14)

Episode Notes:

• Valentine's Day Spending: How Much Do People Spend In The Name of Love? (Fully Vested)
• Inflation means price jumps for dinner and a dozen roses this Valentine’s Day (CNBC)

Where you can find Cassandra Bustamante:

• Instagram: @itscassandrabee
• www.thewealthvineyard.com

Where you can find Aileen Luib:

• Instagram: @aileenluib
• Instagram: @theballeronabudget
• www.theballeronabudget.com

Happy Valentine's Day, Baller Fam! We are kicking off your February 14th with Part 1 of a 2-Part Valentine's Day special with my friend and personal finance blogger Cassandra Bustamante, mastermind behind The Wealth Vineyard, a personal finance blog focused on crypto, investing, side hustles, and financial freedom. Cassandra and I share a deep affinity for both personal finance and modern-day culture, so unsurprisingly enough, we poured out our opinions on the societal rules of dating and how much they wreak havoc on our budget during Valentine's Day.

A common complaint on Valentine's Day is how much of a hassle it can be to go out and celebrate this holiday with your valentine, no matter how smitten you might be. Restaurant prices skyrocket, date night activities become packed with other couples fighting for spaces, and people are often scrambling for a pricy Valentine's gift to win the heart of their romantic interest. And with the heavy influence of social media, many people feel frustration, shame, or even jealousy that they may not have a special someone to celebrate with, let alone the extra funds to comfortably treat themselves or anyone else on a day that encourages love in the form of gifts.

But is this holiday that serious? On average, Americans spend $175 during Valentine's Day, with men spending twice as much as their female counterparts at a whopping $235. Cassandra and I are curious to know if this holiday is really worth spending so much of both our money and emotions on.

In This Episode:

• Cassandra’s Worst Valentine’s Day Experience (3:07)
• Does commercialization have a significant impact on how we view Valentine’s Day? (5:19)
• How social media influences us to celebrate Valentine’s Day far beyond our budget (9:03)
• Financial stats behind the $23.9 billion Valentine’s Day industry (11:56)
• Price hikes on Valentine's Day steaks and other common holiday goods (14:41)
• How Valentine’s Day brings out people’s dating anxiety and relationship wounds (20:25)
• Why not being asked out on Valentine’s Day hurts more than being single year-round (23:33)

Episode Notes:

• Valentine's Day Spending: How Much Do People Spend In The Name of Love? (Fully Vested)
• Inflation means price jumps for dinner and a dozen roses this Valentine’s Day (CNBC)

Where you can find Cassandra Bustamante:

• Instagram: @itscassandrabee
• www.thewealthvineyard.com

Where you can find Aileen Luib:

• Instagram: @aileenluib
• Instagram: @theballeronabudget
• www.theballeronabudget.com

We're finally back for Season 2, Baller Fam! It's been a whirlwind of events for me outside of work as I took the majority of 2022 off to focus on rebuilding my personal life. After I separated from my former partner in 2021, I expected 2022 to be the jumpstart to my new life, and I needed to double-up on work and increase my income fivefold in order to make the big money moves I wanted to. But unfortunately, there were a lot of unaddressed issues in my personal life that were begging for my focus before I could truly hit the reset button on my life and move forward in a way that wasn't contributing to my already rapidly-declining mental health.

Like many, you can imagine how working full-time and overtime can prevent us from addressing the fires in our personal lives and the more we put them off, they only grow bigger. In 2022, I took the courageous leap of faith to hit the pause button on work and focus on rebuilding myself as a person, dive into trauma therapy, and realign with what was most important to me in life so that I could have a solid foundation to springboard off of.

In this episode, I dare you to probe the taboo idea of taking the time off work to focus on putting out the fires in your own life. My experience of voluntary unemployment was worth its weight in gold, and I'm sharing all of my revelations and experiences in the hopes that I can inspire you to take that hard-earned break you deserve to find your joy and purpose again. Funemployment is a worthwhile investment in yourself - your exhausted brain, your hurting heart, and your tired soul will thank you.

In This Episode:

• Where we last left off in Season 1 (1:55)
• How occupational burnout caused my severe depression (4:46)
• I quit working to focus on healing full-time (6:34)
• The importance of creating a loving relationship with your career (7:29)
• Taking a break from work can be critical to finding joy and purpose (9:43)
• How I leveraged passive income to take 8 months off of work (10:59)
• Why what you do for a living needs to provide a sense of purpose (15:46)
• My personal life began interfering with my work performance (16:22)
• Figuring out why my work wasn’t bringing me joy anymore (19:49)

Episode Notes:

• Financially Surviving a Breakup with Dannie Vann From Pennies to Wealth
• All About Love: New Visions - Bell Hooks (Amazon)
• Bullshit Jobs - David Graeber (Amazon)

Where you can find Aileen Luib:

• Instagram: @aileenluib
• Instagram: @theballeronabudget
• www.theballeronabudget.com