Young Scrappy Money Podcast Ep. Ep. 037: Building Your Everyday Bucket List with Karen Cordaway

Move over, skydiving! There’s a new bucket list in town. Join us as we interview Karen Cordaway, personal finance guru and author of The Everyday Bucket List Book: 10 Steps to Bring More Exciting Experiences to Everyday Life. You’ll learn that building and achieving your bucket list items can bring you loads of joy–without necessarily having to spend loads of money!

Resources from this episode: 

• Young & Scrappy, home to Michelle’s work as a financial advisor and financial coach.
• Karen’s book, The Everyday Bucket List Book.
• Karen’s website, including her free PDF resource for planning your B.U.C.K.E.T. list.
• Sweet ideas from Karen’s bucket list stash: the scratch off poster for the hundred best movies of all time and an app that will tell you when your favorite bands are in town
• CapitalOne, a bank that lets you have up to 50 separately labelled savings accounts, perfect for portioning out your bucket list money
• Jesse G, my editor. If you ever need audio/video editing work, give him all your love and money.

Full transcript:

INTRO: [00:00:00] Hello. And welcome to the Young Scrappy Money podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Waymire. And each week, I’ll be bringing you tips and tricks to help you take control of your finances as well as interviews with people who made big financial changes in their own lives. So join us. And we’ll help you get your financial s**t together. 

MICHELLE: Hello, everybody. Welcome, welcome to another episode of the Young Scrappy Money podcast. How’s your 2020 going? Are you living your best life? Do you have a list of things that you actually want to get done this year?

I’m not super big on resolutions. I think that it’s not always easy to instill behavior change. But I do think that having a really good checklist of stuff you want to get accomplished in a year is kind of a good happy medium between feeling like you have to overhaul every single aspect of your life and getting done what you wanna get done.

So with that in mind, I have a very special guest with me today. Karen Cordaway is the author of The Everyday Bucket List Book: 10 Steps to Bring More Exciting Experiences to Everyday Life. So if you have on your 2020 checklist some cool s**t that you want to get done, we are here to help. 

So as a busy working parent, Karen spent years struggling to find free time and extra money for herself until she figured out how to reclaim her schedule and infuse more affordable bucket list experiences into everyday life. Welcome, Karen. I’m excited to have you on the show today. 

KAREN: I’m excited to be here, Michelle. I feel younger and scrappier just showing up. 

MICHELLE: Aww, that’s the nicest. Thank you. So you’re the author of The Everyday Bucket List Book. I want to kick off by learning a little bit more about your background and your story here. What made you write this book? 

KAREN: OK. Back in 2011, I started a blog. And I got opportunities to write personal finance articles. And I got a lot of interesting opportunities. I wrote for Clark Howard, Huffington Post, U.S. News Money. And I got this snowball effect where I started getting media mentions. 

And my friends were telling me, now you need to write a book. I didn’t really know where to begin. I started to research books that were out there. I found it difficult in the way that there’s so many money books. And when you feel like so many things have already been said, it’s kind of hard to make your little mark in the space. 

So I gave it another try by talking to people in person and helping them with their budgets. Because I wanted to really see up close like what they were thinking, what they might say, where they were finding difficulty. So I started doing that. 

Once I noticed that people really started to reveal, you know, I wish I just had some extra money to do something fun once in a while or to go on a nice vacation. You know, it seemed like they were doing the best they could. You know, they were trying their best to invest or pay down debt and, you know, be frugal with how they were spending on utilities or food and things like that.  

I was still gathering information. And one thing I found is that you really kind of touch a nerve when you talk to people about their money. And some people really attach like their worth to where they stand financially. And that really bothered me. 

I wanted people to feel happy. Because we all have to work within constraints— unless, you know, you’re independently wealthy or something like that, or you have an endless supply of cash all the time. I wanted to make my focus something that would make people happy.  

MICHELLE: Yeah.  

KAREN: So it was still like things were marinating. I was trying all these different things. And it didn’t come to me yet. But I knew I also needed to tell some story, you know. Why was I the right person to write this book? How do I have credibility, everything like that? 

And one thing that was happening when I was writing in personal finance is there would be a lot of requests for people who had experiences with parents passing away. And I was like one of the only people who would show up to answer these queries. And I just found like, OK, this is kind of unique.  

[00:04:54] You know, it’s been like 15 years since my mom has passed away. So it’s removed more so from the raw feelings of all of that. But I realized that it was something that made me unique. And then it just took a little time, and a light bulb went off.  

And I thought, I should focus on bucket list ideas that almost anybody can do, and, you know, the happiness, peace, and aligning with your values, and having a real reason to wanna get things in a better place and to still enjoy your life. So that was pretty much the crux of it. You know, it kind of unfolded. I had to wait. But that’s pretty much how it happened.  

MICHELLE: Yeah. I love that. Because I feel like a lot of people have this sense that budgeting makes you a good adult, or you have to budget. But, honestly, I found that the reason you would want a budget is to give you more money to do the stuff that you actually wanna do. I mean, it’s not really budgeting for budgeting’s sake.  

It’s— there’s always an end in mind to kind of make sure that you’re bringing that like exciting whatever it is you’re into to your life, which I think is— I think is great. So I know that there’s a lot of bucket list books out there. This is certainly not like a new topic necessarily. But how is your book different from those others?

KAREN: Well, because I knew the type of people I wanted to reach, I purposely made it different. Because many of the books are all like exotic faraway adventures. You know, like I said, you have to be independently wealthy, with a flexible schedule, maybe a travel blogger, work in the travel industry. Or you have to be some sort of digital nomad. 

And though I think some of those books have great ideas, it’s like, how many of those are you really going to do? I wanted the book to be something people could do right now. I didn’t see that out there. And they also would include a lot of like daredevil stunts.  

And I know it’s very popular to skydive. I even have friends who do that. But I thought, well, what if somebody doesn’t wanna do that? You know, what if they don’t have— they don’t see adventure in that way? And I just wanted it to be more realistic for the average person.

MICHELLE: Yeah. I love that. I’ll be honest. Skydiving for me has always been on my list of, nope, absolutely not. It’s a— it’s a hard pass on throwing my body out of a moving plane and allowing it to drop thousands of feet in the air. Like that’s just not where I’m at.  

So I appreciate that you take a little bit of a different approach to the idea of a bucket list. So let’s get into that a little bit. Um, how do you define a bucket list? 

KAREN: Well, my short answer is it’s something you’ve never done before that you want to do in your lifetime. So that could be something very simple, like watching a sunset or a sunrise, all the way to something more travel related. It’s really what you wanna do. 

To broaden the definition and to be specific about that, I came up with an acronym. And the word is B.U.C.K.E.T. And the B stands for be on the lookout. Because we take for granted that there’s more to do in your local area than you think. And sometimes you have to be a little creative, or you just have to pay attention a little more. 

You know, you can also get notified for things that you’d like to see in many ways. And I have a lot of Google alerts. So if you’re always kind of looking, that’s a way to say, hey, I want to try this, or I want to try that. 

I was telling— I was telling someone, I really want to do that— that— I forget what it’s called. You’re biking. Everybody— it looks like a trolley. And everybody’s biking. And you kind of use pedal power to get around an area and tour an area. It’s supposed to be like a social thing. I don’t know if it’s in your area, but it’s like a popular thing. 

MICHELLE: Yeah. I’ve seen those, but it’s almost always been with heavy alcohol consumption involved. It’s like a touring like beer bar, also goes down cobblestone streets. I’ve seen a lot of those though. They do look fun. 

KAREN: OK. So it’s— yeah, it may be more of like a party scene. I think if you take them during the day— like I know in my area there are some where you can go during the day. So I guess it just depends on the crowd. Or maybe if you invite friends, depending on if you want it to be, you know, more mellow or if you want it to be like alcohol related, you could probably do it either way.  

MICHELLE: Yeah. 

KAREN: But it’s something like that. It’s— it’s different. It’s fun. You know, it’s affordable. So then the next letter is U, so understand what you value. And sometimes I think people get out of touch with that. And that’s where their spending goes awry. 

[00:10:10] Like all of a sudden, you’re buying things. You don’t even know why. So if you really tap into what you like to do, and where you really think your money should go, that helps a great deal. Because once you figure out what makes you happy and excited, it’s easier to say no to those other things when you know you’re not really getting the satisfaction out of them that you’d like. 

So then we have C, which is customize it to your situation. Like I have kids. So most of the things I do right now are local. But you’d be surprised what is in your area. Though I live in a small state, in Connecticut, we have what’s called the Mark Twain House. We have a lot of interesting things to do here.  

There’s like a Mystic Aquarium. There’s a town called Mystic, where Mystic Pizza the movie was shot. Like there’s a lot of really cool places. I live near Yale too. And sometimes you don’t even realize that, because something is in your area, you take it for granted. And you don’t do it.  

But like I said, you customize it to your situation. If you’re young and scrappy, and your weekends are free, and you don’t mind taking a flight somewhere, I mean, I’m all for that. So you just have to make it— make it work.  

And then K is for keep it simple. Anytime something’s easy to plan, you know, it’s easier to do. And you could possibly do that more frequently. 

Um, and E is ever-evolving. And, you know, you can make a list. But you can alter it. Or maybe you go somewhere. And then you’re like, hey, I’d like to do this more.  

I was explaining how I love concerts. And I was mostly going to concerts locally. But then I decided— you know, I’ve never been to a stadium. So I drove two hours to New Jersey. And I saw the Rolling Stones. And I did see a lot of young and scrappy people there. So—  

MICHELLE: Stones fans come in all ages. It’s true.  

KAREN: That’s right. I was so surprised. I’m like, it’s so cool to see so many generations enjoying that. You know, my next thing, I always say like, I wanna see people in Vegas.  

Because this is what’s funny. When you realize that there’s so many different people, and you have to kind of pick and choose sometimes, if a bunch of the people you like are in Vegas, you can make a trip there. And like, hey, I want to see three concerts. 

That’s like my little dream right now. But, um, I never would’ve thought of that if I didn’t just start doing small things and just going to any random concert that I wanted to see. You know, you kind of like grow your dream in a way.  

And then T is take time to store the information. Because so many times, we get like great tips when we visit somewhere. Or maybe our friends go somewhere. And they give you like the inside scoop of what to do. If you don’t store that information, you know, you’re not gonna have it top of mind. Or you’re not gonna be able to find it when you need it. 

And I always think it’s great to have that. I don’t know why I’m the kind of planner— like if I— I can’t go to New York blindly. Like any other place that you visit, there’s just— you could get so much more out of your trip if you already know where you’re going.  

Like you’re not wasting a minute of your time. It obviously depends on the type of traveler you are. Some people like to explore and just find whatever along the way. I just find that, if you get those like golden tips, I just like to be able to access them.

MICHELLE: So B.U.C.K.E.T. the acronym, what else is on your list? I’m just curious because I know you mentioned like seeing a bunch of concerts in Vegas. What has this process kind of taught you about— about your own goals? 

KAREN: Well, I like to try to do as many goals at once. You know, when I went all the way to New Jersey— like I definitely wouldn’t do that just for any concert. But I do feel like I had to pick and choose. Because the Rolling Stones came on my radar. And I was— the time lined up.  

You know, I had the money. I could go. I just quickly, you know, got tickets. But I also wanted to see Queen. And I wanted to see Aerosmith. And they were all touring at the same time. And I’m like, ugh, bummer, you know.  

So if there’s a way that you could pick an area or something that you like, and you could do a bunch of things all at once, I mean, that always helps. And even if it is someone who wants to go to Europe, like once you’re in Europe, it’s very easy to get around to all the different countries. It’s funny because I went when I was in my 20s.  

[00:15:00] I was fortunate to study abroad. And people were like, I can’t believe you went to all these places. And it’s funny because you just hop on the rails. And, you know, the countries aren’t that far away. So anytime you can maximize like that, I’m all for that. 

MICHELLE: Nice. I know that question was like a little bit off topic based on what we had talked about. But I’m always curious. When folks kind of have these types of, you know, lists of how to come up with their dreams, I’m always curious what their dreams are. So thank you for sharing that. 

MID-ROLL ADVERTISEMENT: Hey, friends. Michelle here. And I’ve got a little present for you. It’s called Unf**k Your Finances. And it’s a PDF guide filled with some of my favorite tips for paying down debt, controlling your spending, planning for goals, and more. Go to youngandscrappy.com/tips to download your free copy today.  

MICHELLE: So just kind of a follow-up question getting back to like the acronym, I know that at one point you mentioned that you have a resource to help people with this. Can you talk a little bit about the process for like actually setting and coming up with your bucket list? 

KAREN: Well, the resource I mentioned, I have a PDF that I pretty much restate the acronym, but then I kind of force you to do a little homework, like be on the lookout. Like how can you look for places or get notified? Like you jot down little notes for yourself. 

So for that resource, that’s what people could do. Because when you hear an acronym on a podcast, maybe you’re driving or doing laundry or whatever. You know, it’s something to make all of it come together and stick. And so you can use it in your daily life. 

MICHELLE: So folks who are listening, if you’re driving in your car, if you are in a place where you’re not quite at a computer, that’s totally fine. This is just your friendly reminder that all of the show notes, resources, transcripts, everything that you hear in this episode can be found online at youngandscrappy.com/blog. So if you go over to our website, check out our blog. You’ll find this and all of our other podcast episodes there. And I’ll definitely make sure to link you guys out to a copy of Karen’s PDF if you want to start thinking about your own bucket list.  

So getting back to a couple more questions for you, I— because I come in contact with so many young people, and we are kind of riding that struggle bus on student loan payments and other debt, and there’s just a lot going on, it can be really hard to prioritize some of the fun stuff. It feels like there’s so many needs that it’s hard to prioritize wants. Why do you think it’s important to focus on bucket list items? 

KAREN: Well, I believe it keeps people happy. It keeps you motivated to stick to those goals. Because I know times where I’ve had to pay stuff off. If you always feel like your money is just going towards, you know, necessities, it’s very easy to just fall off the wagon. And then you like blow money on your credit card. Because you’re so deprived.  

Like you have to give yourself a little wiggle room. And you have to have things to look forward to, to sustain. And, you know, it could be something really simple. Like I’ve never met a millennial that doesn’t love Netflix. 

And there’s a poster. It’s like the hundred best movies of all time. And you can get this poster. I think it’s like $15. It’s cute. It’s like a little scratch off poster. And many of the movies are on Netflix.  

And I’m embarrassed to say that I never saw The Godfather. And I have Sicilian heritage. And I’m not saying like I’m Sicilian like those people are Sicilian. But I was young. The movie was three hours long. I never saw it.  

It was like embarrassing when people would say, oh, yeah, remember The Godfather? Blah, blah, blah. And I would never see the movie. So use Netflix and things like that to your advantage. And make like a movie bucket list. 

Or, you know, maybe you want to see every season of your favorite show, something very simple like that in the beginning. You have something to look forward to. And, you know, it can just get you over a hump. But also look into free. I mean, we really take for granted how many free things there are out there.  

[00:19:50] One of my friends really scouts things out, whether he’s on vacation or he’s local. He’s really good at talking to like locals wherever he goes. And they give like the inside scoop. Like you could— if you could pick the brain of people who know, you know, how to get this for free or what festivals are coming up— and obviously, we have the internet.  

We can always look for free things to do. But they don’t have to be lackluster. You know, whenever you hear that standard tip, like, oh, go to the library— you know? Wi-Fi really isn’t great at the library. And, yeah, maybe you can get some things to bring home.  

But use the resources there or even pick the brain of the librarian. That has always been the best tip. Because they really come in— come into contact with like area events or maybe tickets that are discounted, things like that. So I would just really take advantage of anything like that that’s low-cost or free. 

MICHELLE: Yeah. I love that you brought up the idea of the movie posters. So I actually know the one that you’re talking about. I have that poster, but it’s like the hundred books you should read before you die or something.  

And it’s still sitting in its tube, rolled up, ready for me to read a bunch of books and like scratch off the little things. I just thought it was so cute. I bought it offline.  

But I think that’s a great example of the fact that we— we often think of a bucket list as these like huge grandiose— like climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Go to Fiji. Swim with dolphins. And like those things are great. But you’re exactly right.  

There are so many like little checklists, and fun life experiences, and like places to do, and— uh, places to do?  Wow. Places to go, things to do that are not terribly expensive. So that’s wonderful. I also love your point about making sure to carve out some space in your budget and also space in your schedule for some of that fun stuff.  

Because I think you’re exactly right. Anytime you’re approaching a behavior change activity, whether it’s budgeting, whether it’s switching up your eating habits— maybe it’s taking on a new like exercise or movement regimen. Anytime you try and throw yourself in there and just not give yourself any space for error, or any time to do anything that you love, or, you know, freedom to do some of the fun stuff still, I think you’re totally right.  

We get in this mindset where we like can do anything for two weeks. And then we like break the budget or, you know, get off the wagon on our exercise habits. Like it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition. 

KAREN: Right, exactly. And even tap into something like exercise, if there’s some video, some new craze. Or maybe you try all the different crazes, even if they’re from the past, like one Zumba video, one yoga video, you know, just to make your life more interesting. And, you know, get a partner or a little squad of people and do stuff together.  

Because if you’re all in it together trying to pay off student loan debt or any other type of debt, you know, you’re all in the same boat. So people are more likely to want to do these types of things together. And you’d be surprised that sometimes they’re more fun than something that’s very big, and you have all these expectations. It could be equally as fun. 

MICHELLE: So you mentioned a really great tip earlier, planning and saving for these experiences, which is to kind of allow your bucket list items to piggyback off of something else. So if you have to go on the work trip or the family trip, something that’s maybe not necessarily the fun trip, you can infuse a little fun into it. What other tips do you have for checking off those bucket list items? 

KAREN: So for planning, see, I like to do it regularly. I have an app for bands in town. It constantly reminds me of people I’d like to see or similar musicians that maybe I would like to see. Um, let’s see. 

I would even have a separate bucket. You know, if you have like a Cap One account or anywhere where you can easily open up another savings account and chip away at— even if it’s $5 a week or $10, you know, to start saving for something, even if you don’t know what it is yet. You know, so then once something does come up, you’re like, hey, I can afford to do this.  

And, like I said, anytime you can involve more people— I used to go for little trips, like to maybe a hotel an hour away with my girlfriends. So we were splitting a hotel like four ways. We would bring our own food and like maybe a bottle of wine or something. Anytime you can bring stuff like that, it makes it cheaper.  

[00:25:03] And even like visiting a friend in another state, you know, if you have a place to crash, anytime you can get like housing where you’re going to stay, costs down. Or, you know, transportation costs, if you’re all in a car, and you can split the gas, something like that, that helps a great deal. And even having like a separate checking for spending— because if you just have a big lump, and you know your checking is for groceries and gas or whatever other bills, and then you’re like, oh, I guess I have a little— whatever’s leftover is my spending money. 

If you really create your budget and say, I know I can have X amount of dollars, ship that out to another account. And honor yourself and use that money. You know, I’m not saying don’t eat or anything like that to go to a concert. But really try to follow through on what you plan on spending on each of your budgeting categories. So then, you know, it gives you that green light to do what you want.

MICHELLE: I love the idea in particular of having like a separate account. Or, you know, maybe it’s a checking account if these are little experiences you’re doing regular. Or if you’re kind of saving for those bigger items, I love the idea of a separate savings account.  

Because I think you’re exactly right. I find that people kind of fall into one of two buckets is that, you know, there are the folks who carve out money. But then they way overspend because they don’t have any way of keeping themselves accountable with it. So maybe they’re like bucket listing a little too much.  

And then we’ve got the folks who kind of save for everything in one place. And so it’s so hard for them to justify spending the money. It feels like it’s only earmarked for emergencies. And this isn’t really an emergency.  

And so they don’t really give themselves permission to do the stuff that they want to do. But I think you’re exactly right. Really making that an intentional part of your budget and then putting that money aside so that you know what’s clearly available for you to spend on these experiences probably makes a lot of sense for folks looking to plan ahead. 

KAREN: Right, right. And especially if it’s someone who’s in a relationship, like if you start joint budgeting or even splitting a checking account, that’s very hard when someone first starts to combine their money. So like my husband and I, we do. We have simple outside of our regular combined expenses.  

And it’s just a cool way to like not have to check in with someone. Or you’re not like keeping score, like, hey, you did that, and I wanna do this. And, you know, that cost X amount, and I only spent this. You know, you wanna make sure it’s fair. So and, like I said, you don’t want to cheat yourself. If you’re single, you know, you have the right to enjoy your life. 

MICHELLE: Can you say that for me one more time? 

KAREN: If you’re single, you have the right to enjoy your life. 

MICHELLE: Awesome. Thank you. Listeners, please take that sound bite, cut it up, make it your ringtone. Because I feel like that was really, really good.

KAREN: Well, I’m glad— I’m glad you like it. 

MICHELLE: So kind of wrapping things up, we’ve talked a lot about ways to think creatively about a bucket list, how to plan for those items. What do you believe is the most important part or like the key takeaway from your book? 

KAREN: Well, in some ways, it depends on the person. I know prioritizing can be a difficult part. Because some people can come up with tons and tons of ideas. They don’t have problems brainstorming. 

But then it’s like, what are you gonna do first? What can you afford? You know, are you free to take time off to do this thing that you wanna do? So I have what’s called the now and later rule.  

And I bring people through questions that pretty much filters your idea through some questions. And it pretty much tells you, this is something you should do now, which now is within six months. And later is for after six months so just so you can set your expectations properly and pick things that you are able to do.  

And another thing is taking action. Because we all know those people. They’re raring to go in the beginning. They write that whole list. And that’s the extent of taking action. You know, you wanna then connect the dots and actually plan this thing and make it happen.  

[00:30:00] And sometimes people fall short on that part. So I’d say between like prioritizing and taking action, that’s where I feel like my process helps people. And, you know, you get your hand held a little bit so you can follow through on a plan. 

MICHELLE: Heck yeah. So how can people find your book? How can people find you online? 

KAREN: Well, my book is on Amazon. It’s The Everyday Bucket List Book. And online, you can find me by my name, Karen Cordaway. And it’s K-A-R-E-N, C as in cat-O-R-D as in dog-A-W-A-Y if you want it to rain cats and dogs for your bucket list ideas and planning. 

MICHELLE: Thank you so much, Karen, for joining us. Listeners, thank you so much for listening. Just one friendly reminder, if you have questions or thoughts, anything that you have heard on this podcast, you can always find it on my blog, youngandscrappy.com/blog.  

You can find this episode, all of those resources, links to Karen’s book, and a lot more. So once again, thank you so much for listening. And I hope you have an abundant day.

END CREDITS: I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Young Scrappy Money podcast. If you want to read about my work as a financial advisor and financial coach, you can do so at www.youngandscrappy.com. That’s www.youngandscrappy.com. Thanks again for listening. 

Made with love by Jesse in Atlanta. [SMOOCHING SOUND]