Brunch & Budget

Does having more money make you less empathetic? Less moral? Less happy? As someone who wants to believe I am in control of my emotions and action and that having more money doesn’t change people, it was hard for me to hear, much less talk about, the findings in the studies about money and empathy, […]

This Friday, millions of people will line up outside of stores across the country and try to score a deal on Black Friday. But is it really worth it? Are you actually saving that much more money? We talk about the psychology (and psychological tricks) behind Black Friday sales, why it appeals to some basic […]

Did the premiums go up or down? What happens if you don’t sign up? Can you get some help paying for it? Can you get some help applying for it? All these questions and more answered on today’s show on the state of Obamacare in 2015.

If the idea of talking to an insurance agent about anything scares you (even though you know you really need to protect your stuff!), meet Heather Klein of Eastern Insurors. She joins us on today’s show and drops some serious knowledge about property and casualty insurance, specifically renter’s and auto insurance. Do you know the […]

***SPECIAL RADIO OFFER: If you email Aaron Lackman at alackman@nybcna.org and mention Brunch & Budget on Bondfire Radio, he will pull your credit report and credit score for free and review the score and report with you!*** Imagine coming to a new country, where not only the language and customs are foreign to you, but […]

Identity theft is the fast growing crime in the U.S. and identity thieves are staying two steps ahead of the people trying to catch them. Huge companies like Home Depot and Target have recently had millions of credit card numbers stolen, ID thieves are preying on children and the elderly, and stitching together multiple identities […]

You may have heard people call them pyramid schemes or scams. Or you may have been pitched by someone who swears you can work from home and just watch the money roll in. People either love em or they hate em, so we wanted to find some middle ground. Enter Shirone Robinson, who has been […]

“A blessing isn’t complete until it’s shared.” Cerece Murphy, a black, female, self-published, sci-fi author (pause for a second, take in all the qualifiers), joins us in the studio while she’s in town for NYC ComicCon to promote and sell the third installment in her Order of the Seers Trilogy. We dig into the nitty […]

The Ice Bucket Challenge was a charitable giving phenomenon this summer. The ALSA raised over $100 million in the last three months – that’s almost 50% more than the US government has committed to helping fight ebola. What makes some charitable campaigns more successful than others? What compels people to give to one charitable cause […]

We’ve dubbed her Kim Bravery because she not only agreed to do a credit counseling session with Thomas Nitzsche ofClearpoint Credit Counseling Solutions, she agreed to do it in real time, on the air, with everyone listening. They went over her real budget numbers, her real credit report (and actual credit score), and her debt consolidation […]

There are literally hundreds of professional financial designations and sadly, most of them are not as legitimate as they sound – sometimes all you need is $50 and a 50 question test to be able to put some initials after your name. Find out which financial designations really matter and what the difference is between […]

We all know student loan debt is out of control. The average college student graduated in 2014 with $33,000 in student loans. Student loan debt crossed the $1 trillion in 2012 and just keeps getting bigger. Something has to give. Today, we explore Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOC’s, online learning platforms that started as […]

This week, we jump on the phone with Sekou Murphy, Chief Financial Officer of Bread for the City, a non profit in Washington DC dedicated to helping the city’s most vulnerable citizens break the cycle of poverty. We talk about how he has focused on helping his staff improve their own personal finances so they […]

Attorney and business coach, Jo-Na Williams joins us live in the studio to talk about how artists can protect their work and turn their creative endeavors into businesses that will help them lead lives they love. If you are an artist who is trying to take your work to the next level, this is a […]

In the episode, we walk through real life scenarios on how to lower your cable/internet bill, get bank fees and credit card fees removed, and lower your cell phone bill, along with tips and strategies for how to talk to the reps on the other side.

Stanford Business School recently published an article about a new study that showed people who feel powerful save more money. SO IF POWER = SAVING, THEN SAVING = POWER. During the Bondfire 1st Annual Audio Festival, we launched a very special Saving is Power Challenge to help you feel empowered to save more money. To […]

Chances are you have them. Chances are you have 10’s of thousands of them (average student loan debt for 2014 grad is $33k! $33k!).So what do you do when you finish your degree and can barely pay rent, much less pay back a loan? This show goes over all the repayment assistance options, whether or […]

We’ve heard a ton of controversy about Landmark Forum – people say it’s changed their lives or they write it off as a cult. Your sound provider, Dyalekt, did some investigative reporting and attended a 3-hour “Special Evening with Landmark Forum” to see what it was really all about. We talk about his experience and some […]

Shurnette Henry of Papillon Financial joins us in the studio to talk about how to start investing. But more importantly, before you even begin to think about putting a dollar in the stock market, Papillon has a unique approach that helps you discover what your tendencies are so the investments you make truly match your […]

What’s the most difficult way to buy a house? How about buying a house as a short sale (the step right before a house is foreclosed), needing to gut renovate it, and doing it all under the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage process? Yep, all that happened with our home purchase. Hear about how we […]