Money Matters

#MoneyMasterClass Recap–Week 31

Following up on last week’s topics of choosing a guardian and getting your will in order, Gail instructs us to make an estate plan this week.

Power of Attorney

Gail started this week explaining the two types of Power of Attorney (POA): Financial POA and Medical POA.

Marrying a Money Moron

Unfortunately, this is my story. I married a money moron and since it took me years to get out of it, it ruined me financially at the time. Thankfully, I discovered Gail and Till Debt Do Us Part around that same time and she helped me get my life back.

Gail’s advice here is gold. Take it and implement it. I strongly recommend it as they are things I wish I had done sooner.

These next two tweets are lessons I learned the hard way. I found that I owed it to myself and my partner to set boundaries with finances and not bail them out any longer. As Gail mentions, this isn’t for punishment, but actually should push your mate to take care of the problem on their own.

Before I was able to set boundaries, I thought it was helpful to pay off my partner’s credit card. It was a smaller debt and seemed to fit in the narrative of paying off one debt at a time–starting with the small one and working towards the bigger one. Unfortunately, what I didn’t realize was he would just charge the credit card back up again and it was a cycle of behaviour.

There’s a fine line between helping someone out of a tough spot and enabling someone’s harmful behaviour. I landed on the side of enabling and am glad that I was able to finally see the light and get out of that negative situation.

Have you had experience with money morons in your life? What lessons did you learn from those experiences?

New to the Money Master Class? There’s still time to get started!
Check out this Twitter Archive to see all of Gail Vaz-Oxlade’s #MoneyMasterClass tweets from the start.
Find the resources, spreadsheets, and quizzes here: Money Master Class
Check out my weekly recaps to get caught up.
Start here with the Money Master Class Intro and Week One Recap

Check out Gail Vaz Oxlade’s books here:*

Money Rules
Debt Free Forever
CEO of Everything
Money Smart Kids

14 Comments

  • Michelle (Boomer Eco Crusader)

    I love Gail. Her TV show is awesome. Some people don’t like her style and tone but I think it’s exactly what some people need to change their money habits.

    • A Sustainably Simple Life

      I agree! I love that there is no pretense with Gail. She’ll just tell it like it is! Her TV shows really helped me learn a lot about finances. 🙂

  • glowsteady

    I dated a money moron once, thankfully I was very young so we had nothing together like houses or joint accounts, but never ever again. If there’s ever another money moron that one is getting dumped as soon as that becomes evident x

    Sophie

    • A Sustainably Simple Life

      I’m glad I’m not alone in the money moron experience. So good that you had it early on with no houses or joint accounts. Hard lessons to learn but important ones for sure! 🙂

  • A in Texas

    I didn’t discover her tv shows until they were reruns and I came across them in 2018. Every now and then I try to find an episode on Youtube because I no longer have a tv or cable to try to find the reruns. I really enjoy hearing her voice and her “tell-it-like-it-is to the people involved. I’m grateful for what she’s teaching and what you are doing each week for us readers. Stay safe!

    • A Sustainably Simple Life

      It’s been a while since I’ve looked up her shows online, but have watched a couple of her talks on YouTube this year. I don’t have cable either anymore. Wish I could watch the whole Till Debt and Money Moron series again, though!

  • isabellevitanyc

    I’ve never heard of Gail before but will have to check her out. I think it’s great to be financially savvy; even if you’ve made mistakes in the past, what’s important is that you learn from them and use your experience to make even better decisions in the future.

    • A Sustainably Simple Life

      Gail’s super straightforward in her delivery of info, but she is fantastic!
      I so agree that mistakes give us lessons and the important thing is to use them to make better decisions 🙂

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!