185-Q&A: Effective Journaling, Where to Invest First $100, Investing Like Your Money Or Your Life, Families Investing Together

Today, I do Q&A and answer these four questions: Joshua, I absolutely cannot get enough of your show. Thank you very much for the effort you put in and the thought provoking product you create! It is worth the voluntary money!I've got a very open ended question: You often talk about journaling and writing to help develop thoughts, ideas, and plans. How does one get started doing this? What should your listeners focus on when getting into the habit of journaling? How often do you write in your journal? Without any framework or place to start, I find myself wanting to move on to other activities. I know it's not a direct financial topic but I believe there is a huge amount of value to the idea of putting your thoughts down on paper and developing them and it is something I'd like to start as soon as possible. It'd be great to hear your thoughts and maybe some tactics you employ to get the most out of your journaling time. Keep up the great work, -Chris 19:52 Joshua, One of the biggest goals I have in my life is to become financially independent. Which is why I came across your Podcast in the first place but I am having a hard time figuring out where exactly to go from here. I just started keeping track of every penny I make and spend so that I can start to budget and plan accordingly (I know I should have done this years ago but I gotta start somewhere!) I am 26 years old and have very little experience saving. I am a compulsive spender but I know I can change my habits with the right motivation and I know that I am still young enough to make a very significant change in my life. I have tried to find something "from the beginning" in your podcast but I havn't yet found one that fits my needs. The questions that I have are things that may seem really basic to anyone who has been financially planning for a while. What do I do with my first savings? Say its only $100 dollars, do I keep it in cash at my house? Do I open a savings account and keep it there? How much should I have saved before I start looking at other options, retirement accounts, etc. Sincerely, Garion. 29:45 Joshua, With regard to "Your Money or Your Life" (I have been reading the book for the past few days.), is the strategy for investment/FI that the author's put forth in Chapter Nine still valid today, in your opinion. (I apologize if you have covered this already; I am still trying to get caught up with all of your podcasts.) Please keep up the awesome work. -Daniel 36:35 Joshua, First off I just wanted to say I'm a huge fan of the show and your format. It's so refreshing to actually listen to an in-depth discussion of personal finance rather than all the surface level junk online:"The one easy tip for financial freedom." So I hope you never question your long format in the landscape of quick tips and 3 easy steps posts. I've been growing more interested in personal finance/investing. I'm curious if you've ever encountered or heard of families that invest together. Whether it be siblings or siblings and parents investing together. This is something I've been pondering lately. It seems this would be a smart way for families to invest and take advantage of strength in numbers. Perhaps it's not discussed because it's taboo to talk about money at that level of detail. I really have 0 experience in this area so it'd be interesting to hear what some of the benefits/challenges would be of this kind of thing or if you've personally heard of families doing this. Keep up the good work, and know that your work has had an impact on me.Regards, -Ryan Resources: Jukes-Edwards, A Study in Education and Heredity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jukes_family Support Radical Personal Finance: http://radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron