Courtney Harrell (Host)
speaker
376 appearances
10 recordings
3 series
first heard Apr 2025
last heard May 2025
Courtney Harrell (Host)’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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With her credit card payment, Helena's total spending for day two was $2,514. And the fact that she felt comfortable with that is a huge shift for her. It's a kind of comfort she couldn't imagine feeling again when she first left home for college.
Back then, she was anxious about money for the first time, but she didn't fully understand her new financial position until she got to school and saw how other people around her were spending.
Helena found herself having to turn down a lot of invitations to dinners at expensive New York restaurants and weekend trips to the Hamptons. And then one night, she was supposed to meet her friends for a big end-of-year celebratory dinner, but she was running late. So she would have to take a cab to get there on time.
And she realized she didn't have enough money in her account to pay for the ride. So she had a choice. Don't go again. Or tell her friend that she needed help. She called her friend.
Even after confiding in her friend, Helena got more and more anxious about balancing what she could afford and living the life that she wanted.
Helena started to feel like maybe her mom had a point, and she gradually changed her social circle. She spent less and less time with the friends going on extravagant outings, and more time with friends she could afford to keep up with. And she started thinking about her future differently, too.
Before college, she'd been interested in being a public defender, or exploring creative opportunities, maybe in the fashion industry. But she knew neither of those paths guaranteed stability.
By giving up the dream of the perfect job, Helena achieved another dream, financial independence.
Helena and her boyfriend Ollie have been together for three years, and when they started dating, Helena could immediately tell that he felt much more financially free.
What do you think happened? Like, what happened for you at the point between him saying you're never going to be able to enjoy your life if you don't work on this and you being able to be on a trip and spend money and be like, oh, I'm enjoying this. Like, what do you think happened?
Helena knew a lot of her friends' parents had taught them how to open an investment account somewhere like Merrill Lynch. And she decided to pursue that herself. So she set up an appointment with an advisor and then opened an account where she started putting a portion of every paycheck.
Total for day four, $204.90.
On day five, Helena also filled up her tank for $70, bringing her total for the day to $106. On day six, Helena worked from home, then ran by the grocery store to grab a couple things for a dinner party at a friend's house.
On day six, Helena also made a $500 donation to a retirement fund for an acquaintance, bringing her total for the day to $676.92.
Did you say that to her?
Helena's total for the week was $3,769.69. What We Spend is an Odyssey original podcast. It's written and hosted by me, Courtney Harrell. Our producers are Marco Gray and Kristen Torres. Our editor is Jonathan Menjivar. Our executive producers are Maris Brunkheiser and Leah Reese Dennis. Theme song and original music by Matt McGinley. Additional music from APN Music. Mixing by Pedro Alvira.
Special thanks to Melissa Akiko Slaughter, Joel Lovell, Jenna Weiss-Berman, J.D. Crowley, Maura Curran, Josephina Francis, Kurt Courtney, Hilary Sheff, Sean Cherry, Laura Berman, and Hilary Van Ornam. If you want to be on What We Spend, we'd love to hear from you. Write us at whatwespendpodcast at gmail.com.
Das ist Cherry. Sie lebt in Boston, Massachusetts.
Und wie lange bist du verabschiedet?
Bevor sie verabschiedet wurde, war Cherry Sozialarbeiterin für das Büro von Kindern und Familien für 38 Jahre. Sie liebte ihren Job, aber sie hatte auch Träume eines neuen Lebens in der Verabschiedung, wo sie mehr Zeit mit ihren Freunden sparen konnte und ihren eigenen Zeitplan setzte. In den USA ist die average retirement age 62. So at 57, Cherry is a bit ahead of the curve.
Showing 241–260 of 376 · page 13 of 19
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